I was curious, are Turtledove's alternate history stories considered ASB even compared to a lot of other althists?
He had a whole series where aliens invaded during WW2 (my introduction to alternate history in fact). Maybe that's not ASB since I suppose it could have happened.
He had a whole series where aliens invaded during WW2 (my introduction to alternate history in fact). Maybe that's not ASB since I suppose it could have happened.
I think it because we don't know whether or not aliens exist. Or how an alien species would look like.Aliens related threads and TLs are stated as ASB no matter how realistic they are or story is.
I think it because we don't know whether or not aliens exist. Or how an alien species would look like.
Furthermore one thing is too that them should have much more advanced technology that they could travel between solar systems. And travelling faster than light would require violation of laws of physics.
Same deal with time travel to the past. We don't know if it's even possible, let alone how it might work, so althist stories involving it are ASB even if there are hypothetical/theoretical ways it can be done.I think it because we don't know whether or not aliens exist. Or how an alien species would look like.
There are a few of his stories that have a Nazi conquest of India. Would they be considered ASB over the plausibility factor? Apart from how feasible that would have been, didn't Hitler have almost zero interest in India?
Turtledove writes for people who are not avid armature historians or actual historians or really rabid history buffs. So he has sprays a lot of insecticide on his works massacring 1000 of butterflies. that said Turtledove and Stirling are were a lot of people (myself included) got into Alternate history. I started with the TL-191 series back in 2001 as a teenager and have never looked back, I remember fondly hunting though the Barn's & Nobel Science Fiction Fantasy section for my next book.
There are a few of his stories that have a Nazi conquest of India. Would they be considered ASB over the plausibility factor? Apart from how feasible that would have been, didn't Hitler have almost zero interest in India?
Nazis wanted everything up to the borders of modern day Pakistan (I have no idea why). The rest of the subcontinent was Japan's feifdom.
Joe Steele is one of my favorites from him actually.I thought he had a winner in Joe Steele until I read it.But his cronies transplanted to California,the CCC turned into the gulag,instead of packing the SCOTUS he has them executed plus a few more bits just convinced me that he took a good premise and I guess LAZILY pumped it out.Definitely not saying I could do his thing,but I thought there was a lot of potential,maybe Joe Steele as political boss of California during the Depression and the battles with FDR and Federal government
I'd say a large amount of his stuff straddles the ASB line. Aside from his time travel/aliens stuff, he tends too heavy with the parallels (Ex: Timeline 191). The War That Came Early was kinda ASB after a certain point because of the "Big Switch" when France and Britain switch sides half way through the war to fight the USSR and then back again. (That said, I give Turtledove props for the originality).
Joe Steele is one of my favorites from him actually.