Timeline Thursday: Tarrantry Saga

I've been wanting to talk about the Tarrantry Saga for a while now, but have held out because I honestly haven't read any of the Tarrantry stories. Still its one of the oldest collaborative alternate histories, with stories from the late 1990s, that is not associated with any of the major communities and I felt it should get some attention. So if you don't know what Tarrantry is, lets get stated with this map:

Yep, that is a third British Isle, no doubt made of the bodies of all the butterflies that needed to die so we could get those 1939 European borders we all recognize. The backstory is that Tarrantry had a Celtic culture that became friendly with Rome and later became a semi-independent duchy of France. When the French Revolution happened, the Dukes split from the Republic and Tarrantry gained independence and the dukes were promoted to royals by the Congress of Vienna. Wanting to preserve their independence, they built up their navy for defense, although due to their size they were only ever a middling sea-power at best. Tarrantry soldiers played roles in several important events in the early to mid-20th century, including World War I, the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Although Tarrantry is ASB, plausibility was never the intention. The Saga actually got its start as a thought exercise on the Battleship v Battleship discussion board (now defunct) about what ships a middle-rank European maritime power might build in the first half of the 20th century. The discussion helped flesh out the Tarrantry universe and led to several short stories. For a time the Tarrantry Saga was actually quite popular, with flags for the Royal Terrentrian Navy and a more detailed maps of Tarrantry being created. Someone even thought the Saga was even notable enough for a Wikipedia article, although it was later deleted.

Sadly, many of the sites associated with the Saga have gone offline, but you can still find references to them at places like The Naval Fiction Board. I still want to read some of the Tarrantry stories one day since they are part of an interesting period in the history of alternate history community. With so many alternate historians centered on just one site, its important to remember that back in the day things were more decentralized and we got a lot of original and fascinating takes on alternate history.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Questions About the Alternate History Fandom

Last month I posted a timeline of important events of the alternate history fandom on Amazing Stories. The article was well received and inspired to write a more detailed synopsis of alternate history fans for the Sideways in Time Conference in Liverpool, UK next year. As I have reported in my Weekly Updates, there has been a lot of progress and I may even write a longer work depending on how well the paper is received. Nevertheless, I could use a helping hand on overcoming a few roadblocks that have popped up...

• Can anyone provided me more detailed information about Other Timelines? I am looking for either one the brains behind the site or someone with detailed knowledge of its history. The AlternateHistory.com Wiki does have a page on it, but I would like to hear from a less biased source.
• I remember GeoCities having dozens of personal alternate history sites, but most of these have disappeared after Yahoo shut it down. Is there anyone out there who can better explain this era?
• Counterfactual.net is a smaller forum, but that doesn't mean it is any less important. Can anyone one point me to the person(s) behind the forum who can better explain their history?
• At one point the Tarrantry Saga had its own Wikipedia page, but the collaborative timeline is far from what it used to be. I found a lot of archived information, including a list of stories, but not sure where to begin with its history. Can anyone provide me some information or get me in contact with the creator, Rick Robinson?
• I mined 1632.org and related sites for information regarding this collaborative fan project, but I still feel like an outsider looking in. Who is the best person to talk to about this project? Yeah I know Eric Flint is the original author, but the paper is focusing more on the fans and not the professional creators.
• If your name happens to be Robert B. Schmunk, I would really like to talk to you! Or if you know him, can you help with an introduction?

If you can help me, please email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com. I am also looking for any suggestions for avenues of research, such as major collaborative timelines I might have missed or other communities of alternate historians who have impacted the genre. Thanks!

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.