What's the prevailing opinion about alternate history?

gothicangel

Toughen up.
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I read a couple of books by John Maddox Roberts where the premise was that Hannibal had won, and the Romans went into exile. Then they came back.

It worked, I think, very well. Partly because it wasn't covering centuries of time. The victory of Carthage wasn't affecting modern Europe. In only a generation, the Carthaginian victory was going to be reversed. And partly because the author knew his stuff. That last bit is every bit as important for alternate history as it is for historical fiction.

Sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for the tip. :D
 

Lillith1991

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I know I'm preaching to the choir, but too often I've encountered writers who say, "Oh, I don't have to bother with the research. It's Alternate History."

Goodness yes! I've got two projects on the backburner, one Alternate History with the same-sex marriage angle I mentioned up thread, and the other is based on a what if question. "What if vampires fought during the American Revolutionary War?" Fantastic elements or changes to history doesn't negate the need to get the actual Historical part of those genres correct.
 

writer_mccall

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Hi Eddy.
I'm a fellow migrant from alternatehistory.com. Though I still head back there from time to time.
Had the same issue as you, was writing but not getting many comments on my story/scenario threads.
Decided to go into self-publishing with it and ended up with 2 alternate history books out and re-igniting my passion for writing.
But alternate history is probably my top genre. Are any of your threads still up on the alt-hist forum? I'd be curious to check them out