"Alien space bats" ("ASBs") is a

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

for

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any narrative technique, technique in a narrative used to move the Plot (narrative), plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing ...

s used in

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

to mean an implausible

point of divergence Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

Definition

"Alien space bats" originally was used as a sarcastic attack on poorly-written alternate histories seen as being implausible. The attacks are usually phrased as the need for "alien space bats" or by saying that the alternate history has gone into "ASB territory". The term eventually evolved into a reference to ''

deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( , ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; English "god out of the machine") is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function ...

'' to create an impossible

. Examples include changes to the physical laws of nature,

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

, and advanced aliens interfering in human affairs. An example of the last change is

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed ...

's ''

Worldwar The Worldwar series is the fan name given to a series of eight alternate history science fiction novels by Harry Turtledove. Its premise is an alien invasion of Earth during World War II, and includes Turtledove's ''Worldwar'' tetralogy, as ...

'' series.

History

The term "alien space bats" was coined and popularized in the

Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...

group soc.history.what-if. Alison Brooks (1959–2002), credited as the creator of the term, used it to debunk the possibility of a successful

Operation Sea Lion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle o ...

by saying that

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

could successfully invade the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

only if they had the help of alien space bats. Brooks regretted the use of the ASBs as a supernatural agency and preferred to restrict them to rhetoric.

S. M. Stirling Stephen Michael Stirling (born September 30, 1953) is a Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author who was born in France. Stirling is well known for his The Domination, Draka series of alternate history (fiction), alternate history no ...

credited Brooks with creating the term in the acknowledgments section of ''

Dies the Fire ''Dies the Fire'' is a 2004 alternate history and post-apocalyptic novel written by S. M. Stirling. It is the first installment of the ''Emberverse'' series and is a spin-off from S. M. Stirling's ''Nantucket'' series in which the Massachusetts ...

'' in which he changed the laws of physics and also used the plot device to send

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

back in time in ''

Island in the Sea of Time ''Island in the Sea of Time'' (ISOT) is the first of the three alternate history novels of the Nantucket series by S. M. Stirling. It was released in the United States and Canada on February 1, 1998 and in the United Kingdom a month later on Ma ...

''. One character throughout ''Dies the Fire'' and its sequels believes the change to the laws of nature to have been done by an advanced alien race because the changes were finely tailored and refers to the race as alien space bats. In a review of ''Dies the Fire'', Dale Cozort addressed the perceived implausibility of the novel by saying, "Just say to yourself, 'The elder gods or alien space bats took our toys away and that’s all there is to it.'"

Paul Di Filippo Paul Di Filippo (born October 29, 1954) is an American science fiction writer. He is a regular reviewer for print magazines ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ''Science Fiction Eye'', ''The New York Re ...

often uses the term in reviewing the series. The term also appeared in

John Birmingham John Birmingham (born 7 August 1964) is a British-born Australian author, known for the 1994 memoir ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'', and his ''Axis of Time'' trilogy. Early life and education Birmingham was born in Liverpool, United ...

's 2008 novel '' Without Warning''. In the UK, "space bats" was a term used by Professor Denzil Dexter, a character in the television comedy series ''The Fast Show'', first appearing in Series 1, Episode 5, broadcast on 10.25.94.

In popular culture

* In

Ken MacLeod Kenneth Macrae MacLeod (born 2 August 1954) is a Scottish science fiction writer. His novels ''The Sky Road'' and ''The Night Sessions'' won the BSFA Award. MacLeod's novels have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, an ...

's '' Learning the World'' alien space bats actually appear as characters in the novel as an

in-joke An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...

. * The gaming magazine ''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' published an article describing how someone could play as an alien space bat in a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. * In

Failbetter Games Failbetter Games is a British video game developer and interactive fiction studio based in London. History Founded in 2009 by Alexis Kennedy and Paul Arendt, Failbetter is chiefly known for its '' Fallen London'' Victorian Gothic franchise ...

' browser game ''

Fallen London ''Fallen London'', originally ''Echo Bazaar'', is a browser-based game, browser-based interactive narrative game developed by Failbetter Games and set in "Fallen London", an alternative Victorian era, Victorian London with gothic fiction, gothi ...

'', Victorian-era London is stolen by alien bats from space. *

Steven H Silver Steven H Silver (born April 19, 1967) is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, author, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twelve times and Best Fanzine seven times without winni ...

's story "Bats in The Bayou" features alien space bats invading Texas.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Interactive sites

Alien Space Bats and Other Magic
on the Alternate History Discussion Board.
''Alien Space Bats'' on the Alternate History FAQ
page of th
Alternate History Wiki

Alien Space Bats
Yahoo! Group

Non-interactive sites

Alien Space Bats
o
Alternate History Books

��a fictional story featuring alien space bats by Alison Brooks Alternate history Narrative techniques Nantucket series Alternate history fandom Science fiction terminology 20th-century neologisms