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.
The streak is over...for now. The Update, I am sad to admit, did not break its monthly page view record in January. Our final count was 14,947, roughly 600 page views less than last month's record of 15,515. I am actually disappointed, since we have managed to break our monthly record 8 times in a row. Still I am not surprised. Last month with my new job and my writing responsibilities over at Amazing Stories, I have not exactly been prolific over here at The Update. In fact last month had the third least amount of content in the blog's existence. I think, however, that will all change this month. I have established a new routine and I have found more time for writing. Hopefully you will all enjoy the result.
Speaking of Amazing Stories, I have some great news to report from that front, if you can all be patient for some shameless self-promotion. My essay on DBWIs entitled Dissecting Our Present: How SF Can Highlight Our Historical Bias has been a huge success. Not only did it get linked to on the Hugo-award winning SF Signal, it also was the second most viewed article on Amazing Stories last week. The one downside to this great news is that it hasn't equaled increased page views for The Update as I hoped, but for anyone who discovered this blogthrough Amazing Stories I bid you welcome.
Don't forget everyone, this month we are requesting original fiction, essays and reviews dealing with the Balkanize Me trope of alternate history. There is still time to send in your submissions for this contest and the recently announced steampunk writing contest in March. I look forward to reading your submissions.
And now the news...
Update: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger Tomorrow Gail Carriger's new novel Etiquette & Espionagecomes out, the first book of her new Finishing School. According to SF Signal, it is tied to her Parasol Protectorate series, which began with her award-winning novel Soulless. If you can't wait until tomorrow to read the book, you can read an excerpt from the novel over at Tor.com or watch the book trailer below:
Bioshock Infinite Trailers Two new Bioshock Infinite trailers were released last week. The first is made to look like a fake documentary:
Critical Failure likens the trailer to the "crappy old eight millimeter movies you had to watch in school", but questions how this alternate history could somehow miss a floating sky city that intervenes in foreign events. Still people seem excited about the game as Geek O System said, as long as "gameplay can keep pace with what looks to be a pretty cool premise replete with all the headscrewing detail and grey area morality" it should be a good game.
And finally the last trailer. Sorry no commentary, just watch:
War of the Roses Separates the Royals from the Rabble in New “Kingmaker” Edition Paradox Interactive, a publisher of games and a seeker of the throne, and Fatshark, valiant knights trapped in the modern era, today announced War of the Roses: Kingmaker, a gold edition of the game which allows aspiring knights a clear path to the throne by including all the top-notch weapons, armor, and perks that have been released since the title’s inception in October 2012. The new edition will be available in late Q1 2013.
In War of the Roses: Kingmaker, loyalists to the house of York or Lancaster will now have access to the content available since release, including the previously exclusive armor sets for both the red and white rose. Kingmaker will also introduce two new game modes—Assault and Assault Castle—where knights will face new attack and defense scenarios that aim to truly test their skill as a team.
A free trial version of War of the Roses is also planned for release February 6, which will allow anyone to download and play the game without cost. The trial version will include access to all online battles, enabling aspiring warriors to fight alongside all existing players – paid or trial. The trial version will limit players by disallowing any unlocks, giving access only to the game’s base classes and weapons, giving trial players a chance to live true knighthood.
In addition, Paradox will soon release a new premium DLC for War of the Roses, starring famously boisterous British actor Brian Blessed as a new narrator for the game. Blessed’s booming voice will inspire knights by announcing in-game events and warnings, giving new meaning to the iconic command to “Kill the enemy!”
On top of all of these new editions, all versions of War of the Roses are scheduled to receive new content in the form of the new “Outside the Law” update, which will add an all new deep forest map to the game’s selection, along with armor pieces Robin of Loxley would be proud of.
Things to do
Big list of upcoming events to check out. First off, go to Tor if you want to see the list of steampunk-themed events you can attend (there are too many, I'm not going to list them all out here). For some events, however, that might not be on Tor's, there is the steampunk/dark comedy LoveSickplaying at the LOFT Ensemble in Los Angeles, CA on Feb 24th and WarmStreets of Lynchburg, VA is putting on Steampunk/SF art show in April (and they are still looking for submissions) for charity.
In other news, the Historical Novel Society has released their schedule for their 2013 conference in St. Petersburg, Florida (June 21-23).
Have fun!
Submitting a Novel to Tor UK
Probably the biggest news story for aspiring authors is the announcement that Tor UKwill be accepting unsolicited e-submissions. So if you have a SF, fantasy or horror manuscript 95,000 to 150,000 words in length you can send it to TorUKSubmissions at macmillan dot com. More information about sending submissions can be found at the Tor UK blog.
Good luck...and if your alternate history story gets published by them, why not send it our way for a review?
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 andThe 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.
In a first for Alternate History Weekly Update, I will be announcing a free book give-away this afternoon. I will be making the official announcement with the details on how you can win at 3 pm CST.
In the meantime lets welcome our first readers from Barbados and Cambodia. I hope you guys enjoy today's weekly recap of last week's alternate history news.
Since Americans make up more than half of my readership, we will continue our coverage of alternate presidential elections in the lead up to election day (Nov 6). We have articles and book reviews featuring alternate election outcomes and I might even skip next week's Weekly Update and New Releases posts to give you even more political AH.
As they say in my hometown: vote early and often!
And now the news...
Assassin's Creed 3 DLC: Alternate history chosen to avoid fracturing fan base
Ubisoft announced that the reason they created an alternate history setting where George Washington becomes king of the United States to their Assassin's Creed 3 DLC was to avoid fracturing the fan base. Lead designer Steve Masters said:
For me, the DLC has always been a touchy thing for putting important story moments into. Ultimately it fractures the audience and makes it really difficult for people to keep up with what is the canon of the series.
For us, we want to have a little fun with it, and have a less serious experience, a less earnest experience, and setting it in an alternate history environment gives us room and freedom to play around with things in a more whimsical manner. We think people are going to enjoy it, have fun with it - we've just got to remember it's not part of the canon, it's just there as something for players to enjoy.
This means that the Assassin's Creed franchise will remain a secret history, but fans of the game and alternate history can still get a chance to explore other timelines if Ubisoft releases more AH DLC. Those looking to learn more about King George I of America should check out my article Kings of the United States of America and King Washington the Wicked by Robert Rath over at The Escapist where he goes over some of the historical basis for believing Washington could have been America's fist king.
New BioShock Infinite Trailer
Check out the new Bioshock: Infinite trailer:
This new trailer shows off more details about the floating, steampunk American city of Columbia and, if T3 is to be believed, the game is likely to be a "Triple A blockbuster".
More on Dishonored
Wow, this Weekly Update has been heavy on video games, and we continue with our coverage of that medium with more reviews on Dishonored. Steve Blomkamp at The Vancouver Observer gave the game an 8 out of 10 and said: "Dishonored is a very strong new entry into the action stealth genre. With it’s intriguing setting, dastardly conspiracies and nail-biting escapades, I implore any of you on the fence to give it a try. You won’t be disappointed." Meanwhile, Doug Elfman at the Las Vegas Review Journal said "Dishonored" is so good, because its priorities are correct."
While there are no major alternate history television shows or films on the radar, here are a few trailers that will either excite your speculation machine or make you vomit profusely in disgust.
First up is the upcoming NBC action/drama Revolution.
I want to again state that the film is not a rip off of Stirling's Emberverse (for one thing everyone looks like they take daily baths and wear designer clothing) even if you still see people making that accusation. The more important question to ask ourselves is whether this show will be worth watching?
Geek Syndicate said: "getting harder to be enthusiastic when I hear about another [post apocalyptic show] coming to our screens, even if it is being helmed by JJ Abrams." Ouch. Kevin Melrose at Spinoff Online was a little more optimistic, but still cautious: "It’s certainly ambitious, even for Abrams and Kripke, and destined to be either a solid Monday-night performer — though probably never a certifiable hit — or a glorious disaster. And after watching the new extended trailer below, I’m leaning more toward the former than the latter."
I will probably end up watching Revolution, so stay tuned for my review of the premier episode next month. In the meantime, here is something lovers of the Victorian era can enjoy: Ripper Street.
It is just a teaser trailer, but I am already excited for a police procedural set after Jack the Ripper's rampage. Brendon Connelly at Bleeding Cool said "the early days of detection are indeed fascinating and remain ripe for dramatic exploration." Let us hope so.
Well I went from pessimistic, to optimistic and now to outright disgust. I finish this post with the trailer to the Red Dawn remake.
I do not understand Hollywood's obsession with remaking good movies. You know what? I am not even going to add anymore commentary for this trailer. Instead I highly recommend you read my good friend Sebastian Breit's commentary on the trailer. He sums up most of my issues with this movie (although he is a lot nicer about it).
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.
