Alien Space Bats In Writing: Exploration Of The Literary Device

Alien space bats (ASBs) are an alternate-history shorthand for an implausible or impossible point of divergence — the kind of change that only works if something outside ordinary history forces it.

What Are Alien Space Bats?

Alien space bats, often abbreviated as ASBs, are a plot device rooted in alternate-history fandom, not a catch-all label for every weird twist.

The phrase was coined and popularized on the Usenet group soc.history.what-if, where Alison Brooks used it sarcastically: an outcome as unlikely as a successful Nazi invasion of Britain would need “alien space bats” to make it happen.

Over time the joke hardened into terminology for timelines that depend on an impossible or supernatural break from real history.

That break might be time travel, a sudden rewrite of physical laws, divine intervention, or advanced aliens interfering in human affairs.

ASBs sit next to deus ex machina in spirit — an outside force that ordinary cause-and-effect cannot supply — but they usually set up the premise of an alternate timeline rather than bail out a stuck climax.

They matter most in science fiction and alternate history, where the story asks readers to accept a “what if” that realistic history could not produce on its own.

In screenwriting terms, an ASB is the handwave that opens the counterfactual world: the invasion, the Event, the unexplained shift that lets the rest of the plot explore consequences.

Without that impossible nudge, many of those stories never leave the runway.

Key traits of the device:

• It explains (or jokes about) a change that would not happen under known history or physics,
• It is often used critically when a timeline feels unearned,
• It can also be used deliberately as a science-fiction or fantasy premise.

The Use Of Alien Space Bats In Writing

Writers reach for alien space bats when they want a counterfactual that historical plausibility alone cannot buy.

Sometimes the ASB is rhetorical — a way of saying “this scenario is nonsense without a miracle.”
Sometimes it is literal: aliens, time travelers, or an unexplained cosmic Event rearrange the board so the story can begin.

In speculative fiction, that freedom is useful.

It lets you ask sharper follow-up questions once the impossible has already happened:

• What if the laws of physics were suddenly suspended?
• How do characters respond when history is interrupted by something they cannot explain?
• What happens to nations, ideology, and daily life after an outside-context shock?

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Used well, the ASB is the price of admission, not the punchline.

The real work still sits in character, consequence, and the logic of the world that follows.

Used carelessly, it becomes a shrug: history changes because the plot needed it to, with no curiosity about why that change should matter.

For film and TV writers adapting alternate history, the same rule applies — an impossible divergence can launch a series, but the audience stays for how people live inside the new timeline.

Examples Of Alien Space Bats In Literature

Clear ASB examples put the impossible divergence on the page instead of burying it in vague historical luck.

Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series is a standard illustration: alien invaders arrive in the middle of World War II and force every major power to react, splicing hard science fiction into a familiar historical setting.

That premise cannot be reached by tweaking battles or elections alone; something extraterrestrial has to intervene.

S. M. Stirling’s Nantucket / Emberverse novels take a similar approach, with sudden time displacement or a collapse of industrial technology that characters themselves sometimes shrug off as the work of “alien space bats.”
Turtledove’s The Guns of the South likewise depends on time travel — future weapons delivered into the American Civil War — which is ASB territory by design.

By contrast, many classic alternate histories are not ASBs just because they diverge from our timeline.

Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle imagines an Axis victory in World War II, and Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union imagines a permanent Jewish settlement in Alaska.

Those are counterfactual premises; whether critics call a given PoD “ASB” usually depends on how impossible the mechanism feels, not merely on the fact that history turned out differently.

Some key features of deliberate ASB fiction include:

• An impossible or supernatural catalyst for the divergence,
• Alternate-history storytelling that mixes freely with SF or fantasy,
• A focus on aftermath once the wild premise is granted.

The device is not confined to novels.

Screenwriters use the same move whenever an alien intervention, time jump, or unexplained Event resets the historical deck so a series can explore the fallout.

Criticism Of Alien Space Bats

Alien space bats have always carried a critical edge.

Brooks and the early Usenet culture used the phrase to mock timelines that skipped the hard work of historical cause and effect.

• It can become an easy out for a divergence the writer cannot justify,
• It risks turning alternate history into wish fulfillment with a sci-fi sticker.

Even when the ASB is intentional, overuse or lazy deployment can leave readers feeling cheated.

If the impossible Event exists only to deliver a desired map of the world, the story’s internal logic thins out.

ASBs also get confused with ordinary deus ex machina: dropping a miracle into the final act to untie a knot the characters never earned.

Critics notice when shock replaces consequence, or when “aliens did it” stands in for research the writer did not want to do.

That does not make the device illegitimate.

Sparing, purposeful ASBs can open vivid alternate worlds — provided the story then earns its keep through character, culture, and follow-through rather than another round of miracles.

Exploring Alien Space Bats In Writing: A Literary Device – Wrap Up

Alien space bats began as a joke about impossible history and became a practical label for counterfactuals that need an outside-context shove.

Handled with care, they let writers and filmmakers explore bold “what if” premises without pretending those premises are historically ordinary.

Handled carelessly, they advertise the gap where research, causality, or earned resolution should have been.

The useful test is simple: once the bats have done their work, does the story still hold together on human terms?

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Alien Space Bats In Literature?

Alien space bats are a term from alternate-history writing for an implausible or impossible point of divergence — often involving aliens, time travel, or other forces outside ordinary history — that makes a counterfactual timeline possible.

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Where Do Alien Space Bats Commonly Appear?

They appear most often in alternate history and adjacent science fiction, especially stories that openly mix historical settings with impossible interventions.

Can You Give An Example Of Alien Space Bats In Literature?

Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series is a clear example: aliens invade Earth during World War II, an intervention that cannot be explained by historical contingency alone.

Why Do Critics Disapprove Of Alien Space Bats?

Critics often treat ASBs as a sign of lazy or unserious alternate history when the writer uses an impossible Event to skip justifiable cause and effect.

The original Usenet usage was itself a sarcastic attack on implausible timelines.

What Is The Main Risk In Using Alien Space Bats As A Literary Device?

The main risk is substituting spectacle for consequence.

If the story leans on shock or another miracle every time it hits a hard problem, readers who want coherent character and historical logic will check out.

How Should Alien Space Bats Be Used In Storytelling?

Use them sparingly and on purpose: grant the impossible premise, then hold the rest of the narrative to consistent rules.

The ASB should open the story’s question, not answer every difficulty for you.

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