#alternate historical fiction

[floralcyanide]

⊱ 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑙𝑑 ― 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑠 𝑆𝑛𝑜𝑤 ⊰

[ ᴀ ʜᴜɴɢᴇʀ ɢᴀᴍᴇs ᴀʟᴛᴇʀɴᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ ғᴀɴғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ]

1960s ᴜs ᴘʀᴇsɪᴅᴇɴᴛᴀʟ ᴄᴀɴᴅɪᴅᴀᴛᴇ!ᴄᴏʀɪᴏʟᴀɴᴜs sɴᴏᴡ x ғᴇᴍ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒.

౨ৎ 18+ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs ᴏɴʟʏ !

⊹ summary: You are studying the one and only US President John F. Kennedy for your dual-title doctorate at Harvard University in 1963. Upon growing closer to the president, you happen to meet one of his Harvard friends, Coriolanus Snow, who is campaigning for the 1964 Election. You're both brought closer as time passes, and your life changes forever. As the 1964 Election continues and political tensions escalate, you come together. With the help of you, the Kennedys, and his charming wit and cleverness, Coriolanus Snow ends up with all he's ever wanted. However, the ever-growing Women's Revolution puts everything and everyone at risk. What Coriolanus doesn't know is that politics is all a game-

But there are worse games to play.

⊹ pairing: young!coriolanus snow / fem!reader ⊹ warnings: none. ⊹ word count: 269 (not including quote.) ⊹ author’s note: eeeee here's the prologue! I'm so excited to share this idea with you all. it was just a random fic idea I had and I didn't think it would snowball in my imagination the way it did, yet here we are lol. please be sure to check out the soundtrack and if you want to be tagged with every chapter, please fill out the form. I have both the soundtrack and taglist form below for you to click. much love!! ♡

౨ৎ divider credit: @cafekitsune

౨ৎ sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛ | sᴇʀɪᴇs sᴏᴜɴᴅᴛʀᴀᴄᴋ | sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ

౨ৎ this fic has been cross posted to ao3.

ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴏᴘʏ, ʀᴇᴘʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴇ, ᴏʀ ᴄʟᴀɪᴍ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴀs ʏᴏᴜʀs ᴏɴ ᴛᴜᴍʙʟʀ, ᴀᴏ3, ᴡᴀᴛᴛᴘᴀᴅ, ᴏʀ ᴀɴʏ ᴡᴇʙsɪᴛᴇ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴍɪssɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴜsᴇ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋs ɪɴ ᴀɪ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀᴛᴏʀs ᴏʀ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀʀᴛɪғɪᴄɪᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴀʏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴜsᴇ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋs ᴛᴏ sᴇʟʟ ғᴏʀ ᴀs ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

❝And I remember when I met him, it was so clear that he was the only one for me. We both knew it, right away. And as the years went on, things got more difficult – we were faced with more challenges. I begged him to stay. Try to remember what we had at the beginning. He was charismatic, magnetic, electric, and everybody knew it. When he walked in, every woman's head turned, everyone stood up to talk to him. He was like this hybrid, this mix of a man who couldn't contain himself. I always got the sense that he became torn between being a good person and missing out on all of the opportunities that life could offer a man as magnificent as him. And in that way, I understood him, and I loved him. I loved him, I loved him, I loved him. And I still love him. I love him.❞ — Lana Del Rey, Spoken Monologue, National Anthem

“Go on, sweetheart,” Coriolanus mumbles, his lips tickling the shell of your ear, “Wave to the people. They love it, they love you.”

You stare at Coriolanus for a moment in absolute awe as he basks in the glow of attention from the crowd. At this moment, he’s electric and powerful. You couldn’t be more proud of him for it. The two of you are in a brightly colored motorcade, slowly cruising through downtown Boston in celebration. Your husband effortlessly smiles in glory, his eyes twinkling in unbridled emotion- a rare sight to see from him. Coriolanus has his moments, but not like this. His blue eyes are usually cold, distant, and emotionless unless looking directly at you. Despite the lack of obvious light, you can still see it. It’s one thing Coriolanus admires about you; that you can see past his demeanor. The last time you remember him looking so full of pride, though, was the day you married one another.

It’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that he succeeded at this- and you succeeded at this, too. Perhaps even harder to grasp that millions of people around the world now know your name and care about what you have to say. As Coriolanus said himself, the people love you. Sure, having the people on your side just as they are his matters to you. But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters for certain is if he truly loves you like he loves power. Sometimes you aren’t so sure. Sometimes, he looks at you, and you can’t see a thing.

౨ৎ taglist:

@nilletellsstories @noyatv @moonlightstuffs @slytherinholland @dominqueeekk @allcheesemelts @coconut-dreamz @rosewine-5 @hsfallingsky @imasimptoowth @tatumrileyslover @murdocksdaughter @fauxraven @throughgoeshxmilton @thesullengrrrl @fanfictionismyromanempire @americanprometheuss @prettycove

[marzipanandminutiae]

a book series that makes use of "anachronistic" language in a way that really feels organic for the period, IMO, is Piratica by Tanith Lee

set in an explicitly alternate universe c. 1810, the first book managed to include the sentence "Well, groovy, thou art a klutz," and make it sound 100% Golden Age of PiracyTM. even though the author used words from wildly different eras, she captured the cadence of 18th/early 19th century working-class/criminal slang so well that I literally just had to look up whether "groovy" was an older word than I previously thought

god those books were so good. I should reread them

[home-ward]

dark spring days // from my camera roll

ig: hmmurraywriting

[burningvelvet]

I've been considering different ideas for historical fiction novels about the Romantics and one of my concepts teeters into the realm of the alternate history subgenre. As a result, I decided to start doing some preliminary research on the history of the subgenre itself. Then I find this...

Of course I've known that there have been a bunch of historical fiction & alternate history novels made about the Romantics throughout time (maybe most famously Henry James' Aspern Papers in 1888). BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR INSPIRING THE WHOLE SUBGENRE!!!

The Romantics/Georgians were so iconic they inspired their fans to invent historical fanfiction over a hundred years ago & we're still writing it... their impact...!!!

But tbf I should have known Byron would be involved somehow because most roads of modern literature often point back to him & his cult of personality — & practically everyone who knew him or was inspired by him ended up writing books about him, whether fiction or nonfiction.

[athingofvikings]

A Thing Of Vikings Chapter 165: We Go Where No One Goes

Chapter 165: We Go Where No One Goes

“Ullr Eight flight controllers, this is Flight Command. Give me a go/no go for launch.  Booster.”

“Go.”

“Retro.”

“Go.”

“Dynamics.”

“We are go.”

“Nav.”

“Go.”

“Medical.”

“We’re go.”

“Systems.”

“Go.”

“RCS.”

“We are go.”

“Power.”

“Go, Flight.”

“Telem.”

“Go.”

“Org.”

“Go.”

“Network.”

“Go.”

“Org.”

“Go.”

“Proceeds.”

“Go, Flight.”

“Recovery.”

“Go.”

“CapCom.”

“We’re Go, Flight.”

“Launch Control, this is Suthamton.  We are Go for launch.”

“Confirmed, Suthamton.  Pad Control, status?”

“We are Go for launch.  T-minus sixty seconds and counting.”

“Confirmed.  Captain Haddock, how are you and your crew doing?”

“Ready to go, Control.”

“Confirmed.  Prepare for launch.  T-minus forty seconds.  Fueling, Status?”

“Complete, Control. ��We are go.”

“T-minus thirty.  Twenty-five.  Twenty.  Fifteen.  Fourteen.  Thirteen. Twelve.  Eleven.  Ten.  Nine.  Eight.  Ignition Sequence Start.  Five.  Four.  Three.  Two.  One.  We have Ignition.  Suthamton, we have liftoff!”

“Mission Control, we have cleared the tower. Altitude, velocity and vector on mark!” —Mission Logs for Ullr 8, First Manned Mission to the Moon, May 23, 1772, Captain Hiccup Haddock IX Commanding, Command Module Pilot Issac ben Dovid, Lunar Module Pilot Peter “Peet” mac Padraig, System Engineer Assistant Terrible Terror Cleverclaw “Wrenchie” (TT-000398173-b)

AO3 Link

[the-golden-vanity]

Disclaimer: this is all just based on the boat media I've enjoyed over the last couple of years—a lot, but certainly not everything!

I'm currently watching the 1990s Horatio Hornblower series, mainly to see who the pretty boys my mutuals keep putting on my dash are, and it's made me realize something about the difference between Age of Sail TV series/movies and Age of Sail books.

An Age of Sail book protagonist can be anyone. Sure, they can be a captain or other officer, but they can also be a deckhand, a doctor, a gunner, a stowaway... if they're a kid, they can even be a cabin boy or a midshipman.

An Age of Sail screen protagonist is almost invariably an officer. And I wonder why that is? Is it classism? Is it the aesthetic appeal of a blue coat with brass buttons? Is it the (possibly not unwarranted) assumption that a modern viewer would find scenes of life before the mast kinda grim and grimy?

I don't have any answers, I just think it's an interesting pattern.

[shitty-check-please-aus]

I love Martha Wells' books because there has dependably been kickass fight scenes in both the sci-fi and fantasy books (and I do love Murderbot so much), and because every time her worldbuilding seems like it's going to be generic sci-fi or fantasy she throws in an absolutely wild curveball

I love Seanan McGuire books because the worldbuilding is done so deftly and thoroughly, and her books also have a lot of characters in "well shit, I don't know what I'd do here but I can't disagree with your choices" situations

I love Jacqueline Winspear books because I do like historical fiction, and she shows a very interesting perspective on a lot of issues and topics, also the mysteries are all good and I love Maisie Dobbs (I'm so sad the series wrapped up, I need to find something else to fill this niche in my reading)

[judgeitbyitscover]

Bone Wars (1998) & Two Tiny Claws (1999) by Brett Davis

Cover illustrations by Bob Eggleton

Bone Wars (1998)

Montana, 1876. Othniel Charles Marsh, one of the two top paleontologists in the world, in the state's Judith River fossil beds, doing what he does best: digging up the bones of dinosaurs. Montana is a big state, but Marsh can't rest easy. Edward Drinker Cope, his biggest rival, and the other top paleontologist in the world, is also in the area, and there simply aren't enough bones for both of them, leading them to play dirty tricks. And time itself is against them: the fierce snows of winter are on the way and, rumor has it, so is Sitting Bull, fresh from his triumph at little Big Horn.

Another complication: two foreign scientists are also competing for the bones. One says he's from Sweden, the other says he's from Iceland. One of them enlists Cope to help him, while the other befriends Marsh.Marsh and Cope don't want the fossils to leave the country, so they decide to bury the hatchet and work together to outwit the visitors. This turns out to be harder than they thought. The foreign scientists possess amazing technology, but that's because they are much more foreign than they claimed. They don't just want to take the bones out of the country -- they're fighting over who will get to take them clean off the planet....

Two Tiny Claws (1999)

Montana, 1907. Barnum Brown of the American Museum of Natural History aims to dig up fossils of Tyrannosaurus Rex, the most fearsome carnivore ever to walk the Earth. He dismisses rumors of earlier paleontologists encountering both resurrected dinosaurs and aliens from space. He's more worried by reports that notorious bank robber Luther Gumpson is in the neighborhood. But then Brown discovers that the aliens are real, they're back, and they're mad. And he'll see more than the bones of T-Rex, when he encounters the awesome ground-pounding predator in the flesh....

[frankidacre]

If YOU!! Yes you!! If you love mystery games (like prof. Layton), Sherlock, Titanic, Welcome Home, literally anything from the 1860s-1930s, you are going to LOVE (or at least like) this little web-based story I’m working on!!

It’s called Dear Clarent, and it’s a silly mystery investigating a shipwreck from 1914. Yes, it is very much interactive!! There are lots of password/cipher protected links, documents, audio, etc :)

Also, all of the artwork on the site is made by me (so far), so supporting the site means supporting an emerging artist!

We have a funny mascot too if you love silly little guys btw <3

[gracehosborn]

I was thinking on future project ideas and pulled up my list. Forgot this was here and it got me thinking:

Write an alternate history novel probably titled Hamilton’s War. About if the Quasi-War with France had actually escalated to a declared war.

Thoughts, anyone? I feel like this would be an interesting alternate history to explore, but if someone already has to some degree, I can’t find anything. If I ever pick this idea up, it may be a fun ride.

[lumelton]

Ok, so in Fallen London WWI would still happen without London being there, right? Like there would still be tensions in the Balkans, Ferdinand would still get assassinated, Germany would still Schlieffen it up, this time reasonably confident that Britain wouldn’t be there to back France up. Hell, would Germany have won?

Without Britain helping, Russia still attacks Germany in response but they’re still slow to mobilize so Germany still has a chance to get to Paris. Battle of the Marne has only French troops, presumably, and so they get beaten back again. That makes the Schlieffen plan a rough success, pretty sure they would be behind schedule by a couple of days - a week, meaning that Russia is marching on Germany without them being fully prepared, similar to what actually happened.

Idk I don’t want to run through the whole war, cutting Britain’s involvement from every battle, because you’d have to consider the larger diplomatic implications to get an accurate result. Do the US and France have a tighter connection without Britain, do they get pulled into the war? Canada and the rest of the colonies are also in a weird state without a Queen. I really wish we knew more about what happened to the rest of Britain after the Fall.

[floralcyanide]

⊱ 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑙𝑑 ― 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑠 𝑆𝑛𝑜𝑤 ⊰

[ ᴀ ʜᴜɴɢᴇʀ ɢᴀᴍᴇs ᴀʟᴛᴇʀɴᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ ғᴀɴғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ]

― ᴏғғɪᴄɪᴀʟ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ !

∿ sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛ !

∿ sᴇʀɪᴇs sᴏᴜɴᴅᴛʀᴀᴄᴋ !

― 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 ⬎

𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒. 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒: 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑜: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑔ℎ𝑜��𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒: 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟: 𝑠𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 (ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠): 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑥 (ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠): 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘

[word-ghost]

an unfavorable attachment // 4

Mother eyed her daughter up and down when she joined her in the drawing room, only nine minutes after she was expected. No expression crossed her face as she took in Eleanora’s attire, a simple day dress in a pale, almost greyish blue. 

It was more than an act of childish defiance, ignoring the butter yellow silk Mother left hanging beside the dressing screen. The plainer dress, one of few Eleanora brought with her from Westwood Hall, was a reminder it was time to go back. That she should never have left.

Settling on the settee, Eleanora served herself a generous pour of tea. The moment she raised the cup to her lips, her mother asked, “Where is your smile, peach?”

She tried not to grumble in reply. “It hardly slept.” 

“And why ever not? You retired so early last night.”

“I was not well.” Eleanora averted her bleary gaze and sipped her tea. 

“You were well enough to make a wonderful impression on the Ashfields. And thank the light for that,” Mother added beneath her breath, swishing across the room to her writing desk. “If you are not feeling your best, we can move our visit to the village to tomorrow.”

Eleanora swallowed wrong. Stifling a cough she blurted, “Why?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“What errand do we have in the village?” She asked, setting her cup and saucer on the table. 

“I thought you might want to do a bit of shopping and visiting while you are here. The Fullers would love to meet us for tea. You haven’t seen Miss Haley since her debut.”

“She was here yesterday with Emily.”

Her mother gave a harsh laugh. “Let us not pretend you spent more than an hour in the ballroom last night.”

Making a passable impression on the Ashfields had evidently not made up for Eleanora’s absence the rest of the evening. It was better not to respond. She plated a slice of seed cake and remained wordless for the remainder of her late breakfast. 

Mother never required assistance to fill a silence.

keep reading

[desdasiwrites]

– Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon

[somethingcoolhopefully]

Yes. Ancient history friends - read this. It’s a book about the crazy shit in the Roman Republic… if the republic was today. And it’s a political train wreck ✨

[sollannaart]

Napoleonic era fiction

Having shared with you the history books about the Napoleonic era I've read recently, let me talk a little bit on the topic of historical fiction. (Not that I read this kind of book much, but there are some I'd like to express my opinion of.)

The first one in my list will be La Victoire de la Grande Armée, by the former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It's an alternative history book, where it is imagined what might have happened if in 1812 the Grand Armée had left Russia just after the battle of Moscow. (A spoiler - as one can guess from the title, everything should have went well for the Napoleonic France).

Alas, there are a lot of discrepancies in the book (like, for example, Poniatowski and Grouchy are marshals already in 1812); in additional, the protagonist (a general named François Beille) seems to be a kind of Marty Stu. Nevertheless, I liked this book, because... in that reality prince Józef didn't die in the battle of Leipzig (because the battle just didn't take place)! On the contrary, he's being made the king of the the restore Poland (though, I must admit, Poniatowski in fact didn't long for a crown - more on the topic here).

2. Having touched the topic of alternative history I can't help omitting another book (which, unfortunately, hasn't AFAIK been translated to any foreign language that's why I can now recommend it to my Polish speaking friends only). The book's title is Most we mgle (A Bridge In A Fog) and it is written by Marcin Ciszewski.

The plot is that in 1930ies Poland there appeared a time hole leading to 1813, using which a squad of the Polish soldiers was able to go back in time and change the result of the battle of Leipzig. So, in that universe prince Józef didn't die either )) (Though even there he had to become a king ;))

3. From alternative history of Poland let's switch to the real one, and here I have to digress a little to introduce you the next set of book. A friend of mine had once recommended me The Polish trilogy, a series of book by an American writer James Conroyd Martin, mentioning that in one of the books prince Józef's death in the battle of Leipzig is described. (A spoiler - there was such a scene in the second book, but it was not the most detailed description of the event I've stumbled upon, given all the books on the topic I've read, though it may be the only of those written in English.)

Having started to read the first book, I soon discovered that it wasn't an entire fiction, but was based on a real diary of a woman, Anna Maria Berezowska-Stelnicka, who lived in Poland in the end of the XVIIIth century. The diary was inherited by her descendants who live now in the US, and it was also translated to English and published and this is a book I do recommend to read:

4. And what about the book series? Alas, here I can't be so enthusiastic.

First, it contained a lot of typos (in Polish names etc.; it might have been fixed in the Polish edition, but I was able to find the English one so I read it) and even some historical (for instance, women working as civil-cervants' secretaries of Russian administration in Warsaw in 1830-ies) and geographical discrepancies (for example, according to the author to the East of Warsaw there are stepps which go all the way to Moscow).

In addition, I didn't like how Martin adjusted the real characters from the diary on which he based the first book of his. Also, it surprised me that John Stelnicki, Anna's descendant who is the current owner of her diary, chose a male writer to process the diary into a fiction story (in my opinion, in the book there were scenes where the female protagonist would act illogical and unfeminine and those were the scenes not present in the original diary).

And the second and the third books aren't at all based on the diary events - the action of both diary and the first book, Push not the River, ends in 1794. The second one, Against a Crimson Sky, is set in the span from 1794 to 1814, the last one, The Warsaw Conspiracy, is dedicated the Polish November Uprising which started in 1830 and lasted till October of the next year.

The second book I liked more (and it was there where prince Józef's death was described), but unfortunately, the discrepancies between the characters behavior and how real people of that time did think and act (if to compare with the real diaries and memoires of other real people) only enhanced. (Though it was kind of fun to recognize whose memoires the author was using to describe this or those event).

The last book... well, the November Uprising isn't really my cup of tea, so there were less things there that did catch my eye (but nevertheless, as I've mentioned above, they were). And I was really disappointed that in the epilogue of the book there was nothing about how Anna's family got to America. For because of the Uprising they had to leave Poland everything pointed out that they or there descendants wouldn't have return to the motherland until Poland gained independence in 1918... That's why, taking into account that Anna's descendant who is the owner of her diary does live in the US, it seemed to me it was worth to mention that the family moved to the New World (even if the real chain of events due to which the diary ended in the US couldn't be restored).

5. And the last image is to illustrate more of a question than a recommendation. For the sake of inspiration I decided to look for historical romances where the story is set in Napoleonic France. But, to my great disappointment, it turned out that there are not very much of them. The French Wikipedia in fact mentioned the only one series of books - Juliette Benzoni's Marianne, the set which I read, and even more than once. But those books, in my opinion, though may arouse interest in a person of fourteen, but can't IMHO inspire people in their forties (at least due to the fact that the main love interest of the heroine is a cynical abuser).

That's why I would like to ask you, my friends, for a recommendation of historical romance with the action set in Napoleonic France or its satellites (and where the protagonists are, of course, on the French side ;))