Collected Again!
by wjw on March 8, 2019
My story “Foreign Devils” may be found in the new collection Making History, edited by Rick Wilber. This is a collection of classic alternate history stories, by Karen Joy Fowler, Gregory Benford, Sheila Finch, Rich Larson, Lisa Goldstein, Kathleen Goonan, Harry Turtledove, Eileen Gunn and Michael Swanwick, Maureen McHugh, Nisi Shawl, Alan Smale, Michaela Roessner, Louise Marley, Ben Loory, Nicholas DiChario, and Michael Bishop.
And more! Apparently. I don’t actually know what stories are in here, or have a complete list of the authors, but it’s clear there’s a massive amount of star power here.
UPDATE! The editor has kindly provided me with the table of contents.
Table of Contents
1) Introduction by Rick Wilber
2) “Game Night at the Fox and Goose,” by Karen Joy Fowler
3) “The Lincoln Train,” by Maureen McHugh
4) “Zeppelin City,” by Michael Swanwick and Eileen Gunn
5) “Manassas, Again,” by Gregory Benford
6) “Kamehameha’s Bones,” by Kathleen Goonan
7) “P Dolce,” by Louise Marley
8) “ A Clash of Eagles,” by Alan Smale
9) “The House That George Built,” by Harry Turtledove
10) “Where Garagiola Waits,” by Rick Wilber
11) “Vulcanization,” by Nisi Shawl
12) “James K. Polk,” by Ben Loory
13) “Foreign Devils,” by Walter Jon Williams
14) “Every So Often” by Rich Larson
15) “It’s a Wonderful Life,” by Michaela Roessner
16) “The Winterberry,” by Nicholas DiChario
17) “Miriam,” by Michael Bishop
18) “If There be Cause,” by Sheila Finch
19) “Paradise is a Walled Garden,” by Lisa Goldstein
Making History, from New Word City, is currently available as an ebook, though there will be a paper edition out shortly.
I’m pleased to see “Foreign Devils” again, because it was last printed maybe twenty years ago. It features a Chinese perspective on the War of the Worlds, and is told from the point of view of the Empress Dowager. Western history painted Cixi as a murderous, sexually depraved monster, but it turns out that most of the evidence for that was forged by Sir Edmund Backhouse, who was pretty depraved himself and who made a living inventing scandal, forging documents, and defrauding corporations and the British government. In actuality Cixi was a poorly educated, well-meaning woman who seems to have done her best.
In any case, I recommend to you the collection. Happy reading!
Backhouse looks like I’d imagine Sir Basil of the Heugh to look. And seems to have a similar personality.
Oooh, seeing Maureen McHugh’s name on there as well as yours has me happy. I’m on it.
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