The Tribune | Weekend | 11
Friday, September 3, 2021
books
A universe of ‘What if?’ Bahamasbased author introduces new alternate history anthology By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net
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ahamian-based author and publisher Leo McBride is set to join several authors from around the world in exploring “history with a twist” in the new anthology “Tales of Alternate Earths 3.” The book is the third alternative history collection and the tenth book published by Inklings Press - the publishing house founded by Leo and several of his friends five years ago. “Back then we were just a group of friends who wanted a way to get our stories out there and so we created Inklings Press. We managed to have some success and now five years later we are at book ten and we have reached the point where some of the biggest names in the field are working with us,” he told Tribune Weekend. “When we first started, we didn’t know where this would go, so it just goes to show, you don’t know what you are capable of.” For their tenth book, Inklings has returned to a genre that is one of their signatures. “Alternate Earths has been our most successful book - it has won awards and was our bestseller and we wanted to return to the theme,” said the author. Alternative history is a genre that continues to grow thanks to a variety of books, TV shows and movies on the subject. “Just recently, Disney +launched ‘What if…?’ which answers the question what if things had turned out differently in the Marveluniverse. There is something intriguing about the idea of changing world history. It draws people in to imagine that the
smallest difference or change could have a huge impact on the way things could be,” he said. Leo says the new anthology is packed full of “history with a twist”. “There’s a little bit of everything in this one. There’s a story where Guy Fawkes succeeded in blowing up the English Parliament, Alfred Hitchcock directed the Titanic movie, Jack the Ripper turns out to be different and the Roman Empire never fell,” he said. “We have some big names and award winners on board for this one, including Minoti Vaisnav, who is one of the writers for the TV show ‘The Equalizer’, and Alan Smale, who is one of the best-known writers in the genre.” In his own contribution, ‘Heaven Above, Hell Below’, Leo explores the aftermath of one of NASA’s biggest disasters - the Challenger explosion. “It’s one of those moments that was felt around the world, where you
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There is something intriguing about the idea of changing world history. It draws people in to imagine that the smallest difference or change could have a huge impact on the way things could be.”
always remember where you were when you heard the news,” he said. “After the explosions, NASA explored a lot of options and I look at one of the more hopeful ones,
which was an idea to build a space elevator - to literally ride on an elevator to a space station.” Leo is sure current world events will lead to a myriad of alternate history stories in the future. “The current pandemic has been a big turning point in the world, and there are many top scientists around the world already wondering what if we had handled it all better. So I am sure that there will be a lot of authors exploring this topic in the future,” he said. Leo himself chose an alternative ending to the Spanish Flu pandemic as his contribution to the first Alternate Earths anthology. “That pandemic swept through the world and wiped out millions of people. You would think we would have learned our lessons from that. But here we are again battling another pandemic.” Tales of Alternative Earths 3 is now available on Amazon at mybook.to/AlternateEarths3.
