Weekly Update #79

Editor's Note

Is anyone willing to be a volunteer proofreader/copy-editor for Alternate History Weekly Update? With my busy schedule I don't always have the time to spend proofing my posts before publication. So if you want to help, I am looking for someone available on short-notice to proof articles before publication. I can't pay you (yet), but I can help promote your websites, blogs and projects. Contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

Welcome to our new reader from Tunisia and congrats on your new democracy! This week we feature three interviews with a multi-award winning author, a friend of the blog celebrating his first publication and a popular steampunk author/podcaster. I will round out the week with a review of A Feast Unknown by Philip José Farmer. Thanks to Titan Books for sending me a review copy.

And now the news...

President-Elect Mitt Romney

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate it when people start writing an alternate history shortly after a major election speculating on what would happen if the other party won? Yes I have, but to reiterate: they suck.

Still I guess we can't avoid thinking about what might have been after such a contentious American presidential election...so enjoy:

That is what "President-Elect" Mitt Romney's website would have looked like if he won the presidency. It was live for only a short time, but long enough to get some screen shots. You can see more screenshots at the Political Wire, including the page asking for your opinion on who should make up Romney's cabinet.

The new website even gives some hints on what President Romney would do after being inaugurated: "On his first day in office, Mitt Romney will issue an executive order that paves the way for the federal government to issue Affordable Care Act waivers to all 50 states. He will then work with Congress to repeal the full legislation as quickly as possible."

Having a snazzy website, however, is not enough. Romney actually had to win the election to be the President-Elect. How could he have done that? BuzzFeed has come up with a few scenarios (thanks to io9 for finding it for me), but they all involve repealing the right to vote to certain groups, like women, blacks and others.

Truly these screen shots and the above articles that went with them are important resources for anyone willing to write a legitimate President Romney alternate history when enough time has passed to give us an unbiased perspective.

Salem: The Crafting: More Ships Setting Sail for New World

The New World is expanding! Paradox Interactive and Seatribe today announced that Salem: The Crafting MMO, PC Free-to-play, has launched two additional servers this week, allowing for more beta testers to enter a fantastical New England and carve a new life for themselves in the uncharted wilderness during the colonial period.

To commemorate the event, Paradox Interactive will begin distributing beta keys to those that have yet to experience 17th century living in a world filled with alchemy, witchcraft, and permadeath. For details on how to set sail for the Americas, visit the beta sign up site for Salem: The Crafting.

World Fantasy Awards announced

The World Fantasy Awards were announced last week and the alternate history novel Osama by Lavie Tidhar won the best novel. Here is a description:

In an alternate world without global terrorism, a private detective is hired by a mysterious woman to track down the obscure creator of the fictional vigilante, Osama Bin Laden...

Joe’s identity slowly fragments as his quest takes him across the world, from the backwaters of Asia to the European capitals of Paris and London. He discovers the shadowy world of the Refugees, ghostly entities haunting the world in which he lives. Where do they come from? What do they want? Joe knows how the story should end, but is he ready for the truths he will uncover... or the choice he will have to make?

Lavie Tidhar was in Dar-es-Salaam during the American embassy bombings in 1998, and stayed in the same hotel as the Al Qaeda operatives in Nairobi. Since then he and his now-wife have narrowly avoided both the 2005 London, King’s Cross and 2004 Sinai attacks—experiences that led to the creation of Osama. He is the author of many novels, including the Bookman trilogy and is a prolific short story writer.

Congrats to Lavie and all the winners (you can see a complete list at Tor). You can also watch the ceremony on YouTube:

Steampunk Events

Nov 14: Official grand opening of Clockwork Couture at 3:30 P.M in Burbank, CA.

Nov 15-17: Run of the steampunk version of "Sherlock Holmes" in Chanhassen, MN.

New Releases

Hardcovers

The Mongoliad: Book One Collector's Edition by various authors
This handsome hardcover edition of The Mongoliad: Book One features an exquisite cover with foil stamping, deckled edges, a ribbon marker, an illustrated character glossary and a Foreworld map printed on the end-sheets. It also includes Sinner: A Prequel to the Mongoliad.

The Mongoliad: Book Two Collector's Edition by various authors
This handsome hardcover edition of The Mongoliad: Book Two features an exquisite cover with foil stamping, deckled edges, a ribbon marker, an illustrated character glossary and a Foreworld map printed on the end-sheets. It also includes Dreamer: A Prequel to the Mongoliad Trilogy.

Paperbacks

The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest
Rector “Wreck ‘em” Sherman was orphaned as a toddler in the Blight of 1863, but that was years ago. Wreck has grown up, and on his eighteenth birthday, he’ll be cast out out of the orphanage. And Wreck’s problems aren’t merely about finding a home.

Zombie Jesus and Other True Stories edited by Max Booth III
What if John Wilkes Booth had a good reason for killing Lincoln? A reason kept secret to protect the innocent; a reason so sinister that it would turn your hair white as light. What if Jack the Ripper was the protagonist of his life story, and he was only trying to save the world from the apocalypse? What if there was an agency somewhere out there, responsible for the death of every single celebrity? What if the Titanic wasn't just carrying the living? What if there was more than just lava that erupted from Mount St. Helens? What if, what if, WHAT IF!? [Review at Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.]

E-books

"A Captain of the Gate" by John Birmingham
A 'What if' story of the Cold War ... a small piece of alternate history of the period told via a biography of one of its players, Lieutenant Branch McKinnon, an adventurer in a different post-WWII world of American isolationism.

Land of Hope and Glory by Geoffrey Wilson
It is 1852. The Indian empire of Rajthana has ruled Europe for more than a hundred years. With their vast armies, steam-and-sorcery technology and mastery of the mysterious power of sattva, the Rajthanans appear invincible. But a bloody rebellion has broken out in a remote corner of the empire, in a poor and backward region known as England. [Read my review.]

Other Paths III: Additional Alternate Outcomes of the Second World War by Alexander Rooksmor
The third volume in the successful ‘Other Paths’ series looks at alternate developments in the Second World War from 1941 onwards.

The Scourge by Roberto Calas
A mysterious plague descends upon 14th century England, ravaging the country and trapping the souls of the afflicted in eternal madness. The feudal hierarchy--and even the church itself-- slowly crumbles as the dead rise to feed and the living seek whatever shelter they can. The bishops of England call for calm and obedience, but one man isn’t listening.

Stalin's Hammer: Rome by John Birmingham
Ten years have passed since Admiral Kolhammer’s 21st century battlefleet was dragged into a wormhole and thrown across oceans of time, emerging with disastrous consequences and shattering the history of the Second World War.

"Well Chosen Words" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Legend has it that Abraham Lincoln scrawled the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope as he traveled to the battlefield to dedicate a cemetery. But the legend belies Lincoln’s struggle to carefully choose the right words. Words that must soothe a fractured nation, inspire change and chart the course for the nation’s future. Because his speech in Gettysburg will change history, but not necessarily in the way he hopes.

Audio

Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith
They're an iconic part of history's most celebrated birth. But what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity, besides the fact that they followed a star to Bethlehem bearing strange gifts? The Bible has little to say about this enigmatic trio. But leave it to Seth Grahame-Smith, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to take a little mystery, bend a little history, and weave an epic tale.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

James Toney vs. Joe Calzaghe fantasy fight by Rich Thomas at ProBoxing-fans.com.

Vanished Kingdoms – Burgundia by Oldcat at Kilobooks.

Books

New Cover Art from Angry Robot by Justin Landon at Staffer's Book Review.

Review of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld at Forest of Paper.

Review of The United States of Atlantis by Harry Turtledove at Yahoo Voices.

Comics

Manga Review: The Clockwork Sky Volume One by Madeline Rosca at Seattle PI.

Titan 2 Kickstarter by Andy Stanleigh.

Films

Castle Wolfenstein Movie on Again? by dwgrampus at Geek Syndicate.

Interview

Richard Monson-Haefel at Steam Patriots.

Plays

Review: The New World Order by Elisabeth Shuker at The Yorker.

Podcasts

Alternate History in Superhero Games at GenCon 2012 at Role Playing Public Radio.

Television/Web Series

Independent Series 'Dirigible Days' Combines 'Firefly' With Steampunk by Sam Gutelle at Tubefilter.

‘Revolution’ Season 1, Episode 7: ‘The Children’s Crusade’ Recap by Kevin Yeoman at Screen Rant.

Review of Elementary: Season 1, Episode 3, 4, 5, 6 done by David Marshall at Thinking about books.

Trailer For “Da Vinci’s Demons” Confirms The Steampunk-Lite Hilarity by Evan Dickson at Bloody Disgusting.

Video Games

PSA: Sine Mora brings bullets, steampunk, and Hungarian to PC today by Sinan Kubba at Joystiq.

Sir, You Are Being Hunted successfully Kickstarted, celebrates with game footage by Richard Cobbett at PC Gamer.

* * *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. 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.

New Releases 8/14/12

New week...new stories...new ways to lose your cash.

New hardcovers and e-books

The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

Description from Amazon.

In an alternate London where magical creatures are preserved in a museum, two teens find themselves caught in a web of intrigue, deception, and danger.

Vespa Nyx wants nothing more than to spend the rest of her life cataloging Unnatural creatures in her father’s museum, but as she gets older, the requirement to become a lady and find a husband is looming large. Syrus Reed’s Tinker family has always served and revered the Unnaturals from afar, but when his family is captured to be refinery slaves, he finds that his fate may be bound up with Vespa’s—and with the Unnaturals.

As the danger grows, Vespa and Syrus find themselves in a tightening web of deception and intrigue. At stake may be the fate of New London—and the world.

New e-books

His Majesty's Dictator by Alexander Rooksmoor

Description from Amazon.

Britain under military dictatorship.

With independence for India, British colonial police officer, Charles Naylor returns to Britain to take up the house left to him in his uncle’s will. Naylor awakes, however, not in a Britain recovering from the Second World War, but one where Britain was defeated in the First World War. It is a country in the grip of a home-grown dictatorship: generals run the government, the streets are patrolled by military police and the fields farmed by indentured workers. Charles is condemned as a mad man but then drawn into the movement fighting for democracy as a figurehead. Whilst evading the authorities bent on killing him, Charles Naylor has to decide which path he will take and tread a fine line between those seeking change by peaceful means and those increasingly insistent on change through violence.

This fictional novel is written by Alexander Rooksmoor, author of a successful series of collections analysing different ‘what if?’s in history. In this book, he explores what the impact of such a change would be on the lives of individuals and the choices they would be forced to make. Conjuring up a world which is similar to ours but with significant differences, Rooksmoor shows the challenges faced by a man escaping from the authorities, trying to advance the cause of freedom and decide which is the correct route to take to the future, both his own and Britain’s.

The Voyage of the Neptune by Richard Senate

Description from Amazon.

It is a novel of the Spanish-American war set in 1898. It features the same cast as the Novel "Flight of the Hercules" and deals with a plot for England to join Spain in her war against the USA--and reduce American plans to become a great power. There are chases, spies, balloon and a mysterious submarine called "The Neptune"--did she sink the USS Maine? Done is a "Steam Punk Style" it weaves history and fiction into a tale that would even make Jules Vern proud.

New short stories

Hell's Disciples (The Misgivings of the Vampire Lucius Lafayette) by Sylynt Storme

Description from Amazon.

In the summer of 1976, Son of Sam starts his rampage. Many didn't believe him that it was his neighbor's dog who instructed him to go on his murderous shootings.

Lucius Lafayette, vampire and werewolf slayer, does believe him. But he thinks it is not a dog so much as a pack of werewolves who go by the name of Hell's Disciples who are instructing David Berkowitz to go on a killing spree.

Werewolves are hell bent on destroying humanity, and Lucius, though no saint is our only hope. But he can't even keep peace in his own family, almost killing his own son Cage.

These Hell's Disciples' werewolves are violent, strong and unrepentant. Has Lucius bitten off more than he can chew going into a den of 13 Lobison?

Love in the Time of the Dead by Rob Callahan

Description from Amazon.

A journalist assigned to cover the Occupy movement gets more than he bargained for when he meets a weary, weathered protester claiming to be the sole survivor of a little-known zombie conspiracy. Exclusively for the Kindle.

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.

* * *

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.

New Releases 6/5/2012

New Hardcover

1636: The Kremlin Games by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett

Description from Amazon.

#14 in the multiply bestselling Ring of Fire Series. After carving a place for itself among the struggling powers of 17th century Western Europe, the out-of-time modern town of Grantville, West Virginia must fight for its life in a war-torn Europe just emerging from medieval skulduggery.

1636. Grantville has bounced back and established its new mission and identity, but it seems some have been left behind—people like Bernie Zeppi, courageous in the battle, but unable to figure out what to do with himself in a world that’s utterly changed. Then Russian emissary Vladimir Gorchacov arrives in Grantville and hires Bernie to journey to Moscow and bring the future to a Russia mired in slavish serfdom and byzantine imperial plots. Bernie jumps at the chance. He figures it to be an easy gig, complete with high pay and hot-and-cold running women.

But one thing Bernie hasn’t counted on is the chance to find his purpose in Mother Russia, from fighting the needless death of children from typhoid to building the first dirigible in Russian history. And then there’s love. Just as Bernie realizes his feeling for a certain Russian noblewoman may have gone way beyond respect, he finds them both enmeshed in the deadly politics of Kremlin power struggles.

War with Poland is afoot and Russia itself is about to get a revolution from within–three centuries early. Bernie Zeppi, former Grantville auto mechanic, is going to have the chance to prove he’s not the loser he believed himself to be. For now Bernie’s task is to save the woman he loves and the country he has come to call his own from collapse into a new Dark Age.

New E-books

Down Other Tracks: Alternate Outcomes of the 19th Century by Alexander Rooksmoor

Description from Amazon.

The world we know today was founded in the 19th century. Many of the countries in existence, our knowledge of the world and the technology we are familiar with came during this century of change. In the latest ‘what if?’ history book from Alexander Rooksmoor, he looks at how things could have turned out differently for the 19th century if history had gone down different turns at the points.

The book starts with the industrial revolution and reaches up to the end of the First World War, the conflict which finally marked the end of 19th century culture and the real beginning of the 20th. He considers a different career path for Napoleon Bonaparte and the vast impact this would have meant for Europe and the rest of the world. Assassinations of Napoleon III, Queen Victoria and King Edward VII are considered and conversely, a longer reign for Kaiser Friedrich III. The derailing of the processes of German and Italian unification and the creation of Belgium are looked at in terms of their local and international impacts. Finally, the book investigates different outcomes for conflicts, whether the Taiping Rebellion could have succeeded; what would have happened in the event of an Anglo-Russian War of 1878 and the implications for the First World War if the Schlieffen Plan had worked, if the British and Americans had stayed out of the conflict or mutinies had spread right through the Allied forces. As with Alexander Rooksmoor’s previous books, this is bound to interest anyone with an interest in how our world has turned out the way it did and all of those who wonder how different it could have been.

The book is written by Alexander Rooksmoor, author of Other Paths: Alternate Outcomes of the Second World War, Other Americas: Alternate Outcomes for the USA in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries and Other Exits from the Maze: Alternate Outcomes for Tudor and Stuart Monarchs. It particularly complements Other Americas. His books draw on Alexander’s twenty years’ experience in researching and teaching history and in exploring and discussing a whole range of ‘what if?’s.

New References

The Slavery Attractor by Gorg Huff

Description from Amazon.

When I started writing "The Sewing Circle" my first story for the Grantville Gazette. I had no real notion of what economics was, except it was boring and not all that important and perhaps a bit less scientific than astrology. I didn't know what the Federal Reserve did, or even what effect banks and banking had on the economy. I hadn't read Smith, Keynes, Marks or Friedman and I hadn't even heard of Hayek or Ricardo. Ah, the good old days.

But my characters needed to deal with the economics of their situation, so I had to figure out how it would affect them. I had to know what economics dealt with so I could see how it would affect the story. And, as it turned out, I needed to know the same thing for later stories. So for the last ten years I have been studying economics on my own. Reading what the great minds of the field thought. In that reading I learned that a lot of the assumptions in economics were based on looking at the field through the prism of statistical analysis.

The Slavery Attractor is a look at economics through the lens of chaos theory, and I have worked rather hard to make it as short and as clear as I could manage. The article is only around eight thousand four hundred words and makes very little reference to hallowed experts. This is not a learned discourse on what the experts have said about economics. It's a simple look at economics and how they work.

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.

*       *       *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for the Alt Hist magazine and a contributor to Just Below the Law. One of his short stories will be published in the upcoming Echelon Press anthology, Once Upon a Clockwork Tale (2013). When not writing he works as an attorney in the state of Illinois and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.