Fantastic Pasts - Imaginary Adventures in New Zealand History
Whilst I was out-and-about this afternoon I picked up the a short story collection by Matthew Wright called Fantastic Pasts - Imaginary Adventures in New Zealand History. The book takes several significant events in New Zealand history and either moves them around, or changes their outcomes, such as a volcanic eruption in Auckland shortly after the devastating Queen Street riots of 1931:
I was driving down Mount Eden road with my three staff, and approaching the corner of The Esplanade when the car rocked, all eyes snapped right, and we saw a sight the like of which I had feared. I nearly crashed the car, but managed to bring it to a halt. We climbed out and looked across perhaps a quarter mile of quivering air to a huge rising cloud of steam, laced with grey streaks, which had suddenly begun to unfold right in the middle of the Mount Eden housing district, between us and Dominion Road. All I could think of was Messines. To me it sounded like an artillery barrage - a continuous roar punctuated by occasionally louder pops and bangs.
So far I've just skimmed the pages looking at what other stories are present including a Japanese invasion of New Zealand. The only problem I think I'll have with this book is that my knowledge of the REAL history of New Zealand is quite limited so I'm not sure I'll easily tell which elements are factual or not. I guess I'll just have to research my own history as I read the stories to find out what really happened.