Commentaires client les plus utiles
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3.0étoiles sur 5
Methinks These Alternates Need Some Work, Juil 12 2009
This is the second book I've read in Mike Resnick's Alternate anthology series (the third in the series itself chronologically), and I am thinking that he should have spent a little more time either choosing his writers or choosing which historical figures to write 'What Ifs' on.
That's not to say that there aren't some good and intriguing stories here, but they are thrown rather out of whack by the bad, some of the which are not even to be considered alternate history.
The two short stories (and I do mean short) by Jack Nimersheim are the worst, no doubt. One about Mother Teresa and one about Stephen Hawking. The idea of each is quite interesting, as you wouldn't think of violence around either of those two, but the actual results here are just terrible. Neither story takes place in the past (in fact, both stories take place in the future, from when these stories were published,anyway), and neither deals with the person in question taking a more violent path. Not to mention that by the end of the Teresa story I wasn't even sure what had happened.
The other problem with this story is the alternate warriors that were chosen. Some were easy to understand and get wrapped up in like Martin Luther King,Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Moses and Jesus Christ because everyone knows so much about them now; they're still household words. But so many stories were about people I had never heard of before, and it's hard to accept that in alternate history, because if you don't know what originally happened to that person, how can you know when they've taken an alternate path? That included individuals like Federico Garcia Lorca, King Tut's wife: Ankhesenpaaten, St. Francis of Assissi, Albert Schweitzer, Sisygambis, and the list unfortunately goes on.
At least some authors had the courtesy to tell us their chosen character's original history before the story began, it made things a lot easier (thank you, Mike and Laura Resnick, I guess some things do run in the family).
Nevertheless, there are still some good ones here:
Mike Resnick's 'Mwalimu in the Squared Circle', where two African leaders agree to a boxing match to settle their war.
Michael P. Kube-McDowell's Gandhi story, 'Because Thou Lovest The Burning Ground', where the lovable peacepreacher goes down another road earlier in his life and winds up in a death cult. I admit it seems to sag a little bit around the middle, but it makes up for it with its ending!
Laura Resnick's 'The Vatican Outfit', where a soon-to-be assassinated Pope has help from the Mob to keep his 'affairs' in order...I couldn't help it! This story is silly, I admit, but it's still terrifyingly plausible and just a little morbid to cast an edge on the humour.
Nicholas DiChario's 'Extreme Feminism' story about Susan B. Anthony. I read this guy's earliest published story (a beautiful alternate Kennedy story entitled 'The Winterberry') just a month or so ago, and I gotta say that if these are the kinda stories this guy turns out, let 'em come, man!
Mercedes Lackey's 'Jihad' on TE Lawrence (better known to the masses as Lawrence of Arabia). This story is mesmerizing, it sucked me right in and I can barely even complain that I barely know anything about the guy. Also points for putting a guy who was already a warrior onto another path to become a different sort of warrior.
Bill Fawcett's 'Zealot' about Moses. Not the best here, but still engaging, and yes, all too possible...
'Standing Firm' by Barbara Delaplace, a short but sweet tale where British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has to choose between letting Hitler continue his 'rightful' invasions or to cut him off. Will he make the same choice he did in our world, or will he stand firm?
Jack Haldeman II's 'Death of a Dream', the second, and far better, Martin Luther King parable in this collection, where the actions of J. Edgar Hoover leave a once peaceful man no alternative but the most violent form of recourse.
And lastly, and oddly, Josepha Sherman's 'Monsieur Verne and the Martian Invasion.' It wasn't alternate history the way I usually like it, with a simple choice or bit of chance causing the difference, but it was still good. Here is a world where Jules Verne was not simply a writer, but an engineer, a man whose ideas created airplanes and space travel in the 1880s. This is just a good, old fashioned sci-fi story with just a touch of alternative to stir it up. This story surprised me, and I was quite happy to be surprised.
And through the good and the bad were the other stories, stories that were just there, having a few little quirks or clever thoughts but nothing that really stood out as spectacular. Personally, I think that may be worse than a bad story, at least you can hate a bad story.
So overall, I say 3 out of 5. Better than Alternate Kennedys by a bit, but not as good as 'The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century' (which sadly also had several flaws). I know that when I read alternate history, I'm looking for something, and sometimes I get a little taste of whatever it is in the odd story. The problem is that in this little volume, odd stories are hard to find.
Maybe I should just stick with Alternate History novels for awhile...
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3.0étoiles sur 5
Three and a half star anthology, Avril 15 2004
ALTERNATE WARRIORS is an interesting conceit. What would happen if Jesus, Martin Luther King, Junior, Mohandas Ghandi, and other historical peacemakers had instead picked up the sword and fought back?My favorite story in this collection, bar none, was Mercedes Lackey's "Jihad." In this alternate-universe story, T.E. Lawrence turns his back on his own country and Westernism as a whole, and instead unites the Middle East. Great story, well told, and it made sense. Five stars plus for that. My second favorite story was Judith Tarr's "Queen of Asia." This twists known-history nicely, and brings Alexander to Asia as bridegroom, not conqueror. Four and a half stars for that. My third favorite story was Jack C. Haldeman II's "Death of a Dream." This story turns on King's "I have a dream speech," and asks the question, "What if he hadn't made it?" The bloody aftermath of that not happening made a great deal of logical sense. In addition, the choice of President after JFK died was an interesting one; Richard Daley (the first; mayor of Chicago during the 1968 riots at the Democratic National Convention). And King alludes to a certain Georgia governor, put on the ticket to placate moderates; Haldeman is surely alluding to Jimmy Carter, who I can well believe would have done something had he found himself in the horrible situation Haldeman describes. Four solid stars for that. I also really enjoyed Lea Hernandez' story "Al Einstein -- Nazi Smasher!" It was a great deal of fun to read; couldn't take it seriously, but enjoyed it all the same. Some of the other stories were good, some were blah. One didn't make much sense; maybe it needed more space? I refer to the Jane Austen story by Esther Friesner. I really like her conception of the history (in her take, Napoleon is alive and has conquered England, with the United States allying with France due to France's help in the American Revolutionary War). I enjoyed her view of Jane Austen -- she lives and breathes. And I can handle her unusual romances between Jane and Davy Crockett and Jane's sister falling in love with a French Lieutenant. I just can't buy that Jane would be allowed to go on Napoleon's ship. No matter what happened after that; it just took me right out of the reader's trance. The story succeeds on many levels; best I can do is refuse to rate this story, or rate it on its potential. Potential: five stars plus. But it's too short and needed more time. Another ten pages would have helped this story develop and grow nicely. I want to see more in this world; the story whetted my appetite for an alternate history with Jane Austen in it, and I really enjoy Ms. Friesner's writing. But this story was too short. Two and a half for it, wishing I could give it more. Most of the rest of the stories were marginal to good, but didn't really make much of an impression. So, the final tally is three and a half stars, recommended, mostly so you can read Ms. Lackey's incredibly realistic story about T.E. Lawrence. Barb Caffrey
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2.0étoiles sur 5
Weakened Warriors, Aoû 28 2001
Resnick's Alternates series is my personal favorite collection of alternate history stories, as editor Resnick has commissioned a wide variety of fiction writers in each to imagine alternate timelines and individuals. But Alternate Warriors fails where books like Alternate Kennedys and Alternate Presidents succeeds. While Mohandas Gandhi's evolution into a radical terrorist is plausible, many of the stories here -- Jane Austen captaining a warship? -- are just silly. Worse, they're not even interesting.
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