New Releases 9/30/14

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Hardcovers

Black Hat Jack by Joe R. Lansdale

The story of African-Americans in the West has been confined to the dusty, bottom shelf of recorded history and American literature. But in the vein of the old dime novels containing stories about such heroes as Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, and Jesse James, comes the true story of one of those ten-cent novel heroes, Deadwood Dick, disguised in those novels as a white champion of justice and adventure, but in reality a black cowboy, buffalo soldier, Indian fighter, and general hell raiser.

Here, Nat Love, the one and only Deadwood Dick, writes down his version of certain events, straightening out numerous misconceptions raised in the popular and sanitized dime novels. Though his version varies considerably from the numerous volumes of adventures attributed to him, his true story, with perhaps a bit of exaggeration, is no less fascinating or exciting.

Nat was one of those Old West characters who seemed to be everywhere and met everyone that was anyone at some point in his life. ''Black Hat Jack'' details Nat's version of the events of the now famous Second Battle of Adobe Walls, where he and a handful of buffalo hunters, primarily his good friend, Black Hat Jack, were pitted against hundreds of Comanche, Cheyenne, and Kiowa warriors.

Heroics abound. Curse words fly. Humor flows as free as blood, and there's even a spot of romance. And with all that real life bravado, there might even be a few lies.

Joe R. Lansdale's stories about Nat Love are based loosely on the real Nat Love, who may have told a few windies about his time in the West, but at the same time revealed that African-Americans of that era were not all cooks and custodians. In fact, a full third of the cowboys of the Wild West days were African-American, Hispanic, or of mixed blood. This is a tribute to the real deal, as well as to the great mythology of the Old West.

The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond

In a stunning reimagining of history, debut author Caroline Tung Richmond weaves an incredible story of secrets and honor in a world where Hitler won World War II.

It's been nearly 80 years since the Allies lost WWII in a crushing defeat against Hitler's genetically engineered super soldiers. America has been carved up by the victors, and 16-year-old Zara lives a life of oppression in the Eastern America Territories. Under the iron rule of the Nazis, the government strives to maintain a master race, controlling everything from jobs to genetics. Despite her mixed heritage and hopeless social standing, Zara dreams of the free America she's only read about in banned books. A revolution is growing, and a rogue rebel group is plotting a deadly coup. Zara might hold the key to taking down the Führer for good, but it also might be the very thing that destroys her. Because what she has to offer the rebels is something she's spent her entire life hiding, under threat of immediate execution by the Nazis.

In this action-packed, heart-stopping novel of a terrifying reality that could have been, Zara must decide just how far she'll go for freedom.

Paperbacks

Burdens of the Dead by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Sequel to Much Fall of Blood, book 4 in the Heirs of Alexandria series. Civilization at the crossroads. In an alternate Renaissance where magic works, a captain of Italian forces must deal with gods, goddesses and warfare in order to save his daughter at the siege of Constantinople—and prevent a new dark age.

In an alternate 15th century where magic still is part of life, the Holy Roman Empire rules Europe. Constantinople is under siege by the Venetians and their allies. Hekate, Goddess of Crossroads, presides over the conflict and carnage as alternate visions of civilization collide. And since Constantinople is the crossroad city of east and west, and it is here that Italian captain Benito Valdosta must deal with the powerful magical manifestation of the Weeping Woman, a disguised Hekate,  in order to save his daughter and to destroy the fleets of the Chernobog assembling in the Black Sea before they can cut into the soft underbelly of Europe.

With land battles, naval action, cunning assassinations, and heartbreak aplenty—not to mention the ongoing conflict between Lord of the Dead and Benito for the love of a woman, civilization is at the crossroads and choices must be made that will bring victory and freedom for centuries to come—or a new Dark Age.

Company Town by Madeline Ashby

They call it Company Town – a Family-owned city-sized oil rig off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes.

Meet Hwa. One of the few in her community to forego bio-engineered enhancements, she’s the last truly organic person left on the rig. But she’s an expert in the arts of self-defence, and she’s been charged with training the Family’s youngest, who has been receiving death threats – seemingly from another timeline.

Meanwhile, a series of interconnected murders threatens the city’s stability – serial killer? Or something much, much worse..?

Dangerous Women #1 edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Commissioned by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, these tales of dangerous women by the most stellar names in fiction are available for the first time in three-volume paperback. George R.R. Martin is the bestselling author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the inspiration for HBO's hit series Game of Thrones. This first volume features an original 35,000 word novella by George R.R. Martin.'The Princess and the Queen' reveals the origins of the civil war in Westeros (before the events in A Game of Thrones), which is known as the Dance of the Dragons, pitting Targaryen against Targaryen and dragon against dragon. Other authors in this volume of warriors, bad girls and dragonriders include worldwide bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson, Lawrence Block and Nancy Kress. DANGEROUS WOMEN 1 Gardner Dozois's introduction George R. R. Martin, 'The Princess and the Queen' Carrie Vaughn, 'Raisa Stepanova' Nancy Kress,'"Second Arabesque, Very Slowly' Lawrence Block, 'I Know How to Pick 'Em' Megan Abbott, 'My Heart Is Either Broken' Joe R. Lansdale, 'Wrestling Jesus' Brandon Sanderson, 'Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell'

The Mammoth Book of Steampunk Adventures edited by Sean Wallace

From the editor of The Mammoth Book of Steampunk, this anthology of steam-powered short stories, dirigibles aloft, retro-tech wonders, and astounding adventure will set clockwork-loving hearts hammering with delight. Longtime steampunk fans: prepare to gleefully grab your goggles to read these remarkable stories! Newcomers: prepare to become fans of this popular genre involving both the past and present—entertainingly and provocatively re-thought, re-invented, and re-evaluated. With stories by K.W. Jeter, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Ken Liu, Cherie Priest, Carrie Vaughn, and many others.

Full list of contributors: Christopher Barzak; Tobias Buckell; C. S. E. Cooney; Aliette de Bodard; Lisa L. Hannett; Samantha Henderson; K. W. Jeter; Caitlin R. Kiernan; Jay Lake; Ken Liu; Alex Dally MacFarlane; Tony Pi; Cherie Priest; Cat Rambo; Chris Roberson; Margaret Ronald; Sofia Samatar; Gord Sellar; Nisi Shawl; Benjanun Sriduangkaew; E. Caterine Tobler; Genevieve Valentine; Carrie Vaughn; AC Wise; Jonathan Wood.

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: The Partition of France by Xibalba

For all of those who get tired of seeing Poland partitioned again and again in every timeline, here is this week's map titled "The Partition of France" by Xibalba of AlternateHistory.com:

This is one of those situations where you have a really nice looking map, but a poor scenario. If you click on the link above you will see that this map comes from a timeline where the Commonwealth of England survived and allied itself with Germany against a France still ruled by a monarchy. A war later erupted after Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo.

Considering that we are dealing with a point of divergence in the 17th century, truly a lot of things still had to happen to not only get a man named Franz to take a trip to Bosnia that ends in a major war, but also to have Belgium exist, which was an invention of the 19th century and could have easily been butterflied away. Still I can sort of forgive the poorly thought out scenario based one just the nice-looking map above. Perhaps someone else out there can come up with a better scenario?

No honorable mentions this week.  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 #162

Editor's Note

My paper on the history of the alternate history fandom is progressing nicely. I finished Evans' Altered Pasts, which I will be reviewing on Amazing Stories tomorrow, and I am wrapping up an interview with Ian Montgomerie. That's right, I will be posting an interview with Ian the Admin, founder of AlternateHistory.com, in the near future so stay tuned.

Also please check Daniel Bensen's podcast on alternate history. Yours truly was the guest and I had a great time speculating with Dan on wide range of topics.

And now the news...

What's Next for Scotland and America's Secessionists?

So Scotland's bid for independent failed, but the debate is far from over. There is the big question on what the British government is going to offer Scotland now that they stayed in the UK, which is being called the "devo-max" option, and how this will effect the rest of the country (consider what happens when England begins demanding their very own regional parliament). As British politicians prepare for future headaches, across the pond, American secessionists have not lost hope that the referendum could kickstart their own bids for independence.

A few days ago I started an informal poll in Alternate History Online asking members which American state or region they thought was the best candidate for independence. As I write this on Sunday night, Texas is in the lead with Hawaii in second and tied for third we have California and New England. Texas being the favorite isn't that far fetched as Annie Lowrey of Slate backs that up in her article on secession. That being said, perhaps we shouldn't be looking at the big states to bring down the Union, but instead focus on smaller states like New Hampshire according to Jason Sorens, founder of Free State Project, said in The Washington Post.

Truth be told, secession in the United States remains far-fetched. I will continue to keep an eye on the subject, however, because I know how much alternate historians like to balkanize the USA.

Outlander Wraps Up the First Half of Season 1

I am trying not to learn too much about Outlander, because I really want to watch the show and don't want anything spoiled. So here is what I will say: the mid-season finale of Outlander premiered last Saturday (catch a sneak peak here) and the show will return next April. Geek Syndicate and io9 had reviews for episode 7, while Paul Levinson and Geek Syndicate again had reviews for episode 8.

Phew! Really quick recap done and no spoilers.

Videos for Alternate Historians

This week in videos we begin with the First Doctor lecturing us about why we can't rewrite history:

Sorry wasn't paying attention. We follow that up with a history of the Metroid franchise done by the guys at The Game Theorists:

We end with Cinema Sins tearing about Captain America: The Winter Soldier:

Yeah not exactly alternate history, but with Cap having his own wing in the Smithsonian, I thought this may slide in just under the wire.

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction

The book I read suddenly had an alternate history by Ghost in the Machine at io9.
Excerpt from Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire by Dru Pagliassotti - September 27, 2014 at The Qwillery.
Hilary Mantel hits back at critics of her Thatcher assassination short story by Matthew Weaver at The Guardian.
Mysterious Galaxy reading! Venusian Gambit pre-orders! Plus wikipedia! at Michael J. Martinez.
Review: The Boleyn Deceit by Laura Andersen at Writedge.
Review: The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato at NPR.
Review: The Golden Princess by S.M. Stirling at Bookworm Blues.
Review: Jani and the Greater Game by Eric Brown at Falcata Times.
Science Fiction Excerpt: Caveat Time Traveler at Scientific America.
Steampunk Fiction and the Women Who Write It by Rachel Cordasco at Book Riot.

Comics

REVIEW: Red Baron Vol. 1 at Geek Syndicate.

Counterfactuals, History and News

The 9 biggest alien invasion hoaxes in history by Evan Hoovler at Blastr.
Cowboys and Kalashnikovs: Comparing the Mexican-American War to the Conflict in Ukraine by Zach Dorfman at National Interest.
Denver area students walk out of school in protest by Colleen Slevin at Yahoo.
Life in the multiverse means endless possibilities at New Scientist.
Steampunk & Disability: Why I Find It’s A Better Fit Than Other Fandoms by M. Sally-Rouge Pax at Steampunk Tourist.
Trench Warfare in World War I Was a Smarter Strategy Than You Realize by George Dvorsky at io9.

Films and Television

8 Things That Prove Star Wars Actually Takes Place In Our Galaxy by Rob Bricken at io9.
The Black Widow Movie That Almost Happened by Gwynne Watkins at Yahoo.
Disney Movies In Order Of Their Historical Setting by Gergo Vas at Kotaku.
REVIEW: Doctor Who, S8, E5: Time Heist and E6: The Caretaker at Geek Syndicate.
Time-Travel Movies Are Garbage by Mike Pearl at Vice.

Games

11 things to think about before starting a time travel plot by David Ball at Ongoing Worlds.
There's A New Total War Game Coming, But Hrm by Luke Plunkett at Kotaku.

Interviews

Stefan Bachmann at Tor.
Alan Gratz at Tor.
Cherie Priest at Tor.

Podcasts

Almost Educational - EP 12: Alternate History Lesson at Podcast Garden.
The SF Signal Podcast (Episode 259): A Discussion of Social Science Fiction at SF Signal.
Show 14 – Four Weeks in the Trenches 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.

Flag Friday: Russian Philippines

Guest post by Sam McDonald.

This is the flag of the Petrines, also known as the Russian Philippines. It comes from a world where Russia built up their navy early on. This meant Russia could devote more effort and focus on their colonies in the Americas. Besides further colonizing Alaska, they also colonized what would have been British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California, though not without objections from the Spanish.

Eventually, after a chance discovery of gold, the Russians and Spanish went to war over California. It was ultimately decided that Russia would pull out of California, but in exchange would take some other Spanish land; with the Spanish offering the Philippines. As a result the Russian Philippines was born.

The Russians encouraged people from many different nations to help settle their new colony both to provide labor and to prevent the former Spanish colonists (such as they were) from taking over. This would, over the years, lead to a blending of native cultures, colonial settlers and slaves from Russia's African outposts have the archipelago a unique culture like nothing before it. However, they never forgot that it was Mother Russia to whom they all, even if indirectly, were linked.

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Sam McDonald is a college student from Shreveport, LA.  When not involved with his studies he can be found making and posting maps across the web and working on short stories that he hopes to have published in magazines such as Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and the Escape Artists Podcasts. 

What If Wednesday: President Gary Hart

From The CNN Brief.

I think its safe to say that younger generations (and I include myself in this group) have no idea who Gary Hart is. Quick primer: he was an American politician, an almost liberal alternative to the Reagan era, who twice sought the Democratic nomination for President (1984 and 1988) but was brought down by a sex scandal during the 1988 campaign. Matt Bai in The New York Times discussed the whole scandal and lamented the changes to journalism it caused, but the last part of the article, where Hart speculates about what would happen if he was president, is what really perked my attention:

“Well, at the very least, George W. Bush wouldn't have been president,” Hart said ruefully. This sounded a little narcissistic, but it was, in fact, a hard premise to refute. Had Hart bested George H. W. Bush in 1988, as he was well on his way to doing, it’s difficult to imagine that Bush’s aimless eldest son would have somehow ascended from nowhere to become governor of Texas and then president within 12 years’ time.

“And we wouldn't have invaded Iraq,” Hart went on. “And a lot of people would be alive who are dead.” A brief silence surrounded us. Hart sighed loudly, as if literally deflating. “You have to live with that, you know?”

Now Gary Hart presidential alternate histories aren't very popular in the genre. The most famous one has to be "Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, California - October 6, 1976, 7:00 p.m." from Jeff Greenfield's Then Everything Changed (review), which has him winning the presidency in 1980. Still considering how controversial President Reagan was for some Americans, one wonders what would have happened if Hart was elected President sometime between 1980 and 1988...

Well first off, Hart may have needed more than a sex scandal staying buried to be elected president. As many have pointed out, Hart had too many rumors about his infidelity swirling around and his high poll numbers came too early in the 1988 campaign to be very meaningful for a plausible counterfactual. Perhaps his best shot was to get the nomination in 1980 or 1984, although honestly I don't know enough about the era to speculate confidently. I can say that a known womanizer who already had multiple affairs could easily have a sex scandal happen while he was president, causing a Clinton-esque crisis to happen years earlier. Could he have been impeached? Its possible, considering even Clinton's impeachment got to the Senate.

What I really wanted to discuss, however, is the two counterfactual statements made by Gary at the end of the article: that Hart as president would mean no George W. Bush or Iraq War. This belief doesn't seem backed up by any real facts. Even if George H.W. Bush is not elected president (or vice president in a scenario where Hart defeats Reagan) there is no guarantee that George W. or someone with his politics would not be able to reach the White House on their own merit in a post-Hart presidency (in fact if Hart does have a sex scandal while president, it is not unforeseeable that Americans would elect a Republican in the next elections).

It also presumes that somehow Hart would have prevented the circumstances that led to the Iraq War, which as Frank Harvey described in Explaining the Iraq War (review), had little to do with who was in office and more to do with factors that were set in motion decades before. Maybe Hart could have avoided the Iraq War, or even 9/11 since he is given a lot of credit for predicting it would happen, but it is just as likely that something worse could have happened and there is no guarantee President Hart would be as farsighted as Citizen Hart was. As we get far enough away from the initial point of divergence, it becomes harder to assume we will know exactly what will happen without falling into the trap of creating a parallel history.

Perhaps it was a narcissistic thing for Hart to say about himself or, as Gavriel D. Rosenfeld said in his commentary on Bai's article, he is just using a counterfactual in order to give meaning to his life. Hart wants to believe that in the end he is a good person and would have been a great president. Whether he would have is a matter for us alternate historians to decide. What do you think of President Gary Hart? Let us know in the comments.

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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.

Review: World War Kaiju by Josh Finney and Patrick McEvoy

I wouldn't call myself a "Kaiju" fan. Sure I watched Godzilla movies when I was a kid, but as an adult I never understood the nostalgia for giant monsters that some people have. 1998's Godzilla was awful, Cloverfield was silly, Pacific Rim was overrated and there was so much hype for 2014 Godzilla that I didn't even bother to go see it in theaters (which was probably a smart move considering the title character is only in 8 freaking minutes of the movie). So in truth I was a tad hesitant about reading World War Kaiju by Josh Finney and Patrick McEvoy, but I am happy in the end that I took the chance.

World War Kaiju is an alternate history of the Cold War where instead of nuclear weapons, giant monsters were developed to defeat Japan. Born from radioactive crystals discovered in the Earth's crust, the two superpowers are now locked in an arms race to hatch the most monsters. The story is told as an interview between an intelligence agent at the heart of it all and an anti-establishment reporter looking for the truth. From the scenes set in the present, you get hints that something really bad happened and Nixon is to blame, but the story ended in 1958, leaving it to the sequel(s) to fill us in.

Kaiju aside, I am not sure if I would classify this story as an alternate history. Sure there were changes, like Tokyo being destroyed instead of Hiroshima and the atom bomb never being invented, but history and society tends to parallel OTL's Cold War. I can forgive that because World War Kaiju is at heart a love letter to Kaiju genre and the bad sci-fi of the mid-20th century, and the art used by McEvoy reflects this as well. We see huckster Martians and hero scientists, along with tons of monsters no doubt inspired from films on both sides of the Pacific. The appendixes in the back are chock full of information and their earnestness makes for some real good humor.

There was a plot hole that annoyed me a little. Turns out the crystals the Kaiju are born from are extraterrestrial in origin. An alien race fought a devastating war with Kaiju and to prevent themselves from ever using them again they dumped all of the crystals on prehistoric Earth. This seems rather pointless considering its established in the comic that the crystals can be damaged and destroyed making them useless for hatching Kaiju. If that is so, why didn't the aliens just destroy them instead of going to all the trouble of transporting them to a distant planet and just hoping no one ever figures out how to use them? Was there no stars or black holes nearby to drop them into? I know it wouldn't make much of a story if the aliens did destroy the crystals and perhaps there is an explanation coming in later issues, but it still bugged me.

Plot hole aside, I believe I can still recommend World War Kaiju. This parody of 1950s sci-fi was an entertaining read and I look forward to seeing book 2.

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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.

J.J. Abrams Producing 11/22/63 Mini-Series for Hulu

With Amazon TV moving forward on their adaptation of Dick's The Man in the High Castle, it looks like Hulu has entered the alternate history arms race. They announced in a press release yesterday that Hulu has ordered a nine episode mini-series of Stephen King's 11/22/63 (review). I originally reported a year ago that 11/22/63 had been optioned by Abrams, but now Hulu has finally given them the green-light.

“If I ever wrote a book that cries out for long-form, event TV programming, 11/22/63 is it,” King said in the press release. “I’m excited that it’s going to happen, and am looking forward to working with J.J. Abrams and the whole Bad Robot team.”

For those who haven't read the book, 11/22/63 is about a divorced English teacher who travels back in time to 1958 and decides to prevent the Kennedy assassination. The novel is mostly a time travel story as the actual alternate history content is quite minimal. Nevertheless I enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing what Abrams and Hulu have to offer. King will also have producer credits, along with Bridget Carpenter who will be writing the script.

“I've been a fan of Stephen King since I was in junior high school,” Abrams said. “The chance to work with him at all, let alone on a story so compelling, emotional and imaginative, is a dream." Considering Abrams tried to turn The Dark Tower into a film in 2007, I think he has proved his King fan cred. With Star Wars still being filmed, however, its safe to assume J.J. won't be very active in this project.

No release date yet, but I will keep you posted on any new details as they are announced.

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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.

Interview: Alan Gratz

Check out my interview with Alan Gratz, author of The League of Seven:

Who is Alan Gratz?

I'm the author of a bunch of novels for young readers, including Samurai Shortstop, The Brooklyn Nine, Starfleet Academy: The Assassination Game, Prisoner B-3087, and The League of Seven. I write history, mystery, sports, science fiction, and fantasy—basically, whatever I like to read, I write! A Knoxville, Tennessee native, I'm now a full-time writer living in Western North Carolina.

What got you interested in alternate history?

I've always loved history, but even more, I've always loved the “What if?” game. What if the Axis won World War II? (Robert Harris's Fatherland, Phillip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, et al.) What if Charles Babbage had built his mechanical computer? (Gibson & Sterling's The Difference Engine) What if a Jewish state was established not in the Middle East, but in Alaska? (Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union) I can't really say what my first exposure to alternate history was, but Robert Harris's Fatherland was certainly a big book for me in college. Ever since then, I've been fascinated by the different paths life can take based on the simplest of choices.

What is The League of Seven about?

The League of Seven is the story of seven super-powered kids who use rayguns and airships and clockwork machine men to battle giant electrical monsters in an alternate America of the 1870s. So, definitely Alien Space Bats. My Alien Space Bats (the Mangleborn) rise up and destroy Europe in 1770, leaving the relatively few European settlers in the New World stranded and alone. To survive, the settlers in New England join the Iroquois League of Nations as the “Yankee” tribe, eventually becoming one of the founding members of the United Nations of America, a USA analogue that by the 1870s stretched from the east coast to the Mississippi River. The monsters are also the source of the aether used in the rayguns—a mystical energy source that's so alien (it operates on a “different geometry,” to quote Lovecraft) all humans can figure out to do with it is channel it through crystals and shoot it at each other. Since the Mangleborn feed on electricity, the world has to maintain a perpetual Victorian level of technology—which explains why the world is steampunk.

What inspired you to write your novel?

For The League of Seven, I wanted to write a book that ten year old me would think was awesome. A book ten year old me couldn't leave the bookstore or library without taking home with him. (And 42 year old me, really.) So I started with a blank bulletin board and a single notecard right in the center that said “FULL OF AWESOME.” Then I started adding new note cards all around it, in no special place or order, each with something awesome on it: Rayguns. Airships. Clockwork Machine Men. Giant Monsters. Submarines. Secret Societies. Heads in Jars. I put up maybe two dozen ideas, then sat back in my chair for a week just staring at them, trying to build a story out of as many of them as possible. Not all of them made it, but a lot of them did. The result was heroes and villains and gadgets and a world that was totally awesome. Or at least I thought so. :-)

Who designed the cover?

That cover is really full of awesome, isn't it? It's done by a fabulous artist named Brett Helquist, who is also responsible for the covers on Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, among others. Most authors are never consulted on the covers of their own books. For each of my seven previous books, no one asked me what I wanted the cover to look like. One day it just appeared in my inbox, and the editors who sent them never even said, “What do you think?” It was always, “Here it is!” Unless you love it, they don't really want to know what you think, because they're not going to change it for you.

So when my terrific editor at Tor/Starscape, Susan Chang, e-mailed me one day to ask me what I wanted the cover to look like, I just about fell out of my chair. I told her I wasn't going to say WHAT the cover should look like, because I'm not a trained artist. Instead I put together a Pinterest board with art from a lot of my favorite book cover and comic book illustrators' work on it. One of the artists I pinned to the board was Brett Helquist. My note was, “I know we can't get him, but if we could find somebody who draws like Brett Helquist, that would be awesome.” A month later Susan called me up and told me they'd hired Brett Helquist to do the cover, and I fell out of my chair all over again. I'm so thrilled we got him to do the cover, and I couldn't be happier with the result. People say “Don't judge a book by its cover,” but I hope in this case they do.

Any advice for aspiring authors?

Persistence. A lot of people want to write books, and some people actually do it. But then a lot of those people get one rejection and they're out. They either quit altogether, or they self-pub because they “just want to see the book in print.” Others keep sending out the same novel forever, flogging the same tired old manuscript for years and years and years, recycling it, rewriting it, or worse, writing sequels to a book they haven't even sold yet. If you're interested in a traditionally-published career, you can't quit when you get one rejection or two dozen rejections, and you can't cling to one manuscript to the exclusion of all else. Write one book, then rewrite it and rewrite it and rewrite it to make it the best book you can, then send it out to agents. Then, while that book is still in those agents' mailboxes, start writing the next book. A totally different book. Write it, edit it, send it out, and repeat the process all over again. That's what I did, and that's what most of the successfully published authors I know did. Write, revise, submit, repeat. It's all about persistence.

Map Monday: Route of Diogo de Teive's 1452 Voyage by Reagent

This week features a very minimalist map by Reagent called "Route of Diogo de Teive's 1452 Voyage":

It is from Reagent's new timeline "Quinto Império: uma História do Império Português". From its description, its a Portuguese-wank where the POD centers around the Portuguese explorer Diogo de Teive discovering the Americas decades before Columbus would in OTL. The real reason I picked this map, however, is the shadowing used to denote those areas unknown to Europe, which communicated a powerful message of what fate has in store for Portugal and this timeline in general.

Honorable mention this week goes to Todyo1798's "'NEVER!' A satirical tribute to Ian Paisley". 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 #161

Editor's Note

If you guys liked my brief history of alternate history fandom, you will be happy to know I am planning a more in depth look at the people who play the what if game that I hope to submit to the Sideways in Time conference. Already my research has uncovered the year we realized World War II and American Civil War alternate histories were the most popular in the English language, the time Del Rey declared October the alternate history month and other defunct communities like Other Timelines.

In the meantime, if you have any important events you think I missed, let me know by emailing me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com. I am also hoping to contact some of the big names in fandom, so if you know how please consider making introductions. Thanks!

And now the news...

Preview: Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato

Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato is a debut steampunk, historical fantasy novel that has blown up the Geek Net. For those who don't know, here is the description from Amazon:

Full of magic, mystery, and romance, an enchanting steampunk fantasy debut in the bestselling vein of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger.

Orphaned as a child, Octavia Leander was doomed to grow up on the streets until Miss Percival saved her and taught her to become a medician. Gifted with incredible powers, the young healer is about to embark on her first mission, visiting suffering cities in the far reaches of the war-scarred realm. But the airship on which she is traveling is plagued by a series of strange and disturbing occurrences, including murder, and Octavia herself is threatened.

Suddenly, she is caught up in a flurry of intrigue: the dashingly attractive steward may be one of the infamous Clockwork Daggers—the Queen’s spies and assassins—and her cabin-mate harbors disturbing secrets. But the danger is only beginning, for Octavia discovers that the deadly conspiracy aboard the airship may reach the crown itself.

Want to learn more about Clockwork Dagger? Author Beth helpfully provided a lot of supplemental info last week. You can read about the cast at Literary Escapism, learn how Beth went from loving historical fiction to writing steampunk at SF Signal and read about her favorite bit over at Mary Robinette Kowal's website. You can also check out interviews with Beth on Reddit, Fran Wilde's Cooking the Books and the Qwillery, where Beth described the setting of Clockwork Dagger being inspired by "post-World War I Europe, while the geography is based on western Washington state."

No reviews yet, so if you have read this book, let us know.

I won Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon by David Barnett!

And just because I like trolling certain alternate historians, lets talk about another STEAMPUNK book, except this one is actually listed as an alternate history on Uchronia, so there you go. I am of course talking about Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon by David Barnett, the sequel to Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl (see my review on Amazing Stories). I was lucky enough to win a copy from My Bookish Ways, an excellent site for SF literature that I have linked to often and you should definitely check out.

Now I have talked about this book enough that there is no need to included the book description, but there were some other sites talking about the sequel that you may want to check out. First up, David talked about the five things he learned writing Brass Dragon over at Chuck Wendig's Terrible Minds. He also described his weird and broken America over on John Scalzi's Whatever.

Expect a review from me in the near future.

Links to the Multiverse

Books and Short Fiction

Cover & Synopsis: THE ETERNA FILES by Leanna Renee Hieber at SF Signal.
Excerpt Thursday: PERFIDITAS by Alison Morton at Unusual Historicals.
Free eBook: CHASING THE QUEEN OF SASSI by Paul Di Filippo at SF Signal.
Historic fantasy to inspire youth: Author Daisy Lee Yang speaks about inspiration and thoughts behind her new book at The Korea Herald.
Invasion Porn – Britain’s Curious Pre-WW1 Obsession With Novels About Foreign Occupation at Military History Now.
It's About Time by Dennis O'Neil at ComicM!x.
Review: The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan at Nocturnal Book Reviews.
Review: California Bones by Greg Van Eekhout at Bookworm Blues.
Review: Last Plane to Heaven by Jay Lake at Locus.
Review: The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond at The Children's War.
Review:
Steampunk gears up for a broader audience by Jason Heller at Entertainment Weekly.

Counterfactuals, History and News

Congress takes up bill to make D.C. the 51st state by Aaron C. Davis at The Washington Post.
Counterfactual Chatter in "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki" by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld at The Counterfactual History Review.
How This Time-Traveling Professor Is Re-Defining Play And Learning by John Converse Townsend at Forbes.
Imagine a world where Hillary Clinton didn’t run for president in 2016 by Philip Bump at The Washington Post.
Iranian Prof: Suspicion of Nuclear Program Results From Iran’s Threats Against Israel at The Tower.
Islamic State group issues new curriculum in Iraq by Sinan Salaheddin and Vivian Salama at Yahoo.
Israeli Archaeologist Discovers Huge Monument Older Than The Pyramids by Mark Strauss at io9.
Meticulous Visual Recreation Of Moon Landing Shows It Wasn't A Hoax by George Dvorsky at io9.

Film and Television

In Outlander, It's the Man's Bodice That Gets Ripped by Sara N at Stellar Four.
Outlander 1.7: Tender Intertemporal Polygamy at Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress.
TV REVIEW: Doctor Who, S8, E4: Listen at Geek Syndicate.

Interviews

Nicola Griffith at Locus.
Mary Robinette Kowal at Lightspeed.
Dru Pagliassotti at Mary Robinette Kowal.

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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.

Crusader Kings II: Over 1 Million Copies Sold

Paradox Interactive announced yesterday that Crusader Kings II, the grand strategy game of medieval dynasty building, has now sold over one million copies worldwide. Launched in early 2012, Crusader Kings II has been purchased for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers and is extremely popular with alternate historians. Paradox continues to support Crusader Kings II with free and paid content, with a new expansion, “Charlemagne,” coming soon.

“Whenever we discuss the sort of games we like to make, and the sort of fans we make them for, Crusader Kings II is one of the titles we point to as a shining example,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “I want to thank every one of those million fans who have picked up Crusader Kings II for proving our point about game design for the truly dedicated. We make games for people who want to dive deep and explore a title with endless possibilities, where each player develops their own in-game story – and our players have responded. Every day we read the unique tales from our fans of the lengths to which they've gone to preserve their dynasties. Paradox is committed to growing those experiences in Crusader Kings II and in our entire portfolio.”

Paradox Interactive has also shared some data about Crusader Kings II to underline the scope of the game’s success. Not only has the base game itself sold over a million copies, but the catalog of DLC and expansions for Crusader Kings II have sold a combined total of approximately 7 million units. Crusader Kings II is played by an average of 12,500 players every day, and roughly 100,000 players in a month. The average Crusader Kings II player has a playtime of just over 99 hours.

 For more information on Crusader Kings II, including the upcoming "Charlemagne" expansion, you can visit their website.

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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.

Preview: World War Kaiju by Josh Finney and Patrick McEvoy

The next comic I will be reviewing is World War Kaiju, written by Josh Finney and illustrated by Patrick McEvoy. Here is the description from Amazon:

What if Doctor Strangelove created Godzilla? World War Kaiju is the story of an alternate history, one in which the atom bomb was never created and the ultimate weapon of mass destruction is the kaiju fifty foot tall radioactive beasts spawned from the mysterious KAI-235 isotope. Follow the journey of one journalist as he teams up with a retired CIA operative to uncover the truth about the conspiracy behind the monsters... ...who are the architects of the inevitable Kaiju War? ...what is the shocking secret behind the mysterious KAI-235 isotope? ...where did Cuba manage to hide a crab monster the size of an aircraft carrier? ...why are rogue monsters appearing all over the world? ...how long can Tricky Dick keep these truths from the people?

This comic was published after a successful Kickstarter campaign. The creators were kind enough to send my a review copy so stay tuned to hear my thoughts on this alternate history of the Cold War. In the meantime if you would like to learn more, check out their website.

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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.

What If Wednesday: NATO Did Not Expand Into Eastern Europe

Last week I found a counterfactual by Cheryl of Nuclear Diner that posited a world where NATO never expands into Eastern Europe. It was based on the opinions of what she called "foreign policy realists" that blamed NATO for the events in Ukraine because it provoked Russia by expanding into their sphere of influence. Now I have heard this opinion voiced before and I have not been sold on the logic. It sounds too much like victim blaming. Some of the blame is shifted from the aggressor because of something the victim did, i.e. "if you didn't want to be raped you shouldn't have worn such slutty clothes" or "the Germans invaded the Soviet Union to defend Europe from invasion". Arguments like that ignore the motivations and desires of the aggressor and in the end encourage similar behaviors from the aggressor. Essentially it is appeasement all over again.

Now I am sure some of the examples above might set some off on tangents that would derail the conversation, so lets get back to the question at hand: what if NATO (and presumably the European Union as well) did not expand into Eastern Europe? Would the Ukrainian Conflict be happening right now? Certainly it is fair to admit relations may be better between Russia and the West. There does appear to be evidence that promises were made that western military forces would not be stationed in the East, but if they were made they were never formalized. Still it is understandable that Russia could have felt betrayed by the West and thus this could explain some of the current problems the world is experiencing in Europe.

Yet that is just one of many factors influencing the current situation. Russia's conflict with the West is as much a cultural battle as it is anything else. Putin has made one of his goals to make Russia the world leader of anti-western culture. The differences between Russia's conservative values and the West's more tolerant society is not something that can be solved at the negotiating table. Either the Western world would require a major cultural shift following the end of the Cold War or Russia would need to completely isolate itself from the global economy to prevent some sort of conflict. And what about ethnic Russians who approve of Putin's presidency, but reside in parts of the former Soviet Union? Should we just assume that their desire to once again be a part of Russia would disappear in a world where the West stays out of East?

Assuming NATO leaders stands by their promises, and the leaders of the European Union follow their lead, Russia is unlikely to stay out of Eastern Europe. With the West ignoring them and Russia exerting political/economic pressure, one by one the Eastern Europe states would take their cues from Moscow. The Warsaw Pact might have fallen, but a new version would arise to take its place. Areas where there is a high percentage of Russian minorities could be ceded back to Russia. More former Soviet Republics could also be members of the Union State. Having regained its old influence, Russia would still position itself as the leader of the anti-western world, as its conservative culture clashes with Western Civilization. Conflict is likely inevitable somewhere, with the Yugoslav states or the Middle East being likely candidates for new proxy wars as a new Cold War begins.

Then again, perhaps Eastern Europe would resist. I am reminded of the Eastern Europe nation from Harry Turtledove's "Les Mortes d'Arthur" that came together after the Soviet Union collapsed in the near future. Perhaps abandoned by the West and terrified of a more powerful Russia, the Eastern European nations band together into their own political and economic alliance, something along the lines of the proposed Intermarium perhaps? A community of nations to keep Russia at bay and to compete with Western Europe for economic dominance on the continent. Perhaps they may even gain support from the United States not just as a convenient buffer against an old rival, but also as an alternative ally in case there is any dissatisfaction in Western Europe with American policy. Then again this doesn't prevent any conflict or from Russia inciting minorities to revolt as they are doing now.

Perhaps the one thing to take away from this counterfactual is that some sort of post-Cold War conflict between Russia and the rest of the world was inevitable. So what do you guys think of my scenario? I understand that because this is a current event and the terminology I was required to use, passions are likely to run high. Please keep all comments civil.

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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 9/16/14

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

Paperback

Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon by David Barnett

Nineteenth century London is the center of a vast British Empire, a teeming metropolis where steam-power is king and airships ply the skies, and where Queen Victoria presides over three quarters of the known world—including the east coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.

Young Gideon Smith has seen things that no green lad of Her Majesty’s dominion should ever experience. Through a series of incredible events Gideon has become the newest Hero of  the Empire.  But Gideon is a man with a mission, for the dreaded Texas pirate Louis Cockayne has stolen the mechanical clockwork girl Maria, along with a most fantastical weapon—a great brass dragon that was unearthed beneath ancient Egyptian soil. Maria is the only one who can pilot the beast, so Cockayne has taken girl and dragon off to points east.

Gideon and  his intrepid band take to the skies and travel to the American colonies hot on Cockayne’s trail. Not only does Gideon want the machine back, he has fallen in love with Maria. Their journey will take them to the wilds of the lawless lands south of the American colonies – to free Texas, where the mad King of Steamtown rules with an iron fist (literally), where life is cheap and honor even cheaper.

Does Gideon have what it takes to not only save the day but win the girl?

David Barnett's Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon is a fantastical steampunk fable set against an alternate historical backdrop: the ultimate Victoriana/steampunk mash-up!

Editor's Note: Check out my review of Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl on Amazing Stories.

E-books

Plexis Boxed Set (Armageddon Arising, Engines of Empire, Edge of Evil) by Ivan Kramer

THIEVES vs. ASSASSINS
LOCKPICKS vs. KNIVES
WITS vs. HANDGUNS

When Alec's parents - professional international burglars - decide to penetrate the Russian Royal train to steal some classified paperwork for their mysterious client, he decides to help them. But what seems to be an easy break-in becomes the first knot in the net of intrigues that have entangled the globe. Now Alec must prevent a major catastrophe and track down those who control the plot's gears steering the events toward an unpredictable finale.

A chain of murders and explosions, mysterious clues and ominous evidence takes young Alec McGuinn to Paris, London and the Balkans, finally leading him to America. But how can one fight the secret terrorist masters of this world if they would stop at nothing to silence a humble technical student?

A humble student? Are you sure? Raised by his internationally sought parents who now hide from the European police in the vastness of the Russian Empire, he's no novice to the world of crime.

The century of steam and diesel, of zeppelins and locomotives. The era of great heroes and dastardly villains. The weapons of the past against the breakthrough technologies of the future!

More Plexis books are coming shortly!

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.