Weekly Update #178

Editor's Note

I'n going to give up YouTube for Lent this year. I have a variety of reasons for doing this, but the primary reason is I just watch way too much YouTube and it is taking time away I could be using to write. I have a lot of projects I need to finish (and start for that matter). In preparation I have unsubscribed from a lot of channels I only watch sporadically and I have given myself a new rule that I can't rewatch any of my favorite videos if I have new videos in my watch list to view. We will see how long this fast lasts after it begins.

Also once again I got a ton of The Man in the High Castle links that I dumped under the Links to the Multiverse section.

And now the news...

Edgar Wright Wrote a Steampunk Sequel to Oliver Twist

I am a big fan of Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy (if I had to choose I would pick Hot Fuzz as my favorite). So when I learned Wright wrote a script for a steampunk sequel to Dicken's classic Oliver Twist, I didn't know exactly how to feel. Yes Wright is one of my favorite writer and directors, but the idea sounds so crazy I'm not sure it could work.

After a little digging I learned the script is actually a adaptation of Tony Lee's Dodge & Twist: A Sequel To Oliver Twist. The book take place twelve years after the events of the original novel. Twist teams up with Dodger to steal a diamond in a steampunk London complete with...ghosts? Apparently the antagonist from Oliver Twist, Fagin, is still bugging Twist even from beyond the grave. Now I am someone who likes Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, so perhaps this won't be bad. Yet when I hear it described as "steampunk" I can help but think we have another LXG on our hands.

Reaction to this announcement has been mixed. Sam Maggs at The Mary Sue seemed excited about the news and said "we just don’t have enough steampunk movies in our lives." Rob Bricken at io9, however, pointed out that Wright's draft is just the most recent rewrite of the script for this adaptation, which is often a red flag for films. Personally I am leaning more toward Bricken on this one, but then again I thought Amazon's The Man in the High Castle was going to suck, so take my premonitions with grain of salt.

Videos for Alternate Historians

We begin this week with a review of Two Hawks From Earth by Philip Jose Farmer from Pulp Crazy:

Next up, V Sauce and Bill Nye talk about time travel paradoxes:

And we finished with Game Scoop! discussing alternate history games:

Now just to warn you I haven't watched the whole video yet, so watch at your own risk (in fact the intro makes me think the panel is only marginally aware of the genre at best). If you need more "what if videos", I highly recommend you check out Jeff Klima's The 8 Best Hypotheticals YouTube Has To Offer on New Media Rockstars. Our friend Cody Franklin got a shout out.

Links to the Multiverse

Amazon's The Man in the High Castle

Amazon confronts ‘The Man in the High Castle’ at Times Daily.
Amazon Pilot Review: ‘The Man in the High Castle’ at PopInsomniacs.
Amazon streams its way to a leading TV role at The Detroit News.
Here's What America Would Be Like If The Nazis And Japanese Won WWII at Business Insider.
A History Major Watches ‘The Man in the High Castle’ at Newsweek.
'The Man in the High Castle' Pilot Soars Above Amazon's New Season at Edge Media Network.
New Amazon show wonders what life would be like if Germany won World War 2 at BGR.
Show filmed in Roslyn now airing on Amazon at Daily Record.
This Show Imagines What Life Would Be Like if the Nazis Had Won World War II at Time.
TV review: “The Man in the High Castle” is Amazon’s most exciting new pilot at Columbus Alive.

Books & Short Fiction

Alt Hist Issue 7 is here! by Mark Lord at Alt Hist.
BBC book coverage is 'an absolute disgrace', says Robert Harris at The Telegraph.
Castles In Spain Crowdfunding Appeal at File 770.
Conquering Canada II (Harry Turtledove Edition) at Hit Coffee.
Cover & Synopsis: DEADLANDS: GHOSTWALKERS by Jonathan Maberry at SF Signal.
On My Radar: THE MECHANICAL by Ian Tregillis at SF Signal.
Review: The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr at Tor.
Review: Inceptio by Alison Morton at Debbie Young's Reading Life.
Why I Write Punk by Lev at The Pen Punks.

Counterfactuals, History & News

5 Conspiracy Theories You Won't Believe (Really Happened) at Cracked.
6 Tiny Mistakes That Changed The Course of History by Alexander Pan at Cracked.
Alternate History: What If Mary I Had a Child? by Alexandria Ingham at Wizzley.
American civil war submarine begins to reveal its secrets after 150 years at The Guardian.
Rock to Hide Me: Herman Kahn, Civil Defense and the Manhattan Shelter Study at Atomic Skies.
Russia considers condemning “annexation” of East Germany at The Washington Post.
Spain planned to invade in Australia in 1790s with 100-vessel armada at The Telegraph.
Zambia's new leader drops white vice president at Yahoo!

Film & Television

5 Of Our Favorite Teen-Centric Time Travel Movies at Giant Freaking Robot.
Hitler’s Atomic Bomb at Far Future Horizons.
On Agent Carter, Howard Stark Makes Tony Look Like A Stand-Up Guy at io9.
Project Almanac Proves It's Possible For A Movie To Be TOO Self-Aware at io9.
‘Sons Of Liberty’ Premieres To Modest Numbers And Mixed Reviews at The Inquisitr.

Games

History Challenge: Playing Games with a History Theme by Margaret Duncan at Histocrats.
Reboot This: IO Interactive's 'Freedom Fighters' at Tech Times.
Review: Alternative Civil War: 1861 – A Blackpowder & Spell Uchronia at In Her Majesty's Name!

Graphic Novels & Comics

Review: The Multiversity Guidebook by Grant Morrison at Other Times.

Podcasts

Dissecting Worlds Series 9 Ep 4: Agents of ACRONYM at Geek Syndicate.
Review: The Twilight Histories Podcast at Sam McDonald's Knowledge, Adventure and Wonder.

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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.