WHAT IF? Must-Read Alternate History Fiction

By Walden Pond Books

The alternate history genre provides an fascinating opportunity for authors to re-imagine "real" history with versions based on the alteration of pivotal historical events. Accordingly, here is a list of the best works of fiction imagining an altered history whose premise can be summed up in a single question beginning with "What if. . ."

Altered Europa

Martin T Ingham, Sam Kepfield, et al.

$12.99

"What If" x 21 (Twenty-one short stories featuring alterations to pivotal events in European history)

Alternate Peace

Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Juliet E. McKenna, et al.

$16.98

"What If?" x 15. (Fifteen short stories of alterations to pivotal events of history during times of peace rather than times of war)

Lest Darkness Fall & Timeless Tales Written in Tribute

David Drake, L. Sprague de Camp, et al.

$34.99 $32.19

What if a modern-day historian were transported back in time and used his knowledge to prevent the fall of Rome? (L. Sprague de Camp's alternate history classic is collected in this volume along with short stories by leading science fiction authors that pay homage to the genre.)

Eladatl: A History of the East Los Angeles Dirigible Air Transport Lines

Sesshu Foster

$17.95 $16.51

What if lighter-than-air travel had been developed in East Los Angeles during the early 20th century?

Civilizations

Laurent Binet

$27.00 $24.84

What if in 1000 AD, Viking explorers had voyaged as far as the Caribbean, Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquistadores had failed to colonize the Americas, and instead the Incas had invaded and conquered Spain and Europe? A masterfully imaginative reversal of historical power dynamics, this novel is a new alternate history classic!

A Master of Djinn

P. Djèlí Clark

$27.99 $25.75

What if in 1872, an Egyptian inventor opened the door to the supernatural world and left it open?

The Black God's Drums

P. Djèlí Clark

$11.99 $11.03

What if the American Civil War had ended in a truce and slavery still existed in the Confederate states?

The Future of Another Timeline

Annalee Newitz

$18.99 $17.47

What if a woman were able to travel through time, editing history to undo the damage done by misogynists?

Tropic of Kansas

Christopher Brown

$15.99

What if right-wing political forces in the early 21st century had achieved ultimate power and the United States disintegrated?

The Cold Last Swim

Junior Burke

$16.99 $15.63

What if actor James Dean had shot fellow actor Ronald Reagan during a live TV broadcast in 1954?

Fallout

Todd Strasser

$8.99 $8.27

What if Russia had launched a nuclear attack on the United States during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis?

Blonde Roots

Bernardine Evaristo

$15.00

What if the history of the transatlantic slave trade had been reversed and Africans had enslaved Europeans?

The Mirage

Matt Ruff

$16.99 $15.63

What if Christian fundamentalist terrorists hijacked four jetliners in 2001, flying two planes into the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad, the third into the Arab Defense Ministry in Riyadh, and the fourth plane targeting Mecca?

The Museum of an Extinct Race

Jonathan Hale Rosen

$19.99 $18.39

What if Nazi Germany had won World War II and Adolf Hitler's 'Final Solution' had been fully realized?

The Great Destroyers

Caroline Tung Richmond

$18.99 $17.47

What if the atom bomb had never been discovered and instead of nuclear weapons the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. was fought with "mechas" - powerful robotic soldiers?

Light Perpetual

Francis Spufford

$27.00 $24.84

What if five children killed in a German rocket attack on London during World War II were given a "second chance" at life? (An absolutely ingenious novel - a nominee for the 2021 Booker Prize - that resurrects not just the five main characters, but six decades of history.)

Pavane

Keith Roberts

$17.00

What if Queen Elizabeth I had been assassinated in 1588, the Spanish Armada was successful and the Catholic Church reigned supreme? An alternate history classic and must-read. (The book is NOT in French, despite the current Bookshop annotation. It is also periodically out-of-stock, so check back often. If you see it's available on Bookshop, grab it!)

Three Californias: The Wild Shore, the Gold Coast, and Pacific Edge

Kim Stanley Robinson

$27.99 $25.75

What if a nuclear war radically changed the history of California? Kim Stanley Robinson's visions of an Orange County shaped first by nuclear devastation, then by unfettered capitalism, and, finally, by a green revolution. All three novels are collected in this much-awaited omnibus edition.

Replay

Ken Grimwood

$15.99 $14.71

What if you could live your life over again - with all your memories intact?

Underground Airlines

Ben H. Winters

$15.99 $14.71

What if the Civil War had never occurred and slavery was still legal in four states?

The Kingdoms

Natasha Pulley

$28.00 $25.76

What if Napoleon had won the Battle of Waterloo and France had conquered and colonized England?

Dominion

Sansom

$18.99 $17.47

What if Lord Halifax - instead of Winston Churchill - had become England's Prime Minister in 1940 and had surrendered to the Germans?

The Separation

Christopher Priest

$21.59

What if the influence of a World War II conscientious objector brought about peace between England and Germany after only a single year of conflict?

Agency

William Gibson

$17.00 $15.64

What if Russian influence that affected the 2016 Presidential election were manipulated so that Hillary Clinton won?

Machines Like Me

Ian McEwan

$16.00 $14.72

What if Alan Turing, the famous British mathematician and robotics and computing pioneer, had not died in 1954 at the age of 42, but lived to implement his visions and predictions?

(A work always in progress. Worthy titles are added to this list as they become available. Please check back.)

Click on these lists for more outstanding science fiction:

("What if" graphic courtesy of xkcd.com)