Published AH stories which would have been better as Forum Timelines

Which works of published alternate history would have benefited from instead being written in the style of one of our forum's timeline? This can include works written before the creation of the site.
The style I'm specifically referring to is the style we often see here nowadays, popularized by works like Decades of Darkness and used in newer timelines.
 
Mark Whittington’s Children of Apollo would have made for a proto-Eyes Turned Skyward if it was a TL.
 
I think one of the best things about this forum is feedback so I'd say Turtledove's The War That Came Early
With some healthy criticism, corrections and hindsight it could have made for a pretty good WWII TL
 
I think one of the best things about this forum is feedback so I'd say Turtledove's The War That Came Early
With some healthy criticism, corrections and hindsight it could have made for a pretty good WWII TL
I completely agree. The First two books were pretty solid but the Big Switch just came across nonsensical.
 
I have a suspicion that many, possibly most, published AH works, had they been tried out here 1st, would wind up being moved to the Writer's Forum (or to ASB) after running through the Scylla and Charybdis of the Discussion forums for a few pages :)
Some of that "healthy criticism" can get downright brutal.... I've heard about at least a couple well-known AH authors who tend to get a little... prickly... over critiques of their work, so I doubt they'd react too well to it... but it would make for a fun read while it lasted :p
 
I have a suspicion that many, possibly most, published AH works, had they been tried out here 1st, would wind up being moved to the Writer's Forum (or to ASB) after running through the Scylla and Charybdis of the Discussion forums for a few pages :)
Some of that "healthy criticism" can get downright brutal.... I've heard about at least a couple well-known AH authors who tend to get a little... prickly... over critiques of their work, so I doubt they'd react too well to it... but it would make for a fun read while it lasted :p
i've seen a lot of published AH that would get really raked over the coals here if presented as TL's. William Overgard's The Divide springs to mind.
 
i've seen a lot of published AH that would get really raked over the coals here if presented as TL's.
That's not actually a good thing. Most "soft AH" (the classic Axis/Confederate victory story) just uses the alternate history as the basis for what's to happen. So criticizing it on plausibility grounds, while valid, is kind of like criticizing Star Wars for having spacecraft behave like WWII fighters and laser swords being viable. (The reverse is also true, to be fair: Axis victories and the TL format do not go well together).

Really, the TL format is only suited IMO for a certain type of alternate history involving a lot of worldbuilding and explanation that can sustain the readers interest on its own. 95-99% of published AH doesn't fit that category.
 
A number of Robert Conroy’s books would fit this definition. At least the endings would be a bit more criticized. 1946 holds up pretty well though IMO.
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
That's not actually a good thing. Most "soft AH" (the classic Axis/Confederate victory story) just uses the alternate history as the basis for what's to happen. So criticizing it on plausibility grounds, while valid, is kind of like criticizing Star Wars for having spacecraft behave like WWII fighters and laser swords being viable. (The reverse is also true, to be fair: Axis victories and the TL format do not go well together).

Really, the TL format is only suited IMO for a certain type of alternate history involving a lot of worldbuilding and explanation that can sustain the readers interest on its own. 95-99% of published AH doesn't fit that category.
And Star Wars, like all other advanced tech/FTL is very much Writer's Forum or ASB.

The biggest issue with most published AH is that it, quite sensibly, is aimed at a much broader reader base than that which is present on the Board. It is almost all proper fiction (i.e. Writer's Forum or depending on the elements ASB). As an example - There is a story (by Turtledove? Been half of forever since I read it) that features a British action that bring the Union and Confederacy to end the Civil War and go after the British. It goes into great detail about how the Union monitors manhandle the HMS Warrior. Reads great, quite fun overall, with Longstreet and Sherman working side by side, etc.

Problem is that the description of Warrior's design is hot garbage, Put that in pre-1900 and the legions of Royal Navy experts (a term not used in any negative way, some of these folks could write books on the subject of the pre-steel RN) would have stopped the thread dead by utterly dismantling the critical plot element that allows the union ironclads to destroy Warrior. The average reader wouldn't care, hell probably never even heard of HMS Warrior until they read the book.

Successful book, DOA in pre-1900 (but likely as not a major hit in Writer's).
 

Deleted member 2186

I think one of the best things about this forum is feedback so I'd say Turtledove's The War That Came Early
With some healthy criticism, corrections and hindsight it could have made for a pretty good WWII TL
But without it we would not have been able to have several threads about TL-191 on the forum as they are.
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
But without it we would not have been able to have several threads about TL-191 on the forum as they are.
That is true for many, if not most serious attempts at ISOT stories. The original Islands in the Sea of Time presented a brilliant concept, but the stories that it generated by SM Stirling are wildly uneven, perhaps best demonstrated by the directly related "Emberverse" series. Started with a really innovative concept (although one that was some damned full of holes that it would serve admirably to drain pasta) with some interesting characters. The issues became increasingly obvious as sequel after sequel came out (I mean seriously, there wasn't a single brigade of the U.S. Army with enough leadership to hold together? Really?) and the series of novels turned into a slow motion train wreck.

You look in the ASB Forum and there are literally dozens of threads where the OP has taken the general concept and created vastly superior stories, in no small part because they know that they have to have a reasonably sensible set up lest someone come by and ask "What about Fort Lewis? that world seems like it is tailor made for the 75th Rangers."
 
As an example - There is a story (by Turtledove? Been half of forever since I read it) that features a British action that bring the Union and Confederacy to end the Civil War and go after the British. It goes into great detail about how the Union monitors manhandle the HMS Warrior. Reads great, quite fun overall, with Longstreet and Sherman working side by side, etc.
Sounds like Stars and Stripes Forever by Harry Harrison.
 

Deleted member 2186

There ya' go.

Thank you.
Well if Tutrledove wrote that series, it would be better than Harry Harrison version, they only thing i liked about it was the use of steam tanks in the last book.
 
Well if Tutrledove wrote that series, it would be better than Harry Harrison version, they only thing i liked about it was the use of steam tanks in the last book.
Yeah it had a lot of “rule of cool” stuff but unfortunately a lot of inaccuracies about British politics that goes into the realm of insulting.
 

Deleted member 2186

Yeah it had a lot of “rule of cool” stuff but unfortunately a lot of inaccuracies about British politics that goes into the realm of insulting.
I noticed when i read it and have seen it in many, many damaging reviews of the series i have read.
 
Well if Tutrledove wrote that series, it would be better than Harry Harrison version, they only thing i liked about it was the use of steam tanks in the last book.
Now I want a Separated at Birth style reconstructive rewrite/reimagining of Stars and Stripes written in the style of an AH.com timeline.
 
Top