Weekly Update #247: Hearts of Iron IV Gets First Major Patch

Editor's Note

So a lot happened in the last two weeks since my last Weekly Update. Please humor me while I go through it all.

First up, WE GOT 1 MILLION PAGE VIEWS. It still feels good to say that and I get a little tingle every time I go to my blog's dashboard and see those seven figures. Everything else pretty much pales in comparison, but waiting for the page count to tick over is a passive project. While waiting I interviewed one of my favorite authors, Jack Campbell (a.k.a. John G. Hemry) for SFFWorld. I even got a DeviantArt profile so I can share some of my map and flag posts/videos with that community.

I have also been busy as usual writing for this blog. If you haven't looked at any of those article already, I can recommend several of them such as Weekly Update #246, where I showcased some of the books that I will be reading in September. Plus you may want to check out my Map Monday articles where I featured "The Day After the World of Tomorrows"​ by Rvbomally and "Causae Deus - Climate of (Deglaciated) Antarctica" by Gian.

We also had a couple of new guest posters to the blog. Michael J. Martinez (MJ-12: Inception) made his debut on the The Update discussing how to write about sexism in racism in historical fantasy and newcomer Theo Taylor gave us two guest posts featuring President Washington's third term and a scenario where Alexander the Great drives farther into India.

I'll end this Editor's Note by congratulating Naomi Novik for winning the first ever Dragon Award for Alternate History. In the meantime, why not show some support to Novik and The Update by purchasing League of Dragons or any other new alternate history release through our Amazon banner?

And now the news...

Hearts of Iron IV Gets First Major Patch

Paradox Development Studios released the first major update for its World War II grand strategy game, Hearts of Iron IV. The “Sunflower Patch” is largely devoted to improving the game’s AI and user interface, as well as the usual changes to the game's balance and historical database, plus a number of bug fixes.

You can read the full list of changes and updates on the official Paradox Community forum here, but here is a brief list of the highlights from the press release:

• Changes to how peace conferences are handled, based on a design by Steam user Neutrino
• Hotjoin now available for multiplayer games, so you can connect to a match already in progress
• Custom difficulty settings let you adjust the relative power of Germany, Italy, France and the Soviet Union
• More nations can now be released as independent countries
• Re-sync button added to address connection issues without rehosting the game
• AI more likely to update templates, build nuclear reactors and cancel unnecessary production
• AI less likely to risk encirclement, opt for a Communist France or throw everything at North Africa
• Naval combat has been balanced to prevent light cruiser spam
• Changes to national territorial cores (Portugal loses, Sinkiang gains)
• A number of crashes caused by modding have been fixed
• Submarines better at finding surface ships, worse at finding other subs

Video of the Week

If I were you I would watch Tamara's new review of Back to the Future II:

I especially liked how she gave the figurative middle finger to some of the assholes in her comment section. Next up you should also check out some of my videos, like "What if 9/11 Didn't Happen"?

And "The Alternate History Map That Ended Up In A History Textbook":

I enjoyed this one, just because its fun to rag on major corporations who forget to fact check.

You should also check out...

• Tor lists the year's best alternate history books (so far).
• Hundreds of thousands of Catalans stage independence protests (via The Guardian).
• Ship found in Arctic 168 years after doomed Northwest Passage attempt (via The Guardian).
• Mexico threatens to cancel treaty that ceded Texas and California to US if Trump gets elected (via Raw Story).
• 30 Years Later, Watchmen's Unacknowledged Optimism Persists (via Paste). 
• Underground Airlines is one of the bleakest alternate histories ever (via Ars Technica).

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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, DeviantArt and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Top 5 Posts from July 2016

Most viewed map from July 2016.

So July wasn't one my best months in terms of page views, probably because I took a whole week off from blogging in the middle of it, but we still had some amazing articles. Check them out below.

1) Why Are Alternate History Adaptations So Poorly Made? by Josh Weiss.

2) Flag Friday: Concept Flags for Hearts of Iron 4 by Rock by Matt Mitrovich.

3) Anime Review: Full Metal Panic! by Sam McDonald.

4) The Alphabet of Alternate History: C by Dale Cozort.

5) Map Monday: Greater Lebanon by Simon Regan by Matt Mitrovich.

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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.

Flag Friday: Concept Flags for Hearts of Iron 4 by Rock

I've been bad about doing Flag Friday, but I got a nice back log of flags to cover now so I should never be hurting for content in the future. With that being said, lets look at some flags.

These are "Concept Flags for Hearts of Iron 4" (a name I made up because one wasn't given) by Rock. For those who don't know, Hearts of Iron is a grand strategy game series from Paradox where you control the fate of a nation during the time of World War II. I played both the first and second installments a lot, until my career and this blog meant I had less time to commit to it. To be fair I was a bigger Total War fan, but I still enjoyed the games Paradox  produced.

There really isn't a story behind these flags. Rock makes it clear he made them for fun, but I still think they are well designed flags, with a different one for each form of government the three nations have. The fact that he went with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, however, deserves to be noticed. So many alternate historians spend so much time in Europe or North America, that its nice to see someone get creative with another part of the world. Kudos.

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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.

Weekly Update #234! Paradox Uses Alternate History in New Hearts of Iron IV Trailer (and more)

Weekly Update

Every time I think of turning in my gun and badge (ever alternate historian has those, right?) something happens that keeps me in the game. The next few months should be fun. I got a lot of interesting things coming up including new videos for the channel and some recognizable names doing guest posts on the blog. I got some awesome interviews line up with SFFWorld and I got plenty of books to review for Amazing Stories. It is going to be a great summer and I hope you guys join me for the ride.

And now the news...

Paradox Embraces Alternate History in New Hearts of Iron IV Trailer

Hang around alternate historians long enough and you will probably here about the grand strategy games produced by Paradox. Last week they announced the start of the pre-order for Hearts of Iron IV, the latest grand strategy game about World War II. The great thing about these games is that you get to decide the fate of the nation you control and thus can alter history as you play.

To Paradox's credit, they know this and work this into how they market their games. For example, check out their new trailer which posits a Japanese attack on a heretofore triumphant Soviet Union:



I got to admit that video had some amazing visuals, but that is not the only way they are promoting how you can change history. Apparently, every pre-order comes with additional rewards such as the Hearts of Iron: War Stories Gamebook. According to the press release, this is a "branching interactive narrative where the player’s choices matter. War Stories is written by Aaron Rosenburg and features a young British RAF pilot during the Battle of Britain."

I'm just glad to see Paradox going all in on promoting the alternate history nature of their game. If you want to learn more, don't forget to check out the Hearts of Iron website.

Video of the Week

Since we talked about World War II, lets keep it going by looking at what would happen if Hitler was killed during Operation Valkyrie:

Doing a scenario was fun. I may do more of those in the future in between videos discussing the genre in general.

You should also check out...

• All the news about Battlefield 1, which may not be an alternate history, but it could still be the best WWI game according to Robert Whitaker of History Respawned. Considering that prediction, its surprising to learn that EA initially rejected the setting according to PC Gamer.
• The top 10 steampunk films according to Seen On, which may be covered by the steampunk documentary Vintage Tomorrows. It was announced last week on Variety that Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired worldwide rights to the documentary, so expect me to watch and comment on it in the future.
• The fact that most of the Assassin's Creed film will be mostly set in the modern day according to Birth Movies Death...because that is what people are most interested in when they play those games. Seriously, why is it so hard to make a decent video game movie?
• Timeless, NBC's new time travel drama (via io9).

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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.

Weekly Update #169

Editor's Note

Well the holidays are upon us and that means I am going into hibernation. No Weekly Update next Monday as I take a break from blogging to write about my Sideways in Time Paper (check out my last update here). Then in mid-December I will be taking an even longer break to spend sometime with the family, but I will be back at the end of the year for my annual wrap-up.

And now the news...

Videos for Alternate Historians

Some good videos this week. We begin with another episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, featuring Romeo & Juliet vs. Bonnie & Clyde:

The last few episodes have been very group heavy. I wonder if we are going to see anymore one-on-ones in the future. Anywho, it looks like Assassin's Creed: Unity has lead to some discussion on revisionist history. Lets watch this video from The Know to learn more:

Interesting. Here in America at least we are taught that both sides in the French Revolution were nuts. O well, lets look at an even more insane period of history, World War II, with this video on tanks featured in Paradox's upcoming grant strategy game Hearts of Iron IV:

The video features a visit to the Arsenalen museum of military vehicles in Sweden, where Hearts of Iron IV’s Project Lead, Dan Lind, talks tanks and their use in the war. What did you think of it?

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction

Best Alternate History Novels by Josh Goller at Used Book Search.
Gollancz buys two from de Bodard at The Bookseller.
Priya Sharma’s After Mary included in Ellen Datlow’s Honorable Mentions at Alt Hist.
Prologue of The Desert and The Blade by SM Stirling.
Review: Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann at Falcata Times.
Review: The Revolutions by Felix Gilman at Falcata Times.
Review: The Steampunk User’s Manual by Jeff VanderMeer at Geek Dad.
Update on the Alternate Mormon History anthology by William Morris at A Motley Vision.
William Gibson's 6 favorite books at The Week.

Counterfactuals, History and News

The 19th Century Blueprint For A Massive Mind-Control Machine by Mark Strauss at io9.
The Dyess Colony by Larry Amyett, Jr at Dieselpunk.
Have We Stopped Fearing Nuclear War? by Annalee Newitz at io9.
How Farming Almost Destroyed Ancient Human Civilization by Annalee Newitz at io9.
The Limits of Alternative Africas by Laura J. Mitchell at Africa Is a Country.
Muslims Discovered the Americas, Claims Turkish President by Berivan Orucoglu at Foreign Policy.
"Pro-American" History Textbooks Hurt Native Americans by Shannon Speed at Huff Post.
S. Korea to raise $500 bln for unification: regulator by Kim Boram at Yonhap News Agency.
Sudan asks U.N. mission in Darfur to prepare to leave at Yahoo.

Film and Television

41 Cancelled Star Wars Projects by Rob Leane at Den of Geek.
The Age of the Airship by Alex Michael Bonnici Far Future Horizons.
Hitler’s Supercity by Alex Michael Bonnici at Far Future Horizons.

Games

Bladestorm: Nightmare carves a path through history in March by Danny Cowan at Joystiq.
Codename: Steam History Told Right by Steve Knauer at Mind of the Geek.

Graphic Novels and Comics

Elseworld: What would be your dream Film Justice League team be? by Gretnablue at io9.
Lee Joining Morrison on "The Multiversity: Mastermen" at Comic Book Resources.
Preview: Django/Zorro #2 (Unlettered) at Comic Book Resources.
Review: Royal Blood by Alejandro Jodorowsky at The Fandom Post.

Interviews

A.M. Dellamonica at Corey Redekop.
Alison Morton at Literascribe.

Podcasts

Show 17 – American Revolution at Twilight Histories.
Vidjagame Apocalypse 90 – Alternate Histories at Laser Time.

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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.

"Rush to the Front" for Hearts of Iron IV and New Expansions for Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV

Paradox Interactive made two major announcements this week. The first is there “Rush to the Front” reward campaign for Hearts of Iron IV, the upcoming sequel to their World War II strategy game series. Players can visit the Hearts of Iron website and join one of three factions: the Axis, the Allies, or the Comintern. The more members each faction recruits, the more rewards will be unlocked for all players, and players who recruit 20 or more soldiers will have the chance gain access to the Hearts of Iron IV beta. Although I may be a tad concerned if the Axis gets the most members.

As part of this announcement, Paradox also released a new gameplay trailer for Hearts of Iron IV, displaying in-engine footage of the game’s new strategic planning system. Check it out below:

The second announcement was that new expansions are being released for Europa Universalis IV and Crusader Kings II. The expansions, entitled “Art of War” and “Charlemagne,” coming respectively to Europa Universalis IV and Crusader Kings II, will add new events, new mechanics, new in-game abilities, and plenty of new ways to alter history. Both expansions will be available for their respective games on Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs in the near future.

"Charlemagne" will introduce Crusader Kings II players to the man who united much of Western Europe for the first time since the fall of Rome and founded the Holy Roman Empire. Now starting in 769 AD, the expansion will include a series of story events that follows his rise to power, and will come with new game options to allow players to chart their own places in history; such as a new in-game “Chronicle” that highlights a dynasty’s conquests, marriages, and labors for the faith. Kingdoms are also more customizable in Charlemagne with the option to create your own with custom names and banners. You can see the trailer below:

In "Art of War", players of Europa Universalis IV will add new possibilities to explore what Clausewitz called the “continuation of politics by other means.” Changes to battle mechanics will allow players to launch sorties from sieges, sell obsolete ships and transfer occupied lands to allies. A revamped Reformation system will let you relive the Thirty Years’ War in a series of in-game events to see how they fare in Europe’s greatest conflict prior to the 20th century. Once the fighting has settled down, rulers will be able to try a new set of diplomatic options inspired by the Napoleonic Era, including the creation of client states to support, or resist, revolutions. Check out the trailer below:

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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.

Weekly Update #155

Editor's Note

Moving can be stressful, but it also can be rewarding. There are two positives about packing for a move that people don't think about. First, you discover just how much junk you really have and how cathartic it feels to finally throw it away. Second, you rediscover things you thought you lost and thus can treasure them all over again.

History is a lot like that. By studying it you realize just how much junk our shared record contains and why some of it needs to be thrown away. Sort of like books that are infected by bias or nationalism. That being said, by studying history we also discover tidbits that we have forgotten about, which opens up a whole new path of study.

More importantly, you don't need to pay movers to do any of the above. Every individual has the power to immerse themselves fully into history without anyone's help.

And now the news...

Paradox Interactive Reveals Fantastical Lineup for Gamescom 2014

Paradox Interactive announced the catalog of games that would be on display – and playable by attendees – at the Gamescom trade show in Cologne, Germany on August 13-17, 2014. Among many of the games announced, Paradox will be publicly showcasing Hearts of Iron IV, the highly anticipated World War II strategy war-game, for the first time ever in a live demonstration during Fan Gathering 2014, an annual event where Paradox Development Studio fans and devs alike can commingle and plot world domination together. Fan Gathering 2014 will take place in Cologne on August 14, 2014.

Fan Gathering 2014 will also play host to a guest panel of Paradox personnel, including CEO Fred Wester and Paradox Development Studio veteran Johan Andersson, which will be moderated by popular YouTuber Quill18. Hear banter on developing strategy games, ask Fred embarrassing questions about his love of karaoke, or just stare intently into Johan’s deep blue eyes.

Let us know at The Update how Hearts of Iron IV was if you happen to be attending Gamescom.

Links to the Multiverse

Books

5 Things You Didn't Know About Steampunk by Paul Di Filippo at Huff Post.
10 Science Fiction Novels You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Actually Read Them) by Charlie Jane Anders at io9.
D.B. Jackson on The History Behind The Historical Fiction Behind the THIEFTAKER CHRONICLES at SF Signal.
Review: Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing at mirabile dictu.
Reviews: The Chronicles of Light and Shadow 2 and 3: A Clockwork Heart, Sky Pirates by Liesel Schwarz at Falcata Times.
Reviews: The Enceladus Crisis and The Gravity of the Affair by Michael J. Martinez at The Qwillery.
Review: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick at mirabile dictu.
Review: The Return of the Discontinued Man by Mark Hodder at Thinking about books.
Review: The Windsor Faction by DJ Taylor at mirabile dictu.
The Story Behind Alessandro Tarabotti's Cover Art by Gail Carriger.
Writing a Truly Dastardly Villain by Cindy Spencer Pape at Steamed.

Counterfactual and Traditional History (Plus News)

46 days to Cougar football: Alternate history, what if Toni Pole scored in the Apple Cup? by Mark Sandritter at SB Nation.
Birth control saves money. Lots of it. by Ezra Klein at Vox.
The Remarkable Predictions And Inventions Of Sir Winston Churchill by George Dvorsky at io9.
Sears, Walmart Pull Poster of Nazis' Dachau Camp by Susanna Kim at ABC News.
Steven Spielberg Triceratops ‘Trophy Shot’ Causes Backlash Against Director On Facebook by Treye Green at International Business Times.

Film and Television

'In the Event of a Moon Disaster' Offers Alternate History of Apollo 11 by Jennifer Lafferty at Stack Gamer.
Read Them Now, Watch Them Later: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Adaptation Watch—The Stephen King Edition by John DeNardo at Kirkus.

Games

Insomnia RPG Playable Tech Demo Now Available by Julian Horsey at Geeky Gadgets.

Interviews

Ian Doescher at Geekadelphia.
Lavie Tidhar at SF Signal.
Jo Walton at Lightspeed.

Podcasts

Dissecting Worlds Series 8, Episode 7: Religion Feedback at Geek Syndicate.
Dissecting Worlds: Series 9 Running Order 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.

Weekly Update #132

Editor's Note

Thank you everyone for the condolences I received last week. I appreciated all of the kind words and stories from others who suffered the same tragedy. This might sound odd to say, but it does help to know that my wife and I aren't freaks. There are others who have experienced the same loss, thus we are not alone.

Back to the blog, I am filled with a new sense of purpose and I am extremely interested to move this beast in a different direction. I don't want to go into specifics, in case I end up not doing anything and disappointing some readers, but here are some ideas I am toying around with:

• A new and improved website featuring the blog and other features.
• A YouTube channel with regular alternate history content.
• A podcast featuring round table discussions on various what ifs and interviews with authors/creators.
• Regular contributors with weekly segments.

If you have any interest in the above or else can at least give me advice on how to proceed, please leave a message in the comments below or email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com. I realize many of these ideas will require some cash to fund, so I have also been thinking about Kickstarter and other crowd funding sources. Advice on that will be welcomed as well.

And now the news...

Hearts of Iron IV Announced at Paradox Convention

Big announcement last week from Paradox was the coming of Hearts of Iron IV, the next installment in the grand strategy series set during World War II. Paradox promises fans : "the most authentic real-time simulation of World War II to date, with authentic historical figures battling on land, sea, and air with period-accurate armies, vehicles, and newly discovered weapons of mass destruction – along with plenty of diplomatic and trade tactics."

Watch the announcement trailer below:

I have played the first two Hearts of Iron games and found them to be incredibly fun ways to mess with history. One of my more memorable moments was time I played as Turkey. After joining the Axis powers early in the game, I made some amazing gains that saw me fighting the South Africans in modern day Zimbabwe. Sadly free time has been limited so I don't think I will get to play the newest edition to the series.

Are you looking forward to playing Hearts of Iron IV? Let us know in the comments below.

Map Gallery

A few maps caught my eye this week. First, an alternate Dragon Ball map. Yeah, I know, sounds weird, but Promethean at AH.com managed to actually come up with an intriguing scenario (click the link to read it yourself) where our heroes become warlords and carve out personal fiefdoms on their version of Earth:

Next we have another AH.com map, this one by Ephraim Ben Raphael featuring an alternate take on Stirling's Emberverse (which was somewhat controversial when I posted on the SM Stirling fan group on Facebook):

Finally we round out the week with this interesting map by Ben Carnehl (creator of the ethnically balkanized United States map) featuring a "a dieselpunk authoritarian monarchist rump Germany, following totalitarian revolutions in the rest of central Europe":

If you have maps you would like to see on the Map Gallery, shoot us an email. Maybe this will become our next weekly post.

Calendar

February 16: Last day to fund the Zeppeldrome: A Humorous, Hazardous Dirigible Rally Kickstarter by 12SP Entertainment.

February 20: Last day to fund the Kingdom Come: Deliverance Kickstarter by Warhorse Studios and the Steampunk For Simpletons Kickstarter by Travis I. Sivart.

February 21: Last day to fund the TimeWatch: GUMSHOE Investigative Time Travel RPG Kickstarter by Kevin W. Kulp.

Also check out Tor's list of steampunk events for February.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

Historically logical or completely bonkers? The sliding scale of alternative history by Alison Morton.
The Right Way to Write for a Living by Robbie Blair at Lit Reactor.

Books

Anglo-German War Post-Invasion of 1950 by Chris Nuttall at The Chrishanger.
Cover Revealed - Macaque Attack by Gareth L. Powell at The Qwillery.
A Great Castle Made of Sea: Why Hasn’t Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Been More Influential? by Jo Walton at Tor.com.
Living With the Nazis by Felicity Savage at Amazing Stories.
Mosey On Up to a Weird Western Shindig by John DeNardo at Kirkus.

Counterfactual/Traditional History

5 Famous Pieces of Presidential Trivia (That Are Total BS) by Alex Hanton at Cracked.
Alternate history: 49ers win by David Ebner at Medium.
Alternate History: Had King Lived by Martin Sieff at The Globalist.
An Alternative History of the Egyptian Revolution by Maged Atiya at Atlantic Council.
Did a Victorian-era penny dreadful inspire the creation of Batman? by Ria Misra at io9.
History Branched #1: Introductions, Atomic Bombs, and Imperialism by Matt Foss at A Branch Historic.
The Lawyer and the Scientist Who Predicted the Atomic Bomb in 1915 by Ron Miller at io9.
The Man Who Could Have Shot Hitler by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld at The Counterfactual History Review.
The Racially Fraught History of the American Beard by Sean Trainor at The Atlantic.
What caused a 10-year winter starting in 536? by Annalee Newitz at io9.

Films

Propaganda posters show a dark world where Voldemort won by Matt Carter at Movie Pilot.

Games

Assassin's Creed set in feudal Japan remains a possibility by Eddie Makuch at Game Spot.

Interviews

Michael Moorcock at Amazing Stories.
Cherie Priest at Reddit.

Music

Tuesday Tune: “Automatonic Electronic Harmonics” by Steam Powered Giraffe at SF Signal.

Podcasts

Lecture from Harry Turteldove - Coming Soon! at Sofanauts.

Reviews

1920: America's Great War by Robert Conroy at Deseret News.
Anatomy of Steampunk by Katherine Gleason at Amazing Stories.
Hild by Nicola Griffith at io9.
Our Mathematical Universe: My quest for the ultimate nature of reality by Max Tegmark at New Scientist.
Muses of Roma by Rob Steiner at DaveBrendon's Fantasy & SciFi Weblog.
Papers, Please at Ramblings of the Easily Distracted.
Revolution 2.12 at Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress.
The Rocketeer, Hollywood Horror at The Gatehouse.
Sherlock 3.1 at Thinking about books.

Television

Da Vinci’s Demons Season 2 Premiere Date Announced at KpopStarz.
It’s Elementary, Sherlock: How the CBS procedural surpassed the BBC drama by Zack Handlen at AV Club.
Star Trek MixTape: Crazy Alternate History Heart Rippers by Ashley Rose at My Year of Star Trek.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new short story "Road Trip" can be found in Forbidden Future: A Time Travel Anthology. 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.