Williams, Walter Jon. "Wall, Stone, Craft"
Divergence: 1788 CE
What if: Lord Byron was not born with a club foot and went on to be a famous cavalryman, making his name by capturing Napoleon at Waterloo.
Summary: Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley twice meet the famous soldier.
Published: In Wall, Stone, Craft, Pulphouse/Axolotl 1993; The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Oct/November 1993; The Year's Best Science Fiction, Eleventh Annual Collection (ed. Gardner Dozois), St. Martin's 1994 (0312111045BUY, 0312111053BUY), SFBC 1994, v.t. Best New SF 8, Robinson 1994 (1854873105); Visions of Wonder: The Science Fiction Research Association Anthology (eds. David G. Hartwell and Milton T. Wolf), Tor 1996 (0312862445BUY, 0312852878BUY); Frankensteins and Foreign Devils, NESFA 1998 (1886778043BUY, 1886778035BUY); and The Best of Walter Jon Williams, Subterranean 2021 (1645240029BUY).
Awards: Nominee: 1994 Hugo for best novella. Nominee: 1994 World Fantasy Award for best novella.