She made up a fabulous society that looks and breathes like ours. But the past is different, which created a different "now" than what we know. Familiar, but oh so different.
She invented Glads and their history and how it shaped our present. Awesome. And this concept sort of goes with what Angie was talking about a couple of weeks ago. Where if there's an alternate past (Steampunk) that creates an alternate future. Think Back to the Future II and all that Biff craziness.
It's a concept that intrigues me, because sometimes I think we view science fiction and dystopian novels as a future evolving out of our present. And the majority of them are, and they're awesome. But thinking on the other side of that coin is also interesting. What if you could go back in time and change something? What kind of present would we have? What kind of future? Is this kind of novel sheltered under the science fiction/dystopian label?
And hey, just for kicks, if you could go back and change one thing, what would it be? How would that impact our society now?
13 comments:
Adding it to my wish list right now.
Added to my wish list as well.
Opening this kind of can brings a whole ton of ideas. What if Hitler had succeeded? What if there had actually been a nuclear war at some point? What if the third world controlled the world? So many choices to take an idea and run with it.
On my goodreads!! Thanks!!
Oooh! Now I get to think up new book ideas! lol!
I have to read this! Thanks Elana!
Sounds like a great concept!
Having the power to change 'one little thing' would be incredible. And terrifying. What if with the best of intentions you made things worse. Scary.
I have this book and now I really wanna read it!
Amie, I know right? The next book I write is going to do this: change the past somehow to make our present different. I don't know what yet, but I've been stewing on it for a little while, even before I read this book.
Alex, you'll have to be sure you let me know what you think of it!
I've never even heard of this one, but it sounds fantastic! :D Thanks for sharing!
This sounds good, Elana. I'll add it to my ever growing to-read list.
BTW,there's a whole sub-genre of alternate histories out there. Phillip Roth even did one--the Plot Against America--which is amazingly good. My absolute favorite, though, is The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Micheal Chabon.
Looks great! I love the dystopian genre, and since I'm angling for a Classics minor, Roman-based things are fascinating to me (I even have a tattoo in Latin -it says "Books have their own fates").
This sounds like a great book. I'll definitely check it out. :)
This book looks incredible. I'm definitely going to check it out!
I like the idea of this novel. I find time travel, messing with history, stories interesting. What would I change? I'd have those first conspirators succeed in assassinating Hitler. Just imagine what brilliant people would have been saved and what glorious creations they would have provided the world!
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