alternative history
What-if storytelling genre
Alternative history is a genre of fiction that imagines how events might have unfolded if history had taken a different turn at some pivotal moment.
The premise typically involves a counterfactual scenario—what if the Nazis had won World War II, or the South had won the Civil War?—and explores the consequences.
The novel was an alternative history where the Roman Empire never fell.
The term also appears as alternate history, with no meaningful distinction between them.
Contrary-to-fact supposition
- parallel universeHypothetical coexisting separate reality
- reimaginingFresh interpretation of existing material
- retellingNarrating something anew
- what-ifHypothetical scenario query
thought experiment · scenario · premise · conjecture · point of departure · turning point · multiverse · crossroads
Retrofuturistic Victorian science fiction
- dieselpunkRetrofuturism through 1930s aesthetics
- retrofuturismNostalgia for bygone futures
- clockpunkGear-based speculative aesthetic
- science fantasyFiction mixing technology and magic
pulp fiction · worldbuilding · biopunk · cli-fi · period drama · pastiche · speculative fiction
Historical time-placement error
- time travelMovement across temporal points
- timeslipSlip recording hours worked
- quantum leapSudden dramatic advancement
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
causality · determinism · free will · path dependence · sliding doors · ripple effect
Assumed but unproven
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- extrapolationExtending data beyond bounds
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- suppositionBelief without proof
postulate · proposition · possibility · imagination · musings · rumination · historiography
Toward the flank
- bifurcationDivision into two branches
- varianceSpread around the mean
- deviationDeparture from expected path
- discrepancyDifference between expected and actual
counterfactual
Contrary-to-fact supposition
- parallel universeHypothetical coexisting separate reality
- reimaginingFresh interpretation of existing material
- retellingNarrating something anew
what-if · thought experiment · scenario · premise · conjecture · point of departure · turning point · multiverse · crossroads
steampunk
Retrofuturistic Victorian science fiction
- dieselpunkRetrofuturism through 1930s aesthetics
- retrofuturismNostalgia for bygone futures
- clockpunkGear-based speculative aesthetic
science fantasy · pulp fiction · worldbuilding · biopunk · cli-fi · period drama · pastiche · speculative fiction
anachronism
Historical time-placement error
- time travelMovement across temporal points
- timeslipSlip recording hours worked
- quantum leapSudden dramatic advancement
butterfly effect · causality · determinism · free will · path dependence · sliding doors · ripple effect
hypothetical
Assumed but unproven
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- extrapolationExtending data beyond bounds
- projectionSomething that extends outward
supposition · postulate · proposition · possibility · imagination · musings · rumination · historiography
sidewise
Toward the flank
- bifurcationDivision into two branches
- varianceSpread around the mean
- deviationDeparture from expected path
- Pseudohistoryancient astronauts, lost civilizations, fringe theories, ancient mysteries, Lemuria
- Hidden Meaningssubtext, hidden meaning, coded messages, secret codes, cipher
alternative historyreality
What actually exists
recorded history · the facts · primary sources · the present
history, alternative, alternate, alternating, alternatives, alternatively, alternation, alternator