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Fantasy Alternate Histories
Topic Started: Feb 2 2008, 08:34 AM (407 Views)
Makkabee
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Topic for discussing alternate history stories involving magic, asking for and making recommendations.

A classic example is The Dragon Waiting by John Ford. Two major change points, at least one of which is caused by magic: Julian the Apostate succeeds in disestablishing the Christian Church in Rome; and Justinian and Theodora become vampires, surviving long enough to put the Byzantine thrust to the west on a much firmer footing.

The story takes place in the late 15th century. England and the Byzantines have split most of France between them, Richard of York sits on the English throne, and there is skullduggery afoot!

It won a World Fantasy Award back in the mid-70s.
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Custer
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When I first saw this I thought you were asking us about alternate histories we'd like to see involving our sexual desires.

Evidently there's a HT short story about a dragon getting pissed off and incinerating an entire Soviet garrison during the Soviet War in Afghanistan. I don't think it had any effect on history, as it was kept under wraps by both sides and it didn't do much to influence the course of the war anyway.

I also read of a short story by someone set during the battle of Verdun in 1916, when the Four Horsemen appear in No Man's Land and start preparing for doom. Both Germans and Frenchmen, desensitized after two years of brutal inhuman warfare, simply turn their machine guns toward the newcomers and kill them.
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The Guy from Fiji
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Custer
Feb 2 2008, 02:47 PM
I also read of a short story by someone set during the battle of Verdun in 1916, when the Four Horsemen appear in No Man's Land and start preparing for doom. Both Germans and Frenchmen, desensitized after two years of brutal inhuman warfare, simply turn their machine guns toward the newcomers and kill them.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, Cus, then that was also HT. I believe it was in his Counting Up, Counting Down anthology.
Sic Temper Molemannis!
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Custer
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Yeah, you're likely right - I believe I read it on the Turtledove Wikia, so it couldn't have been anyone else.
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MapleLeafs4Ever
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The Guy from Fiji
Feb 2 2008, 03:44 PM
Custer
Feb 2 2008, 02:47 PM
I also read of a short story by someone set during the battle of Verdun in 1916, when the Four Horsemen appear in No Man's Land and start preparing for doom. Both Germans and Frenchmen, desensitized after two years of brutal inhuman warfare, simply turn their machine guns toward the newcomers and kill them.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, Cus, then that was also HT. I believe it was in his Counting Up, Counting Down anthology.

That story in "Counting-up, Counting-down" was pretty good. The Apocalypse is not so much of a much. :lol:
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Custer
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MapleLeafs4Ever
Feb 2 2008, 04:14 PM
The Guy from Fiji
Feb 2 2008, 03:44 PM
Custer
Feb 2 2008, 02:47 PM
I also read of a short story by someone set during the battle of Verdun in 1916, when the Four Horsemen appear in No Man's Land and start preparing for doom. Both Germans and Frenchmen, desensitized after two years of brutal inhuman warfare, simply turn their machine guns toward the newcomers and kill them.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, Cus, then that was also HT. I believe it was in his Counting Up, Counting Down anthology.

That story in "Counting-up, Counting-down" was pretty good. The Apocalypse is not so much of a much. :lol:

Wait, did it still occur, or did the slaughter of the Horsemen sort of postponed it like indefinitely?

I remember reading the article on this story because it really amused me.

I also like the HT story where a Jewish time-traveler goes back to the Beginning, meets God, comes back and shares his revelation; as a result, humanity mass-converts to Judaism.
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MapleLeafs4Ever
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Custer
Feb 2 2008, 04:17 PM
MapleLeafs4Ever
Feb 2 2008, 04:14 PM
The Guy from Fiji
Feb 2 2008, 03:44 PM
Custer
Feb 2 2008, 02:47 PM
I also read of a short story by someone set during the battle of Verdun in 1916, when the Four Horsemen appear in No Man's Land and start preparing for doom. Both Germans and Frenchmen, desensitized after two years of brutal inhuman warfare, simply turn their machine guns toward the newcomers and kill them.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, Cus, then that was also HT. I believe it was in his Counting Up, Counting Down anthology.

That story in "Counting-up, Counting-down" was pretty good. The Apocalypse is not so much of a much. :lol:

Wait, did it still occur, or did the slaughter of the Horsemen sort of postponed it like indefinitely?

I remember reading the article on this story because it really amused me.

I also like the HT story where a Jewish time-traveler goes back to the Beginning, meets God, comes back and shares his revelation; as a result, humanity mass-converts to Judaism.

The slaughter of the horsemen plus other demons, the Anti-Christ, and etc. postponed it. Its just that the events of the Book of Revelations occurred in Verdun and, compared to two years of WWI fighting, made it a relatively peaceful day.

The Jewish time-traveler didn't actually travel back in time. He used a time-viewer which displayed past events. Also a good story.
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Makkabee
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Not exactly AH though. You could argue that The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump is AH since it's got a world with origins recognizably like ours but different major powers -- Persia as a transportation powerhouse because of its magic carpet industry, etc.

Or Margaret Ball's Changeweaver, where the Manchus cut off seaborne trade to China using wind demons and Victorian Britain is trying to figure out how to open a trade route that bypasses Russian central Asia (the old Silk Road).
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MapleLeafs4Ever
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Makkabee
Feb 2 2008, 08:26 PM
Not exactly AH though. You could argue that The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump is AH since it's got a world with origins recognizably like ours but different major powers -- Persia as a transportation powerhouse because of its magic carpet industry, etc.

If you are going to count this sort of thing, then you might look at Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos where the protagonist is a werewolf and is married to a witch. The two meet while in the U.S. Military fighting an alternate WWII, also against Persia I believe. Broomstick vs flying carpet air battle(s) as I recall among other things.

The main story takes place in the alternate 1950s where our hero is a Government agent fighting spies from a stand-in for the Soviet Union.
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Makkabee
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I'll have to check that out. Anderson's done some really good work.
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TR1
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Custer
Feb 2 2008, 02:47 PM
Evidently there's a HT short story about a dragon getting pissed off and incinerating an entire Soviet garrison during the Soviet War in Afghanistan. I don't think it had any effect on history, as it was kept under wraps by both sides and it didn't do much to influence the course of the war anyway.

It doesn't change anything. Just a conventional "war is hell story" with a dragon thrown in. The time and setting are a nice change of pace for HT.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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Makkabee
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Anyone read the Heirs of Alexandria series?
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