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And Having Writ ... Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 1978

by Donald R. Bensen (Author)

3.6 6 ratings

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In this alternate history novel, the Tunguska event was caused by an alien spaceship crashing. The novel takes place in an alternate timeline where the crew manage to land safely and then spend the next few decades changing history as a side-effect of encouraging the creation of technology that can repair their ship.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007SHFC1K
Publisher ‏ : ‎ ace; First Paperback edition (January 1, 1978)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.8 ounces

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Jason Galbraith

Unreal, But A Winner

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2017

"And Having Writ" seems so fresh that it's hard to believe it was written forty years ago. If you have heard of the Tunguska explosion of 1908, the premise will make sense: the alien spaceship that caused it managed instead to control its descent and landed in the Pacific, where the (helpfully humanoid) crew were picked up by a passing ship. In fact, if you don't know anything about early twentieth-century history, the book will be hard to follow, but I can't make myself deduct a star for that reason. I loved it.

Most of the characters in this book (other than, of course, the alien astronauts) are historical figures whose lives are forever changed by coming into contact with them. The narrator of the book is the ship's Recorder, named Raf. The other aliens are named Ari, Dark and Valmis. The ship that picks them up puts into port in San Francisco and the story takes off from there. First America and then the rest of the world realizes they are going to have to do things somewhat differently now that they have a (made up by the aliens) Galactic Empire to face. Then Raf starts to inform world leaders that actually there is no Galactic Empire and things really go off the rails.

Raf loves local beverages, Dark loves (at least one) local woman, and Ari and Valmis love their esoteric theories about Earth and the universe. Their ship is at the bottom of the Pacific and they realize their only hope to get home is to somehow advance human technology and society to the point where it can be repaired or replaced. Their initial scheme to do this doesn't quite work out, resulting in a very different twentieth century from the one our ancestors experienced. I won't tell you exactly how it's different because you really should read the book, but suffice to say the story is suffused with the optimism that informs the best science fiction. Everyone who has looked at human history and despaired should read it. I'm going to keep asking people if they want it for Christmas until one says yes. Five stars.

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paul

More speculative historical fiction , with a dash of sci fi

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

Started of as a good sci to novel, then devolved into alternative reality of the 19th century. DNF.

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Amazon Customer

Something a little different

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2000

I just finished this book and found it quite enjoyable. It is an alternative reality that has some features in common with time travel tales. I especially liked the way the author was able to change the usual point of view and premise to come up with a unique story.

4 people found this helpful

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Michael Huggins

Interesting blend of science fiction and alternate history

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2005

I read this book over 25 years ago, but it has certainly stayed with me and is well worth reading. It is based on the idea, sometimes found in physics, that at any given moment when a definite event takes place, an alternate universe splits off from ours, and the alternative outcome takes place there.

In 1908, a meteorite hit Tunguska, Siberia with tremendous force, flattening trees and killing animals for hundreds of miles around. Had it hit the earth a few hours earlier, it would have struck Moscow, causing unspeakable devastation.

This book begins with that historic event and supposes that the meteorite was actually an alien space ship suffering a malfunction. At the last moment, the crew transport their ship into an alternate universe. In our universe, their ship becomes the Tunguska "meteorite." In the alternate universe of 1908, the crew from outer space become celebrities.

The crew are from an advanced civilization and appear human. They can ingest almost any substance for survival and have communication tools that enable them to hear and understand any language. Their ship's momentum carries them to a crash landing in San Francisco Bay, where they are taken into custody. Meeting a reporter from the Hearst chain of newspapers, they become celebrities and eventually meet such figures as Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, George M. Cohan, the Wright Brothers, and others. William Jennings Bryan, who is running for President that year, wants to burn them at the stake because they aren't mentioned in the Bible.

At first, they garner a lot of good will because it is assumed that they are the harbingers of a new era of advanced civilization, aided by technology from other planets. Gradually, however, it becomes apparent that they are merely marooned, with no means of returning to their home--a civilization, meanwhile, that is so advanced that it could no more teach its science to us than we could teach the alphabet to monkeys. When that realization dawns, everyone loses interest in them and in fact, one of them is reduced to doing a vaudeville act in the old Madison Square Garden.

Meanwhile, without either the aliens or the earth dwellers being aware of it, their very presence is quietly altering earth history. Alert scientists are inspired by technology the crew brought with them and, consequently, early forms of the radio and television are invented. When Bryan loses his 1908 campaign, the event is broadcast over newly invented "radiodiffusion" by none other than the actor Lionel Barrymore, who has found a new career as a news announcer and borrows from Shakespeare to proclaim that the dejected Bryan is "sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."

The aliens don't realize how much the advances in technology are caused by their presence, and finally, in despair, they ask to be put in suspended animation, against the possibility of being revived to return to their home planet in the future. On November 11, 1918, they are placed in what we now know as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Arlington Cemetery.

What will they find when they wake up?

The book is fresh, imaginative, and interestingly written. I highly recommend it.

7 people found this helpful

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