I bought this book for the Mary Gentle story. Unfortunately, I'd already read it, in her short story collection, "Cartomancy." That's an excellent collection; go read it! I was pretty disappointed that it wasn't a new-to-me story, though. "The Logistics of Carthage" is in the same setting as her 'Ash' books, which are actually the only books by her I haven't yet read. I own them, though, and plan on reading them soon!

I really didn't much care for the other 3 stories in this book.

The first is Harry Turtledove: "The Daimon." I've read one other book by Turtledove, and didn't like it. But, it was YA, and this isn't, so I had an open mind. But, I found it too concerned with military details, and didn't get caught up by the characters or plot. The premise is that Socrates joined a Greek military expedition to Athens.

The second is "Shikari in Galveston" by S.M. Stirling. This is a prequel to his "Peshawar Lancers" book. I've previously read two other books by Stirling, and really quite disliked them. It's not that he's a bad writer, I think I just have a very different perspective on the world than he does, and something about his worldview and attitudes toward just about everything, just how he sees people - it annoys me. But if you are a fan of the writer, you will probably like this.

The book concludes with a Walter Jon Williams story. I've read 3 of WJW's books, but I think, all back in the 80's, so I'm not really up-to-date with his work. What I've read was all sci-fi/cyberpunk; while this is a Western. I've liked, but not loved, his work - and I feel similarly here. The premise of "The Last Ride of German Freddie" is that Friedrich Nietzsche ends up in the American West hanging out with Doc Holliday and the Earps. Amusing, but not amazing. ( )

I can't give a star rating to the book, since my reaction to each story is so different. I haven't read the books of Gentle & Stirling that these short stories are related to.
Turtledove's "The Daimon" requires a good knowledge of Greek history to know what was altered. Which I lack. Interesting enough if you like fictionalized biographies (Socrates). 3 star.
Stirling's "Shikari in Galveston" is a gruesome post-apocalyptic tale that brings British forces from India colonialism era to America where they meet their Russian foes. Americans, meanwhile, are just crawling out of bestialism. Sonjuh is a strong female character, making her own way kind of like Annie Oakley meme. The whole story abruptly slams to a wrap-up ending, tho, which downgrades my rating. It reads like the introduction to a full novel. Almost 4 star.
Gentle's "The Logistics of Carthage" is altered Middle Ages Crusade-era. Again, strong female characters, but also good character development. Makes you think about choices and consequences and cultural differences, and how our women soldiers are faring in Iraq/Afghanistan. Maybe even 5 star.
Williams' "The Last Ride of German Freddie" is a remake of the shoot out at the OK corral. Interesting, but it doesn't go beyond simply having fun with the story. 3 star.

an anthology of Alternate history stories by various hands. "The Last Ride of German Freddie" was particularly funny. "Shikari" by Stirling also quite good. ( )

I really liked the Stirling and the Williams novellas.

The Stirling one was a return to his "Peshawar Lancers" world, but here in North America. I thought it was exciting and well-thought-out.

Williams takes on Tombstone and the whole "OK Corral" thing. I'm not really a Western fan, but adding Nietzsche to the mix was intriguing.

I didn't care for the other two as much. Gentle's seemed sporadic, like a series of vignettes rather than a narrative; that's not a style of writing I care for, so to me it looked like it needed to be edited into a coherent whole.

As far as the Turtledove one goes- I've never liked Socrates; his "dialogue" technique can easily "prove" anything at all, depending on the questions a clever person asks. So the combination of Socrates and a lot of military tactics bored me silly.

Still- the Stirling and the Williams pieces were a lot of fun. ( )

First story suffered from the usual problem - I didn't know what had actually happened, so couldn't see the differences. I didn't know Plato's name was Aristocles, either - still don't know if he was the same person or just a namesake. It sounds like an interesting world, but it's hard to tell how things would work out - less science and more war in the short term, in the long term who knows? Especially the question of Rome. The second story - nice to see Eric and Ranjit again. I don't know if the setting - the fork point - would have been understandable if I hadn't read Peshawar Lancers. I wonder if the plan really was all one man, or if the Czar was backing it - but apparently they were as disorganized as Eric had hoped. And that last comment may come back to bite the Empire in a few generations.... Third - this one definitely needs the book to explain it. Given her afterword, the characters are mentioned or even important in the book, so if I had read Ash it would be interesting to see how things began. As it is, it's a series of rather nasty and futile vignettes, including some from the future (and apparently her future is similar enough that the equivalent of UN soldiers wear blue helmets...). A clear, vivid evocation of a universe I have no interest in visiting again. And the last - again, a period I know little about, populated (according to the author) by various unpleasant people with assorted wild ambitions. Freddie doesn't understand what people see in Wyatt, but I don't understand what drives Freddie - what he says makes very little sense and what he does even less. And again - a sordid, nasty little story. The Peshawar Lancers story is mildly interesting, the other three are completely uninteresting. Overall - ugh. Well-written, vivid, and highly unpleasant, with no payoff to make it worth my while to wade through the presented muck. ( )