New Releases 2/16/16

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Hardcovers

Lovecraft Country: A Novel by Matt Ruff

The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.

Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.

At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan’s—destruction.

A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism—the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.

Toru: Wayfarer Returns by Stephanie R. Sorensen

Revolutionary young samurai with dirigibles take on Commodore Perry and his Black Ships in this alternate history steampunk technofantasy set in 1850s samurai-era Japan.

In Japan of 1852, the peace imposed by the Tokugawa Shoguns has lasted 250 years. Peace has turned to stagnation, however, as the commoners grow impoverished and their lords restless. Swords rust. Martial values decay. Foreign barbarians circle the island nation’s closed borders like vultures, growing ever more demanding.

Tōru, a shipwrecked young fisherman rescued by American traders and taken to America, defies the Shogun’s ban on returning to Japan, determined to save his homeland from foreign invasion. Can he rouse his countrymen in time? Or will the cruel Shogun carry out his vow to execute all who set foot in Japan after traveling abroad? Armed only with his will, a few books, dirigible plans and dangerous ideas, Tōru must transform the Emperor’s realm before the Black Ships come.

Tōru: Wayfarer Returns is the first book in the Sakura Steam Series, an alternate history of the tumultuous period from the opening of Japan in 1853 to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. This volume covers the year prior to the American Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan and follows the hero and his young allies as they lead Japan through a massively compressed industrial revolution, dramatically altering that pivotal moment in history in their favor.

While Tōru and his dirigibles are fictional, the story unfolds against the backdrop of the "real" Japan of that period, with historical figures and their political environment woven into the tale, staying true to their motivations and agendas even as the alternate history warps their actions, history and a few laws of physics. Underpinning the adventure plot is a young man's yearning for his father's approval and an honorable place in his world.

Readers who enjoy steampunk alternate histories more typically set in Victorian England or the American Wild West may enjoy this steampunk story made fresh by the Japanese samurai setting, as well as readers who enjoy historical fiction set in Japan.

Paperbacks

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there.

Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.

A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?

Casefile: ARKHAM by Josh Finney

What if Raymond Chandler wrote Lovecraft stories? Set in the mid-1940s, Casefile: ARKHAM follows Hank Flynn, a down on his luck private eye who is back from the war and now working the mean streets of the most cursed city on Earth Arkham, Massachusetts. And things only get worse for Flynn when a wealthy uptown socialite hires him to track down an artist by the name of Pickman. What begins as a simple missing persons case leads Flynn down a dark path of flesh eating ghouls, vengeful witches, and the notorious Innsmouth mafia.

Radiant State by Peter Higgins

Peter Higgins's superb and original creation, a perfect melding of fantasy, myth, SF and political thriller, reaches its extraordinary conclusion.

The Vlast stands two hundred feet tall, four thousand tons of steel ready to be flung upwards on the fire of atom bombs. Ready to take the dream of President-Commander of the New Vlast General, Osip Rizhin, beyond the bounds of this world.

But not everyone shares this vision. Vissarion Lom and Maroussia Shaumian have not reached the end of their story, and in Mirgorod a woman in a shabby dress carefully unwraps a sniper rifle. And all the while the Pollandore dreams its own dreams.

E-Books

Exordium of Tears by Andrew P. Weston

Fight or Die…

Victorious in a star-flung battle against the inhuman Horde, Earth’s fabled 9th Legion of Rome; the U.S. 5th Company’s 2nd Mounted Rifles; and a Special Forces anti-terrorist team settle on Arden, their adopted planet, to raise families and live in peace.

But soon, state secrets are revealed: The greatest of the inhuman Horde didn’t join the battle, but yet lurk among Arden’s outer colonies, posing a grave threat.

Humanity’s Ardenese defenders send a flotilla of ships to far Exordium, the world where the Horde outbreak began, with orders to reclaim the outer colonies…

Exordium . . . where the Horde awaits . . . where the cream of Arden’s fighting force must engage this adversary of unrivaled power…

As worlds are sundered, suns destroyed, and star systems obliterated, a universal conflict proves again that…

Death is only the beginning of the adventure.

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 2/12/13

Hardcover

The Afrika Reich by Guy Saville

Description from Amazon.

Africa, 1952. More than a decade has passed since Britain’s humiliation at Dunkirk brought an end to the war and the beginning of an uneasy peace with Hitler.

The swastika flies from the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. Britain and a victorious Nazi Germany have divided the continent. The SS has crushed the native populations and forced them into labor. Gleaming autobahns bisect the jungle, jet fighters patrol the skies. For almost a decade an uneasy peace has ensued.

Now, however, the plans of Walter Hochburg, messianic racist and architect of Nazi Africa, threaten Britain’s ailing colonies.

Sent to curb his ambitions is Burton Cole: a one-time assassin torn between the woman he loves and settling an old score with Hochburg. If he fails unimaginable horrors will be unleashed on the continent. No one – black or white – will be spared.

But when his mission turns to disaster, Burton must flee for his life.

It is a flight that will take him from the unholy ground of Kongo to SS slave camps to war-torn Angola – and finally a conspiracy that leads to the dark heart of The Afrika Reich itself.

Check out Seb's review and his conversation with Guy in the comment section.

Paperback

Homunculus by James P. Blaylock

Description from Amazon.

It is the late 19th century and a mysterious airship orbits through the foggy skies. Its terrible secrets are sought by many, including the Royal Society, a fraudulent evangelist, a fiendish vivisectionist, an evil millionaire and an assorted group led by the scientist and explorer Professor Langdon St. Ives.

Can St. Ives keep the alien homunculus out of the claws of the villainous Ignacio Narbondo?

The Mirage by Matt Ruff

Description from Amazon.

11/9/2001: Christian fundamentalists hijack four jetliners. They fly two into the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad, and a third into the Arab Defense Ministry in Riyadh. The fourth plane, believed to be bound for Mecca, is brought down by its passengers. The United Arab States declares a War on Terror. Arabian and Persian troops invade the Eastern Seaboard and establish a Green Zone in Washington, D.C. . . .

Summer, 2009: Arab Homeland Security agent Mustafa al Baghdadi interrogates a captured suicide bomber. The prisoner claims that the world they are living in is a mirage—in the real world, America is a superpower, and the Arab states are just a collection of "backward third-world countries." Other captured terrorists have been telling the same story.

The gangster Saddam Hussein is conducting his own investigation. And the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee—a war hero named Osama bin Laden—will stop at nothing to hide the truth. As Mustafa and his colleagues venture deeper into the unsettling world of terrorism, politics, and espionage, they are confronted with questions without any rational answers, and the terrifying possibility that their world is not what it seems.

Check out Brian's review of the novel.

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link

Description from Amazon.

Imagine an alternate universe where tinkerers and dreamers craft and re-craft a world of automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that never were. Visionaries Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant have taken a genre already rich, strange, and inventive and challenged fourteen masters of speculative fiction, including two graphic storytellers, to embrace its established themes and refashion them in surprising ways and settings. The result is an anthology that defies its genre even as it defines it.

Audio

1635: The Papal Stakes by Charles E. Gannon and Eric Flint

Description from Amazon.

Rome in the year 1635 finds Frank Stone and his pregnant wife Giovanna in the clutches of Cardinal Borgia, whose political machinations and papal assassins may soon elevate him to Pope Borgia. Now Frank, along with Harry Lefferts and his infamous Wrecking Crew, must protect Pope Urban VII from all manner of treachery.

The Beast of Calatrava by Mark Teppo

Description from Amazon.

After a battle left Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa¿s face terribly disfigured, the knight of the Order of Calatrava abandoned his sword for a pastoral existence. But his beastly appearance horrifies all those who cross his path - with the exception of his adoring and pregnant wife. Can he keep Louisa and their unborn child safe from the war that is coming to Iberia?

As Ramiro prepares for his child¿s birth, Brother Lazare of the Cistercian order searches for a means to inspire men as he travels with the crusading Templars. He seeks swords of legend - named blades carried by heroes of old - believing such symbols have the ability to rally men in a way no king could ever accomplish. But when he learns of the stories told of the mysterious monster that haunts the Iberian battlefields, he wonders what sort of power this new legend might contain - the legend of a man whose scarred face and cold demeanor cannot hide his heroic soul.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Do you want to see your work given a shout out on our New Releases segment? Contact Mitro 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 volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. 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 #48

Editor's Note

Good news everyone.  We beat our monthly page view record again for the sixth time in a row and surpassed 6000 page views.  Our new record is 6344.

Got some good stuff coming this week.  I am going to be interviewing David Kowalski, author of The Company of the Dead, and Matthew Quinn, author of "Coil Gun", will be writing a guest post.  Meanwhile I will be reviewing By the Blood of Heroes and we should have another Chris Nuttall review by this Friday.

We also got our first reader from Antigua and Barbuda.  Welcome!

And now the news...

Submissions Wanted

Do you remember when I reviewed Titan: An Alternate History?  Well the guys who published the comic, Alternate History Comics Inc., are looking for writers and artists.  Check out their submission page if you are interested.

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but Fantasy-Faction Anthology is holding a writing contest with a prize of $500 for first place.  Though they are technically looking for fantasy stories, authors who have been searching for a place to publish their steampunk or historical fantasy should check them out.  Word count is 8,000 words max and all submissions are due by June 30th.

As always, good luck.

Matt Ruff on Angry Column and more reviews

Matt Ruff, author of The Mirage, was interviewed by Angry Column.  You can check out the podcast here.  Those looking for more insight on his novel can read Brian's review or check out this review done by Jeff Greenfield, author of Then Everything Changed, at The Washington Post.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

China’s Alternate History of Gadgets by Dave Lyons at Rectified.name.

Online Alternate History

An alternate history of UBC’s campus by Justin McElroy at The Ubyssey.

Dedication by Pete Sartucci at SM Stirling Fan Fiction.

Designing from Bones ~ Dead Reckoning by Gene Lempp.

The Era of the Superhuman by Chris Nuttall.

Luke Hutton's Journey by James Reid at SM Stirling Fan Fiction.

A Wasteland Memorial: A 1983 Doomsday Future Tale by mdc1957.

When Trayvon Martin Shot George Zimmerman: An alternate history by Bob Owens.

Video Games

Gettysburg: Armored Warfare Rewrites History; Available for Download at DreamStation.

* * *

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.

Review: "The Mirage" by Matt Ruff

Guest Post by Brian W. Daugherty

Matt Ruff's The Mirage has the look and feel of an alternate history novel, one that explores current events - specifically, The War on Terror - through the lens of a world that at first glance is very different, and very alternate, from our own.

In our world, there was 9/11. In the world of The Mirage, there was 11/9 (November 9, 2001).

In both worlds, four planes were hijacked as missiles to be used against their world's dominant superpower, with two hitting twin towers, a third crashing into an important military building and the fourth crashing in a non-urban setting before it could do more damage.

In our world, that power is the United States of America, and 9/11 spawned the war on terror.

In The Mirage, that power is the United Arab States, the only superpower. There, the attacks of 11/9 were engineered by Christian terrorists, and the UAS responded with an invasion of a balkanized America: Denver is occupied, Louisiana liberated from the invading Christian States of America whose capitol, Washington, D.C., is subdivided into a Green Zone and Red Zone patrolled by soldiers of the UAS and its ally, Persia.

The novel starts out with a look back at 11/9, touching on the backstory of one of the main characters: Mustafa, an agent for the UAS' Homeland Security. The novel takes its first major twist when Mustafa is told by a captured suicide bomber that the world they live in is a 'mirage' - that the true reality is reversed: America is the true superpower, while the UAS (which encompasses much of the Middle East and parts of Africa) is split: God is punishing America for its sins, hence the mirage.

Mustafa and his fellow Homeland Security agents - Samir and Amal - soon find themselves searching for the truth behind the mirage, especially after 'artifacts' from the other world start showing up: for example, a post 9/11 edition of The New York Times - a publication explained as having been shut down by the Christian States of America for seditious activities.

As the novel progresses, we get parts of this world's backstory, primarily through entries from its Wikipedia analogue, The Library of Alexandria, and also through comments by the characters interspersed throughout the novel.

We learn that this world has some analogues to important players in our own world's war on terror, including an Iraqi Senator who is a stand-in for Rudy Giuliani. We also discover that some important players in our war on terror exist in The Mirage, with different roles: Saddam Hussein is not the ruler of the nation of Iraq (which in the novel is an UAS state), but the ruler of Baghdad's underworld. Dick Cheney - never referred to by name, always as the 'quail hunter' - is head of the CIA (Christian Intelligence Agency) of the OPEC-member Evangelical Republic of Texas.

And, Osama bin Laden is known as a key UAS Senate leader, and the head of the Senate's Intelligence Committee.

But in the world of The Mirage, even though the setting may be changed, to paraphrase one character, the people are essentially the same: neither Saddam nor bin Laden are among the good guys.

Much of the background of the novel also seems to be a direct, if mirrored, reflection of our world: Arabia (not America) is the land of the free, while America (not the Arab world) is perceived as divided, fundamentalist, housing elements that are a collective threat to democracy. Ruff shows this in detail: for example, besides the Wikipedia-esque Library of Alexandria, we also learn that 24/7 Jihad (24) is a popular TV show, and Green Desert (Green Day) a popular rock band. A popular theme park is Six Flags Hanging Gardens. And that leads to my first major criticism of the novel.

Sometimes, the mirrored reflections work - a reference to a creation science museum in the occupied Smithsonian in D.C. seems realistic, given the background of the CSA in this world and the real-world efforts of some evangelicals to establish the theory of a literal, seven-day creation as scientific. Sometimes, as with the 24/7 Jihad and Green Desert references, they seemed forced - like Ruff was trying too hard to establish the Arabia-as-America analogue.

I do want to compliment Ruff for not going all the way with the Arabia-as-America idea. He does a good job at establishing the characters, and background (in the UAS) as culturally Arabic and Muslim. Turning Arabia into a secularized, advanced democracy clearly hasn't made the people nor society become Americanized Christians with Arab heritage: in many ways, this culture is still Arab, and Muslim, and that comes across very strongly.

Ruff also does a good job of fleshing out his characters, and drawing the readers' interest in them. The heart of the book is what happens to Mustafa, Samir and Amal, and I found myself sticking with their story to the very end, which is where we find out the truth behind the mirage - leading to my second major criticism of the novel.

We find out more of the how behind the truth of the mirage than the why. Without spoiling the end, the why is explained in only a few sentences. Ruff should have spent more time on it, considering how important it is to the entire novel. That's me, though; your mileage may vary.

On another note, again without spoiling the novel: fans of true alternate history will likely find the how of the truth to be very ASBish. Whether it works or not as a plot device is up to the reader to decide.

In the end, I give this a B+. The Mirage is worth your while as a read, as long as you accept an ASBish twist and understand it more as the author's reflections on the war on terror rather than as a strict alternate history.

Weekly Update #43

Editor's Note

Wow, so much to talk about, not sure where to begin.

I am proud to announce that we just broke our monthly page view record for the 5th time in a row.  Thanks to all of our readers for helping us keep the streak alive, but more importantly we are just 80~ page views from surpassing 5000 page views in one month.  Please help us reach this goal by spreading the word through the Internet.  Share our posts on Facebook, retweet on Twitter, vote for us on Reddit and link to us on the forums you like to frequent.  We can't do it without you.

I have started reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King, so expect a review in the next week or two.  I also will be reviewing another novel that I will be posting about later this week.

Speaking of this week, I have two guest posts coming up for you.  One is written by Jordan Harbour, who runs the podcast Twilight Histories, and will discuss some alternate Roman Empire scenarios.  The other is done by Alt Hist Wiki admin Brian W. Daugherty and he will be writing a review of The Mirage by Matt Ruff.  If you would like to write a guest post or be a full-time contributor to Alternate History Weekly Update, just contact me at ahwupdate@gmail.com.  Also coming soon will be an interview with Joseph Franciosa Jr., co-author of Young Adolf  author and a post on self-publishing alternate history.

Now if I can take a moment for some shameless self-promotion, work on short story "The Enchanted Bean"  is progressing nicely.  I should have it ready to submit to Echelon Press very shortly.

Finally, we got our first reader from Jersey.  Welcome!

And now the news...


Harry Turtledove spoils his entire series for a sick fan


There are many reasons why Harry Turtledove deserves to be called the master of alternate history and here is one of them:

That was an amazing video and a testament to one author's good heart, the power of friendship and the wonders the Internet is capable of.

Update: The Mirage by Matt Ruff

If you can't wait for Brian's review of The Mirage, I have some things that can hold you over until then.

First you can check out What if Israel Were in Germany? An Alternate History at Religion Dispatches.  There you will find an interview between Haroon Moghul and The Mirage's author Matt Ruff.where they discuss the geopolitical changes in the novel, among other topics.  Meanwhile, Timothy Hodler at Details recommends the novel, calling it a well-handled alternate history and listing it with some of the best.  Check it out here.

Convention Watch: Steamcon IV

Those going to Steamcon IV on October 26-28 in Bellevue, WA can meet Kim Newman.  Newman is the author of the Anno Dracula series and the co-author Back in the USSA.  Let me ask you something: does he look like a vampire in this picture?

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

The 1934 Plan To Fill In The Hudson River, Connecting NYC To NJ by Jen Carlson at Gothamist.

Oscars: If Geeks Ran the Academy at Television Without Pity.

Interviews

Aliette de Bodard at Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.

Seamus Heffernan (author of Freedom) interview by Newsarama.

Books

Review of Then Everything Changed, Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics by Jeff Greenfield done by Daniel Darling (scroll down).

Chapter 3 of 1636: The Kremlin Games by Eric Flint.

Online Alternate History

The Imperial History of Earth-Regency by Mike at Campaign Mastery.

* * *

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.

Weekly Update #41

Editor's Note

Not much to report other then we got our first reader from Taiwan.  Welcome!

And now the news...

Gingrich Writes More Alternate History on Wikipedia

So the results are in for whether our readers could recommend any of Newt Gingrich's alternate history.  35% of you said you could not recommend them and 30% of you did not even know Gingrich wrote alternate history.  On the positive side, 20% of you said you could recommend some of them and 15% said you could recommend all of them.

For those interested in reading more works of alternate history by Newt Gingrich, you should check out his Wikipedia page.  Newt Gingrich's communications director has been criticized by editors on Wikipedia for dozens of edits he has made and requested in defense of his candidate.  This kind of behavior is not unknown to Wikipedia.  Even a member of Vice President Joe Biden's staff was caught once editing his boss' Wikipedia page.

This just goes to show you that you can get a fancy title and earn a salary just because someone is wrong on the Internet.

New Book: Mirage by Matt Ruff

A new alternate history novel has hit the mainstream media.  It is called The Mirage by Matt Ruff and below is the product description from Amazon:

A mind-bending novel in which an alternate history of 9/11 and its aftermath uncovers startling truths about America and the Middle East.

11/9/2001: Christian fundamentalists hijack four jetliners. They fly two into the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad, and a third into the Arab Defense Ministry in Riyadh. The fourth plane, believed to be bound for Mecca, is brought down by its passengers.

The United Arab States declares a War on Terror. Arabian and Persian troops invade the Eastern Seaboard and establish a Green Zone in Washington, D.C. . . .

Summer, 2009: Arab Homeland Security agent Mustafa al Baghdadi interrogates a captured suicide bomber. The prisoner claims that the world they are living in is a mirage—in the real world, America is a superpower, and the Arab states are just a collection of "backward third-world countries." A search of the bomber's apartment turns up a copy of The New York Times, dated September 12, 2001, that appears to support his claim. Other captured terrorists have been telling the same story. The president wants answers, but Mustafa soon discovers he's not the only interested party.

The gangster Saddam Hussein is conducting his own investigation. And the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee—a war hero named Osama bin Laden—will stop at nothing to hide the truth. As Mustafa and his colleagues venture deeper into the unsettling world of terrorism, politics, and espionage, they are confronted with questions without any rational answers, and the terrifying possibility that their world is not what it seems.

Acclaimed novelist Matt Ruff has created a shadow world that is eerily recognizable but, at the same time, almost unimaginable. Gripping, subversive, and unexpectedly moving, The Mirage probes our deepest convictions and most arresting fears.

Early reviews of the book are positive.  Cory Doctorow from BoingBoing said: This is one of those books that you read while walking down the street and long after your bedtime, a book you stop strangers to tell about.  I may post a review of this novel in the near future, but in the meantime, if you would like to learn more about the author and the novel check out this interview with Ruff at CBS News.

More Shattered World e-books

The next two Shattered World ebooks by Bobby Hardenbrook (Storm in the West and Global War), covering up through part 43 of his WWII alternate history timeline, are now published on the Amazon kindle store for $.99.  Those sections of the timeline are no longer available online, you will have to buy the e-books instead. The rest of the existing timeline will be released as e-books in the near future. Bobby has also stated that he will begin working on new Shattered World content as well.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

Chrysler, Dirty Harry and the bailout by Jon Talton at The Seattle Times.

Class, cricket and the French Revolution by BBC News.

A Counterfactual Buildup by Michael Bevacqua at Marianas Variety.

Deathless prose: the vampire novel of the century by David Barnett at The Guardian.

Pastwatch Reflections: Cause, Counterfactual and Fracturing the Past by Trevor Owens at Playing the Past.

Interview

Jacqueline Carey at Gollancz Blog.

Online Alternate History

Alternate History: Super Bowl XXI by Jesse Lamovsky at The Cleveland Fan.

Books

Review of Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood done by Axie at The Figment Review.

Review of 1635: The Cannon Law by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis done by Master of All Things at Geeky Scifi.

Review of Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett done by Ay-Leen at Tor.com.