Map Monday: 2016 Turtledove Award Nominees

Since my Flag Friday post covering the Turtledove Awards nominees for the best alternate history flag went so well, lets take a look at the best maps of 2016. You may even recognize some of the alternate cartographers from previous Map Mondays.

"Theaters of the Second Greco-Latin War" by Rebecca "Upvoteanthology" Stirling

Rebecca "Upvoteanthology" Stirling has been featured on The Update multiple times, although this map has not appeared yet on Map Monday. Shame that it didn't because I enjoy the alternate history of a Greece united by Alexander fighting an alternate Punic Wars with Rome in the place of Carthage. You can also tell by the incredible details that she put a lot of effort into this one.

"All-Indian Union" by Nanwe

In case you ever wondered what would happen if Indian history reflected the creation of the European Union, you have the "All-Indian Union" by Nanwe. This is a massive map when it was originally posted on AlternateHistory.com, which makes me wonder how the hell did I miss it. This map was even created with some help by Althistoria's James "Krall" Fitzmaurice who designed the emblem.

"Cartographic History of the Khoi-San Population of the Cape" by Alex Richards & Reagent

The above map is a collaboration between Alex Richards and Reagant, whose map "Route of Diogo de Teive's 1452 Voyage" was previously featured on Map Monday. It focuses on an alternate South Africa, but not on the antics of an expansionist white minority. Instead it and the scenario that goes with it discuss how the indigenous population and their lands decreased with time. Kudos to this map for focusing on the plight of African peoples instead of just more geopolitics.

"The continent of Europe in the year 1860" by Thande

This is a map from prolific poster Thande's timeline, "Look to the West". To be fair, I don't really think this map can compete with the other nominees. I have certainly seen worse, but it lacks the complexity and detail of the other maps. Still Thande is a veteran member of the site and the map's timeline is quite popular, so I can see why it made the cut over other maps, even if I think there may be more deserving examples out there.

"Peru-Bolivia Confederation" by Zalezsky

Zalezsky is another Map Monday alum and his "Peru-Bolivia Confederation" map is strikingly similar to his "Theocracy of Paraguay (Jesus Strikes Back)" that appeared on Map Monday. This map, however, is actually a map from our own timeline. It is a nation that no longer exists, but it could have and that is the heart of alternate history.

"The Colony of Nova Scotia" by Tsar of New Zealand

We finish with another Map Monday alum, Tsar of New Zealand, featuring a map where the South Island of New Zealand was settled by a large number of Scots. I should point that none of the nominees are maps of North America and its cool to see some global diversity,

Don't forget to vote for your favorite map as polls close on March 2nd.

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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.

Map Monday: 28 Whatevers After the First Rage Outbreak by Tsar of New Zealand

28 Days Later was one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theaters more than once. While it got a mixed reception from zombie movie lovers, I still adore it as a unique take on the genre with a surprising twist and a great soundtrack. Although I found its sequel rather "meh", I still would love to see a 28 Months Later. Since it is unlikely we are going to see that anytime soon, I recommend checking out the scenarios the alternate history community has created to continue the story:

This is "28 Whatevers After the First Rage Outbreak" and you can be forgiven for thinking this is a Bruce Munro map. Although done in his style, this map was actually created by another Map Monday alum: Tsar of New Zealand. It builds on the implied European outbreak we saw at the end of 28 Weeks Later  by showing how the world has dealt with the threat the Rage virus still poses. Tsar provided a detailed description of this world that is complete with a reference to World War Z, another excellent zombie work. In fact this whole scenario is based off a Bruce Munro ASB setting, so he does deserve some credit with the creation of this map.

Honorable mention this week goes out to Falkanner's "First People's Confederation c. 1840 CE". If you want more mappy goodness I recommend the NUKEMAP by Alex Wellerstein. Find out what would happen to your hometown if the bomb was dropped on it.

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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.

Map Monday: North America in A Canticle for Leibowitz, circa the mid-26th century by Tsar of New Zealand

Today's Map Monday doesn't feature an alternate history, but it does feature a map from a world that many alternate historians have embraced. I am talking about A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. I read this book years ago and I enjoyed it immensely, but I have never reviewed it. So just a quick review: I highly recommend you go and read A Canticle for Leibowitz. It is set in the former United States in three different time periods following the aftermath of a nuclear war. It has great world-building, strong Catholic themes (without being overly preachy) and a warning about the dangers if history repeats itself.

Enough about the book, lets take a look at the map. This one is done by Tsar of New Zealand, who has been featured on Map Monday before for his maps based on published works. This time he has covered North America in A Canticle for Leibowitz, circa the mid-26th century (~600 years since the Flame Deluge):

The time period sets the map at the beginning of A Canticle for Leibowitz. Admittedly the map is very simple and has few details, but it is still cool to see someone use the common AlternateHistory.com map template for one of my favorite post apocalyptic books. Hopefully we will see more maps from Tsar of New Zealand set during A Canticle for Leibowitz timeline, especially ones outside North America, which Miller wrote so little about.

Honorable mentions this week goes out to Brilliant Maps for sharing the "Territorial Waters & Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) Of The World" map. If you want to submit a map for the next Map Monday, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com with your map attached and a brief description in the body of the email.

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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.

Map Monday: Annotated Map of Sobel's "For Want of a Nail" by Tsar of New Zealand

Perhaps one of the more influential works of the alternate history genre is Sobel's 1973 novel, For Want of a Nail. This faux textbook, complete with footnotes, describes the history of the world after the Americans lost the Battle of Saratoga. After the American Revolution is crushed, Britain organized the colonies into the Confederation of North America, while the defeated rebels settled in Texas and conquered Mexico, recreating it into the United States of Mexico. Not only did this book inspire a a large collaborative fan fiction project, but its style is still duplicated today on online alternate history forums.

Fans have, of course, made maps of the timeline. The North America maps are the most famous, but a few have taken a shot at creating a believable world map. For example, Bruce Munro has made not one, but two versions of a For Want of a Nail world map. The problem is Sobel was never that clear on locations so fan made maps are always rather speculative. Case in point, is Victoria located in the Middle East or Kenya? Well Tsar of New Zealand is one of the more recent alternate cartographers to take a shot at For Want of a Nail with his annotated map:

The map is in the Munroist style, with its numerous annotations, but Tsar differs from Bruce in certain aspects, such as not including Siberia as part of Japan. He even gave a brief description of this world, filling in his own details to what Sobel left out. All and all, a really well-done map of a famous work of alternate history.

Honorable mentions this week goes out to Bruce's "Different Cold War" map (description here) and False Dmitri's "Captaincy-General of East Florida". Furthermore, don't forget to submit your map to the Alternate History Hub's fictional map contest. If you want to submit a map for the next Map Monday, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com with your map attached and a brief description in the body of the email.

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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.

Map Monday: Wilson's Julian Comstock by Tsar of New Zealand

No Weekly Update due to Labor Day festivities (should start calling this place Alternate History Bi-Weekly Update), but I still have a Map Monday post for you all. This week we feature Tsar of New Zealand's map of Robert Charles Wilson's world featured in his novel Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd Century America:

Julian Comstock is one of those books I haven't read, but people speak very highly about. I do know its sets in a post-peak oil future where humanity has entered a second dark age of steam technology (since people forgot how to use solar, wind and nuclear power I guess). According to Tsar, however, Wilson only focuses on America so this map extrapolates what is happening in the rest of the world. Being a fan of Munroist maps, I enjoyed the ASB geopolitics of the 22nd Century and it makes me want to finally pick up a copy to learn a little more about Wilson's world.

Honorable mention this week goes to False Dmitri's "Imperial Republic of Russian California". If you want to submit a map for the next Map Monday, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com with your map attached and a brief description in the body of the email.

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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.