Timeline Thursday: Out of One, Many by Erwin Wodarczak

I know balkanized North Americas are old hat with many alternate historians, but at one point we all had to experience it for the first time. For me it was "Out of One, Many" by Erwin Wodarczak. To give you an idea of what we are working with, here is a map:

North America in 1878.

The timeline is, according the author, inspired by "What If Elbridge Gerry Had Been More Rational and Less Patriotic? (1787)" by William Riker, original published in What If? Explorations in Social-Science Fiction edited by Nelson Polsby. The point of divergence is in 1787 when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention fail to come to an agreement on congressional representation. A conflict over Vermont between New England and New York breaks the United States further apart and the Union eventually dissolves.

"Out of One, Many" features a lot of elements that caught my attention as a young alternate historian. It has an enlarged Virginia controlling the Midwest (except for the Western Reserve), a French Louisiana that would create an empire across the Great Plains, a British West Coast and smaller states like New Jersey and Delaware making a go as independent nations instead of being shoehorned into a larger nation. This timeline formed the foundation for how I approached all balkanized North America timelines and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Perhaps I am being overly sentimental, but I do believe the early 21st century was a golden age for online alternate history. There was a bevy of personal author sites where you could find timelines and even tie-in fiction. Today most of these sites have disappeared, but you can still find them using the Wayback Machine. That is when I rediscovered Wodarczak's "Out of One, Many" in 2009. I created a new project that I dubbed "Save Our Alternate History", where I would copy these old timelines (with the author's permission, of course) and post them on the AltHistory Wiki.

"Out of One, Many" was the first, and only, timeline that I transfered to the wiki. Although Wodarczak gave me his blessing, the second timeline I tried to transfer failed after the author refused to give me permission. Stymied, I lost interest in the project and moved on to other things. The original timeline is still intact on the Wiki, so I highly recommend you go and read it.

I am starting to think I should rename this series "Throwback Thursday". I am not sure how many retro timelines I will cover, but I am enjoying this and I hope you are too. If there are any other timelines you would like me to check out or you would like to recommend to our readers, contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

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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.

A Practical Guide to Lurking on AlternateHistory.com

At this year's Capricon I had a short talk with Kier Salmon about "lurking". I know it sounds sinister, but it is actually an innocent term for being a member of an online community without actively participating. Hell they even have a Wikipedia article about it.

Anywho, the conversation gravitated to AlternateHistory.com (AH.com) where I do most of my lurking. What with my own alternate history website, my career and wife, I don't have loads of time to participate as an active contributor to the mammoth forum. Thinking about it some more, I wondered whether someone who is new to the forum and not ready to participate as well would even know where to start looking for threads to follow. So without further ado, here are some good threads for the beginning lurker:

Map Thread XI: This is the main thread for new maps from the creators on AH.com. Every day there are new maps to check out, both stand alone or else linked to the timelines they are a part of. Currently it is 491 pages long and probably ready to become Map Thread XII.

Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes: There are a lot of ways to tell a story. Have you ever tried to do it with a Wikipedia Infobox? I like this thread for the unique way the forum members describe an alternate timeline without large blocks of text.

ASB settings: My favorite map maker on AH.com is Bruce Munro, but did you know he has a long running thread of short scenarios? Bruce uses cynical humor and pop culture references (with a healthy dose of Lovecraftian horror) to fill in the gaps of well-known franchises. Plus he has maps!

Rememberences of Map Contests Past: Did I mention I like maps? AH.com has regular map contests, but linking all the individual threads would just be silly. Luckily, they are all archived in this thread. Enjoy!

Stand-alone timelines: There are a lot of timelines on AH.com. Many good, many bad, a few great. Check out our past showcases to get some recommendations, but I would also like to give shout outs to Damsels and Dirigibles, The Rise of the Tri-State World Order and The Rise and Fall of the Amerikaner Republics.

The Official Weird Dream Thread: This thread was suggest to me by Jon Davis on Alternate History Online. Not exactly my cup of tea, but this thread about people describing their weird dreams is already 110 pages long. Might be fun to check out at least once...

Are there any other threads I should have listed? Leave a comment below.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new short story "Road Trip" can be found in Forbidden Future: A Time Travel Anthology. 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 Good and Quirky: Alternate History from AH.Com

Guest post by Matthew Quinn.

Over the years I've collected links to interesting scenarios from AH.com’s discussion forum. As part of my Very Merry Blog Tour, I’m bringing them to you.

Pre-1900

Europe of the Three Empires-The Roman Empire does better when it’s united, conquering Germania and the entirety of Britain. Although it still splits on east-west lines, both survive in the long run, with the west competing with a unified Russo-Scandinavia for North America while the east expands into Africa and the Middle East. Not a lot of specific details, but a lot of interesting concepts.

Basicilius Sicilia-Instead of becoming Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II the “Stupor Mundi” uses Sicily as a springboard for establishing a Mediterranean empire. The consequences include the Venetian Republic incorporating Constantinople as a sister city, a surviving Angevin empire, and the Byzantine successor state of Trebizond reconciling with the Nestorian heresy and adopting cannon from Nestorian Mongols.

An Age of Miracles: The Revival of Rhomanion-Many historians believe the Fourth Crusade inevitably doomed the Byzantine Empire. The author posits that had one of the post-Byzantine statelets had an emperor born without epilepsy, he could have taken down the Latin Empire of Constantinople a generation early and begun a conquest of Asia Minor from the Muslim Turks. And things get more interesting from there. Notable for having its own TVTropes page and lots of “Lord of the Rings” jokes. [Editor's Note: See Sean's showcase of the same timeline.]

Post-1900

Guam-FDR has Guam fortified during the 1930s and it becomes a bone in the throat of the Japanese Empire in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. For want of a nail indeed.

Anglo-American-Nazi War-Due to some better early decisions, the Nazis manage to knock the Soviet Union out of the war in 1942-43. It’s now up to the Western Allies to liberate Continental Europe. It’s incredibly detailed and very, very dark. The author said his goal was to show just how awful the Nazis would have been if they’d won. It’s 315 pages. The complete scenario is in the Timelines and Scenarios forum if you want to skip the discussions.

How Silent Fall The Cherry Blossoms-The Japanese use aircraft-carrying submarines that in our history weren’t finished on time to drop plague bombs on Los Angeles in 1944. The resulting epidemic leads to Hitler making some different decisions. Highlights include elaborate plots by Emperor Hirohito to make peace with the United States behind the backs of his fanatical War Cabinet, an early start to the Civil Rights movement, and some very nasty Nazi technological toys.

Whiskey on the Rocks: The Soviet-Swedish War of 1981-Think Sweden is a weak Scandinavian social democracy the Great Soviet Bear could push around? Think again. I didn’t think the Swedes could stand a chance against the USSR, but the author makes a strong case that they could.

Able Archer 83-In our history, although the Able Archer military exercise frightened the Soviets into a higher level of alert, nothing happened. In this timeline, the Soviets decide to strike first. The amount of detail is fascinating.

Lines In The Sand: A History of the Gulf War-Saddam Hussein goes to war a month later, goes straight on into Saudi Arabia after conquering Kuwait, and has Yemen attack Saudi Arabia from the south. In order to defend its oil supplies the United States has to fight the ground war without six months to build up and then six weeks to flay the Iraqis from the air. And Osama bin Laden gets involved…

Quirky

These weren’t as grand as the others, but they’re quite original.

(Partially) Wiccan Tibet-There were some discussions about what neo-paganism might look like in a society with little influence from the Abrahamic religions. I challenged board members to come up with a scenario involving a large number of Wiccans in Tibet. Someone managed. The gist of it is that India becomes a Dominion of the British Empire, Tibet becomes a protectorate, and Wicca founder Gerald Gardner travels there to investigate occult beliefs.

Alexander The Great…In Japan-Someone challenged board members to get Alexander the Great into Japan. The gist is that Alexander escapes a coup in Persia and wanders across Asia with his most fanatical loyalists, intermarrying with horse tribes and serving as mercenaries for the warring states of China. He eventually conquers Korea and dies after fighting Japanese pirates.

Vikings of the Balearics-A Norse king on his way to Crusade in the Holy Land is delayed by a storm and ends up fighting the Muslims in Spain and the Mediterranean instead. He manages to establish a Viking empire centered on various islands, deposes Popes, etc. It’s very cool.

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Matthew W. Quinn is a freelance writer and editor. He has both short fiction available on Amazon.com and a popular blog, The World According To Quinn.

Best of 2012

Wow an entire year of blogging about alternate history. 2012 is kind of special since this is the first full year The Update has been active. Thanks to the apocalypse not happening on the 21st (wow the hippies were wrong again) I get a whole new year to keep sharing my love of alternate history with you all.

Since the year is coming to an end, it is time to talk about the Best of 2012. Like I said before there is no scientific selection process about these "awards". No one is voting on anything and several of the works below were not even created this year. This is really just my personal thoughts and feelings on the subjects covered by The Update this year. Perhaps next year we will make a real award since the Sidewise only covers books and short stories.

So without further ado...

Book
The Update is primarily a literary blog so of course we need to start with the best book of 2012. My choice has to be Land of Hope and Glory by Geoffrey Wilson, even though it was published in 2011. It was a surprisingly delightful novel to read and I highly recommend you check it out. As for the books read by our other contributors...ah hell I don't know what to do about those. There are just so damn many of them. Seriously, check out the Book Review page and I will leave that decision up to you.

Franchise/series
We haven't covered many current series this year, although I have been enjoying the reprints of the Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman, especially The Bloody Red Baron. If you want to check out some classic universes of alternate history reviewed this year may I recommend Worldwar (reviewed by Chris Nuttall) and Crimson Skies (reviewed by Sean Korsgaard).

Anthology
The best anthology of 2012 has to go to Substitution Cipher, edited by Kaye Chazan and featuring a short story by our own Tyler Bugg. I have been covering the creation of this anthology since October 2011 and although my own submission was not selected, I am still thankful to Candlemark & Gleam for opening this anthology to the public. It inspired me to write more fiction. Now I got three of my short stories published and a job blogging for Amazing Stories (don't forget, beta testing starts Jan 2nd).

Short story
I thought about giving this nod to "Vampire Romance" by Kim Newman, but since I already gave Anno Dracula the nod for best series, I decided to go with "The Beast of the Bosporus" by Matthew Quinn. It is a fun cautionary tale about why you should not call on the Great Old Ones to solve your problems. Of course, I am not the only one to review a short story this year. Check out the review of "43*" by Jeff Greenfield done by Andrew Schneider.

Non-Alternate History
It is rare, but every once in a while we do feature a publication that does not fit even under the liberal definition The Update uses for alternate history. This year the honor for the best non-AH has to go to the "No Bulls**t Guide to Self-Publishing" by Jennifer Ciotta, author of I, Putin. This quick read is a must for anyone thinking about self-publishing.

Comics
For me personally, I have to go with The Five Fists of Science by Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders. In it Twain and Tesla team up to defeat tentacled evil in this steampunk adventure comic. Of course I would be remiss not to mention Chris Nuttall's review of Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2. I realize I have been promoting this review for three whole days now, but come on, it is doing well in page views. At least I'll promise not to show the cover art again.

Showcase
Speaking of page views, showcases of web original AH are the lifeblood of The Update. They have, until very recently, been our most popular posts. I can't stress enough how much I need showcases to publish on this blog. The people love them and I like to give the people what they want. That being said, how exactly do you pick the best of what is already the best? I decided to share one showcase from each of the authors who submitted one this year (and if they submitted more than one I selected the one I liked the best).

Although biased, I did enjoy the showcase I did for A Crack at Draka, a timeline featuring a revamped history of the Draka. Brian W. Daugherty feature on the extremely detailed Protect and Survive universe also brought light to an amazing piece of nuclear war fiction. Out of all the showcases written by Sean Korsgaard, however, I would have to pick A Giant Sucking Sound. You just don't see that many dystopias from the 1990s. Finally, let us move away from the good folks at AH.com to highlight the work of the editors over at the AH Wiki with Napoleon's World, covered by Tyler Bugg. It is a reminder to us that despite AH.com's vast size, there are other communities out there striving to produce excellent work of AH.

Please send me your thoughts on your favorite web originals. I would love to share them with our readers.

Film
Not a great year for film. As far as I know there were no pure alternate history films released this year (although some people think Django Unchained is one), but you did have a couple that were in the same spirit. I enjoyed Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter and Sean liked Iron Sky as well. Check out both of those movies and cross your fingers that we will see another alternate history film in our future (we have been experiencing a drought since 2011). Hopefully it will be War of the Worlds: Goliath.

Television
Not a great year for television either. The only thing we really had was NBC's Revolution, which if you read Seb's review of the first episode, didn't excite most AH fans. It seemed even the people who liked it spent more time apologizing for the show's flaws and suggesting ways to improve it. People seem to like Elementary, the modern Sherlock Holmes in America crime drama on CBS, but I have not watched it so I can't really comment. Perhaps 2013 will be better when the World War II, alien invasion drama Horizon is produced.

Podcast
Wow this is a tough one. On one hand I really like Twilight Histories by Jordan Harbour. This podcast has some imaginative scenarios and their presentation as a radio play makes this one of the most intriguing sources of alternate history. On the other hand, Series 6 of Dissecting Worlds has showcased a lot of good discussion on alternate history across various medias and I can't forget how nice they guys were when they invited me to be a guest on their American Civil War episode.

I don't know, I just can't decide. I guess you will just have to listen to both of them and decide for yourself.

Essay
Although Chris Nuttall's How to Write and Publish a Novel in Eight Easy Steps is probably one of the best essays I posted on this blog this year, it has little to do with alternate history. If you really want some counterfactual goodness, check out The Economics of a Roman Suez Canal by Christopher Brielman. I love it when writers step away from the great man theory and alternate battle outcomes when crafting their alternate history. Brielman's work needs to be read not just for the quality scenario he crafted, but also because it is an example as to why alternate historians must, must, MUST do their research. If you do, you get something as great as this essay.

Map
The map of the year has to go to Ben Carnehl:

More thought experiment than plausible alternate history, this map shows what the continental United States would look like if it balkanized along ethnic lines. I really need to do more with maps in 2013. Perhaps a "Map of the Week" post or something similar. Hmm...

Interview
Finally we are on the people awards. This was a difficult category to narrow down. How exactly do you judge the best interview you conducted with someone?

Among the books I personally read, I would have to say my favorite interview was with Roger L. Ransom, author of The Confederate States of America: What Might Have Been?. He crafted one of the most plausible CSA wins scenarios I ever read and it was also refreshing to talk to someone who enjoyed history as much as I do.

Among the books I did not read, I have to pick Rhys Davies, author of Timewreck Titanic. Not only did he have the best bio pic ever sent to me, but you can tell from his answers to my questions that he really put a lot of thought into them. They were a joy to read and I hoped you liked them as well.

Honorable mentions also need to go out to Doctor Quincy E. Quartermain (the biggest fan of alternate history/steampunk I ever met, who also gave me some good pointers about attending SF conventions) and Joe Pearson (the first film maker I ever interviewed).

Contributor
This is another difficult one, but not for the same reasons as stated in the above categories. Everyone who has contributed to The Update is dear to my heart. You guys (and gals) have brought me joy by just believing enough in the mission of this blog that you wanted to help in any way you could. Thank you.

However, if I had to pick, then the honor for best contributor would have to go to Chris Nuttall. He is one of our most prolific reviewers and essay writers. Plus his most recent submissions have been extremely popular, especially with the Reddit community. I can't imagine the number of followers to The Update have been enticed by the works of Chris. Thank you Chris and I hope I get the honor of posting more of your work on this site in 2013.

Conclusion
You know what I just realized? We did not review any video or computer games this year. Huh...really need to get better about that. So many things I wish I could have done. So many topics left uncovered. Not exactly regrets, mind you. Just...lost opportunities. I got a lot of interesting ideas for 2013.

Well guys I hope you enjoyed 2012. You have two more posts before the year is up (an alternate history and steampunk themed Weekly Update) before The Update starts 2013. I hope you are looking forward to the future. I sure am.

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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.

The Top 10 Posts of December

Although we still have next Monday's Weekly Update, I thought this would be the best time to recap the top posts of December. So without further ado:

1) How to Write and Publish a Novel in Eight Easy Steps by Chris Nuttall: Essays detailing what it takes to write a SF/Fantasy novel.

2) Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2 by Chris Nuttall: Review of the Star Trek: The Next Generation and Doctor Who crossover comic.

3) Review: The Kildaran by Adam Gaffen and Richard Evans by Chris Nuttall: Novel about a lost colony of Vikings turned special forces.

4) January 2013: The Month of No Americans by Matt Mitrovich: Next month's writing contest is still accepting submissions so hurry up before we run out of days to post.

5) Weekly Update #82 by Matt Mitrovich: I make a big announcement, plus news on East vs. West, Cherie Priest, Ian Tregillis, SF awards, steampunk events and new releases.

6) Showcase: A Crack at Draka by Matt Mitrovich: I attempt to use my evil powers to get one of my favorite web originals updated again.

7) Industria, Tecnologia, Potenza: An Italy After Action Report by Tyler Bugg: Using Arsenal of Democracy we get a taste of what could have happened if Italy made some better decisions in WWII.

8) Review: By Force of Arms by Billy Bennett by AJ Nolte: The Confederacy won, but the Union gets a second chance.

9) Amazing Stories, the world's first science fiction magazine, opens for Beta Testing of Phase 1 on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013 by Matt Mitrovich: The classic SF magazine is back and yours truly is blogging for them.

10) Weekly Update #83 by Matt Mitrovich: Iron Kingdoms is novelized, The Afrika Reich gets reviewed, more chances to get published and new releases.

Well Chris did an excellent job getting the top 3 spots, while I once again had the most articles in the top ten this month. Shout out to AJ and Tyler for making the list as well. Stay tuned tomorrow when I recap the best of 2012.

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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.

Showcase: A Crack at Draka

The Draka.

They are the most notorious and controversial culture ever invented by an alternate historian. S. M. Stirling's race of master slavers are horrifyingly ruthless and yet manage to keep some semblance of humanity  at least within the frameworks of their world view. The terms "Draka-lite" and "Draka-esque" have been used to describe various alternate history dystopias created online, but the Draka are not without their detractors.

Many reviewers find S. M. Stirling's universe to be implausible. Admittedly the universe does contain many common AH cliches including airships, space-filling empires and tech wankery. A cottage industry has sprung up to disprove the Draka by either writing essays pointing out Stirling's flaws or creating their own timelines. Most of these timelines lack depth and often just screw the Draka over at some point in their fictional past while keeping most of the history Stirling laid down. Yet every once in a while a timeline comes along which makes a serious attempt to create a realistic Drakan nation to terrorize the world.

This brings us to A Crack at Draka by Municipal Engines. Unlike the above examples, ME makes massive changes to the history of the Draka in an attempt to make them more plausible. The point of divergence begins when Sir Francis Drake doesn't get infected with dysentery and die at the age of 55 in 1596. Instead he ends up shipwrecked at the Cape of Good Hope. After returning to England, he comes back with colonists and South Africa is settled by the English before the Dutch. The Drake family remains in the colony, becoming incredibly wealthy and influential.

Originally named Drakesland, the colony grows and prospers as it stretches north into Africa. It gets nicknamed the "Old Dominion", for its support of the Royalists in the Civil War, but it doesn't scoff at Cromwell loyalists settling in the colony, especially veterans of the New Model Army who help train the colonial militia into an elite fighting force. Although the colony struggles to find settlers since many English prefer North America over distant South Africa, Drakesland nevertheless grows and expands.

Puritans establish colonies on the frontier and influence the Drakan religion (they are not athiests in this universe), the Dutch try to set up their own neighboring colony until they are absorbed and the Scots bring their clan system to the colony. The Loyalists do end up in Draka, because Quebec revolted as well as the Anglo-colonies to its south, denying Canada to them (I never did understand why the Loyalists in Stirling's universe would rather live in South Africa over nearby Canada). As the decades go by the colony grows changing its name to Drakia and later gaining self-governance as the Dominion of Draka.

ME crafted an excellent and plausible timeline. Unlike the other Draka fan timelines, A Crack at Draka does not focus solely on military and politics. ME takes time to describe the culture, economics, philosophy and technology of the Draka. The timeline has a lot of fiber, unlike the bar outlines of the other fan (or attack?) timelines. A Crack at Draka is also devoid of historical cameos. ME does not ignore the butterfly effect, so you won't see Nixon the used car salesman in this timeline.

In the early history of the Draka he describes how the conflicts with the natives led to massacres committed by both sides and how that influenced the Draka's militarism and hatred for black Africans. The Drakan racisim, however, does not extend to everyone as it does in Stirling's universe. For example, the Drakan merchants and politicians were influential in changing how the British managed India, thus avoiding an Indian Mutiny in this ATL (although there is a small rebellion in British North Africa).

This is accomplished thanks to the powerful, and Drakan founded, "Consortium". Part trade association and part secret society, the Consortium includes the richest and most powerful men in the Empire. They have enough power that usually whatever the Draka want, the Empire gives, but they are not omnipotent. Britain still ends slavery, forcing the Draka to reform the system. Slaves became bondservants who have to work to pay off their debt to their former owners (which is nigh impossible).

The world in 1873.

The timeline remains unfinished and since I want to see more updates, I decided to use my power for my own selfish goals (insert evil laughter here). At the last update we find the United States in the midst of a civil war with a large slave-holding Confederacy allied with Texan and Nephite nationalists (who want to establish the Holy Republic of Devoret). Unbeknownst to the Americans, a secret treaty has been signed with Quebec (a military dictatorship) and Imperial Mexico to intervene in the war.  It is probably only a matter of time before the Draka get involved as well. Will the United States survive?

Whether you liked or hated Stirling's Draka universe, you will love A Crack at Draka by by Municipal Engines. Go and read the timeline and then leave a reply demanding an update. Like the Draka, we can't be stopped (more evil laughter).

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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.

The Top 10 Posts of November

Trying a new series of posts where I feature the most viewed articles of the past month. Enjoy:

1) Showcase: A Giant Sucking Sound by Sean Korsgaard: Showcase on an AH.com TL where Ross Perot is elected president in 1992.

2) Review: The Beast of the Bosporus by Matthew Quinn by Matt Mitrovich: Review of Quinn's new Lovecraft/AH short story featuring the Ottomans calling upon the Great Old Ones.

3) Interview: Henrik Fåhraeus by Matt Mitrovich: My interview with the project lead and lead designer of Crusader Kings II.

4) Alternative Elections: 1844 by Jake Schenberg: Debut article about what if Henry Clay was elected president in 1844.

5) Review: Fatherland by Robert Harris by Evelyn Robinson: Debut article reviewing one of the classic works of alternate history.

6) Review: 43* by Jeff Greenfield by Andrew Schneider: Debut article reviewing a short story about President Gore in 2000.

7) Weekly Update #80 by Matt Mitrovich: News pieces on Sunset Invasion, test writing fails, steampunk and more chances to get published.

8) Review: Aztec Century by Christopher Evans by Chris Nuttall: Book review about a global Aztec empire.

9) Review: Lone Star Rising: The Voyage of the Wasp by Jason Vail by Fxgentleman: Debut article on a review of a failed American Revolution that gets one more shot in Texas.

10) Interview: Mark Jeffrey by Matt Mitrovich: My interview with the author of Age of Aether.

So what can we take away from last month? Korsgaard does get the top spot, but I can pat myself on the back for getting the most appearances on the list. I am also happy by the four debut articles from new contributors making the list. I look forward to seeing what December brings.

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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.

Showcase: A Giant Sucking Sound

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

Happy Election Day my dear readers! I hope the Americans reading this have taken the time to go out and vote, I don’t care for whom, just do so! In any event, I have a very special showcase for you today, the Turtledove Award winning A Giant Sucking Sound, by MaskedPickle!

As an American, it’s only natural to look at our two party system and think ‘what would it be like if we had a third?’ At least from an AH standpoint, it’s perhaps as much of a challenge to write a plausible third party TL as it is to get one elected in real life, mainly because in the last hundred years, you really only have two choices. The first is Teddy Roosevelt’s run as a Progressive in 1912. The second, is in 1992, and a particularly peculiar Texan billionaire named Ross Perot. Though shockingly little more than a footnote, his role as a third party candidate should not be underestimated – his run is likely why President Clinton was elected as opposed to President George HW Bush winning a second term, and his platform of balanced budgets, libertarian social values, decreased economic regulation and investing in technology, energy and infrastructure would prove decades ahead of its time, with both parties adopting bits of it since then. That said, he lost due to his own habit of gaffes and erratic behavior, and likely did the country a service in doing so.

Of course, we’re in the business of asking what if – just what would a Ross Perot Presidency look like?

After getting elected by first, not withdrawing in August, and nominating populist Governor Jerry Brown as his running mate, Ross Perot is largely opposed by both parties out of a mutual desire to see the first Independent president since George Washington play ball by their rules. Needless to say, Perot chooses to destroy the two party system instead, forming his own political party, the Freedom Party, or Freedomites. Largely centrist, but attracts all types not represented by either wing or ignored by their own, it’s ranks include the likes of John McCain, Paul Tsongas, Ron Paul, Al Sharpton, Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, as well as the likes of Jon Stewart, Jello Biafra and Donald Trump. With the two party stranglehold broken, President Perot and the Freedomites begin implementing their agenda, whether or not they can reach a tripartisan agreement.

The Perot Presidency sees some great things done. Perot spearheads an international coalition of forces to intervene in Rwanda to prevent the 1994 genocide, as well as a more competent attack on Somalia which ends with a puppet regime installed in Mogadishu. In addition, he almost immediately starts pushing for national internet infrastructure akin to phone lines or highways, with the committee implementing such an approach headed by Steve Jobs. As promised, he pushed a balanced budget amendment through Congress and it passes once turned over to the states, though a similar one pushing for term limits to Congressmen failed. In addition, he enacts a version of gun registration not seen for years later in the aftermath of Waco. To top it all off, Perot prevents the implementation of NAFTA and stands up to China over Taiwan.

There are also some downsides of course. At home, in reaction to the harsher put down of Waco and Ruby Ridge, and inspired by other international terrorist movements, the brief 1990s militia movement has blossomed into a homegrown terrorist movement called Stormfront, led by the likes of David Duke, Richard Girnt Butler, Tom Metzger, David Leach and Matthew F. Hale, as the OTL lone wolf attacks are traded for attacks like the Oklahoma City Bombings and assassinations ranging from Paul Wellstone to Steven Spielberg. This was inspired in part because of the rise of doomsday cults in Asia and Islamic terror in Europe, both of which are far more successful at committing deeds far worse than OTL – one of the most stunning moments of the TL is when Aum Shinrikyo detonates a stolen nuclear bomb in Nagoya. Russia seems to have come under the grip of a would be fascist movement that is starting to make Vladimir Putin look positively warm and fuzzy, and Europe is locked in a war in Algeria combating Islamists.

Ultimately, the turmoil abroad and at home was enough that, when combined with an Perot finally snapping under the pressure, leads to Democrat Ann Richards winning in 1996. Richards, though she comes down hard on Stormfront, does so by enacting legislation that makes the OTL Patriot Act look tame, and between that and pushing for unpopular health care reform, she is in a vunerable position for reelection. Heading into the 2000 national election, one with chaotic details on all sides, including a brutally drawn out Freedomite convention, we are about to see Republican Jeb Bush, Freedomite Angus King, and even two fourth party runs from both Pat Buchannan and Jerry Brown challenge the vulnerable President Richards for the Presidency. It will be interesting to see who wins in upcoming updates.

The effects of Ross Perot’s Presidency on the United States are both good and bad. Perhaps most obviously, the end of the two party system has shaken American politics and American culture to the bone, mostly for the better. His push for improved infrastructure, especially the national internet network, in addition to proving a boon to the economy and the nation, is the sort of project we’d likely never see in the OTL two party system. That said, the rise of domestic terror due to backlash has had a telling effect on America in TTL, and the future of this America could go either way.

The international scene is just as radically different. Terrorism has become a global threat even more than OTL – ranging from the Islamic variety, which for a number of reasons, is focused largely on Europe and Russia, Aum Shinrikyo in Japan, to Stormfront in the USA. Lady Diana, who is still alive in this TL, has been vilified for marrying Dodi El Fayed and converting to Islam, which with the ongoing European War on Terror, has made her the most hated woman in Britain since Wallis Simpson. Japan’s economy has been further crippled by the terrorist nuclear attack on Nagoya. An increasingly fascist Russia led by Prime Minister Alexandr Lebed is taking steps toward reclaiming some of the neighbors. Somalia fragmented years ahead of schedule, one where Mogadishu is ruled by Hussein Mohammed Farrah Aidid. Though Perot intervenes against the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, ones in Congo and the Solomon Islands take its place. The map of the world has been radically altered, with independent nations like Mindanao, Somaliland, Kurdistan, and even Quebec, and hints of a federalized Europe in the future.

Yet another hallmark of the TL is the vivid alternate pop culture, which helps characterize the world even further. One of the most powerful moments of the TL is when famed Director Steven Spielberg is killed by Stormfront, with Saving Private Ryan dedicated to his memory and a number of other projects of his circulating around Hollywood in various forms. Brandon Lee has lived to become one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars, having stared in TTL Matrix movie (of which, there is only one) and another movie based on Metal Gear Solid. Kurt Cobain’s gunshot wound left him braindead, something which has affected rock music in ways even more than his OTL death. Television has seen a version of the West Wing with Sidney Poitier playing the President, and 24 with Charlie Sheen playing Jack Bauer. Other butterflies have seen Harrison Ford play Oskar Schrindler in Schrindler’s List, Russel Crowe land the role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Titanic going down as a box office bomb, and a grief stricken George Lucas handing the directing job for the Star Wars prequels to Sam Raimi.

Overall, the timeline does two things masterfully that next to no other AH works have achieved in terms of detail and plausibility – they made a successful modern third party, and a dystopian 1990s, and in the process showed just how close we could have had either. This timeline is rich, developed, often veers off in unpredictable directions, yet often funny or quirky, yet always worth a look and brilliant in ways – and after all, should a TL about Ross Perot be anything else? Give this masterwork a read if you haven’t already, and have a Happy Election Day!

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Showcase: Story of a Party

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a proper TL showcase my dear readers, hasn’t it? So to make up for lost time, and get into the spirit of the upcoming Presidential election here in the US, up until election day, I will be showcasing Alternative Presidencies!

This has always been a popular topic in alternate history, largely because of the inherent nature of electoral politics, the core of which is different men with different visions for the country and its future. Like so many other things with AH, eventually people wonder – what would happen if the other candidate had one, and their vision had been the one that guided the country rather than that of our victor? Where would we be now? Would that place be better or worse? It really is a fascinating study of what a difference a different leader can make, and I am going to highlight some of my favorite TLs with an alternative President at their heart.

That said, given both I and the Alternate History Weekly Update do not wish to alienate people of differing political beliefs. I want to make it clear that any alternative Presidencies we do cover, we do so not as political commentators, but as alternate historians.

With that said, lets delve right into looking at some of the best timelines where the highest office in the land went to another man. First up: Story of a Party.

As any good history student knows, the Republican Party came to power as a political party riding on both the collapse of the Whig Party and the rising anti-slavery tide in the 1850s, finally cementing itself as the nation’s second political party when Abraham Lincoln won the Presidency in 1860, and led the nation through the American Civil War. The first Republican candidate however, was John C. Fremont, a popular figure back in his day for his exploits in the Mexican-American War, playing a key role in early American settlement of the west, as well as being both an outspoken militarist and abolitionist. He would be the Republican presidential candidate in 1856, losing to Democrat James Buchanan.

But what if he’d won? That is the central premise of Ares96’s timeline, Story of a Party, a reboot of an earlier timeline of the same name. The POD is, as you might expect, the 1856 election, where Fremont campaigns more vigorously, and Buchanan makes a serious faux-pax making a pro-slavery speech in Illinois, allowing Fremont to carry Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and California, states that he failed to carry in OTL, giving him both the election and the Presidency.

With President Fremont assuming office in 1856, there are a number of early differences from OTL. First, is that unlike Buchanan, he supports William Walker’s Nicaragua expedition, out of interest as an expansionist, and as a Californian who understands that the land could be used for a canal, to say nothing of having a bone to throw to the South. Having campaigned against popular sovereignty, when the Republicans take control of Congress in the 1858 midterms, he supports and passes a bill that reorganized the West into a number of territories, all of which prohibit slavery.

Needless to say, this Territories Reorganization Act causes an uproar in the South, sparking a number of slave states to secede from the Union in 1859, with a number of key differences. Texas stays in the Union, following both Mexican border raids and impassioned arguments from Governor Sam Houston, both of which convince Texans that they are better served within the Union. In an additional difference from OTL, Tennessee remains in the Union, while Missouri leaves the Union. The ten seceding states band together to form the Confederacy of American States, with a capital in Montgomery and led by President John A. Quitman, who died in OTL after contracting a disease at Buchanan’s inauguration, sparking the beginning of TTL’s Civil War.

Almost immediately, you can see Fremont’s leadership differ from Lincoln’s, as he both issues a formal declaration of war and begins recruiting soldiers and forming the Union Army almost immediately, among their number are Robert E. Lee, who upon receiving a promotion to Major General, a field command and promise that he would not be sent to fight against Virginia, is put in command of Union forces in Tennessee, and Samuel Clemens, who helps crew a Union gunboat becoming something of a folk hero in the process. His more forceful presence and military experience will come into play more than once over the course of the war.

Forces clash on all fronts. The Union Army of Tennessee under General Lee fights many battles against Confederate forces under PGT Beauregard for control over Tennessee, and later over the heart of the Confederacy. The Union Army of the Potomac, under General Henry Halleck is quick to capture Fredericksburg and defend it from a number of Confederate assaults. A Union Army of Texas, under General Albert Sidney Johnson, drives into Louisiana, while General Grant is more than happy to reclaim his home state of Missouri for the Union.

The war finally turns in 1861, with Lee and the Army of Tennessee, along with the Army of Ohio under George McClellan finally plunging into the Confederacy, taking Atlanta, Milledgeville and Savanna, a campaign which cut the Confederacy in two and gave President Fremont the political capital to pass his own version of the Emancipation Proclamation. General Sherman, who replaced General Halleck as head of the Army of the Potomac, blitzes through Virginia and the Carolinas. While Generals Grant and Johnson take control of the Mississippi, and with Montgomery surrounded on all sides, the Confederacy surrenders in 1862, after three years of fighting in what would be a total victory for the Union.

War management is not the only difference under President Fremont, whose domestic policy is also very different than that of Lincoln. He proves far more willing to carve up new Unionist states from parts of the former Confederacy, including the state of Vandalia is from western Virginia, the Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas is made into the state of Osage, and carving West Florida from the Gulf coast, as well as to keep the remainder of the former Confederacy until firm military occupation. He also takes a much more active role in defending the rights of freedman, including a better supported Freedman’s Bureau and the OTL 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are given teeth to enforce them, and a 16th amendment prohibiting secession is also passed. William Seward, who is elected President in 1864, goes about peaceful expansion of the USA, gaining British Columbia, Baja California, Sonora and Alaska by both negotiation and purchase.

Things are not always better in the USA however – Reconstruction has proved far slower going, and the military occupation of the South is hampered by local resistance with a knack for guerrilla warfare – and given the general mindset of TTL Reconstruction is that of punishment rather than reconciliation, Union troops are all too happy to crack down even harder. With the Democrats still largely discredited by the Civil War, opposition to radical Republican rule comes in the form of the Constitutional Union party giving a centrist third party alternative to the Republicans and Democrats, and the Unionists quickly fill a niche in the Upper South. This causes issues given the recent 1868 Presidential Election, which thanks to no party getting the Electoral College majority went to Congress – following a small crisis, a coalition government is formed, with the Presidency going to Unionist candidate Andrew Curtain and the Vice Presidency going to Republican VP candidate Hannibal Hamlin, with hints of further turmoil ahead.

Overseas, the world has not been idle while the US has been engulfed by the Civil War. The Italian reunification wars have ended with an Italy that still lacks Venetia yet still owns Savoy and Nice. British North America, with its pacific and far west sold to the Americans, forms a far more centralized and different union than OTL Canada, called the United Provinces of Laurentia. A crisis over who can claim the Spanish crown has sparked a war between Prussia and Russia on one side and France and Austria on the other, with the tide finally turning toward the former.

In addition to being a vivid look at all the myriad of ways things could have been different throughout the Civil War, and presenting one of the most unique takes on the American Civil War I've seen yet, it provides a fine example of what different leadership in that crucial moment of our nation’s history might have caused. So few works of AH focus on how a President other than Lincoln would have handled both the Civil War and the Reconstruction, and John Fremont allows a fascinating study of one such option. Fremont’s military background and devout support for abolition leads to both a shorter and smoother civil war and more support for equal rights, but in lacking Lincoln’s calm demeanor and mercy, he both crosses many lines that Lincoln shied away from in OTL, and it sparks a much more hostile backlash from the former Confederacy. While the future of this world remains uncertain at this point – the TL is only now moving into the 1870s – given what Ares96 has hinted at, Fremont may not have given us a more perfect union…

That said, even disregarding the political angle, if you want to see a Civil War that sees Union armies under General Lee and General McClellan fighting alongside each other marching through Georgia, a USA that has states including Osage and a So-Cal Colorado, and an interesting rising European balance of power, come give the Story of a Party a read, and see a USA forged by free soil, free men and Fremont!

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Showcase Update 1

It's me again my dear readers! Pardon me for the prolonged absence, but exams have been keeping me crunched for time this month, thus keeping me from giving you many interesting articles. Rest assured, with summer break coming up, I have many wonderful articles and showcases in store for you just in time for summer blockbuster season!

Until then, I'd like to point out I have not been the only one busy lately. Many of the worlds and works I've showcased on here have been through a string of updates recently, providing some juicy stories and events for you and I to watch unfold. For that, I present the latest series of articles from AHWU, the Showcase Update, where we inform you of current events in the various alternate histories we've showcased here. We've got three of our heavy hitters up today, and here they are:

A World of Laughter, a World of Tears

After a long break, Statichaos has finally rebooted and begun work on the long awaited sequel, When You Wish Upon a Star. If you want to see the aftermath of the Disney administration this will be a work to keep an eye on - rest assured we will be.

An Age of Miracles: The Revival of Rhomanion

For those who wondered how the war between Timur and the Byzantines would end, there's news on that front and more - most recently, a war between a grand alliance of the Byzantines, Russians, Georgians, Vlachia and the Ottomans against Timurs son, who has forged an empire larger than that of Genghis Khan himself, and now seeks to subdue those who humbled his father. The conflict, which bears a Lord of the Rings esque flavor, thanks to yours truly, just concluded in an epic conflict known as The Battle - who's still standing? Read and find out!

Dominion of Southern America

Glen has been quite busy since my first showcase - most notably in the form of the DSA verse fighting a WWI esque conflict over a new school of proto-fascism that has swept many of the nations into it's grasp. The school of thought? Korsgaardism. That's right my dear readers, I cameo in the TL, as the founder of a school of political philosophy that sparks a global war. I don't know whether to be honored or scared, but either way, the conflict is brilliantly unfolding and a great read!

Just goes to show - frequent a timeline, and you too can start a global war in an alternate world!

Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here. In another world, his ancestors created a school of ultranationalistic proto-fascism that would spark a global war.

Showcase: Protect and Survive

Guest post by Brian W. Daugherty.

Alternatehistory.com has seen numerous excellent timelines posted on its site. The group of timelines that comprise the Protect and Survive universe deserve to be among the best.

The heart of P&S is Protect and Survive: A Timeline, telling the story of the buildup to a nuclear war in February, 1984 and its aftermath, primarily set in Newcastle, England. This storyline was started by AH.com member Macragge1 in August 2010, using lines from the British government's Protect and Survive campaign as a launching point to tell his story.

From the beginning Macragge sought to tell a forthright, if bleak, account of what would happen during such an event. The timeline was influenced by a number of post-apocalyptic novels.  Stylistically, his storytelling takes inspiration from David Peace's GB84, about the 1984 miners' strike in Britain. Macragge's characters are not identified by name for the most part, instead referred to by such monikers as "the Controller" or "the Librarian". This is no ways dehumanizes Macragge's characters; their humanity is very much in evidence, particularly in how they cope with the sudden harshness of daily life, the very difficult decisions they must make just to survive.

In each update, Macragge starts by quoting from the Protect and Survive pamphlet (and later, from other works, like popular 1980s songs), then gives a general view of the world as of that point in the TL. This is where we learn, for example, about the buildup of tension between the U.S. and USSR; the event that triggers the launching of missiles and bombers (here after referred to as the Exchange); how badly Britain gets hit; and news of the rest of the world as the surviving British government receives it.

This is not a timeline where everyone gets hit badly and things get better afterwards. Things can, and often do, go badly; decisions can have both bad short- and long-term consequences. People choose to go on, although their daily lives become harsh. Food and other necessities trump the rule of law; choices that might trigger outright revolt in peacetime are considered after the Exchange as necessary.

Requests from readers soon led to a spinoff storyline, in which the British government sends a team to the United States. Like P&S, the spinoff takes a bleak turn. Not all of the team members get along; the journey across North America is difficult; and, due to the actions of one of the disgruntled Brits, the storyline takes a shocking twist - one that ends badly for a very important player within the TL.

That spinoff led to others based in America, starting with Gen_Patton's Duck and Cover, which follows Macragge's TL stylistically and focuses on Cleveland, Ohio (which somehow managed to not get nuked); Rome, Georgia and Walla Walla, Washington. Gen_Patton tells the story of the war and its aftermath from the standpoint of survivors trying to rebuild the U.S. homeland.

Duck and Cover was followed by Chipperback's Land of Flatwater: Protect and Survive in Middle America, telling the story of the war and its aftermath from the perspective of characters in the state of Nebraska. Here, Chipperback pulls no punches, but diverges from Macragge in two respects.

First, he gives his main characters names and fleshes out their lives so we know them well, and get ideas on how the war affects people at various levels of society: Chip, a young boy from Omaha; Bob Kerrey, the OTL and ITTL governor in 1984; and Tyler Tyles, a man whom would be labeled a domestic terrorist in our time, among the several well-developed characters.

Second, the characters seemed determined not only to survive, but to live (albeit not quite in the same fashion as before). This could be a reflection of the American versus the British mindset; characters in P&S seemed resigned to their fate, accepting that life has become 'short, brutish and hard'; in Land of Flatwater, characters acknowledge their circumstances and seek to rebuild (or, in the case of Tyler Tyles, attain power).

Macragge is not the only creator to set a timeline in Britain, and Europe was not to be ignored in the P&S universe.

The Last Flight of XM594, written by JN1, focuses on a Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bomber crew tasked with hitting targets in the Soviet Union and its allied countries during the Exchange.

Will Ritson - whom AH readers may know as the creator of the Images of 1984 - Stories from Oceania timeline - also contributes to the P&S universe. There Won't Be Any Illuminations is set in Lancashire, England.

Mario Rossi's timeline, Noi nom ci saremo, is based in Italy, telling the story of the buildup from the perspective of people in the Italian government. It unfortunately seems to have stalled, as there haven't been any updates since late 2011.

DrakonFin tells Finland's story in The Land of Sad Songs. It carries on the stark bleakness of Macragge's TL - perhaps exacerbated by Finland's being sandwiched between the USSR and NATO members Sweden and Norway. In the P&S-verse, the survivors have to deal with the reality of their country having been hit by both sides; Soviet troops try to stay alive, while Finnish commanders go to extreme measures to procure food.

JoHansen tells the story of Norway in his Nothern Wind TL.

No Rest for the Wicked, written by Agentdark, is set in Africa, stretching from Ghana to Libya to southern Africa.

Back to America, Chipperback's TL inspired stalkere to write Don't Turn Your Back on the Wolfpack

Top Hats Daily chose to set his TL, That Damned Bridge, in Minnesota. American and Canadian troops fight to keep the peace along the Minnesota/Ontario border.

GAB-1955's TL, Pro Aris et Pro Focis, is based in New York City, focusing on a National Guard unit trying to keep the peace in America's largest metropolis.

Finally, my own TL, The Last Game, gives the perspective of athletes, administrators and students at the University of Kentucky, among others as the conflict builds towards the Exchange - which comes after the 'last' American major college basketball game to be played, two days before.

Protect and Survive, and its spinoffs, takes the reader through the buildup to an all-out nuclear war, the event itself, and its aftermath as realistically as any story I've ever read. The creators clearly are out to make their storylines as realistic as possible, and also are well-written (both standards which I strive to meet in my own TL).

Readers may be most familiar with the nuclear war concept through the movies The Day After and Threads. Both portrayed the aftermath of their respective events as bleak and hopeless. At least in the case of The Day After, there was a point to this: nuclear war will destroy everyone and everything, with total, utter death and destruction, like the ashen landscape described in Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Writing such a conclusion may have had its uses in regards to Cold War politics and convincing world leaders that a nuclear war has no true winners. The writers of Protect and Survive have chosen to try to describe the aftermath in a realistic manner - which may not completely agree with Carl Sagan's nuclear winter theory nor with readers who foresee the conclusion of such an event as leading only to total extinction.

In any case, the various timelines have not advanced too far into their futures from the Exchange. In that regard there is much room not only to advance the various storylines, there also is time to build a realistic vision of what a post-nuclear world would look like.

Whatever shape that takes, the creators of Protect and Survive are certain to tell the story in an engaging manner, full of the victories and defeats the characters are certain to encounter, and the blunt reality of their new lives.

• Readers can keep track of the spinoff threads here.
• New submissions are welcomed, although creators are asked to submit a short proposal at When the Wind Blew: a P&S Open Thread. The open thread also serves as a place to discuss the overall TL.
• There are no plans for a Facebook page for the P&S universe. However, it does have a Twitter page.

*     *     *

Brian W. Daugherty is, among other things, a fan of alternate history who got his start in the genre with 1983: Doomsday. He eventually became an administrator at the Alternate History Wikia, and continues to contribute both there and at alternatehistory.com.

Showcase: William Dellinger's For All The Marbles

My dear readers, you are in for a treat today. Of all the showcases I have done for all of you, it is no small thing when I say that what you're reading today may very well be for the next big story of the entire Alternate History. those are not words I use lightly, believe me, and I know everybody and their little brother who have ever penned a work in the genre tend to blanket their work in that claim. For All The Marbles has earned every word of that oft tossed about phrase.

Because For All The Marbles is unlike any other work of alternate history you or I have ever read or seen.

Don't take my word for it though! Please, enjoy the trailer I have prepared for you prior to the main showcase:

INT to a view of paintings, statues and such of various historical figures. Nelson's Column, The Bayeux Tapestry, Washington Crossing the Delaware.

Throughout human history, only a lucky few, through reputation or great deeds, have earned for themselves a name and legacy to withstand the test of time.

You now see brief glimpses of the likes of Thomas Jefferson, Queen Elizabeth I, Julius Caesar and a few other historical figures.

Only the best and brightest of the manifold millions of men escape mortality to live forever as legend. Question is, of these lucky few...

You now see those same faces again, as the camera reveals them all to be standing alongside each other, a hundred fold or more all filled with some of the most recognizable figures in history.

Can they do it twice?

You see before them stands a figure who somewhat resembles Mark Harmon, though shinning with an otherworldly glint in his eyes, who then says 'You may call me Marvin, and let me tell you about the Myox..."

AH.com and William Dellinger present histories greatest figures, together again at last.

Our most refined statesmen

A brief glimpse of what is clearly a cabinet meeting with several figures gathered around a table. We get to see Thomas Jefferson reading off a list of proposals at one end of the table, as the camera pans over we see members include the likes of Otto von Bismark, Winston Churchill, Henry Clay, Adam Smith, Marcus Cicero and a number of others. Rubbing his chin at the head of the table is Charlemagne, along with his wife, Elizabeth Tudor.

Our most cunning strategists

We are given a glimpse into what looks like a general staff meeting, with Dwight Eisenhower pouring over maps with the likes of Julius Caesar, Robert E Lee, Hannibal Barca, and a number of others. In the corner we see a chess match between Niccolo Machiavelli and Sun Tzu, as a figure immediately recognizable as Cardinal Richelieu approaches Machiavelli and whispers something in his ear. A faint smile creeps on his face as the camera pans away.

Our most brilliant minds

We now see a room with a massive chalkboard with Steven Hawking walking up and down correcting various figures before turning to face his colleagues, which for the moment, includes Issac Newton, Robert Goddard, Wilbur Wright, Archimedes, Werner von Braun and Albert Einstein, the latter of whom smiles and says 'Faster than light travel... wondurbar...'

Our most cultured artists

We see a few books on a table, with unrecognizable titles, but authored by Hemingway, Milton, and a few by Shakespeare, as the camera pans up to see Leonardo de Vinci moving a brush across a wide canvas as Michelangelo looks onward as a vaguely familiar classical tune comes out of a radio. Michelangelo asks 'I can't tell, is that, Mozart or Beethoven?'. Leonardo stops painting long enough to look back and say 'Both'.

Our most courageous soldiers

We see George Patton on Horseback alongside Colin Powell as he unfolds a telegram handed to him by a messenger. We see it reads 'First one to flank the enemy buys the drinks tonight - Erwin Rommel'. A mixture of a smile and a scowl breaks out on his face as he says 'Looks like the drinks are on you tonight, you magnificent bastard', then riding off to rally his troops.

Against our most brutal foes

We get a glimpse from behind of a figure speaking from a balcony in a very fascistic manner, and though we never see his face, we see the seemingly endless formation of black uniformed soldiers before him as they all let loose a deafening war cry as the man thrusts his arm out in an all too familiar salute.

FOR ALL THE MARBLES

Humanity's greatest leaders against humanity's greatest foes.

If you haven't guessed by now, the concept is one both elegant in its simplicity and brilliant in its execution. A cosmic figure (some might call him an alien space bat) known as Marvin is part of an interstellar game with fellow members of his ilk, known as Myox. This game consists of the player taking a number of figures to use as pieces to form an entire civilization from scratch, and then proceed to wage war until control of the planet belongs to one side, with all other players eliminated. While we have yet to see what pieces the other sides had picked, Marvin alone picked out a list of figures that would make almost any history buff drool.

Here, lies one of the biggest draws and strengths of the story. One of the big charms of alternate history has been to allow a writer to write a fictional story from the eyes and perspective of various historical figures, and for the reader to have a familiar window to gaze at an unfamiliar world. It goes without saying that a story like For All The Marbles, which provides us with a story that revolves around the Dream Team of human history would be all the more enticing, let along when written with such skill and passion as it is here. Little details of the figures here and there provide a great deal of both drama and humor in the story - Alexander the Great as he struggles to embrace humility, Steven Hawking's joy to being able to use his legs again, Benedict Arnold tearfully begging forgiveness from George Washington for his treason, Mozart's disgusted reaction to bubblegum pop - all are as wonderful as the tensions and struggles of the group as they establish control over their portion of the planet, and ready for a war that will see them make a play for the rest.

Plus, in addition to the many historical viewpoints, the original characters are just as great, and it is interspersed with references to alternate history culture, AH.com and cameos for various figures and members - Marvin's ship is named the Thande, the various other Myox players are named after the site's Mods, and among the thirty or so cameos, your humble narrator has a role as Shakespeare's apprentice, and I'm very proud of the spot on portrayal of my personality.

While the story itself has advanced only to a little after planet fall, rest assured, you are getting plenty of value. Every update pulls you in fully into the story, and leaves you wanting more with every update. This is a testament to both Dellinger's writing and narrative style, which are both superb and seem to get even better with every posted update. The later updates are each well over 10,000 words, so there's plenty to read, which is one reason for the recent reboot, to beef up the earlier updates.

Overall, it's like I said during my coverage of the Turtledoves - this was the best work of fiction I read last year. Not posts on alternatehistory.com, not alternate history, but fiction period - and given what I read, I hope that says something. It's concept is one of the most brilliant I've come across, and Dellinger's writing abilities are more than enough to handle the story. There is a reason this story has taken AH.com by storm and won at the Turtledove's in landslides. This is the rare kind of TL on AH.com I would pay to read, and in the event this story gets finished and traditionally published, I fully plan on buying a copy. Until then, I will be following devotedly on AH.com has he updates it, and if you haven't read it yet, you need to. The rebooted version is here, but the original is well worth a read too, and not just to tide you over until the next updates.

You heard it hear first folks: For All The Marbles is a masterpiece in the making. Read it now to see for yourself.

Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here. He is also apprenticed to William Shakespeare, and is playing Macbeth in the latest performance of the play.