And Having Writ

I read this book over 25 years ago, but it has certainly stayed with me and is well worth reading. It is based on the idea, sometimes found in physics, that at any given moment when a definite event takes place, an alternate universe splits off from ours, and the alternative outcome takes place there. In 1908, a meteorite hit Tunguska, Siberia with tremendous force, flattening trees and killing animals for hundreds of miles around. Had it hit the earth a few hours earlier, it would have struck Moscow, causing unspeakable devastation. This book begins with that historic event and supposes that the meteorite was actually an alien space ship suffering a malfunction. At the last moment, the crew transport their ship into an alternate universe. In our universe, their ship becomes the Tunguska "meteorite." In the alternate universe of 1908, the crew from outer space become celebrities. The crew are from an advanced civilization and appear human. They can ingest almost any substance for survival and have communication tools that enable them to hear and understand any language. Their ship's momentum carries them to a crash landing in San Francisco Bay, where they are taken into custody. Meeting a reporter from the Hearst chain of newspapers, they become celebrities and eventually meet such figures as Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, George M. Cohan, the Wright Brothers, and others. William Jennings Bryan, who is running for President that year, wants to burn them at the stake because they aren't mentioned in the Bible. At first, they garner a lot of good will because it is assumed that they are the harbingers of a new era of advanced civilization, aided by technology from other planets. Gradually, however, it becomes apparent that they are merely marooned, with no means of returning to their home--a civilization, meanwhile, that is so advanced that it could no more teach its science to us than we could teach the alphabet to monkeys. When that realization dawns, everyone loses interest in them and in fact, one of them is reduced to doing a vaudeville act in the old Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, without either the aliens or the earth dwellers being aware of it, their very presence is quietly altering earth history. Alert scientists are inspired by technology the crew brought with them and, consequently, early forms of the radio and television are invented. When Bryan loses his 1908 campaign, the event is broadcast over newly invented "radiodiffusion" by none other than the actor Lionel Barrymore, who has found a new career as a news announcer and borrows from Shakespeare to proclaim that the dejected Bryan is "sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought." The aliens don't realize how much the advances in technology are caused by their presence, and finally, in despair, they ask to be put in suspended animation, against the possibility of being revived to return to their home planet in the future. On November 11, 1918, they are placed in what we n

I just finished this book and found it quite enjoyable. It is an alternative reality that has some features in common with time travel tales. I especially liked the way the author was able to change the usual point of view and premise to come up with a unique story.