Why I Edited... The Scottish Anthology

By Ryan Fleming.

Alternate history anthologies focused on a single country were nothing new by the time we began work on The Scottish Anthology, nor were themed anthologies unknown in other genres, in alternate history, or even from Sea Lion Press by the time of those first nation-based anthologies. While this was my first effort as an editor of a fiction anthology, I had been proudly featured in anthologies edited by others in both alternate history and other genres. But what these nation-based anthologies allow, in a way many other themes do not, is a glimpse into avenues and possibilities for roads not taken that might not appear in print otherwise.

A trend I had noticed in independently published genre anthologies was an increasing narrowing of their scope. This was especially noticeable in the horror genre, which over a period of years went from recognisable subgenres that still offered a broad scope alongside mashups with other genres, to those that had a very, very narrow definition of the stories they would feature. A call for one such example that stuck with me was one for horror stories themed around sleep or nightmares, but specifically not sleepwalking. It was so odd to see a project intentionally limit itself in such a way for a scope I would say is narrower than it is broad. Reject specific pitches, if you feel they don’t meet the remit, but were they really concerned about a deluge of sleepwalking horror clogging up the submissions?

To my mind, any anthology theme should be geared towards creating a diversity of ideas and not limiting those ideas. If you find yourself rejecting multiple ideas for not meeting the criteria then you should perhaps consider if your theme will draw readers beyond those that really, really like that narrow scope and are happy to read story after story with similar ideas. Over the past year or so as I’ve seen fewer and fewer calls for submissions go out and even crowdfunding for specific themes not succeed, it is possible that the bottom has fallen out of the laser focused anthology market. What that means for independent short fiction publishing in general remains to be seen.

A perennial debate in alternate history circles is whether it is a genre unto itself or merely a setting for other, more recognisable genres. This split ironically helps broaden the scope of many alternate history anthologies. If focused on a single setting, then you might see the stories cover a variety of storytelling genres. If focused on a single genre for storytelling, then you would still be likely to see diverse settings. Some settings do invite only a handful of storytelling genres, those during the World Wars, for instance, but even then, one might have World Wars completely different to our own, focus on different parts of the world, or feature different outcomes to real wars.

If anything, whilst other genres like horror have seen their themes narrow as more and more subgenres and mashups are used, the alternate history anthologies from Sea Lion Press have grown broader in the scope of their themes. The current catalogue of anthologies features titles focused on specific countries, genres, conflicts, political events, and even a specific political office. That list runs in reverse in terms of publication date, with the narrower focus actually amongst those earliest publications.

The first book focused on a specific country, Alternate Australias, edited by Jared Kavanagh, would later be followed by The Emerald Isles, edited by Gary Oswald. These titles, offering alternate history stories focused on Australia and Ireland respectively, allowed tales to be told based on the history of countries somewhat underserved in the genre (or setting). AlloAmericana, edited by Alexander Wallace, offered both a setting and a genre, focused on alternate mythology of alternate United States’.

From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and from the Aztecs to the Zaporozhian Sich, there are an infinite number of alternate histories to be considered and in which to set tales. Within every country too there are a myriad of divergences where a country can go down a path to democracy or totalitarianism, stability or chaos, peace or war, conquered or conqueror, wealth or poverty. The short story offers a chance to tell many of those tales that might not get a look in otherwise either because of their obscurity or because they take place somewhere outside of most readers’ interest. The anthology allows for an opportunity for several such tales to be packaged together and offer multiple glimpses into histories, and alternate histories, of countries, regions, states, or continents outside of the familiar alternate history geopolitical players.

Scotland, like any other country, offers plenty of paths not taken, both instigated from within that nation or the impact of decisions and events taking place out with its borders. An anthology gave the chance to tell tales of alternate histories that wouldn’t be told otherwise.

Naturally, as editor I immediately chose to ignore that and do something set following a successful invasion of the UK by Nazi Germany during World War II. Albeit one where a toxic melange of disparate far-rightists forms a Scottish state akin to the Independent State of Croatia or the Slovak Republic, even if such an effort would likely have failed worse than their Breton equivalents did in occupied France.

Fortunately, other authors took to the remit to come up with ideas beyond the most well-trodden path in alternate history settings/genre. Charles Cartwright took one of the most mythologised events in Scottish history, the Battle of Bannockburn, and considered the added implications of Edward II of England not being able to escape the pursuing Scots army following the battle in “To Capture a King”. Paul Hynes also took World War II in as his starting point for “Rolls” but instead painted a very human picture of the implications of a Franco-British Union putting the idealised Auld Alliance between Scots and the French to the test in a divided and sectarian Scotland. Jared Kavanagh set “Not Your Fight” in his native Australia, but one where a still independent Scotland has launched its own colonial occupation on that continent.

Matthew Kresal’s “Double Flash” contributed the idea for the wonderfully designed cover by Jack Tindale, where the worst fears of Scotland hosting nuclear weapons come to pass. Gary Oswald focused both on the development of the sport shinty, an ancient hockey game, in a world where the Norse Gaels form their own culturally distinct part of Scotland in “The Big Leagues”. Tyler Parsons took one of the most infamous instances of court intrigue in Scottish history, the murder of David Rizzio, and imagines the conspirators accidentally murder the pregnant Mary, Queen of Scots, instead in “Murdered Queens and Mad Kings”. Lastly, Lilith Roberts imagines the Scotland that would develop in a timeline where a victorious England emerges victorious during the Hundred Years War and remains focused on the continent, where Scotland’s relationship with wider Europe informs a major political debate in “Europe’s Concert, Scotland’s Chorus”.

No two tales involve the same divergence from our own history. Even those that involve an independent Scotland imagine very different ones veering from our own historic Kingdom of Scotland to a colonialist Scotland to an isolationist Scotland to the centre of Gaeldom to a puppet state of Nazi Germany. Those that see Scotland in some sort of multinational union also include both our own United Kingdom and a wider entity with yet more countries. Some offer a view from the corridors of power, others from those on the ground. These are just eight different alternate histories focused on Scotland, and there are still more that could be told from Scotland, as well as anywhere else.

If there is one thing I would do different with The Scottish Anthology, beyond consider titles other than a play on the euphemism for William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it would be to expand the histories portrayed further into eras of Scottish history not usually covered even outside alternate history. It feels like the popular historiography of Scotland runs from its origins to one of the Union of the Crowns in 1603, Acts of Union 1707, or the Jacobite rising of 1745, then does not begin again until the latter part of the 20th Century. The period in between sees Scottish history subsumed into wider British history.

While this is not something that can be entirely avoided, given that the history of Scotland during this period is intertwined into the history of Britain, there are many specifically Scottish events and movements during that period which do not fall neatly into the wider history of Britain. These include the Highland Clearances, the Scottish Enlightenment, riots against the Militia Act 1797, the Radical War in 1820, George IV’s 1822 visit to Scotland, the Highland Land League, and the Battle of George Square, amongst others. Even beyond those historical events, I considered for this anthology some sort of Anglo-Scottish equivalent to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.

However, there are still many more genres and settings to be explored before returning to further Scottish alternate histories. I am currently undertaking my second and third editing efforts which will be anthologies focused on alternate histories involving dinosaurs and kaiju fiction. Don’t be surprised though if a certain Scottish loch should appear in either of them!

The Scottish Anthology is on sale from Amazon now.

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