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Thursday, June 5, 2014

Timeline Thursday: Let's all go down the Strand - Images of 1984 reboot by Will Ritson

A really quick Timeline Thursday because I have been slacking on posting. A while back Sean Korsgaard reviewed "Images of 1984 - Stories from Oceania" by Will Ritson. It is an AlternateHistory.com timeline centered around a world where the events of Orwell's 1984 actually happened, but it uses the fan theory that states Oceania is only confined to Britain and the rest of the world is fine.

It was a great dystopia that turned Britain into North Korea. Characters from the novel interacted with famous historical people of the time including Oswald Mosley, Eric Blair and billionaire tyrant Rupert Murdoch as Britain evolves into Oceania and eventually is liberated in the 21st century by a coalition of foreign powers.

Well the doubleplusgood news is that Ritson has begun work on reboot to "Images of 1984" which he is calling this time: "Let's all go down the Strand - Images of 1984 reboot". Much like the original, this timeline hinges on Mosley reuniting with the Labour party in 1931, thus avoiding tainting himself with fascism. The timeline was only rebooted a few weeks ago, but already it has wet my appetite for more "Images of 1984" updates.

The story is not told in a straight narrative. Through brief snippets that jump around three centuries, Ritson drops hints about how Oceania came to be, what was happening in the background during 1984 and what post-Oceania Britain is like. Not all of them seem to make sense at first read, but they give glimpses about what future plot lines that may emerge in later updates.

That is where the bad news comes in. Ritson so far has only posted sporadically with several days between each one. The current break is about a week old as I write this and there is no guarantee when the next one will come out. Still the reboot is a quick read that I think will get you excited for me. You can always read the original to satisfy your craving.

Long live Big Brother!

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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.

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