Reviews

The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century by Gregory Benfort, Greg Bear, Poul Anderson, William Sanders, Lewis Shiner, Bruce Sterling, Brad Linaweaver, Harry Turtledove, Jack L. Chalker, Nick DiChario, Ward Moore, Susan Shwartz, Allen M. Steele, Martin H. Greenberg, Larry Niven, Kim Stanley Robinson

ag11's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

pearseanderson's review

The first two pieces were great, but afterwards this "best of" collection felt unimaginative and frustratingly stubborn in wanting to talk about Nazis, Confederates, and slavery of the American white man rather than the best topics in alternate history: the Stoned Ape Hypothesis, Chaco Canyon supremacy, and the discontinued '70s cereal Waffelos. These weren't fun and I gave up eventually. 

valkyr's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

milos_dumbraci's review

2.0

overlong and over-boring - the description applies to almost all the stories*, and it definitely applies to the anthology as a whole, which I consider a failure. I am a history buff and also a scifi fan, so I expected and wanted to love this book. But I did not.
Most stories are not badly written, on the contrary; unfortunately, they are utterly uninteresting.

*the only exception being Chalker's ”Dance Band on the Titanic”, but even that is not a 5/5 because of the lame ending.

nicholasbobbitt1997's review

2.0

Is this really the best Alternate History has to offer? I doubt it.