Weekly Update #221! Mitro Reacts to the Parallel Worlds Summit and More.

Editor's Note

I have said it before and I will say it again: the Monday after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday.

I hope you guys got a chance to read Dale Cozort's article on the butterfly effect that I posted on January 28th. It actually generated some buzz, with author SM Stirling commenting on it and Tyler Bugg of (Alt)History Inc. writing a rebuttal to it. Now Dale has sent me a response to Stirling and Bugg's comments, which I plan to post later this week, so everyone has that to look forward to.

If you, however, want to submit a guest post that may be commented on by some of the biggest names in our favorite genre, you can send it to ahwupdate at gmail dot com for me to look over.

And now the news...

The Onion Covers The Parallel Worlds Summit

Stop what you are doing right now and go read "Parallel World Leaders Meet In Washington For Interdimensional Summit" on The Onion. Just as it sounds, it covers the opening day of a summit of world leaders from several alternate histories. Its hilarious and surprisingly intriguing. As Marco Scognamiglio put it on Alternate History Online: "It could be a hint for a Sci-Fi-Comedy-Douglas Adamesque Novel/film/series."

Here are just a few parts of it that I really liked:

• "[A] hooded group of unspeaking figures known only as “the Council.”: I honestly wanted to know who these guys. Personally I am picturing alien space bats in disguise.
• "[A]nd confronting the Roman Empire’s continued tyranny across much of the infinite set of possible world histories.": When I read this I immediately imagined a Roman Empire that had never fallen and stumbled upon the technology to travel between timelines, probably after capturing a clumsy sideways traveler. They now conquer the infinite Earths in an effort to steal advanced technology that they can't produce on their own.
• "[F]ind ways to manage our respective Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.”: Cute, although I wonder if there are also Israeli-Ugandan conflicts, Israeli-Malagasian conflicts, Israeli-Alaskan conflicts, etc.
• "[D]istinguished leaders who could not be here in person because they cannot exist in fewer than 27 dimensions.": Those few articles I have read that discuss the theoretical multiverse have suggested that the laws of physics may be so different in them that we couldn't even survive in them if we ever managed to travel there. I liked how the author worked that into this story.
• "Adams, D.C.": I wonder if there were any leaders from "Debs, D.C." as well.
• " [L]iberate millions from beneath the draconian boot heel of the Swiss.”: That's funny. I like to think that our Swiss are an outlier in the greater multiverse, while the rest are brutal imperialists.

I really do want to see someone writer a bigger story based on this idea. It could easily be The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for alternate historians.

Video of the Week

Red Dead Redemption was one of my favorite all time Xbox games and I was really interested in hearing what History Respawned had to say about it:
I also like there new title cards.

You should also check out...

• These 8 alternate histories Alicia Blowers of Teen Services Underground recommends for teen readers.
• The board game Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu where you can fight evil cultists in the Jazz Age.
• V. E. Schwab's (A Gathering of Shadows) article on fictional languages.
• This subway that the city of Cincinnati never used (via Atlas Obscura).
• This Spanish plan to invade Australia in the 1790s (via The Telegraph).

* * *

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 6/2/15

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

Hardcovers

The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth edited by SM Stirling

Now, in this startling new anthology, S. M. Stirling invites the most fertile minds in science fiction to join him in expanding his rich Emberverse canvas. Here are inventive new perspectives on the cultures, the survivors, and the battles arising across the years and across the globe following the Change.

In his all-new story “Hot Night at the Hopping Toad,” Stirling returns to his own continuing saga of the High Kingdom of Montival. In the accompanying stories are fortune seekers, voyagers, and dangers—from the ruins of Sydney to the Republic of Fargo and Northern Alberta to Venetian and Greek galleys clashing in the Mediterranean.

These new adventures revisit beloved people and places from Stirling’s fantastic universe, introduce us to new ones, and deliver endlessly fascinating challenges to conquer, all while unfolding in a “postapocalyptic landscape that illuminates both the best and the worst of which our species is capable,”** “a world you can see, feel, and touch.”

Paperbacks

The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Throughout her studies, Ceony Twill has harbored a secret, one she’s kept from even her mentor, Emery Thane. She’s discovered how to practice forms of magic other than her own—an ability long thought impossible.

While all seems set for Ceony to complete her apprenticeship and pass her upcoming final magician’s exam, life quickly becomes complicated. To avoid favoritism, Emery sends her to another paper magician for testing, a Folder who despises Emery and cares even less for his apprentice. To make matters worse, a murderous criminal from Ceony’s past escapes imprisonment. Now she must track the power-hungry convict across England before he can take his revenge. With her life and loved ones hanging in the balance, Ceony must face a criminal who wields the one magic that she does not, and it may prove more powerful than all her skills combined.

The whimsical and captivating follow-up to The Paper Magician and The Glass Magician, The Master Magician will enchant readers of all ages.

Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson's Worlds edited by Gardner Dozois and Greg Bear

A tribute to the late great science fiction icon Poul Anderson, and a wonderful collection of stories by some of the genres top writers! Authors include Tad Williams, Terry Brooks, Greg Bear, Raymond Feist, Larry Niven, and Eric Flint.

Poul Anderson was one of the seminal figures of 20th century science fiction. Named a Grand Master by the SFWA in 1997, he produced an enormous body of stand-alone novels (Brain Wave, Tau Zero) and series fiction (Time Patrol, the Dominic Flandry books) and was equally at home in the fields of heroic fantasy and hard SF. He was a meticulous craftsman and a gifted storyteller, and the impact of his finest work continues, undiminished, to this day.

 Here is a rousing, all-original anthology that stands both as a significant achievement in its own right and a heartfelt tribute to a remarkable writerand equally remarkable man. A nicely balanced mixture of fiction and reminiscence, this volume contains thirteen stories and novellas by some of today's finest writers, along with moving reflections by, among others, Anderson's wife, Karen, his daughter, Astrid Anderson Bear, and his son-in-law, novelist and co-editor Greg Bear. (Bear's introduction, "My Friend Poul," is particularly illuminating and insightful.)

The fictional contributions comprise a kaleidoscopic array of imaginative responses to Anderson's many and varied fictional worlds. A few of the highlights include Nancy Kress's "Outmoded Things" and Terry Brooks' "The Fey of Cloudmoor," stories inspired by the Hugo Award-winning "The Queen of Air and Darkness"; a pair of truly wonderful Time Patrol stories ("A Slip in Time" by S. M. Stirling and "Christmas in Gondwanaland" by Robert Silverberg); Raymond E. Feist's Dominic Flandry adventure, "A Candle"; and a pair of very different homages to the classic fantasy novel, Three Hearts and Three Lions: "The Man Who Came Late" by Harry Turtledove and "Three Lilies and Three Leopards (And a Participation Ribbon in Science)" by Tad Williams. These stories, together with singular contributions by such significant figures as Larry Niven, Gregory Benford, and Eric Flint, add up to a memorable, highly personal anthology that lives up to the standards set by the late—and indisputably great—Poul Anderson.

The Shadow Revolution: Crown & Key by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

A thrilling new Victorian-era urban fantasy for fans of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles, the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, and the Sherlock Holmes movies featuring Robert Downey, Jr.

They are the realm’s last, best defense against supernatural evil. But they’re going to need a lot more silver.

As fog descends, obscuring the gas lamps of Victorian London, werewolves prowl the shadows of back alleys. But they have infiltrated the inner circles of upper-crust society as well. Only a handful of specially gifted practitioners are equipped to battle the beasts. Among them are the roguish Simon Archer, who conceals his powers as a spell-casting scribe behind the smooth veneer of a dashing playboy; his layabout mentor, Nick Barker, who prefers a good pub to thrilling heroics; and the self-possessed alchemist Kate Anstruther, who is equally at home in a ballroom as she is on a battlefield.

After a lycanthrope targets Kate’s vulnerable younger sister, the three join forces with fierce Scottish monster-hunter Malcolm MacFarlane—but quickly discover they’re dealing with a threat far greater than anything they ever imagined.

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 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.

"Snapshot" Started With a Question

Guest post by Dale Cozort.

Snapshot: Power, Sex & Revenge started with a question: What if someone was making backups of Earth--the way we should be backing up our computers? A comet hits and wipes out the dinosaurs or us? Not a problem. There is an off-site backup.

That was an interesting idea, but as I thought about it, I realized that the backups could be more interesting than what was happening on Earth. What if the backups were living rather than static? With the right technology you could essentially travel through time by going from backup to backup.

I refined the idea more and ended up with the backups--I call them Snapshots--becoming continent-sized and sitting in snow-globe-shaped artificial universes, sort of like the 'pocket universes in PJ Farmer's World of the Tiers books.

Snapshots are connected like strings of pearls by vents high over their oceans, which means that a plane that can fly to thirty-thousand feet can fly between Snapshots, between realities, a cross between flying through time and flying between alternate histories.

About that "Power, Sex & Revenge" bit in the title: if you're looking for explicit sex scenes you'll be disappointed. Sex occurs, as does revenge, but the sex is not explicit, nor is it a major focus of the novel.

Fair warning: the Snapshot universe is huge and complex, with two-dozen known Snapshots. Several human powers are exploring, competing for influence on or colonizing Snapshots, including the obligatory Nazi, Napoleonic France, both Tsarist and Soviet Russians and two versions of the US, one isolated in its Snapshot since 1953, the other essentially the modern US, complete with a President Obama that the 1953 Snapshot of the US finds incomprehensible.

Another fair warning: I throw a LOT at you about the Snapshot universe in the first thirty pages of the novel and it inevitably slows the pace a bit. You'll need that info, though. Snapshot's characters and plot grow out of the universe and wouldn't work outside it. Don't prejudge what is going to be important and what isn't. I have a mystery-writer's habit of including red herrings and setting up later plot twists with seemingly trivial details sitting in plain sight.

Plot and characters: Major Delia Stiener, posted to the German colony of New Prussia, is both far more and in some ways less than what she seems. Her job in New Prussia is to keep an eye out for incursions from a lurking menace (every fictional universe needs a lurking menace, right?) on the other side of a barren Antarctic Snapshot. That knowledge makes her special because the existence of the menace is a closely guarded secret among top German leaders from the Europe-1939 Snapshot.

Stiener also has her own agenda, stemming from being the only survivor of a decades-old massacre of German ranchers during the Lemur Republic rebellion, a successful attempt by US ranchers to break away from German control. Think Texas versus Mexico. At nine years old, Stiener spent weeks trapped and starving in a cave as a result of that massacre. The resulting trauma shut down many of her memories from that period. She can't remember the location of the cave.

Stiener is obsessed with revenge against one of the leaders of the massacre, Neil McLaury. She has never actually met McLaury, though she has seen him in pictures and on TV. Her obsession is natural, but unhealthy, with hatred sometimes mixing with sexual images.

Stumbling unwillingly into this toxic mix: Greg Dunne. The novel starts moments after a new Snapshot, this one of North America as of late 2014 (Halloween to be exact). One moment Greg has a good job as a Middle East analyst with a think tank that sometimes works for the CIA. He has a wife, daughter, twin sons moments away from being born and a large, supportive extended family. Unfortunately for Greg, almost that entire family is at a family reunion in Hawaii and he isn't. Hawaii isn't a part of the Snapshot, so effectively, for Greg his family no longer exists. He wants desperately to get them back, but the rules of his new universe say that can't happen. Oh, and with no Middle East, his job will soon be gone too.

What I like about the book: I love world-building and then finding characters and situations that make a strong story, but couldn't happen anywhere else but in the universe I set up. The Snapshot universe is by far my most ambitious effort yet, five years in the making, with twenty-four continent-sized interacting Snapshots and hundreds if not thousands more lurking on the unknown frontiers. The Snapshot universe allows something very much like space opera, but with competing cultures out of Earth's history. It also offers the opportunity to explore a limitless frontier--like exploring the stars, but with each new exploration finding some portion of Earth's history.

I also love the characters. Major Stiener, Neil McLaury and Greg Dunne each have their own traumas and dark sides, but each is also strong. They fight for what they want, risk everything for it, even if, as in Greg's case, the laws of the universe say they have to lose.

If you like unique, thought-provoking universes and science fiction adventures, you'll enjoy Snapshot. Don't give up on it. There is an epic story in a wonderful  universe there for your enjoyment.

* * *

Dale Cozort is a novelist, editor of Point of Divergence, the alternate history APA, and a long-term Chicago area fan and writer. Check out his website, blog, Facebook and Twitter profiles.

New Releases 5/6/14

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

Hardcovers

Deadly Shores: Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson

National bestselling author Taylor Anderson’s explosive WWII alternate-history series continues as a do-or-die battle is waged that risks far more than anyone bargained for. 

The long-planned raid on the heart of the Grik Empire has grown more ambitious—and dangerously ill defined. Only Matthew Reddy, commander of the old destroyer USS Walker, seems focused on its original intent.

Many Lemurians see an opportunity to reconquer their sacred homeland, which was stolen long ago, and have no intention of simply striking a blow and then pulling back. Others, Lemurian and human, have their own agendas—which may not be in the best interests of the Alliance. Complicating matters further is Reddy’s suspicion that his task force is being stalked by an unknown power bent on aiding the Grik for reasons of its own.

As the raid begins and chaos reigns, Reddy has no choice but to go all-in, risking everything in a desperate act that results in a sprawling, nightmarish battle on the beaches of “Grik City,” on the very decks of Walker, and in the labyrinthine passageways of the Celestial Palace itself.

The final cost could be more than Matt Reddy—or the Alliance—can bear.

Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson's Worlds edited by Greg Bear and Gardner Dozois

Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was one of the seminal figures of 20th century science fiction. Named a Grand Master by the SFWA in 1997, he produced an enormous body of standalone novels (Brain Wave, Tau Zero) and series fiction (Time Patrol, the Dominic Flandry books) and was equally at home in the fields of heroic fantasy and hard SF. He was a meticulous craftsman and a gifted storyteller, and the impact of his finest work continues, undiminished, to this day.

Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson's Worlds is a rousing, all-original anthology that stands both as a significant achievement in its own right and a heartfelt tribute to a remarkable writer--and equally remarkable man. A nicely balanced mixture of fiction and reminiscence, Multiverse contains thirteen stories and novellas by some of today's finest writers, along with moving reflections by, among others, Anderson's wife, Karen, his daughter, Astrid Anderson Bear, and his son-in-law, novelist and co-editor Greg Bear. (Bear's introduction, My Friend Poul, is particularly illuminating and insightful).

The fictional contributions comprise a kaleidoscopic array of imaginative responses to Anderson's many and varied fictional worlds. A few of the highlights include Nancy Kress's 'Outmoded Things' and Terry Brooks' 'The Fey of Cloudmoor,' stories inspired by the Hugo Award-winning 'The Queen of Air and Darkness;' a pair of truly wonderful Time Patrol stories ('A Slip in Time' by S. M. Stirling and 'Christmas in Gondwanaland' by Robert Silverberg); Raymond E. Feist's Dominic Flandry adventure, 'A Candle;' and a pair of very different homages to the classic fantasy novel, Three Hearts and Three Lions: 'The Man Who Came Late' by Harry Turtledove and 'Three Lilies and Three Leopards (And a Participation Ribbon in Science)' by Tad Williams. These stories, together with singular contributions by such significant figures as Larry Niven, Gregory Benford, and Eric Flint, add up to a memorable, highly personal anthology that lives up to the standards set by the late--and indisputably great--Poul Anderson.

Twenty Trillion Leagues Under the Sea by Adam Roberts

Adam Roberts revisits Jules Verne's classic novel in a collaboration with the illustrator behind a recent highly acclaimed edition of The Hunting of the Snark

It is 1958 and France's first nuclear submarine, Plongeur, leaves port for the first of its sea trials. On board, gathered together for the first time, are one of the Navy's most experienced captains and a tiny skeleton crew of sailors, engineers, and scientists. The Plongeur makes her first dive and goes down, and down and down. Out of control, the submarine plummets to a depth where the pressure will crush her hull, killing everyone on board, and beyond. The pressure builds, the hull protests, the crew prepare for death, the boat reaches the bottom of the sea and finds nothing. Her final dive continues, the pressure begins to relent, but the depth guage is useless. They have gone miles down. Hundreds of miles, thousands, and so it goes on. Onboard the crew succumb to madness, betrayal, religious mania, and murder. Has the Plongeur left the limits of our world and gone elsewhere? Contains 33 full page pen and ink illustrations.

Paperbacks

The Enceladus Crisis by Michael Martinez

Two dimensions collided on the rust-red deserts of Mars—and are destined to become entangled once more in this sequel to the critically acclaimed The Daedalus Incident.

Lieutenant Commander Shaila Jain has been given the assignment of her dreams: the first manned mission to Saturn. But there’s competition and complications when she arrives aboard the survey ship Armstrong. The Chinese are vying for control of the critical moon Titan, and the moon Enceladus may harbor secrets deep under its icy crust. And back on Earth, Project DAEDALUS now seeks to defend against other dimensional incursions. But there are other players interested in opening the door between worlds . . . and they’re getting impatient.

For Thomas Weatherby, it’s been nineteen years since he was second lieutenant aboard HMS Daedalus. Now captain of the seventy-four-gun Fortitude, Weatherby helps destroy the French fleet at the Nile and must chase an escaped French ship from Egypt to Saturn, home of the enigmatic and increasingly unstable aliens who call themselves the Xan. Meanwhile, in Egypt, alchemist Andrew Finch has ingratiated himself with Napoleon’s forces . . . and finds the true, horrible reason why the French invaded Egypt in the first place.

The thrilling follow-up to The Daedalus Incident, The Enceladus Crisis continues Martinez’s Daedalus series with a combination of mystery, intrigue, and high adventure spanning two amazing dimensions.

The Place of Dead Kings by Geoffrey Wilson

Can England be liberated if the Holy Grail is found? The hero of Land of Hope and Glory begins an epic quest to Scotland to find out.

It is 1855. The English revolt has failed, and brutal General Vadula governs England now. Only a few small bands of English rebels still hold out against the Rajthanan empire. Jack Casey survives in remote Shropshire, training young rebels to use the conqueror's magic, but he is gravely ill, with only two months to live. Then refugees bring with them news of a rogue Indian sorcerer in Scotland. Mahajan has discovered a mysterious power in the uncharted country to the north—a power that could be the legendary Holy Grail. The Rajthanans have already assembled an army to capture Mahajan. Jack has nothing to lose now. He agrees to lead his own men, disguised as porters for the conquerors, on the same grueling march. Their hope is to find a weapon that will free England from her oppressors. But they will find something even more powerful.

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.