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Description
This is an attempt at a detailed map of Robert Silverberg's "Gate of Worlds" alternate history setting, including material from the followup collaborative work "Beyond the Gate of Worlds" with Robert Brunner and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

This is one of those worlds where Europe gets hit harder by the black plague than in ours, allowing the Islamic world to take over and the native American peoples get a respite: later the Turks are too busy holding down their overextended empire to go on any Hesperidian Jihads (the Americas are called the Hesperides in this world). Russia, thanks to thin population, bad roads and isolation is less hard hit by the plague, but isn't strong enough (yet) to challenge the Ottoman Turks in Europe, so it moves east earlier than in our world, becoming a sort of Christian steppe empire, and eventually invading north China when it enters a stage of late-dynastic decay. The Russians carve off those bits without too many Chinese and vassalize the rest. The Chinese previously (due to butterflies from very different history to the west) keep sailing longer than in our world, eventually getting as far as New Zealand, where the shipwreck of much of a Treasure Fleet in a great storm gives the Maori a useful technological leg up.

History happens. By the early 21st century the Ottoman empire is in advanced decay, having lost its African possession to an Arab revival, and with its grip on much of Europe slipping away. The world's strongest powers are the Aztecs and the Russians, although the Russians have suffered a setback due to an outbreak of civil war after the assassination of a Czar, leading to a revolt in China and a quieter rebellion in Japan, also a Russian vassal. Much of Africa is booming economically. Northern Europe is finally re-emerging as a place where Stuff Happens, but probably too late in history to make much difference. The Maori have rather less people than the two big powers, but tend to punch well above their weight due to technical savvy.

It's a somewhat less technologically advanced world than our own, with heavier than air flight and dirigibles still in the theoretical stages (although man-carrying gliders exist), telegraph but no radio, trains and steamships and cars powered by steam and powdered coal. Still, technological progress is accelerating, and certain secret societies are working to prevent technological warfare as bad or worse as our world wars from happening: for the Gate of Worlds is delicately balanced, and with the help of a wizard, one can predict exactly when and where one needs to push...

Description
This is an attempt at a detailed map of Robert Silverberg's "Gate of Worlds" alternate history setting, including material from the followup collaborative work "Beyond the Gate of Worlds" with Robert Brunner and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

This is one of those worlds where Europe gets hit harder by the black plague than in ours, allowing the Islamic world to take over and the native American peoples get a respite: later the Turks are too busy holding down their overextended empire to go on any Hesperidian Jihads (the Americas are called the Hesperides in this world). Russia, thanks to thin population, bad roads and isolation is less hard hit by the plague, but isn't strong enough (yet) to challenge the Ottoman Turks in Europe, so it moves east earlier than in our world, becoming a sort of Christian steppe empire, and eventually invading north China when it enters a stage of late-dynastic decay. The Russians carve off those bits without too many Chinese and vassalize the rest. The Chinese previously (due to butterflies from very different history to the west) keep sailing longer than in our world, eventually getting as far as New Zealand, where the shipwreck of much of a Treasure Fleet in a great storm gives the Maori a useful technological leg up.

History happens. By the early 21st century the Ottoman empire is in advanced decay, having lost its African possession to an Arab revival, and with its grip on much of Europe slipping away. The world's strongest powers are the Aztecs and the Russians, although the Russians have suffered a setback due to an outbreak of civil war after the assassination of a Czar, leading to a revolt in China and a quieter rebellion in Japan, also a Russian vassal. Much of Africa is booming economically. Northern Europe is finally re-emerging as a place where Stuff Happens, but probably too late in history to make much difference. The Maori have rather less people than the two big powers, but tend to punch well above their weight due to technical savvy.

It's a somewhat less technologically advanced world than our own, with heavier than air flight and dirigibles still in the theoretical stages (although man-carrying gliders exist), telegraph but no radio, trains and steamships and cars powered by steam and powdered coal. Still, technological progress is accelerating, and certain secret societies are working to prevent technological warfare as bad or worse as our world wars from happening: for the Gate of Worlds is delicately balanced, and with the help of a wizard, one can predict exactly when and where one needs to push...