David Johnson – Interesting butterflies from the fire and the PODs you suggested. If the fire chief is still alive, he might manage to stop the dynamiting, or at least make sure that its done by someone who’s not drunk. The POD about the city hall surviving is less interesting, although a mayor with a less responsible attitude towards a crisis than Rudy G might well make things worse. If he survives, but fumbles the ball (perhaps city hall is saved at the cost of the fire destroying houses), it might start a stronger anti-corruption drive.

Re your comments on a moneyless society, my own reading of the ST world is that ordinary citizens can get whatever they want in the way of food and drink, as well as basic supplies, without any cost beyond the energy. Given the ST’s cheap energy supplies, that won’t cost much. However, seeing that GPL is used in DS9, my guess is that there are some things that cannot be duplicated easily (or perhaps exchangeable credit cards). Seeing that the density of iron, for example, is much more than food, perhaps there is an energy limit. The harder the thing you make, the more power needed. Past a point, you might as well have a mining colony. With replicators to feed the staff, you won’t have large starting costs.

Wesley Kawato – I’m not convinced that there could be any hatred between the US and CSA that would lead to a nuclear exchange. I can’t think of any issues that would generate such hatred. Other than that, no real comments. I came too late to the story.

Anthony Domino – Missed Chances: Without the straights campaign, the British will probably attempt to roll up Iraq sooner, and with extra men they might succeed. That’s not a deathblow for the ottomans, but its pretty bad. On the other hand, the absence of any apparent concern for Russia might encourage the provisionals to end the war without a takeover by Lenin and Co.

I’m not convinced that there was a realistic chance of the Germans inciting a jihad that would have a serious effect on the war. The Afghans were good fighters on their lands, but the British had a large advantage over them in India itself and better weapons. The main problem is that the British might decide to take over Afghanistan again and hold it down until the end of the war. The Russians might invade from the north as well (possible in theory) which would add extra confusion. It might slow down some Indian reinforcements so the British could chase them back.

-Queen Beth and the Turk: I suspect that if she did ally with the Turks, she’d be overthrown. Many people would hate the idea of allying with the Muslims, not to mention the Turks might be unwilling to accept a female ruler as an equal. However, if they did, the Turks might provide troops that could attack the Spanish in Spain for longer; drake did manage to hold a few Spanish ports for a day or so, give him a proper army to really hurt the Spanish. However, the Pope might loosen the purse strings a bit more for King Philip, recognising her as rightful queen would mean giving up too much papal authority. I suspect that France would join Spain in such circumstances; losing to Spain means more taxes, losing to the ottomans means the fall of Catholicism.

-Few Others: I’ve always considered the Edward/Wallis affair overrated. Ok, the king may have the loyalty of much of the population (dubious with the depression and communism), but parliament had the money to pay the army and runs the nation. The most likely outcome of a prolonged confrontation is the king being hauled from Buckingham Palace and summarily exiled. The most likely outcome is a truce in which they can get married, but their heirs get de-royaled.

I suspect if Japan had fought hard to keep foreigners out, the foreigners would have shoved their way in anyway. By the time the Japanese realised it was not working, it would be too late. Japan becomes a British/American/French colony.

I liked the Predator Fanfic. Did you ever read Concrete Jungle?

I’m pretty sure that Christianity could vanish from history easily, but I’m not so sure about Islam. Islam is basically a more regimented form of Judaism (not a perfect analogy) and was in some ways designed to fit the Arabian landscape. It was more rewarding than the previous religions. An adaptation of Judaism (like it, but without the Jews are Jews) might well spread there anyway. Might be an interesting story: the new Jews vs. the old Jews.

Christopher Nuttall – Excellent! Magnificent! A triumph! … Oh, wait, I wrote them. LOL.

Dale Speirs – The first thing that springs to mind is that the Americans would need to produce an army before they could intervene in more than a naval way. Having the US ships helping out against the u-boats would be very helpful, but I suspect it would not be decisive. (Unless some US admiral uses convoys, I forgot when the British started,). If the US does get troops to France in 1916, however, the American army will be as advanced as the 1914 British army. They’ll also take brutal causties before using tanks like the British did in 1917. The US did use similar attacks (believing that Americans could do them when French and British failed) before being convinced they were futile. I also question whither Germany would not offer a peace before they lost the war on the ground.

Tom Cron – Reality Seeds. 1) If nappy and all the most likely heirs are wiped out, there’ll be a long period of unrest until someone re-establishes control. Who would depend upon the politics of the time. 2) No Oliver twist. Workhouses might be kept going longer, leading to more social unrest. 3) don’t know. Sorry. 4, 5) ditto. 6) united Russia and Sweden. The Empire is more cospolotion and far more powerful. Russia takes over most of Europe in the late 17^th century. 7) better race relations? 8) if he was incompetant, the US might have lost the battle, or won it better. 9, 10) don’t know.

Dale Cozort – Humm, many different ideas here, it’ll keep me going for a bit. I’m getting into Mars, although I still want the first parts. Perhaps you should polish it up a bit and offer it to Jim Baen. He’s had a few new good authors (such as Tom Kratman) recently, so perhaps he’ll be interested.

I enjoyed reading the France challenge, although I’ve got a minor gripe. After setting the rules, you tell us how you would do it, which rather ruins the fun of it. On the other hand, I can add a few points to what you’ve written:

You don’t mention if I’m allowed to do any research before being sent back in time. If I am, I could dig up dirt on the more incompetent commanders and force them to resign. Blackmail is not nice, but neither is a nazi victory.
The French could use B divisions to head into Belgium. They might put up a good fight or not, but that would keep the best forces in France itself. It might also be worth placing one of the best commanders in the Sedan region with full authority.
It might also be worth the effort of obtaining Radars from the British if possible. Perhaps a deal in which parts of the French Empire go to the British or are heavily garrisoned by French forces with more independent-minded officers in command.
The final step is to empersive anti-tank defences in places and use them as much as possible. Slowing down the German attacks is vital.
I’d probably ignore Norway altogether. If the British do get involved and lose, it could be propaganda – “the sissy brits lost, we’re not going to” – while keeping the Germans overconfident.
I’d lastly rig bridges to collapse at the required moments, planning to fall back gradually.

Luke Schleusener – I enjoyed the first part of Queen Charlotte, but I’d like to read more before committing myself to detailed comments. I liked reading king of Egypt. My own thoughts on the outcome is that it will create a middle-class with the desire to take part in politics without the extremist tinge that Egyptian politics took as a British puppet. Such societies don’t often engage in ethnic cleansing, which might allow the minorities some role in society or perhaps trade them to the British as colonists. I expect that there will be a confrontation between the King and parliament (or an unenfranchised middle class) at some point, it would depend how many concessions the king gave before the crunch. He might be propped up by the British (which would boost anti-British sentiment), or he might become a constitutional monarch.

If the Ottomans do go looking for another army trainer, I suspect that Prussia or America would be the best bet. Russia is out of the question and Britain has only a small army. While you say that Russia would control such an empire, I don’t think the ottomans would allow that to happen, they would resist at some point. Could the Russians of 1830 invade all of Turkey?

Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro – No Comments

Robert Gill – Reality seeds: My own reading of John Brown is that he did not have the personality to successfully compete in politics. I can see him becoming a militia leader in Kansas and fighting there instead of raiding slave camps, but I don’t think he would be a good politician in a political environment. On the other hand, he could emerge as a leader of the free-soilers and become someone important that way – having most of them in an army would make keeping slaves very difficult in Kansas. Islam would probably have taken on in England if the Muslims played their cards right. The difficulty would be in preventing massive abuses of the natives. Peaceful conversion would make Britain very important as a Muslim state, but attempting to impose Islam by force would damage relations.

I enjoyed 1633. It offered a detailed look at some of the effects of time travel. By the way, its now free from Baen.

I don’t think that the continued existence of Peshtigo would really alter history that much unless someone important died in the fire. The US and British would probably just keep trying with their firebombing anyway.

Kurt Sidaway – No Comments

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