We Could Do Worse

A Millennial Collection of Alternate Histories

By: Martin Greenberg - editor, Howard Waldrop, Gregory Benford, Brian Thomsen, Larry Niven, Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Harry Turtledove, Robert Silverberg, Allen Steele

Narrated by: Richard McGonagle, Gordon Thompson, Stefan Rudnicki, William Windom, Richard Gilliland, Jo Marie Payton, Yancy Butler, David Ackroyd

Fascinating “What If?” stories from Hugo and Nebula award-winning masters of alternate history!

What would the world be like if Teddy Roosevelt had fought in World War I? If the space race started during World War II? If Joseph McCarthy had been elected President? These and other questions are answered in this collection of alternate histories. As these stories suggest, the world as we know it might have turned out different than it is today, if only one minor—or major—change had occurred in history. Included in this collection are:

“A Massachusetts Yankee in King Arthur's Court” by Harry Turtledove
“ Ike at the Mike” by Howard Waldrop
“Looking for the Fountain” by Robert Silverberg
“The Return of William Proxmire” by Larry Niven
“The Arrival of Truth” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Goddard's People” by Allen Steele
“ Over There” by Mike Resnick
“Bloodstained Ground” by Brian Thomsen
“We Could Do Worse” by Gregory Benford

©1993 Kristine Kathryn Rusch (P)1999 Phoenix Books

Take The Good with the Bad

There are some really nice stories in this anthology, with the highlight being "The Return of William Proxmire" by Larry Niven. "Looking for the Fountain" by Robert Silverberg is also one that stood out for me.

However, I found a several of these stories rather pedestrian and flat. Perhaps it was the production--to me it always seemed like the narration was very flat and almost toneless. It sure seems like a good re-engineering would make it easier to listen to this set.

So you take the good with the bad and come out even? At least I did.

This Review Needs a Title...So, I gave it one

As the teaser says, it's an alternate history book. However, in several cases, it does not live up to it's hype....e.g. "What if McCarthy got elected POTUS?". The answer is not "what if" but "how"? My favorite is "Mass. Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In this story, President JFK goes to Camelot and gets laid by Guinevere. Teddy R's story is no less exciting, but portrays him as anachronistic. Niven only authored a single story in this anthology. Fun read, you'll like it.

Agree, Mediocre Selections

I was disappointed with this collection of alternate histories. When I saw that Harry Turtledove was involved, I had high expectations. Every one of the stories in this anthology was a clinker.

What a rip off!

This was such a rip off. the sound quality sucked, and there were not enough stories to make it worthwhile. Audible has been diaappointing me a lot lately, I thonk it's time to cancel my subscription.

We could do better

I love Alternate History stories and I’m a big fan of Larry Niven and Harry Turtledove!

Sadly this misses the mark. The stories left me not caring weather or not they could have happened. With the exception of the last story, it wouldn’t make any difference in my life if they happened or not.

If you get this and decide not to finish listening, skip to the last story it is by far the best.

Mediocre

Alternate History can be the matrix for some excellent speculation and a better understanding of what we are in this reality. This collection almost totally fails to live up to its potential. The Manhattan Project is shunted aside in favor of a rocket program that shoots down an incoming missile? Teddy Roosevelt recreates the Rough Riders to fight in WWI? These could be interesting, but are barely developed…and history doesn’t change much. Other premises are just silly: JFK goes back in time to see the real Camelot; Eisenhower rejects military training and becomes a jazz clarinetist. The only story with any texture is Rusch’s “The Arrival of Truth”, in which Sojourner Truth’s teaching leads to slave revolts.

I wish I had passed, but I could see some people r

I tend to really enjoy this type of book all the way around. I like alternative histories, and I like collections of short stories by different authors with a similar theme or universe. But this really disappointed me. Maybe it would have liked it more if I hadn't had high expectations. But none of the stories really stuck with me. Some were just so implausible they really didn't feel like alternative histories any more than Alice in Wonderland. I didn't find the narration notable either, but it was far from the worst. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to more books by these two, but I wouldn't seek them out either. Overall, just sort of there. Pick it up if you have strong interest in one of the historical figures. If not, pass.

Lots of violence, not that clever

I didn't care for most of the stories. I guess they wrote to expose a worse case than actual history. I foubd them confusing, boring and depressing.

Disappointed

I'm a great fan of what-ifs, so I bought this without even reading the reviews!
Most of the stories are not 'what-ifs' as I understand the genre, i.e. the change in the past, in most of these stories, have no effect on the future. When you listen to them, it's a bit odd, you're left thinking 'er, so what?'.
Personally, I didn't find any of of them evocative enough to make up for the lack of plot interest.
My most recent 'what-if' is SS-GB, which I did enjoy!

The book is called "We could do worse". No you cant.

First of all, this is a collection of stories, so your favorite author (in my case Niven) only wrote ONE of the stories, and chances are you've already read it. Secondly, the audio has problems. Every chapter begins with the last line of the story before, and is in turn, missing its' last line. Also some stories seem to be professionally read and audio mixed, others sound like they were done in moms basement by someone with a cassette recorder. The Massachusetts Yankee and Return of William Proxmire were great. Bloodied Ground and Ike at the Mike definitely held my interest, but none of the others did. At that Ike at the Mike, while fun, was a bit long. It was a fun idea, but it really couldn't support a story that long. Except for the above mentioned stories, I lost interest long before the author did. (One suspects that some of these authors were being paid by the word.) The performance of the very last story was excellent, the audio was great, and the reader knocked it out of the park, but sadly the text and plot were pretty bad.