The Alternate History: Refiguring Historical Time

by Karen Hellekson

What would the world be like if history had taken a different course? Science fiction literature has long contemplated this interesting question. The Alternate Refiguring Historical Time examines alternate history science fiction using the eschatological, genetic, entropic, and teleological historical models. Hellekson’s original approach explains much of the appeal of alternate history and distinguishes among the many varieties of the genre. In her measured consideration of a range of writers, Hellekson displays a deep and broad knowledge of the major works in this genre―those by famous or neglected writers alike.

Genres: Nonfiction

142 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2000

Reviews

[Candy Wood]

Considering how much repetition is in this text, the book is surprisingly short. Karen Hellekson mentions some British works but mostly focuses on alternate histories by Americans: Ward Moore, H. Beam Piper, Frederik Pohl, Philip K. Dick, and Poul Anderson. The discussion of English writer Brian Aldiss offers no comment on any differences between his methods and those of the American writers. She asserts that her study is the first published examination of the relationship between a science fiction genre and history, and that the alternate history genre is worth reading for its suggestion that individuals can make a difference; the idea that such books are also fun to read is occasionally implied. Most of the works under discussion were published more than ten years before the study’s 2001 publication date, with Moore’s book dating back to 1953: it would be interesting to consider how the genre has developed in more recent years.

[Therese Wiese · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up because I was interested in one of the topics - Philip Dick's "The Man in the High Castle". But I found this book tedious to read. Even the conclusion chapter made no sense to me. It seems to almost be like someone's thesis. I'm really sad about this, as the topic was of interest to me. I will monitor subsequent reviews, and may pick it back up at some point.