Showing posts with label Independence Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Independence Day. Show all posts

Monday, July 4, 2016

Top 5 American Revolution What Ifs

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans. Due to the holiday, I won't be posting a Weekly Update or a Map Monday today, but I got something even better. Check out my top 5 American Revolution what ifs that could have changed the outcome of the war.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on FacebookTwitterTumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

New Releases 5/24/16

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

Paperbacks

Continuum: Time Rep by Peter Ward

In Time Rep, Peter Ward took up the mantle of Douglas Adams, penning a dizzying, inventive, giddily fun adventure story of time travel and its discontents. Now comes a sequel with even more excitement! Even more romance! Even more danger! And maybe some better jokes!

Imagine you just saved the world from an alien invasion. If it wasn’t for you, everyone would be dead.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

That’s exactly what happens to Geoffrey Stamp, but there’s just one problem―he can’t tell anyone. You see, Geoffrey is a Time Rep―a tour guide for the 21st Century, meeting people from the future who travel back in time for their vacation. Everything he does needs to be kept a secret from the people in his own time, otherwise he risks changing the course of history.

And that caused enough trouble in the last book.

But now a new company called Continuum is offering holidays to the past, and they allow people to go back and change whatever they like. For Geoffrey, this sounds like a dream come true, until a future version of himself appears out of nowhere with no memory, a bullet in his back, and a Continuum business card in his pocket. Geoffrey soon finds himself in a race to solve his own attempted murder, but begins to wonder if his investigation is the very thing that nearly got him killed.

What is the truth behind Continuum, and after saving the planet, why would anyone want him dead?

The Cthulhu Wars: The United States' Battles Against the Mythos by Kenneth Hite and Kennon Bauman

From the Patriots' raid on the necromancer Joseph Curwen, to the Special Forces' assault on Leng in 2007, this unique document reveals the secret and terrible struggle between the United States and the supernatural forces of Cthulhu. In this war, immortal cultists worship other-dimensional entities, and plot to raise an army of the dead. Incomprehensible undersea intelligences infiltrate and colonize American seaports, and alien races lurk beneath the ice of Antarctica and high in the mountains of Afghanistan. It is only through constant vigilance and violence that the earth has survived. Also included are threat reports describing the indescribable-- humanity's deadliest foes serving Cthulhu and the other Great Old Ones. Strange times are upon us, the world is changing, and even death may die-- but, until then, the war continues.

Ghosts of Karnak: A Ghost Novel by George Mann

A woman is found dead on the streets of New York, ancient Egyptian symbols carved into her flesh. A ghostly figure is seen floating over the rooftops of the city. And an expedition returns from Cairo to exhibit their finds at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gabriel’s old friend and lover, Ginny Gray, was part of the expedition, but when Gabriel goes to meet the ship, Ginny is not on board.

Ancient forces are stirring and the Ghost, Ginny and Gabriel’s friend Donovan are caught right in the middle…

Independence Day: Crucible by Greg Keyes

Cities were crushed by the falling spacecraft—but one ship didn’t crash. It remained intact, and disgorged hordes of alien soldiers determined to fight to the death.

The abandoned vessels also contained a wealth of advanced technology. Led by David Levinson, the greatest minds of our world developed deadly new hybrid weapons. Bases were built on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

A new generation of defenders had to be trained, for the invaders would return. In the headlong rush to prepare, however, not everyone would survive…

Making the Rounds by Allan Weiss

WHO CAN HELP...

...when a word decides to get up and leave your holy book?
...when you’re a mayor and your city is literally crumbling around you?
...when the evil Haman, villain of the Purim story, seems to have arisen from the dead to terrorize your town?

Eliezer ben-Avraham, wizard, Kabbalist, and kvetch, not only can but must help. Because he poked around in areas of forbidden knowledge, he is obliged to wander the world and use the powers he gained to perform good deeds—mitzvot—for anybody who asks, no matter how bizarre the task. Ably assisted by his trusty but cynical steed, Melech, Eliezer does what he can, although transforming into a bird and flying around is difficult when you have arthritis in your shoulder.

Humorous, philosophical, and very weird, Eliezer’s adventures as he makes his rounds demonstrate how important it is to be generous with your gifts, even to the craziest goyim.

Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? by Paul Cornell

The ghost of Sherlock Holmes is dead, but who will solve his murder? The Great Detective's ghost has walked London's streets for an age, given shape by people's memories. Now someone's put a ceremonial dagger through his chest. But what's the motive? And who - or what - could kill a ghost? When policing London's supernatural underworld, eliminating the impossible is not an option. DI James Quill and his detectives have learnt this the hard way. Gifted with the Sight, they'll pursue a criminal genius - who'll lure them into a Sherlockian maze of clues and evidence. The team also have their own demons to fight. They've been to Hell and back (literally) but now the unit is falling apart ...

E-Books

Independence Day #3 by Victor Gischler and Steve Scott

Tensions arise aboard the sub as specimens are shipped back for study. Meanwhile, Adams and co. get to grips with their extraterrestrial armaments and discover the real motivation behind the alien crash...

L-2011 (Future of London Series #1) by Mark Gillespie

The Revolution Will Be Televised, Retweeted And Liked
August 2011
The London riots - coordinated by technology and social media - have brought the city to its knees.

Historic buildings have been burned to the ground. Shops are looted, businesses and homes destroyed at random.

The politicians try to resolve the crisis, but the Houses of Parliament are no longer a match for the influence of the Internet, where two alternative leaders have emerged in an online battle for the future soul of London.

Chester George - a masked man whose real identity is unknown, uses YouTube, punk rock and fierce intellect to spread the anarchy.

Sadie Hobbs - Reality TV star and blogger. Loathed and controversial, she urges 'normal’ society to fight back against Chester George and the 'feral rats’ destroying the city.

The fate of London hangs in the balance. And when the day of reckoning comes, hundreds of thousands of people - including sixteen-year-old Mack Walker - will descend upon the city for the final showdown - and a day that London will never forget.

The Long Century: The Congress of New Niagara, 1920 by William Weber

Having won the Presidential election of 1912, Theodore Roosevelt intervened to end the European War of 1914 by hosting the Congress of Annapolis. Shortly thereafter, he invaded and annexed "Norte Mexico." Now mayor of industrialist King Champ Gillette's futuristic City of New Niagara, Roosevelt has invited the major powers to this nascent metropolis to strengthen international cooperation by defusing rising tensions, resolving issues left over from their previous summit, and combating threats from nationalists and anarchists. He has the full support of his successor, President Hiram Johnson, who is running for reelection, but some of his former progressive allies have their doubts. He also has the talents and skills of his chief aide, William Donovan, who has served as his roving foreign ambassador and finds himself charged with overseeing the security of the Congress.

The story is revealed through a compilation of the articles, notes, and letters of two reporters from the Philadelphia Public Ledger. David Woodhurst who covers Buffalo, New Niagara, and Niagara Falls, focuses on tensions between Roosevelt and the city manager, who actually runs the city. Gregory Sheridan, posted to London, provides the perspectives of the European delegations that sail for America aboard RMS Lusitania. Their competition in covering the planning and execution of the summit gradually unveils the diplomatic struggles, as well as the conspiracies, that threaten to upend the Congress and wreak havoc on Gillette's shining new city.

Audio

Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimstone by G. S. Denning

Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius who uses the gift of deduction and reason to solve the most vexing of crimes. Warlock Holmes, however, is an idiot. A good man, perhaps; a font of arcane power, certainly. But he's brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn't deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only things he really has going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart flatmate. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.

An imaginative, irreverent, and addictive reimagining of the world's favorite detective, Warlock Holmes retains the charm, tone, and feel of the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle while finally giving the flat at 221b Baker Street what it's been missing for all these years: an alchemy table. Reimagining six stories, this riotous mash-up is a glorious new take on the ever-popular Sherlock Holmes myth, featuring the vampire Inspector Vladislav Lestrade; the ogre Inspector Torg Grogsson; and Dr. Watson, the true detective at 221b. And Sherlock. A warlock.

To readers, 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, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on FacebookTwitterTumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

New Releases 4/19/16

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

Hardcovers

The House of Daniel by Harry Turtledove

Since the Big Bubble popped in 1929, life in the United States hasn't been the same. Hotshot wizards will tell you nothing's really changed, but then again, hotshot wizards aren't looking for honest work in Enid, Oklahoma. No paying jobs at the mill, because zombies will work for nothing. The diner on Main Street is seeing hard times as well, because a lot fewer folks can afford to fly carpets in from miles away.

Jack Spivey's just another down-and-out trying to stay alive, doing a little of this and a little of that. Sometimes that means making a few bucks playing ball with the Enid Eagles, against teams from as many as two counties away. And somethimes it means roughing up rival thugs for Big Stu, the guy who calls the shots in Enid.

But one day Jack knocks on the door of the person he's supposed to "deal with"--and realizes that he's not going to do any such thing to the young lady who answers. This means he needs to get out of the reach of Big Stu, who didn't get to where he is by letting defiance go unpunished.

Then the House of Daniel comes to town--a brash band of barnstormers who'll take on any team, and whose antics never fail to entertain. Against the odds Jack secures a berth with them. Now they're off to tour an America that's as shot through with magic as it is dead broke. Jack will never be the same--nor will baseball.

Hystopia by David Means

At the bitter end of the 1960s, after surviving multiple assassination attempts, President John F. Kennedy is entering his third term in office. The Vietnam War rages on, and the president has created a vast federal agency, the Psych Corps, dedicated to maintaining the nation’s mental hygiene by any means necessary. Soldiers returning from the war have their battlefield traumas “enfolded”―wiped from their memories through drugs and therapy―while veterans too damaged to be enfolded roam at will in Michigan, evading the government and reenacting atrocities on civilians.

This destabilized version of American history is the vision of twenty-two-year old Eugene Allen, who has returned from Vietnam to write the book-within-a-book at the center of Hystopia. In conversation with some of the greatest war narratives, from Homer’s Iliad to the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” David Means channels the voice of Allen, the young veteran out to write a novel that can bring honor to those he fought with in Vietnam while also capturing the tragic history of his own family.

The critic James Wood has written that Means’s language “offers an exquisitely precise and sensuous register of an often crazy American reality.” In Hystopia, his highly anticipated first novel, David Means brings his full talent to bear on the crazy reality of trauma, both national and personal. Outlandish and tender, funny and violent, timely and historical, Hystopia invites us to consider whether our traumas can ever be truly overcome. The answers it offers are wildly inventive, deeply rooted in its characters, and wrung from the author’s own heart.

Paperbacks

Lincoln's Bodyguard: In A Heroic Act Of Bravery Saves Our Beloved President! John Wilkes Booth Killed In Act Of Treason by TJ Turner

In Lincoln’s Bodyguard, an alternative version of American history, President Lincoln is saved from assassination. Though he prophesied his own death―the only way he believed the South would truly surrender―Lincoln never accounted for the heroics of his bodyguard, Joseph Foster. A biracial mix of white and Miami Indian, Joseph makes an enemy of the South by killing John Wilkes Booth and preventing the death of the president. His wife is murdered and his daughter kidnapped, sending Joseph on a revenge-fueled rampage to recover his daughter. When his search fails, he disappears as the nation falls into a simmering insurgency instead of an end to the War. Years later, Joseph is still running from his past when he receives a letter from Lincoln pleading for help.  The President has a secret mission. Pursued from the outset, Joseph turns to the only person who might help, the woman he abandoned years earlier.  If he can win Molly over, he might just fulfill the President’s urgent request, find his daughter, and maybe even hasten the end of the War.

The Manhattan Projects Volume 6: Sun Beyond the Stars by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra

The sixth volume of the award-winning Manhattan Projects. The Sun Beyond the Stars.

Collects THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS: THE SUN BEYOND THE STARS #1-4.

Practical Applications for Multiverse Theory: A Novel by Noa Gavin and Nick Scott

Carson High School seniors Scott and Davey don’t have much common ground―that is, until all universes begin collapsing into their school. Soon, the avowed loner and the mean-girl cheerleader realize that something is very wrong, and they’re the only two who are aware of what’s happening. Demon versions of their teachers roam the halls, a cowboy sloth appears sporadically, and some students randomly burst into flames, while angry interdimensional counterparts of other students destroy everything in sight.

Now it’s up to two seniors from opposite sides of the social spectrum to defeat this scourge and save not only their high school but also the world. Armed with little more than school supplies and Scott’s trusty copy of The NEW Multiverse Theory, can these unlikely heroes put their differences aside and stop the total chaos? If they can’t, the end of the world may just be beginning.

Tainted (Soul Chronicles Series Book 1) by Morgan L Busse

What Happens When Your Soul Dies?

Kat Bloodmayne is one of the first women chosen to attend the Tower Academy of Sciences. But she carries a secret: she can twist the natural laws of science. She has no idea where this ability came from, only that every time she loses control and unleashes this power, it kills a part of her soul. If she doesn't find a cure soon, her soul will die and she will become something else entirely.

After a devastating personal loss, Stephen Grey leaves the World City Police Force to become a bounty hunter. He believes in justice and will stop at nothing to ensure criminals are caught and locked up. However, when Kat Bloodmayne shows up in his office seeking his help, his world is turned upside down.

Together they search World City and beyond for a doctor who can cure Kat. But what they discover on the way goes beyond science and into the dark sphere of magic.

E-Books

Independence Day #2 by Victor Gischler and Steve Scott

With fear and suspicion running rife aboard the sub, Adams prepares to embark the alien vessel in search of answers. But how will its extraterresterial crew react to unwanted visitors onboard?

To readers, 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, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on FacebookTwitterTumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Weekly Update #59

Editor's Note

Another week, another Weekly Update.  Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the first post on Weekly Update.  I am going to still be posting the usual New Releases post at 11 am, but I will be following it with a sappy and sentimental article about what I have learned and experienced writing this blog.  I don't care if anyone reads that post, I just need to say a few things for myself.

So what else is going on this week?  Well this afternoon I will be introducing a new series that I think you steampunk fans will enjoy, plus Richard Small, author of Confederate Star Rises, will be publishing a response to Chris Nuttall's Musings on an Independent Confederacy.  Speaking of Chris, he has a review coming up this week that I think you will all enjoy.

Meanwhile, we got our first reader from Guernsey.  Welcome!

And now the news...

Alternate Philippines History

Filipinos celebrated Independence Day by writing alternate history microfiction on Twitter.  Sounds like the best way to celebrate the birth of a nation ever!  Here is my favorite tweet so far:

Budjette Tan: #RP612fic Imperial troopers arrived and obliterated the Spanish armada instagr.am/p/LwkF2dlMrF/
You can find more information about this unique celebration and examples of Tweets like the one above, here and here.

Convention Watch

Those interested in experiencing some alternate history outside of the Internet have a few more options available.

Those reader living near Hartford, Connecticut, can experience "A Steampunk Reliquary:A Cabinet of Curiosities" in the Windham Textile and History Museum.  The exhibit is put on by Ann Pedro and features "items so curious that every little element to each item can be fully appreciated only by a long, slow look at them."  The exhibit will remain open until Sunday, Aug. 26. Hours are Friday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details: http://www.millmuseum.org.

Meanwhile, those living in Dallas, Texas should save the dates of March 8, 9, and 10th.  That is when Dallas All-Con 2013 will be happening.  If you like science fiction, there is a good chance you will enjoy yourself there.


Calls for Submissions

Want to be a published author?  Sure we all do and now you have a few more opportunities to let those short fiction authors inside all of us to get out:

  • Nightmare magazine is now accepting submissions.  Check out their Guidelines page for more details on how to submit your alternate history/horror story.
  • Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, the same duo who brought you all of those steampunk anthologies, are calling for submissions for a feminist speculative fiction anthology.  Due date for submissions is August 5th and you can find more details here.
  • The Future Fire wants submissions for We See a Different Frontier, a colonial-themed anthology, but from the perspective of those being colonized.  Deadline is September 14th.
If the whole process of submitting manuscripts to faceless publishers does not appeal to you, then why not try self-publishing?  Mark Lord, editor of Alt Hist, is starting a series of posts about the pros and cons of self-publishing that you should check out.

As always, good luck.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

Australia and the Eurozone: a counterfactual account of economic history by Yanis Varoufakis at The Conversation.

'Civ' creator surprised gamer played for a decade by Derrik J. Land at Yahoo! News.

Could the Way of Live of the US South have survived without Lee's successes? by Sebastian Breit at The War Blog.

Books

Fiction Review: Land of Hope and Glory by Geoffrey Wilson at PW.

Press Release: The Good, The Bad and The Infernal by Dion at Geek Syndicate.

Review of 1636: The Kremlin Games by Eric Flint done by Sacramento Book Review.

Steam Patriots by Noble Beast.

Steampunk Spotlight: Cherie Priest’s Ganymede by Jackson Kuhl at Black Gate.

Online Alternate History

Counter Factual Dot Net at TV Tropes.

Life Goes on in the Wasteland: A Hetalia and 1983: Doomsday crossover.

The Superhuman Activity Regulatory Act by Chris Nuttall.

Films

Kung Fu Meets Steampunk Flick "Tai Chi 0" Heading to North America by Scott Green at PC Online.

Your brain cannot handle Hitlar, a movie about Hitler’s evil Pakistani gangster son by Cyriaque Lamar at io9.

Video Games

Black Gold Online reveals debut trailer by Matt Daniel at Massively.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for the Alt Hist magazine and a contributor to Just Below the Law. One of his short stories will be published in the upcoming Echelon Press anthology, Once Upon a Clockwork Tale (2013). When not writing he works as an attorney in the state of Illinois and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.