Best Alternate History Books

The Man In The High Castle

by Dick, Philip K.

A novel where Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan win WWII.

Philip K. Dick was one of the most idiosyncratic and successful writers in science fiction. Okay, he's probably better known these days for all the films that have been based on his work, including Blade Runner, Total...

The Years Of Rice And Salt

by Robinson, Kim Stanley

Ever wondered what the world would have been like if the Black Death killed 99% of Europe's population instead of a third? No? Really? Okay. I must admit I hadn't either, but Robinson writes an intelligent and engaging s...

The Yiddish Policemen's Union

by Chabon, Michael

What if the State of Israel was destroyed? They would live in Alaska.

In this book, Chabon created a world where Israel had never been founded after World War II. Instead the state of displaced Jews is located in Sitka, Alaska. Chabon used real-life historical documents which suggested jus...

1632 (Assiti Shards) Start here

by Eric Flint

So, this is what happened in another universe. 2000 A.D. A town called Grantville, West Virginia, isn't there anymore. Some whimsical aliens drew a circle around it, about six miles wide and transported it and i...

The Difference Engine

by Sterling, William Gibson, Bruce

and William Gibson. An example of Retro Futurism with a Steampunk feel.

A classic - perhaps THE classic steampunk novel, penned by two of the genre’s founders: William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. The premise of this novel is a simple “What If” question. That question being “What if Charles Ba...

Gate Of Time

by Silverberg, Robert

When I imagine Two Hawks, I visualize him as a Cherokee Indiana Jones (the Raiders/Temple/Last Crusade Indy, not that Crystal Skull tripe, thank you very much.) At other times, I picture him kinda like The Rock. Be...

Lest Darkness Fall

by Camp, L. Sprague De

Throw away your hallucinogens (or don't, but I'm not going to suggest you do anything illegal here), because Lest Darkness Fall is one of those science fiction novels that begins with a dreamy, surreal quality to i...

The Coming Of The Quantum Cats

by Pohl, Frederik

A fun take on the multiverse theme—a great scientist invents a machine to travel between universes, only to have it stolen by another version of herself who wishes to use it to become a multiversal conqueror.

Imagine Stargate if it was set in the 80s sans MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson, and you've got The Coming of the Quantum Cats. Originally an Analog Sccience Fiction magazine series, the title is a reference to Schro...

Fatherland: A Novel

by Robert Harris

As we've seen with Philip Roth, alternate history is a popular form with authors who would not normally be interested in writing science fiction, think, for instance, of MacKinlay Kantor's If the South had Won the Ci...

Transition

by Iain M. Banks

I wonder if inserting an M in between my first name and surname will magically turn me into a top science-fiction writer like Iain Banks. (Really, he writes non science fiction novels without the "M"!) The worl...

The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next) Start here

by Fforde, Jasper

Imagine an alternate world where the world of books and people collide. It does in this delightful series by Jasper Fforde. I could spend the next 10,000 words trying to explain the alternate world created by Fforde, but...

Farthing (Small Change) Start here

by Walton, Jo

What happens when the great United States fails to provide assistance? Disputes are negotiated peacefully, and everyone kisses and makes up, with a nice cup 'o tea, as is the English way. Farthing is set in 1949, b...

The Alteration

by Kingsley Amis

Holy Shit. That was my first thought, and rather apt thought, when I read this novel and realized what "the alteration" referred to. I sure as hell wasn't expecting that. And hell may be the appropriate word for this par...

The Plot Against America

by Philip Roth

Philip Roth is one of the two or three leading American novelists from the second half of the twentieth century, whose work consistently explored the Jewish experience in modern America. But he had never produced anyt...

Ada Or Ardor

by Vladimir Nabokov

A Family Chronicle. History is altered as well as science--similar technology to ours, but water based rather than electricity based.

Do you ever wonder, sometimes, if Vladimir Nabokov had problems with women? I mean, not that Lolita or this piece about sibling incest necessarily reflects on his own relationships... but it does make you wonder....

The Iron Dream

by Norman Spinrad

In an alternate history, Hitler becomes a Sci Fi writer in the US.

I thought I was all out of Hitler jokes, until The Iron Dream came along, and offered up an alternate history Hitler who, instead of being the Fuhrer as we know it, actually wrote smutty, fascist science-fiction...

Wild Cards (Wild Cards) Start here

by Martin, George R. R.

If you're a fantasy, Game of Thrones, or superhero fan, this George R Martin series science fiction/super hero anthology should be on your reading list. Actually, I would go so far as to say that Wild Cards shits...

11/22/63

by King, Stephen

The best Stephen King in a decade, and even a coin toss for his best work yet. King takes a well-known historical event, the Assassination of JFK, and does something wonderful with it. It's a time travel story about an E...

The Redemption Of Christopher Columbus (Pastwatch)

by Card, Orson Scott

Why is it that fundamentalists Christians who don't believe in things like caffeine and alcohol always have the most fantastic imaginations? Orson Scott Card, everyone's favorite Mormon (and trust me, I was temp...

Atlas Shrugged

by Ayn Rand

Personally, I think Ayn Rand's novels always deserve a top 25 listing because of their progressive thinking and liberally sexual attitudes. Don't agree with me? Have fun with your Sunday church, no coffee or booz...

Weapons Of Choice (The Axis Of Time) Start here

by John Birmingham

Crikey mate, Stephen Irwin got killed by a sting ray, Crocodile Dundee, alternate history science-fiction. Ever heard of a top science fiction Australian author?  *Crickets chirping* No, me either. Australians...