Best AH writer

[Melvin Loh]

Just wondering, who would you guys consider the very best AH writer of all time ?

[Diamond]

I think I'm going to have to go with *gulp* SM Stirling, simply because of the sheer imagination and diversity of his work.

[Justin Green]

Eric Flint. not only is he a great author he also is very easy to get in contact with visa the internet and he listens to anybodys ideas.

[zoomar]

Good question. Actually, two of my favorite AH novels, Proteus Operation and Man in the High Castle weren't written by people considered AH writers. I thought Come the Jubilee was well written (I don't remember the author's name). To be honest, I've really only read a lot of Turtledove and Sterling. Of the two, I'd say Sterling is a much more polished writer in every respect - so I guess he's my favorite. I'd also say Peshawar Lancers is most imaginative and best overall AH novel by an AH writer I've read. However, that all said, it is ususally Turtledove's stuff I wait for.

[Flocculencio]

Turtledove isn't IMHO a very good AH writer (or at least the quality of his work has been decreasing- I suspect JK Rowling-itis*).

For best AH writer, I'd have to go with Stirling for 'The Peshawar Lancers' or the guy who wrote 'Ressurection Day'.

The thing about HT is the sheer volume of his works.

*JK Rowling-itis: a condition reached when an authors popularity and his/her agents/publishers/greeds demands exceed his/her writing ability. We then end up with shoddy hackneyed novels.

[Faeelin]

I suspect that the best AH writers are on this board and SHWI.

[Flocculencio]

Whats SHWI?

[Diamond]

I suspect that the best AH writers are on this board and SHWI.

Actually, you're right. Some of the stuff I've seen on here would make excellent novels which I'd gladly shell out 20 or 30 bucks for in hardcover.

I picked Stirling because I think he's the best AH writer who's primarily known for AH above anything else. My favorite AH book though... I guess I still have to go with The Crystal Empire by L. Neil Smith. I LOVE that book! :D

[Faeelin]

Whats SHWI?

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=soc.history.what-if

Lots of neat TL's on there, although many of them are more scholarly than those here.

[Prunesquallor]

The only contenders (as far as I'm concerned) remain L Sprague de Camp ( for LEST DARKNESS FALL), Ward Moore (for BRING THE JUBILEE), and Norman Spinrad (for THE IRON DREAM).

[Norman]

L Sprague De Camp: Lest Darkness falls, amazingly good without the enormous lengths of modern works.

L. Neil Smith, nice vision and willingness to mix politics.

S.M. Stirling for being bold enough to work at the very edges of known history.

H. Beam Piper, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen is a Great Book, and I've always liked his style.

Harry Turtledove if only for his sheer productivity.

I also Liked the Norman Spinrad book because of the interesting slant it takes.

[Tetsu]

Hmmm. This is hard. While I haven`t heard much about it here, I really enjoyed The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Robinson, although some of the stories were a bit short. (I would have loved for a full novel to have been written on the War of the Asuras).

I do like Turtledove, although some of his characters do get very tedious. (Was there really any need for the Semprochs or Enos after the war?) I like the novels, even if it`s for no other reason than that I love the idea of a German/USA alliance. (I`d like a novel about this scenario if the CSA remained defeated in 1865.)

I haven`t read any Stirling, but now I think I`m going to have to, judging by these good reviews.

[Wombat]

H Beam Piper - his Paratime works are great - a genius cut short

Richard C Meredith - his Timeliner trilogy was really well thought out

L Spradue de Camp - Lest Darkness Falls was very good

Mary Gentle - Ash a secret history didn't win the sidewise award for nothing (and also one of her books, Grunts, is possibly the funniest novel I ever read!)

[Norman]

H Beam Piper - his Paratime works are great - a genius cut short



Here's a what if- what if he hadn't committed suicide, would he be better known?

[Wombat]

Definitely - his work was starting to become more popular. I think had he not killed himself he would of been aknowledged as being up there with Heinlen and Asimov as one of the greats of his era, both through his paratime work and his terro-human future history.

[Prunesquallor]

No. His books are enjoyable but limited. I always thought him very much one of the John Campbell/ Astounding Analog school. I can't see any direction in which he could have progressed.

[Norman]

No. His books are enjoyable but limited. I always thought him very much one of the John Campbell/ Astounding Analog school. I can't see any direction in which he could have progressed.

I hate to disagree, but I find I have to. Sure, he was into the 'black box' approach to explaining his science, but his later works show he was developing better skills at telling his stories, and his ideas were great.

Just as Asimov's writings develop and explore his interest in science and technology, Piper's interests in history were really beginning to come through, and as his style developed, he would have become a writer as well known as Asimov.

[Melvin Loh]

Actually, I'd also have to say that, besides Turtledove, some of my favourite AH texts are written by historians who aren't necessarily specifically AH writers, such as Peter Tsouras (DISASTER AT D-DAY) and Thomas Allen (CODENAME DOWNFALL), and some of the contributors to Robert Cowley's WHAT IF ? books, like Stephen Ambrose.

[Linkwerk]

I actually think that the first three Great War: American Front novels (well, and How Few Remain) were really good- the first AH I read, but also just a really cool concept executed well. Sadly, it's all downhill from there....

AH novels have sort of dissapointed me. I have to agree that the best TL"s I've read have been online.

[Peter Cowan]

To mention a couple that appear not to have been metioned yet;

Richard Cox - Operation Sealion - a novelisation of a wargame performed in 1970 by the British and German military academies of the Invasion of Britain (the British won). The wargame was noteworthy because most of the participants actually served in Junior/Middle ranking positions in 1940 and subsequently achieved high command within NATO. I suspect the book is long out of print though.

Christopher Evans - Aztec Century. Two major POD's - Cortez went native and a disease from the New World decimated Europe. The Aztecs became a great power and are busy conquering the Old World

[Diamond]

Christopher Evans - Aztec Century. Two major POD's - Cortez went native and a disease from the New World decimated Europe. The Aztecs became a great power and are busy conquering the Old World
I've been trying to find that book for months with no luck. It sounds a little ASBish, but a good read anyway.

[Xen]

I suspect that the best AH writers are on this board and SHWI.


I have to agree with you here Faeelin. Many very talented writers here, and lots of good ideas even though the writing skills leave something to be desired. I doubt however that we can all go in together and collaberate on an alternate history. Too many people have their own preconceived notions and wont let them go for anything.

[Grey Wolf]

Actually, I'd also have to say that, besides Turtledove, some of my favourite AH texts are written by historians who aren't necessarily specifically AH writers, such as Peter Tsouras (DISASTER AT D-DAY) and Thomas Allen (CODENAME DOWNFALL), and some of the contributors to Robert Cowley's WHAT IF ? books, like Stephen Ambrose.

The Tsouras book was very good, as was the Sealion novelisation of a wargame someone mentioned - I remember getting that out of the local library when I was about 13 !

Grey Wolf