New Releases 9/15/15

You can support The Update by clicking the banner to your right or the links below if you are purchasing through Amazon!

Hardcovers

Clockwork Lives by Neil Peart and Kevin J. Anderson

Some lives can be summed up in a sentence or two. Other lives are epics.

In Clockwork Angels, #1 bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and legendary Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart created a fabulous, adventurous steampunk world in a novel to accompany the smash Rush concept album of the same name. It was a world of airships and alchemy, clockwork carnivals, pirates, lost cities, a rigid Watchmaker who controlled every aspect of life, and his nemesis, the ruthless and violent Anarchist who wanted to destroy it all.

Anderson and Peart have returned to their colourful creation to explore the places and the characters that still have a hold on their imagination. Marinda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village; she long ago gave up on her dreams and ambitions to take care of her ailing father, an alchemist and an inventor. When he dies, he gives Marinda a mysterious inheritance: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories — and ultimately her own.

Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales, and much more, as Marinda strives to change her life from a mere “sentence or two” to a true epic.

Dragon Coast by Greg van Eekhout

Dragon Coast: the sequel to Greg Van Eekhout's California Bones and Pacific Fire, in which Daniel Blackland must pull off the most improbable theft of all.

Daniel's adopted son Sam, made from the magical essence of the tyrannical Hierarch of Southern California whom Daniel overthrew and killed, is lost-consumed by the great Pacific firedrake secretly assembled by Daniel's half-brother, Paul.

But Sam is still alive and aware, in magical form, trapped inside the dragon as it rampages around Los Angeles, periodically torching a neighborhood or two.

Daniel has a plan to rescue Sam. It will involve the rarest of substances, axis mundi, pieces of the bones of the great dragon at the center of the Earth. Daniel will have to go to the kingdom of Northern California, boldly posing as his half-brother, come to claim his place in the competition to be appointed Lord High Osteomancer of the Northern Kingdom. Only when the Northern Hierarch, in her throne room at Golden Gate Park, raises her scepter to confirm Daniel in his position will he have an opportunity to steal the axis mundi-under the gaze of the Hierarch herself.

And that's just the first obstacle.

WARP Book 3 The Forever Man by Eoin Colfer

Riley, an orphan boy living in Victorian London, has achieved his dream of becoming a renowned magician, the Great Savano. He owes much of his success to Chevie, a seventeen-year-old FBI agent who traveled from the future in a time pod and helped him defeat his murderous master, Albert Garrick. But it is difficult for Riley to enjoy his new life, for he has always believed that Garrick will someday, somehow, return to seek vengeance.

Chevie has assured Riley that Garrick was sucked into a temporal wormhole, never to emerge. The full nature of the wormhole has never been understood, however, and just as a human body will reject an unsuitable transplant, the wormhole eventually spat him out. By the time Garrick makes it back to Victorian London, he has been planning his revenge on Riley for centuries. But even the best-laid plans can go awry, and when the three are tossed once more into the wormhole, they end up in a highly paranoid Puritan village where everything is turned upside down. Chevie is accused of being a witch, Garrick is lauded as the town's protector, and . . . is that a talking dog? Riley will need to rely on his reserve of magic tricks to save Chevie and destroy his former master once and for all.

Paperbacks

RUSH's Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel by Neil Peart and Kevin J. Anderson

The graphic novel adaptation of the unprecedented concept album and novel from the multi-platinum, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame music legends RUSH and NY Times Bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson!

Owen Hardy, like all the people of Albion, has lived his whole life under the rule of The Watchmaker. His entire life has been planned down to the exact second. But what happens when a young boy decides that things should not always goes as planned? Rush’s CLOCKWORK ANGELS is a testament to the band’s creative versatility—it has been successful as a concept album, novel, and international tour. Now, Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart and New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson are bringing the story of CLOCKWORK ANGELS to comics, where newcomer artist Nick Robles will bring the journey of Owen Hardy to visual life! Die-hard Rush fans have longed for Peart’s narrative songwriting to be adapted into comic book form for decades, but fans of steampunk fantasy will enjoy journeying into the world of Albion thanks to Anderson’s skilled storytelling. Collects the complete story originally published in CLOCKWORK ANGELS #1-#6.

WARP Book 2 The Hangman's Revolution by Eoin Colfer

Young FBI agent Chevie Savano arrives back in modern-day London after a time-trip to the Victorian age, to find the present very different from the one she left. Europe is being run by a Facsist movement known as the Boxites, who control their territory through intimidation and terror. Chevie's memories come back to her in fragments, and just as she is learning about the WARP program from Professor Charles Smart, inventor of the time machine, he is killed by secret service police. Now they are after Chevie, too, but she escapes--into the past. She finds Riley, who is being pursued by futuristic soldiers, and saves him. Working together again, it is up to Chevie and Riley to find the enigmatic Colonel Clayton Box, who is intent on escalating his power, and stop him before he can launch missiles at the capitals of Europe.

To readers, authors and publishers...

Is your story going to be published in time for the next New Releases? Contact us 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 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.

New Releases 1/27/15

You can support The Update by clicking the banner to your right or the links below if you are purchasing through Amazon!

Hardcovers

Pacific Fire by Greg van Eekhout

I’m Sam. I’m just this guy.

Okay, yeah, I’m a golem created from the substance of his own magic by the late Hierarch of Southern California. With a lot of work, I might be able to wield magic myself. I kind of doubt it, though. Not like Daniel Blackland can.

Daniel’s the reason the Hierarch’s gone and I’m still alive. He’s also the reason I’ve lived my entire life on the run. Ten years of never, ever going back to Los Angeles. Daniel’s determined to protect me. To teach me.

But it gets old. I’ve got nobody but Daniel. I’ll never do anything normal. Like attend school. Or date a girl.

Now it’s worse. Because things are happening back in LA. Very bad people are building a Pacific firedrake, a kind of ultimate weapon of mass magical destruction.  Daniel seemed to think only he could stop them. Now Daniel’s been hurt. I managed to get us to the place run by the Emmas. (Many of them. All named Emma. It’s a long story.) They seem to be healing him, but he isn’t going anyplace soon.

Do I even have a reason for existing, if it isn’t to prevent this firedrake from happening? I’m good at escaping from things. Now I’ve escaped from Daniel and the Emmas, and I’m on my way to LA.

This may be the worst idea I ever had.

Paperback

King of the Cracksmen: A Steampunk Entertainment by Dennis O'Flaherty

How far will the luck of the Irish stretch?

The year is 1877. Automatons and steam-powered dirigible gunships have transformed the United States in the aftermath of the Civil War. All of the country’s land west of the Mississippi was sold to Russia nearly fifty years earlier, and “Little Russia,” as it’s now called, is ruled by the son of Tsar Alexander II. Lincoln is still president, having never been assassinated, but he’s not been seen for six months, and rumors are flying about his disappearance. The country is being run as a police state by his former secretary of war Edwin Stanton, a power-hungry criminal who rules with an iron fist.

Liam McCool is an outlaw, known among other crooks as “King of the Cracksmen.” But his glory days as a safecracker and the head of a powerful New York gang end when he’s caught red-handed. Threatened with prison unless he informs on his own brethren fighting a guerilla war against Stanton’s tyranny, McCool’s been biding his time, trying to keeping the heat off him long enough to escape to San Francisco with his sweetheart Maggie. But when she turns up murdered, McCool discovers a trail of breadcrumbs that look to lead all the way up to the top of Stanton’s criminal organization. Joining forces with world-famed lady reporter Becky Fox, he plunges deep into the underground war, racing to find Maggie’s killer and stop Stanton once and for all.

King of the Cracksmen is an explosive, action-packed look at a Victorian empire that never was, part To Catch a Thief, part Little Big Man, steampunk as you’ve never seen it before.

The Revolution Trade: A Merchant Princes Omnibus by Charles Stross

The Revolution Trade: an omnibus edition of the fifth and sixth novels--The Revolution Business and Trade of Queens--in Charles Stross's Merchant Princes series.

Miriam Beckstein has said good-bye to her comfort zone. The transition from journalist to captive in an alternative timeline was challenging to say the least, she discovered that her long-lost family, the Clan, were world-skipping assassins. Now, while civil war rages in her adopted home, she's pregnant with the heir to their throne and a splinter group want her on their side of a desperate power struggle. But as a leader or figurehead?

Meanwhile, unknown to the Clan, the US government is on to them and preparing to exploit this knowledge. But it hadn't foreseen a dissident Clan faction carrying nuclear devices between worlds—with the US president in their sights. The War on Terror is about to go transdimensional. But Mike Fleming, CIA agent, knows the most terrifying secret of all: His government's true intentions.

The Strange Journeys of Colonel Polders: A Novel by Lord Dunsany

An inspiration to many for his style and prose, Lord Dunsany was a pioneer for fantasy fiction, inspiring such famous writers as H. P. Lovecraft, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Neil Gaiman, to name a few. More than sixty years since its first publication, The Strange Journeys of Colonel Polders is now once again available to readers.

In this classic fantasy story, a no-nonsense British officer, having offended an Indian swami in his club, finds his spirit lodged into a succession of animal bodies. Some of the animals the officer’s spirit enters are a cat, a goat, an eel, a fox, and many others. In his fantastic style, Dunsany captures the exact sentiments of each animal, making it believable that the office has, in fact, taken them as his own.

Out of print for more than sixty years, The Strange Journeys of Colonel Polders is a fantastic tale that takes you to the core of fantasy writing and shows the skill of Lord Dunsany, which many writers hold in the absolute highest regard. A lost classic, The Strange Journeys of Colonel Polders is finally available for readers of the beloved fantasy genre.

E-books

Resistance: A Novel by Owen Sheers

Resistance is a beautifully written and powerful story set during an imagined occupation of Britain by Nazi Germany in World War II.

In a remote and rugged Welsh valley in 1944, in the wake of a German invasion, all the men have disappeared overnight, apparently to join the underground resistance. Their abandoned wives, a tiny group of farm women, are soon trapped in the valley by an unusually harsh winter—along with a handful of war-weary German soldiers on a secret mission. The need to survive drives the soldiers and the women into uneasy relationships that test both their personal and national loyalties. But when the snow finally melts, bringing them back into contact with the war that has been raging beyond their mountains, they must face the dramatic consequences of their choices.

Audio

Stars & Stripes Forever: A Novel of Alternate History by Harry Harrison

In a war room in Washington, William Tecumseh Sherman and General Robert E. Lee huddle together and plan their next, joint military operation. In the jungles of Mexico, Ulysses S. Grant is locked in brutal combat with the best of the British Army. And in the heart of the new American South a fragile peace is threatened...

In the dazzling alternate history of Harry Harrison, this is the world as it stands in 1863. Just three years before, a titanic Civil War loomed in America. But an incident involving a British ship and two Confederate spies changed everything. As Abraham Lincoln defied Britain's Lord Palmerston, tensions between the two nations boiled over and Her Majesty's Navy unleashed an attack on American soil aimed at bolstering the Confederate cause. The results were catastrophic.

A stunned North and South put aside their differences and a new kind of war erupted, with Americans fighting side by side against the British on two fronts: in the South and on the Canadian border. Now, Britain has been defeated and America is struggling to keep its union together until another blow is struck. It comes from Mexico, where elite units of Her Majesty's Army including the famed Gurkha fighters are massing for a possible attack through Texas.

Into the gauntlet, Lincoln sends his chosen angel of death, General Grant. But the weary president knows that two centuries of British power will not be ended with a single battle. So his top soldiers, including Lee and Sherman, plan the most daring naval invasion ever launched: an assault on British soil itself. And in a secret that must be protected by an underground army of spies and secret agents, the U.S. will invade the Emerald Isle to set the Irish free at last. Filled with real characters on both sides of the conflict, Stars and Stripes in Peril is the new masterwork from one of our most provocative authors.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Is your story going to be published in time for the next New Releases? Contact us 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 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.

Weekly Update #176

Editor's Note

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everybody!

So I am sure you guys are all waiting to hear my opinion on Amazon's The Man in the High Castle. I do have a review coming out on Amazing Stories and, spoiler alert, I liked it. In fact from all the reviews and commentary I have seen on the pilot, I am not alone in  my opinion. There was just so many reviews and commentaries that I put off writing a summary and instead added a section on the show in the Links to the Multiverse below, so you can check that out if you want more details. It certainly seems like it is the hit of the Amazon pilot season, which is good news for alternate historians, but more on that later.

No Map Monday this week. I really didn't see a map I thought was good enough to feature and instead of blogging about a mediocre map just for the sake of content, I decided to skip this week and just take the hit in page views by not posting the next installment in my most popular series. I am sure that won't have any negative side effects.

I know I promised last week two important announcements, but I am still working out the kinks. Hopefully I can make at least one of them this week.

And now the news...

New Releases: The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith

Out now is the sequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Steh Grahame-Smith's The Last American Vampire. Here is the description from Amazon:

Vampire Henry Sturges returns in the highly anticipated sequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter-a sweeping, alternate history of twentieth-century America by New York Times bestselling author Seth Grahame-Smith.

THE LAST AMERICAN VAMPIRE

In Reconstruction-era America, vampire Henry Sturges is searching for renewed purpose in the wake of his friend Abraham Lincoln's shocking death. Henry's will be an expansive journey that first sends him to England for an unexpected encounter with Jack the Ripper, then to New York City for the birth of a new American century, the dawn of the electric era of Tesla and Edison, and the blazing disaster of the 1937 Hindenburg crash. 

Along the way, Henry goes on the road in a Kerouac-influenced trip as Seth Grahame-Smith ingeniously weaves vampire history through Russia's October Revolution, the First and Second World Wars, and the JFK assassination.

Expansive in scope and serious in execution, THE LAST AMERICAN VAMPIRE is sure to appeal to the passionate readers who made Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter a runaway success.

If you want to learn more about the author you can see his interviews on Red Eye, Reddit and B&N.

Author Updates: Jo Walton and Greg van Eekhout

Last week I talked about Jo Walton's The Just City and Greg van Eekhout's Pacific Fire. If you want to learn more about those books I highly recommend you check out the last Weekly Update. Nevertheless I would be remiss if I did not cover what people are still saying about both authors' works.

Joel Cunningham of the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog called The Just City a "richly written, deeply imaginative story" and also praised the author for her ability to write "amazing" books for almost every genre. One of those books was My Real Children, which was recently discussed on The Sometime Seminar podcast.

And lets not forget about Greg. Paul Di Filippo, writing a review for Locus, praised the language of Pacific Fire and called the conclusion "highly satisfactory and resonant". If you want to learn more about the California Bones universe, check out this article these pictures and descriptions of the characters at Tor.

Videos for Alternate Historians

This week in videos we learn what Patton Oswalt thought about Snyder's Watchmen:

Next we see at incredibly creepy animated trailer for the upcoming The Order: 1886 PlayStation game:

And finally here as game engine trailer for Total War: Attila:

Links to the Multiverse

Amazon TV's The Man in the High Castle

Amazon Comes Out Swinging at The New York Times.
Amazon’s ‘Man in the High Castle’ off to a fantastic start at The Seattle Times.
Amazon pilot reviews: 'The Man in the High Castle' is king at Entertainment Weekly.
Competition for Netflix May Be Found in Amazon's 'The Man in the High Castle' at Latin Post.
Finally! The Man in the High Castle is Streaming on Amazon at The Counterfactual History Review.
First Footage From Philip K Dick's Man In The High Castle Looks Good at io9.
Get Your Streaming On With Amazon’s Pilot Of The Man In The High Castle at ScienceFiction.com
I would willingly watch another one, which is more than I can say about...these other series at Slate.
The Man in the High Castle, Amazon pilot, review: 'stylised and stylish' at The Telegraph.
Man In The High Castle Is Wildly Different From The Book But Still Great at io9.
Man in the High Castle Pilot: Philip K. Dick and Bald Hitler Build a Nazi America at iDigitalTimes.
New Amazon pilots include a promising Philip K. Dick adaptation at AV Club.
You Can Probably Skip Amazon’s New TV Pilots—Except for One at Wired.

Books and Short Fiction

Adam Christopher announced he’ll be writing Elementary tie-in novels for Titan Books.
The Eterna Files (Excerpt) by Leanna Renee Hieber at Tor.
The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Our Favorite Anthologies of 2014 at Bull Spec.
MIND MELD: SF Stories That Predicted the Future — Or Didn’t at SF Signal.
New WOLFHOUND CENTURY Covers… at Civilian Reader.
Review: Hive Monkey by Gareth L Powell at SFFWorld.
Review: Jani and the Greater Game by Eric Brown at Telegraph & Argus.
Review: The Ripper Affair by Lilith Saintcrow at SF Signal.

Counterfactuals, History and News

Alternate history: Passing off fiction as fact by Sitharam Yechury at Hindustan Times.
Even Robert E. Lee Wanted the Confederate Flag Gone at The Daily Beast.
Hacked news companies tweet Chinese fired on U.S. warship at CNN.
The Jesus Sutras: Some Thoughts on What Might Have Been by James Ford at Patheos.
John Kerry’s Nose and the Transcript That Changed History at The Counterfactual History Review.
This Legal "No Man's Land" Hosted Outlaws For Forty-Five Years at io9.
Native Hawaiians debate best path to sovereignty at Yahoo!
Science friction by Samit Basu at The Times of India.
A tour through New Zealand's amazing steampunk town by Tom Fassbender at Boing Boing.
Understanding World War II-Japan & Synthetic Rubber by Dale Cozort.
What 5 Dead Celebrities Would Be Up to Today at Cracked.
Year's Surprise Bestseller Turns the Holocaust into a Sentimental Mess at New Republic.

Film and Television

9 Baffling First Drafts of Classic Movie Posters at Cracked.
Brand New Concept Art of Back to the Future Part II's 2015 Technology at io9.
Idris Elba Will Bring Demon-Fighting Edgar Allan Poe to the Big Screen at Tor.
Review: 12 Monkeys at Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress.
Review: Agent Carter at Amazing Stories.
Syfy to Launch Futuristic Prison Drama 51st State at Geek Syndicate.
Whatever Will Be Will Be: Predestination and The Time Travel Movie at Tor.
Wolf at the door by Emily Hourican at Independent.ie.

Games

Review: Wolfenstein: The New Order at The Hypno Realm.
This War of Mine: Don't miss this Mac game! at iMore.

Interviews

Guy Adams at SF Signal.
Gillian Polack at SF Signal.

Podcasts

Announcing Dissecting Worlds Live! at Geek Syndicate.

* * *

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.

Weekly Update #175

Editor's Note

I'm hoping to make a couple of important announcements this week, so stay tuned. I am not sure what format I will be making the announcement. One might be posted on the blog and blasted out through social media, while the other might only get the social media blitz. Either way, they are both pieces of good news and I hope you are all excited as I am.

And now the news...

Alternate History Television in 2015

2015 appears to be the year alternate history will make its presence known on television.

Amazon announced it will debut its pilot season this Thursday, January 15th, on Amazon Instant Video. Among their many new shows, will also be their adaptation of Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. This is a show I have talked about extensively over the last few months and I am eager to see what they have come up with. Sadly that is all I have to report. We will all know more later this week.

Meanwhile, at the Televisions Critics Association (TCA) Winter 2015 Press Tour, the creators of the adaptation of Susanna Clark’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell announced, among other things, a Spring 2015 release. The creators also promised to get through about 200 pages per episode. Laurence Caromba of the Mail & Guardian, called the book "dense and meandering", but thought the show could still work as a "alternative-universe version of Downton Abbey." I'm about half way finished with the book myself, so hopefully I will be done before it airs later this year and even a review up.

Coming Soon: The Just City by Jo Walton

Coming out tomorrow is Jo Walton's The Just City. Jo is the author of numerous alternate history works including the Small Change series and My Real Children (which you can read a recent review of at Sibilant Fricative). But what is her new book about? Let's first check out the blurb:

"Here in the Just City you will become your best selves. You will learn and grow and strive to be excellent." 

Created as an experiment by the time-traveling goddess Pallas Athene, the Just City is a planned community, populated by over ten thousand children and a few hundred adult teachers from all eras of history, along with some handy robots from the far human future—all set down together on a Mediterranean island in the distant past.

The student Simmea, born an Egyptian farmer's daughter sometime between 500 and 1000 A.D, is a brilliant child, eager for knowledge,  ready to strive to be her best self. The teacher Maia was once Ethel, a young Victorian lady of much learning and few prospects, who prayed to Pallas Athene in an unguarded moment during a trip to Rome—and, in an instant, found herself in the Just City with grey-eyed Athene standing unmistakably before her.

Meanwhile, Apollo—stunned by the realization that there are things mortals understand better than he does—has arranged to live a human life, and has come to the City as one of the children. He knows his true identity, and conceals it from his peers. For this lifetime, he is prone to all the troubles of being human.

Then, a few years in, Sokrates arrives—the same Sokrates recorded by Plato himself—to ask all the troublesome questions you would expect. What happens next is a tale only the brilliant Jo Walton could tell.

And now what do the critics say? Liz Bourke of Tor listed as one of the books to look forward to in the first half of 2015, but Niall Alexander (also of Tor) was a little more restrained saying "[s]ome will have a harder time than others putting aside...first act’s failings, but those who do push through can count on a considered account of character and morality that mixes fantasy with philosophy and history with the stuff of science fiction."

If you get a chance to read The Just City, let us know what you thought in the comments.

Coming Soon: Pacific Fire by Greg van Eekhout

Greg van Eekhout's Pacific Fire, sequel to California Bones, will be published on January 27th, but there has already been some buzz on this follow up. First, here is the blurb from Amazon:

I’m Sam. I’m just this guy. 

Okay, yeah, I’m a golem created from the substance of his own magic by the late Hierarch of Southern California. With a lot of work, I might be able to wield magic myself. I kind of doubt it, though. Not like Daniel Blackland can. 

Daniel’s the reason the Hierarch’s gone and I’m still alive. He’s also the reason I’ve lived my entire life on the run. Ten years of never, ever going back to Los Angeles. Daniel’s determined to protect me. To teach me. 

But it gets old. I’ve got nobody but Daniel. I’ll never do anything normal. Like attend school. Or date a girl.

Now it’s worse. Because things are happening back in LA. Very bad people are building a Pacific firedrake, a kind of ultimate weapon of mass magical destruction.  Daniel seemed to think only he could stop them. Now Daniel’s been hurt. I managed to get us to the place run by the Emmas. (Many of them. All named Emma. It’s a long story.) They seem to be healing him, but he isn’t going anyplace soon.

Do I even have a reason for existing, if it isn’t to prevent this firedrake from happening? I’m good at escaping from things. Now I’ve escaped from Daniel and the Emmas, and I’m on my way to LA. 

This may be the worst idea I ever had.

Curious, but what do the critics think? Paul Weimer reviewed Pacific Fire for SF Signal and gave the book 4 out of 5 stars. In his review he said "inclusion of new characters, new facets to the universe, and further details on the world building enrich the universe that the author is building, and the characters he is creating." Sounds like a solid recommendation. Those interested in learning more can read an excerpt over at Tor.

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction

2014 Philip K. Dick Award Nominees Announced at File 770.
Alt Hist Issue 7 – Blurb and Editorial Teaser by Mark Lord at Alt Hist.
Chapter 3 of The Desert and The Blade by SM Stirling.
Chivalry - The First Jake Savage Adventure - eBook Now Free by Mark Lord.
Cover Reveal for Adam Christopher’s Made to Kill at Tor.
Cover story by Stuart Bache at The Bookseller.
Exclusive Cover Reveal: THE VENUSIAN GAMBIT by Michael J. Martinez at SF Signal.
The Greatest Science Fiction Novels of All Time Part 13 at Amazing Stories.
James Young pens 'alternative history' of WWII at The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Has Written a Mycroft Holmes Mystery! at Tor.
Review: Jacaranda by Cherie Priest at Tor.
Review: Secret Cargo by Charles Christian at Amazing Stories.
What If? Alternative History in Fiction by Jeff Burns at The Histocrats' Bookshelf.

Counterfactuals, History and News

The 10 Most Insignificant Wars in History by Esther Inglis-Arkell at io9.
Counterfactual Nazi Cows! by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld at The Counterfactual History Review.
Futuro Houses: Otherworldly Homes For Earth-Bound Humans by Ella Morton at Slate.
Jesus Might Not Have Been Judas' Only Victim by Esther Inglis-Arkell at io9.
NASA produces vintage travel posters for newly discovered planets at The Guardian.
Nuking Nazi Germany? by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld at The Counterfactual History Review.
Putin’s Eurasian Dream Is Over Before It Began by Reid Standish at Foreign Policy.
So, What Was In That Boston Time Capsule? by Rebecca Onion at Slate.

Film and Television

All Tim Burton Movies Occur in the Same Universe at Tor.
Friday YouTube Bonus! Key & Peele in Steampunk Gangstas at SF Signal.
Oakwell Hall celebrates its film track record at Telegraph & Argus.
Predestination Could Be The Greatest Time Travel Mindf-ck Ever Filmed at io9.
Review: Agent Carter Pilot & Ep.2 Time and Tide at Geek Syndicate.
Rod Taylor (1930-2015) at File 770.

Games

The Supreme Court Came Alarmingly Close to Allowing Video Game Censorship at Slate.

Graphic Novels and Comics

A Truly, Honestly, Actually Never-Before-Seen Comic Comes To Kickstarter at Bleeding Cool.

Interviews

Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris at Myth Behaving.
Stephanie Burgis at Gail Carriger.
Marjorie Liu at Newsarama.

* * *

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.

Weekly Update #156

Editor's Note

WE'RE BACK!!!

I am writing this at Alternate History Weekly Update's new world headquarters...which is the fancy title for the half-unpacked, spare bedroom in my new home. Still the move went as smooth as it could have and I am a little less stressed out. I even find myself with some rare free time so I sat down and wrote out a Weekly Update.

Sadly sacrifices had to be made. All the research I collected on news and events of the last couple of weeks had to be deleted. Thus nothing, absolutely nothing, happened between 7/14 and 7/27 in the world of alternate history, steampunk, time travel, etc.

O by the way, I got a promotion at work, which means a little more financial security, but possibly a little less time to give to The Update. I will keep you posted on the details, but expect some small blackouts as I get accustomed to my new responsibilities.

And now the news...

Preview: California Bones by Greg van Eekhout

I mentioned California Bones by Greg van Eekhout in New Releases 6/10/14 and several Weekly Updates, but this week the alternate fantasy got some shout outs on a couple sites of note so I decided to give a little more detail on the novel.

In his guest review on SF Signal, Ben Blattberg said "I wouldn't want to live in van Eekhout’s grim, magical LA, but it’s a fantastic place to visit; and despite a few hiccups, the book is a fun thrill-ride." Meanwhile, Greg was a guest on the Adventures in SciFi Publishing podcast, the fourth time he has been on the show (although his voice is used in the podcast intro, so technically he has been present for a lot more episodes).

If you have read California Bones please let us know. We would love to post your review here on The Update.

Videos for Alternate Historians

This week is a special film edition of Videos for Alternate Historians. First up, a NSFW trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine 2:

Huh...I guess there wasn't enough cash, cocaine or hookers to get John Cusack to sign up for the sequel. Sad really, I liked the original. It was a dumb, but entertaining, movie that was just self-aware enough to upend some old time travel cliches. Next up, something probably a little more thoughtful. Here is the new trailer for Nolan's Interstellar:

I'm still holding out hope that some of the early rumors that this film would involve parallel universes are true. Finally we end with what could have been the greatest comic book movie that was never made. I bring you the test footage for Deadpool:

Let me know if you can't see anything. Seems like Fox is trying to purge all mentions of it from the Internet.

Got anymore videos you would like to recommend? Let us know at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction

Author’s fantasy novel marks centenary of Great War by John Herring at Newbury Today.
Cover & Synopsis: A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V. E. Schwab at SF Signal.
Defining Steampunk with Authors Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris at Bitten by Books.
Review: Flashing Steel Flashing Fire by Matthew Quinn at The M.
Review: The Language of Stones by Robert Carter at Fantasy Book Review.
Review: Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches by Cherie Priest at Publishers Weekly.
Review: Napoleon in America by Shannon Selin at Other Times.
Sealed by Noeleen Kavanagh – Free Story Extract at Alt Hist.
Table of Contents: WARS TO END ALL WARS: ALTERNATE TALES FROM THE TRENCHES Edited by N.E. White at SF Signal.

Comics

How to promote a feminist/action/alt. history graphic novel? by Michael Munro at io9.

Counterfactuals, History and News

The 1944 science fiction story that predicted the atomic bomb at Boing Boing.
Bill Clinton's Lost Tape: I Could Have Killed Osama Bin Laden at NBC.
The Bukharin Alternative Part One and Part Two by Scott Blair at The World According to Quinn.
Federal Employee Gets Fired After Writing An Article Criticizing Nukes by Mark Strauss at io9.
If Ireland was treated like Palestine - An alternate history by Andrew Flood at Workers Solidarity Movement.
Lockport’s Steampunk costume gala combines Victorian era, science fiction by Erin Gallagher at Southtown Star.
A Map Of The U.S., If There Had Never Been A Mexican-American War by Mark Strauss at io9.
Watch The European Colonization Of North America In Just 14 Seconds by Mark Strauss at io9.

Film and Television

Ascension: An Alternate History About a Planned Community in Space by Katharine Trendacosta at io9.
Outlander: is this the next Game of Thrones? by Charlotte Runcie at The Telegraph.

Games

The Order: 1886 – A Game That Combines History with Fantasy at The Fuse Joplin.

Interviews

Gail Carriger at The Murverse Annex.
Alyx (A M) Dellamonica at Functional Nerds.
Jacopo della Quercia at The Qwillery.

Podcasts

Dissecting Worlds Series 8, Ep 7b: Religion Conclusions at Geek Syndicate.

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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.

New Releases 6/10/14

You can support The Update by clicking the banner on the top right or the links below if you are purchasing through Amazon!

Hardcovers

California Bones by Greg van Eekhout

When Daniel Blackland was six, he ingested his first bone fragment, a bit of kraken spine plucked out of the sand during a visit with his demanding, brilliant, and powerful magician father, Sebastian.

When Daniel was twelve, he watched Sebastian die at the hands of the Hierarch of Southern California, devoured for the heightened magic layered deep within his bones.

Now, years later, Daniel is a petty thief with a forged identity. Hiding amid the crowds in Los Angeles—the capital of the Kingdom of Southern California—Daniel is trying to go straight. But his crime-boss uncle has a heist he wants Daniel to perform: break into the Hierarch's storehouse of magical artifacts and retrieve Sebastian's sword, an object of untold power.

For this dangerous mission, Daniel will need a team he can rely on, so he brings in his closest friends from his years in the criminal world. There's Moth, who can take a bullet and heal in mere minutes. Jo Alverado, illusionist. The multitalented Cassandra, Daniel’s ex. And, new to them all, the enigmatic, knowledgeable Emma, with her British accent and her own grudge against the powers-that-be. The stakes are high, and the stage is set for a showdown that might just break the magic that protects a long-corrupt regime.

Extravagant and yet moving, Greg van Eekhout's California Bones is an epic adventure set in a city of canals and secrets and casual brutality--different from the world we know, yet familiar and true.

Paperbacks

Flashing Steel, Flashing Fire: A Short Story Collection by Matthew Quinn

The vivid imagination of Matthew W. Quinn has carried him far from our mundane world to places of mystery, wonder, and terror. Now is your chance to join him on ten adventures ranging from Dark Age Denmark to a world where North America and Europe face off against the Indian Ocean in a Cold War to the forgotten and frightening corners of our own present day...

COIL GUN-On the opening night of the Third World War, an American spaceport official plays off against an Afrikaner intelligence officer with the fate of the world in the balance. Previously published in PRESSURE SUITE: DIGITAL SCIENCE FICTION #3.

LORD GIOVANNI'S DAUGHTER-A scholar and adventurer must rescue his employer's daughter from the fierce Talassos, prince of the serpentine Naga.

NICOR-A teenage Dane on his first Viking raid encounters something fiercer than the Anglish. Previously published in HEROIC FANTASY QUARTERLY.

MELON HEADS-A pair of young lovers in Ohio discover what they thought an urban legend is very, very real...

PICKING UP PLANS IN PALMA-An American spy infiltrates the brutal Afrikaner Confederation to retrieve vital plans, not knowing the terrible fate awaiting him...

ILLEGAL ALIEN-A group of undocumented migrants seeking the American dream encounter aliens of a different sort...

THE BEAST OF THE BOSPORUS-After the destruction of the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto, Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha seeks power of a different sort, power that puts him at the mercy of powers beyond human comprehension.

I AM THE WENDIGO-Many tales have been told about the wendigo, the man-eating fiend of the northern woods, but when has the wendigo ever spoken for himself? Previously published in CHIMAERA SERIALS.

LORD OF THE DOLOROUS TOWER-In a world wracked once by a celestial impact and then again by a fierce Dark Lord, two adventurous teens go treasure-hunting in the Dark Lord's tomb...

WESTERNMOST THRONE-On the eve of the U.S. Presidential Election, a campaign receptionist finds out her boss is much more than he says he is...

Sherlock Holmes - Gods of War by James Lovegrove

1913. The clouds of war are gathering. The world's great empires vie for supremacy. Europe is in turmoil, a powder keg awaiting a spark. A body is discovered on the shore below Beachy Head, just a mile from Sherlock Holmes's retirement cottage. The local police are satisfied that it's a suicide. The victim, a young man, recently suffered a disappointment in love, and Beachy Head is notorious as a place where the desperate and depressed leap to their deaths. Holmes, however, suspects murder. As he and Watson investigate, they uncover a conspiracy with shocking ramifications.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Is your story going to be published in time for the next New Releases? Contact us 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.

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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.