Famous Tuckerizations of Alternate History

A "tuckerization" is when an author uses the name or likeness of a real person as a character in their fiction. Usually the author is friends with the person, but it could also be a contemporary celebrity or a fan who won a chance to have their name featured in their favorite work of fiction. Not only is this common in science fiction, but it is prevalent in alternate history as well. Here are just a few examples:

Ian Arnstein: Introduced in Island in the Sea of Time by SM Stirling, the bald and bearded Ian is a major POV character throughout the series. He also is knowledgeable about ancient history, had dreams of being a science fiction writer and made a Monty Python riff at the siege of Troy. If he sounds a lot like the master of alternate history himself, Harry Turtledove, you would be correct. Although as far as I know neither author has confirmed Ian is Harry, most fans are in agreement that the character is based off the author.

Michael Pound: Speaking of Stirling, over at his Facebook group Stirling hinted that the stocky (possibly Canadian) barrel driver from Turtledove's Southern Victory/TL-191, Michael Pound, is actually a tuckerization of him. "Michael" is the "M" in "SM" and Stirling did admit Turtledove likes to pun, which probably explains how Stirling became Pound (get it?). Both character and author are also quite outspoken.

Lord Darcy series: Although I have never read the series myself, Lord Darcy by Randall Garrett is a popular short fiction universe from the 1960s and 70s that is still spoken of fondly by older fans. This historical fantasy features England and France united under the Plantangenets. It is also full of tuckerizations including TA Water (Sir Thomas Leseaux), Michael Kurland (Michel Coure-Terre), James Randi (James Zwinge) and EE Smith (Sir Edward Elmer, Th.D).

Axis of Time series: The Lord Darcy series, however, pales in comparison to the king of tuckerization, John Birmingham, whose Axis of Time series is stuffed full of cameos. Some hero went to great lengths to list them out on Wikipedia, but not only did Birmingham include SM Stirling and Harry Turtledove (as Commander Turteltaub), he also referenced other recognizable names to alternate historians like Eric Flint and William R. Forstchen.

Can you name any other tuckerizations from alternate history fiction? Let us know in the comments below.

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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 2/26/13

Hardcover

The Mongoliad: Book Three by Neal Stephenson,  Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland, Cooper Moo, Mark Teppo and Mike Grell

Description from Amazon.

This handsome hardcover edition of The Mongoliad: Book Three features exquisite foil stamping, deckled edges, a ribbon marker, an illustrated character glossary, and a Foreworld map printed on the end- sheets. It also includes Seer: A Foreworld SideQuest. This short story was previously available only digitally and sets up characters and events in The Mongoliad.

The final book of the Mongoliad trilogy from Neal Stephenson and company tells the gripping personal stories of medieval freedom fighters to form an epic, imaginative recounting of a moment in history when a world in peril relied solely on the courage of its people.

The shadow of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II hangs over the shattered Holy Roman Church as the cardinals remain deadlocked, unable to choose a new pope. Only the Binders and a mad priest have a hope of uniting the Church against the invading Mongol host. An untested band of young warriors stands against the dissolute Khan, fighting for glory and freedom in the Khan’s sadistic circus of swords, and the brave band of Shield- Brethren who set out to stop the Mongol threat single-handedly race against their nemesis before he can raise the entire empire against them. Veteran knight Feronantus, haunted by his life in exile, leads the dwindling company of Shield-Brethren to their final battle, molding them into a team that will outlast him. No good hero lives forever. Or fights alone.

Paperbacks

Angels of Vengeance by John Birmingham

Description from Amazon.

When an inexplicable wave of energy slams into North America, the world is plunged into turmoil—as wars erupt, borders vanish, and the great and powerful fall.

Against this dramatic backdrop, three very different women navigate the chaos. Deep in a South American jungle, special agent Caitlin Monroe will stop at nothing to discover how a master terrorist escaped a secret detention center in French Guadeloupe to strike a fatal blow in New York City. Sofia Peiraro, a grieving teenager trying to rebuild her life in Kansas City, is drawn back to Texas by a vicious murder. And in the fashionable bars and boutiques of Darwin, the seething, growing freeport in Australia’s deep north, the British-born aristocrat-turned-smuggler Lady Julianne Balwyn hides a pistol in the small of her lovely back. She is hunting for the man who is hunting her. As these women fight for survival, justice, and revenge, humanity itself struggles toward its better angels—and to purge its worst demons.

Check out all of our reviews for the Wave trilogy (Without Warning, After America and Angels of Vengeance).

Any Day Now: A Novel by Terry Bison

Description from Amazon.

This tour de force, road movie of a novel is a poignant excursion into the last days of the Beats and the radicalized culture of the 1960s, from Kentucky to New York City and beyond. Written in a voice that is warmhearted and hauntingly original, Any Day Now is the story of Clay, a small-town boy whose future is all mapped out. It travels as far as an isolated New Mexico commune under threat from a national revolution, with Clay battling to find his place in the new America -- and hoping desperately to forget what happened back East with the girl he loved.

Bisson, whose prose brings to life this wild tale in the vein of Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, has written a transcendent commentary on America's civil liberties and the perils of growing up, then and now.

Gideon's Angel by Clifford Beal

Description from Amazon.

He came back to kill a tyrant. He found the Devil instead. An amazing historical novel with a supernatural twist set after the English Civil War. This is the stunning debut from Clifford Beal.

He came back to kill a tyrant. He found the Devil instead.

1653: The long and bloody English Civil War is at an end. King Charles is dead and Oliver Cromwell rules the land as king in all but name. Richard Treadwell, an exiled royalist officer and soldier-for-hire to the King of France and his all-powerful advisor, the wily Cardinal Mazarin, burns with revenge for those who deprived him of his family and fortune. He decides upon a self-appointed mission to return to England in secret and assassinate the new Lord Protector. Once back on English soil however, he learns that his is not the only plot in motion.

A secret army run by a deluded Puritan is bent on the same quest, guided by the Devil’s hand. When demonic entities are summoned, Treadwell finds himself in a desperate turnaround: he must save Cromwell to save England from a literal descent into Hell. But first he has to contend with a wife he left in Devon who believes she’s a widow, and a furious Paris mistress who has trailed him to England, jeopardising everything. Treadwell needs allies fast. Can he convince the man sent to forcibly drag him back to Cardinal Mazarin? A young king’s musketeer named d’Artagnan.

Black dogs and demons; religion and magic; Freemasons and Ranters. It’s a dangerous new Republic for an old cavalier coming home again.

London Darkness: War of the Devices by Christopher Stocking

Description from Amazon.

Fifteen years have passed since the events with Caiden and the forces of Partum Chaos transpired, and the League of Inventors is flourishing with Ryker and Adelina as Head Inventors. London's defenses are at peak performance, and all seems well for Ryker; his wife, Celia; and Lance, their fifteen-year-old son. But, when a mysterious Frenchman arrives with talks of impending war, American musicians in the forest, and strange automatons, Ryker must figure out who is his friend, and who is his foe in order to save what he has worked so hard to create.

Reality Check by Eric Garrison

Description from Amazon.

When a quantum supercomputer's "reality simulator" program causes temporary insanity in its beta-testers, Lee Green rolls up his sleeves and dives into a virtual world to debug the problem. Only he discovers that place is more real than anyone imagined. He finds alternate versions of his friends in that mad science reality, their lives and relationships very different from those in the "real" world. Quantum entanglements become romantic entanglements as he meets his love again in each new dimension. Lee must save these other lives, decide which destiny is truly his, and what he's willing to sacrifice to get there.

Secrets of the Fire Sea by Stephen Hunt

Description from Amazon.

The isolated island of Jago is the only home Hannah Conquest has ever known. But her carefree existence comes to an abrupt halt when her guardian, Archbishop Alice Grey, is brutally murdered. Someone desperately wants to suppress a secret kept by the archbishop, and if the attempts on Hannah's own life are any indication, the killer believes that Alice passed the knowledge to her ward before her head was separated from her neck.

Meanwhile, a deadly power struggle is brewing on Jago. And as Hannah digs deeper into the mystery Alice left behind, assisted by two rather different detectives, she must race to unravel a chain of ancient riddles in order to save not just her own life, but her island home itself!

Secrets of the Fire Sea is a rollicking tale of high adventure and derring-do set in Stephen Hunt’s Victorian-style clockwork world filled with steammen and aliens, fantastical creatures and dastardly villains…and some remarkable heroes that steampunk fans will cheer for.

E-books

Bully! by Mike Resnick

Description from Amazon.

In March 1909, Theodore Roosevelt went on a safari to central Africa. In this fictionalized account of that trip, Mike Resnick takes us on an amusing “what-if” with Roosevelt deciding to “liberate” the native Africans from Belgian rule and to set up a model democratic state in the heart of Africa.

Check out my review of the anthology The Other Teddy Roosevelts which contains this short story.

Seer by Mark Teppo

Description from Amazon.

When a merchant appears at the Catalonian chapter house of the Shield-Brethren, seeking to hire guards for his caravan, young Andreas is suspicious. Knights with his martial prowess are above protecting mere cargo wagons. Yet Andreas’s wanderlust outweighs his concern, and soon the group is headed to the merchant’s mountain village—and into great danger.

As the caravan approaches, a woman suffering from terrifying visions feverishly paints her latest revelation—in her own blood. The image horrifies her fellow villagers, who fear an imminent attack, or worse, the return of the brutal Inquisition. But when Andreas deciphers the painting’s true meaning, it may forever impact his wandering ways, his unspoken fears, and his very future with the Shield-Brethren.

Following Sinner and Dreamer, this Foreworld SideQuest reveals the painful truth that sometimes seeing what is to come is far worse than not knowing.

Audio

The Beast of Calatrava by Mark Teppo

Description from Amazon.

After a battle left Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa’s face terribly disfigured, the knight of the Order of Calatrava abandoned his sword for a pastoral existence. But his beastly appearance horrifies all those who cross his path — with the exception of his adoring and pregnant wife. Can he keep Louisa and their unborn child safe from the war that is coming to Iberia? As Ramiro prepares for his child’s birth, Brother Lazare of the Cistercian order searches for a means to inspire men as he travels with the crusading Templars. He seeks swords of legend — named blades carried by heroes of old — believing such symbols have the ability to rally men in a way no king could ever accomplish. But when he learns of the stories told of the mysterious monster that haunts the Iberian battlefields, he wonders what sort of power this new legend might contain — the legend of a man whose scarred face and cold demeanor cannot hide his heroic soul.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Do you want to see your work given a shout out on our New Releases segment? Contact Mitro 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 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.

Weekly Update #79

Editor's Note

Is anyone willing to be a volunteer proofreader/copy-editor for Alternate History Weekly Update? With my busy schedule I don't always have the time to spend proofing my posts before publication. So if you want to help, I am looking for someone available on short-notice to proof articles before publication. I can't pay you (yet), but I can help promote your websites, blogs and projects. Contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

Welcome to our new reader from Tunisia and congrats on your new democracy! This week we feature three interviews with a multi-award winning author, a friend of the blog celebrating his first publication and a popular steampunk author/podcaster. I will round out the week with a review of A Feast Unknown by Philip José Farmer. Thanks to Titan Books for sending me a review copy.

And now the news...

President-Elect Mitt Romney

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate it when people start writing an alternate history shortly after a major election speculating on what would happen if the other party won? Yes I have, but to reiterate: they suck.

Still I guess we can't avoid thinking about what might have been after such a contentious American presidential election...so enjoy:

That is what "President-Elect" Mitt Romney's website would have looked like if he won the presidency. It was live for only a short time, but long enough to get some screen shots. You can see more screenshots at the Political Wire, including the page asking for your opinion on who should make up Romney's cabinet.

The new website even gives some hints on what President Romney would do after being inaugurated: "On his first day in office, Mitt Romney will issue an executive order that paves the way for the federal government to issue Affordable Care Act waivers to all 50 states. He will then work with Congress to repeal the full legislation as quickly as possible."

Having a snazzy website, however, is not enough. Romney actually had to win the election to be the President-Elect. How could he have done that? BuzzFeed has come up with a few scenarios (thanks to io9 for finding it for me), but they all involve repealing the right to vote to certain groups, like women, blacks and others.

Truly these screen shots and the above articles that went with them are important resources for anyone willing to write a legitimate President Romney alternate history when enough time has passed to give us an unbiased perspective.

Salem: The Crafting: More Ships Setting Sail for New World

The New World is expanding! Paradox Interactive and Seatribe today announced that Salem: The Crafting MMO, PC Free-to-play, has launched two additional servers this week, allowing for more beta testers to enter a fantastical New England and carve a new life for themselves in the uncharted wilderness during the colonial period.

To commemorate the event, Paradox Interactive will begin distributing beta keys to those that have yet to experience 17th century living in a world filled with alchemy, witchcraft, and permadeath. For details on how to set sail for the Americas, visit the beta sign up site for Salem: The Crafting.

World Fantasy Awards announced

The World Fantasy Awards were announced last week and the alternate history novel Osama by Lavie Tidhar won the best novel. Here is a description:

In an alternate world without global terrorism, a private detective is hired by a mysterious woman to track down the obscure creator of the fictional vigilante, Osama Bin Laden...

Joe’s identity slowly fragments as his quest takes him across the world, from the backwaters of Asia to the European capitals of Paris and London. He discovers the shadowy world of the Refugees, ghostly entities haunting the world in which he lives. Where do they come from? What do they want? Joe knows how the story should end, but is he ready for the truths he will uncover... or the choice he will have to make?

Lavie Tidhar was in Dar-es-Salaam during the American embassy bombings in 1998, and stayed in the same hotel as the Al Qaeda operatives in Nairobi. Since then he and his now-wife have narrowly avoided both the 2005 London, King’s Cross and 2004 Sinai attacks—experiences that led to the creation of Osama. He is the author of many novels, including the Bookman trilogy and is a prolific short story writer.

Congrats to Lavie and all the winners (you can see a complete list at Tor). You can also watch the ceremony on YouTube:

Steampunk Events

Nov 14: Official grand opening of Clockwork Couture at 3:30 P.M in Burbank, CA.

Nov 15-17: Run of the steampunk version of "Sherlock Holmes" in Chanhassen, MN.

New Releases

Hardcovers

The Mongoliad: Book One Collector's Edition by various authors
This handsome hardcover edition of The Mongoliad: Book One features an exquisite cover with foil stamping, deckled edges, a ribbon marker, an illustrated character glossary and a Foreworld map printed on the end-sheets. It also includes Sinner: A Prequel to the Mongoliad.

The Mongoliad: Book Two Collector's Edition by various authors
This handsome hardcover edition of The Mongoliad: Book Two features an exquisite cover with foil stamping, deckled edges, a ribbon marker, an illustrated character glossary and a Foreworld map printed on the end-sheets. It also includes Dreamer: A Prequel to the Mongoliad Trilogy.

Paperbacks

The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest
Rector “Wreck ‘em” Sherman was orphaned as a toddler in the Blight of 1863, but that was years ago. Wreck has grown up, and on his eighteenth birthday, he’ll be cast out out of the orphanage. And Wreck’s problems aren’t merely about finding a home.

Zombie Jesus and Other True Stories edited by Max Booth III
What if John Wilkes Booth had a good reason for killing Lincoln? A reason kept secret to protect the innocent; a reason so sinister that it would turn your hair white as light. What if Jack the Ripper was the protagonist of his life story, and he was only trying to save the world from the apocalypse? What if there was an agency somewhere out there, responsible for the death of every single celebrity? What if the Titanic wasn't just carrying the living? What if there was more than just lava that erupted from Mount St. Helens? What if, what if, WHAT IF!? [Review at Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.]

E-books

"A Captain of the Gate" by John Birmingham
A 'What if' story of the Cold War ... a small piece of alternate history of the period told via a biography of one of its players, Lieutenant Branch McKinnon, an adventurer in a different post-WWII world of American isolationism.

Land of Hope and Glory by Geoffrey Wilson
It is 1852. The Indian empire of Rajthana has ruled Europe for more than a hundred years. With their vast armies, steam-and-sorcery technology and mastery of the mysterious power of sattva, the Rajthanans appear invincible. But a bloody rebellion has broken out in a remote corner of the empire, in a poor and backward region known as England. [Read my review.]

Other Paths III: Additional Alternate Outcomes of the Second World War by Alexander Rooksmor
The third volume in the successful ‘Other Paths’ series looks at alternate developments in the Second World War from 1941 onwards.

The Scourge by Roberto Calas
A mysterious plague descends upon 14th century England, ravaging the country and trapping the souls of the afflicted in eternal madness. The feudal hierarchy--and even the church itself-- slowly crumbles as the dead rise to feed and the living seek whatever shelter they can. The bishops of England call for calm and obedience, but one man isn’t listening.

Stalin's Hammer: Rome by John Birmingham
Ten years have passed since Admiral Kolhammer’s 21st century battlefleet was dragged into a wormhole and thrown across oceans of time, emerging with disastrous consequences and shattering the history of the Second World War.

"Well Chosen Words" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Legend has it that Abraham Lincoln scrawled the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope as he traveled to the battlefield to dedicate a cemetery. But the legend belies Lincoln’s struggle to carefully choose the right words. Words that must soothe a fractured nation, inspire change and chart the course for the nation’s future. Because his speech in Gettysburg will change history, but not necessarily in the way he hopes.

Audio

Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith
They're an iconic part of history's most celebrated birth. But what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity, besides the fact that they followed a star to Bethlehem bearing strange gifts? The Bible has little to say about this enigmatic trio. But leave it to Seth Grahame-Smith, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to take a little mystery, bend a little history, and weave an epic tale.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

James Toney vs. Joe Calzaghe fantasy fight by Rich Thomas at ProBoxing-fans.com.

Vanished Kingdoms – Burgundia by Oldcat at Kilobooks.

Books

New Cover Art from Angry Robot by Justin Landon at Staffer's Book Review.

Review of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld at Forest of Paper.

Review of The United States of Atlantis by Harry Turtledove at Yahoo Voices.

Comics

Manga Review: The Clockwork Sky Volume One by Madeline Rosca at Seattle PI.

Titan 2 Kickstarter by Andy Stanleigh.

Films

Castle Wolfenstein Movie on Again? by dwgrampus at Geek Syndicate.

Interview

Richard Monson-Haefel at Steam Patriots.

Plays

Review: The New World Order by Elisabeth Shuker at The Yorker.

Podcasts

Alternate History in Superhero Games at GenCon 2012 at Role Playing Public Radio.

Television/Web Series

Independent Series 'Dirigible Days' Combines 'Firefly' With Steampunk by Sam Gutelle at Tubefilter.

‘Revolution’ Season 1, Episode 7: ‘The Children’s Crusade’ Recap by Kevin Yeoman at Screen Rant.

Review of Elementary: Season 1, Episode 3, 4, 5, 6 done by David Marshall at Thinking about books.

Trailer For “Da Vinci’s Demons” Confirms The Steampunk-Lite Hilarity by Evan Dickson at Bloody Disgusting.

Video Games

PSA: Sine Mora brings bullets, steampunk, and Hungarian to PC today by Sinan Kubba at Joystiq.

Sir, You Are Being Hunted successfully Kickstarted, celebrates with game footage by Richard Cobbett at PC Gamer.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update 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.

Review: "Final Impact" by John Birmingham

Guest review by Chris Nuttall.

All right, Mr Birmingham, where’s book 3? Final Impact is book 4! Fair warning, there are some spoilers here.

When last we saw our much-loved friends the MNF – Admiral Kolhammer, Julia Duffy, Captain Habali, Mike Judge – and their much-detested enemies – Himmler, Hitler, Yamamoto, etc – in Designated Targets, they were gearing up for a major conflict. Hitler’s desperate attempt to conquer Britain had failed. Yamamoto’s gamble to take Pearl Harbour had succeeded – amid bloodletting and atrocities that would have made more sense in a Paladin of Shadows book – and there were dozens of threads waiting to be resolved in Book 3. I cannot say that I spent a year desperately waiting for this book – only three authors get me THAT desperate – but I was looking forward to it.

I opened the book and I thought…where’s the action?

Actually, that’s not entirely fair. There is plenty of action in this book, but it’s not the action I was expecting.

Consider; at the end of DT, we were led to expect that there would be a major thrust against Pearl Harbour, spear-headed by the former JSDF ship, by the Allies. There would be a major political struggle against J. Egder Hoover (of FBI) fame. Dan and Julia would get married – and a romance was hinted at between Mike Judge and Karen Habibi. There was a team of future Russians operating within the USSR – and hints that the Russians had captured a ship from the future. We would FINALLY find out who was responsible for the racial rape-murder way back at the beginning…and the mystery of Sanction Five. And, and, and…

When Final Impact opens, all of these events have happened. Dan and Julia have not only married, but split up; Dan has gotten himself killed somewhere off-page in the two years gap between DT and FI. Pearl Harbour has been recaptured. The Japanese are FINALLY on the ropes. D-Day is underway, with a massive invasion of Europe, and the Russians are preparing to stab the Nazis in the back. It’s not a bad book, but it has a lot of small problems. I WANTED to see that battle, damn it!

Ok, I have written a trilogy myself – Second Chance – around a basically similar event, and I do understand some of the problems. In 1942, the US had very little that could actually be deployed; the fantasies of citizen soldiers notwithstanding, men with guns and without training are not good soldiers. In 1944, particularly with future help, the US is almost drowning in war production and it becomes a battle of economies. There has to be something between those two periods, and I understand – without approving – the reason for jumping forward. DT no longer works as a book because FI does not conclude the trilogy. We need a Book 2.5.

(I also have a small case of sour grapes as some items here remind me far too much of Second Chance, although there are only limited solutions to the problem.)

In most cases, Birmingham does a fair job of touching on the effects of the ISOT. The treatment of Russia, however, borders on sheer mil-wank fantasy. It is VERY difficult, if not impossible, for the Russians to do as much as Birmingham suggests, the presence of the captured ship – which the MNF seems to let them get away with – notwithstanding. Consider, as Dale Cozort points out, the Soviets were actually VERY dependent upon western aid; just because the shipment of arms and ammunition was not critically important does not mean that the aid was unhelpful.

The Russian industry – I forget if the term ‘hero project’ existed then – was very good at churning out thousands of crude (in industrial terms) tanks, but much less good at the finicky stuff. American radios kept the Russians talking to one another and American trucks kept the Red Army moving. American food kept the Russians feeding and American railway stock kept their network running. If the lend lease from the US is cut off – a POD in its own right – the Russians somehow have to gear up to alter production to replace what they were no longer getting from the US, which is not as easy as it sounds. Building items from the 1950s would take almost as long as the 6 years or so it would take to reach that date.

The knowledge from the future is less helpful than it seems. Birmingham shows us the USSR turning on everyone who would betray Stalin in the future, which would excite major paranoia among the upper soviets. Even without some kindly soul deciding to strike first, they would still have problems doing everything that they are shown doing. They would NOT waste resources – debatable, but understandable from their POV – on an aircraft carrier…and they would not make a jump for Japan. Taking Manchuria and even parts of China makes sense; trying to develop a blue water capability means nothing when they face a lethal threat from the west, Germany. Historically, the USSR did not attempt to build up a navy until their main land requirements were completed.

Q – What is a safe Russian border?

A – One with a Russian soldier on each side.

Sadly, there seem to be far fewer links between the characters as they appeared in WOC and DT; so much of their development happens off-book. This happens to the extent that it is difficult to reconcile them - I liked Julia in the first two books; in FI, she’s a bitch. Nice as it is to see Karen and Mike married…what happened? We don’t know. I can’t see either Roosevelt or Churchill considering Stalin as anything other than an enemy, not after what happened in the first history. And Prince Harry…well, I may have firm anti-monarchist credentials, but I would have expected him to willingly disappear into the MNF, having a free opportunity to escape the Royal Family. (Heh, that little set of details REALLY needs to be explored; the post-war impact on the Royal Family and the British Empire.)

But enough griping. If you read this without any knowledge of the underlying factors of WW2 – or you can suspend disbelief – you’ll enjoy it. I sometimes think that the book goes too far in illuminating what bad people the enemies are – and what nasty people twenty years of the jihad have made of the MNF – but that’s just me. John, it’s a good book, but we do need a section between DT and FI.

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Chris Nuttall blogs at The Chrishanger and has a website by the same name. His books can be found on Amazon Kindle.

Review: "Angels of Vengeance" by John Birmingham

Grade: A-

Angels of Vengeance by John Birmingham is the latest (and last?) novel in the trilogy that began with Without Warning.  Some backstory, our tale begins when a dome of energy descends onto North America on the eve of the Iraq War, covering most of the continent. Millions perish and anyone who attempts to enter the dome disappears as well.  The United States of America (except for Alaska, Hawaii, and a small enclave around Seattle) is destroyed, along with  large chunks of Canada and Mexico (plus the Bahamas but no one mentions them at all, so screw it).  While some mourn or celebrate the loss of life, it becomes clear that a world without America is a bad place indeed. The world economy collapses and the global environment is ruined as nuclear reactors fail and fires rage in the depopulated North America with no one around to stop them.

The story continues in After America.  The dome is gone and the North American wilderness is open for recolonization.  The United States is struggling to retake its lost homeland from gangsters, pirates, scavengers and Islamist fighters fleeing the irradiated Middle East (after Israel carried out the Samson Option), which comes to a climax in the epic Battle of New York.  A greater threat, however, comes from Texas where a mad former general will either remake America in his own image or force the country into a bloody civil war.  In the rest of the world, the geopolitical situation is fluid and new powers our testing the old order.

Angels of Vengeance concludes many of the story lines began in the previous two books.  While Birmingham uses many point of views to tell the story, there are three characters who are the primary plot movers, our "angels".  First, we have Echelon agent Caitlin Monroe, or "Commando Barbie" as some call her.  She is on the hunt for the terrorist who instigated the civil war in France and the Battle of New York.   She really wants him dead and will go anywhere and do anything to accomplish her goal.  Second, we have Sofia Peiraro, a teenage girl who witnessed the murder of her family in Texas and survived the trek north to Kansas City with her father, only to learn that he has been murdered.  She suspects it was ordered by General "Mad Jack" Blackstone, governor of Texas, and she is now heading south to avenge her family.  Finally there is Julianne Balwyn, a British-born aristocrat turned smuggler. She is being stalked through Darwin, Australia, now a cyberpunk-esque free port in this changed world, by hitmen ordered to take her and her friends out by someone powerful with a score to settle.  To stop him, Jules will have no choice but to put herself in the open and let her hunters strike.

I have enjoyed Birmingham's works for three main reasons: bringing techno-thrillers to alternate history, not being afraid to kill off important characters and the use of strong female characters in a genre dominated by men.  He did not disappoint me in this novel and I especially was amused by how Microsoft dominates the tech world with their smart phones having that annoying paper clip, Microsoft Where? and people saying "go MSN it."  More importantly, the entire series has been a plausible and very descriptive scenario on what was likely to happen if the United States were to disappear.  It also had good character development and, of course, action.

If I had any real complaint it was how James Kipper turned out.  I felt that he went from a reluctant rebel, to idealistic leader and finally to naive politician.  Considering the events of After America I found it odd how he evolved into someone who could not be bothered with making the hard choices.  Since he is only a minor character in this novel, however, his presence does not do enough to ruin the story, but it is disappointing to see one of my favorite characters lose what made me like the guy in the first place.

I guess the last thing to talk about is whether or not this novel is a conclusion to the series.  Certainly the final epilogue leaves it open for more books and there is still so much going on in the world that could be covered.  The ending, however, might just be the only plausible way to end such a story.  Life does not stop for the characters just because the book ends.  There are no real happy endings, only life going on, with its pitfalls and promises.  I really did enjoy the series and I hope those reading this review who have not read the series will go and pick out these books to read.

Also if anyone wants to make a map of what they think the world of Without Warning looks like, I would love to post it on Weekly Update.

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Mitro is founder, editor and contributor of Alternate History Weekly Update. When he is not busy writing about his passion for alternate history, he spends his time working as a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois and dreams of being a published author himself one day.

New Releases 4/10/2012

New Books (Hardcover and e-book)

Angels of Vengeance by John Birmingham

Description from Amazon.

When an inexplicable wave of energy slammed into North America, millions died. In the rest of the world, wars erupted, borders vanished, and the powerful lost their grip on power. Against this backdrop, with a conflicted U.S. president struggling to make momentous decisions in Seattle and a madman fomenting rebellion in Texas, three women are fighting their own battles—for survival, justice, and revenge.

Special agent Caitlin Monroe moves stealthily through a South American jungle. Her target: a former French official now held prisoner by a ruthless despot. To free the prisoner, Caitlin will kill anyone who gets in her way. And then she will get the truth about how a master terrorist escaped a secret detention center in French Guadeloupe to strike a fatal blow in New York City.

Sofia Peiraro is a teenage girl who witnessed firsthand the murder and mayhem of Texas under the rule of General Mad Jack Blackstone. Sofia might have tried to build a life with her father in the struggling remnants of Kansas City—if a vicious murder hadn’t set her on another course altogether: back to Texas, even to Blackstone himself.

Julianne Balwyn is a British-born aristocrat turned smuggler. Shopping in the most fashionable neighborhood of Darwin, Australia—now a fantastic neo-urban frontier—Jules has a pistol holstered in the small of her lovely back. She is playing the most dangerous game of all: waiting for the person who is hunting her to show his face—so she can kill him first.

Three women in three corners of a world plunged into electrifying chaos. Nation-states struggling for their survival. Immigrants struggling for new lives. John Birmingham’s astounding new novel—the conclusion to the series begun in Without Warning and After America—is an intense adventure that races from the halls of power to shattered streets to gleaming new cities, as humanity struggles to grasp its better angels—and purge its worst demons.

Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith

Description from Amazon.

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, comes UNHOLY NIGHT, the next evolution in dark historical revisionism.

They're an iconic part of history's most celebrated birth. But what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity, besides the fact that they followed a star to Bethlehem bearing strange gifts? The Bible has little to say about this enigmatic trio. But leave it to Seth Grahame-Smith, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to take a little mystery, bend a little history, and weave an epic tale.

In Grahame-Smith's telling, the so-called "Three Wise Men" are infamous thieves, led by the dark, murderous Balthazar. After a daring escape from Herod's prison, they stumble upon the famous manger and its newborn king. The last thing Balthazar needs is to be slowed down by young Joseph, Mary and their infant. But when Herod's men begin to slaughter the first born in Judea, he has no choice but to help them escape to Egypt.

It's the beginning of an adventure that will see them fight the last magical creatures of the Old Testament; cross paths with biblical figures like Pontius Pilate and John the Baptist; and finally deliver them to Egypt. It may just be the greatest story never told.

Recommended Past Releases

Taft 2012 by Jason Heller

Description from Amazon.

HE'S BACK.
AND HE'S THE BIGGEST THING IN POLITICS.

He is the perfect presidential candidate. Conservatives love his hard-hitting Republican résumé. Liberals love his peaceful, progressive practicality. The media can’t get enough of his larger-than-life personality. And all the American people love that he’s an honest, hard-working man who tells it like it is.

There’s just one problem. He is William Howard Taft . . . and he was already president a hundred years ago. So what on earth is he doing alive and well and considering a running mate in 2012?

A most extraordinary satire, Jason Heller’s debut novel follows the strange new life of a presidential Rip Van Winkle: a man who never even wanted the White House in the first place, yet finds himself hurtling toward it once more—this time, through the media-fueled madness of 21st-century America.

Editor's Note

If you are a fan, author or publisher and want to see your work given a shout out on our New Releases segment, contact Mitro at ahwupdate@gmail.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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Mitro is founder, editor and contributor of Alternate History Weekly Update. When he is not busy writing about his passion for alternate history, he spends his time working as a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois and dreams of being a published author himself one day.

Review: "Without Warning" by John Birmingham

Guest review by Chris Nuttall.

What if the United States went away?

John Birmingham, according to his own statements, was inspired to write Without Warning after hearing students claiming that the world would be a better place without the United States. I do wonder if he was inspired by a timeline from pre-2000 that had as its starting point the complete disappearance of all Americans, but I digress. Without Warning is a strange mixture of military adventure, alternate history and social-political commentary. It is very definitely a fascinating read.

It’s 2003 – and the United States is on the verge of invading Iraq. American and British soldiers are gathering in Kuwait, protest marches are on the streets and people…are just getting on with their lives. Suddenly, everything changes; a mysterious energy dome has appeared over most of America, killing the entire population. America is not just gone, but utterly inaccessible. The Wave, as it becomes called in the book, is beyond explanation. Anyone who goes into it dies. 99% of America and parts of Canada, Mexico and Cuba are wiped out in a split second. The world has changed beyond belief.

Birmingham mingles a cast of fictional and real-life characters (including Tommy Franks and Linda Lingle) as they struggle to deal with a world turned upside down. An American reporter in Kuwait finds himself recording stories that no one will ever hear. A crew of smugglers find themselves caught up in the chaos, trying to find safe haven. A civil engineer in Seattle struggles to save what remains of the United States. The CO of Gitmo, right on the edge of the Wave, tries desperately to preserve some order as the world collapses into chaos. And an American intelligence agent, lost and alone in Paris, finds herself trying to escape the madness as the city falls into darkness. Birmingham’s understanding of human nature is generally very good and, with one small exception, the cast responds in a believable manner. Very few of them, I do note, sit down to pray.

In a series of rapid-fire chapters, Birmingham charts out the course of the post-US world. Saddam sends his troops into Kuwait, intending to wipe out the remainder of the US presence in the Middle East, while Iran joins the fighting and engages US forces directly in the Gulf. The massive economic collapse across the world spurs on rioting and outright civil war in parts of Europe. Israel, faced with a world without America, launches a pre-emptive nuclear attack all along the Arabian Crescent. And the surviving Americans, lost and running out of supplies, find themselves dependent upon a wide range of nations for survival. It is not a cheerful world. By the end of the book, Russia is a resurgent power, China is collapsing into civil war, India and Pakistan are on the verge of a nuclear war and Europe is becoming a fascist state.

Yet the book is more character-driven than action driven. This is sometimes a good thing, yet there are areas I wish were explored more, such as the situation on the ground in a dozen different places. What is happening in the UK, for example, or inside Iraq or Iran? The war that erupts in the Middle East is seen only through a glass darkly – I wish, really, that there had been more chapters set there. Birmingham has learned his art far better than in the Axis of Time books, but the story is not without problems.

Birmingham also looks into the underlying reasons for the War on Terror – why we fight. We are up against a mindset that believes in a Manichean struggle between good and evil, with anything justified in the name of Allah. He exposes the western peace movement as largely composed of the fools and the blind; one of the characters blithely informs a POV character that they knew what happened to some Muslims at the hands of other Muslims, but America was worse. It is a logic that simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. It is seductive only to those who wish to believe in peace and equality. It is the peace and equality of the grave.

It’s worth noting that the book suffers from two plausibility problems. The first is simple; Puerto Rico and Alaska seem to be completely unmentioned, despite being untouched by the Wave. The second is more complex; I could buy a major period of civil unrest in France easily, but not outright civil war and certainly not what Birmingham portrays. (His logic isn’t bad, but it doesn’t apply to real life.) I know that the French seem to have a tradition of summer riots in Paris every year these days, but Birmingham takes it well over the top.

But leave those points; Without Warning remains an impressive and ambitious read.

[Editor's Note: See my review of the sequel After America - Mitro]

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Chris Nuttall blogs at The Chrishanger. His books can be found on Amazon Kindle.

Weekly Update #26

Editor's Note

We beat our monthly page view record from August!  This could not have been done without the help of our fans.  Our new record (that I have every intention of beating in November) is at 10:53 AM CST...3360!

In the meantime, I am reading Prologue by Greg Ahlgren.  It is an alternate history/time travel novel where scientists and rebels from a timeline where the Soviet Union won the Cold War attempt to change history by travelling back to the 1960s and preventing President Kennedy from making the choices that led to America's defeat.  An intriguing POD, I hope to post a review of the novel eventually and Greg has graciously agreed to do an interview as well.  Along with that upcoming interview, author Dale Cozort has also agreed to an interview.  So you have two interviews to look forward to in the near future.

This week Korsgaard will be doing a showcase on Green Antarctica and I will also be posting another Airship Update.  Sorry I do not have more info on future posts, but I promise that if you keep an eye out for new posts you will not be disappointed.

And now the news..,

Coming Soon: Wild Cards film

Syfy Films, the theatrical division created in December 2010 as a joint venture between Syfy and Universal Pictures, has acquired the screen rights to Wild Cards.  For those who do not know, Wild Cards is a science fiction and superhero anthology series set in a shared universe. The series was created by a group of New Mexico science fiction authors, but it is mostly pulled together and edited by best-selling author George R. R. Martin (who will be an executive producer on the film) with assistance by Melinda Snodgrass, also a contributor to the series (who will be writing the screenplay and be executive producer as well). 

The POD is as follows: in 1946, a genetically-tailored virus from outer space was released in Earth's stratosphere, killing many but giving super powers to others.  The series documents many effects of the virus during the ensuing decades as super-heroes and super-villains appear all over the world, but history does not change as much as you would think.  Nevertheless, with comic books movies and Martin's Game of Thrones being so popular, this alternate history may have a good chance of being made.

John Birmingham Update!

John Birmingham has been busy recently.  His new novel Angels of Vengeance, the final book in a trilogy chronicling the events that happened after a wave of energy wipes out human life across much of North America on the eve of the Iraq War, is going to be published in Australia.  Those in the States, however, will have to wait until April 10, 2012 to get their issue.

In the meantime, you can read an excerpt from the novel and catch an interview with Birmingham on Shearer's Books Blog.

Alternate History on reddit

You can find alternate history communities everywhere on the Internet, and reddit is no exception.  For those who do not know, reddit is a social news website where the registered users submit content, which could either be links or a text "self" post. Other users then vote the submission "up" or "down," which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site's pages and front page.  The site is divided into "subreddits" where people can post specific types of content.

So what alternate history related subreddits are there?  Well first there is HistoricalWhatIf, which acts as the Alternatehistory.com of reddit.  Users can post what ifs and other users can discuss them in the comment section.  No links though, if you want to post links to other AH sites you will have to go to Uchronie or Althistory.  You may notice that I have begun posting links to Alternate History Weekly Update in those two subreddits, so that is another place to stay updated on what is happening on this blog.

Finally, we have the subreddit for the proposed film Rome, Sweet Rome.  Some of you may remember a recent Weekly Update how a pitch for an alternate history film was picked up after it received significant number of votes of reddit.  If you want to stay updated on that film, you can do so by subscribing to that subreddit.

Perhaps in the future I will make a subreddit for Alternate History Weekly Update...

Convention Update: Stirling at CoreCon

Those alternate historians living in and around Fargo, ND/Moorhead, MN should check out CoreCon, which is scheduled for May 4-6, 2012.  Alternate history author S. M. Stirling will be the guest of honor and since he generally does not leave the West Coast all that often, now is the time to take advantage of his foray into the cold MidWest and go and meet him.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

Counterfactual: What if David Davis Had Been Elected Leader of the Conservative Party in 2005? by Iain Dale at Dale & Co.

Counterfactual: What If The UK Had Not Gone to War in Iraq in 2003? by Tony McNulty at Dale & Co.

Get a sneak peek at the multiverse by Alan Boyle at msnbc.

Waiting For New Universes by Adam Frank at NPR.

Books

Atlantis and Other Places (audiobook) by Harry Turtledove reviewed by Jackson District Library.

The Big Switch by Harry Turtledove reviewed by Books for a Buck.

The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire #1) by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith reviewed by Dawn at Absolute Forest of Words.

Comics

Ben Towle gives steampunk a fresh twist by Brigid Alverson at CBR.

The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists by Seth reviewed by Ian Daffern at Quill & Quire.

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Mitro is founder, editor and contributor of Alternate History Weekly Update. When he is not busy writing about his passion for alternate history, he spends his time working as a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois and dreams of being a published author himself one day.

Review: After America

Grade: A-

This is the first book review I will be posting on Alternate History Weekly Update so I hope you all enjoy it. For my premier book review post I will be reviewing After America by John Birmingham. (Warning: There be spoilers)

After America is the second book in a trilogy that began with Without Warning.  That book involved the aftermath of an event known as "The Wave", an energy field that caused the majority of the populations of United States, Canada and Mexico to disappear on March 14, 2003 (on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom). All that is left of the United States is Alaska, Hawaii, a small enclave around Seattle and America's oversees possessions. For those who thought the world would be a better place without the United States, Birmingham responds with a horrifying depiction of global economic collapse, ecological disaster and genocidal war. Despite the use of alien space bat plot device, Birmingham created a plausible world from it, which is what I wish more alternate historians would do when using the device.

At the end of the novel, the energy field disappeared opening North America to recolonization. After America begins several years after that. The United States is trying to rebuild while dealing with pirates and scavengers operating out of the abandoned cities of America. Meanwhile, the UK and France are police states, Russia is dealing with a conflict in Central Asia, China is recovering from a civil war and the greater Middle East is a nuclear wasteland following the preemptive nuclear strike by Israel. This world is a dystopia and what is worse is that whenever a character has even a moment of hope it is ripped away from them...often violently.

The focus of the story is on the battle for the New York City. The United States is facing off against a coalition of pirates led by Muslim jihadists. We see the battle progress from the point of view of the President of the United States, a smuggler, an assassin, a Polish-American soldier, a child soldier from Uganda and others.  Vicious street fighting occurs as the United States tries to win back NYC block by block.

Now I generally do not like techno-thrillers. I tried a couple of Tom Clancy novels, but could never finish them. I did enjoy Vortex by Larry Bond, which may deserve to be called honorary alternate history, but it was the only one I enjoyed out of the several I tried.  John Birmingham, however, saved the genre for me with Without Warning and did not disappoint me with After America. The battle scenes are amazing and you can see the level of research put into the novel. More importantly, there is no forced optimism that some authors put into their novels. Bad things happen to our characters and even after victory many are left wondering whether it was even worth it.

If I had one major complaint to the novel it was the story of Miguel, the Mexican immigrant who takes the opportunity to settle his family in Texas...which is under the control of a rogue, genocidal general. As the story built to the explosive ending of the battle for New York, Miguel's tale would act as speed bumps when Birmingham switched to his point of view. It seems that his tale was meant to set up the story for the sequel Angels of Vengeance, but it meant that we were treated to a tale without a real conclusion and are now forced to wait until the next book in the series.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy techno-thrillers, plausible alien space bat scenarios and post-apocalyptic dystopias.

Next week I will be reviewing Amerikan Eagle by Alan Glenn.