Alternate Kennedys is a Genre Anthology edited by Mike Resnick which takes an interesting approach to Alternate History. In this case, it focuses on the lives of the Kennedy family, alternative lives of which are provided in each story. Some are more straightforward What Ifs?, whilst others take on a more fantastical approach.
The stories gathered here include:
- “Camelot Redux” by Jane Yolen.
- “A Fleeting Wisp of Glory” by Laura Resnick.
- “In the Stone House” by Barry N. Malzbetg.
- “The Kennedy Enterprise” by David Gerrold.
- “The Best and the Brightest” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
- “Short Count in Chicago” by Jack C. Haldeman II.
- “Siren Song” by Susan Shwartz.
- “Them Old Hyannis Blues” by Judith Tarr.
- “Rosemary: Scrambled Eggs on a Blue Plate” by Alan Rodgers and James D. Macdonald.
- “The Missing 35th President” by Brian M. Thomsen.
- “Freedom” by Barbara Delapiace.
- “A Massachusetts Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” by Harry Turtledove.
- “President-Elect” by Mark Aronson.
- “No Prisoners” by Pat Cadigan.
- “Lady In Waiting" by Mike Resnick.
- “The Inga-Binga Affair” by Michael P. Kube-Mc Dowell,
- “Bobbygate" by Rick Katze.
- “Now and in the Hour of Our Death” by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald.
- “Eoghan” by Nancy Kress.
- “’Til Death Do Us Part” by Charles Von Rospach.
- “Gloria Remembers” by Brian M. Thomsen.
- “Told You So” by Esther M. Friesner.
- “The End of the Summer, by the Great Sea” by Ginjer Buchanan.
- “Prince Pat” by George Alec Effinger.
- “The Disorder and Early Sorrow of Edward Moore Kennedy, Homunculus” by Robert Sheckley.
- “Rosemary’s Brain” by Martha Soukup.
- “The Winterberry” by Nicholas A. DiChario.
Tropes in this anthology:
- Different World, Different Movies: One timeline shown is one where Star Trek: The Original Series is turned into "Star Track". Two years into its run, Bobby ends up firing Roddenberry and ends up making radical changes which brings it more in line with the later Star Trek: The Next Generation, such as adding an android character who is curious about humanity and a character called Wesley, as well as making Jack Kennedy the star of the whole thing.
- Deal with the Devil: in "Gloria Remembers", Gloria and Joe end up meeting Satan, who offers to give the Kennedy name glory. The trouble is that Satan (or Lou as he prefers to be named) said that it would get its glory through the lives of Joe's sons, and Joe doesn't argue as he thinks it's similar to that of deeds. The implication ultimately is that the Kennedy name was given glory in exchange for the lives of the three oldest Kennedy sons.
- Driven to Suicide: In "Freedom", Joe Jr, upon realising that his life is destined to be controlled by his father, chooses to dive straight into the ocean on his plane, figuring that it would set him free forever.
- Fictionalized Death Account: Several of the Kennedys die in different ways as to real life.
- "The Kennedy Enterprise", features Jack Kennedy dying in a way that combines both his real-life assassination and that of Bobby's, being shot three times (third fatal) in the Ambassador Hotel by Sirhan Sirhan during a Star Track convention.
- "President-Elect" ends with Bobby dying in an automobile accident on his way to Chappaquiddick.
- "No Prisoners" has Bobby dying by Self-Immolation in protest of the Vietnam War.
- "Now And in the Hour of Our Death" features Kathleen dying of old age in the village of Dives in 1978, having actually survived the plane crash which killed her in real life, changed her name to Sister Dives, and became a Sister of the Carmelite convent.
- Future Imperfect: "A Fleeting Wisp of Glory" depicts a timeline where the Cuban Missile Crisis turned sour and led to an apocalyptic nuclear scenario. Due to this, many facts pertaining to the Kennedy Camelot got mangled with that of its medieval counterpart, leading to stuff like JFK being considered a King and Khrushchev being the evil child of an incestrous affair between JFK and Morgause.
- Genius Serum: "Rosemary's Brain" depicts a world where the doctors gave Rosemary an operation which made her very intelligent.
- Good Luck Charm: In "Eoghan", Patrick Kennedy is given a lucky coin from a woman capable of turning into a rat, and is told that good fortune would shine upon him and his descendants as long as he keeps the coin and does good with their lives. True to her word, he and his descendants are given good luck and success, until Jack decides not to go ahead with pulling out of Vietnam in 1963, upon which the coin is destroyed and it is heavily implied that he is assassinated soon after.
- Leprechaun: In "Told You So", Jack encounters a leprechaun called Seamus Fitz Gerald and is given the ability to wish for anything he desired. Unfortunately for Jack, the leprechaun is working for Richard Nixon, and a misspelling during his trip to Berlin in 1963 causes Jack to have a Terminal Transformation into a bagel.
- Manchild: "The Winterberry" depicts a world where Jack survives Dallas only to become brain-damaged. As a result, he becomes rather childlike in his demeanour, being Constantly Curious and calling Teddy "Uncle Teddy" amongst other things.
- Mind Screw: "The Disorder and Early Sorrow of Edward Moore Kennedy, Homunculus" is a difficult story to understand, starting with Teddy discovering that the existence of a colony on Mars and ending with him being reborn as a baby called John Smith.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: "Rosemary's Brain" depicts a world where an operation designed to calm down Rosemary whilst increasing her reasoning capacity ended up having the effect of making her very intelligent. She hides this new-found intelligence from her parents however, telling Eddie Moore that she plans to use the chance to become an actress behind their backs.
- Or Was It a Dream?: "A Massachusetts Yankee in King Arthur's Court" ends with Jack waking up from a dream where he ended up in Camelot Britain.. until he learns from UK Prime Minster Macmillan that an archeological team unearthing an American dime at the area he showed up in within his dreams.
- Pro Wrestling Episode: "The 1960 Presidential Campaign, Considered as a World Wrestling Federation Steel Cage Match or Short Count in Chicago" is, as the name suggests, 1960 Presidential campaign presented as a boxing match, with Jack as The Hynannis Kid and Richard Nixon as The Trickster.
- Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: Several stories depict the Kennedys in different jobs than in the original timeline.
- "The Kennedy Enterprise" depicts a universe where Joe Jr., John, and Bobby went into show business (Teddy apparently had a similar fate as in the original timeline, ending up a politician). Joe Jr is briefly mentioned to become a director, Bobby ends up running MGM and Jack goes between roles before making his big break with Star Track.
- "Them Old Hynannis Blues" depicts a universe where Elvis Presley becomes President, Martin Luther King Jr becomes Vice President, and the four Kennedy brothers becomes a music band, with Marilyn Monroe married to Bobby (although she divorces at the end of the story) and wanting to get a doctorate in International Law.
- "No Prisoners" depicts a world where Eunice became a Senator, Patricia an Ambassador and Bobby a Priest. Teddy is also mentioned to have become a businessman.
- "Lady in Waiting" features Marilyn as a waitress.
- Refusing Paradise: In "Siren Song", Jack is given the opportunity to stay in a paradisal island with a mermaid for the rest of his life, free of his chronic pain. While he does stay for a little while, he chooses to give up this life upon learning of his future career path if he does give it up.
- Scandal Gate: "Bobbygate", justified by the fact that it refers to an earlier set version of Watergate orchestrated by Bobby on Republican headquarters to get material on Barry Goldwater.
- Terminal Transformation: The short story "Told You So" focuses on John F. Kennedy gaining Reality Warper powers from a leprechaun. Unfortunately, this has ramifications for him when he says his famous "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" speech, the key phrase of which roughly translates into "I am a Bagel". He is instantly transformed into a bagel, with the narrative making it clear that he died as a result of the transformation — Lyndon Johnson is immediately inaugurated as President, and mention is made of bakeries in West Berlin fighting to be the one who provides the box used to serve as a coffin for the President's remains.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: In-Universe, this was Sirhan Sirhan's motive to kill Jack in "The Kennedy Enterprise", never forgiving the Kennedy brothers for replacing Kirk and Spock with Logan and REM.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: "Rosemary: Scrambled Eggs on a Blue Plate" is set from the POV of Rosemary after her lobotomy and it shows - amongst other things, she believes that space aliens took Jack and Bobby and removed her brains for knowing too much and she has a very disjointed line of thinking.
- Who Shot JFK?: Considering the fact that it's a book about the alternative lives of the Kennedys, it's a given.
- In "In the Stone House", it's Joe Kennedy Jr who did the deed, feeling betrayed by his brother after he was forced out of the Presidency by his father.
- "The Missing 35th President" suggests that the entire assassination was faked, foiling a joint Castro-Giancana plot to kill John in the process.
- In "'Til Death Do Us Part", Jack stages the whole thing, with the help of Sam Giancana, so that he can be with Marilyn, who is haunting him, in the afterlife.
- "The Winterberry" has JFK survive his assassination, albeit turned into a Manchild as a result of the brain damage received by the attempt.
