Waldrop, Howard. "Fin de Cyclé"
Divergence: 1781 CE
What if: The industrial revolution took an odd twist, resulting in steam-powered stilts and multi-wheel cycles for transport.
Summary: In 1890s Paris, Melies joins with Rousseau, Satie, Proust and Picasso to make a movie about the Dreyfus affair.
Published: In Night of the Cooters: More Neat Stories, Ursus/Ziesing 1990 (0942681053), Ace 1993 (0441574734); Night of the Cooters: More Neat Stuff, Legend 1991; Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine mid-December 1991; Dream Factories and Radio Pictures (e-book), ElectricStory.com 2001; and Other Worlds, Better Lives: A Howard Waldrop Reader: Selected Long Fiction 1989-2003, Old Earth 2008 (1882968379BUY).
Awards: Nominee: 1992 Hugo for best novelette.