I really like short stories, but this was not a book of great short stories, more just stories around a theme. I was hoping for better.

Still, out of the 11 stories, there were some good ones, which I'll summarize here:

Two Dooms by C.M. Kornbluth - about the guy involved in the Manhattan project who discovers the critical information necessary to fast track the bomb, and has second thoughts.

Reichs-Peace by Shiela Finch - about how Hitler's widow tries to keep the peace

Never Meet Again by Algis Budrys - in a world where Hitler won, a German engineer wants to change the past because of what the state did to him

Enemy Transmissions by Tom Shippey - about the state's dream study program

Valhalla by Gregory Benford - about how Hitler has to pay in the end

So, half were above average, maybe one more about average. Glad I read it. It did link up well with the other WWII books I have read recently (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich) and The Book Thief). That reminds me, one of the books mentioned in one of the stories was Shirer's The Rise of the Third Reich! ( )

(Amy) I've read a dozen or so Martin and Greenberg anthologies, and am usually quite satisfied with them - rarely blown away by the astounding wonderfulness, but rarely disappointed, either. This one was disappointing. I think it was the subject matter, however - I'm really quite remarkably picky when it comes to alternate history, and I've never had what I think I would describe as a Nazi fetish (despite these two things, I absolutely adore Jo Walton's Farthing et. al., mostly-victorious Nazis and all). So the odds of any of these stories overcoming my natural distaste for the Third Reich and fitting my criteria for alternate history were not good. I did enjoy a couple of the stories, but not overwhelmingly. My general summation of my opinion of this book is: Enh.

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... ) ( )