''Alternate Americas'' is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

short stories edited by

Gregory Benford Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the department of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reason ...

and

Martin H. Greenberg Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned ...

as the fourth volume in their

What Might Have Been "What Might Have Been" is a song recorded by American country music group Little Texas. It was released in May 1993 as the lead-off single from their second (and breakthrough) album, ''Big Time (Little Texas album), Big Time''. It was written by ...

series. It was first published in paperback by

Bantam Spectra Bantam Spectra is the science fiction division of American publishing company Bantam Books, which is owned by Random House. According to their website, Spectra publishes "science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative novels from recogniza ...

in October 1992. It was later gathered together with '' Alternate Wars'' into the omnibus anthology ''What Might Have Been: Volumes 3 & 4: Alternate Wars / Alternate Americas'' (Bantam Spectra/SFBC, December 1992). The book collects fourteen novellas, novelettes and short stories by various science fiction authors, with an introduction by Benford.

* "Introduction" (

) * "Report of the Special Committee on the Quality of Life" (

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed his ...

) * "Ink from the New Moon" ( A. A. Attanasio) * "Vinland the Dream" (

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...

) * "If There Be Cause" (

Sheila Finch Sheila Finch (born 29 October 1935) is an author of science fiction and fantasy. She is best known for her sequence of stories about the Guild of Xenolinguists. Biography Sheila Finch was born on 29 October 1935 in London, England. She attended ...

) * "Isabella of Castile Answers Her Mail" (

James Morrow James Morrow (born March 17, 1947) is an American novelist and short-story writer known for filtering large philosophical and theological questions through his satiric sensibility. Most of Morrow's oeuvre has been published as science fiction ...

) * "Let Time Shape" (

George Zebrowski George Zebrowski (December 28, 1945 – December 20, 2024) was an American science fiction writer and editor who wrote and edited a number of books, and was a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lived with ...

) * "Red Alert" (

Jerry Oltion Jerry Oltion (born 1957) is an American science fiction author from Eugene, Oregon, known for numerous novels and short stories, including books in the ''Star Trek'' series. He is a member of the Wordos writers' group and also writes under the pe ...

) * "Such a Deal" ( Esther M. Friesner) * "Looking for the Fountain" (

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand ...

) * "The Round-Eyed Barbarians" (

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

) * "Destination Indies" (

Brad Linaweaver Bradford Swain Linaweaver (September 1, 1952 – August 29, 2019) was an American science fiction writer, film producer, actor, and magazine publisher. Over a 40-year career, he completed a body of work including novels, short stories, and scree ...

) * "Ship Full of Jews" (

Barry N. Malzberg Barry Nathaniel Malzberg (July 24, 1939 – December 19, 2024) was an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy. Life and career Early life and family Malzberg originated from a Jewish family and graduated from Syra ...

) * "The Karamazov Caper" ( Gordon Eklund) * "The Sleeping Serpent" (

Pamela Sargent Pamela Sargent (born March 20, 1948) is an American feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. Sargent wrote a trilogy concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometim ...

)

References

{{Gregory Benford 1992 anthologies Science fiction anthologies Alternate history anthologies Martin H. Greenberg anthologies Bantam Spectra books

Contents

References