The Prologue of SM Stirling's Black Chamber is dated:
"May 25th, 1912-1912 (B)
"Point of Departure plus 4 Hours"
-SM Stirling, Black Chamber (New York, 2018), p. 1.
This style of dating continues throughout this volume and into the sequel. Why, in this instance, is "1912" repeated? The fictional alternative history has departed/diverged from our real history on May 25th, 1912, but who calls the divergent timeline "B"? The characters do not call it that because they do not know that there is more than one timeline. The author informs us, the readers, that there has been a "point of departure" in May, 1912.
Is there a third perspective? Are there off-stage fictional characters who do know that there are at least two timelines? Is "(B)" merely information communicated directly from the author to his readers or, alternatively, does the presence of this terminology in the text imply the existence a second set of characters who are aware of timelines A and B and of the relationship between them? Am I alone in the world in formulating such an abstruse question?
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Alas, barring some kind of totally implausible accident of fate, I will never know in our timeline whether there are alternate universes or timelines. I could day dream about the Old Phoenix Inn suddenly appearing on a street I'm walking on, but I don't expect that to happen. All this will remain speculations on the part of SF writers like Anderson and Stirling (and their fans). Pity!
Sean
No, that's entirely for the readers here... 8-).
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That was funny, I admit, what you wrote. I'm almost sure it was from reading Poul Anderson's THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS that I first became really aware of the speculations, both by scientists and SF writers, about alternate universes/timelines. I esp. have in mind the "preface" by the narrator of THREE HEARTS discussing such ideas.
Sean
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