New Releases 8/16/16

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Hardcovers

The Gentleman by Forrest Leo

A funny, fantastically entertaining debut novel, in the spirit of Wodehouse and Monty Python, about a famous poet who inadvertently sells his wife to the devil--then recruits a band of adventurers to rescue her.

When Lionel Savage, a popular poet in Victorian London, learns from his butler that they're broke, he marries the beautiful Vivien Lancaster for her money, only to find that his muse has abandoned him.

Distraught and contemplating suicide, Savage accidentally conjures the Devil -- the polite "Gentleman" of the title -- who appears at one of the society parties Savage abhors. The two hit it off: the Devil talks about his home, where he employs Dante as a gardener; Savage lends him a volume of Tennyson. But when the party's over and Vivien has disappeared, the poet concludes in horror that he must have inadvertently sold his wife to the dark lord.

Newly in love with Vivian,  Savage plans a rescue mission to Hell that includes Simmons, the butler; Tompkins, the bookseller; Ashley Lancaster, swashbuckling Buddhist; Will Kensington, inventor of a flying machine; and Savage's spirited kid sister, Lizzie, freshly booted from boarding school for a "dalliance." Throughout, his cousin's quibbling footnotes to the text push the story into comedy nirvana.

Lionel and his friends encounter trapdoors, duels, anarchist-fearing bobbies, the social pressure of not knowing enough about art history, and the poisonous wit of his poetical archenemy. Fresh, action-packed and very, very funny, The Gentleman is a giddy farce that recalls the masterful confections of P.G. Wodehouse and Hergé's beautifully detailed Tintin adventures.

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

Ghost Talkers: a new novel from beloved fantasy author Mary Robinette Kowal featuring the mysterious spirit corps and their heroic work in World War I.

Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Hartshorne, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.

Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence.

Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence of her fiance to validate her findings, the top brass thinks she's just imagining things. Even worse, it is clear that the Spirit Corps is now being directly targeted by the German war effort. Left to her own devices, Ginger has to find out how the Germans are targeting the Spirit Corps and stop them. This is a difficult and dangerous task for a woman of that era, but this time both the spirit and the flesh are willing…

Audio

The Grapple: Settling Accounts by Harry Turtledove

It is 1943, the third summer of the new war between the Confederate States of America and the United States, a war that will turn on the deeds of ordinary soldiers, extraordinary heroes, and a colorful cast of spies, politicians, rebels, and everyday citizens. The CSA president, Jake Featherston, seems to have greatly miscalculated the North's resilience. But as new demonic tools of killing are unleashed, secret wars are unfolding.

The US government in Philadelphia has proof that the tyrannical Featherston is murdering African Americans by the tens of thousands in a Texas gulag called Determination. And the leaders of both sides know full well that the world's next great power will not be the one with the biggest army but the nation that wins the race against nature and science - and smashes open the power of the atom.

Hive Monkey: Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth Powell

In order to hide from his unwanted fame as the spitfire pilot-monkey who emerged from a computer game to defeat the nefarious corporation that engineered him, the charismatic and dangerous Ack-Ack Macaque is working as a pilot on a world-circling nuclear-powered zeppelin.

But when the cabin of one of his passengers is invaded by the passenger's own dying doppelganger, our hirsute hero finds himself thrust into another race to save the world - this time from an aggressive hive mind, time-hopping saboteurs, and an army of homicidal Neanderthal assassins!

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 Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Weekly Update #189

Editor's Note

So I think I have had a long enough break since my Britain trip that its time to get back to some serious writing. Starting this week I am going to begin the long process of cutting my Sideways in Time paper to a more appropriate length. Hopefully that doesn't mean I will have to cut back on my writing elsewhere. In fact the schedule for this week is pretty much locked in, so that is good. If I can keep up the pace of 6 articles a week (counting my work at Amazing Stories) I think I can keep delivering alternate history content to you guys and work on my other projects.

Also no Map Monday this week. Sorry, but nothing inspired me enough to write about it.

And now the news...

What do the critics think of Hi Hitler! by Gavriel Rosenfeld?

Gavriel Rosenfeld, proprietor of The Counterfactual History Review, has a new book out called Hi Hitler! which discusses the normalization of Nazism in modern culture. Here is the description from Amazon:

The Third Reich's legacy is in flux. For much of the post-war period, the Nazi era has been viewed moralistically as an exceptional period of history intrinsically different from all others. Since the turn of the millennium, however, this view has been challenged by a powerful wave of normalization. Gavriel D. Rosenfeld charts this important international trend by examining the shifting representation of the Nazi past in contemporary western intellectual and cultural life. Focusing on works of historical scholarship, popular novels, counterfactual histories, feature films, and Internet websites, he identifies notable changes in the depiction of the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the figure of Adolf Hitler himself. By exploring the origins of these works and assessing the controversies they have sparked in the United States and Europe, Hi Hitler! offers a fascinating and timely analysis of the shifting status of the Nazi past in western memory.

The book got a lot of attention last week when Richard Evans (Altered Pasts) critiqued the book on The Guardian. He summed up Hi Hitler! by saying "Rosenfeld’s book is engrossing and thought-provoking, but in the end it does not convince." Well not the best review, but I guess there is no such thing as bad publicity. Speaking of publicity, Gavriel discussed stories where Hitler survives his death over at The Conversation. Go check it out and let us know what you think.

What do the critics think of Mary Robinette Kowal's Of Noble Family?

The always delightful Mary Robinette Kowal has published the conclusion to her Glamourist Histories series. Its called Of Nobel Family and here is the description from Amazon:

Jane and Vincent have finally gotten some much-needed rest after their adventures in Italy when Vincent receives word that his estranged father has passed away on one of his properties in the West Indies. His brother, who manages the estate, is overwhelmed, and no one else in his family can go. Grudgingly, out of filial duty the couple decide to go.

The sea voyage is long and Jane spends enough time unable to perform glamour that towards the end of the trip she discovers that she is with child. They are overjoyed, but when they finally arrive at the estate to complete what they expect to be routine legal tasks, they realize that nearly everything they came expecting to find had been a lie. Also, the entire estate is in disarray, with horrifying conditions and tensions with the local slave population so high that they are close to revolt.

Jane and Vincent's sense of peril is screaming out for them to flee, but Vincent cannot stand to leave an estate connected with his family in such a condition. They have survived many grand and terrifying adventures in their time, but this one will test their skills and wits more than any they have ever encountered before, this time with a new life hanging in the balance. Mary Robinette Kowal's Of Noble Family is the final book of the acclaimed Glamourist Histories.

Paul Weimer at SF Signal called it a "[s]trong endgame for the series and an excellent use of events from previous novels. Vincent and Jane continue to grow and glow as characters." Well it looks like Paul enjoyed the book, but if you want to know Mary's favorite bit of Of Noble Family, check out her post on her site. She also will be on book tour starting tomorrow.

Videos for Alternate Historians

Remember when I posted that teaser trailer on Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, yeah turns out they released a longer version not much later:

Looks pretty good. Can't wait. Now lets figure out how to start our own country:

Fascinating and the rules to creating your own country should apply to future off-world colonies. Now lets dive back to the past and find out how to live forever:

You got to love the effort they put into creating these Vsauce videos. Anywho, Sean Korsgaard filmed the alternate history panel at Ravencon 2015, featuring another familiar face here at The Update, Chris Nuttall:

I haven't listened to the whole panel, so watch at your own risk.

Links to the Multiverse

Books & Short Fiction

2015 Readers Choice Awards at Steampunk Chronicles.
AURELIA - excerpt by Alison Morton.
Gideon Smith cover gallery by David Barnett at Postcards From The Hinterland.
Message Fiction: Politics in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Literature by The G at Tor.
Representing Marginalized Voices in Historical Fiction and Fantasy at Strange Horizons.
Review: Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove at That's What I'm Talking About.
Roma Novan family trees by Alison Morton.
The Strange Horizons Book Club: Hild by Nicola Griffith at Strange Horizons.
These incredible paintings of sci-fi suburbia are finally turning into a book at The Verge.
To Explore Strange Old Worlds, to Seek Out Old Civilizations at Strange Horizons.

Counterfactuals, History & News

7 Lesser-Known Victorian Inventors Who Were Just As Fascinating As Tesla at io9.
Abbott Orders Texas Guard to 'Monitor' Planned Military Exercises at NPR.
Deep, deep south: Brazilians proudly celebrate their Confederate ancestry at The Guardian.
Great Moments in Peaceful Protest History at The Nib.
The most racist places in America, according to Google at The Washington Post.

Film & Television

It's Still Alive! Modern Adaptations of Frankenstein by Sarah Clare at Hodderscape.
Outlander 1.12: Black Jack's Progeny at Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress.

Games

7 Games We Saw in Action That Never Came Out by Keza MacDonald at Kotaku.
Can a game show us what would happen under far-right rule? at Boing Boing.

Graphic Novels & Comics

The Complete History Of The Joker's Many, Many Incarnations by James Whitbrook at io9.

Interviews

Brooke Johnson at My Bookish Ways.
Michael J Martinez at SF Signal.
Gareth L. Powell at The Gutterbound Stargazer.

Podcasts

Dissecting Worlds Series 9 – Episode 6: Special Circumstances at Geel Syndicate.

* * *

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 4/28/15

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

Hardcovers

Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal

Jane and Vincent have finally gotten some much-needed rest after their adventures in Italy when Vincent receives word that his estranged father has passed away on one of his properties in the West Indies. His brother, who manages the estate, is overwhelmed, and no one else in his family can go. Grudgingly, out of filial duty the couple decide to go.

The sea voyage is long and Jane spends enough time unable to perform glamour that towards the end of the trip she discovers that she is with child. They are overjoyed, but when they finally arrive at the estate to complete what they expect to be routine legal tasks, they realize that nearly everything they came expecting to find had been a lie. Also, the entire estate is in disarray, with horrifying conditions and tensions with the local slave population so high that they are close to revolt.

Jane and Vincent's sense of peril is screaming out for them to flee, but Vincent cannot stand to leave an estate connected with his family in such a condition. They have survived many grand and terrifying adventures in their time, but this one will test their skills and wits more than any they have ever encountered before, this time with a new life hanging in the balance. Mary Robinette Kowal's Of Noble Family is the final book of the acclaimed Glamourist Histories.

Paperbacks

The Adjacent by Christopher Priest

In the near future, Tibor Tarent, a freelance photographer, is recalled from Anatolia to Britain when his wife, an aid worker, is killed—annihilated by a terrifying weapon that reduces its target to a triangular patch of scorched earth.

A century earlier, Tommy Trent, a stage magician, is sent to the Western Front on a secret mission to render British reconnaissance aircraft invisible to the enemy.

Present day. A theoretical physicist develops a new method of diverting matter, a discovery with devastating consequences that will resonate through time.

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel of 2014.

The Army of Doctor Moreau by David F. Walker

On an unchartered island in the South Pacific, Nazis have uncovered the secret of transforming animals into a human-like army of killers. A team of British and American operatives is sent on a search-and-destroy mission. The team quickly finds themselves in a nightmarish war with savage animals that think they are men!

The Doors You Mark Are Your Own by Okla Elliott and Raul Clement 

Joshua City is one of seven city-states in a post-apocalyptic world where water is scarce and technology is at mid-twentieth-century Soviet levels. As the novel opens, the Baikal Sea has been poisoned, causing a major outbreak of a flesh-eating disease called nekrosis. Against this backdrop of political corruption, violence and oppression, a struggle for control of Joshua City ensues, and a revolutionary group called The Underground emerges.

The Doors You Mark Are Your Own is a sweeping literary epic—the result of years of painstaking writing and world-building by two brilliantly imaginative minds—that readers will get lost in and never want to end.

A Kill in the Morning by Graeme Shimmin

[Editor's Note: Check out my review.]

A fast, furious, fun, and acclaimed high concept alternate history thriller from a great new talent, shortlisted for the Terry Pratchett Fiction Prize

I don’t like killing, but I’m good at it. Murder isn’t so bad from a distance, just shapes popping up in my scope. Close-up work though—a garrotte around a target’s neck or a knife in their heart—it’s not for me. Too much empathy, that’s my problem. Usually. But not today. Today is different . . .

The year is 1955 and something is very wrong with the world. It is 14 years since Churchill died and World War II ended. In occupied Europe, Britain fights a cold war against a nuclear-armed Nazi Germany. In Berlin the Gestapo is on the trail of a beautiful young resistance fighter, and the head of the SS is plotting to dispose of an ailing Adolf Hitler and restart the war against Britain and her empire. Meanwhile, in a secret bunker hidden deep beneath the German countryside, scientists are experimenting with a force far beyond their understanding. Into this arena steps a nameless British assassin, on the run from a sinister cabal within his own government, and planning a private war against the Nazis. And now the fate of the world rests on a single kill in the morning. Take the meticulous research of Robert Harris, the spy thrills of Ian Fleming, the classic action of Alistair MacLean, and the wild ride of a Tarantino film and you're coming close to A Kill in the Morning.

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 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.

2013 Sidewise Award Winners (Plus Hugo News)

In case you don't follow The Update on social media, yesterday the winners of the 2013 Sidewise Awards were announced. There was a tie in the long-form category, something which hasn't happened since 2002. The winners were the The Windsor Faction by DJ Taylor and Surrounded by Enemies by Bryce Zabel. Vylar Kaftan's "The Weight of the Sunrise" also won in the short-form category.

I admit I am surprised by the outcome of the long-form winners. Although I thought Surrounded by Enemies was a strong contender (read my review at Amazing Stories), I actually didn't enjoy reading The Windsor Faction (you can read my review of that book also at Amazing Stories). Perhaps I wasn't the target audience or else something in my life was distracting me (I was just beginning the difficult process of moving to a new home when I started the book). Either way, perhaps I will give it another shot somewhere down the line and see if my feelings about the book change.

Along with the Sidewise Awards, the 2014 Hugo winners were also announced. Among the many winners was Mary Robinette Kowal's alternate history "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" for best novelette. Its good to see our favorite genre represented in the Hugos.

A bit of house cleaning: no Weekly Update this week because I was camping this weekend and didn't have the time. Go read the winners of the Sidewise and Hugo Awards and if you don't have a copy, remember you can purchase one and put some wind in our sails by clicking through our Amazon banner. I will be back next week with an extra helping of alternate history news.

* * *

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 4/2/13

Hardcover

Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal

Description from Amazon.

Up-and-coming fantasist Mary Robinette Kowal enchanted fans with award-winning short stories and beloved novels featuring Regency pair Jane and Vincent Ellsworth. In Without a Summer the master glamourists return home, but in a world where magic is real, nothing—even the domestic sphere—is quite what it seems.

Jane and Vincent go to Long Parkmeade to spend time with Jane’s family, but quickly turn restless. The year is unseasonably cold. No one wants to be outside and Mr. Ellsworth is concerned by the harvest, since a bad one may imperil Melody’s dowry. And Melody has concerns of her own, given the inadequate selection of eligible bachelors. When Jane and Vincent receive a commission from a prominent family in London, they decide to take it, and take Melody with them. They hope the change of scenery will do her good and her marriage prospects—and mood—will be brighter in London.

Once there, talk is of nothing but the crop failures caused by the cold and increased unemployment of the coldmongers, which have provoked riots in several cities to the north. With each passing day, it’s more difficult to avoid getting embroiled in the intrigue, none of which really helps Melody’s chances for romance. It’s not long before Jane and Vincent realize that in addition to getting Melody to the church on time, they must take on one small task: solving a crisis of international proportions.

Paperback

An Elephant for Aristotle by L. Sprague de Camp

Description from Amazon.

What finer way for Alexander the Great to honor his old tutor Aristotle than to send him an actual Indian elephant? After capturing a magnificent specimen from an Indian ruler, Alexander tasks Leon of Atrax, a cavalry commander, to deliver the animal to Aristotle in Athens. Leon leads a motley crew of companions (and the elephant) from India to Greece, encountering all sorts of dangers and adventures while attempting the long and arduous journey.

E-books

All Night Awake by Sarah A. Hoyt

Description from Amazon.

Touched by the magic of fairyland, unable to forget Lady Silver, Shakespeare goes to London to seek his fortune. But there, the elf will follow, on the trail of a creature so deadly that, unless Shakespeare and the king of Elves stop it, it might very well consume London and all of England.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Do you want to see your work given a shout out on 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 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.