What if Harry Turtledove had never existed?

I know Turtledove wasn't the first to write alternate history, and he certainly isn't the only person to do so. But he has had quite an impact on the genre. So without him, how would it have developed? Do people write about different types of timelines? Who'd the Turtledove award be named after?

Side proposal: What would he have written if his kids had won the prestigious ASB scholarship?
 
alot of us probably wouldn't be here on this board. as critical as we are of him, Turtledove's works ARE pretty much the best way to be introduced to alternate istory
 
For me not much would have changed since I never read ony of his book they aren't published in my language.
 
AH teaches us that his place would have been taken by a far worse writer, who would reduce public perception of AH to the status of furry porn.

Bruce
 
AH teaches us that his place would have been taken by a far worse writer, who would reduce public perception of AH to the status of furry porn.

Bruce

Actually Turtledoves own writings teach us that his place would have been taken by a similar writer named harold tortoisepigeon.
 
But what if Tortoisepigeon is a Nazi Confederate?

But, seriously, a lack of Turtledove would be very bad for the genre. There don't seem to be many authors with mainstream fame who write a lot of Alternate History.
 
But what if Tortoisepigeon is a Nazi Confederate?

But, seriously, a lack of Turtledove would be very bad for the genre. There don't seem to be many authors with mainstream fame who write a lot of Alternate History.

Amen, for all the people that complain about the plausibility about his work, it has brought popular acclaim and widespread recognition to the genre, attracting many of us here. He is in many regards the Founding Father of the genre, much as the Greek were to the early theories of Democracy, Turtledove is to the genre.
 
I for one wouldn't be here. I wiki'd him and there was a link to this board, on the same page.
His house may not be as nice, not that I've ever seen it.
 

drakle

Banned
Turtledove might be the founder of Alternative History but he isn't a very good writer. Many people Calbear, BlondieBC and Eurofed are a few examples of good storylines and are better than Turtledoves Super butterfly net TM stories.
 
Turtledove might be the founder of Alternative History but he isn't a very good writer. Many people Calbear, BlondieBC and Eurofed are a few examples of good storylines and are better than Turtledoves Super butterfly net TM stories.

And the Greeks and Founding Fathers weren't the pinnacles of Democracy, but their legacy and works inspired others to build upon them.
 
alot of us probably wouldn't be here on this board. as critical as we are of him, Turtledove's works ARE pretty much the best way to be introduced to alternate istory

I'm not in that group. Never read his Alt history writing. Did read some of his early stuff back in the 1970s or 80s.
 
It feels strange to say that without Harry Turtledove Alternate History would even LESS mainstream. It isn't exactly a common thing as is.
Oh and I would not have been introduced to this cite.
 
Read him late...

...But preferred L. Sprague de Camp (Lest Darknesss Fall) and Harry Harrison (The Technicolor Time Machine).

...I was writing about an alternate world from 1979, but Harrison's later stuff put me off publishing...:(

...Turtledove is rough compared to Camp and Harrison. Cross-species sex just seems to be written for the market...

My inspirations? Tolkien, Clarke, Heinlein, Asimov - and William Blake..
 
Other authors have written AH besides Harry Turtledove. Ben Bova and Harry Harrison among others. Turtledove happens to be the one name that is most likely to be recognized by people are not necessarily fans of AH.
 
Let's hope S M Stirling isn't the one to fill in his spot. Maybe Phillip K Dick's Man in the High Castle would be better known as alternate history.
 
My aunt and uncle once gave me a book of his short stories when I was in high school, some of which were AH. I had thought about alternate history before, but my previous exposure to the genre was Sliders and I'd heard about some comic books that cross over to other universes. I'd never read a book on before that one. I don't think he's really a bad writer in terms of plot or narrative, but he does use some logical fallacies to help make his stories work. I consider this to be acceptable just like a science fiction writer using FTL ships and extremely humanoid aliens to help a story work, but I think Turtledove goes too far.
 
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