Authors can use alternative history to comment on real history. Thus:
Stirling's President Theodore Roosevelt entertains the "...horrible thought..." that "...if Taft had lived Woodrow Woodenhead Wilson might be president now..."!;
in Poul Anderson's "Eutopia," a cross-time traveler contrasts his North American civilization of Eutopia with "America the Dreadful";
Alan Moore's vigilante, the Comedian, thinks that, if the Americans had lost in Vietnam, they would have gone mad as a nation...
Roosevelt also reflects that HG Wells' The War In The Air "...was starting to look horribly prophetic..." It was prophetic and has been cited on this blog as such. See here. With this reference, Stirling connects his current alternative history novel back to the Homer of sf.
The good folk at Penguin Random House sure know how to write promotional prose. In the covering letter for the Advance Reading Copy:
"Wonder Woman meets The Man in The High Castle with a splash of James Bond in this thrilling series..."
Since the 2017 Wonder Woman film is set during WWI and features General Ludendorff, this comparison is more valid than it might seem.
12 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I agree with Stirling's Theodore Roosevelt's less than poor opinion of Wilson! But I would emphatically disagree with TR's "progressive" ideas and policies.
I have to admire the exuberant promotional prose of the people at Penguin/Random House. (Smiles)
Sean
Sean,
And it gets better,
If you read the whole letter!
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I think you meant the promotional blurbs for Stirling's book? Another reason to look forward to getting my own copy! (Smiles)
Sean
Sean,
The particular passage that I quoted was in the covering letter that accompanied the ARC.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
If Mr. Stirling has no objection, maybe you could make that letter a blog piece, with some accompanying commentary.
Sean
Sure, since it's promotional material.
Gal Gadot would be great to play Luz, too.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I've never heard of that lady before, but I will look her up.
And I hope to see Horst again in your second Black Chamber book!
Sean
Oh, yes, Horst is in Bk II. And... ooops, nearly gave away a plot point!
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha! ha! I'm glad Horst survived the disaster (for Germany) in Boston. I admit to sometimes having a weakness for "villains," whether in your books or those of Anderson (but NOT for Count Ignatieff!). I'm hoping Horst has learned from the fiasco with Luz and become even more formidable an agent of Germany.
Sean
Horst is... peeved.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha! I would have been VERY peeved myself I had been as beguiled and deceived as Horst von Duckler had been by Luz! (Wry smile)
Sean
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