Today's post is about a sub-genre that I am interested in but have never given a try, and that is the alternative history genre. It first came to my attention with novels like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and really piqued my interest with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. A lot of fiction in this genre usually include elements of the horror genre such as vampires and zombies, or are combined with elements of steampunk. I love the idea that we're dealing with time periods that we are familiar with, but some fundamental part of it has changed which gives it its excitement. Because it's also in part historical, many of the facts need to be correct in order to make that side of the story correct.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter sounds brilliant for this reason. Many see Abe Lincoln as one of the greatest leaders that Western civilization has ever seen, and so this extra addition of his career as a vampire hunter is filled with 'evidence' that coincides with historical fact to provide different (and hopefully entertaining) profile of Abraham Lincoln.
Most of the alternate history genre focuses on the 19th to 20th centuries, but there isn't much that deals with the ancient world (which would be of particular interest to me). What historical time period/event would you like to see recreated in a 'What if?' scenario?
I too am intrigued by this genre. I saw mention of the Abe Lincoln book in the paper yesterday and thought it sounded strange, but interesting. I think the more modern scenarios tend to be of greater interest because most of are more familiar with these eras. The speculative idea that would intrigue me is what if slavery in America had never existed. What would Africa be like? How would the economic growth of America have been affected? Music? No jazz, rock... where would music have gone without the black influence? We here a lot of condemnation of the slavery issue (and I agree that it was not right), but if it had never happened what would the world be like now?
ReplyDeleteLee
I knew you would mention Inglorius Basterds!!! Brilliant movie. And what if Hilter's face was blown off in a movie theater in France before 1945...?
ReplyDeleteGood post, Jamie.
What if the Native Americans hadn't let the white man take them over?
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love alternate histories!
The Man in the High Castle, by Phillip K. Dick is another good one.
A great post, most pleasurable to read, very different which mad it all the more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Lee: That's a really good point. Almost all genres of music these days have roots in the jazz/blues style, so what the hell would there be? It would also have profound implications for the civil rights movement (or lack of?).
ReplyDeleteAlex: I'd imagine that WW2 would have still carried on, even with the death of Hitler. What might have happened is that one of his elite dudes would have taken over, maybe used different strategies and possible won the war in Germany's favour. That would be pretty scary.
Summer: It would be awesome to have a 21st century alternate history where Native Americans are the majority populace in North America, we may see the possibility of white slavery in the US. The questions that would arise from this is would the Native Americans stick to their native cultural roots or adapt along with Western European technology and society.
I'd like to see something like "What if the Romans were stopped before they could create their Empire?" or "What if Egypt hadn't been conquered by Alexander the Great?"