WI James Michener had tried his hand at AH?

[Flocculencio]

I'm a Michener fan and I can't help but think about how glorious that might have been. A massive, deeply researched tome along the lines of The Source or Covenant

Michener, like Frank Herbert, wasn't the best of writers but both of them were amazing storytellers.

[fortyseven]

well it'd be better than the vast majority of Turtledove's stuff

[Kidblast]

Wow! I bet it would be something like For Want of A Nail, the best AH book I've ever read!

I really like Michener, and I especially liked the Covenant, and the Source. I have Carribean in my library at home.

[Prunesquallor]

Actually neither Herbert nor Mitchener were very much good as story tellers. Herbert had the knack of presenting an interesting situation (HELSTROM'S HIVE remains my favourite) but never (to me, anyway) seemed to be able to do much with it. Mitchener's charm rested in the mass of semi-digested information he offered- not the best foundation for AH.

[JHPier]

I thought that Michener's novels (well, the two I read) had too much history to be good novels, and too much fiction to be good history.

Judging by the understanding of history displayed any AH would be more pedestrian and unimaginative than Turtledove's.

IMO his best book was Iberia, a travel book.

[Prospero]

Actually, he did, in a small way. In 1982 he wrote a novel called "Space" about a fairly diverse cast of characters who are involved in the US space programme from the 40s to the 80s. It features a fictitious Gemini 13 and Apollo 18 (the latter involves a landing on the far side of the Moon and leads to the first US space fatalities). It's a reasonably OK read, but doesn't feature any obvious historical divergences as a result of the additional NASA missions. A bit of a wasted opportunity, really.

[edvader]

Loved The Source and Hawaii.Adored Chesapeake because it is set in Maryland.Anyone read Centennial and see the 26 hour TV series.BTW South Pacific-the musical is based on Tales from the South Pacific-a collection of short stories.