Weekly Update #141

Editor's Note

Alright I am back!

So I learned that I might have bitten off a little more than I could chew with this double rate of posting. I am still going to do the Map Mondays, Flag Friday and Amazing Stories announcement every Tuesday; but What If Wednesday and Timeline Thursday are being downgraded to "when I can get to it". If anyone would like to take those two posts over for me, I would appreciate it.

Got some good posts coming at you this week. I wax about a world where the Soviets win the Cold War and Mark Appleton returns with another atompunk sampler. That is just a taste of what I have coming up.

And now the news...

Dramatic Audio Rights Sale for David Barnett Steampunk Trilogy

According to a press release from John Jarrold, GraphicAudio will be producing dramatic audio editions (abridged audio with a full cast, sound effects, and music) of David Barnett’s Gideon Smith steampunk trilogy, having acquired the rights from Tor US.

Claire Eddy, Senior Editor at Tor Books in New York, acquired World English Language rights deal for the books in 2011. Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl (which I reviewed at Amazing Stories) was released by Tor (and by Snowbooks in the UK) in September 2013.  The sequel, Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon, will follow in September 2014.

The only audio book I have ever listened to was the full cast reading of World War Z, although it did not have sound effects or music, it did have several great voice talents. If the Gideon Smith books can live up to that kind of quality, I will certainly check it out.

Japanese deal for Gareth L. Powell’s Ack-Ack Macaque

For our Japanese readers out there (and I know there are a few of you) Tokyo Sogensha Co., Ltd. has acquired the Japanese rights for Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell from Corinne Shioji of The English Agency (Japan) Ltd in Tokyo, representing the John Jarrold (see above) Literary Agency. The book was published in the UK and US by Solaris in 2012.

Ack-Ack Macaque has been shortlisted for the British SF Award for Best Novel, which will be announced over the Easter weekend. The sequel, Hive Monkey, was published in 2013.  A third volume will follow early in 2015.

So congrats Japan, you have some more steampunk coming your way.

Coming in June: Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer complete in one volume!

For those who enjoy fictional mash-ups, artist Dusty Higgins (Knights of the Living Dead) and writer Van Jensen (Green Lantern Corps) will be releasing the complete collection of Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer through Top Shelf. You can see the 12-page preview here.

Here is the description from the press release:

This puppet may not be a real boy… but he just might be a real hero.

When bloodthirsty monsters invade Pinocchio’s hometown and kill his father Geppetto, Pinocchio discovers a new benefit to his magical nose: telling lies produces a never-ending supply of wooden stakes to combat the vampire hordes! Will Pinocchio be able to defeat these horrors, avenge his father, and save his friends?

I am not sure about this one myself. Didn't we already have a famous person slaying vampires recently?

Video

Okay we have a few videos to get through, so bear with me. First up the release trailer for Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India:

Next we see the dieselpunk inspired Captain America: The First Avenger get the Honest Trailer treatment:

If you liked that, watch Cinema Sins eviscerate the same film:

Enough superheroes, we finish with Cody Franklin who is here to talk about what if the United States "won" the Vietnam War:

Cody also has a new channel out, FilmSleuth, so go there if you want to see his most recent alternate history video of the week.

Links to the Multiverse

Books

The Clockwork Dagger (Excerpt) at Tor.
Coming Soon: The Royal Sorceress III: Necropolis by Chris Nuttall at The Chrishanger.
Creating Steampunk Worlds by Tina Christopher at Steampunk Romance.
Do You Have the Time? by Violette Malan at Black Gate.
An Exclusive Sneak Peek At Christopher Priest's Next Mind-Bending Novel by Charlie Jane Anders at io9.
Fatherland and the Power of Alternative History by Ibtisam Ahmed at The Boar.
Germany on Mars in 1889, in The Dream Forge at Frank Chadwick's Space: 1889.
REVIEW: The Abominable by Dan Simmons at SF Signal.
REVIEW: Age of Shiva by James Lovegrove at SF Signal.
REVIEW: Altered Pasts: Counterfactuals in History by Richard J. Evans at Times Higher Education.
REVIEW: Then Everything Changed by Jeff Greenfield at Luna Sea Notes.
REVIEW: Phileas Fogg and the War of Shadows by Josh Reynolds at Meteor House.
REVIEW: The Revolutions by Felix Gilman at NPR.
REVIEW: Three Princes by Ramona Wheeler at io9.
A Steamtrunk of Steampunk at Kindle Daily Post.
The Unmasking of Moriarty by Melissa at Today I Found Out.

Comics

Comic Book Counterfactual: What If Marvel Had Bought DC In 1984? by lightninglouie at Observation Deck.
ELEVATOR PITCH: Skies of Fire at Geek Syndicate.
Fighting Racism at Home and Abroad: PW Talks with Max Brooks at Publishers Weekly.

Counterfactual/Traditional History

10 Shocking Ways the Second World War Could Have Ended Differently by George Dvorsky at io9.
Early Design Specs Show The Space Shuttle Could Have Been Much Cooler by Ron Miller at io9.
The Four Biggest Libertarian Myths About the Civil War by James Oakes at History News Network.
It Seems More and More Certain That We Live in a Multiverse by Annalee Newitz at io9.
Putin Wouldn't Dare Take Alaska by Stephen L. Carter at Bloomberg View.
Rand Paul and the Alternate History of World War II by David Weigel at Slate.
The Ukes and Their Nukes: Why the Bomb wouldn't have helped Kiev protect Crimea from Russia by Jeffrey Lewis at Foreign Policy.

Films

Sunday Cinema: The Time Shifters (a.k.a Thrill Seekers) at SF Signal.

Games

Papers, Please, Gone Home, and more named finalists at the 11th Annual Games for Change Awards by Anthony John Agnello at Joystiq.
REVIEW: Da Vinci’s Art of War at Pocket Tactics.
Tom Sparks And The Quakes Of Ruin Coming To Mac at Inside Mac Games.

Interviews

Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine at Gail Carriger.
Jeff Norton at Sci-Fi-London.
Daniel Ottalini at SC Barrus.
Liesel Schwarz at Alison Morton's Roma Nova.
Ann VanderMeer at Paste.

Podcast

Episode 182: Steven Erikson and Ian McDonald at Notes from Coode Street.
Episode 184 – With Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris at Functional Nerds.
Introducing Rocket Talk: The Tor.com Podcast! by Justin Landon at Tor.

Short Fiction

Cover & Synopsis: LOWBALL: A WILD CARDS NOVEL Edited by George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass at SF Signal.
REVIEW: Picking Up Plans in Palma by Matthew Quinn at The M.
REVIEW: Then Will The GreatOcean Wash Deep Above by Ian Sales at Michael J. Martineck.

Television

Da Vinci's Demons 2.1: Science Fiction v Fantasy at Paul Levionson's Infinite Regress.
Da Vinci's Demons 2.2: Renaissance Radio at Paul Levionson's Infinite Regress.
Elementary: Season 2, Episode 19. The Many Mouths of Andrew Colville at Thinking about books.
Meanwhile, back in the Elementary-verse by Brad Keefauver at Sherlock Peoria.
REVIEW: The Great Martian War at Far Future Horizons.
REVIEW: To Mars and Beyond by A-Bomb at Far Future Horizons.
This Is The Moment We Kept Rewatching From Last Night's Continuum by Charlie Jane Anders at io9.

* * *

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 9/17/13

Hardcovers

Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman

Description from Amazon.

DRACULA COMES TO NEW YORK: Kim Newman returns to one of the great bestselling vampire tales of the modern era. Considered alongside I Am Legend and Interview with theVampire as one of the stand-out vampire stories of the last century - this brand-new novel is the first in over a decade from the remarkable and influential Anno Dracula series.

Newman’s dark and impish tale begins with a single question: What if Dracula had survived his encounters with Bram Stoker’s Dr. John Seward and enslaved Victorian England?

Fallen from grace and driven from the British Empire in previous instalments, Dracula seems long gone. A relic of the past. Yet, when vampire boy Johnny Alucard descends upon America, stalking the streets of New York and Hollywood, haunting the lives of the rich and famous, from Sid and Nancy to Andy Warhol, Orson Welles, and Francis Ford Coppola, sinking his fangs ever deeper into the zeitgeist of 1980s America, it seems the past might not be dead after all.

Delia's Shadow by Jamie Lee Moyer

Description from Amazon.

It is the dawn of a new century in San Francisco and Delia Martin is a wealthy young woman whose life appears ideal. But a dark secret colors her life, for Delia’s most loyal companions are ghosts, as she has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with an ability to peer across to the other side.

Since the great quake rocked her city in 1906, Delia has been haunted by an avalanche of the dead clamoring for her help. Delia flees to the other side of the continent, hoping to gain some peace. After several years in New York, Delia believes she is free…until one determined specter appears and she realizes that she must return to the City by the Bay in order to put this tortured soul to rest.

It will not be easy, as the ghost is only one of the many victims of a serial killer who was never caught. A killer who after thirty years is killing again.

And who is now aware of Delia’s existence.

Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett

Description from Amazon.

Nineteenth century London is the center of a vast British Empire. Airships ply the skies and Queen Victoria presides over three-quarters of the known world—including the East Coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.

London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast. Gideon Smith dreams of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, told in Gideon’s favorite “penny dreadful.” When Gideon’s father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work.  Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him, Gideon sets off for London. On the way he rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities. Together they make for London, where Gideon finally meets Captain Trigger.

But Trigger is little more than an aging fraud, providing cover for the covert activities of his lover, Dr. John Reed, a privateer and sometime agent of the British Crown. Looking for heroes but finding only frauds and crooks, it falls to Gideon to step up to the plate and attempt to save the day...but can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?

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

Paperbacks

Age of Godpunk by James Lovegrove

Description from Amazon.

James Lovegrove presents three novellas with three different 'gods' and their appreance in the worlds of man. Age of Anansi, Age of Satan, and a third novella, Age of Gaia, appearing both in print and ebook for the first time with the release of this exciting omnibus.

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti

Description from Amazon.

Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an icarus — a courier privileged to travel freely across the city’s sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. But even she can’t outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entangled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upperclass family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on the governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in Ondinium’s lowest sector. Both hide dangerous secrets, in this city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart…

To fans, authors and publishers...

Is you 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. 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.

New Releases 9/10/13

Hardcovers

Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman

Description from Amazon.

DRACULA COMES TO NEW YORK: Kim Newman returns to one of the great bestselling vampire tales of the modern era. Considered alongside I Am Legend and Interview with theVampire as one of the stand-out vampire stories of the last century - this brand-new novel is the first in over a decade from the remarkable and influential Anno Dracula series.

Newman’s dark and impish tale begins with a single question: What if Dracula had survived his encounters with Bram Stoker’s Dr. John Seward and enslaved Victorian England?

Fallen from grace and driven from the British Empire in previous instalments, Dracula seems long gone. A relic of the past. Yet, when vampire boy Johnny Alucard descends upon America, stalking the streets of New York and Hollywood, haunting the lives of the rich and famous, from Sid and Nancy to Andy Warhol, Orson Welles, and Francis Ford Coppola, sinking his fangs ever deeper into the zeitgeist of 1980s America, it seems the past might not be dead after all.

Paperbacks

Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett

Description from Amazon.

Nineteenth century London is the center of a vast British Empire. Airships ply the skies and Queen Victoria presides over three-quarters of the known world—including the East Coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.

London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast. Gideon Smith dreams of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, told in Gideon’s favorite “penny dreadful.” When Gideon’s father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work.  Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him, Gideon sets off for London. On the way he rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities. Together they make for London, where Gideon finally meets Captain Trigger.

But Trigger is little more than an aging fraud, providing cover for the covert activities of his lover, Dr. John Reed, a privateer and sometime agent of the British Crown. Looking for heroes but finding only frauds and crooks, it falls to Gideon to step up to the plate and attempt to save the day...but can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?

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

Shades of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War by Steve Berman

Description from Amazon.

More Americans were killed during the years 1861-1865 than any other date in history. Men shattered, women lost, families broken. In Shades of Blue and Gray, editor Steve Berman offers readers tales of the supernatural - ghost stories that range from the haunts of the battlefield to revenants on the long march home. Yank. Rebel. Both finding themselves at odds in flesh and spirit.

Khan of Mars by Stephen Blackmoore

Description from Amazon.

When erudite ape Professor Khan and rough-and-tumble cowboy Bulls-Eye Gutierrez are zapped away on a one-way trip to Mars, they are thrown into a world in chaos. Under the malevolent gaze of the Weather Witch, Princess Cyclone, our heroes face the intrigue and war raging across an alien world. Will they survive long enough for the other Centurions to build a way back home, or will they perish upon the shifting sands of the Red Planet, never to be seen again?

To fans, authors and publishers...

Is you 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. His new story "The Enchanted Bean" can be found in Once Upon a Clockwork Tale from Echelon Press. 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 #118

Editor's Note

A few days ago someone on Twitter complained about being swarmed by pop-ups when they clicked on a link to The Update. This, of course, concerned me because the last thing I wanted was for this site to have the reputation for annoying ads. However, after checking my settings and attempting several times to duplicate the problem, I have been unable to witness any pop-ups. A call to our Facebook or Twitter followers to report any issues they had with pop-ups also brought no response.

I am hoping this was an isolated incident and that the person in question had an issue with their computer involving malware that did not involve The Update. Still I want to be cautious so if you do see anything weird with the ads, let me know at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

And now the news...

RIP: Frederik Pohl

Frederik George Pohl, Jr., a science fiction writer, editor and fan, passed away last week. The award-winning author had career spanning over 75 years, winning honors both for his writing and blogging. He was influential to several authors, including S.M. Stirling. Several eulogies have been written since his passing and you can read them at SF Signal, Amazing Stories and Centauri Dreams.

When sad events like this occur, I try to remember the passing of these greats of science fiction by looking at their impact on our favorite genre, alternate history. According to Uchronia, Pohl wrote several stories in the genre including the novel-length The Coming of the Quantum Cats, where a militaristic American regime uses crosstime technology to steal technology from other timelines. His short fiction includes "The Reunion at the Mile-High" (where the US creates a "typhus bomb" in World War II), "Target One" (where survivors of a nuclear war travel back in time to kill Einstein), "Let the Ants Try" (another time travel tale about ants from the present being brought into the far distant past), "The Deadly Mission of Phineas Snodgrass" (a satire of de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall) and "The Golden Years of Astounding".

Then there was my favorite Pohl alternate history, "Waiting for the Olympians", which I read in The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories. Although set in the universe where Rome never fell, what really made me like this story was that it introduced me to the idea that intelligent extraterrestrials might have a damn good reason to avoid this dirty, blue ball we call home. Plus there are some humorous bits involving one character trying to explain to another character what an alternate history is. Highly recommend you check this story out.

Pohl career and wide body of work is an inspiration to us all. He will be missed.

Update: Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett

A few months ago I reviewed Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett on Amazing Stories. I really enjoyed the book and recommend you check it out, especially now that it will be released in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats over the next couple weeks. You can check out the book trailer below:

Because of the video I won't post the description here like I usually do, but you can see it over at SF Signal and check out an interview with David over at My Bookish Ways.

Update: BioShock Infinite

Want to know how the story of BioShock Infinite ends, but don't have the time to play it? Well this video is just right for you...but beware. Here be SPOILERS;

Speaking of BioShock Infinite, is it too violent?

Calendar

September 12-15: The Asylum steampunk festival in Lincoln, UK.

September 27-29: Red River, NM’s Aspencade Arts and Crafts Fair will have a steampunk theme this year.

October 15: The Harlequin Hypnosis Show at Granville Island, Canada.

November 30: Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse submission period ends.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

9 Scientific Breakthroughs That Killed Science Fiction Subgenres by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders at io9.
1636 The Devil’s Opera – Snippet 45 by Eric Flint.
Afrika Reich: the audio book by Guy Saville.
Alternative History…What if women were in charge? by Alison Morton at Women Writers Women Books.
Cover Reveal: Author Lilith Saintcrow's 'The Ripper Affair' by Natalie Zutter at Bookish.
How the Steampunk movement is catching the eye of Big Tech by Antony Funnell at ABC.
The Netflix for books is here, it’s mobile, and it makes Amazon look old by Hamish McKenzie at pandodaily.
PERFIDITAS cover reveal, pub date and launch by Alison Morton.
Religion and Freedom of Choice in the Afrikanerverse by Matthew W. Quinn at Korsgaard's Commentary.
RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH! Avoiding Cultural Appropriation in Steampunk by Balogun at Chronicles of Harriet.
TOC: ‘Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction’ by Jeff VanderMeer at SF Signal.
What is Steampunk? by Linda Williams The Willits News.
When Science Fiction is Not Science Fiction by Paul Cook at Amazing Stories.
Why You Can’t Travel Back in Time and Kill Hitler by Lauren Davis at io9.

Comics

Dark Horse Comics brings 'The Star Wars' to life by Matt Moore at Yahoo!
The End of an Era: How the Battle of Hastings Changed England by Lisa J. Yarde at Unusual Historicals.
Persia Blues: my graphic novel of modern Iran and ancient Persia by Dara N at Iranian.com.

Counterfactual and Real History

A Design Thinking Retrospective: How History's Biggest Mishaps Could Have Been Averted by Patricia Morizio at Huff Post.
Here's what third-century China thought about the Roman Empire by Rob Bricken at io9.
Krugman's Counterfactual by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld at The Counterfactual History Review.

Reviews

The Given Sacrifice by SM Stirling at PNC-Minnesota Bureau.
The Mammoth Book of Time Travel edited by Mike Ashby at Falcata Times.
Sherlock Holmes: The Stuff of Nightmares by James Lovegrove at More Than a Reading Journal.
Soulless by Gail Carriger at Forest Park Reads.
Total War: Rome: Destroy Carthage by David Gibbins at Falcata Times.

Films

The 2002 Batman/Superman movie wouldn't have been the worst thing ever by Rob Bricken at io9.
The guy whose Reddit thread sparked a movie deal is at it again by Meredith Woerner at io9.

Games

PAX Prime 2013: Guns of Icarus Online's new Adventure mode, features, and PS4 version by Patrick Mackey at Massively.

Interviews

George R.R. Martin at The Austin Chronicle.
Priya Sharma at Alt Hist.

Podcasts

Book List: Alternate Histories by Alex Fitch at Masters of Horror.
Dissecting Worlds Series 7, Episode 6: The Iron Council at Geek Syndicate.
Worldcon Walk-by Session #1: Keffy Kehrli, Rachael Acks, Michael J. Martinez, Karen Burnham, & Kyell Gold at The Skiffy and Fanty Show.

Television

Fil-Am actors star as Pinoy mythology gods in steampunk-themed US web series by Xianne Arcangel at GMA News Online.
Revolution - Season 2 - Press Release by Babar Suhail at Spoiler TV.

* * *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new story "The Enchanted Bean" can be found in Once Upon a Clockwork Tale from Echelon Press. 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 #93

Editor's Note

So yeah the steampunk contest might be cancelled for this month, but you can still get a taste of automatons and bucking stuffy social mores through Echelon Press' upcoming anthology: Once Upon a Clockwork Tale. Your handsome editor (I'm talking about myself in case you are wondering) has a short story appearing in Clockwork Tale, scheduled to come out this week. All this month I will be giving you updates on the anthology, plus interviews with my fellow authors. I hope you all get a chance to read it and remember feedback is appreciated.

And now the news...

New Release: Inceptio by Alison Morton

Friend of The Update, Alison Morton (author of Sample Something a Little Alternative) celebrated the launch of her new novel last week, Inceptio. Here is a brief description from Amazon in case you missed it:

New York, present day. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice - being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to the mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother's homeland in Europe. Founded sixteen centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women, Roma Nova gives Karen safety and a ready-made family. But a shocking discovery about her new lover, the fascinating but arrogant special forces officer Conrad Tellus, who rescued her in America, isolates her. Renschman reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to find out why he is hunting her so viciously. Unable to rely on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it...

She has been working hard promoting it. You can catch excepts of it on her blog or watch the book trailer. Amazingly the book has only been available in a few markets and it is already winning awards, such as  'We've Got It Covered' competition. So congrats to Alison I certainly believe all her hard work will pay off...especially when she guest posts on The Update with an article concerning the alternate history behind her universe. In the meantime you can check out some examples of her blog tour to promote Inceptio.

Coming Soon: Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett

A recent author who has caught my attention is David Barnett, whose novel Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl is coming out later this year. Here is a description from his website:

In an alternative 1890, the British Empire’s reach and power is almost absolute, and from a technologically-advanced London where steam-power is king and airships ply the skies, Queen Victoria presides over three-quarters of the known world – including the east coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.

But London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast, where Gideon Smith whiles away his days fishing on his father’s clockwork gearship and dreaming of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, as presented in Gideon’s favourite “penny dreadful” periodical, World Marvels & Wonders.

When Gideon’s father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances, Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work. The writer Bram Stoker, holidaying in nearby Whitby, fears that a vampire from Transylvania is abroad on English soil, but is the dark agency that killed Arthur Smith and his crew even more ancient and foul – murderous, mummified creatures from the shifting sands of Egypt?

Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him in his search for answers, Gideon sets off for London, and on the way rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities.

Looking for heroes but finding only mysteries and unanswered questions, it falls to Gideon Smith to step up to the plate and attempt to save the day… but can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?

The novel has already gained the attention of major SF blogs like the award-winning SF Signal. I feel Barnett is someone we all need to check out.

The Relaunched AH.com Podcast

Another contributor to The Update has a new project. Junior Editor Jake Schenberg, author of Alternative Elections: 1844, has revitalized the AH.com podcast. You can listen to the first episode on YouTube:

Submissions Wanted

FYI, the submission period for The Alchemy Press Books Of ... Astrologica, Pulp Heroes 2 and Urban Mythic ends on 31st March 2013. Meanwhile, PodCastle is also looking for "science fantasy" submissions (sorry, not many details to report other than what you see here).

So get moving and if you need any help writing check out Suzanne Lazear's article on sounding steampunk and Juliette Wade article on creating alternate social and cultural norms in a fictional world.

As always good luck.

Things to do

Only two big events to announce:

March 4-9, 2013: Steampunk version of the Tempest in Fairfax, NZ.

March 10, 2013: Wild Wild West Con II Steampunk Convention in Tuscon, AZ.

May 8-11, 2014: World Horror Convention will be held in Portland, OR. Boo!

And because I am lazy and don't want to write all of this out, go check out Tor's list of steampunk events in the month of March.

Have fun!

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

23 State Mottos (Revised for Statistical Accuracy) at Cracked.

Doors to Anywhere by Norman Spinrad at Asimov's Science Fiction.

Embracing the Impossible: The Fantastical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Rajan Khanna at Lit Reactor.

Feature: Galen Dara on Illustrating Oz at Oz Reimagined.

FREE EXCERPT: “The Mongoliad: Book Three” by John DeNardo at SF Signal.

Historical Jenga by Steve Newman at Foyles.

Steamfunk by Ray Dean at Steamed!

TOC: ‘Tales of the Wold Newton Universe’ edited by Win Scott Eckert and Christopher Paul Carey at Sf Signal.

Book Reviews

Automatic Woman by Nathan L. Yocum at Thinking about books.

The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis at Falcata Times.

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger at Falcata Times.

Night & Demons by David Drake at Thinking about books.

Sharon Gosling's top 10 children's steampunk books at The Guardian.

Films

Malcolm McDowell straps on a steampunk eyepatch for Cowboys & Engines by Meredith Woerner at io9.

Oscars in an Alternate Universe Where the Academy Loves Sci-Fi by Anna Pinkert at Spin Off Online.

Games

10 Greatest Science Fiction Board Games of All Time by Katharine Trendacosta at io9.

Revitalized Steampunk Saga Edge of Twilight Starts on iOS by Mike Fahey at Kotaku.

Steampunk Cthulhu Playing Cards by Robert C Kalajian Jr at Purple Pawn.

Steampunk Fathom gets Kickstarted by Paul Younger at Inc Gamers.

Interviews

Seleste DeLaney by Steampunk Scholar.

Podcasts

Steampunk R&D Podcast 06: Thomas Willeford Behind the Scenes of Steampunk Reality Television by Austin Sirkin at Steampunk R&D.

Television

Alternate history Sixth Gun finds its Becky by CB Droege at TG Daily.

JJ Abrams is coming back to the small screen by Samantha Henry at Amazing Stories.

Review of Elementary: Season 1, Episode 17 at Thinking about books.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.