President Dole?

I was watching the final episodes of season two of Fringe earlier and realized how much I really love alternate universe fiction. This season of the very well written science fiction show largely revolved around the interactions of the main characters and an alternate universe. Along the way we learn that the son of the mad scientist characters was actually stolen from his counterpart in the other universe after his own son died. It's delightfully complicated but works so well. Fringe is on its way to becoming the spiritual successor of The X-Files, which is something that many shows have failed to do. It's an brilliant show and the performance of John Noble as Walter Bishop is masterful. I highly recommend this show to anyone.

Again, however, I must refer to the idea of alternate universes. Fringe treats us to one of the best established alternate worlds in a visual medium. Looking at a New York where zeppelins fill the sky and the Twin Towers remain standing put my mind into a very happy state. The other world in the show developed in a similar but different way. A map of the United States shows the upper part of Michigan belonging to Canada and the western portion of California under the control of Mexico. The creators of the show also put a lot of effort into showing the little differences in their world. They have a Red Lantern instead of a Green Lantern. The West Wing is going into it's 11th season instead of being off the air for four years. The real kicker is their Back to the Future starred it's original leading man, Eric Stoltz. This alternate New York is really well imagined and alien. It's instantly recognizable as the same culture, but when the main characters jump over to it there is a real feeling of foreignness. This is one of the best examples of alternate reality fiction on television.

The subgenre of alternate reality fiction is really one of my favorites. While it hasn't spawned any true classics in terms of movies, books or graphic novels it has led to the creation of a lot of really fun material. At it's core alternate reality fiction is simply an answer to a 'what if' question. We all think about it at some time or another, "What if Hitler died?" or "What if the South had won?" are popular questions. Taken further and developed into story we get the alternate history genre of fiction. The best thing about this genre is that it is really a lot of fun and there's no definitive way for an author to approach it. History happened how it happened so any posturing about other possibilities is wide open to speculation. That's how great alternate history stories are written. Sometimes the better ones just tell a story in an alternate world keeping the focus on the characters and only revealing details as part of the background. There are stories of hopping between universes and their are stories taking place entirely in the other world as a sort of display to us. It's all good in the end.

Another great thing I've recently discovered is the vast array of maps and flags from alternate worlds available on the internet. On the site AlternateHistory there is an active community of fans devoted to the genre. Most of the stuff they come up with is borderline terrible, but there are a great deal of artists at the site. Of great interest are the maps they create for their worlds and the flags they create for their alternate nations and states. I'll post a few examples when I get back online tomorrow.




The Sidewise Awards are awarded yearly for the best long-form and short-form alternate history fiction. They are the best examples of the genre in the given year. If you look at the site and the past awards for short-form fiction you can usually find a link to the story so it is actually a really good resource for checking out some good stories.

The grand showing of alternate realities that was done in Fringe only further hammered home the genre as one of my favorites. There are endless stories to be told about world's that are nearly ours but different enough to excite us. Hopefully the popularity of Fringe will prove to be a beacon to other attempts at making it to the forefront of the pop culture awareness bubble. Zombies, fantasy epics, and steampunk have all had their booms in popularity and I can only hope that we'll be treated to a new wave of alternate reality literature and media very soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my eyes to the horizon. At the same time I'm also trying to form my own alternate realities through examination of the better works. So maybe I'll be making my entry into the genre someday. We'll see, eh?