century American archaeologist is accidently
transported to 6th century Rome.
Science fiction in television and on film happily
uses the alternate history device. In the Dr. Who
adventure Turn Left, Donna fails to take the
temping job where she should meet the Doctor;
this leads to his death and the collapse of the
universe. In Back to the Future 2, Marty McFly
has to sort out time travel problems he has
created to put himself back on his own timeline.
While in Men in Black 3, Griffin the alien sees
alternate history realities all the time.
Not all alternative histories are science fiction
based though, in the film Sliding Doors, for
example, we see Helen’s life in alternative
realities based on whether she makes it onto a
tube train. While non-fiction also gets a look-in
with several collections of essays such as What
If? edited by Robert Cowley, in which military
historians ponder what would have happened if
historical events had turned out differently.
What reality would you tweak and what effect would it have? Write us a “reality
tweak” of up to 600 words or create us an image with a twist. Imagine us an
alternate history where...what? and we’ll publish the best in a future edition of Ignis.
Send it to: [email protected]
For further inspiration and what not to do when writing alternate histories check out:
➽
http://www.uchronia.net/ the alternate history list
➽
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternate_history_fiction
➽
http://io9.com/the-most-unusual-alternate-history-novels-everpublishe-1518395336
➽
http://io9.com/5884879/10-worst-mistakes-that-authors-make-inalternate-history
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