Of course I would read the last book in a series first. Makes complete sense right? Luckily for me James Lovegrove's Pantheon series is made up only of stand-alone stories set in different godpunk universes. So I could jump right into Age of Shiva with little to no fuss. That is certainly a pro for this book and I have barely begun to review.
The story follows British comic book artist Zachary "Zak Zap" Bramwell. He is shanghaied by three powerful billionaires who fly him to the Maldives to do the unthinkable: design the costumes for a real-life super hero team based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from the Hindu religion. They have real powers as well and they are about to be unveiled to the world. Given every fanboys dream, Zak immediately signs up. Before too long demons, monsters and evil gods pop up and the avatars are set out to do battle. Meanwhile, Zak begins to suspect there is more going on and his investigations into how these supposed "gods" are being created may not end well for him.
Age of Shiva is fun superhero tale based around the beliefs of the world's largest pagan religion. The writing is humorous, violent and realistic, with the characters have the desires and vices of normal humans, just with the ability to slow down time or breathe underwater. Hindu heroes and deities fit well into the general superhero mythos that we know, which is natural if you compare the tales of Homer with modern comics.
I was disappointed by the ancient aliens connection because the trope been overdone as of late. You mean to tell me all of humanity's accomplishments are just derivatives of some extraterrestrial's science that was showered on us dumb monkeys? I've been reading plots like this for some time now and I, and probably everyone else, are getting a little burned out by it.
I don't think I really spoiled anything for potential readers by bringing that up. I still left out the major twist at the end. I will leave that discovery to you dear reader if you choose to pick up a copy of Age of Shiva, which I highly recommend that you do, despite my misgivings about altruistic aliens. Thanks again to My Bookish Ways for giving me a chance to read and review this story. I think I might have to pick up the earlier books in the series now.
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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.
Holy crap! I won a copy of Age of Shiva by James Lovegrove, the last book in the Pantheon series, from My Bookish Ways (who I link to often in my Weekly Update posts as they are a great source for alternate history literature). I just received my paperback copy in the mail and you guys can enjoy a review of this book. Here is the description from Amazon:
A team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology is assembled, but are they in fact a harbinger of apocalypse? The latest standalone novel in the best selling Pantheon series. Zachary Bramwell, better known as the comics artist Zak Zap, is pushing forty and wondering why his life isn’t as exciting as the lives of the superheroes he draws. Then he’s shanghaied by black-suited goons and flown to Mount Meru, a vast complex built atop an island in the Maldives. There, Zak meets a trio of billionaire businessmen who put him to work designing costumes for a team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology. The Ten Avatars battle demons and aliens and seem to be the saviours of a world teetering on collapse. But their presence is itself a harbinger of apocalypse. The Vedic “fourth age” of civilisation, Kali Yuga, is coming to an end, and Zak has a ringside seat for the final, all-out war that threatens the destruction of Earth.
Stay tuned to either The Update or Amazing Stories for my upcoming review (although I am likely to post my review The Adjacentfirst). Thanks again to My Bookish Ways for this wonderful opportunity.
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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.
You can support The Update by clicking the banner on the top right or the links below if you are purchasing through Amazon! Paperbacks Age of Shiva by James Lovegrove
Zachary Bramwell, better known as the comics artist Zak Zap, is pushing forty and wondering why his life isn t as exciting as the lives of the superheroes he draws. Then he s shanghaied by black-suited goons and flown to Mount Meru, a vast complex built atop an island in the Maldives. There, Zak meets a trio of billionaire businessmen who put him to work designing costumes for a team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology. The Ten Avatars battle demons and aliens and seem to be the saviours of a world teetering on collapse. But their presence is itself a harbinger of apocalypse. The Vedic fourth age of civilisation, Kali Yuga, is coming to an end, and Zak has a ringside seat for the final, all-out war that threatens the destruction of Earth.
When a scouting expedition goes disastrously wrong, Marius Quinctius Regillus finds himself in a horde of trouble. With the Mongols encircling the grand fortress city of Antioch, Regillus and his men are trapped between a governor’s ambitions and the Mongolian weaponry. With nowhere to turn, can they save the city, or will Antioch Burn?
Discover a new threat to the industrial Imperium of Rome in Antioch Burns, the latest novella by award-winning author Daniel Ottalini.
Cherie Priest's long-awaited steampunk debut, Boneshaker, opens in the early days of the Civil War when rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.
War of the Vikings delivers the next generation of Paradox’s close quarter combat focused brands that moves the setting to the Viking Age. All of these factors enabled us to create a game experience that has an increased intensity, improved accessibility, and more intuitive combat experiences ensuring you’re always presented with interesting choices.
Launch onto the battlefields of the Viking Age in intense close quarter combat, where skill beats strength and the possibility of death is always one opponent away.
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.
Editor's Note I was pleasantly surprised by how popular Timeline Thursday: Out of One, Many by Erwin Wodarczak was last week. I am glad people aren't put off by my exploration of retro timelines. I will try to track down a few more oldies but goodies for your reading pleasure.
Speaking of reading, there was a period of several weeks when I wasn't doing any reading. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I finally got back into the habit. If you are ever feeling a little down in the dumps, try restarting some habit you let fall to the wayside.
And if you are going to dive back into reading, remember to click through our Amazon banner and help support The Update!
And now the news...
Preview: The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
A book that continues to get a lot of press is The Adjacentby Christopher Priest. Here is the description from Amazon:
The eagerly anticipated new novel from “one of the master illusionists of our time.” (Wired) In the near future, Tibor Tarent, a freelance photographer, is recalled from Anatolia to Britain when his wife, an aid worker, is killed—annihilated by a terrifying weapon that reduces its target to a triangular patch of scorched earth. A century earlier, Tommy Trent, a stage magician, is sent to the Western Front on a secret mission to render British reconnaissance aircraft invisible to the enemy. Present day. A theoretical physicist develops a new method of diverting matter, a discovery with devastating consequences that will resonate through time.
I actually just purchased this novel, so expect a review in the near future (unless I get to another book first, but more on that later). If you want to learn more about The Adjacent you can read an excerpt at Bleeding Cool or check out a pair of interviews Priest conducted over at Barnes and Noble Review and Amazon Blogs.
Preview: Age of Shiva by James Lovegrove
James Lovegrove's new novel, Age of Shiva, is the final book in his godpunk Pantheon series. Here is the description from Amazon:
Zachary Bramwell, better known as the comics artist Zak Zap, is pushing forty and wondering why his life isn’t as exciting as the lives of the superheroes he draws. Then he’s shanghaied by black-suited goons and flown to Mount Meru, a vast complex built atop an island in the Maldives. There, Zak meets a trio of billionaire businessmen who put him to work designing costumes for a team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology. The Ten Avatars battle demons and aliens and seem to be the saviours of a world teetering on collapse. But their presence is itself a harbinger of apocalypse. The Vedic “fourth age” of civilisation, Kali Yuga, is coming to an end, and Zak has a ringside seat for the final, all-out war that threatens the destruction of Earth.
Here is a curious novel about a zombie invasion from a parallel universe. It is Tim Lebbon's Coldbrookand here is the description from Amazon:
Coldbrook is a secret laboratory located deep in Appalachian Mountains. Its scientists had achieved the impossible: a gateway to a new world. Theirs was to be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind, but they had no idea what they were about to unleash. With their breakthrough comes disease and now it is out and ravaging the human population. The only hope is a cure and the only cure is genetic resistance: an uninfected person amongst the billions dead. In the chaos of destruction there is only one person that can save the human race. But will they find her in time?
Coldbrook has been the darling of SF Signal this week. Not only did they post an excerpt, but also a 4 1/2 star review by Kristin Centorcelli that said Coldbrook was an "intelligent thriller that offers much more than flesh eaters on the prowl." Very curious indeed.
Wow, is that really what happens in soccer? Perhaps more Americans should follow the sport. Anywho, fans of the turn based strategy game Civilization will probably enjoy this trailer for the new game Civilization: Beyond Earth:
We end this gallery with another video from our friend Cody Franklin where he discusses what would happen if Operation Unthinkable took place:
If you have videos you would like to recommend, let us know at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.
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.
You can support The Update by clicking the banner on the top right or the links below if you are purchasing through Amazon! Hardcovers Truth and Fear by Peter Higgins
Investigator Lom returns to Mirgorod and finds the city in the throes of a crisis. The war against the Archipelago is not going well. Enemy divisions are massing outside the city, air raids are a daily occurrence and the citizens are being conscripted into the desperate defense of the city.
But Lom has other concerns. The police are after him, the mystery of the otherworldly Pollandore remains and the vast Angel is moving, turning all of nature against the city.
But will the horrors of war overtake all their plans?
A team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology is assembled, but are they in fact a harbinger of apocalypse?
The latest standalone novel in the best selling Pantheon series.
Zachary Bramwell, better known as the comics artist Zak Zap, is pushing forty and wondering why his life isn’t as exciting as the lives of the superheroes he draws. Then he’s shanghaied by black-suited goons and flown to Mount Meru, a vast complex built atop an island in the Maldives. There, Zak meets a trio of billionaire businessmen who put him to work designing costumes for a team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology.
The Ten Avatars battle demons and aliens and seem to be the saviours of a world teetering on collapse. But their presence is itself a harbinger of apocalypse. The Vedic “fourth age” of civilisation, Kali Yuga, is coming to an end, and Zak has a ringside seat for the final, all-out war that threatens the destruction of Earth.
Working for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, one sees innumerable technological wonders. But even veteran agents Braun and Books are unprepared for what the electrifying future holds…
After being ignominiously shipped out of England following their participation in the Janus affair, Braun and Books are ready to prove their worth as agents. But what starts as a simple mission in the States—intended to keep them out of trouble—suddenly turns into a scandalous and convoluted case that has connections reaching as far as Her Majesty the Queen.
Even with the help of two American agents from the Office of the Supernatural and the Metaphysical, Braun and Books have their work cut out for them as their chief suspect in a rash of nautical and aerial disasters is none other than Thomas Edison. Between the fantastic electric machines of Edison, the eccentricities of MoPO consultant Nikola Tesla, and the mysterious machinations of a new threat known only as the Maestro, they may find themselves in far worse danger than they ever have been in before…
Rise up from the ashes of turmoil and anarchy to rule over a land fragmented into petty fiefs. Now is the time to take control. Now is the time for greatness.
Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India is the sixth expansion for the critically praised strategy/RPG Crusader Kings II and will focus on Eastern Persia and India. The expansion Rajas of India extends the map to the east, including the entire Indian subcontinent, and allows you to play as a Hindu, Buddhist or Jain ruler. Can you defend Dharma against foreign invaders and bring order to the subcontinent?
Crusader Kings II explores one of the defining periods in world history in an experience crafted by the masters of Strategy where medieval times is brought to life in this epic game of knights, schemes, and thrones...
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.
* * *
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.
Editor's Note
Hey everybody, I got some great news. In my quest to improve the quality of the content and appearance of The Update, I have come to the stark realization that I need money to realize my goals. I have tried to do this in the most unobtrusive way possible, but my current model of generating revenue just isn't cutting it.
Luckily, changes to my home state's laws mean that the Amazon Affiliate program has once again been reinstated in Illinois. What does this mean? I have formed a partnership with Amazon to share revenue from products purchased through The Update. So if you click on the banner at the top right or one of the Amazon links embedded in an article and then purchase the book/comic/game/etc., The Update will share a small piece of the sale.
The good news is no one is under any obligation to buy anything they already weren't planning to buy. If you are going to buy something, however, please click on the banner or links you find here on The Update and support our mission to bring the best possible alternate history news and reviews to the Internet. If I make enough money off this I hope to invest it in a writing staff, a new domain main, new original fiction, books for monthly giveaways and more.
So please, if you see something you like, click on the Amazon links and help support Alternate History Weekly Update.
And now the news...
Rush and BOOM! Studios think big with Clockwork Angels comic
BOOM! Studios announced the March debut of a comic book version of Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson. Based on the band Rush’s concept album of the same name, Nick Robles will be the interior artist and Hugh Syme will be the cover artist.
“Rush is one of our all-time favorite rock bands here in the office, so we immediately jumped at the chance to work on Clockwork Angels,” said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “The icing on the cake is that author Kevin J. Anderson is somebody we've always wanted to work with, so this is an all-around thrill. Mr. Anderson and Mr. Peart have brought us a breathtaking story that illustrator Nick Robles has beautifully visualized.”
For those who don't know, here is the description of tClockwork Angels from the press release:
Owen Hardy, like all the people of Albion, has lived his whole life under the rule of The Watchmaker. His entire life has been planned down to the exact second. But what happens when a young boy decides that things should not always goes as planned?
Clockwork Angels #1 arrives in comic shops on March 19th, the four-year anniversary of the album’s initial announcement by the band members, with a cover price of $3.99. The first issue will ship with two variant covers including a subscription cover and a retailer incentive. ECW Press will release the paperback version in May.
Now I have talked about Clockwork Angelsa lot in the past, but are you looking forward to seeing it adapted into a comic book? Let us know in the comments below.
Age of Shiva is James Lovegrove’s newest Pantheon novel
James Lovegrove's Pantheon series, which spawned the "Godpunk" genre, will draw to a close with Age of Shiva. The final book in the series will be released by Solaris on March 26 in the US and Canada; and April 10 in the UK.
Set in a world where the Hindu gods hold sway, here is the description from the press release:
Zachary Bramwell, better known as the comics artist Zak Zap, is pushing forty and wondering why his life isn’t as exciting as the lives of the superheroes he draws. Then he’s shanghaied by black-suited goons and flown to Mount Meru, a vast complex built atop an island in the Maldives. There, Zak meets a trio of billionaire businessmen who put him to work designing costumes for a team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology.
The Ten Avatars battle demons and aliens and seem to be the saviours of a world teetering on collapse. But their presence is itself a harbinger of apocalypse. The Vedic “fourth age” of civilisation, Kali Yuga, is coming to an end, and Zak has a ringside seat for the final, all-out war that threatens the destruction of Earth.
The Guardian has described the Pantheon series as being: “[t]he kind of complex, action-oriented SF Dan Brown would write if Dan Brown could write”. Wow, what a sick burn on Dan Brown. But do you think the series is as good they say? You know the deal, leave a message in the comments.
Vampires, Ghosts and Lady Detectives in Chuck Miller’s Vionna and the Vampires
Vionna Valis and Mary Jane Kelly are a pair of hard working psychic detectives experiencing a run of bad luck. A new detective agency, the Femmes Fatales, is taking most of their business. Things seem to change for the better in the form of a new client named Scudder Moran, a wealthy young man with a unique problem; He has been targeted by the very, very late Professor James Moriarty—the Napoleon of Crime in another century, now Lord of the Vampires!
Vionna and Mary find themselves in the middle of a case where everything is both improbable and impossible. How will they find their way to the truth? Unexpected help arrives in the ghostly person of the Great Detective himself, and they set about unraveling a tangled web of lies and secrecy that reaches deep into each of their lives. Can they find the light before Moriarty unleashes his final, most horrific scheme?
“Chuck Miller,” says Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor-in-Chief of Pro Se Productions, “is by far one of the most unique talents in Genre Fiction today. He takes the staples and standards of several different types of stories and doesn’t just mix them together. Somehow he intricately weaves usually disparate parts into the wildest trip on fiction I think any reader has ever taken. The Black Centipede stands out as a vastly distinct character from the rest of his masked cohorts and You’ll most definitely discover that Vionna and her cast of cohorts shine in their own deliciously dark way as well.”
Vionna and the Vapires will be the first volume in the Moriarty, Lord of the Vampires trilogy and is currently available where books are sold.
Next up I have my first map from the Alternate History Wiki to feature. It is a map of the Mayan Empire from the Principia Moderni II Map Game posted by CourageousLife that I just thought looked really cool:
We finish up with a very curious map from the webcomic Stand Still, Stay Silent. Don't know much about the story, just saw the map at AH.com and thought it looked neat. Enjoy:
If you would like to submit a map to our weekly Map Gallery, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.
Video Gallery
Alright, we have a lot of videos to get through. Fist up we have another video from my new favorite YouTube channel, the Alternate History Hub. This week we learn how the world would be different without Nintendo:
Stay tuned for an interview with the channel's creator, Cody Franklin, that I hope to post this week. Next up, ever wonder how they make the sound effects in Europa Universalis:
Now on to meat of this Video Gallery. Two important video game trailers came out last week. First, the PlayStation horror game The Order: 1886 released two new videos. We begin with their new trailer:
March 15: Last day to fund the Storms of Lazarus Kickstarter by Karen Kincy.
March 31: Last day to enter the Southern Cross: Annuit Coeptis giveaway on Goodreads. (And don't forget to check out my review.) Links to the Multiverse
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new short story "Road Trip" can be found in Forbidden Future: A Time Travel Anthology. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.
a lot in the past, but are you looking forward to seeing it adapted into a comic book? Let us know in the comments below.
. The final book in the series will be released by 
, has a 
. Here is the description from the press release:
