The end of October means the holiday season has officially begun. Before you get wrapped up in the usual end of the year stresses, why not take a break and check out our top of 5 articles from October?
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.
Got a film coming my way for review. It is called The Atticus Institute, a period horror piece that caught my eye. Here is the synopsis:
Dr. Henry West founded The Atticus Institute in the early 1970s to test individuals expressing supernatural abilities – E.S.P., clairvoyance, psychokinesis, etc. Despite witnessing several noteworthy cases, nothing could have prepared Dr. West and his colleagues for Judith Winstead. She outperformed every subject they had ever studied – soon gaining the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense, who subsequently took control of the research facility. The more experiments they conducted on Judith, the clearer it became that her abilities were the manifestation of evil forces within her, prompting the government to take measures to weaponize this force. But they soon discovered there are powers that exist in this world that simply cannot be controlled. Now the details of the inexplicable events that occurred within The Atticus Institute are being made public after remaining classified for nearly forty years.
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 I have been bad about promoting myself lately. These last two weeks I have posted a review of Stirling's The Given Sacrifice and a revised article about the dangers of crosstime travel on Amazing Stories. Also my most recent professional sale, the time-travel saga "Road Trip", is available for purchase. Check them all out, I think you will enjoy it.
So it looks like ABC is producing a show where the colonists lost the America Revolution. I am going to write a more in-depth piece about the show later this week, mostly because I want to wait for more information and it does not meet the theme of today's Weekly Update. See if you can guess the theme.
And now the news...
Update: Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman
Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman comes out this week. This is the fourth volume in Anno Dracula series (you can read my reviews on The Bloody Red Baron, "Vampire Romance" and Dracula Cha Cha Cha) and it has been a llllooonnnggg time since we have seen a new novel-length entry in this series. Here is the description from Amazon:
DRACULA COMES TO NEW YORK: Kim Newman returns to one of the great bestselling vampire tales of the modern era. Considered alongside I Am Legend and Interview with theVampire as one of the stand-out vampire stories of the last century - this brand-new novel is the first in over a decade from the remarkable and influential Anno Dracula series.
Newman’s dark and impish tale begins with a single question: What if Dracula had survived his encounters with Bram Stoker’s Dr. John Seward and enslaved Victorian England?
Fallen from grace and driven from the British Empire in previous instalments, Dracula seems long gone. A relic of the past. Yet, when vampire boy Johnny Alucard descends upon America, stalking the streets of New York and Hollywood, haunting the lives of the rich and famous, from Sid and Nancy to Andy Warhol, Orson Welles, and Francis Ford Coppola, sinking his fangs ever deeper into the zeitgeist of 1980s America, it seems the past might not be dead after all.
You can read excerpt from the novel at Tor and io9, where you can also learn about Dracula from Kim himself. He also did a piece on Lit Reactor about using other people's characters in his novels. Already pre-ordered my copy, have you?
The Battle for the North Pole: Santa Vs Dracula
Speaking of Dracula...
A new mashup comic is coming from Ed Power and artist Melissa Dejesus called Santa vs Dracula. Here is the description from the press release:
VAMPIRE VS ELF! WEREWOLF VS REINDEER! FRANKENSTEIN VS SNOWMAN! When Count Dracula, Igor, Mr. Hyde, and their forces of darkness invade the North Pole to obtain Ol’ Saint Nick’s ability to gain entrance into any home, Santa, Mrs. Claus, Jack Frost and all the forces of Christmas are forced to defend their home and their holiday! This is it, naughty vs. nice in an all-out, epic battle of the ageless for the ages! SANTA VS DRACULA! This time… It’s Seasonal!
Funded with a Kickstarter, this 168 page full-color graphic novel is being distributed by SLG Publishing and will be out in October. You can see the interior art here.
Start Publishing’s Halloween horror short-short story contest
Want to write a really, really short horror story? Start Publishing is having a short story contest. Writers must submit a 250 word short horror story to contest [at] start-media [dot] com. Upon email submission, they ask that writers tweet @startpublishing confirming the submission. Start Publishing will randomly select five stories to be judged by friend of The Update Michael J. Martinez (author of Daedalus Incident) to choose one winner. Martinez is going to critique the winner’s horror story and give special writing tips.
The winner’s horror story will be featured on the Start Publishing blog and the November issue newsletter. Winner will also be able to select one free eBook from the Start Publishing/Night Shade Books catalog. The winner will be announced on Start Publishing’s Twitter and Facebook pages on October 31st. Deadline for all submissions: October 21, 2013.
Is 250 words long enough to fit in some alternate history? Anyone up to the challenge?
Let's Play - Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs
Even more horror?!?! This is just a video I enjoyed last week and as a Victorian, horror-survival game, steampunk fans might enjoy it:
Who said it was hard to combine horror with alternate history? Right that was me...
Calendar
September 20-28: Steampunk version of The Pirates of Penzance in Tasmania, Australia. (I realize that is a big place, but I am too lazy to track down the exact town.)
September 26: Essex Museum (Salem, MA) will host a steampunk party.
October 1: Loncon 3 attending membership rates will increase.
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new short story "Road Trip" can be found in Forbidden Future: A Time Travel Anthology. 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 realize now I need to rethink my reddit strategy. For those who don't know, The Update has their own subreddit at /r/ahwupdate/. I don't post to it often although I have gotten better recently due to my fear of being considered a spammer by most of the reddit community. I could probably avoid said stigma if I just commented more and posted other things beside my own blog posts. The problem is, however, I have a day job and a lot of other writing responsibilities, so my ability to surf the Internet and interact with other people is extremely limited.
So if you are an experienced redditor, hit me up at ahwupdate at gmail dot com. I just want to ask some questions about using reddit to promote The Update. Also if anyone can suggest any subreddits that are more tolerant about blog promotion, I would love to hear about them as well.
So this week I have cancelled New Releases due to a lack of new books coming out, but I will be announcing the winners of the DBWI contest tomorrow along with my plans for future contests. I also have four different reviews coming out this week, one of them a 2012 Sidewise nominated work, so stay tuned.
And now the news...
Monster Earth 2 Is Coming!
Mechanoid Press, a small imprint specializing in science fiction and more, is publishing the sequel to their giant monster anthology Monster Earth, titled appropriately Monster Earth 2. Editors include James Palmer (Blackthorn: Thunder on Mars) and Jim Beard (Captain Action and the Riddle of the Glowing Men).
“This is going to take the monster action to a whole new level,” explains Palmer. “I thing fans of the first book are really going to love this one.”
I am intrigued by these anthologies because of the alternate history setting of the series. According to Mechanoid's press release, the new anthology will bring the action closer to the present day, with the nations of the world experimenting with genetic manipulation of the various monsters. Add a secret death cult trying to herald the end of days, and you've got a volatile recipe for mayhem and destruction.
Returning for this volume are Edward M. Erdelac (Mighty Nanuq), Jeff McGinnis (The Beast’s Home) and Fraser Sherman (Peace with Honor). Joining them will be Thomas Dejah (How the West Was Weird). Just as in the previous anthology, Beard and Palmer will also contribute stories.
Artist Eric Johns is also returning to do the cover. “Jim did a great job with the bible on this one,” says Palmer. “Between that and all the readers who have asked about a sequel, I knew we just had to do another book.”
Monster Earth 2 is scheduled for either a late December or early January release, and will appear in both Kindle and trade paper formats.
Update: Cold Steel by Kate Elliott
Recently released Cold Steel by Kate Elliott, the final book in the Spiritwalker Trilogy, has gotten some buzz on the Internet. In case you missed it, here is the description from Amazon:
Trouble, treachery, and magic just won't stop plaguing Cat Barahal. The Master of the Wild Hunt has stolen her husband Andevai. The ruler of the Taino kingdom blames her for his mother's murder. The infamous General Camjiata insists she join his army to help defeat the cold mages who rule Europa. An enraged fire mage wants to kill her. And Cat, her cousin Bee, and her half-brother Rory, aren't even back in Europa yet, where revolution is burning up the streets.
Revolutions to plot. Enemies to crush. Handsome men to rescue.
Cat and Bee have their work cut out for them.
Paul Weimer on SF Signal gave the book 4 out of 5 stars and said: "A satisfying and strong conclusion to the Spiritwalker trilogy." In case you would like to learn more about the author and the series, you can read a guest post Kate did on Orbit's website.
Telos Moonrise Launches with Steampunk and Horror
Telos Publishing has a new Digital and POD imprint, Telos Moonrise, launching this September with two new titles. David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker, Editorial Directors of Telos Publishing, have acquired world rights in a collection of Victorian-themed ghostly short horror stories, and in a trilogy of steampunk novella-length adventures.
Raven Dane's collection Absinthe & Arsenic is a varied and spooky selection of horror fiction. "I love ghost stories," said David J. Howe, "and Raven manages to effortlessly capture the sense of the Victorian fascination for ghosts and spirits. Her tales chill and terrify while remaining rooted in an English sensibility of honour and propriety. I love her writing and imagination. These are fabulous stories in a classic tradition!"
Next we have Dr Tripps’Kaiju Cocktail, the first in a trilogy of steampunk novellas by noted comedian and big-game hunter Kit Cox, whose alter ego Major Jack Union penned a guide to some of the fantastic creatures he has encountered on his expeditions around the world.
Telos' Commissioning Editor Sam Stone said, "The minute I started to read Kit's story I realised it would be perfect for Telos' Steampunk imprint. Dr Tripps' Kaiju Cocktail merges both the Steampunk and Dieselpunk genres and is an all round, satirical medley of fantasy fun. I was in awe of Kit's imagination and creativity. We believe it will make an excellent addition to the line-up of new fiction being assembled for Telos Moonrise."
Telos Moonrise is offering an attractive 60% eBook royalty to authors for books published in its Moonrise imprint, so aspiring authors should check them out. "We felt it was important to offer our authors the best deal we could," said David J. Howe. "It's always been one of our driving forces that Telos Publishing be turned to by readers for the quality of the books we publish, and by authors for the quality of the deals we offer."
Brazil Gets Some More Genre
I don't get many readers from Brazil, but for my few Brazilian fans out there in the aether, I have some news you might be interested in. Charlotte Humphrey, Rights Manager at HarperCollins, has sold exclusive Portuguese language rights for Brazil in The Court of the Airby Stephen Hunt (book one of six Jackalian novels) to Portuguese publisher, Saída de Emergência (Emergency Exit), who are setting up an office in Brazil. This will be one of their first titles.
Saída de Emergência, Portugal’s largest genre fiction publisher, is becoming one of the first European publishers to attempt to break into the rapidly expanding Brazilian fiction market. As well as setting up a local office there, Saída de Emergência will be launching a Brazilian edition of their genre fiction magazine Bang! In Portugal, Saída de Emergência published a number of leading British and American genre authors into Portuguese, including George R.R. Martin (Wild Cards), and others.
All Portuguese language editions of Saída de Emergência will be further translated into Brazilian to accommodate differences in the written word between Portugal and Brazil, prior to publication.
This news got me thinking about Portuguese language alternate history and Uchronia actually has an extensive list of works that have been either published or translated into Portuguese. Hopefully with Saída de Emergência expanding into Brazil we might see even more alternate history works in that language. Europa Universalis IV - With God on Your Side
If your dreams of leading a global empire have lain dormant for too long, the time to take action has arrived now that God is on your side. Paradox released a brand new video developer diary for upcoming empire-building game, Europa Universalis IV, focused on the power of religion. Check it out below:
Project Lead Thomas Johansson details the intricacies of religion in countries throughout the world, and how differences between sects can both benefit and hinder your progress to historical greatness. Will you allow reformation when it rears its head in Europe or stand your ground for Catholicism? Will you forego Christianity entirely and become a champion of the Muslim or Buddhist faiths?
Strategy fans can fulfill their quest for global domination by pre-ordering Europa Universalis IV. The pre-order bonus for the month of July has been revealed today—The Purple Phoenix DLC. Anybody who pre-orders Europa Universalis IV, regardless of when they pre-order, will receive all DLC included in the pre-order campaign including secret, yet-to-be-revealed pre-order bonuses.
Europa Universalis IV is the latest installment in the award-winning series, with more than a million copies sold, and will release worldwide on August 13, 2013. The game gives you control of a nation to guide it through the years and create a dominant global empire in the age of exploration. Following on the success of the critically acclaimed Crusader Kings II, Paradox Development Studio is ready to make you experience the drama that only the grand stage of history can provide.
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new story "The Enchanted Bean" can be found in Once Upon a Clockwork Tale from Echelon Press. 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 The Update had one of its best days in terms of page views last Tuesday. It began when a person named "seemoreglass" posted a link to One Way to Divide America: Ethnicity on MetaFilter. In that single day we got 4,837 page views and the link to the article spread to severalTumblrblogs. Pretty impressive for a one-mad blog in a niche market.
So what did I learn from the experience of going viral? Well I did see a slight increase in ad revenue, but barely saw any interest in any other articles on The Update or any surge in social media followers. Although there were a lot of comments on the actual MetaFilte page, I didn't read much of them, mostly because they started turning nasty early, but I did read some new comments we got on the article page itself and was not impressed by what I saw.
The oddest thing about all this is that it happened with an article I posted on February 8, 2012. That was more than a year ago and it only got noticed now. I guess we can write this off as one of those odd phenomenon's of the Internet. You just never know when something is going to become popular.
Barring any new entries into the DBWI writing contest, this week's post schedule is pretty much set in stone. New Releases return's to its regularly scheduled slot tomorrow and Wednesday, which happens to be the 2 year anniversary of The Update, I will publishing a short letter to the fans looking both into the past and future. Thursday we get to read Dimas Aditya Hanandito entry into the DBWI writing contest and Friday we get two articles on the Before Watchmenprequel series from Sean Korsgaard.
And now the news...
Tor UK buys interdimensional spy trilogy by Genevieve Cogman
I have to warn you that the rest of this Weekly Update will focus on video games since E3 happened last week. Since this is primarily a literary blog, however, I am going to start by talking about Pan Macmillan’s Tor imprint acquiring The Invisible Library by debut UK novelist Genevieve Cogman. Senior Commissioning editor Bella Pagan bought World rights in this novel and two others by Cogman from Lucienne Diver at The Knight Agency.
The concept behind these books has inspired comparisons such as “Doctor Who with librarian spies”. Here is how the story is described:
The redoubtable Irene is a secret agent for the ultimate inter-dimensional library, a covert organization that gathers knowledge from parallel worlds. Irene’s latest assignment posts her, and her enigmatic assistant, to an alternative Victorian London. Their goal being to retrieve an extremely dangerous book. But when she arrives, it’s already been stolen – and soon she’s up to her eyebrows in thieves, murderers and secret societies – with a dash of the supernatural in store.
Cogman said: “I’m incredibly excited that Tor will be publishing my books – I still can’t quite believe it’s true. I’m honoured to be in the company of authors such as Paul Cornell, Charles Stross, and other brilliant writers. I really hope that other people will enjoy this series, and be entertained by the Library.”
Pagan commented: “This book brings a new urgency to the term ‘must read’ – hugely entertaining, clever and a lot of fun. I just fell in love with the writing, which reminded me of Jasper Fforde by way of Gail Carriger’s Soulless, with the humour of Ben Aaronovitch.’
Still the concept sounds interesting and I think alternate historians, being the voracious readers that we are, might get a kick out of librarians battling it out across the multiverse.
The Order: 1886 Revealed at E3
Alright, I promised video games and lets start with the one blowing up the Internet: The Order: 1886. The game is being developed by Ready at Dawn and published by Sony Computer Entertainment which will be released exclusively for the upcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4), which sucks because I am an Xbox guy. Announced at E3, The Order is set in alternative Victorian Era London where the industrial revolution came about as an effort to win a centuries-old war against inhuman enemies (because humans just got tired of fighting each other, I suppose). Let us take a look at the trailer as it is revealed at E3 (the crowd sure does seem excited):
So the trailer gives us a glimpse at this steampunk, horror game featuring some epic mustaches and Victorian airships (at this point I am really upset with you Limeys for not inventing these earlier). We, of course, see the futuristic weaponry the genre is known for, including what looks like a Tesla coil gun, but whether it will be a poor copy of BioShock Infinite or a great game on its own remains to be seen. Exactly what gameplay is like is still unknown, although one commentator suggests the enemy may be werewolves and you will have to hunt them down in co-op. The game does not have a release date as of yet and in fact has been in development hell for years.
The next big game to come out of E3 for alternate historians is the steampunk, fantasy Black Gold. Being produced by Snail Games, it is an MMORPG PC game inspired by the myths and fairytales throughout Northern Europe. Black Gold combines the magic-filled world of fantasy with the mechanized, gothic world of steampunk.
The game setting itself is divided between six races, each on the side of steam or sorcery. Players will be able to trigger more than 3,000 dynamic events and actions that can change the game world. Additionally, characters will have the ability to change forms and drive giant armored mechs in combat (or elephants). Black Gold also features cross-genre gameplay, including both first-person (FPS) and third-person shooter (TPS) elements.
The game sort of reminds me of Arcanum, a game I have only a little experience with after playing the demo once. From the screenshots it certainly looks impressive, but the fantasy elements are not my thing. The Order is still on the top of my list, unless...
More on Wolfenstein: The New Order ...you let me kill Nazis in a timeline where the Axis won World War II.
Although I've talked about this game previously, for those who don't know, Wolfenstein: The New Order is an upcoming first-person shooter video game in development by MachineGames to be published by Bethesda Softworks for most platform. The New Order is the ninth installment in the Wolfenstein series and is set for launch later this year.
Also this is the last day to see a steampunk-ified version of Into the Woods at Lake City Playhouse in Idaho.
July 7: The Guildhall in Cambridge, UK will be host to "a world in which Victoriana and steam-powered inventions collide spectacularly with ideas of the future."
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new story "The Enchanted Bean" can be found in Once Upon a Clockwork Tale from Echelon Press. 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.
Zombie books these days are a lot like zombies themselves: at first you can just make out a single figure lurching towards you, then suddenly you're confronted by a mob. Most of the time you can easily bypass them and never have to think of them again, but occasionally, one will come along that ends up chewing on your brain....
This collection of short stories follows in the footsteps of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by taking some favourite classics and zombifying them. Here, we get a taste of what would happen if such well-known figures as Alice in Wonderland (or just "Ali" here), Robin Hood and Peter Pan were to find themselves confronted by the Walking Dead. Shakespeare gets a look-in here too, as do some ancient Greek heroes, with a modern version of the Swiss Family Robinson rounding out the collection.
I say "a taste" here, because unfortunately that's what these stories feel like: a taster menu of what a fuller book would/could contain. The stories are very short, and only three of the six have what could be thought of as a conclusion - the others feel like the first chapter in what should be a longer story. The whole book took only around half an hour to read, and while the stories were well written enough and interesting enough, there's a feeling of disappointment at the end that they couldn't have been "fleshed out" a bit more.
So to go back to my original metaphor, these stories are the zombies that manage to grab hold of your arm (in that you find yourself wondering what happened next after the story stopped), but to be a proper brain-muncher, Corrupted Classics would need to be expanded with maybe more stories, and a fuller treatment on the stories there are.
* * *
Kieran Colfer is a member of the AH Weekly Update Review Team.
What was brilliant about The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks was how serious he took the subject of preparing for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. He did not stop every other page to remind us that "zombies are not real", he left that to the CDC. Instead he gave honest advice on how to deal with attacks by the undead. This tongue-in-cheek humor turned the Guide into a hit, launched another novel, a comic book, collectibles and a movie deal.
In the summer of 2012, one film embodies the entertainment value of the Guide. In Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, we begin by seeing the future American president, Abraham Lincoln, as a small boy. After witnessing the murder of his mother by Jack Barts, young Abe vows revenge but his father makes him promise not to retaliate. Eight year later, after his father dies, Abe decides to carry out his long-awaited revenge but is uprepared when he learns the truth about Barts: he is a vampire. At the last second Abe is saved by an experienced vampire hunter, Henry Sturgess.
He explains that vampires have been infiltrating America since the beginning under the leadership of Adam, the father of all vampires in America. Using the institution of slavery, vampires have managed to finally sate their blood lust by feeding off the slaves brought to work in the South. The vampires, however, are starting to expand north and Sturgess needs disciples to fight them. Abe pleads with Sturgess to train him how to fight, but only after Sturgess makes him promise to fight vampires on his terms and not carry out his own revenge schemes.
After his training is complete, Lincoln moves to Springfield, IL where he gets a job working as a shopkeeper while studying the law. This boring life is only a cover for his true mission: to eradicate the vampire presence in the town. Lincoln comes to the realization, however, that it is not enough to behead one or two vampires. As long as slavery exists in America, the vampire infestation will never disappear, so Lincoln breaks with his mentor to seek a career in politics. He reaches for the White House to eradicate vampires once and for all...even if it means splitting the nation apart into a civil war.
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter was a delightful film blending the best of a summer action flick with a unique horror element. The best part, however, were the laughs. People who know their 19th century American history will find plenty to chuckle about, even if the rest of the audience misses the joke completely. I lost count how many times I burst out laughing to a virtually silent theater, though I was not embarrassed because their were a couple of voices joined with mine to express their mirth. Nevertheless, knowledge of history can hurt your ability to enjoy film at times. For example, the film seems to imply that Lincoln had only one child. Facts like that are annoying to those who know Lincoln, but are likely missed by the general audience.
Though I have not read the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith that the film is based on, I have read his first mash-up novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Smith, who also wrote the screenplay of the film, managed to duplicate his tongue-in-cheek humor that so identifies his style of writing and translate it into a different medium. The film stayed serious at all times. I can see why Jeff Greenfield is worried that kids will grow up thinking one of the greatest American presidents spent his time in office fighting vampires.
Sadly the film has been poorly reviewed by critics (Ebert did give it a good review) and has had disappointing box office numbers. Despite high audience ratings, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter will likely be remembered as a flop. Nevertheless, people who can embrace the absurd will find an enjoyable summer blockbuster and watch as the Great Emancipator is turned into the Dark Knight. More importantly, you will regain your faith in vampire films after this.
GO ABE GO!
* * *
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.
“How could World War I be made even grislier? Add vampires, as Newman does with great skill in this sequel to his Anno Dracula.” – Booklist
Written by the critically acclaimed novelist Kim Newman, The Bloody Red Baron [Titan Books, April 2012] is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the bestselling Victorian vampire novel, Anno Dracula. Filled with literary and historical characters from the early 20th century, this second book in the groundbreaking series on the War of the Great Powers in Europe sees an alternate Europe in a pitched war between the living and the undead!
It is 1918 and Dracula is commander-in-chief of the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Diogenes Club is at the heart of the British Intelligence and Charles Beauregard and his protégé Edwin Winthrop go head-to-head with the lethal vampire flying machine that is the Bloody Red Baron.
This brand-new edition of The Bloody Red Baron includes a special added bonus: a lengthy new novella, Vampire Romance, which is set in the 1920s between the events of The Bloody Red Baron and the third novel in Anno Dracula Series, Dracula Cha Cha Cha. This volume also boasts intriguing new annotations from Kim Newman and an action-packed outline for a film version of The Bloody Red Baron called Red Skies.
On first publication in 1992, Kim Newman’s brilliantly imagined story Anno Dracula was praised by critics and won numerous prizes, including the prestigious International Horror Guild Award for Best Novel. Now, due to the modern reader’s fascination with vampires and speculative histories, this enduring classic Dracula series is brought to a new generation of fans.
Praise for Anno Dracula:
“It was the first mash-up of literature, history and vampires, and now, in a world in which vampires are everywhere, it's still the best, and its bite is just as sharp. Compulsory reading, commentary, and mindgame: glorious." — NEIL GAIMAN
“Politics, horror and romance are woven together in this brilliantly imagined and realized novel.” — Time Out
Anno Dracula The multi-award winning series depicts an alternative history in which the heroes of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula fail to stop Count Dracula’s conquest of Great Britain. Titan will publish a brand new edition of the third book, Dracula Cha Cha Cha, in Fall 2012. The eagerly awaited fourth novel, Johnny Alucard, will be published for the first time in 2013.
Kim Newman is a London-based author and movie critic. He makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. He has won the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Awards and been nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. He writes regularly for Empire Magazine and contributes to The Guardian, The Times, Time Out and others.
* * *
Titan Books was kind enough to consider me when sending out review copies of The Bloody Red Baron, so stay tuned because I will be posting a review of the novel in the near future.
* * *
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for the Alt Hist magazine and a contributor to Just Below the Law. One of his short stories will be published in the upcoming Echelon Press anthology, Once Upon a Clockwork Tale (2013). When not writing he works as an attorney in the state of Illinois and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.
Kim Newman, author of the alternate history Anno Draculaseries and recipient of the Bram Stoker award for superior achievement in horror writing, will be doing a webchat with The Guardian between 1pm and 2pm on Thursday 26 April. If you have any questions for Newman, ask them in the comment section of this article.
