conservative TLs
- Thread starter Alayta
- Start date
Law of Conservation of Chronomomentum
I'm not sure this is really true.
"Conservative" TLs - I guess we're talking about conservation of history rather than political conservatism - are easier. The more you change, the more you need to work out - at least if the TL is to hold any water, which of course a lot of them don't. So a lot of TLs are going to involve relatively minor changes.
And, obviously, the further back your PoD, the more you're going to change. You won't eliminate many modern nations by a 20th-century PoD, generally speaking.
But there are other TLs here that I would call quite radical - survival of Rome or Pharaonic Egypt, weird Celtic-speaking nations in New Zealand....
So I'm not sure how conservative this board is, as a whole.
Alayta said:
I'm not sure this is really true.
"Conservative" TLs - I guess we're talking about conservation of history rather than political conservatism - are easier. The more you change, the more you need to work out - at least if the TL is to hold any water, which of course a lot of them don't. So a lot of TLs are going to involve relatively minor changes.
And, obviously, the further back your PoD, the more you're going to change. You won't eliminate many modern nations by a 20th-century PoD, generally speaking.
But there are other TLs here that I would call quite radical - survival of Rome or Pharaonic Egypt, weird Celtic-speaking nations in New Zealand....
So I'm not sure how conservative this board is, as a whole.
NapoleonXIV
Banned
Part of the charm of AH is the same as regular historical fiction, ie the ability to use historical personages or events in your story. The closer you stay to real history the more you can do this, so it will tend to be conservative as to what develops in the OTL vs the ATL. Were you to follow what should logically happen in most cases after the POD you would be writing pure fantasy in less than 50 years.
'Course that can be part of its charm too, that way requires less meticulous research and more "informed imagination". The first type is more prevalent because it requires more hard work and writers thus think its more "honest", since most don't have any confidence in themselves and their imaginations
.
'Course that can be part of its charm too, that way requires less meticulous research and more "informed imagination". The first type is more prevalent because it requires more hard work and writers thus think its more "honest", since most don't have any confidence in themselves and their imaginations
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As was pointed out, it hassomething todo with how hard it is to extrapolate developments far from the POD, which is why we often just 'lock in' the politics after a century or so.
Another thing might be that most TLs seem to have the compulsion to go on till today. I actually prefer TLs that end maybe 50 or 100 years after the POD, while the extrapolations still make some sense. After all, if you posit a non-Christian Late empire it makes sense to posit a pagan Imperator Semper Augustus (or Pantokrator ton Rhomainon Sebastos) in about 500 AD, but after that it's really anyone's guess. So we end up with either plausible generalities ( my favorite method) or a 'familiar pattern' system.
Another thing might be that most TLs seem to have the compulsion to go on till today. I actually prefer TLs that end maybe 50 or 100 years after the POD, while the extrapolations still make some sense. After all, if you posit a non-Christian Late empire it makes sense to posit a pagan Imperator Semper Augustus (or Pantokrator ton Rhomainon Sebastos) in about 500 AD, but after that it's really anyone's guess. So we end up with either plausible generalities ( my favorite method) or a 'familiar pattern' system.
Grey Wolf
Donor
NapoleonXIV said:Part of the charm of AH is the same as regular historical fiction, ie the ability to use historical personages or events in your story. The closer you stay to real history the more you can do this, so it will tend to be conservative as to what develops in the OTL vs the ATL. Were you to follow what should logically happen in most cases after the POD you would be writing pure fantasy in less than 50 years.
'Course that can be part of its charm too, that way requires less meticulous research and more "informed imagination". The first type is more prevalent because it requires more hard work and writers thus think its more "honest", since most don't have any confidence in themselves and their imaginations
A lot of my favourite writing is basically alternate now's with their own alternate histories which have to be teased out by the reader. I used this idea in my abortive 'Newdays' story (all 6 parts posted in the Writers Forum) and currently in 'To Soar Like Icarus' (also posted in the Writers Forum, as well as my AHF board - see link in sig)
In terms of other people's writing that works like this, Jon Courtenay Grimwood's 'Arabesk' novels are a great example, whilst 'Napoleon Disentimed' and 'Elleander Morning' approach it through the device of dimensional travel
Grey Wolf
I think that one of the reasons for this perception is people see old empire lasting longer as conservative. I have noticed that, for example, the Byzitine Empire tends to survive in a lot of timelines. However, this is more likely do to the fact that it is easier and more fun to make TL's were empires than to speculate on whole new countries.