Weekly Update #69

Editor's Note

Hehe...69...hehe.

Cough. Sorry about that. Had to get the immaturity out of my system. I apologize to my new readers from Bangladesh and Lebanon for having to see that. Please don't stop reading Weekly Update.

So it looks like we are on track again to beat the monthly record. Thank you to all my fans and don't forget to continue to show your support by voting for us at the Battle of the Book Review Blogs. Also please vote in the poll to your right so I can get a better idea on how you follow Weekly Update. If the vote continues as it is I will have to stop advertising on Reddit.

Chicon 7 is this weekend. I know a few readers are going there so hopefully we will have a chance to meet face to face this weekend. I will be the one dressed as a young attorney who went straight from work to a science fiction convention. Very original.

This week we have New Releases, updates from Chicon 7 and lots of steampunk.

And now the news...

Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson

In June I talked about how SF author Kevin J. Anderson and the rock band Rush were teaming up to produce a steampunk book and album. Since then I haven't talked about the project much, but last week Anderson was busy promoting the novel by doing an interview with Phil Simon at The Huffington Post and Sue Carter Flinn at Quill & Quire where he discusses collaborating with Rush, steampunk and other topics. Those wondering if the book is any good should check out Larry Ketchersid's review over at SF Signal. He gave it 4 out of 5 stars and said "[n]ot just for Rush and KJA fans, but enjoyable for those who like different worlds and allegorical fables."

The Army of Dr. Moreau by Guy Adams

Two weeks ago I discussed The Army of Dr. Moreau by Guy Adams. Well a couple more reviews of the book were published last week. Marleen at More Than a Reading Journal said that the novel is "very well written and smooth to read. The pages almost turn themselves as the story shifts between investigation, deduction and action. It is easy for the reader to get drawn into this story, get immersed in Victorian London and the sewers underneath it. And, as always, the readers will find themselves, like Watson, trailing behind the great detective when it comes to solving the mystery." Falcata Times posted a review as well saying "Its witty, it’s clever and of course brings the full flavour of the time period which when added to solid action, great pace and no nonsense combat all in makes for a very satisfactory read."

Thieftaker by D. B. Jackson

One last book to talk about before I move on to other topics and that is the historical fantasy called Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson. Bookworm Blues posted a review of the novel giving it 4 out of 5 stars and said that "[i]t’s a tricky thing to blend history and fantasy so seamlessly, especially when it’s a piece of history that many people are very passionate and (somewhat) well informed about. It’s hard for an author to take this event and add fantasy without making readers pause, and D.B. Jackson does it wonderfully. Fantasy and reality blend naturally under his well-practiced hand."  Those wanting to learn more can listen to episode 175 of AISFP where Jackson is a guest and discusses "real life thieftakers from times long past, complicated magic systems, the accessibility of dialogue in epic fantasy, urban fantasy VS epic fantasy, how a Ph.D. has helped him create political and economic systems, and his work as David B. Coe."

Arcane Empires

People who enjoy playing games on their smart phones should check out the fantasy/steampunk strategy game Arcane Empires by Kabam. The game involves you leading a civilization through a war-ravaged world. You can build steampunk-themed weapons to defeat your enemies such as flying submarines, mechanical attack elephants and mechagriffs. And it is free as well, so I might have to check it out since I stopped playing Words with Friends.

Here is the trailer if you want to learn more:

Where in the world is S.M. Stirling?

With his new novel Lord of Mountains coming out on September 4th, S. M. Stirling is out and about the US of A marketing the crap out of it. If you are going to Dragon*Con, here is where you can find him from Aug 31st to Sept 2nd:

Title: The Abundant World of Alternate History: An Overview
Description: Not just "Steampunk 101" this panel will survey it all: Speculative Fiction, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Post-Apocalypse, and much more!
Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: International BC - Westin (Length: 1 Hour) 

Title: Autograph Session
Time: Fri 05:30 pm Location: M301 - M304 - Marriott (Length: 1 Hour) 

Title: 101 Fascinating Ways to Kill a Character
Description: From blood and guts to more subtle ways to knock of characters...Writers tell all.
Time: Fri 10:00 pm Location: Embassy D-F - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour) 

Title: Meet the Authors of Alternate History
Description: A wide array of Steampunk authors as they discuss their various Steampunk worlds and what to consider when writing your own.
Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Augusta 1-2 - Westin (Length: 1 Hour) 

Title: Reading: S. M. Stirling
Time: Sat 05:30 pm Location: Marietta - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour) 

Title: Alternate Apocalypse: How Many Ways Can The World End?
Description: Will impending doom come from zombies, asteroids, or Elder Gods? Come discuss these and more fantastical ways it could all end.
Time: Sat 08:30 pm Location: International BC - Westin (Length: 1 Hour) 

Title: Emberverse and Other Worlds With S.M. Sterling
Description: Spend an hour with S.M. Stirling. Bring your questions about his take on Alt. History, morality and collaborative writing.
Time: Sun 04:00 pm Location: International A - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)

Not going to be in Atlanta this weekend? Neither am I, but other parts of the country will be hosting appearances by Stirling. On Sept 5th Stirling will be at Powell's Books in Beaverton, OR and on Sept 6th he will be at Books & Co. in Beavercreek, OH. At this rate, other towns named after the prolific dam builders should also be on the lookout for a wild Stirling coming to their town!

Submissions Wanted

Aspiring authors have another chance to get published. The Masquerade Crew is looking for 5k to 10k short stories involving time travel to the future. Deadline is the end of September and while you can send them a character driven story, they are more interested in the actual setting. More details can be found here.

As always, good luck!

Links to the Multiverse

Books

Changing gears and a shiny new cover by Cindy Spencer Pape at Steamed!

The Economic Record of the McCain Presidency by Justin Fox by Harvard Business Review.

Forthcoming Steampunk (and a bit free to read) by Rachael Acks at 4.5 Billion Years of Wonder.

A Northern (or Maybe Bronx?) Cheer for the South’s Independence by Janet Maslin at The New York Times.

Review of The Harry Houdini Mysteries: The Houdini Specter by Daniel Stashower at David Marshall at Thinking about books.

Review of The Rift Walker by Clay and Susan Griffith done by Suzanne Lazear at Steamed!

Comics

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1996 would include Dana Scully and Zack Morris by Cyriaque Lamar at io9.

Films

Alternate History Films by Steve at Deadly Computer.

Games

New Dishonored Screenshots Show Creepy Baby Hat-Mask by Greg Tito at The Escapist.

Interviews

Geoffrey Wilson done by Mihir Wanchoo at Fantasy Book Critic.

Podcasts

Flatwater Forever: Protect and Survive Middle America Podcast #1 by Chipperback.

* * *

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.

Weekly Update #63

Editor's Note

I know I say this every week, but we really do have a lot of good stuff coming down the pipeline.  Besides our usual recurring posts, we have a new guest contributor, the winner of the Four Pictures Writing Contest, a review of Tom Horn vs. The Warlords of Krupp and a preview of the next book in my reading list.

Don't want to jinx myself (I am knocking on my desk as I write this), but at our current rate of page views, it looks like we can break last month's record and maybe even surpass 10,000 page views in one month!  Thanks to all of our fans and new readers for making this possible.

And now the news...

More Canadian Alternate Histories

With Tyler's profile on how Canada is portrayed in alternate history being so popular, I decided to share some counter-factual articles on the Great White North that came to my attention last week.

The first two deal with the War of 1812, yet come to different conclusions.  Jesse Greenspan on History.com posted an article discussing the reasons for America's failure to conquer Canada during the war.  After listing the mishaps by American soldiers during the beginning of the war, Greenspan goes on to quote John R. Grodzinski, a history professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, who said “[h]ad [the invasion of Canada] in 1813 been better coordinated, the British really would have been stretched thin and might have collapsed." If this is true the war might have ended with Britain cutting its losses and ceding parts or all of Canada.  Would this be a good thing for the United States?  Part of the reason the war in north went worse then expected was America's misplaced belief that the Canadians would welcome them as liberators? How would Canadians take to being occupied by a foreign country?  More importantly, how would politics in the United States handle the influx of so many potential free states?  Could the American Civil War happen earlier over a crisis involving the first Canadian free state to enter the Union?

Compare Greenspan's article to Gaelen Foley's article about a British victory in the War of 1812.  In it she speculates that if the United States lost the war, the country would have been annexed by Britain, absorbed into Canada and the last surviving founding fathers executed.  American culture would have disappeared, but on the plus slavery would have ended without the American Civil War.  Though the article provides a nice counterpoint to the one above, it is not very plausible.  The idea that Britain was interested in annexing a country the size of the United States over a maritime dispute is unlikely.  Foley also ignores American designs on expanding north in Canada, which likely would not exist had America lost the war because there would be no reason to form a confederation if the threat from Canada's southern neighbor disappeared.  Meanwhile here line that "[m]aking a slave of an American is just about the worst thing you can do to us" is very patriotic, but will likely not go over well with the millions of Americans whose ancestors were enslaved by other Americans during this period.

Finally we have the 10th province of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, which on July 22, 1948 (then the Dominion of Newfoundland) voted on whether to become independent or join Canada.  In OTL, the dominion voted by a close margin to join Canada, but what if they did not?  Frank Jacobs at The New York Times explains that more was riding on the vote then what you would expect.  Due to the dispute with Quebec over Newfoundland's border, their were fears that the question of Newfoundland sovereignty would encourage Stalin to meddle in North American affairs.  Could there have been a Newfoundland missile crisis?  Luckily, Ottawa, Washington and London were keen to avoid such a scenario and encouraged the locals to vote for confederation.  Just goes to show you that the seemingly insignificant and forgotten events of history could cause drastic changes to our history if the outcome went different way.

Submissions Wanted

Here at Weekly Update, we like to encourage writers out there to take their ideas out of the Internet and put them into print.  To help you do that I would like to share two upcoming chances to be published:

• Here Be Monsters is looking for unpublished works of fiction in any genre under 10k words to be submitted by July 30th.  Authors will receive $30 and a free copy of the anthology.
• The New York Review of Science Fiction is accepting features and reviews for future issues.  Complete submission guidelines can be found here.

Need some advice on how to write?  Check out this insightful and humorous article by Chuck Wending called "25 Bad Writer Behaviors".  Sadly I do a couple of these behaviors, so I highly recommend that you read it before you make the same mistakes again.

Things to do

Step away from your computer and go see what is happening in the real world:

July 16-August 11: Thieftaker author DB Jackson is out on a book tour.  See this page to find where and when he will in your town.

July 17, 21 and 26: See "Flight of Fancy" a steampunk ballet in Washington, DC.

July 18, 20, 24, 26, 22 and 28: See a steampunk retelling of Wizard of Oz in Waterloo, Iowa.

July 19: The next meeting of the Steampunk Club at the Hammond Public Library in Wisconsin.

Going to Worldcon this year?  I plan to go to see the Sidewise Awards be presented.  Before you go, read this beginner's guide to Worldcon, written by this year's guest of honor Mike Resnick.  Have fun!

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

NCAA Football 13 Heisman Mode Inspires What-Ifs And Daydreaming by Jason Kirk at SB Nation.

Steampunk Soars Into Mainstream By Marianne Kushi at NBC San Diego.

What If?: A Brief Alternate History of Oregon Football by Nathan Roholt at Fish Duck.

Writers Anonymous by Geoffrey Wilson at Write Unboxed.

Interviews

John Joseph Adams at SF Signal.

Harry Turtledove at Del Rey.

Books

Parallel Worlds: The Grass Isn't Always Greener, But it is More Fun by John Denardo at Kirkus Reviews.

Book Report: Agent of Byzantium by Harry Turtledove (1987) done by Musings From Brian J. Noggle.

Spying for the angels in a post-steampunk world by Gwenn Ansell at Mail & Guardian.

Comics

Triumph Chronicles Steampunk Adventures of Bombastic Lord Cockswain by Hugh Hart at Wired.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Century: 2009 – review by James Smart at The Guardian.

Films

Alex Proyas To Direct Adaptation Of 'Hellboy' Creators 'Joe Golem And The Drowning City' by Cain Rodriguez at Indiwire.

Going out: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Rianne Hill Soriano at Her Word.

Television

Review - Zipang, Episode 1 by Sebastian Breit at The War Blog.

Games

EU Heads Up – Dokuganryu Armour, Steampunk, nDreams Sale Bundles, Tron Sale and much more by Alpha Zone 4.

US Heads Up – Steampunk Collection, Weddings, Raves and much more by Alpha Zone 4.

*       *       *

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.