Upcoming AH books

Mr_ Bondoc

Mr_ Bondoc

Dan Greenhouse said:
Sounds like steampunk fantasy rather than AH.
Click to expand...
Actually its a world wherein various portions of history have been ISOT'd to c.2213. The problem being that various states, eras, and creatures are thrown together in the "time-mixed" setting. You have Roman Legionnaires and Mongols dominating the steppes with Diatryma flightless birds.
 

Greg Grant

Greg Grant said:
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Broken
Writers: David Tipton and Scott Tipton
Art & Colors: J.K. Woodward

This is an ongoing mini-series (six issues planned) and I had the pleasure to read the first two. The Star Trek Mirror universe probably does not need an introduction on an AH site, so I will instead focus on what this particular Mirror universe tale brings: continuity between the Mirror universe of The Original Series and Deep Space 9. In the Original Series, the Terran Empire is at the height of its imperialist might. In Deep Space 9, the Empire has been destroyed and humanity has been enslaved by the species it once shoved aside. This mini-series aims to bridge the divide between the two polar extremes. It is not the first attempt to create a Next Generation era mirror universe story, but previous attempts are no longer in canon due to changes that came after they were published (Dark Mirror) or were merely cast aside due to pique (Rise Like Lions & Worst of Both Worlds).

The Terran Empire of Mirror Broken has been squeezed back to Earth's solar system and is crumbling. Aging warships such as I.S.S. Stargazer patrol the shrinking frontiers and doom and gloom pervades. But Captain Picard (with a gray goatee) of Stargazer learns of a top secret warship being built and wants to get his hands on it. Three guesses as to its name. He is aided in his quest by the ship's inquisitor Deanna Troi, wearing an outfit that is demi-dominatrix, Data and Barclay. I will not spoil how Barclay is introduced, but would urge all to get the Free Comic Book Day copy of the Broken Mirror prequel to learn of why Barclay is by Picard's side.

Along the way to capture the new warship, Picard calls upon old and new reluctant allies, such as the proposed's warship's engineer Geordi LaForge (shaved bald, but with a goatee, naturally) and a certain first officer of the secret warship named Riker (milky white eye due to a scar and braided beard). Mirror universe tropes abound (assassinations, agony booth and etc.), but what makes it very good, is that the characterizations ring true, the art is good (more on that in a minute) and the story moves.

The art is stylized, but I like it. It cannot be easy to draw a comic depicting fictional characters whose appearance is known to the intended audience. After all, one does not exactly draw Jean Luc Picard as one wishes, one draws Patrick Stewart as Jean Luc Picard and then one can put one's own spin on it. The art does not distract from the story, however, and compliments it.

There is two other things I must say, in addition to "buy this comic if you're a Star Trek and AH fan," first, it is an ongoing series, so until the story is complete, it is hard to judge how successful it turns out. Second, in one of the scenes, Picard goes to look for Riker and finds him in a seedy bar. He tries to recruit him, but that does not go well early on and soon the two are fighting. In the midst of the fight, Picard executes a different Picard maneuver - he gets behind Riker and hits him with a German suplex.

Roger Ebert once observed that if you watch enough movies you will find one that seems to have been made just for you. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a Star Trek fan, I am also a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, I am also a Mirror Universe Star Trek fan, as well as an AH fan, but I am also a pro-wrestling fan. So, when I found myself reading a Star Trek The Next Generation Mirror Universe AH story featuring Picard executing a German suplex on Riker... it is as if the comic book came alive on my tablet, ensconced me in a virtual hug and whispered ever so gently into my ear, "it's all for you."

I, therefore, may be biased.
Click to expand...

The fifth issue just dropped, bringing the saga to a close (they called it a six-parter because they counted Issue Zero that was released on free comic book day). And I still liked and want to see more stories set in this universe. There were a lot more hits than misses and the story was well structured, the dialogue rang true and the art was complimentary. This was written by TNG fans, and you can tell. Highly recommended.
 

Damien Rahming

Banned
Came across these on Uchronia.net

Stirling, S.M. Black Chamber
Divergence: 1912 CE
What if: Teddy Roosevelt was elected president in 1912 after the death of William Howard Taft.
Summary: Adventures of a spy of the Black Chamber.
Published: Not yet published; expected from Ace in July 2018 (0399586237BUY).

Turtledove, Harry. Through Darkest Europe
What if: Europe never exited the Drak Ages but remained a backwater continent rife with religious fanaticism.
Published: Not yet published; expected from Tor in September 2018 (0765379988BUY).
 
theg*ddam*hoi2fan

theg*ddam*hoi2fan

mudhead said:
And lesbians.
Click to expand...

He does have that piece of Author Appeal, alright.

I mean, I'm someone who loves racial, gender and orientation diversity in fiction, and stuff I write will usually have diversity in those areas...but Stirling's isn't about diversity, it's horribly clear it's Author Appeal.

And this book will probably include people who'd make even your man Grey from those awful books go 'Woah! Too far!'
 
theg*ddam*hoi2fan

theg*ddam*hoi2fan

Worffan101 said:
Yaaaayyy, a dystopian anti-TR timeline?

With evil bondage lesbians and cannibal Ruskies, most likely?
Click to expand...

Now Worf, I'm surprised at you. You know that Mr Stirling doesn't have evil bondage lesbians in his books, his lesbian characters are tough, heroic types...

...he has evil bondage bi women, instead :mad:

Worffan101 said:
I'll pass. Stevieboy can't write a good solo book to save his life anymore.
Click to expand...

Very true...

Weirdly, you know what one good book he wrote was? Terminator 2: Infiltrator. I disapprove of sequels to Terminator 2 usually, but this one actually made sense as it had the arm that 'Uncle Bob' lost in the factory be the reason there could be a sequel...
 
Xenophonte

Xenophonte

Hi, I want to comment on a Novel by Gregory Benford, well known science fiction author and of this genre in particular. It's about his 'recent' novel 'The Berlin Project':

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30753656-the-berlin-project


The points of divergence, crucial, in this alternative history novel are the events at the beginning of the Manhattan Project, when H. Urey's group at Columbia couldn't obtain funds for the development of the centrifuges.
Bases his hypothesis that when the US was developing the atomic bomb was taken a 'bad decision', which cost more than 500 million dollars (of 1940) and as argued Benford was decisive, having as main consequence delaying the end of the war 'around' a year
According to the author, if the centrifugal separation had continued for another six months,without a doubt that their engineering problems could have been solved. The 'bad decision' was, in 1942, that of General Leslie Groves, who directed the Manhattan Project, when he decided to use gaseous diffusion.

Because it did not have the necessary semipermeable membranes and it would still take two more years - until 1944 - to be able to be developed.
Based on the above...having made the 'correct decision' would allow to the USA to dispose of nuclear weapons a year before ready to be used against Nazi Germany, the enemy for which it motivated its development and against which first it was thought about using it.

According to the author, the events will lead, assuming, of course, that nuclear detonations could force German surrender... to an anticipated end of the war, saving millions of lives.
 

Dan Greenhouse

I also read the Berlin Project and look forward to watching the new movie about Moe Berg, The Catcher Was a Spy. which features many of the same people in the novel.
 
Nerdman3000

Nerdman3000

So just finished the recently released and last book in Michael Grant's excellent Alternate History trilogy, Purple Hearts, which is a sequel to his previous books in his trilogy, Frontlines and Silver Stars. The premise, if you are not unaware, is that through a unique outcome of a Supreme Court case made in early 1940, a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, results in women getting eligible to drafted into the army under the same positions as men, meaning that following the outbreak of WW2, there are female GI's fighting in the war alongside men. While much of the story of the three novels focuses primarily on the perspectives and POV of the three female soldiers fighting in the war, there are still quite a few timeline changes which occur because of the POD, but most of them are quite subtle, with things such as women being often categorized in the same category as African American soldiers despite serving alongside men, and the implications in the last book that there will be a much larger and vastly different Women Rights Movement within the 50's and 60's.

Overall a quite excellent book and trilogy. Definitely all three rank among my favorite alternate history reads of the past few years and I would highly recommend giving all three books a read to anyone.
 
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Mr_ Bondoc

Mr_ Bondoc

Here is one graphic novel that is coming out in July 2018, that should grab the attention of people, called Rome West (Dark Horse Comics):

From best-selling writers Brian Wood (Aliens: Defiance, The Massive, Briggs Land) and Justin Giampaoli (DMZ, Starship Down, The Mercy Killing) and artist Andrea Mutti (Rebels, Prometheus: Life and Death) comes an exploration of an alternative history of the Americas.

When a lost armada of Roman soldiers arrives a thousand years before Columbus, they don't seek to conquer and exterminate, but instead set up a cooperative society with the indigenous peoples that radically alters the timeline of the Americas… and the rest of the world.

Fans of history, alt-history, and politically-relevant stories will be fascinated at the depth of detail and classic 'what-if' narrative.

Originally published by Stela, Dark Horse is thrilled to bring this exciting new project to print for the first time.

See: https://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/2648/brian-wood-and-justin-giampaoli-tell-alternative-h
 
Nerdman3000

Nerdman3000

So here's an interesting and recently released book, called One Nation, Under Jupiter. It basically based on the premise of Emperor Maxentius beating Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, leading to Roman pantheon and religion remaining dominant, and Christianity never becoming a major religion. Most of the book takes place in the alternate modern world of 2766 AUC (equivalent to 2012 AD), and centers on Nova Roma (located on where half of the United States in OTL currently exists), and it's tensions with Imperial China.

Over all, it's a pretty interesting read. Here's a link to it's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Nation-Under-Jupiter-Anthony-Mahan-ebook/dp/B07BWCZ24B
 

Greg Grant

Greg Grant said:
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Broken
Writers: David Tipton and Scott Tipton
Art & Colors: J.K. Woodward

This is an ongoing mini-series (six issues planned) and I had the pleasure to read the first two. The Star Trek Mirror universe probably does not need an introduction on an AH site, so I will instead focus on what this particular Mirror universe tale brings: continuity between the Mirror universe of The Original Series and Deep Space 9. In the Original Series, the Terran Empire is at the height of its imperialist might. In Deep Space 9, the Empire has been destroyed and humanity has been enslaved by the species it once shoved aside. This mini-series aims to bridge the divide between the two polar extremes. It is not the first attempt to create a Next Generation era mirror universe story, but previous attempts are no longer in canon due to changes that came after they were published (Dark Mirror) or were merely cast aside due to pique (Rise Like Lions & Worst of Both Worlds).

The Terran Empire of Mirror Broken has been squeezed back to Earth's solar system and is crumbling. Aging warships such as I.S.S. Stargazer patrol the shrinking frontiers and doom and gloom pervades. But Captain Picard (with a gray goatee) of Stargazer learns of a top secret warship being built and wants to get his hands on it. Three guesses as to its name. He is aided in his quest by the ship's inquisitor Deanna Troi, wearing an outfit that is demi-dominatrix, Data and Barclay. I will not spoil how Barclay is introduced, but would urge all to get the Free Comic Book Day copy of the Broken Mirror prequel to learn of why Barclay is by Picard's side.

Along the way to capture the new warship, Picard calls upon old and new reluctant allies, such as the proposed's warship's engineer Geordi LaForge (shaved bald, but with a goatee, naturally) and a certain first officer of the secret warship named Riker (milky white eye due to a scar and braided beard). Mirror universe tropes abound (assassinations, agony booth and etc.), but what makes it very good, is that the characterizations ring true, the art is good (more on that in a minute) and the story moves.

The art is stylized, but I like it. It cannot be easy to draw a comic depicting fictional characters whose appearance is known to the intended audience. After all, one does not exactly draw Jean Luc Picard as one wishes, one draws Patrick Stewart as Jean Luc Picard and then one can put one's own spin on it. The art does not distract from the story, however, and compliments it.

There is two other things I must say, in addition to "buy this comic if you're a Star Trek and AH fan," first, it is an ongoing series, so until the story is complete, it is hard to judge how successful it turns out. Second, in one of the scenes, Picard goes to look for Riker and finds him in a seedy bar. He tries to recruit him, but that does not go well early on and soon the two are fighting. In the midst of the fight, Picard executes a different Picard maneuver - he gets behind Riker and hits him with a German suplex.

Roger Ebert once observed that if you watch enough movies you will find one that seems to have been made just for you. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a Star Trek fan, I am also a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, I am also a Mirror Universe Star Trek fan, as well as an AH fan, but I am also a pro-wrestling fan. So, when I found myself reading a Star Trek The Next Generation Mirror Universe AH story featuring Picard executing a German suplex on Riker... it is as if the comic book came alive on my tablet, ensconced me in a virtual hug and whispered ever so gently into my ear, "it's all for you."

I, therefore, may be biased.
Click to expand...

This is now an ongoing mini-series called "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Through the Mirror." Two issues were released and they're good, though the artist has changed. The upshot is that there is a crossover between this Mirror Universe and OTL Trek Universe, I recommend it.
 
Mr_ Bondoc

Mr_ Bondoc

For those interested in Rome West , please check out:

https://stela.com/series/rome-west
web_row12_d389a77df5190fdbbaf87d62e921b182.jpg
 
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