Other Earths (Paperback)

~ Nick Gevers (Editor), Jay Lake (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The well-known authors in this wide-ranging alternate history anthology strike out in welcome new directions, often focusing on obscure events or people. The musician Ralph Vaughan Williams appears as an aging ambulance driver amid an extended Great War in Alistair Reynolds's The Receivers, while an astronomical phenomenon leads the conquering Inca to become the world's dominant power in Stephen Baxter's The Unblinking Eye. Those taking on more recognizable themes—like a magical race's diaspora in Theodora Goss's Csilla's Story, or an America that never suffered a civil war in This Peaceable Land; or, the Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe by Robert Charles Wilson—reveal their twists' horror and grit without being gratuitous. The well-realized narratives and gripping details make each tale a good introduction for any reader new to alternate history. (Apr.)
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Product Description

one world among many... eleven stories about them all

What if Lincoln never became president, and the Civil War never took place? What if Columbus never discovered America, and the Inca developed a massive, technologicallyadvanced empire? What if magic was real and a half-faerie queen ruled England? What if an author discovered a book written by an alternate version of himself?

These are just some of the possible pathways that readers can take to explore the Other Earths that may be waiting just one page away.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DAW; 1 edition (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756405467
• ISBN-13: 978-0756405465
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #295,403 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Mixed Feelings, August 30, 2009

By	Steven Woodcock "Ferretman" (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm a huge fan of alternative histories such as the type covered in the stories here, and that's what drew me to the book.

Unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed. Of the 13 (I believe) stories feature I found about half to be good to very good, with the other half being rather less than that. For example, I found "The Unblinking Eye" (about an Incan Empire that expanded to cover most of the Americas) to be quite good though sloppily written, while "This Peaceable Land" (about an America where the Civil War never happens) had promise but ultimately felt sodden. There were various editing mistakes throughout as well that lent a "rushed" feeling to the whole collection.

I'm glad this book is in my collection, but it's definitely not one of the gems.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven collection of AH stories, July 7, 2009

By	Jvstin "Paul Weimer" (Circle Pines, MN United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Alternate history is one of my favorite subgenres in Science Fiction, and it is a subgenre that lends itself as well to the short story as to the novel. The sting in the tail in realizing just where the divergence lies in a story's world and how it lies changed with our own often works better in a short story than the expanse of a novel. An AH novel explores an alternate history at length; a story is about the sting in the tail.

So I read Other Earths, a collection of new AH stories, with eagerness. Edited by Jay Lake and Nick Gevers, Other Earths includes stories by authors well versed in the genre, including Stephen Baxter, Paul Park and Robert Charles Wilson.

Like all anthologies, though, anthologies can all too often be very uneven in their quality. The very variety of the authors presented here means, necessarily, stories with wildly divergent styles, aims, and themes. Paul Park's story, "A Family History", has an almost dream like quality to it that is very alike to his Roumania novels. It is very different than the rigorous "The Unblinking Eye" by Baxter, which is really a puzzle story wrapped in the trappings of an alternate history. Liz William's "Winterborn" adds an element of fantasy to the alternate history.

And so all of the stories range in this way. What this meant for me, though, and likely will mean for you is that while you will undoubtedly find stories here you will like, its just as certain there are stories in this set of 11 stories that you will dislike, perhaps intensely.

It is a good line up of authors in the book, however, and if you are at all interested in Alternate history, I do recommend the book to you.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, June 4, 2009

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

After seeing this and being a little dubious being nothing resembling a fan of alternate history, my mind was changed when someone said 'Lucius Shepard - 90 pages.'.

Having Alastair Reynolds and Robert Charles Wilson doesn't hurt, either, and the latter perhaps edges Shepard for best tale.

Reynolds tale is definitely odd, certainly a little different for him. Although there's a few of his early tales I haven't seen, so not sure if it resembles those. Van Eekhout also aims for American oddball.

Highly variable in genre and content, this one, so possibly you'll dislike some and like some quite a bit, the same as I did with this only 3.18 story average anthology.

Other Earths : This Peaceable Land or the Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe - Robert Charles Wilson
Other Earths : The Goat Variations - Jeff VanderMeer
Other Earths : The Unblinking Eye - Stephen Baxter
Other Earths : Csilla's Story - Theodora Goss
Other Earths : Winterborn - Liz Williams
Other Earths : Donovan Sent Us - Gene Wolfe
Other Earths : The Holy City and Em's Reptile Farm - Greg van Eekhout
Other Earths : The Receivers - Alastair Reynolds
Other Earths : A Family History - Paul Park
Other Earths : Dog-Eared Paperback of My Life - Lucius Shephard
Other Earths : Nine Alternate Alternate Histories - Benjamin Rosenbaum

Liberty Lodge pictorial illumination.

4 out of 5


Mushroom adept prediction time.

3.5 out of 5


Darwin not Inca girl.

3 out of 5


Plus another one or two.

2.5 out of 5


Flying Dutchman Under-Hill.

3 out of 5


Churchill's a yank, so better Luger him.

3 out of 5


Templar Temple Slot snakepit survival.

3.5 out of 5


Mad war music listening post.

3.5 out of 5


Wouldn't have been true.

2.5 out of 5


Cradles of the forest repellent.

4 out of 5