Weekly Update #71

Editor's Note

Twitter and Google Alerts are useful, but I need your help! If you see some alternate history news item, please share it with us. Email ahwupdate at gmail dot com and thank you for your continued support.

This week we have a review of Revolution, a review of Iron Sky, an interview with Roger L. Ranson and I review the first part of a new serialized novel.

And now the news...

Vintage Tomorrows

A new documentary produced by Intel Labs, Vintage Tomorrows, debuted last Monday in San Francisco. As Rachel King of ZD Net describes, it is: "[b]ased on a book by the same name, the film follows a historian and a futurist as they journey through the Steampunk era of the Victorian Age and into the future of technology as well as chronicling the completion of the book. Essentially, the film tries to look backwards before we can move forward by presenting the argument that through the eyes, beliefs and vision of the Steampunk movement in the 19th century, we can see now how our future could turn out."

Sounds more retro-SF then true alternate history, but fans of steampunk might get a kick out of it. The film includes a cameo by well-known steampunk writer Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker, along with other steampunk VIPs. David Dickstein gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "compelling filmmaking" but deducting points for giving a one-sided view of the subculture.

Update S. M. Stirling

S. M. Stirling fans should visit www.smstirling.com and check out the website's new look.The site is better designed, making it easier to stay up to date on Stirling news and see some fan art and fiction. You should also check out one fan's YouTube video where he lists his top ten favorite novels by the author:

Do you agree? Let us know your top ten in the comment section.

With NBC Revolution making its television premier tonight, expect more comparisons with Stirling's Emberverse. Hopefully the series will attract more people to the series, just as long as they stop calling it a rip-off.

Harper Voyager Accepting Unsolicited Submission

A big announcement for all aspiring authors out there. Harper Voyager is offering writers the chance to submit full, unagented manuscripts for a limited two-week period. The publisher is seeking new authors for their e-book only imprint. Want another reason for why this is a great opportunity? Ask George R. R. Martin how his life has been since signing up with them.

The submission portal will be open from the 1st to the 14th of October 2012. The manuscripts will then be read and those most suited for Harper Voyager will be selected jointly by editors in the USA, UK and Australia.  Accepted submissions will benefit from the full publishing process: accepted manuscripts will be edited; and the finished titles will receive online marketing and sales support in World English markets.

Voyager will be seeking an array of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particularly novels written in the epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural genres. See the submission guidelines for more information.

You have only a couple of weeks left to get your manuscript ready, so get writing and when you become the next best-selling novelist, remember dear old AH Weekly Update.

Links to the Multiverse

Article

9 Global Disasters That Never Came to Pass by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders at io9.

Alternate History Alert: Could’ve Been J. Lo in the Madonna/Britney VMA Kiss by Andrew Unterberger at Pop Dust.

How history would be different if Canada used the U.S. electoral system by Eric Grenier at The Globe and Mail.

Mitt the Moderate: An Alternate Campaign History by Elspeth Reeve at The Atlantic Wire.

[Worldcon] The Steampunk Genre by Rachael Acks at 4.5 Billion Years of Wonder.

Books

Australian author's debut dreams up steampunk-inspired Japanese world in 'Stormdancer' at Radio Australia.

Book Monday — Guest Review: The Kingmakers done by  Suzanne Lazear at Steamed.

FAQ Moment: How Could You End the Parasol Protectorate Series? by Gail Carriger.

Steampunk's guide to sex by Cory Doctorow at boingboing.

Comics

Dark Horse Comics Announce BIOSHOCK: Infinite Art Book by wedgedoc at Geek Syndicate.

Steampunk Spotlight: City of Iron Board Game on Kickstarter by Andrew Zimmerman Jones at Black Gate.

Film

Steampunk Skyship Chronicles — syndicated post from @ifsMBA at The Masquerade Crew.

Games

Abney Park’s Airship Pirates: A Music-inspired Steampunk Extravaganza by Ken Walton at Black Gate.

HeroCraft debuts its steampunk, fantasy puzzler The Tiny Bang Story by Scott Webster at Android Guys.

VIDEO GAME NEWS: Dishonored: Developer Documentary: Immersion - Bethesda by Gareth and Lady Eleanor at Falcata Times.

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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.

“Inglourious Basterds” meets “Dawn of the Dead” in "By the Blood of Heroes" by Joseph Nassise

From the press release.

With the critical and box office success of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, the rise in the popularity of steampunk fiction and fashion, and the influx of zombie-themed TV shows (Walking Dead), books (World War Z), and movies (Zombieland), BY THE BLOOD OF HEROES (on sale from Harper Voyager May 1, 2012; ISBN 9780062048752; $14.99; e-ISBN 9780062048776; $9.99) taps into some of today’s coolest alternative trends. International bestseller Joseph Nassise takes readers on a wild ride through a zombie-filled World War I, complete with some of its most celebrated and most notorious figures.

The Great War progressed as wars normally do—armies fight, soldiers die, battles are won, ground is lost, and nowhere is an end in sight—until 1917, when the Germans discover T-leiche, or “corpse gas” and everything goes to Hell for the good guys. The Germans employ corpse gas on the fallen, ally and enemy alike, to raise them from the dead and turn them into “shamblers,” mindless, flesh-eating machines under their direct control. The Allied forces can now do no more than hold their ground and pray their scientists, including the legendary Nicola Tesla, find a way to combat this seemingly unbeatable weapon.

When Major Jack Freeman, the American Ace, and poster-boy for the American War effort over in France, is downed over enemy lines and taken captive, a man from his past, veteran Captain Michael “Madman” Burke, is the only man brave and foolish enough to accept the mission to recover Freeman. Burke assembles a team of disparate members, from Sergeant Moore, his right-hand man during the war, Clayton Manning, to big game hunter turned soldier eager to conquer this new, dangerous beast, to professor Dan Richards, one of Tesla’s top men and the resident authority on all things supernatural.

Using an experimental drilling vehicle to infiltrate enemy territory, the team faces incredible danger as they struggle to reach the prison camp. From ruthless smugglers who betray them to the Germans, to marauding bands of the undead, to the ultimate enemy Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, they find risk and peril at every turn. It is only when they arrive at the prison camp that the true importance of their mission is unveiled. While in captivity, Freeman has discovered the enemy’s deepest secret - how they control the ravenous army of the undead!

Editor's Note

Harper Voyager was kind enough to send me a review copy, so expect a review in the near future.  In the meantime you can check out Joseph Nassise's website, Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Mitro is founder, editor and contributor of Alternate History Weekly Update. When he is not busy writing about his passion for alternate history, he spends his time working as a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois and dreams of being a published author himself one day.