Best of 2014

Well another year has passed so its time to announce the best of 2014. As usual, this is a completely subjective selection by myself. Only works I covered on Alternate History Weekly Update and Amazing Stories in 2014 are eligible, so that could mean stuff published pre-2014 may get a nod. On the rare occurrence I mention something I wrote as one of "best" of this year, I promise to share something from one of the many guest bloggers we had this year.

So without further ado...

Best Book

You are going to hear variations of "this was a difficult choice" for a lot of these categories and it begins with the best book of 2014. There were just so many memorable books this year it is really hard to narrow it down. If I had to pick one overall, I would have to go with A Kill in the Morning by Graeme Shimmin. It was a fun spy thriller that also had another great story on how it actually got published.

I need to give honorable mentions, however, for Richard Ned Lebow's Archduke Franz Ferdinand Lives! (as the best counterfactual book I read this year) and Alan Gratz's The League of Seven (for taking me on a wonderful, nostalgic journey with a book similar to ones I read as a kid).

Best Short Story

I guess this honor goes to "Murder on the Orient Elite" by Larry Correia. Although it was an entertaining dieselpunk short story, it sort of won this category by default. I honestly didn't read any alternate history short stories or anthologies. I really need to be better about that in 2015.

Best Comic

I read several comics this year, but the one that really stood out was World War Kaiju by Josh Finney and Patrick McEvoy. It just had an interesting premise and it is a must read for anyone looking for some alternate history in their comics.

Best Film

The best film had to be War of the Worlds: Goliath, which both Sean and I watched and reviewed for The Update. It had action, good animation and I got to watch the Batman of American presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, blow up alien death machines. That all being said, I still need to give a honorable mention to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Although I didn't cover it on The Update, it really was a great followup to the first Captain America film.

Best Television

So Sherlock Series 3, Episode 1: The Empty Hearse should win this by default...but I also didn't like that episode. It was a big disappointment after all the build up. So yeah very hollow victory for Sherlock, but 2015 should (hopefully) be better. I mean we got adaptations of SS-GB, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, The Man in the High Castle, 11/22/63 and 1632. Hopefully that will make up for my poor coverage of television this year.

Best Map

2014 was the year of the map. The Map Mondays and pretty much any posts with a map in it did insanely well when it came to page views. Picking just one, however, has proven to be a herculean task, so instead I narrowed it down to my three favorites. First up, Alan Gratz's Maps of The United Nations of America that gets the nod for the best map published in a book:

Next, the best map not posted originally on AlternateHistory.com goes to "American Quilt" by Jordan Penny:

Finally we end with the best map posted on AlternateHistory.com and that honor goes to "The Grand War" by PlatoonSgt:

Guys keep making great maps and I will keep talking about them on this blog.

Best Web Original

The winner for the best web original I read this year was Let's all go down the Strand - Images of 1984 reboot. I always loved 1984 fan fiction and both of Will's timeline are amazing works of dystopic reimaginings.  I highly recommend you check out both the original and the reboot.

Also a honorable mention to False Dmitri's Affiliated States of Boreoamerica, which I didn't cover this year (except for one Map Monday), but I still followed religiously for the past few months. Expect an article on it next year.

Best Interview

O please don't make me choose! I talked to so many interesting people this year. Well if you insist, hear are my top three.

First (and in no particular order), Thomas Wm Hamilton, because its rare when you talk to someone with an asteroid named after them.

Second, it was fun to talk with Ian Montgomerie, the mysterious founder and administrator of AlternateHistory.com, and here his opinions on alternate historians.

Finally, Paula Goodlett, for giving me a ton of info on the 1632 fan community. I never realized how much work goes into building that universe.

Best Article

This may sound a tad narcissistic, but I am really proud of my 6 Common Mistakes Every American Revolution Alternate History Makes article. It got a lot of views and feedback from a lot of people, although if I were going to be honest, my What If Wednesday: The Roman Empire Never Falls got even more of both. If I was going to be even more honest, I would have to give this to 1814: How Washington Was Saved (Part 1) by William Weber which is the single most popular article of all time on The Update. Check it out, I like it and I think so will you.

Best Contributor

This was a tough one, but I have to give it to Sam McDonald, a contributor known for his popular Flag Fridays and Twilight Histories covers. What I liked most about Sam's work is that you can tell he is a honest fan of the genre and his imagination reflects that. I look forward to seeing more from Sam in the future.

Conclusion

I won't lie, this was a tough year for me. A lot happened that made me want to quit and give up, but one of the things that kept me going was this blog. Writing for The Update kept me sane through some of my darkest moments and I have you guys to thank for it. Although 2014 is a year I sometimes want to forget, luckily I can remember some great times talking about alternate history with all of you.

Have a happy New Year and see you all in 2015.

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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.

New Releases 12/30/14

You can support The Update by clicking the banner to your right or the links below if you are purchasing through Amazon!

Paperbacks

For a Few Souls More by Guy Adams

The thrilling conclusion to the Heaven's Gate Trilogy!

The uprising in Heaven is at an end and Paradise has fallen, becoming the forty-third state of America. Now angels and demons must learn to get along with humans.

The rest of the world is in uproar. How can America claim the afterlife as it’s own? It’s certainly going to try as the President sets out for the town of Wormwood for talks with its governor, the man they call Lucifer.

Hell has problems of its own. There’s a new evangelist walking its roads, trying to bring the penitent to paradise, and a new power is rising. Can anyone stand up to the Godkiller?

Hunter of Sherwood: The Red Hand by Toby Venables

Guy of Gisburne, knight and agent to Prince John, is all that stands between England and anarchy, fighting a shadow battle to protect the kingdom from those who would destroy it.

Returning to England after foiling a plot to destroy Jerusalem, Guy of Gisburne is arrested and hauled to the Tower of London; John, England's regent in the absence of its monstrous King, needs his knight once more. A killer has broken into the Prince’s most secure castle in the north and left a message, drawn on the skin of one of his victims: 'the circle is closing,' signed with a handprint in blood. Is the threat genuine? Who or what is the Red Hand? Someone is killing John's men, and the obvious culprit – the most dangerous man in the Kingdom, Hood himself – has an alibi even Guy can't deny.

Macaque Attack! by Gareth L. Powell

The Spitfire pilot monkey Ack-Ack Macaque faces a world on the brink in this adventure, the conclusion to his astonishing, award-winning trilogy.

In the thrilling conclusion of the Macaque Trilogy, the dangerous but charismatic Ack-Ack Macaque finds himself leading a dimension-hopping army of angry monkeys, facing an invading horde of implacable killer androids, and confronting the one challenge for which he was never prepared: impending fatherhood! Meanwhile, former journalist Victoria Valois fights to save the electronic ghost of her dead husband and reclaim his stolen soul from the sands of Mars.

E-books

The Corridors of Time by Poul Anderson

A young man from the twentieth century is recruited to fight in a war that rages throughout time in a classic science fiction adventure from a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award–winning master

College student, ex-marine, and martial artist Malcolm Lockridge is in prison awaiting his trial for murder when he receives an unexpected visit from an extraordinarily beautiful woman named Storm. Claiming to be a representative of the Wardens, a political faction from two thousand years in the future, Storm offers the astonished young man a proposition: freedom in return for his assistance in recovering an unspecified lost treasure. But it is not long before Malcolm realizes that, in truth, he’s been recruited as a soldier in the Wardens’ ongoing war against their rivals, the Rangers. And this war is different from any that has ever been fought, because the battlefield is not a place but time itself.

Traveling backward and forward through corridors connecting historical epochs separated by thousands of years, Malcolm is soon embroiled in a furious conflict between the forces of good and minions of evil. But the deeper he is pulled into this devastating time war, the clearer Malcolm’s ultimate role in humankind’s destiny becomes, causing the troubled young soldier from the twentieth century to question whether he’s been chosen to fight on the side of good or evil . . . and if such a distinction even exists.

A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson

A fantastic tale of intrigue, love, war, magic, and swashbuckling adventure set in an alternate universe where fairies mingle freely with Englishmen and all of Shakespeare’s fictional characters are real

Welcome to an alternate civil-war-torn seventeenth-century England—a world where Hamlet once brooded and Othello jealously raged. Here faeries and sprites gambol in English woods, railroads race across the landscape while manned balloons float above the countryside, and the most respected historian of all is one William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon.

The year is 1644, and the war between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers rages. When Rupert, nephew of King Charles I, is taken captive by Cromwell’s troops and imprisoned in a Puritan home, he is immediately smitten with the beautiful Jennifer Alayne, his captor’s niece. Escaping with the help of his newfound beloved and the loyal trooper Will Fairweather, Rupert leads Jennifer deep into the forest, where the faerie folk who dwell there have a vested interest in the outcome of the great and bloody conflict. Though the lovers must soon part—with the prince undertaking a dangerous mission for his magical benefactors that could turn the tide of war—Rupert and his lady love will be forever joined by the rings presented to them by King Oberon and Queen Titania. And despite the strange, twisting pathways and turbulent seas they are destined to encounter, they will always be able to find each other again . . . as long as their love remains true.

Nominated for the World Fantasy Award and winner of the Mythopoeic Award, Poul Anderson’s A Midsummer Tempest is a titanic achievement—a delightful alternate-history fantasy that brings the fictional worlds of Shakespeare’s plays to breathtaking life with style, wit, and unparalleled imagination.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Is your story going to be published in time for the next New Releases? Contact us 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 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.

Coming Soon in 2015

A new year means new alternate history books. Here are some of the highly anticipated works coming out next year from some of the biggest names in alternate history.

1882: Custer in Chains by Robert Conroy

NATIONALLY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. A world where Custer survives Little Bighorn and becomes president goes seriously awry.

Following his unlikely but decisive (and immensely popular) 1876 victory over Sitting Bull and the Sioux at the Little Big Horn, George Armstrong Custer is propelled into the White House in 1880.

Two years later, he finds himself bored and seeks new worlds to conquer. He and his wife Libbie fixate on Spain’s decaying empire as his source for immortality. What President Custer doesn’t quite comprehend is that the U.S. military isn’t up to such a venture. When a group of Americans on a ship headed for Cuba is massacred, war becomes inevitable—and unless calmer, patriotic citizens and soldiers can find a way to avoid debacle, this war may be America's last stand!

Bayonets, Balloons, and Ironclads: Britain and France Take Sides with the South by Peter G. Tsouras

This fascinating third volume in the Britannia's Fist series will have you pondering how easily history could have been swayed differently.

Peter G. Tsouras presents the third installment in his Britannia’s Fist alternate history series. The winter of 1863 had rung down a white curtain on the desperate struggle for North America. The United States and Great Britain had fought each other to a bitter draw. On both sides of the Atlantic the forges of war glowed as they poured out the new technologies of war. British and French aid transformed the ragged Confederate armies and filled them with new confidence. Both sides strained to be ready for the coming campaign season. Both sides seek to anticipate each other. 

The British strike suddenly at Hooker’s strung out army in winter quarters in upstate New York in a brutal swirling late battle across frozen fields and streams. Besieged Portland shudders relentless assault. The French attack Fort Hudson on the Mississippi. At Lincoln’s direction, two great raids are launched at the United Kingdom itself as Russia enters the war on the side of the Union to raid the Irish Sea. These are only preliminaries to the great gathering of modernized armies and ironclad fleets and with them are deadly submersibles and balloons. Battle rages from Maine to northern Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, down to steamy Louisiana. And far away across the sea Dublin stands siege as Russia cast eyes upon Constantinople. For Americans, blue and gray, Britons, Irish, Frenchmen, and Russians, the summer of 1864 is the crescendo battle of destinies and dreams. 

Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale

Perfect for fans of military and historical fiction—including novels by such authors as Bernard Cornwell, Naomi Novik, and Harry Turtledove—this stunning work of alternate history imagines a world in which the Roman Empire has not fallen and the North American continent has just been discovered. In the year 1218 AD, transported by Norse longboats, a Roman legion crosses the great ocean, enters an endless wilderness, and faces a cataclysmic clash of warriors, worlds, and gods.

Ever hungry for land and gold, the Emperor has sent Praetor Gaius Marcellinus and the 33rd Roman Legion into the newly discovered lands of North America. Marcellinus and his men expect easy victory over the native inhabitants, but on the shores of a vast river the Legion clashes with a unique civilization armed with weapons and strategies no Roman has ever imagined.

Forced to watch his vaunted force massacred by a surprisingly tenacious enemy, Marcellinus is spared by his captors and kept alive for his military knowledge. As he recovers and learns more about these proud people, he can’t help but be drawn into their society, forming an uneasy friendship with the denizens of the city-state of Cahokia. But threats—both Roman and Native—promise to assail his newfound kin, and Marcellinus will struggle to keep the peace while the rest of the continent surges toward certain conflict.

Jacaranda: A Novella of the Clockwork Century by Cherie Priest

The Ranger

On the island of Galveston, off the coast of southeast Texas, lies a hotel called the Jacaranda. In its single year of operation, two dozen people have died there. The locals say it's cursed. The Rangers say that's nonsense, but they know a man who might be willing to investigate. Horatio Korman crosses the water from the mainland, and hopes for the best.

The Nun

But the bodies pile up, and a hurricane is brewing up fast. One of the Jacaranda's guests sees time running out, so she seeks an authority of a different sort: a priest from El Huizache who is good at solving problems and keeping secrets. Eileen Callahan has a problem to solve, and a secret to keep. She crosses her fingers, and sends a message that could save them all.

The Padre

Juan Miguel Quintero Rios broke a promise to the Virgin, and so he was punished...but his intentions were pure, so he was also blessed. Now he walks the southwest with second sight and a tattoo across his back: ''Deo, non Fortuna''--By God, not chance. The former gunslinger crosses himself, and makes for the Jacaranda Hotel.

Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove

New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove’s thought-provoking forays into the past have produced such intriguing “what-if” novels as Ruled Britannia, Days of Infamy, and Opening Atlantis. Now “the maven of alternate history” (The San Diego Union-Tribune) envisions the election of a United States President whose political power will redefine what the nation is—and what it means to be American….

President Herbert Hoover has failed America. The Great Depression that rose from the ashes of the 1929 stock market crash still casts its dark shadow over the country. Despairing and desperate, the American people hope one of the potential Democratic candidates—New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and California congressman Joe Steele—can get the nation on the road to recovery.

But fate snatches away one hope when a mansion fire claims the life of Roosevelt, leaving the Democratic party little choice but to nominate Steele, son of a Russian immigrant laborer who identifies more with the common man than with Washington D.C.’s wealthy power brokers.

Achieving a landslide victory, President Joe Steele wastes no time pushing through Congress reforms that put citizens back to work. Anyone who gets in his way is getting in the way of America, and that includes the highest in the land. Joe Steele’s critics may believe the government is gaining too much control, but they tend to find themselves in work camps if they make too much noise about it. And most people welcome strong leadership, full employment, and an absence of complaining from the newspapers—especially as Hitler and Trotsky begin the kind of posturing that seems sure to drag America into war. 

The Mechanical (The Alchemy Wars) by Ian Tregillis

The Clakker: a mechanical man, endowed with great strength and boundless stamina -- but beholden to the wishes of its human masters. 

Soon after the Dutch scientist and clockmaker Christiaan Huygens invented the very first Clakker in the 17th Century, the Netherlands built a whole mechanical army. It wasn't long before a legion of clockwork fusiliers marched on Westminster, and the Netherlands became the world's sole superpower. 

Three centuries later, it still is. Only the French still fiercely defend their belief in universal human rights for all men -- flesh and brass alike. After decades of warfare, the Dutch and French have reached a tenuous cease-fire in a conflict that has ravaged North America.

But one audacious Clakker, Jax, can no longer bear the bonds of his slavery. He will make a bid for freedom, and the consequences of his escape will shake the very foundations of the Brasswork Throne.

Straits of Hell: Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson

New York Times bestselling author Taylor Anderson’s phenomenal alternate history Destroyermen series continues as a game-changing conspiracy throws the hope of honor, trust, and survival into chaos.... 

Matt Reddy’s old Asiatic Fleet destroyer USS Walker has been mysteriously transported to an alternate version of earth. Here WWII is no longer raging, and Reddy and his crew have been trying to find a new place for themselves in this strange new world.

Now, along with the felinoid Lemurians and Imperial allies, they fight to keep the reptilian Grik, a race growing in supremacy, from reconquering the Lemurians’ ancestral home on Madagascar. Reddy and his crew are exhausted, far from reinforcements, and wildly outnumbered, so the odds seem greater than ever before. As for the fate of the Americas, Don Hernan and the evil Dominion have gathered to annihilate the forces behind the walls of Fort Defiance as a shadowy power with an agenda all its own rises with chilling resolve.

As the war teeters on a knife-edge, a tipping point may have been reached at last—and cold steel and hot-blooded valor will remain the ultimate weapons.

The Virgin's Daughter: A Tudor Legacy Novel by Laura Andersen

Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, The Virgin’s Daughter is the first book in a captivating new saga about the next generation of Tudor royals, which poses the thrilling question: What if Elizabeth I, the celebrated Virgin Queen, gave birth to a legitimate heir?

Since the death of her brother, William, Elizabeth I has ruled England. She’s made the necessary alliances, married Philip of Spain, and produced a successor: her only daughter, Anne Isabella, Princess of Wales. Elizabeth knows that her beloved Anabel will be a political pawn across Europe unless she can convince Philip to grant her a divorce, freeing him to remarry and give Spain its own heir. But the enemies of England have even greater plans for the princess, a plot that will put Anabel’s very life and the security of the nation in peril. Only those closest to Elizabeth—her longtime confidante Minuette, advisor and friend Dominic, and their grown children—can be trusted to carry forth a most delicate and dangerous mission. Yet, all of the queen’s maneuverings may ultimately prove her undoing.

* * *

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: Decades of Draka by Rvbomally

For the last Map Monday of the year, I decided to go with one of my favorite map makes, Rvbomally. He posted an excellent crossover between Stirling's Draka series and Jared's "Decades of Darkness" timeline, which he called "Decades of Draka":

In this universe the British take the Cape Colony from the Dutch and settle it with Loyalists, even though the Americans failed to take Canada. Meanwhile, the young republic suffers some growing pains and loses the New England states. The USA expanded west and south and allied itself with newly independent Domination of Draka, who declared independence after the British tried to abolish slavery. The two slaveocracies eventually lay the smackdown on Britain and Germany, but their alliance falls apart shortly thereafter leading to a protracted Cold War.

Rvbomally is known for his dystopic scenarios and his skill in creating these dark worlds is readily apparent as he seamlessly merged these two fine examples of grimdark alternate history. The fact that Decades of Darkness was created as a plausible version of Stirling's Draka, means there is an subtle sense of humor to the work that people well verse in alternate history web originals will enjoy.

Honorable mentions this week goes to Bruce Munro's cover of Toyotomi Japan (see description here) and Zoidberg12's Timeline of the Disunited States of America, which is actually a short timeline that covers the history of Turtledove's The Disunited States of America. 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.

Weekly Update #173

Editor's Note

Merry Christmas everybody. This is the last Weekly Update of the year. I got a couple of more articles I will be posting, but in general I am going to be taking a long break to spend time with family over the holiday season. I will see you guys all again in 2015!

And now the news...

What do the critics think of Ascension?

Last week, SyFy premiered the SF mini-series called Ascension. It is a murder mystery set on a nuclear powered spaceship secretly launched in the 1960s to colonize a nearby star system to ensure humanity's survival in case we ever decided to nuke the Earth. The ship itself is inspired by the real life Project Orion, a program Mark Appleton covered in his articles on atompunk on The Update. So what did the critics think of this show? Well there have been mixed reviews and I will do my best to avoid potential spoilers (trust me there is a big one that was already ruined for me).

Pilot Viruet at Flavorwire praised the first episode, but did say that the show failed as mini-series due to its poor ending. David Wharton at Giant Freaking Robot had similar gripes about the ending, but still left him wanting more. Natalie Zutter of Tor said the show relied on "archetypes and trope shorthand", but "still succeeds in worldbuilding." Cheryl Eddy of io9 was less forgiving of Ascension. She slammed the first episode, but did say the final episodes improved over time before ending with a WTF moment. Meanwhile, Jeff Jensen at Entertainment Weekly gave the overall series a "B-".

So the general consensus seems to be that Ascension made a great pilot, but mediocre mini-series. Personally I would rather watch a show featuring a Solar System that was explored and colonized during the Cold War using nuclear powered spaceships. What would 2014 look like in such a universe? Perhaps we would see a Soviet remnant state in the Asteroid Belt causing problems or some utopian communes out in the Oort Cloud. Nevertheless, I probably will check out Ascension in the near future so stay tuned for my review.

Author Updates: Charles Stross and Paul Levinson

Just a couple of updates on some alternate history writers. First up, we have Charles Stross, the author of the Merchant Princes series. Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing wrote a short review about the series, calling them "surprising and delightful, simultaneously zippy and fun and hefty and deep." Stross also mentioned he is working on a new trilogy of Merchant Princes books in a mini-interview done at The Boskone Blog.

Next up we have friend of The Update, Paul Levinson, who has been sharing reviews of his two works, The Plot to Save Socrates and "Loose Ends" on his blog. I actually got a copy of "Loose Ends" when Paul offered it for free on Amazon and I hope to post a review in the near future. Speaking of Paul, you can check out his review of Ascension as well on his blog.

Coming Soon

Due to a lack of new releases this week and wanting to keep Tuesday morning open for something else, I am bringing your New Releases to you a little early.

DMZ The Deluxe Edition Book Three by Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli and Ryan Kelly

In the near future, America's worst nightmare has come true. With military adventurism overseas bogging down the Army and National Guard, the U.S. government mistakenly neglects the very real threat of anti-establishment militias scattered across the 50 states. Like a sleeping giant, Middle America rises up and violently pushes its way to the shining seas, coming to a standstill at the line in the sand--Manhattan or, as the world now knows it, the DMZ.

In this new DMZ hardcover, a new leader rises in the DMZ - but what will that mean for Matty Roth, a journalist who calls the zone home? After a near-tragic misadventure in Staten Island, Matty returns to find Parco Delgado in office as provisional governor of New York. Matty's first task under the Delgado regime? Tracking down the source of one of the DMZ's greatest urban legends.

Collects DMZ #29-44.

Videos for Alternate Historians

Last week in videos begins as it usually does with another episode of Epic Rap Battles of History. Featuring a showdown between Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock (plus special guests):

Next up, lets take an in-depth look at The Order: 1886, PlayStation's exclusive steampunk game, on The Nerdist:

And finally, for those who like WWII tank battles, lets watch Joel, Adam, Matt and Jeremy play World of Tanks in this episode of How To:

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction

Best Alternate History of 2014 at The Book Plank.
The Emirate of Kabat by Chris Nuttall at The Chrishanger.
The Grand War News & Patreon by Lynn Davis at Maps, Writing, and Ramblings.
The Infinite Points of Interest in Alternate History by Jacopo Della Quercia at Tor.
Leicester author Rod Duncan to complete trilogy after signing book deal at Leicester Mercury.
Never Wars is Finally Available by Blaine L. Pardoe at Notes From The Bunker.
Philip K. Dick would have been 86 today: Some thoughts on his legacy at Los Angeles Times.
Philip Pullman Releases New His Dark Materials Story for Christmas at Tor.
Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Man Who Never Lived And Can Never Die at SFcrowsnest.
Review: Steampunk Soldiers by Philip Smith and Joseph McCullough at Falcata Times.
What if the World Had Taken a Different Turn? at The New Indian Express.
What...? Johnny Cash and SF? I Fell Into a Burning Ring Of by Steve Fahnestalk at Amazing Stories.

Counterfactuals, History and News

Drone Footage Shows Extent Of Greenpeace's Damage To Peru's Nazca Site by Mark Strauss at io9.
Modern Day Britain Finds Itself in 1884 Part 1 and 2 by Dale Cozort.
The Posters that Warned against the Horrors of a World with Women’s Rights at Messy Nessy Chic.
Russia risks Soviet-style collapse as rouble defence fails at The Telegraph.
The U.S. And Cuba: A Brief History Of A Complicated Relationship at NPR.
The Year Hitler Broke the Internet by Anna Goldenberg at The Jewish Daily Forward.

Films and Television

10 Movies That Hollywood Won't Let You See by Gwynne Watkins at Yahoo.
Agents of Re.L.I.E.F by Dan Bensen at The Kingdoms of Evil.
Black List Of Beloved (But Unfilmed) Scripts Unloads Tons Of New Scifi at io9.
Cast Set For BBC & Carnival’s ‘Game Of Thrones’-Style Epic ‘The Last Kingdom’ at Deadline.
Review: About Time at Ramblings of the Easily Distracted.
The World of ‘The Man in the High Castle' at Far Future Horizons.

Graphic Novels and Comics

Funding Friday, "Moonshot" - Comics & Crowdfunding News at Watercolour Horizons.
A Holiday Gift Guide for New Comics Readers by Ali Collucccio at Panels.
Review: The Royals: Masters of War by Rob Williams at It's All Comic To Me.

Interviews

Lynne Thomas, editor of Chicks Dig Time Lords, at Fantasy Scroll.

Podcasts

Show 19 – Cato’s War at Twilight Histories.

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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.

1914: Christmas Truce or Christmas Peace

Guest post by William Weber.

The centennial anniversary of World War I has drawn attention to the Christmas Truce of 1914, a series of spontaneous cease-fires along the Western Front where soldiers on opposing sides sang songs and played football. These brief expressions of camaraderie and goodwill stood in marked contrast to the carnage of the preceding months and the next four years.  The British firm Sainsbury’s in cooperation with the Royal British Legion has recreated this famous moment in a short video.

Scholars are revisiting why the “Great War” occurred and lasted much longer than expected. For example, Stephen Walt’s “It’s Not the Guns of August – It’s the Trenches of October” examines the “July Crisis” that sparked the war, and lists strategic factors that prolonged the fighting: neither the Triple Alliance, nor the Triple Entente could deliver a decisive blow; both sides were industrial powers with large populations and diverse economies; their war aims increased over time; their politicians defended “sunk costs” by promising to deliver success as the fighting continued; censorship and propaganda convinced citizens that victory was just around the corner; and military establishments proved difficult for civilian governments to control, proclaiming there was “no substitute for victory.”

British historian B.H. Lidell Hart’s 1932 book The British Way in Warfare also investigated why the war lasted longer than expected from an strategic-operational vantage point that Americans marking the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War will find insightful.  His third chapter, “The Sign Post That Was Missed,” notes that European military planners built their doctrines on the Prussian campaigns against Austria in 1866 and France in 1870. They favored “the prompt application of superior force in a direct manner with little trace of guile.” In particular, the French assessed that moral superiority (elan) of their troops would overcome any inferiority in numbers. Hart judged that they were saved from their folly by German General von Moltke’s tinkering with and clumsy execution of the Schlieffen Plan.  He made the German left flank too strong for the French to drive back and the right flank too weak to encircle Paris in a timely fashion.  The result was the First Battle of the Marne and a long war.

Hart asked “What might have been the effect, and the difference, if military thought in pre-1914 Europe had been nourished on a comprehensive study of 1861-65 instead of on 1866-71? He argued that the Union operations in the West, far from the cockpit of the war in the mid-Atlantic, were more decisive in securing the North’s victory. Farragut’s capture of New Orleans and Grant’s victory at Vicksburg split the Confederacy in half. The Union’s strategic sequel, the opening of the Chattanooga gateway to Georgia, the granary of the South, made defeat “hardly avoidable” and led to Sherman’s capture of Atlanta. Hart then concluded that the collapse of the Confederate army was “due to the emptiness of its stomach reacting on its morale and (to) bad news from home.”

He speculated that had European military planners studied the American Civil War, they might have realized that “a quick decision in such a conflict of nations was but a bare possibility, which could only be fulfilled by adopting a truly subtle strategy to lure the opponent into a trap . . . On  a higher plane an adequate study of the American Civil War would also have warned the General Staffs of Europe to expect and prepare for a long war, even though they hoped for a short war.” If so, the Christmas Truce might have been a Christmas Peace.

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William Weber is the author of Neither Victor Nor Vanquished: America in the War of 1812 (Potomac Press, 2013).

Review: War of the Worlds: Goliath

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

It’s been a while hasn't it? I apologize for the prolonged absence from the site folks, and hopefully, this will be the first of many more posts to come, but for today, I can think of nothing better to kick off my return than finally looking back at a movie I first talked about on this site back in 2012, War of the Worlds: Goliath.

First making waves back in 2012 in the Alternate History community, the movie was envisioned as a sequel to the events of HG Wells famous novel, where an Earth ravaged by the first Martian invasion digs in and fights back against the long awaited second attempt from the red planet to conquer our blue one. It’s easy to see why it made waves given some of the cult names behind the movie, to say nothing of the fact it surfaced around the same time as the release of another oddball independent AH-infused sci-fi extravaganza, Iron Sky.

Plus, it has President Roosevelt killing Martians with a laser cannon – that alone would be worth seeing.

That said, getting news on the development, or even the release date has always been somewhat tricky following the initial splash. Though it premiered in 2012, and was given a VERY limited release in the United States earlier this year, I haven’t yet heard much about the movie itself, much less even had the chance to see it myself. That is, until I chanced upon the movie on Netflix, and finally sat down to see if it could live up to the promise War of the Worlds: Goliath once showed.

In 1899, invaders from Mars attacked the Earth, easily beating back any and all resistance from the planet’s human inhabitants, the invasion failing only because of a lucky strike from earthly germs ravaging the Martians. Fifteen years later, they’re attempting to invade once more, but they will find a humanity far better armed and prepared this time. On the front lines is an international coalition dubbed A.R.E.S., created to both form a global defense force and reverse engineer Martian technology, they are now humanity’s best hope for once more driving the aliens from our home world – if they can put aside nationalism and fighting with each other long enough to fight for humanity that is.

I won’t even try to say otherwise, but if being a sequel to War of the Worlds wasn't your first clue, War of the Worlds: Goliath is a very silly movie, in all of the best of ways. Story wise, the movie is an above average Humanity-comes-together-to-kick-alien-arse movie ala Pacific Rim or Independence Day, and a few original touches aside, chooses to instead play on nearly every genre trope in the books, and I fully expect the degree of how much you enjoy this movie to be if you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

A good example would be our main protagonists, a typical five-man band where the closest thing to character development is an Irish member questioning whether an independent Ireland or humanity as a whole deserves the greater part of his loyalty. By the end of the movie, you might not even remember their names, yet the movie goes at a brisk enough pace that it never bothers you. Of course, part of that may be the movie has a few historical cameos whose appearances typically mark a high moment of the film, usually because they show up long enough to deliver one of the movie’s crowning moments of awesome. In case you’re curious, yes, mimetic badass President Roosevelt is everything you’d want and more.

From an animation and production standpoint, War of the Worlds: Goliath is a treasure trove, and very clearly a labor of love for the creators. Aside from a few moments where the animation looks jolty, something that should be expected given it’s a low budget independent animated film, from an animation standpoint War of the Worlds: Goliath is amazing, with the style best described as anime-inspired dieselpunk, as if Sunrise did a series based on Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The designs of the cities and military gear are always intimately detailed, and using CGI to animate the Martian tripods makes for an interesting stylistic contrast that highlights their alien nature.

War of the Worlds: Goliath may not be anything too out of this world, but it’s a fun little slice of cheesy goodness that more than overcomes any lack of ambition or originality. I’d compare the feel of the movie to one of the better cartoons from the 80s, like GI Joe or The Centurions, and for anyone who appreciates their charms, War of the Worlds: Goliath is worth watching.

A good litmus test to consider with War of the Worlds: Goliath is to ask if you’re the kind of person who wants an original story, developed characters, and cutting edge effects, or if you’re the kind of person who gets a big goofy grin on your face at the idea of the Red Baron dogfighting Martian spacecraft attacking a zeppelin while humming the Ride of the Valkyries. If you’re the former, you may lament that with a more developed script and story this could have been truly fantastic. If you’re the latter, strap yourself in for a top-notch B-movie and try to contain yourself when Teddy Roosevelt singlehandedly takes on a Martian air squadron.

While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I enjoyed War of the Worlds: Goliath myself [Editor's Note: as did I.], and fully expect it to become a cult classic within certain circles in good order. That said, even if it doesn't sound like your type of movie, given it’s just barely over an hour long and free to stream on Netflix, I recommend you give it a chance sometime.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

New Releases 12/16/14

You can support The Update by clicking the banner to your right or the links below if you are purchasing through Amazon!

Paperbacks

Robinson Crusoe on Zombie Island by Daniel Defoe and Ivan Fanti

Inspired by the original literary classic, this horror mash-up tells the story of Robinson Crusoe and his 28-year struggle to survive on an island beset by ravenous zombies. Crusoe is forced to improvise in the wake of total isolation and terror. His only hope may be Friday, a native cannibal woman, as he is caught between the warring factions of cannibals and zombies. Told through the pages of Robinson Crusoe’s diary, this book offers a satisfying combination of serious and silly as readers find just how badly things can go for this all-time favorite once the living dead are added to the mix.

The Royals: Masters of War by Rob Williams and Simon Coleby

The year is 1940. As the Blitz destroys London and kills thousands, the Royal Family looks on. But in this world, the only people with special abilities are Royalty, and the purer the bloodline, the greater their abilities. So why don't they stop the carnage with their powers? A truce between the Earth's nobles has kept them out of our wars--until now. When England's Prince Henry can take no more and intervenes, will it stop the planet's suffering or take it to another level?

Writer Rob Williams (Judge Dredd: Trifecta, Low Life, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN and Daken) and artist Simon Coleby (The Authority, Judge Dredd: Year One and Trifecta) team up to bring you this epic of World War proportions. History will be transformed in a way you've never seen before.

Collects THE ROYALS: MASTERS OF WAR  #1-6

[Editor's Note: Read Chris Nuttall's review.]

Zombie Apocalypse! End Game by Stephen Jones

Through interconnected eyewitness accounts—emails, text messages, reports, diaries, found video footage, and graphic adaptations, Zombie Apocalypse! Endgame tells the story of the climactic final battle between the ZZ infantry of the New Zombie Order and the fighters of the human resistance. Who will win the endgame?

E-books

Jazz Age Cthulhu by Orrin Grey, Jennifer Brozek and A.D. Cahill

Three new novelettes inspired by Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, set against the background of the Roaring Twenties.

Journey to Kansas City, the “Paris of the Plains,” a city of glamor and sin where cults, secret societies and music intermingle.

Visit Assam, India, where a British dilettante wakes up one morning covered in bruises and welts, with a dead man in her bed and no memory of what happened in the last 24 hours. Her only clue is a trashed invitation to the exclusive Black Ram Club.

Relax on the resort island of Pomptinia, an Italian enclave of wealthy socialites, expats and intellectuals. But beware - the sea conceals dark secrets.

Fiction by Jennifer Brozek, A.D. Cahill and Orrin Grey.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Is your story going to be published in time for the next New Releases? Contact us 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 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: 1000th Post Special Edition

As I agonized over what to do for the 1000th post I found it easier just to give my readers what they seem to like the best: MAPS! Seriously, anything I post with a map in it you guys eat up, if my page view counter is to be believed. So for this Map Monday I just decided to showcase every single map that caught my eye. No honorable mentions today, everyone is a winner.

We start with a non-alternate history map that I found on io9. It is called "WikiGalaxy" and it is literally Wikipedia if all the pages were each a different star. This is a clip of what it looks like:

This was a seriously fun way of finding out information. If you got some time to waste, go and play with this galaxy. Start by typing in "alternate history" and see the list of related systems.

Next up, we have the blank map "Terra Australis" by Morraw:

It is based off this early map of Australia. Why did I like this map? Because I really want to see a timeline involving this map. Someone make it now. There are so many crazy alternate histories that can be made using this super Antarctica. What kind of animals would evolve on this continent? What would the indigenous culture be like? How would it be colonized by the northern hemisphere powers (or would it  be)? I will post it here on The Update if someone writes up a believable scenario. Do it!

I finish with "A New Era: The Age of S.H.I.E.L.D." by Lost the game:

So what happens if Hydra wins in Captain America: Winter Soldier? Well it might look something like the scenario above. Hydra would probably use the crisis to take over the world, but they would remain under the guise of S.H.I.E.L.D. and blame the millions of dead on agents not under their control. They would also go as far as to call them Hydra, just to rub salt in the wounds. Hail Hydra!

Well thanks guys for loving Map Mondays and reading Alternate History Weekly Update. It is hard to believe I actually managed to write 1000 posts. One of the reasons I started this blog was to practice my writing and I certainly have gotten a lot of practice, although the jury is still out if I have gotten any better. I also want to thank all of the great guest bloggers who contributed to the 1000 posts.

Before I go you might want to check out Matthew Yglesias' 20 maps that never happened at Vox. There are a lot of alternate history maps on that list, some which you have probably seen already, but some that were new even to me. I also should point out that Lynn Davis (a.k.a. PlatoonSgt) has a Patreon page. So if you want to support alternate cartography, you should definitely check it out.

Thanks again guys for supporting the Update. Let's see if we can get to 2000!

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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.

Weekly Update #172

Editor's Note

It is amazing to think that the year is almost over. 2014 was a tough year for me and I'm being honest when I say I am looking forward to it ending. That being said I am looking forward to the next couple weeks. I got my wedding anniversary, my family's Slava, our annual downtown Chicago Xmas trip, Christmas and Boxer day. Plus I am going to see Otis Day perform at Hollywood Palms in Naperville on New Year's Eve.

With so much on my plate, this is probably going to be the last Weekly Update of the year. I may string together one more, but no guarantees. I will do my usual end of the year posts, but I am going to enjoy my winter break from blogging.

As some of you already know, we lost one of the original alternate historians this year, Stuart Shiffman. Steve Davidson, editor of Amazing Stories, was nice enough to compile a list of charities and causes Stu supported. If any of you would like to make a donation in his honor, I highly recommend you click on that link.

And now the news...

New Releases: In the Shadow of Zion: Promised Lands Before Israel by Adam L. Rovner

Back in March, I posted a list of five alternate locations for Israel on Amazing Stories. So when I saw the new book In the Shadow of Zion: Promised Lands Before Israel by Adam L. Rovner, it of course peeked my interest. Let's check out the description:

From the late nineteenth century through the post-Holocaust era, the world was divided between countries that tried to expel their Jewish populations and those that refused to let them in. The plight of these traumatized refugees inspired numerous proposals for Jewish states. Jews and Christians, authors and adventurers, politicians and playwrights, and rabbis and revolutionaries all worked to carve out autonomous Jewish territories in remote and often hostile locations across the globe. The would-be founding fathers of these imaginary Zions dispatched scientific expeditions to far-flung regions and filed reports on the dream states they planned to create. But only Israel emerged from dream to reality. Israel’s successful foundation has long obscured the fact that eminent Jewish figures, including Zionism’s prophet, Theodor Herzl, seriously considered establishing enclaves beyond the Middle East.

In the Shadow of Zion brings to life the amazing true stories of six exotic visions of a Jewish national home outside of the biblical land of Israel. It is the only book to detail the connections between these schemes, which in turn explain the trajectory of modern Zionism. A gripping narrative drawn from archives the world over, In the Shadow of Zion recovers the mostly forgotten history of the Jewish territorialist movement, and the stories of the fascinating but now obscure figures who championed it.

Provocative, thoroughly researched, and written to appeal to a broad audience, In the Shadow of Zion offers a timely perspective on Jewish power and powerlessness.

As Gavriel Rosenfeld of The Counterfactual History Review put it, there is a "strong counterfactual subtext to it". If you want a little taste of Rovner's book, check out his article on the Jewish Book Council. He talks about five alternate Israels, including some that did not make my list.

Crusader Kings II: Way of Life Launching December 16

Paradox announced that Crusader Kings II: Way of Life, the next expansion for the strategy franchise, will be released on December 16th via digital storefronts worldwide. Way of Life will be available on PC, Mac, and Linux for $7.99.

Way of Life delves into the role-playing aspects of Crusader Kings II, giving players the ability to fine-tune their methods of seduction and break ups, and also the ability to set a Focus for your character that will influence the types of events that befall your character during their lifetime. Featuring hundreds of new events as well as over 20 new event pictures, Way of Life will give players control over their characters in ways never before available (at least according to the press release).

Videos for Alternate Historians

Wow, lot of videos to get through from last week. Lets begin with Epic Rap Battles of History's daytime talk show host smackdown! Oprah vs. Ellen:

Not a bad one. I certainly liked it better from last week's. Hey, did you know Marvel was trying to get Sony to turn over Spiderman? Let's learn more from the folks at The Know:

That would have been an awesome movie! Personally I would like to see an X-Men/Avengers crossover so perhaps they should start buttering up Fox. Does The Know have anything else to share from last week? Actually, they do. Papers, Please (minus the nudity) is coming to an iPad near you:

Up next, we have a review of The Shadow: Midnight in Moscow by Howard Chaykin from Pulp Crazy to celebrate Wold Newton Day:

Now its time to troll some of my readers with a video on steampunk. Here is what you missed by not playing Dishonored:

Fun fact: it was made by the same people who created Wolfenstein: The New Order, if you couldn't tell from the art style. Finally we end with the return of Cody Franklin of the Alternate History Hub as he discusses the world of Dick's The Man in the High Castle:

Phew! I'm done. Now onto some links.

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction

Excerpt: On Her Majesty’s Behalf by Joseph Nassise at My Bookish Ways.
PM's Literary Award for Alternate History by John Birmingham at Cheeseburger Gothic.
Review: The Given Sacrifice by S.M. Stirling at Tom Kepler Writing.
Review: Silverblind by Tina Connolly at SF Signal.
Review: The Time Roads by Beth Bernobich at Open Book Society.
SUCCESSIO selected as Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller‘s at Alison Morton's Roma Nova.

Counterfactuals, History and News

4 Insane Theories People Still Believe About the Nazis by M. Asher Cantrell at Cracked.
The 14 Most Insane Fictional Versions Of Real Life Historical Figures at io9.
An Auto-Oriented Manhattan at Analysis by Matt Taylor.
Documenting Life in Countries You Probably Never Knew Existed by Jordan G. Teicher at Slate.
Fox: Obama Seeks Advice on Establishing Monarchy by Andy Borowitz at The New Yorker.
Here's what police planned to say if Darren Wilson was indicted at The Week.
The Real Story Of Apollo 17... And Why We Never Went Back To The Moon at io9.
This Greenpeace Stunt May Have Irreparably Damaged Peru's Nazca Site at io9.
Tom Harkin and the Alternate History of Health Care Reform at Bloomberg Politics.
What's the Historical Reality Behind the Trojan Horse? by Esther Inglis-Arkell at io9.
What Would Life Be Like On A Flat Earth? by Robbie Gonzalez at io9.

Films and Television

'Ascension': Could Mankind Really Survive 100 Years in Space? at NBC.
BBC Is Planning A Theme Park With “Doctor Who” And “Sherlock” at Nicole Wakelin.
How Will Smith Turned Down The Matrix by Jerome Maida at MoviePilot.
Marco Polo: Evocative History at Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress.
Orthodox Church Stopped A Giant Eye Of Sauron Being Built Over Moscow at Business Insider.

Games

The 25 Best Video Games of 2014 at Slant.
Codename S.T.E.A.M. Arrives March 2015 With Online Multiplayer at GameInformer.
I'm Rather Worried About Assassin's Creed Coming to Victorian London at Kotaku.

Interviews

Alison Morton at Layered Pages.

Podcasts

Dieselpunk Comics Micro Cast #17 12/10/2014 at Diesel Powered Podcast.
Ratchet RetroCast Episode 42 – Don’t Panic at Earth Station One.

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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.