Map Monday: L'union Fait La Force​ by rvbomally

Since peanut butter met chocolate, never have two good things formed such a perfect union...until now.

This is "L'union Fait La Force"​ by Rvbomally. It is a cover of Ephraim Ben Raphael's Empire of Haiti scenario from "An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government". For those who don't know, it is a series of short scenarios told from the perspective of a traveler interviewing people from different timelines about their form of government. If you are a busy person like me, these short scenarios are a great way to get some quality online alternate history in small, easy to digest pieces.

Although it came originally with a map that focused on the Caribbean Sea and the surrounding regions, this cover by Rvbomally shows us what is going on the rest of the world. It has nice, soft colors and Munroist style annotations, but without the text explosion that Bruce is known for. Its a fun map that adds to Ephraim's original scenario without replacing it entirely, so definitely go check out the description attached to it in the original post.

Honorable mention this week goes out to "Postapo North America" by theSuricateProject.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he 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, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Map Monday: Maps of the Change

With the recent release of The Golden Princess by SM Stirling (check out my review on Amazing Stories) I decided to showcase two maps I found last week that were inspired by the Emberverse series. The first is a world map of the Changeverse from 2020 AD by Zoidberg12:

The big issue I have with this map is that it doesn't take into account the information from the new book, but otherwise an excellent work of fan cartography. Next up we have a map from Ephraim Ben Raphael showcasing the United States of America (Guam):

Click on the link for more details on how this imagined survivor state (this is certainly not canon) came to exist. Really nice looking map in my opinion, but I expect as much from Ephraim (whose work has appeared numerous times on The Update).

Honorable mention this week goes to The Germanator and his two maps of Swedish America (1699 and 1730). If you want to submit a map for the next Map Monday, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com with your map attached and a brief description in the body of the email.

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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.

Map Monday: The Twenty United States of America by Ephraim Ben Raphael

Disclaimer: I posted this early because I want to enjoy my Memorial Day BBQ.

This week on Map Monday there are actually two maps that made the cut, but the first one gets the ultimate shout out in the title. It is titled "The Twenty United States of America" and its creator is Ephraim Ben Raphael, an AlternateHistory.com regular whose work has been featured before on The Update. Check it out below:

Admittedly the map isn't as well done as previous maps featured on this segment, but its the concept that I enjoy the most. In this history, the United States did not ditch the Articles of Confederation. Instead it evolved as time went on, changing the United States into a loose union of different sovereign states. Ephraim, however, warned readers not to mistake this America as a libertarian paradise claiming that the states still wield considerable influence over their populations even if the federal government does not.

Another reason I chose this map, however, is the excellent cover created by Bruce Munro:

I like this version because it is better drawn, has more realistic borders and fills in some background information about how these different states came about. The cover makes the United States seem like a modern day version of the Holy Roman Empire, with New York and Virginia standing in for Prussia and Austria.

Of course, both maps are missing something very important: the Northwest Territory. The Northwest Ordinance was one of the few accomplishments of the American government made under the Articles of Confederation so where is it? Its never really explained in either map what happened to it in a timeline without the Constitution. O well, still a great concept. Too many timelines that have America keep the Articles simply devolve into your run of the mill balkanized North America world. It is refreshing to see someone go in a different direction with it.

Today's honorable mentions goes to "The Nation of Brotherly Love" by PlatoonSgt and "The former Mandate of Palestine in 1959" by Iserlohn. I also want to recommend two non-alternate history maps from last week. The first lists each country's most valuable export (Time) and the second includes the most common group of legal immigrants for each state, along with a follow up featuring everyone but Hispanics (Slate). If you want to submit a map for consideration for the next Map Monday, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com with your map attached and a brief description in the body of the email.

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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.

Timeline Thursday: An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government by Ephraim Ben Raphael

I decided to do a little digging and discuss an AlternateHistory.com favorite of mine that has not been updated in quite some time. It is called "An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government" by Ephraim Ben Raphael. It features a fictional traveler who is writing a book covering how different forms of government succeeded (and failed) on different timelines.

The timeline covers different types of socialist/communist, anarchist/libertarian and monarchist forms of government, with other chapters hinted at. Ephraim even includes an chapter on non-traditional states before the timeline went quiet back in September 2013. Updates were in the form of excerpts from the book where the narrator interviews people in the timeline, usually important people inside the government type being featured, and gives a brief history of the timeline. Ephraim also provides maps and flags, such as the one below from a world where there are two United States:

And his scenarios have inspired other map makers, like Bruce Munro, who made this map based off of Ephraim's scenario where socialism was the dominate form of government:

The key draw to the timeline for me, however, is when these governments fail. Although the fictional author of the book tries to present an unbiased view of these different types of governments, its when he visits the worlds where these systems collapsed that you get neat little micro-dystopias. My favorites include a failed libertarian America that is now confined solely to Guantanamo Bay and a rump Soviet Union...IN SPACE!

Sadly, as I mentioned before, the timeline has not been active for quite sometime. Hopefully one day Ephraim will return to it, but in the meantime, go read what he has already written. The easily digestible chunks of alternate history goodness are great for those who don't want to commit to a full timeline, but more importantly, it is just a great piece of alternate history.

As always, if there are any timelines you would like for me to check out or ones you would like to recommend to our readers, please contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

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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.