Reviews

Alternate Presidents by Mike Resnick

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pocketvolcano's review

5.0

I loved this book and could not put it down at all! Very good mix of stories and it ended with a properly zany one. It’s fascinating exploring “what if?” especially when done so by good authors.

As with most short story collections, this set is a little uneven, but for the most part, editor Mike Resnick has put together an excellent grouping. The premise behind each offering is "what would happen if the losing person was elected in X year?" What kind of president would Dewey have been? What would have been the course of the Civil War if Abraham Lincoln had never been president and instead, served as a general for the North? And what about the result of the first election I was able to vote in? What if Michael Dukakis had won instead of George Bush?

Mike Resnick has quite a few alternate timeline books to his credit. If this sort of literary conjecture is your cup of tea, do not miss out on this one.

thistlechaser's review

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1.0

A collection of stories about what would happen if whichever president won had actually lost.

First story: 50 or so pages, all in italics. I couldn't read it.

Second story: About Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (sir). It was the funniest experience attempting to read it. It was (of course) so different than the Hamilton musical, but apparently that Hamilton and Burr are forever in my head as the "right" characterization, so I couldn't read the story at all, because it was so "wrong". Sorry, author, my bad.

DNF from that point.