Weekly Update #188

Editor's Note

Really short note today. I just want to thank everyone for following me on social media and buying from Amazon through The Update. Every little bit helps and I appreciate everything you guys have done for me.

And now the news...

Brooklyn Sudano joins the cast of Hulu's 11/22/63

It was announced last week that that Brooklyn Sudano has joined the cast of Hulu's adaptation of Stephen King's 11/22/63. Brooklyn, who according to Wikipedia is best known for playing the role of Vanessa Scott on the ABC sitcom My Wife And Kids and Felicia on the TV series Cuts, will be playing Jake Epping's (Franco) ex-wife...who was not a major character in the book.

Honestly, I don't even remember her appearing at all in the book. The only thing we know about her is that she was an alcoholic who after getting sober left Jake for someone she met in AA. Not exactly the most sympathetic character so I am not sure why they found the need to cast someone to play her. Will we see her in flashbacks or will she have a bigger role in pushing Jake to travel through time? I just don't know. I guess we will see when the mini-series finally premieres, but I am fairly optimistic.

Videos for Alternate Historians

Got a great slate of videos this week. We begin with the official trailer for Mr Holmes:

So essentially we are getting the "real story" about Holmes, from his perspective and not Watson's, sort of like we got from Tarzan in A Feast Unknown. I find this idea fascinating and I am looking forward to seeing it when it comes to the States. Next we have two new videos from Cody Franklin at the Alternate History Hub. First up, what if European diseases did not effect Native Americans:

And then we have a more serious take on history with Cody commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide:

Now I am going to talk about my new favorite channel: Test Tube. They have a lot of great videos on contemporary events and geopolitics that are easily digestible. Just check out their video on how powerful Mexico is:

Finally, don't forget to check out my latest video, a video review of Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt:

I promise there will be more ear pens.

Links to the Multiverse

Books & Short Fiction

Alternate History: Picking Out the Threads by Teramis at Notes From The Lizard Lair.
Alternate history stories - personal or grand scale? by Alison Morton.
Letter to the Editor: In Praise of Mrs. Coulter by Jean Rabe at Smart Pop Books.
More on the Hugos from a Dark, Dark Place by Eric Flint.
The Omnibus Volumes of H. Beam Piper at Black Gate.
Review: 1632 by Eric Flint at Adventures in Reading.
Review: The Custard Protocol 1: Prudence by Gail Carriger at Falcata Times.
Review: The Doors You Mark Are Your Own by Okla Elliott and Raul Clement at SF Signal.
Review: Gideon Smith and The Brass Dragon by David Barnett at SFcrowsnest.
Review: Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove at Antonio Urias.
Review: Vermilion by Molly Tanzer at NPR Books.
Richard Knaak (DUTCHMAN) on Why He’s NOT Writing the Great American Novel at SF Signal.
What Does George R. R. Martin Have to do With Dinosaur Lords? at Tor.

Counterfactuals, History & News

Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle by Elizabeth Howell at Space.com.
Incredible Technology: NASA's Wild Airship Idea for Cloud Cities on Venus at Space.com.
Japan and World War II Atrocities at Dieselpunk.
Liberland wants to become the world's foremost tax haven at Business Insider.
A More Economically Rational Nazi Germany? at The Counterfactual History Review.
Special Report: British voters heading for a Disunited Kingdom at Yahoo!
What If Britain Didn’t Join The Iraq War? by Chris Nuttall at The Chrishanger.
What Catholic England would look like today by Dominic Selwood at Catholic Herald.

Film & Television

‘Castle,’ ‘Penny Dreadful’ and TV’s other under-appreciated shows at New York Post.
The Golden Compass: what went wrong? by Andrew Blaur at Den of Geek.
Maurice LaMarche Narrates Two Animations About Disney’s ‘Tomorrowland’ at Laughing Squid.
Review: Outlander 1.11: Vaccination and Time Travel at Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress.
Rufus Sewell plays ruthless Nazi official in The Man In The High Castle at Daily Mail.

Games

The Brilliant Star Wars Galaxies Idea That Didn't Happen at Kotaku.

Graphic Novels & Comics

The artist bringing Ada Lovelace back to life at BBC.
A Gay, Jewish Protagonist For Providence To Address Lovecraft's Prejudices at Bleeding Cool.

Interviews

Justin Pollard at Suvudu.

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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.