Editor's Note Being a blogger can be frustrating sometimes. You work hard on an article on a topic you are passionate about, but you get few page views and the feedback in unhelpfully vague. Then you put together something at the last minute and watch the page view count skyrocket. This phenomenon is not new to me. I learned about it early on in my writing career. I would still love to have a crystal ball that could accurately tell me what my audience wants.
Okay I am done with my first world problems. Got some good stuff coming up this week that I think you guys will (hopefully) enjoy.
And now the news...
NBC's Revolution Cancelled
Last week it was announced that NBC had cancelled Revolutionafter two seasons. The post-apocalyptic drama took place 15 years after the start of a worldwide, permanent electrical-power blackout. This plot has many similarities with SM Stirling's Emberverse series, but the two universes are not related. The pilot episode was not well received by alternate historians, but some SF&F fans continued to follow and review the series like author Paul Levinson. Nevertheless, the show could not keep the popularity that gave it a second season going.
What did you think about Revolution? How do you feel about its cancellation? Let us know in the comments below.
More on The Enceladus Crisis by Michael J. Martinez
Last week friend of The Update, Michael J. Martinez, celebrated the release of his new book and second installment in the Daedalus series, The Enceladus Crisis. In case you missed it, you can check out my review of the book at Amazing Stories. You can also learn a little bit more about the book and Martinez thanks to a bunch of book promotion he has been doing across the Internet.
Congrats again to Mike and I hope you all check out The Enceladus Crisis (after you purchased it through Amazon by click on the banner above, of course)!
Video Gallery
Some good videos this week. First, Epic Rap Battles of History returns with a fictional mash-up featuring Rick Grimes and Walter White:
Next, Ghost Trains Games introduces us to their alternate Civil War game ACW:
Then you can watch London evolve from a tiny village to the metropolis it is today:
Finally, Cody Franklin returns from his three week hiatus with a new video featuring a world where Godzilla exists:
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.
Editor's Note So I wasted an hour yesterday trying to make a video for you guys, but the webcam feature YouTube provided kept failing and deleting everything I made. I tried using the generic recorder my computer came with but the quality was so bad I gave up. I need to do some more research into making videos for YouTube before I try this again.
I am doing a batch of posts for Amazing Stories on steampunk. It starts with a quick overview of the genre so check it out if you are interested. Tomorrow's post is a review on The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. My next topic is going to be music in SF literature for those wondering. I also been talking with Twilight Histories host Jordan Harbour. You will see my interview with him later this week and perhaps an in-depth discussion about the genre on his podcast sometime in the future.
And now the news...
Update: The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway
I don't want to forget about time travel, so now is a good time to bring it up with some info on this book that caught my attention last week: The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway. Here is the description from Goodreads:
In Bee Ridgway’s wonderfully imaginative debut novel, a man and a woman travel through time in a quest to bring down a secret society that controls the past and, thus, the future.
“You are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.” Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott, soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule. It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to find something called the Talisman.
In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time. As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow, the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance.
Found a couple more reviews on Gail Carriger's new novel Etiquette & Espionage, book one of the Finishing School series. First, here is the description from Amazon:
It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.
Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail's legions of fans have come to adore.
Flipping the Page described the novel as "a unique book" and "a keeper!", but the review did say you can get lost in the background information. Sarah Bruch at SFcrowsnest also gave a good review for the book and concluded "[t]his is another series for lovers of Carriger filled with her dry wit, fabulous characters and her own take on the steampunk world, definitely one to put on the to be read pile."
Now generally I do not read YA books, but for the younger readers of this blog who like a little steam in their alternate history, this might be a series for you.
Update: After Earth The upcoming SF, alternate history film After Earth (the POD being a space ship crash landing on Earth in 1908) is premerieng this summer on June 7. A new trailer for the film came out last week, let's watch it below:
Rob Bricken of io9 wasn't particularly impressed by the trailer, pointing out that 1000 years is too short of a time for evolution to change Earth's wildlife so drastically. Personally I am less than thrilled about this film by M. Night Shyamalan, but Charlie Jane Anders of io9 seems hopeful that "legendary control freak Will Smith" can keep the plot from spiraling out of control. We shall see, but I think I won't see until I can watch it free on Netflix.
NBC Renews Revolution
NBC announced it has ordered a new season for the sci-fi drama Revolution from Eric Kripke and J.J. Abrams for the 2013-2014 season. Alternate historians were less than impressed when the show first aired, but it has grown in popularity with the rest of fandom. Paul Levinson in his review of episode 14 called Revolution "one of J. J. Abrams' best franchises." To tell you the truth I still haven't watched the show, but do you agree?
Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods and Europa Universalis IV
A new trailer for Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods(out on May 28) has been released. The latest trailer for The Old Gods is the first trailer to show gameplay from the expansion:
The Old Gods is the fourth full expansion for Crusader Kings II, Paradox’s strategy/RPG of medieval scheming, dynastic fortunes and crusades against the unbeliever. The Old Gods expansion lets the player start two hundred years earlier than the Crusader Kings II base game, at the height of Viking power and when Christianity had yet to penetrate many of the dark forests of the continent, and the power of Islam was still on the rise. You can read the developer diaries to get more information on this upcoming expansion.
Next on the agenda, Paradox is preparing to once again provide the global conquest gamers have hungrily desired with their upcoming empire-building game, Europa Universalis IV. The award-winning series that has sold over a million copies and redefined grand strategy gaming is returning in Q3 2013. Now, Paradox is sending out a Call to Arms to their greatest fans, and asking for their help to win the world’s hearts and minds for the Europa Universalis army in an epic community-building campaign. Europa Universalis fans all over the world can recruit their friends and receive exclusive rewards.
The Call to Arms Rewards for loyal fans include bonus in-game DLC, a Developers Strategy Guide, Compendium Universalis, the e-books The Art of War and The Prince, and a copy of Europa Universalis III Chronicles. The “World Conqueror” rewards for the most loyal fans include exclusive beta access to Europa Universalis IV, a mention in the game credits, and a trip to Stockholm to play multiplayer with the developers.
“Over the years, you have all helped us build one of the most dedicated game communities available. We wouldn’t have come this far if not for the loyalty of our strategy fans everywhere, and we want you to know that,” said Thomas Johansson, project lead for Europa Universalis IV at Paradox Development Studio.
“As we prepare to launch our empire-building game Europa Universalis IV, we want to bring even more strategy fans into our community. We want you all to experience the drama that only the grand stage of history can provide. So if you want to support Europa Universalis IV, please spread the word and invite your friends – if you believe that they long to conquer the world. Strategy Gamers of the World – this is our Call to Arms.”
Calender May 1-Oct 31: Strange Chemistry open for unagented submissions.
May 30: Deadline for submissions of It Came From the North, a Finnish speculative fiction anthology.
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 andThe 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.
Got our first visitors from Sri Lanka and Ethiopia. Welcome! I really need to post a new reader map soon.
Thanks to all of our fans who provide feedback to our posts. While hearing your opinion is great, the best way to thank me and all the other contributors to AHWU is to share our work through social media. If you follow us on Twitter, please RT. If you like us on Facebook, hit share on one of our articles. Help spread the word and keep this window to the multiverse alive.
Turns out YouTube actually keeps track of the videos I post on this blog. If you want to find all of the videos we link to on Weekly Update, then subscribe to our feed on YouTube. Perhaps one day we will even have our own channel...
And now the news...
43* by Jeff Greenfield
Big news last week was the publication of a new short story by columnist and author Jeff Greenfield (Then Everything Changed). The story is called 43* and asks a "what if" many liberals I assume ask themselves a lot: what if Gore won the presidency in 2000? What if Gore was president during 9/11? What would he have done differently? You can read excerpts from the short story at Yahoo and at the publisher's website. You can also watch Jeff discuss his story on msnbc.
ABC Developing Steampunk Drama Gaslight
ABC made waves last month among speculative historians by announcing a steampunk detective series featuring Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. ABC has done it again when last week they announced a new steampunk tv series called Gaslight. It has been described as a "soapy drama set in a modern steampunk San Francisco where three rival families battle each other for control." The show will be produced by Ian Sander and Kim Moses of Sander/Moses Productions and written by Michael Cooney. Not everyone, however, is pleased by this announcement. Margaret Lyons over at Vulture said "Oh, lord. A steampunk San Francisco? Can't we just let Burning Man be Burning Man?"
Nevertheless, I am excited, especially if this alternative San Francisco actually has a different history. What do you think?
Guns of Icarus Online Ready for Pre-Order
Guns of Icarus, the online dirigible combat game, is now available for pre-order through Steam. Set in a steampunk inspired, post-apocalyptic wasteland, this team-based co-op game allows you to play as one of three character classes: Captain, Gunner and Engineer. The Captain steers the ship, the gunner keeps enemies at bay and the engineer keeps the ship flying. There are a variety of missions to perform and air pirates are as thick as flies to keep things exciting. Good news, there will be no subscription fee, just a one-off retail purchase with in-game monetization elements. Guns of Icarus will launch October 29th. You can check out the trailer below:
More on NBC's Revolution
By now most of you read Seb's excellent review of Revolution (spoiler alert: he didn't like it). Despite Seb's review, Revolution actually did well on its opening day. It had the best debut of any new drama in the last three years according to Pat Hauldren at Examiner.com who believes the SF/drama elements and the strong female lead have made it a hit among audiences.
Nevertheless, like Seb, most reviews of the show have been poor with some reviewers either lambasting the ridiculous premise, bad acting or reminding everyone that S.M. Stirling wrote a better story with the same premise. Yet Charlie Jane Anders at io9 still remains optimistic about the show pointing out the excellent actors in the show, the potential medieval action sequences and a Lost-esque plot development.
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.
