Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fireball | 1981 | John Christopher | Buy |
| 2 | New Found Land | 1983 | John Christopher | Buy |
| 3 | Dragon Dance | 1986 | John Christopher | Buy |
The Fireball Trilogy is a young adult science fiction series by John Christopher, published between 1981 and 1986. It follows two English cousins, Simon and Brad, who are pulled through a fireball into a parallel Earth where the Roman Empire never fell. In this alternate history, Latin is still the dominant language, Christianity never rose to prominence, and the calendar counts from the founding of Rome rather than the birth of Christ.
In Fireball (1981), the boys arrive in this Roman-dominated England and must learn to survive in an unfamiliar society. New Found Land (1983) sends them across the Atlantic to a version of North America where the land has never been colonized by Europeans, and they encounter the indigenous civilizations that still thrive there. Dragon Dance (1986) takes them further east to an alternate China, where they become entangled in political conflict at the imperial court. Each book works as an adventure story while also asking questions about how history might have gone differently if a few key events had turned out another way.