New Releases 1/29/13

Hardcover

Steampunk: H.G. Wells by Zdenko Basic

Description from Amazon.

No classic work lends itself better to Steampunk illustrations than The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and "The Country of the Blind," written by H.G. Wells, who many consider to be the father of Steampunk itself. Wells’s tales of time travel and scientific romance is the perfect collection to the Steampunk series. Fans old and new will be delighted by Basic and Sumberac’s four-color illustrations spiked with Steampunk machinery, gadgets, and fashion.

Paperback

Agatha H & the Clockwork Princess by Phil Foglio

Description from Amazon.

After escaping from the massive airship known as Castle Wulfenbach, Agatha falls in with a travelling troupe of performers, where she begins training under Zeetha, swordmistress and princess of the lost city of Skifander. With Wulfenbach on her trail, it's going to take more than a spark of Mad Science for Agatha to traverse the treacherous wasteland of war-torn Europa.

Aztlan: The Maxtla Colhua Mysteries by Michael Jan Friedman

Description from Amazon.

Maxtla Colhua is an Investigator for the Empire—a 21st-century Aztec Empire that, having successfully repelled Hernan Cortes in 1603, stretches from one end of what we know as the Americas to the other. In Aztlan: The Last Sun, someone has decided to punctuate the end of the Aztec calendar with a series of grisly murders reminiscent of the pagan sacrifices carried out in ancient times. Can Maxtla find the killer before his city is ripped apart and the Last Sun becomes the death knell for the Empire? In Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven, Maxtla is looking for the missing star of a brutal Aztec ball game in which gambling fortunes are won and lost. To find the idol of millions, he will have to challenge the most powerful men and women in the Empire—or see the streets of Aztlan run red with blood. Two murder mysteries set in an exciting world that never was but could have been—collected in a single volume!

E-books

The Beast of Calatrava: A Foreworld SideQuest by Mark Teppo

Description from Amazon.

After a battle left Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa’s face terribly disfigured, the knight of the Order of Calatrava abandoned his sword for a pastoral existence. But his beastly appearance horrifies all those who cross his path—with the exception of his adoring and pregnant wife. Can he keep Louisa and their unborn child safe from the war that is coming to Iberia?

As Ramiro prepares for his child’s birth, Brother Lazare of the Cistercian order searches for a means to inspire men as he travels with the crusading Templars. He seeks swords of legend--named blades carried by heroes of old--believing such symbols have the ability to rally men in a way no king could ever accomplish. But when he learns of the stories told of the mysterious monster that haunts the Iberian battlefields, he wonders what sort of power this new legend might contain--the legend of a man whose scarred face and cold demeanor cannot hide his heroic soul.

Audio

The Shield-Maiden: A Foreworld SideQuest by Michael Tinker Pearce and Linda Pearce

Description from Amazon.

Sigrid is a Shield-Maiden who yearns to break free of the restrictions of her father’s home and join the Sworn Men in an actual raiding expedition. When a small diplomatic party that includes members of the Shield-Brethren lands at her family’s holding on Göttland, the party’s second in command, Halldor, sees in Sigrid a vision of beauty and power that might challenge — and even destroy — many men. And when bloody chaos ensues at a nearby Viking fishing village, Sigrid proves she has more than mere talent: she has Vor — the fate sight — an astonishing focus in fighting that sets her apart from nearly all who have ever lived and puts her in the rare company of the finest Shield-Brethren. But as Sigrid and her family confront her otherworldly ability, will it prove to be a gift to be celebrated, or an affliction to be cured?

To fans, authors and publishers...

Do you want to see your work given a shout out on our New Releases segment? Contact Mitro 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.

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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 and The 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.