Curious Notions
Author	Harry Turtledove
Cover artist	Kazuhiko Sano
Language	English
Series	Crosstime Traffic
Genre(s)	Alternate History
Publisher	Tor
Publication date	2004
Preceded by	Gunpowder Empire
Followed by	In High Places

Curious Notions, Tor, 2004, is the second novel in the Crosstime Traffic series. In it, Paul Gomes and his father, Lawrence, both Crosstime employees, travel to an alternate where Germany won World War I, and eventually conquered the world, including the United States. The store they run, Curious Notions, specializes in technology that, while present in this alternate, is jealously guarded by the ruling German government. Thus, the store attracts unwanted attention from the occupying authorities.

The store also attracts the notice of Lucy Woo, a denizen of the alternate, whose father runs an electronics shop of his own. It also attracts the attention of the Chinese Triads, who see the store as an opportunity to overthrow the Germans.

Literary Note Edit

The premise of Nazi Germany winning World War II is one of the most common Point of Divergences in alternate history. Turtledove himself took it up in In the Presence of Mine Enemies and mentions such timelines in more than one volume of the Crosstime Traffic series.

Conversely, the premise of Imperial Germany winning the World War I is extremely rare. Before that war, it was the subject of one notable work, the 1913 'When William Came: A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns by British author Saki (pseudonym of Hector Hugh Munro) - set several years in what was then the future, after a war between Germany and Britain, which Germany won, and with the "William" of the title being Kaiser Wilhelm II ([1]). It was, however, many years before this theme was taken up again.

Aside from Turtledove, one other writer who did take it up was Keith Laumer in "Worlds of the Imperium", though there it did not lead to German global domination but to decades of continued fighting ending with mutual devastation in a nuclear war. Interestingly, Turtledove wrote an introduction to a three novel omnibus collection of Laumer stories set in this multiverse published in 2005.

Turtledove's own "Uncle Alf" is another Germany-wins-WWI scenario. It is not related to Curious Notions, however. Another unrelated Turtledove work is in Southern Victory, where Germany (allied to the United States) defeats the Entente powers.

The Crosstime Traffic series

Gunpowder Empire | Curious Notions | In High Places | The Disunited States of America | The Gladiator | The Valley-Westside War