Who likes 'What if' stories?

[Bear669]

WAIT for the poll. OPEN poll, with multiple votes.

Those of you who are into it will know what I mean. For the rest-

You could say that every piece of fiction is a "What if", however the genre is usually considered (and shelved at your local bookstore) as a sub-set of fantasy or science fiction. There are certainly lots of gray areas, but the key difference from other types of speculative fiction is that the change from actual world history happens in the PAST.

The next critical division is between a) 'pure what if' and b) a whole lotta 'what if' novels and short stories that involve Sci-Fi.

a) For a purist, the best tales are based on minimal changes that have HUGE consequences to BIG issues in history (Asimov). For example-
i) South captures Union plans before a key battle, and wins the US civil war.
ii) The Valkyrie Plot kills Hitler because the bomb is NOT moved a few inches.
iii) The UK captures South Africa decades before it actually happened.

b) All kinds of twists are tossed in, often dealing with time travel or alternate universes-
i) Alien lizards attack Earth, right in the middle of WWII
ii) Nantucket Island and all inhabitants are suddenly transported to 1,250 BCE
iii) Racists from the future go back to 1862, and give the Confederacy lots of AK47s and ammo.

Even example bii) is 'purish'. There is no explanation of what happened, or how. The residents of the island must learn to survive with what is at hand (circa 1990).

Personally I can enjoy all types:great:. A huge part of the relative quality is based on the quality of the HISTORY (minus any Sci-Fi bits). The people, technology, science and society must be as accurate as possible, before and after the 'event'.

 

[Goodlooking]

Some are OK.

 

[Bubba]

Who cares. :drunk:

 

[blissful]

I like Sci-Fi that does not have anything to do with rewriting history. I feel cheated, the author could not come up with an original idea and uses the pass to rewrite it.
I like S. Lem and Philip K Dick.
What if the earth never was then we would not have the what if. Not sure if you would understand.
I want to be taken away not relive the past.

 

[Bear669]

Curious

Curious

I like Sci-Fi that does not have anything to do with rewriting history. I feel cheated, the author could not come up with an original idea and uses the pass to rewrite it.
I like S. Lem and Philip K Dick.
What if the earth never was then we would not have the what if. Not sure if you would understand. I want to be taken away not relive the past.

Dick's award winning "The Man in the High Castle" is often considered the grand daddy of the genre. In particular, it deals with a different outcome to WWII (sometimes it seems like everyone wants to to re-do WWII, especially American writers :neutral. Much of Dick's work consists of bleak dystopias (including TMITHC).

 

[blissful]

You are right about TMITHC, as Brash probably read it. I have not read everything of Dick, and that one I probably did not read because of WWII.
One of my favorite novel is Screamer, yes bleak dystopia but some what an original. I hate reading stories that are happy ever afters. I love chaos and it does leave you with an what if. Also I feel for Dick, as people say I live in my own little world and he had mental disorder.LMAO

S. Lem for me is funny, and different for lighter reading. I keep my writing and ideas simple. Big words Scare me, I don't want people thinking I have much intelligence.

You probably read Tolstoy.

 

[el matador]

Does reading Archie counts. :go:

 

[blissful]

Does reading Archie counts. :go:

Yes. like reading Robert Munsch. What if Mortimer went to sleep instead of sing.LOL