Weekly Update #77

Editor's Note

In a first for Alternate History Weekly Update, I will be announcing a free book give-away this afternoon. I will be making the official announcement with the details on how you can win at 3 pm CST.

In the meantime lets welcome our first readers from Barbados and Cambodia. I hope you guys enjoy today's  weekly recap of last week's alternate history news.

Since Americans make up more than half of my readership, we will continue our coverage of alternate presidential elections in the lead up to election day (Nov 6). We have articles and book reviews featuring alternate election outcomes and I might even skip next week's Weekly Update and New Releases posts to give you even more political AH.

As they say in my hometown: vote early and often!

And now the news...

Assassin's Creed 3 DLC: Alternate history chosen to avoid fracturing fan base

Ubisoft announced that the reason they created an alternate history setting where George Washington becomes king of the United States to their Assassin's Creed 3 DLC was to avoid fracturing the fan base. Lead designer Steve Masters said:

For me, the DLC has always been a touchy thing for putting important story moments into. Ultimately it fractures the audience and makes it really difficult for people to keep up with what is the canon of the series.

For us, we want to have a little fun with it, and have a less serious experience, a less earnest experience, and setting it in an alternate history environment gives us room and freedom to play around with things in a more whimsical manner.

We think people are going to enjoy it, have fun with it - we've just got to remember it's not part of the canon, it's just there as something for players to enjoy.

This means that the Assassin's Creed franchise will remain a secret history, but fans of the game and alternate history can still get a chance to explore other timelines if Ubisoft releases more AH DLC. Those looking to learn more about King George I of America should check out my article Kings of the United States of America and King Washington the Wicked by Robert Rath over at The Escapist where he goes over some of the historical basis for believing Washington could have been America's fist king.

New BioShock Infinite Trailer

Check out the new Bioshock: Infinite trailer:

This new trailer shows off more details about the floating, steampunk American city of Columbia and, if T3 is to be believed, the game is likely to be a "Triple A blockbuster".

More on Dishonored

Wow, this Weekly Update has been heavy on video games, and we continue with our coverage of that medium with more reviews on Dishonored. Steve Blomkamp at The Vancouver Observer gave the game an 8 out of 10 and said: "Dishonored is a very strong new entry into the action stealth genre. With it’s intriguing setting, dastardly conspiracies and nail-biting escapades, I implore any of you on the fence to give it a try. You won’t be disappointed." Meanwhile, Doug Elfman at the Las Vegas Review Journal said "Dishonored" is so good, because its priorities are correct."

Have you played it yet?

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

10 Ideas for Alternate History Scenarios by Mark Ball at Sci Fi Ideas.

Alternate History, or what, how and when did it all go wrong? by Jim Smith at conceptualhistorian.

In Praise of the Implausible by Rose Fox at Genreville.

The JFK Library's Frightening Alternate History of the Cuban Missile Crisis at History News Network.

Steampunk Events for November 2012 by Ay-Leen the Peacemaker at Tor.com.

What Do You Do with an MA in Steampunk? by Suzanne Lazear at Steamed!

Books

Review of Every Inch a King by Harry Turtledove done by Mike's Reading Blog.

Review of Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card done by Kat Hooper at Fantasy Literature.

Review of Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove done by Jim Smith at conceptualhistorian.

Review of Substitution Cipher edited by Kaye Chazan done by Publisher's Weekly.

Review of Wake of the Bloody Angel by Alex Bledsoe done by Ian Shone at Alt Hist.

Games

Wolsung Steampunk Skirmish Game Indiegogo campaign.

Interviews

Adam Christopher at SF Signal Podcast.

Kim Newman at My Bookish Way.

David L. Parrott at JeanzBookReadNReview.

Lavie Tidhar at Audible.co.uk.

Television

CBS’s Elementary Gets a Full Season Order by Geek Syndicate.

Steampunk Thriller "PROGRESS" Launches Official Kickstarter Campaign at PR.com.

* * *

Matt Mitrovich is a long-time fan of alternate history, 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 Masquerade Crew. 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 #74

Editor's Note

Short note today because I am a little under the weather. Want to give a shout out to our first reader from Laos. I hope our new friend and all of our readers enjoy our trips down the rabbit hole.

And now the news...

Assassin's Creed 3 DLC presents "King Washington"

A picture is worth a thousand words:

That is the epic promotional art for Assassin's Creed III's new DLC "The Tyranny of King George", an all-new single-player campaign told through three episodic content packs that lets gamers experience an alternate history of the events following the American Revolution. Here is the plot summary from the press release:

As the revolution comes to a close, a new and most unexpected enemy emerges. Driven by the desire to secure the fate of the colonies, the greatest hero of the revolution, George Washington, succumbs to the temptation of infinite power. The new King is born and his reign leaves no one untouched. To return freedom to the land our new hero must dethrone a tyrant he once called friend. 

This news came with the announcement that Ubisoft was offering the Assassin's Creed III Season Pass, granting access to all five upcoming downloadable content packs to gamers owning the original game on PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Microsoft's Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and Windows PC. You can however purchase the DLC without buying the pass.

Alternate historians are already salivating over this new game, but there are plenty of opportunities to play around with history in the Assassin's Creed universe. Although the franchise is a secret history, the ability to play out cloak and dagger scenarios in histories that went differently won't be a difficult transition for Ubisoft. Perhaps you might find yourself fomenting a slave rebelled in Richmond, Virginia, CSA or taking out top Nazi officials in a Berlin where Germany won World War II?

Those interested in learning about other possible American monarchs should check out my counterfactual article on the subject.

More on Iron Sky

If you enjoyed Sean's review on Iron Sky then I highly recommend you check out the Geek Syndicate's coverage on the film. Christi Kassity said the film "has all the necessary elements to become a cult-classic."

But wait, there's more! Geek Syndicate is giving away DVD copies of Iron Sky. All you have to do is send them an email with title of ‘I Want The Iron Sky’  and your name and address to comps at geeksyndicate dot co dot uk by October 31st.  The first 5 entries they pick will each win a DVD. The competition is open to US residents only.

Submissions Wanted

Trying a new format. All submissions below are listed in order of their submission period. Good luck:

Now - Dec 1: Bad Seeds: Evil Progeny. Stories of evil kids, come on we all have a few.

Nov 15 - Dec 31: The Time Traveler’s Almanac. Reprint only, so only famous authors need to apply.

Jan 1 - March 31: The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes volume II, 3000-8000 words.

Things to do

Check out these upcoming alternate history inspired events:

Oct 12: The Pendleton Historic Foundation steampunk-themed fundraiser in Anderson, SC.

Oct 20-Nov 11: A steampunk version of Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus” in Cincinnati, OH.

Oct 26-28: Steamcon IV in Seattle, WA.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

Alternate history at the Historical Novel Society Conference 2012 by Alison Morton at Write a novel? I must be mad!

Alternate Histories: 7 Ways the World Could Be Completely Different at mental_floss.

British New Assyria by Ben at Portable Homeland.

How Twitter Is Helping Major Brands Gather Steam by Trevor Davis at ClickZ.

Immigration: The Most Important Economic Issue by Brian Doherty at Hit & Run Blog.

Maritime Steampunk by Maeve Alpin at Steamed!

Obama was prepared to try bin Laden in court by Jake Tapper at Yahoo.

Professor Elemental Defines Steampunk (or, at Least Tries to) at Tor.com.

Why some technologies fail, and others succeed by Maggie Koerth-Baker at boingboing.

Books

So, I Run Into S.M. Stirling At Powell's Books One Day … by Samuel Klein at The ZehnKatzen Times.

Nisi Shawl’s Everfair: Into the Heart of Steampunk by Cat Rambo at Tor.com.

Review of Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis at Fantasy Faction.

Review of Duty: A Retelling of Waterloo by Michael Seeley at The War Blog.

Rockin’ That Steampunk by Kevin J. Anderson at Tor.com.

Two New York Times Bestselling Authors Release New Books Through Small Print-On-Demand Press at Red Orbit.

Writing Historical Fantasy by Kiki Hamilton at Steamed!

Comics

Trailer Released for Grandville: Bete Noire by dwgrampus at Geek Syndicate.

Films

Eight best time-travel flicks by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd at Salon.

Steaming Rad: Taichi 0 at Asian One.

Would you kill Baby Hitler? by Roger Ebert at Chicago Sun-Times.

Games

A Brief “History” Lesson by Grant Rodiek at Hyperbole!

Choose Your Own Dishonored Adventure With New Trailer by Sarah Leboeuf at The Escapist.

City of Steam Developers Release New Journal, Let You Blow Up Barrels by N at Flesh Eating Zipper.

“Deadlight” Comes to Steam This Month by dwgrampus at Geek Syndicate.

Review: Fortress America done by Blaine Pardoe at Notes From The Bunker.

‘We Never Really Felt The Need For Boss Monsters’ In Dishonored, Designer Says by Jason Schreier at Kotaku.

Interviews

Sebastian Breit at The Indie Spotlight.

Alexander S. Brown at Examiner.com.

Podcasts

Dissecting Worlds (Series 6, Episode 5): Secret History and Conspiracy Theories.

The SF Signal Podcast (Episode 154): Panel: History That Never Happened, Our Favorite Alternate History Stories.

Twilight Histories (Episode 8): Roma Islamica.

* * *

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.