New Releases 7/3/12

New Hardcover & E-books

Iron Gray Sea by Taylor Anderson

Description from Amazon.

In Taylor Anderson’s acclaimed Destroyermen series, a parallel universe adds an extraordinary layer to the drama of World War II.

Now, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, the crew of USS Walker, and their allies battle an ever-growing host of enemies across the globe in a desperate battle for freedom …

War has engulfed the—other earth. With every hard-won victory and painful defeat, Matt Reddy and the Allies encounter more friends—and even more diabolical enemies. Even, at last, in the arms of the woman he loves, there is little peace for Reddy.  The vast sea, and the scope of the conflict, have trapped him too far away to help on either front, but that doesn’t mean he and Walker can rest.

Cutting short his “honeymoon,” Reddy sails off in pursuit of  Hidoiame , a rogue Japanese destroyer that is wreaking havoc in Allied seas. Now that Walker is armed with the latest “new” technology, he hopes his battle-tested four-stacker has an even chance in a straight-up fight against the bigger ship—and he means to take her on.

Elsewhere, the long-awaited invasion of Grik “Indiaa” has begun, and the Human-Lemurian Alliance is pushing back against the twisted might of the Dominion. The diplomatic waters seethe with treachery and a final, terrible plot explodes in the Empire of New Britain Isles.  Worse, the savage Grik have also mastered “new” technologies and strategies. Their fleet of monstrous ironclads—and an army two years in the making—are finally massing to strike...

Shadow of the Sun by Merrie P. Wycoff

Description from Amazon.

Jealousy, Lies, Betrayal, Murder…and Magic

A reign of terror has kept Egypt in shadow, even at the apex of her power and glory. The greedy and corrupt priests of the dark god Amun maintain a tight grip on the people through the use of fear, superstition, brutality, and, when necessary, diabolical sorcery. 

Now, there is the promise of a new hope, a new light, but that promise is not welcomed by all. When the ambitious Queen Nefertiti and her consort, the gentle King Akhenaten, introduce a peaceful--and revolutionary--form of Sun worship in the hope of bringing about harmony and unification, and unification, Egypt is instead torn into warring factions on all levels of society .

Into this deadly conflict is born the first Royal Daughter, Merit-Aten, whose ability to see vivid auras and converse with animals comes with a price. Before her birth, she entered into a sacred contract to save her family and restore peace to her country. But, with danger threatening from every side--even from within her own family--will she be able to honor her contract without destroying everyone she loves?

Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson

Description from Amazon.

Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson's Thieftaker, revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.

Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can't stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.

New E-books

Guardian Glass by Chris Nuttall

Description from Amazon.

Fourteen years ago, the gateway to Faerie opened and the denizens spilled forth into our world, fleeing a war that was destroying their world. The Faerie, Elves, Imps, Goblins, Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons and thousands of other supernatural creatures infested our world, struggling to co-exist with humanity. And they brought back the magic. It’s not a sane world any longer.

When a child is kidnapped through magic, Guardian Glass is ordered to find her, by any means necessary. As he begins his investigation, it becomes increasingly clear that nothing is what it seems…and that the kidnapping is only the first step in a plot that strikes at the very heart of magic, and threatens to plunge humanity into eternal darkness.

O, Sinners by Barry Blumenfeld

Description from Amazon.

Young Willy Wilson learns about passion and murder in this sad and funny coming-of-age story set in an imaginary corner ("the fourteenth original colony") of the New South. It is nineteen seventy-six, the Bicentennial. Willy is in love with an enchantress--a genuine witch, the charismatic, gorgeous Miss Lula Smith. Lula fobs him off on her witchy, pretty but un-magical friend Isabel, and, when that doesn't work, Lula plays Scheherezade, fending Willy off with many fascinating stories. Lula and Willy find themselves hunted in a murder investigation, and Lula becomes dangerously sick. Willy ends up caring for her through her illness. In the end he makes a terrible sacrifice to seal his love.

The Resurrection of America by Steve Wishnevsky

Description from Amazon.

The final volume in the series. After the nuclear attack April 2nd, 1964, Terry Cheney and his fellow survivors have created a viable if informal government in Hartford, and under the direction of the Provisional Government sited in Atlanta, are trying to reestablish communications up and down the East Coast.

The establish a base in Hyde Park NY, have defeated a oligarchy in Albany, and are pressing into the ruins of New York City, fighting reactionary Nazi holdouts and anarchist refugees in the sewers of the big city. Life is a constant bloody struggle, but still they manage to find love, family and healing, even if they have to break all the rules of the old civilization to find peace and stability.

Suicide Sons by Michael Gold

Description from Amazon.

“Will it please God that I die?”

“Yes, son. It will please God.”

Alienated from virtually everything that surrounds him, Akeyde Kletser has to decide if he is willing to commit suicide—and take hundreds of others with him—for the sake of his religion and his tribe. His father urges him on, citing their religion’s holy texts. They worship the Zan religion, founded 6,000 years earlier by a father who killed his son because God asked him to do so. 

The Zans’ blood enemy, the Kawidtodians, have been killing the Zans for centuries. They’ve evicted the Zans from their holy land. But now they’re migrating from Kawidtodia to America. Akeyde’s father wants revenge. Akeyde is given a suicide vest and a windbreaker to carry out the mission. He’s trained to be a perfect weapon of mass murder... Except he’s not. 

Razvarr Abatut, a Kawidtodian immigrant to America, is also having a little trouble fitting in. He wants to go back to his country, but a police state stands in his way. So he plans a violent strike at the heart of the regime, even though he’s thousands of miles away from Kawidtodia 

Akeyde and Razvarr will smash into each other, even though neither of them knows it. 

Suicide Sons is a story about whether a man should kill others in the name of his religion.

New Short Stories

"The Private Wound" by Sarah D'Almeida

Description from Amazon.

In a world where Henry VIII didn't break with the Catholic Church, the woman we know as Queen Elizabeth I gets a chance at marriage and the throne.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Do you want to see your work given a shout out on our New Releases segment? Contact Mitro at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.  We are looking for works of alternate history, counterfactual history, steampunk, historical fantasy, time travel or anything that warps history beyond our understanding.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.