Weekly Update #216: Bombs Away, Fallout 4 and More.

Editor's Note

Weekly Update has returned and I for one am happy to be back on my regular schedule again. Nevertheless, I will be shaking things up a little bit just to keep the creative juices flowing. I found out early on that allowing something to become stale is a sure way to become bored with it and thus makes it easier to find excuses to not do it anymore. That being said, actual details about what I am talking about won't be shared until Friday. In the meantime, enjoy this Weekly Update that includes stuff posted on the Internet from the last three weeks.

I do plan to post more videos, but I have been dealing with a cold I caught just before Christmas that I can't seem to shake. Since my voice is shot, you will just have to be patient as I get better.

And now the news...

Book of the Week: Bombs Away by Harry Turtledove

The master of alternate history gets the nod this week with Bombs Away, the first book in The Hot War series. Here is the description from Amazon:

In his acclaimed novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has scrutinized the twisted soul of the twentieth century, from the forces that set World War I in motion to the rise of fascism in the decades that followed. Now, this masterly storyteller turns his eyes to the aftermath of World War II and asks: In an era of nuclear posturing, what if the Cold War had suddenly turned hot?

Bombs Away begins with President Harry Truman in desperate consultation with General Douglas MacArthur, whose control of the ground war in Korea has slipped disastrously away. MacArthur recognizes a stark reality: The U.S. military has been cut to the bone after victory over the Nazis—while China and the USSR have built up their forces. The only way to stop the Communist surge into the Korean Peninsula and save thousands of American lives is through a nuclear attack. MacArthur advocates a strike on Chinese targets in Manchuria. In actual history, Truman rejected his general’s advice; here, he does not. The miscalculation turns into a disaster when Truman fails to foresee Russia’s reaction.

Almost instantly, Stalin strikes U.S. allies in Europe and Great Britain. As the shock waves settle, the two superpowers are caught in a horrifying face-off. Will they attack each other directly with nuclear weapons? What countries will be caught in between?

The fateful global drama plays out through the experiences of ordinary people—from a British barmaid to a Ukrainian war veteran to a desperate American soldier alone behind enemy lines in Korea. For them, as well as Truman, Mao, and Stalin, the whole world has become a battleground. Strategic strikes lead to massive movements of ground troops. Cities are destroyed, economies ravaged. And on a planet under siege, the sounds and sights of nuclear bombs become a grim harbinger of a new reality: the struggle to survive man’s greatest madness.

In case you need more information before deciding to pick up this book, check out Rhapsody in Books Weblog review of Bombs Away. Although they only gave the book a rating of 3.5/5, they did say it was thought-provoking.

Video of the Week: History Respawned: Fallout 4

Hey the Video of the Week segment has returned! Today we featured History Respawned where they breakdown how nuclear war and the 1950s are depicted in Fallout 4:

Of course, if you are currently playing Fallout 4 you probably don't have time to watch the video.

You should also check out...

• The rumor that Batman v Superman will have a Watchmen-esque closing credit montage.
• The 10 alternate history scenarios that David Tormsen finds totally implausible.
• Transformers: Deviations answer to the question: what if Optimus Prime didn't die and was there to stand against Unicron?
• The GOOD Star Wars prequel trilogy we almost got from George Lucas.
• Why the politics in the Star Wars universe makes no sense.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.