Take a wild ride through history as it could have been.

books:

	• The Way It Wasn't: Great Science Fiction Stories of Alternate History Martin Harry Greenberg, Robert Silverberg Kensington Publishing Corp., 1998 - 365 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Take a wild ride through history as it could have been.

Everyone has wondered "What if..." at some point, whether the question involved his or her own life or some pivotal event in history. History as we know it is jolted and questioned at every turn in this emotional collection of engaging and imaginative fiction. Many "what if..." questions are addressed in this volume that allow authors and readers alike to rewrite history, correcting perceived wrongs or tragedies ("Suppose They Gave a Peace..."), creating heroes where none existed before ("The Lucky Strike"), and exploring horrors best left to imaginations and late night readings ("We Could Do Worse"). Any fan of science fiction will enjoy these well-selected, well-ordered stories.

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Bad title, great writing.

The title of this book is somewhat misleading - the stories within (with one exception) are not really (in my opinion) "science fiction". All are alternative history stories, although somewhat atypical of the genre. It seems that some authors have alternative timeline theories and write stories to support them. The authors in this book use alternate timelines as frameworks for good stories. Being a fan of both SciFi and alternative history, I gave this book a read and was quite impressed with the quality of the writing. I'm not familiar with all of the authors, but will be looking out for their other works. "The Winterberry" stood out. At first you don't see the connection with alternate history, but eventually you catch on, with sad realization. Worthwhile reading for all.

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Very Entertaining

A highly entertaining series of short stories. The stories in this book are very original and are not reprinted in many other collections of Alternate History, with the exception of two. If you love alternate history, I encourage you to read, if not buy this book.

The Way It Wasn't takes an amusing, intellectually stimulating excursion into speculative history. Here are thirteen memorable stories by renowned science fiction writers, telling what things might be like if... Elvis Presley weren't the "King" but the President of the United States ("Ike at the Mike" by Howard Waldrop)... The Black Death had killed the entire population of Europe in the fourteenth century ("Lion Time in Timbuctoo" by Robert Silverberg)... John F. Kennedy had survived the 1963 shooting in Dallas ("The Winterberry" by Nicholas A. DiChario). Included, too, is fascinating short fiction by Mike Resnick, Susan Shwartz, Larry Niven, Pamela Sargent, Fritz Leiber, Greg Bear, Barry N. Malzberg, Harry Turtledove, Gregory Benford and Kim Stanley Robinson. After reading these stories - some of the most compelling examples of alternate history anywhere - your mind will keep spinning the question "What If...?"

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