The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

stories and novels of the year.

Overview

The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "

Sidewise in Time "Sidewise in Time" is a science fiction short story by American writer Murray Leinster that was first published in the June 1934 issue of ''Astounding Stories''. "Sidewise in Time" served as the title story for Leinster's second story collection ...

" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with their analogs from other timelines. The awards were created by

Steven H. Silver Steven H Silver (born April 19, 1967) is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, author, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twelve times and Best Fanzine seven times without winning ...

Evelyn C. Leeper Evelyn C. Leeper (a.k.a. Evelyn Chimelis; born 1950), is an American writer, critic, and active member of science fiction fandom. She was a member and officer of the UMass Science Fiction Society from 1968 to 1972. In 1978 she and her husband Mark ...

, and Robert B. Schmunk. Over the years, the number of judges has fluctuated between three and eight and have included judges in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa. Two awards are normally presented each year, usually at WorldCon or at NASFiC. The Short-Form award is presented to a work under 60,000 words in length. The Long-Form award is presented to a work or works longer than 60,000 words, which may include a single novel or a multi-volume series. The judges have four times also recognized an individual with a Special Achievement Award in recognition for works published prior to the award's inception or for other contributions to the genre.

Award winners

Long Form

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

–

Paul J. McAuley Paul J. McAuley (born 23 April 1955) is a British botanist and science fiction author. A biologist by training, McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction. His novels dealing with themes such as biotechnology, alternative history/alternative re ...

, ''Pasquale's Angel'' :

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

– Stephen Baxter, '' Voyage'' :

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

– Harry Turtledove, '' How Few Remain'' :

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

– Stephen Fry, '' Making History'' :

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

–

Brendan DuBois Brendan DuBois is an American mystery fiction and suspense writer who has twice won a Shamus Award for Best Short Story of the Year. He also had his short story "The Dark Snow'" published in ''Best American Mystery Stories of the Century'', edite ...

, ''

Resurrection Day ''Resurrection Day'' is a novel written by Brendan DuBois in 1999. In its alternate history, the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated to a full-scale war, the Soviet Union is devastated, and the United States has been reduced to a third-rate power tha ...

'' :

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

–

Mary Gentle Mary Rosalyn Gentle (born 29 March 1956) is a UK science fiction and fantasy author. Literary career Mary Gentle's first published novel was ''Hawk in Silver'' (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the '' Orthe'' duology, w ...

, '' Ash: A Secret History'' :

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

– J. N. Stroyar, '' The Children's War'' :

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

– ''(tie)'': Martin J. Gidron (name since changed to Martin Berman-Gorvine), ''The Severed Wing'' & Harry Turtledove, '' Ruled Britannia'' :

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

–

Murray Davies Murray Davies is a Welsh author and journalist. He was born into a mining family in South Wales. He won a scholarship to UCW Aberystwyth where he studied international politics, followed by an MA in First World War poetry. He worked for the ''D ...

, '' Collaborator'' :

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

– Philip Roth, ''

The Plot Against America ''The Plot Against America'' is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh. The novel follows the fortunes of the R ...

'' :

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

–

Ian R. MacLeod Ian R. MacLeod (born 1956) is a British science fiction and fantasy writer. He was born in Solihull near Birmingham. He studied law and worked as a civil servant before going freelance in early 1990s soon after he started publishing stories, att ...

, ''The Summer Isles'' :

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

– Charles Stross, ''

The Family Trade ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'', ''

The Hidden Family ''The Merchant Princes'' is a science fantasy and alternate history series of nine novels by British writer Charles Stross. In the series, there exists a number of parallel worlds all of which are on the same geographical Earth, but with differ ...

'', and ''

The Clan Corporate ''The Merchant Princes'' is a science fantasy and alternate history series of nine novels by British writer Charles Stross. In the series, there exists a number of parallel worlds all of which are on the same geographical Earth, but with differe ...

'' :

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

– Michael Chabon, ''

The Yiddish Policemen's Union ''The Yiddish Policemen's Union'' is a 2007 novel by American author Michael Chabon. The novel is a detective story set in an alternative history version of the present day, based on the premise that during World War II, a temporary settlement f ...

'' :

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

– Chris Roberson, ''The Dragon's Nine Sons'' :

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

– Robert Conroy, ''

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

'' :

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

–

Eric G. Swedin Eric G. Swedin is an American author of science fiction and academic nonfiction works. He is a professor of history at Weber State University in Utah. Swedin is the 2010 long form winner of the Sidewise Award for his alternate history novel '' ...

, ''When Angels Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis'' :

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

–

, '' Wake Up and Dream'' :

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

–

C. J. Sansom Christopher John Sansom (born 1952) is a British writer of Historical mystery, historical crime novels, best known for his Shardlake series, Matthew Shardlake series. He was born in Edinburgh and attended George Watson's College in that city, b ...

, '' Dominion'' :

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

– (tie)

D. J. Taylor David John Taylor (born 1960) is a British critic, novelist and biographer. After attending school in Norwich, he read Modern History at St John's College, Oxford, and has received the 2003 Whitbread Biography Award for his biography of Geo ...

, ''The Windsor Faction'' & Bryce Zabel, ''Surrounded by Enemies: What If Kennedy Survived Dallas?'' :

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

– Kristine Kathryn Rusch, ''The Enemy Within'' :

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

–

Julie Mayhew Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

, ''The Big Lie'' :

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

–

Ben H. Winters Benjamin Allen H. "Ben" Winters (born 1976) is an American author. Early life and education Winters was born in Maryland. In high school, he played in the punk band Corm, alongside John Davis, now of Title Tracks. In 1998, he graduated from Wash ...

, ''

Underground Airlines ''Underground Airlines'' is a 2016 novel by Ben Winters which is set in a contemporary alternate-history United States where the American Civil War never occurred because Abraham Lincoln was assassinated prior to his 1861 inauguration and a ...

'' :

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

– Bryce Zabel, ''

Once There Was a Way ''Once There Was a Way'' is a 2017 alternative history novel by Bryce Zabel. It speculates what would have happened if the rock band, The Beatles, had stayed united for years after the date of their actual dissolution and disbanded years later o ...

'' :

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

–

Mary Robinette Kowal Mary Robinette Kowal (; born February 8, 1969) is an American author and puppeteer. Originally a puppeteer by primary trade after receiving a bachelor's degree in art education, she became art director for science fiction magazines and by 2010 was ...

, ''

The Calculating Stars ''The Calculating Stars'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Mary Robinette Kowal. The book was published by Tor Books on July 3, 2018. It is the first book in the " Lady Astronaut" series and is a prequel to the 2012 short story " Th ...

'' :

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

– Annalee Newitz, ''

The Future of Another Timeline ''The Future of Another Timeline'' is a 2019 science-fiction novel by Annalee Newitz. The feminist time-travel adventure follows Tess, a professional time traveler, geoscientist, and secretly a member of the Daughters of Harriet (Tubman), who are ...

'' :

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

–

Adrian Tchaikovsky Adrian Czajkowski (spelled as Adrian Tchaikovsky for his books) is a British fantasy and science fiction author. He is known best for his series ''Shadows of the Apt'', and for his novel '' Children of Time''. ''Children of Time'' was awarded t ...

, ''The Doors of Eden'' :

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

–

Laurent Binet Laurent Binet (born 19 July 1972) is a French writer and university lecturer. His work focuses on the modern political scene in France. Biography The son of a historian,Valérie Trierweiler, October 18, 2010"Laurent Binet, retour sur un succès" ...

, ''Civilizations'' (translated by Sam Taylor)

Short Form

– Stephen Baxter, "Brigantia's Angels" :

– Walter Jon Williams, "Foreign Devils" (in '' War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches'') :

– William Sanders, "

The Undiscovered "The Undiscovered" is an alternate history short story by William Sanders that won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. It was originally published in the March 1997 issue of ''Asimov's'' and, in addition to its Sidewise Award nomination, was ...

" :

–

, ''The Summer Isles'' :

–

Alain Bergeron Alain Bergeron (born February 11, 1950) is a Québécois science fiction author and political scientist. Born in Paris, France, he has won the Prix Aurora Award and Sidewise Award for Alternate History. He has written seven books, beginning wi ...

, "The Eighth Register" (translated by Howard Scott) :

– Ted Chiang, " Seventy-Two Letters" :

– Ken MacLeod, ''The Human Front'' :

– William Sanders, "Empire" :

– Chris Roberson, "O One" :

– Warren Ellis, '' The Ministry of Space'' :

– Lois Tilton, "Pericles the Tyrant" :

– Gardner Dozois, "Counterfactual" :

– ''(tie)'':

Michael Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born December 24, 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and conspiracy theorist who was the 24th U.S. National Security Advisor for the first 22 days of the Trump administration. He resigned in light of ...

, "Quaestiones Super Caelo Et Mundo" & Kristine Kathryn Rusch, "Recovering Apollo 8" :

– Mary Rosenblum, "Sacrifice" :

– Alastair Reynolds, "The Fixation" :

–

Alan Smale Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *Al ...

, "A Clash of Eagles" :

– Lisa Goldstein, "Paradise Is a Walled Garden" :

–

Rick Wilber Rick Wilber is an American author, poet, editor and teacher. His novel, ''Alien Morning'' (Tor, 2016), was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel of 2017, and other novels include ''The Cold Road'' (Tor ...

, "Something Real"' :

–

Vylar Kaftan Vylar Kaftan is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. A Clarion West Workshop graduate, she lives on the U.S. West Coast. Kaftan's short story "Civilisation" is included in Farah Mendlesohn's anthology '' Glorifying Terrorism'', and ...

, "

The Weight of the Sunrise "The Weight of the Sunrise" is a 2013 alternate history short story by Vylar Kaftan. It was first published in ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' in February 2013. Synopsis When Francisco Pizarro and the Conquistadors arrived in Peru, Atahualpa and his t ...

" :

–

Ken Liu Ken Liu (born 1976) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. His epic fantasy series ''The Dandelion Dynasty'', which he describes as silkpunk, is published by Simon & Schuster. Liu has won Hugo and Nebula Awards for his short fic ...

, "The Long Haul: From the Annals of Transportation, The Pacific Monthly, May 2009" :

– Bill Crider, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" :

– ''(tie)'':

Daniel M. Bensen Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

, "Treasure Fleet" &

Adam Rovner Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, "What If the Jewish State Had Been Established in East Africa" :

– Harry Turtledove, " Zigeuner" :

–

Oscar (Xiu) Ramirez Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

and

Emmanuel Valtierra Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the H ...

, ''Codex Valtierra'' :

– Harry Turtledove, "Christmas Truce" :

–

Matthew Kresal Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

, "Moonshot" :

–

, "Gunpowder Treason"

Special Achievement

–

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

, lifetime achievement :

–

Robert Sobel Robert Sobel (February 19, 1931 – June 2, 1999) was an American professor of history at Hofstra University and a well-known and prolific writer of business histories. Biography Sobel was born in the Bronx, in New York City, New York. He c ...

, ''

For Want of a Nail "For Want of a Nail" is a proverb, having numerous variations over several centuries, reminding that seemingly unimportant acts or omissions can have grave and unforeseen consequences. Analysis The proverb has come down in many variations ov ...

'' :

– Randall Garrett, the Lord Darcy series :

– Eric Flint, for support of writers in the alternative history genre, most notably via the

1632 series The ''1632'' series, also known as the 1632-verse or ''Ring of Fire'' series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by American author Eric Flint and published by Baen Books. The s ...

References

External links

The Sidewise Award website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidewise Award For Alternate History Alternate history Alternate history fandom Awards established in 1995 Science fiction awards * *