An Alternate History of the 21st Century by William Shunn

The story that opens William Shunn’s collection, An Alternate History of the 21st Century, is “From Our Point of View We Had Moved to the Left,” which was originally published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1993 and set in 2009, with part taking place in 2021. This short story, which is more a background piece than an actual story, describes the election of a “New Right” president in 2008 and hints at the fascist government that he establishes. Viewed in light of a post-9/11 world, Shunn’s story seems eerily prescient, although it still feels like it should be expanded to provide more of a view of the society which flourishes under his President Wheelock. The characters Shunn focuses on, choir singers Ben, Hughie, Charlie, and Slapjack never quite come to life in the story, and the reader has a difficult time caring for them.

Set in 2025, but not related to the earlier story, “Kevin17” is the story of a clone, broken into alternating sections focusing on the doctor who is running the cloning experiment and the clone, known as Kevin17, who has been released into the world to live as a foster son. Kevin17 finds he has to suddenly deal with the cruelty of other children after living in the relative safety of a crèche made up of his various clone brothers. As with “From Our Point of View We Had Moved to the Left,” “Kevin17” does not feel like a complete story, instead feeling like Shunn is providing an outline or beginning for a much longer tale which more fully explores what it means to be a clone and his/their role in the world at large. This story first appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1995.

“Observations from the City of Angels” was first published in Salon.com in 2003 and in many ways covers ground already covered by films like EdTV. The viewpoint character, Brian Hayes, is taking part in an experiment in which his life is broadcast for anyone to see. Shunn spends a great deal of time in the story depicting Hayes as something of a loser. Of the seven experimental subjects, his life is the least watched; he is conflicted about the whole experiment, but apparently not enough to decide to quit the experiment. The problem with the story is that Shunn is so successful in this depiction that the reader tends to agree with the fictional viewers. Shunn forces the question “Why should anyone care about this milquetoast’s life” and never really gives the reader a reason to care.

The last of the reprint stories is “Strong Medicine,” set on New Year’s Eve in 2037, it first appeared in Salon.com in 2003. Although the world of “Strong Medicine” is far from idyllic, terrorism is still an issue, medical science has managed to cure all physical ailments, at least in America, and Dr. Emmett Fairbairn, whose life was wrapped up in his role as a healer, has ceased to have meaning. Shunn details Fairbairn’s ennui as he contemplates and begins to execute his own death in a game of Russian roulette. Expecting to die as the clock strikes midnight, Fairbairn suffers from much the same problem as Hayes in the previous story. Shunn gives the reader little reason to empathize with the character or hope that when he pulls the trigger, the hammer will fall on an empty chamber.

The final two stories of An Alternate History of the 21st Century are original to the collection. The first of these, “Objective Impermeability in a Closed System” opens with Hector Baratoux sitting in a time machine preparing to make an illicit visit to his own youth in order to see the love of his life who died tragically. Shunn then switches to Baratoux’s thoughts and presents the relationship as a flashback. Shunn’s framing technique, heavily laden with techno-babble, is distancing from his characters and their situation and detracts from the much more interesting relationship story. Shunn also implies things about the characters without fully explaining them, which does make the story more interesting, but also leaves the impression that the story hasn’t quite been completed. At times, Shunn’s writing is reminiscent of Stanislaw Lem’s, and the reader can easily see Hector Baratoux embarking on a series of adventures similar to Ijon Tichy of Pirx the Pilot.

“Not of This Fold” is the longest, and most satisfying, story in the collection. In it, Shunn looks at faith and first contact and the potential for a crisis of faith. Set aboard a space station, the story follows two Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they try to convert other station residents as part of a mission. Making their job even more difficult is that the station is under lockdown following the arrival of an alien ship. When Elder Chad Sutton makes comments indicating that he has knowledge of the aliens, knowledge which comes from his own faith, he finds himself called to meet with the aliens. Shunn does a good job of depicting Sutton’s faith in adversity, and Sutton demonstrates a slight, but appropriate, martyr complex. When the aliens don’t quite match his preconceived notions, his inability to distinguish belief from facts results in a crisis of faith, which is depicted in a sympathetic manner, resolving the story in a realistic way, even as Sutton achieves success in unrelated areas.

Publisher: Spilt Milk Press
Chapbook Price: $5.00