Departures: Stories of Alternate History

By Harry Turtledove

What if history had taken a different path, made a detour, and deviated just a little bit from the road it chose? Here, Harry Turtledove explores such "what ifs" in twenty alternate-history stories ranging from ancient times to the far, far-different future. Persia has conquered Greece; Athens is in ruins. Yet even under Persia's rule, the power of the people can never be completely broken. . . A werewolf boy tears through Cologne's medieval stretts in search of sanctuary from the angry mob. But who will shelter a creature so hated and feared? A student from the far-off future sets off on a field trip to study Genghis Khan -- and finds him in the twentieth century? And many more "He's one of the finest explorers of alternate histories ever." -- Locus

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345380118
• ISBN13: 9780345380111
• Release Date: April 1993
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

These stories are Great

If you have to make these stories you're introduction to Alternate History please do so.

Alternate History... and everything else under the sun

Harry Turtledove's name has become almost synonymous with Alternate History. Guns of the South is perhaps the most talked about AH novel of today. Even historical SF novels by other authors sometimes have Turtledove's blurbs on the cover.In this highly readable anthology, the Grand Master proves that he is perfectly capable of handling other types of fiction. Sure, it contains plenty of AH stories. One particularly interesting example ("Counting Potsherds") involves a world in which Persia conquered the Greek city-states, squelching out democracy. Another ("Islands in the Sea") tells of a lively and informative debate between Chritian and Muslim theologians. The title story, "Departures", is set in the Agent of Byzantium world, telling about the life of St. Mohammed.The non-AH stories, however, are perhaps more interesting. They reveal many sides of Turtledove that were not apparent before. There is everything from baseball stories (including the tale of a batboy who turns into a bat) to Jewish-themed fiction (including one amusing story which asks whether a genetically engineered cud-chewing pig would be kosher) to fantasy (can a well-meaning werewolf escape a midieval lynch mob?) to hard SF (humans and aliens mingle in a futuristic bar). The tone of the stories is also highly variable, ranging from the dead serious (should humans become involved with the affairs of low-tech aliens?) to the utterly silly (what happens when a confused time traveller from the far future accidentally ends up in a 20th century office building?). These stories have practically nothing in common. Some make you think, some make you laugh, some just make you say "huh?", but all are very enjoyable.A great choice for Turtledove fans everywhere, and even those who don't enjoy his AH may want to give it a try.

Very Good, but caveat emptor

These are really cool stories, don't get me wrong. But at the same time, please don't expect strict "alternate history". Some of these are fantasy stories, for one thing, featuring werewolves, vampires, etc. Also, I am not sure how any story that takes place entirely in the future can be considered "alternate history", although I suppose that the stories set in the future do tend to feature at least a window into the present or past, and it is cast in an unusual, "alternate" light. Also, several of these tales deal with relatively obscure periods of the history of the Greek speaking world, an area in which Mr. Turtledove holds a PhD. It got me so interested in that period that I ended up going to the library to learn more about it, but just be prepared for the fact that these stories don't all deal with well-known themes of this genre. Definitely thought-provoking, and well-written tales.

An excellent collection of alternate reality short stories

This was an excellent book of short stories. Turtledove says alot in just a few pages and I was left me hungering for more. I admit to being a fan of the alternate history/reality genre and Turtledove is a master at making such "potential pasts" believeable. Perhaps my favorite story of the group (and it was not an easy decision) was concerning the arrival of an official of the Persian court to the conquered province of Greece (I believe the story was titled "Counting Potsherds"). This tells a nice compact story of how things can quickly change on a person at the flick of a wrist. This story is representative of Turtledove's work because he allows the altenate history to be a seemless and natural background to the story, as if this was the real course of events. Some writers make too much of describing the alternate history and do not give enough time to giving life and action to the characters in their stories. Turtledove's worlds are certainly different from our own but the focus is still on people and everything that people do. If the world they're set in seems foreign and unfamiliar to the reader, the humans themselves make up for it by simply being real people which is the real strength of his work. Pick this one up.

An excellent collection of alternative history shorts

I read these stories several years ago and they turned me on to Harry Turtledove. I only wish he would write more of these; perhaps a volume two. I especially remember the story regarding democracy and its abortive beginings in Greece.