Monday, November 17, 2014

Weekly Update #168

Editor's Note

Work is picking up at my day job, so expect less posts coming down the pipeline. That's all I got really.

And now the news...

The Man in High Castle Part of Amazon's Pilot Slate

The big news last week was Amazon announcing their new slate of pilots for 2015. Included among the seven new shows was their adaptation of The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. Nothing much else to say other than that. We knew this was coming, but I am glad it is official now, although Sam Gutelle from Tubefilter pointed out the odds are against the show being a success. Let's hope he is wrong this time.

By the way, was Big Hero Six inspired by The Man in the High Castle?

Season 4 of Epic Rap Battles of History Begins

Season 4 of Epic Rap Battles of History has begun with their new episode below:
They changed things up this time by starting the season off without a Hitler/Vader battle. Admittedly I was iffy about the this battle when I first watched it, but it has grown on me. If you are interested in the behind the scenes, I got you covered:

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction


Announcing the 2014 World Fantasy Winners! at Tor.
In Praise Of Pavane at Black Gate.
An Introduction to the Wonderful, Improbable World of Steampunk by Paul Roland at Tor.
Jane Austen's fashion history: 200 years of cover designs – in pictures at The Guardian.
Mining the Genre Asteroid: A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny at Skiffy and Fanty.
Novel ARABELLA OF MARS and two sequels sold to Tor by David D. Levine.
November 2014 Whispersync Roundup: Octavia Butler’s Dawn, Peter David’s Artful, Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan, and more at The AudioBookaneers.
Outlander Teaches Us How to Disempower Our Heroine by Oren Ashkenazi at Mythcreants.
Review: Harry Harrison, Harry Harrison: A Memoir by Harry Harrison at SF Signal.
SciFi Month: Alternative History Series Recommendation (and a plug for Literrater) by Wesley Hoffmann at Library Educated.
Ten Essential Steampunk Novels by Paul Roland at Tor.
These Six-Word Stories Are Dispatches From A Strange Alternate Reality at io9.
Turkish military forces to ban Game of Thrones at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist.

Counterfactuals, History and News

Alternate Histories: "Great Man" vs. "Currents and Forces" by Alex Petersonn at Elinor Diamond.
Alternate History: What If Lady Jane Grey Was Not Deposed? by AlexandriaIngham at Wizzley.
Behind the Campaign To Purge Textbooks of "Pro-Muslim Bias" in Texas by Mark Strauss at io9.
Catalan president facing prosecution after independence vote by Ashifa Kassam at The Guardian.
Cosmonauts Used to Carry Insane Machete Guns In Space by Mark Strauss at io9.
Counterfactual History: A Course Update by Timothy Burke at Easily Distracted.
Russia plans 'alternative Wikipedia' at BBC.
What if Archduke Franz Ferdinand had lived in 1914? by Bethany Bell at BBC.
What if Gandhi hadn’t been thrown off the train? by Shovon Chowdhury at Swarajya.

Film and Television

ELEVATOR PITCH – Time Keeper at Geek Syndicate.
Gallery: Rare Concept Art Courtesy of a New Harry Potter Book - The Creative Vault at Nerdist.
Meet the rejected characters and deleted scenes of 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope' by Emily Gera at Yahoo.
Review: Doctor Who, Series 8 at Ramblings of the Easily Distracted.

Games

Crusader Kings II – Charlemagne Diary: The History of What Ifs by Andrei Dumitrescu at Softpedia.
Everything You Need to Know About World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor by Matt Peckha at Time.
PS4 Getting 1920s-Themed Brawler, Speakeasy by Eddie Makuch at Gamespot.

Graphic Novels and Comics

Millar Maps Out His & Murphy's Time Travel Itinerary in "Chrononauts" at Comic Book Resources.

Interviews

Alison Morton at thewriterromantics.
Ian Sales at Confessions of a Book Geek.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

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