What Might Have Been: Vol 3: Alternate Wars

Third in a volume of great alternative histories, Volume III, Alternate Wars, is an anthology of mediocre, poor, good, and great stories. Isn't every anthology? And Wild For to Hold is pretty good, describing history if Anne Boleyn hadn't been around to be divorced, and the religious strife begun in England from the Act of Supremacy. But the story focuses more on an abducted Anne in the future, using all of the wiles of the historical Anne to take control of her new situation. It is a unique approach in alternative histories- what if the historical individual acted as she did historically, but in a future time? Tundra Moss focuses on an Alaskan communications station and what would have happened if President Roosevelt had gotten sick and not given his "Day of Infamy" speech, leading to America working only on the Japanese War first and waiting to get involved in Europe. When Free Men Shall Stand is surprisingly poorly written, considering it's Poul Anderson, and describes an America with the Louisiana Territory still permanently under French control, and America at war with the great French power. It's simply very difficult to follow. Arms and the Woman is the first excellent story in this collection, and not surprisingly, coming from James Morrow, who wrote another great story, Abe Lincoln at McDonalds, in Volume II of this collection. Here he describes what might have happened if Helen had stepped outside Troy and realized this war was being fought over her, with thousands of men dying for her. This is an interesting story because it stretches very far back into our history- further than all other stories in this collection to date- to a time that is shrouded in myth. We believe that Homer wrote history, but it is a history from a time when men understood that myth was equal with history. It deals with questions that influence so much of our lives because they occurred so early in the time stream. Morrow's writing style is also very enjoyable, tongue-in-cheek, with many humorous asides, down to the style of prophylactic. I generally enjoy Turtledove, and Ready for the Fatherland was well written as usual, but it was simply too depressing. What if Hitler was killed by one of his generals during the Soviet campaign, causing Germany to pull back and sue for peace, controlling most of Continental Europe, with the result that England and America had to deal with both the Soviets and the Nazis for the next forty years plus? The actions of England in response are just too sad. If you're looking for excellent literature, where the characters and setting come alive before you, read The Tomb. Here Constantine takes on the sign of the cross as his standard, but fails in his attack on Maxentius. Unfortunately, the author doesn't have a firm grasp on history, as he posits this would lead to the disappearance of Christianity. This shows no understanding of the strength of Christianity in the East, completely independent of the vagaries of

When I read Feigenbaum's number & then Beggars in Spain both by Nancy Kress I knew I had discovered a new author (for me) that I was going to love. However one of the first science fiction stories I read was some story that I thought was written by some male author in the 50's about Elizabethan England. I recently discovered that that story was "And Wild for to Hold" by Nancy Kress and yes it was first in this anthology. It is strange I'd forget the title & author, but remember the point of the story. Also I recently "discovered" that I liked Allen Steele, but yup you guessed I read & liked his Goddard's people in this years ago. (Although I sort of remembered him) Kress is the real one that got me since ,until recently, I thought for sure "Feigenbaum Number" in thirteenth Year's Best sf. I hope you are tolerant about me talking about the book that way, but to tell you about the stories themselves the 2 I mentioned are good although Steele's is somewhat dry if you don't like history the way I do. Churchhill's (Yes Churchhill the Prime Minister you didn't know he wrote science fiction?) was interesting in being pro-Southern when it comes to the Civil War.