What would EAP not having such terrible luck in life cause? How would the face of Modern Literature look?
Or perhaps he stayed at West Point and become a military officer?
Or perhaps he stayed at West Point and become a military officer?
If Poe stayed in West Point, let's say he ends up in the lower middle of his class - probably enters the infantry.
He probably would find peacetime military service boring like many of his peers, and may well resign at some point.
If so, he might be an officer of volunteers in the Mexican-American war, which hypothetically could lead to fame.
From there, well, how long does he live? Its potentially possible for him to be a general in the ACW, but how well or for which side?
Must this butterfly him being a prolific author though? Surely some if not all his stories would be different, but just how different or the survival of (Colonel?) Poe as an author of fiction I'm not totally sure we can dismiss with certainty...
Malta Shah said:Unless, becoming an officer and serving in the AM War he writes gritty war stories about the blood and guts of the battlefield.
Very possible. Also very possible it adds a horrific aspect: ghosts fighting on after the battle ends, or something.
And, FYI, there was a story in Asimov's lo these many years ago on this very subject: General Poe, at Gettysburg IIRC. (Don't recall anything else.)
That could be it, but it's been too long; I don't recognize it.Elfwine said:This maybe? http://bookre.org/reader?file=297820 No Spot of Ground by Walter Jon Williams. Or another story?