 What if the Nazis had won the Second World War (Fatherland – Robert Harris, The Man in the High Castle – Philip K Dick) or England had remained Catholic (Pavane – Keith Roberts, The Alteration – Kingsley Amis) or if Alaska rather than Israel had become the Jewish homeland (The Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Michael Chabon)? Or perhaps if Roosevelt had lost the 1940 election and right-wing Charles Lindbergh had become US president (The Plot Against America – Philip Roth)?
These are serious works. No aliens, no time-travellers slipping back to points in history to change it, no fantasy or magic, just a development of history on a different course triggered sometimes by a very minor historical event. I recommend Erik Durschmied’s The Hinge Factor – How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History which shows how easily this could, and has, happened.
So what if it did?
The trigger causes a “point of divergence” (POD) splitting it from “our timeline” i.e. the history we know and live in, to the “alternate timeline” in which some or many things have changed to create a new, alternate world. Quite a number of things in the alternate world will seem the same as the ones we know in our normal time which gives us a false anchor. Others, including social structures and attitudes as well as politics and nations, may be disturbingly different.
Scientific investigation into parallel universes and alternate worlds has prompted new thought and writing. With the advent of the Internet, wide-ranging discussion and speculation has appeared in newsgroups, blogs, and produced sites like Althistory Wiki, Alternative History Weekly Update and a well-respected magazine AltHist which publishes alternative and historical short stories. The Historical Novelists’ Society embraces alternative history in its remit and is including a session on alternative history in its September conference.
In books, film and television, alternate history has often been flavoured with time travel or timeslip, e.g. Sliding Doors or Eric Flint’s 1632 series of books or fantasy such as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell or Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. Steampunk, which originated during the 1980s and early 1990s, incorporates elements of alternate history as well as science fiction, fantasy, horror and speculative fiction.
As with any other genre or sub-genre, the writing varies, as does the plausibility of themes and plots. Personally, I believe you have to know your own timeline history well, or know how to research it methodically and extensively before attempting to “alternate” it. New terms have been created in alternate history discussion groups to deal with anomalies. Said to have originated on the usenet group soc.history.what-if, the term “alien space bats” is used to criticise implausible alternate histories or an improbable deus ex machina. Dan Hartland in Strange Horizons called alien space bats “everyone’s favourite SF plot McGuffin”.
 For me, the most appealing alternate history stories are those set naturally in their world without info dumps or long explanations. Yes, we need some clues, and yes, we need character 1 to tell character 2 to duck when a steam-driven arquebusque loaded with a radiating bullet is about to blow their head off. But we don’t need a full explanation of how the technology was developed. Keith Robert’s Pavane suffers a tad from this. In her Eve Dallas detective series set in 2057 J D Robb effortlessly describes the futuristic elements as they arise, and only in bare, scraped detail. These are not alternate history as such, but crime stories set in a different, though possible future. I use them to illustrate the style I’m aiming for.
Writers can use techniques such as photos, pictures, the new person asking the long-standing resident, reading the info online, reading a map, or asking a guide, getting an older relative/mentor to recount something to fill in these gaps, but not in a dump-y way. The essential thing is to get the alternate world’s history right and then develop it around the story in a plausible way. This is not easy and the odd spreadsheet helps…
At its best, alternate history challenges fixed ideas while providing entertainment. Readers, especially those who haven’t tried an alt history book before, are intrigued by the different setting, but are still after the things I listed at the end of this post – in summary, a cracking good story with emotional grip. In my own books, where the POD was over 1,500 years ago. I use an alternate world not only as a setting but as an essential interactive layer – a mix of culture clash with temperament clash.
 And plot? In Book 1 the heroine, from a version of the New World that looks reasonably familiar to us, is having enough trouble dealing with an uncompromising special forces officer from a very different Europe, let alone struggling to stay alive when a vengeful enforcer is attempting to obliterate her.
Alternative history gives us a rich environment in which to develop our storytelling. I’m taking full advantage of this, but above all, I’m aiming to give the reader some damn good thrillers!
More info:
Alt Hist: Historical Fiction and Alternate History -The new magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History
Alternative History Weekly Update
Wikipedia – Alternate history article
Uchronia: The Alternate History List is an online database that contains 2900 alternate history novels, stories, essays and other printed material
Althistory.wiki
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 Agents are busy people – we know that – so when I read this (handwritten) note, I was strangely pleased:
“Please forgive my incredibly slow response, but I liked your writing and had put it aside to get back to. It’s not right for my list, but I’m sure you will find an agent to suit.”
The cynical may say it’s pretty standard, but this was a personal note added after the formal printed text. Me, I regard it as a near miss.
The last few replies from agents have said nice things about my writing: “well-written”, “intelligent”, “your work is good”, so I’m happy that the quality of my work is at publishable level.
It’s the list thing. Publishing is at an uncertain place and I can understand that companies are opting for the safe and known. I write thrillers with an alternative history setting, which is probably speculative in all senses of the word.
But I have faith, but hopefully not hubris, that my books will be published.
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As  I promised in the previous post, I’ve turned my beady eye to current bestsellers and read through some of the Amazon bestselling rankings reviews. These are some of the words the readers and critics used about them:
The Thread – Victoria Hislop
Twin timeline, discovery, history, fast narrative, sense of pace, fresh, intrepid storytelling, layers, interconnection, drama, page turning quality, well researched, evocative, something to lose yourself in
Me Before You – Jojo Moyes
Charismatic, credible, compelling characters, heartfelt, poignant, makes me laugh, perceptive, well-drawn, powerful, heartfelt, thought provoking, emotional punch, moral dilemma, life and death decision, entertaining
Before I Go To Sleep – S J Watson
Bewildering internal world, chilling intimacy, betrayal, mystery all the way, unravel, tension, discovery, shocking
The Kashmir Shawl – Rosie Thomas
Quest, missing baby, two timelines, physical jeopardy, women’s friendship, honest, compassionate, family secrets, love, warmth, clarity, touching, believable
The Blood Banker – David Prever
Gripping, vivid storytelling, action sequences keep you reading, plot races along, cracking good read, well-researched, page turner, filmic, believable characters, danger, suspense, background info well led in, authentic
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller
Timeless language, historical details perfect, captivating, enthralled, ravishingly vivid, convincing, original, clever, in a class of its own, incredibly compelling, seductive fresh take, extraordinary, beautifully descriptive, heart-achingly lyrical, love story, sensitive, intuitive, sexy. dangerous, mystical
and a personal favourite:
Fatherland – Robert Harris
Highest form of thriller, non-stop excitement, clever, ingenious, convincing, chilling, suspense, gripping, tightly constructed, utter surprise, fast-paced
My conclusion?
Irrespective of genre, style or tone, several things emerge:
pace/tension
research/authenticity
cleverness
attention gripping/enthralling
emotional pull/relationship
credible characters
mystery/suspense/secret
a big dilemma
and a surprise element, time or setting that’s just a bit different.
Or is there something else?
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.
Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines and taste world the latest contemporary thriller Double Identity… Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. As a result, you’ll be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
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I don’t get ranty very often, but the anti-rant barrier broke this morning as I listened to the mouthings on Yesterday in Parliament on BBCRadio 4.
The Olympic Games security plan looks poorly planned and executed, so further military personnel have been brought in to help.
Several points: Thank goodness we have professional, well-disciplined forces we can draw on. Thank goodness they are highly trained and experienced in dealing with civilians under stress. Thank goodness they are not the pitiless troops of some African warlord who corrupts and kills children. Instead, we have citizen soldiers, well respected by 98% of the community.
The press has a weird attitude. They love being amongst soldiers, borrowing their lifestyle and perceived glamour for a few hours. They mouth words like “assets” and “inflitration”, wear camouflage jackets and armoured vests as they pop in to do a piece from Afghanistan. War zones are dirty, noisy and scary as hell, but the military make the press welcome and show more the cameraderie and dedication than the relentless pressure and sheer slog of military life.
On the other hand, the press bitches about the impact these “tough and dangerous troops” are going to have on the Olympic visitors. Me, I’d feel a lot safer with them on the gate than being checked by some bored bloke or girl doing a few weeks’ work after a short course in ticking boxes with a private company. Maybe that’s harsh on the security company, but you get the idea.
And whatever the merits of the criticism about the security plan, I feel depressed and angry when opposition MPs and the press project soldiers as threatening or intimidating just to score points. They are there to protect us. And don’t get me started on the moans about having strategic artillery points in normally civilian areas. They are there to protect us. Those positions on top of tall buildings could be the one chance of stopping some mad terrorist’s incoming threat. Some say the military’s presence will attract terrorists – the residents wil become targets. No, if terrorists were planning a strike, they would come anyway. And the biggest moaners would be the first to complain if they were attacked and no such provision had been made.
The UK is still on a high threat level. The Olympics are a golden opportunity for terrorists to strike as well as a superb chance for 99.5% of us to watch world class sport of every kind.
A government’s prime duty is to protect its citizens. What they are proposing is a light touch. It really is. You won’t see most of the security measures in place and won’t have noticed the huge preparation that has gone on for many years before. The security organisations, military and police are working hard to protect all visitors to the games so the latter don’t have to be concerned, but can relax and enjoy them.
The security is there to protect you. It may be personally irritating, but it’s collectively a shield. Grow up and deal with it.
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 Wouldn’t every publisher, agent and writer want to know the answer to that one?
I’ve been on the Goodreads site, rating the books I’ve read. Analysing my own behaviour as a reader, I’ve been surprised by what I’ve picked out: historical fiction, adventure, romance, thriller, literary, fantasy, young adult, psychological, crime, contemporary, epic, speculative/science fiction, mystery. You name it, I’ll try it. My significant other groans when I announce I’m going on a buying trip in a bookshop. I’ll come out with a dozen or more books whose choice has baffled the bookseller, and him.
Why I pick the book up: attractive cover with dramatic figures, historical setting, intriguing font, colour impact, guns, uniforms, badges, symbols, classic painting or landscape or stylised design, and a strapline or testimonial that pulls my interest.
Next, I read the blurb and reviews: an intriguing dilemma, possibly related to something I know about or which I can identify with, different timelines (a favourite!), a ‘what if’ or setting far away from my own one, some snippets about the main character(s), some urgency/deadline, the impact of the plot on others or the characters’ world and their world on them. Oh, and if it’s Romans in any shape, form or reference, that gets extra points of attractiveness.
Then I read the first paragraph, followed by the remainder of the page. If I’ve reached page five without realising, that’s a very good sign. I’ll glimpse in the middle, but I won’t be tempted to look at the ending or I’ll spoil it for myself.
The other main reason I have books on my shelves is a recommendation: by a friend, a magazine/newspaper/radio programme, a bookseller, a bookblog or Twitter. But I’m choosy about whose recommendation I pick up. Not all recommenders are equal.
Next post, I’ll look at what elements are common to books that are currently selling well.
But first, what makes you stretch out your hand to pick up a particular book?
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, and PERFIDITAS. Third in series, SUCCESSIO, is now out and Book 4 is in the editing process!
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What if the Nazis had won the Second World War (Fatherland – Robert Harris, The Man in the High Castle – Philip K Dick) or England had remained Catholic (Pavane – Keith Roberts, The Alteration – Kingsley Amis) or if Alaska rather than Israel had become the Jewish homeland (The Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Michael Chabon)? Or perhaps if Roosevelt had lost the 1940 election and right-wing Charles Lindbergh had become US president (The Plot Against America – Philip Roth)?
For me, the most appealing alternate history stories are those set naturally in their world without info dumps or long explanations. Yes, we need some clues, and yes, we need character 1 to tell character 2 to duck when a steam-driven arquebusque loaded with a radiating bullet is about to blow their head off. But we don’t need a full explanation of how the technology was developed. Keith Robert’s Pavane suffers a tad from this. In her Eve Dallas detective series set in 2057 J D Robb effortlessly describes the futuristic elements as they arise, and only in bare, scraped detail. These are not alternate history as such, but crime stories set in a different, though possible future. I use them to illustrate the style I’m aiming for.
And plot? In Book 1 the heroine, from a version of the New World that looks reasonably familiar to us, is having enough trouble dealing with an uncompromising special forces officer from a very different Europe, let alone struggling to stay alive when a vengeful enforcer is attempting to obliterate her.
