Every short story in this wonderfully varied collection has in common some diversion in history, some alternate reality from what we know, resulting in a very different world. In addition to original stories specially commissioned from bestselling writers such as James Morrow, Stephen Baxter, and Ken MacLeod, there are genre classics from Kim Stanley Robinson, Harry Turtledove, and George Zebrowski: over 20 stories in all.
Ian Watson is a veteran sci-fi author. He edited
Changes: Stories of Metamorphosis with Michael Bishop, and
Afterlives: Stories about Life after Death with Pamela Sargent.
Ian Whates is a rising sci-fi author and the Development Director of the British Science Fiction Association, as well as editor of its magazineMatrix.
Stephen Baxter's "Darwin Anathema"---the triumphant Church puts Darwin's bones on trial for heresy
James Morrow's "The Raft of the Titanic"---believed by the world to be dead, the passengers and crew are saved by their own efforts
Harry Turtledove's "Islands in the Sea"---only pockets of Christianity remain in an Islamic Europe