The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

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1. pmoriartyOct 2014
   Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"[0] could also be taken as an alternate history novel. It was written in 1889.

   According to Wikipedia, the genre goes back to about 27 BC, when "the earliest example of an alternate (or counterfactual) history is found in Livy's Ab Urbe condita (book IX, sections 17–19). Livy contemplated an alternative 4th century BC in which Alexander the Great expanded his empire westward instead of eastward; he asked, "What would have been the results for Rome if she had been engaged in war with Alexander?""[1]

   Another classic take on the past not being dead is Lovecraft's, such as in "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"[2] and "The Rats in the Walls"[3].

   [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Connecticut_Yankee_in_King_A...

   [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_history_%28fiction%2...

   [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case_of_Charles_Dexter_War...

   [3] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rats_in_the_Walls

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2. armitronFeb 2019
   There is this concept of emergent control called a "metasystem transition" [1] which is what Dyson is really talking about. Conventional history and culture has never before been shaped by the - ever shortening, ever accelerating - techonomic feedback loops that we see today. Cybernetics has been summoned like Yog Sothoth in "The case of Charles Dexter Ward".

   [1] http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MST.html

   [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case_of_Charles_Dexter_War...

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3. DelmaniaDec 2015
   Surprisingly enough, in most of his stories, the chaos from outside is contained. Notably in the Call of Cthlhu, The Dunwich Horror, and the Case of Charles Dexter Ward, where people spring into action once the threat has emerged. The difference between Ghostbusters and Lovecraft's work (outside of being a comedy) is the reaction. In Ghostbusters, they're presented as flawed noble heroes, striving against everything to defeat an evil. In Lovecraft's work, they're presented as individuals who are doing what must be done to contain the ever-present threat. The difference between Gozer and Cthulhu is that Gozer is a one time threat, whereas Cthulhu is always there.
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