Alternate HistoriesLike this list

21 items

• The Strange

  Ballingrud, Nathan,

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  Set in an alternate 1930s timeline where humanity has already established several settlements on Mars, 14-year-old Martian settler Annabelle leaves her family’s diner with a dishwasher robot companion on a quest for retrieve a stolen token of her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• You Dreamed of Empires

  Enrigue, Alvaro, 1969-

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  The meeting of conquistador Hernán Cortés and Aztec emperor Moctezuma in 1519 Tenochtitlan is reimagined, heightened, and humorized in this satirical novel by acclaimed Mexican author Alvaro Enrique.

• The Once and Future Witches

  Harrow, Alix E.,

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  The suffragette movement gets a healthy dose of witchcraft as three sisters fight for equal rights under the law, and in magic.

• The Calculating Stars

  Kowal, Mary Robinette, 1969-

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  When a meteor hits earth in 1952 and puts humanity on the path of inevitable extinction, efforts to reach and colonize other planets are extremely accelerated. But women are still on the sidelines, leading a group of women to fight against the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Everfair

  Shawl, Nisi,

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  In a steampunk anti-colonialist reimagining of the Belgian Congo in the 19th century, a utopia is created in the Congo when several groups band together to buy back land from King Leopold II to create a free, technologically advanced state. The…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Biography of X

  a Novel

  Lacey, Catherine, 1985-

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  Frequently named one of the best books of 2023, this experimental novel, set in a no-longer United States that experienced a civil war and southern secession after World War II, explores the life of controversial artist X as her grieving widow…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Same Bed Different Dreams

  a Novel

  Park, Ed, 1970-

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  This expansive book of interconnected stories imagines an alternate history for Korea if a secret society of spies, assassins, poets and other eccentrics were working together towards a unification for their country.

• The Conductors

  Glover, Nicole,

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  This version of the Reconstruction Era includes Conductors, a group of constellation-based magic practitioners who once used their powers to run the Underground Railroad, and now solve mysteries that the police ignore.

• Atomic Anna

  Barenbaum, Rachel,

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  Three generations of brilliant women travel back and forth in time in an effort to stop the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster.

• His Majesty's Dragon

  Novik, Naomi,

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  The Napoleonic Wars might have gone a little differently if dragons had been involved!

• The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

  White, Andrew Joseph,

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  A sixteen-year-old autistic transgender boy discovers he’s a medium with the power to control the dead, but in a strictly gendered Victorian society, and a finishing school that wants to control him, he must fight for the right to use his abilities.

• The Kingdoms

  Pulley, Natasha,

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  Joe Courier wakes up in a version of England colonized by the French during the Napoleonic Wars with no memory. When he receives a mysterious postcard written in illegal English with clues to an identity he can’t remember, he goes on a journey…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Three Miles Down

  Turtledove, Harry,

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  In 1974, a secret agency is trying to reach a sunken UFO on the ocean floor and make first contact with alien life. When science-fiction writer Jerry is recruited to the project, his knowledge of the genre turns out to be surprisingly helpful.

• A History of What Comes Next

  Neuvel, Sylvain, 1973-

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  Real historical figures and events collide over millennia as generations of mother-daughter research teams work to master space travel to escape an apocalyptic prophesy.

• River of Teeth

  Gailey, Sarah,

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  A plan to use hippos as an alternative meat source goes wrong when feral hippos take over the marsh of the Mississippi River. A band of hippo mercenaries is hired to deal with the dangerous invasive species in this speculative western.

• The Free People's Village

  Kern, Sim, 1986-

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  When Al Gore wins the 2000 election in this alternate timeline, radical steps are taken by the government to reverse climate change and turn US cities into eco paradises—but only for the white, wealthy elite. As Maddie Ryan sees gentrification…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Outlawed

  a Novel

  North, Anna,

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  Ada flees accusations of witchcraft by joining a band of female and gender nonconforming outlaws in the 19th century west.

• The Psychology of Time Travel

  a Novel

  Mascarenhas, Kate,

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  Four women scientists work to create the first time machine in 1967, but when one begins to suffer a breakdown, the future of their project is endangered.

• A Master of Djinn

  Clark, P. Djèlí,

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  In 1912 Cairo, the world was changed decades earlier when the veil between the magic and mortal world was brought down. Now the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities deals with the chaotic aftermath.

• A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians

  Parry, H. G.,

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  The Enlightenment Age gets a fantastical twist when historical figures like Robespierre and Toussaint L’Ouverture are reimagined as necromancers and magicians.