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Overview
Some of today's top science fiction writers explore the futures that might have been, including original stories from Julie E. Czerneda and other great names in the genre.
Synopsis
Fifteen original tales of "what if"
Some of today's top science fiction writers explore the futures that might have been, including original stories from Julie E. Czerneda and other great names in the genre.
Heather Lisowski - KLIATT
What ifa? Every one of the 15 stories in this collection asks this question in a different way. What if the transmission of the Black Plague by fleas had been discovered earlier? What if lasers had been invented sooner? But the basic question each one of them asks is what if the past had unfolded differently? The authors of these stories explore a variety of historical and scientific possibilities. Readers will be touched by Dorranna Durgin's "A Call from the Wild," a heart-wrenching story about what would have happened if the dog had not been domesticated and had instead become a creature to be feared and even hated. In "Silent Leonardo," Kage Baker asks what might have happened to the practices of warfare if Leonardo Da Vinci's brilliant ideas had not remained merely visions, but had rather been carried out by those who recognized their brilliance. In "Site Fourteen" by Laura Anne Gilman, we see what might have happened if the race to explore space was replaced by the desire to explore the deepest parts of the ocean. These stories would have a great curricular advantage in many subject areas. History, science, and even math classes could use them as supplementary material to their lessons. Each of the stories has a "Revision Point" that explains how the past actually unfolded, so that readers can get an idea of where the changes lie within the story. This is an entertaining collection that is also quite educational despite (or perhaps even because of) the historical revisions. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, Penguin, DAW, 312p., Ages 15 to adult.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewFans of alternate history will undoubtedly enjoy ReVisions, an anthology of 15 never-before-published stories that explore slightly amended scientific discoveries and their effects on civilization. What would happen if the AIDS epidemic had erupted a century earlier? What if humankind looked to the depths of the ocean instead of the stars? What if the Black Death had been averted? Those questions and more are answered within.
Noteworthy stories include "Unwirer," by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross, a chilling look at a near-future America where the Motion Picture Association of America won its 1995 bid at the National Information Infrastructure hearings to redesign the Internet and turned it into a centralized, regulated, user-unfriendly nightmare. "Swimming Upstream in the Wells of the Desert," by Mike Resnick and Susan R. Matthews, takes place in a future where cold fusion energy has irrevocably changed the worldwide economy; and "The Resonance of Light," by Geoffrey Landis, speculates about how the Serbian inventor Nicola Tesla could have stopped WWI with an auspicious scientific discovery. Doranna Durgin's "A Call to the Wild" follows a shepherd named Neil, as he tries to do his job in a world where dogs were never domesticated; and "Silent Leonardo," by Kage Baker, takes a look at a 16th-century Europe where Leonardo da Vinci's numerous notes and sketches are developed for military use.
Historic revisionists everywhere will delight in these scientifically and technologically based literary speculations. For readers that frequently ask, "What if?" -- this collection is definitely for you. Paul Goat Allen
KLIATT
What ifa? Every one of the 15 stories in this collection asks this question in a different way. What if the transmission of the Black Plague by fleas had been discovered earlier? What if lasers had been invented sooner? But the basic question each one of them asks is what if the past had unfolded differently? The authors of these stories explore a variety of historical and scientific possibilities. Readers will be touched by Dorranna Durgin's "A Call from the Wild," a heart-wrenching story about what would have happened if the dog had not been domesticated and had instead become a creature to be feared and even hated. In "Silent Leonardo," Kage Baker asks what might have happened to the practices of warfare if Leonardo Da Vinci's brilliant ideas had not remained merely visions, but had rather been carried out by those who recognized their brilliance. In "Site Fourteen" by Laura Anne Gilman, we see what might have happened if the race to explore space was replaced by the desire to explore the deepest parts of the ocean. These stories would have a great curricular advantage in many subject areas. History, science, and even math classes could use them as supplementary material to their lessons. Each of the stories has a "Revision Point" that explains how the past actually unfolded, so that readers can get an idea of where the changes lie within the story. This is an entertaining collection that is also quite educational despite (or perhaps even because of) the historical revisions. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, Penguin, DAW, 312p., Ages 15 to adult.—Heather Lisowski