tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86578261051574425962024-02-20T15:37:33.481-05:00Somerset House PressA blog about Michael Cnudde's novel, War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History and his other works of fiction. Also features reviews and rants on all things alternate history.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-80892117345945589352022-02-08T23:18:00.004-05:002022-02-17T22:56:57.119-05:00Book Review: Cyber Shogun Revolution, by Peter Tieryas<p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7Q8-em0UYuyKHFf5axhDWGVXUxCXI5VuZ9vFdep5TIg7ivqZSQRaY48xxhCYP-uMbOcXw7gnH02zaTe4_palR9h9I7ljgmn03doilRJtpxv3nU1YyIrVoS3HNyait0eLSHx3ag97e_IT7oL7SimiTnGDQ8r8KQZMVVgIQJuUZmUevTcPgkYe7Av5gLg=s1024" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="669" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7Q8-em0UYuyKHFf5axhDWGVXUxCXI5VuZ9vFdep5TIg7ivqZSQRaY48xxhCYP-uMbOcXw7gnH02zaTe4_palR9h9I7ljgmn03doilRJtpxv3nU1YyIrVoS3HNyait0eLSHx3ag97e_IT7oL7SimiTnGDQ8r8KQZMVVgIQJuUZmUevTcPgkYe7Av5gLg=w261-h400" width="261" /></a></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span></span></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">The third book, set in author Peter Tieryas’ <i>United States of Japan</i> universe, <i>Cyber Shogun Revolution</i> continues down of the path established by the first two books in the loosely connected series (<i>United States of Japan</i>, <i>Mecha Samurai Empire</i>) of careful worldbuilding, character development, and plotting.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the author. This book moves the series forward from its initial premise that Japan and its Axis partner Germany invaded and occupied the United States and Canada in 1946. In<i> Cyber Shogun Revolution</i>, it is an alternate 2019 and the two erstwhile allies have settled into a not-so-cold piece. One of the two protagonists, ace giant Mecha pilot, Reiko Morikawa participates in the overthrow of the corrupt United States of Japan governor and Nazi sympathizer, with the initials Daigo Tamura (it seems the author is having a little satiric fun here.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">Rieko soon teams up with Bishop Wakana, an honest cop working for the secret police, Tokko. The trail leads then through of maze of conspiracies within conspiracies and wheels within wheels. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">The only link is the legendary assassin, Bloody Mary, who has left a trail of dead Nazis in her wake.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">It’s not a cliché to say here that nothing is what it seems to be here, and that is a measure of Tieryas’ plotting and storytelling skills. Once again, his characters protagonist and antagonist inhabit a fully fleshed-out world. I also like how everything is not black and white. The chief group of antagonists, for example, truly believe they are doing good.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">This is an excellent work of speculative fiction and alternate history. There have been other the-Axis-win-the-war books and series – it’s a whole subgenre, in fact, but this takes it to new levels.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">Highly Recommended.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>What’s Next?</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">I’m a little -a lot – late in getting this review out. Despite being triple-vaxxed and wearing my mask, I got hit with the coronavirus last January. It wasn’t a lot of fun and almost a month later, I still have a hacking cough. I consider myself fortunate that I was boosted before I got hit with it; if not, it could’ve been much worse. If you’re one of the 10% who is unvaccinated, perhaps this is something you might want to reconsider.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">A thought.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">I suppose also I’m a little burned out. When you write for a living and then try to write a monthly review column (as well as read the books), it’s a lot. I also want to start writing fiction again, including a possible sequel to <i>War Plan Crimson</i>, but there just hasn’t been time.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #222222;">I’ll keep the doing this blog – just not as frequently. I’ll be back soon. Be good to yourselves and each other.</span></div></div><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, for $2.99 (both free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.</span></span></span></div><p></p>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-51195069373573448522021-11-29T22:59:00.002-05:002021-11-29T22:59:52.368-05:00One from my Shelves: Mysterium, by Robert Charles Wilson<p>Imagine you lived in a small town and suddenly it was yanked away from your reality and dropped into another, while familiar is not your own. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZ0_kiTmSpjLT6yEiACoCnyMFTnrRNU0LldRVRyUm-DGlv7IRGy6SOMnhutFKsgDAsnj_q_AjdQjDsD8siT_rLmENbvgFbMv4rq1BsIwXuflXSvSn69gUKJqb7ToaBPSAae-3oNs-7lfO/s475/116417.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="283" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZ0_kiTmSpjLT6yEiACoCnyMFTnrRNU0LldRVRyUm-DGlv7IRGy6SOMnhutFKsgDAsnj_q_AjdQjDsD8siT_rLmENbvgFbMv4rq1BsIwXuflXSvSn69gUKJqb7ToaBPSAae-3oNs-7lfO/w226-h379/116417.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>That’s the opening of <i>Mysterium,</i> by Robert Charles Wilson. Wilson is a capable author who is responsible for the excellent <i>Burning Paradise</i><a href="http://www.somersethousepress.com/2016/02/book-review-burning-paradise-by-robert.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> reviewed earlier in this space</a>. <p></p><p>Early one morning, the residents of the town of Two Rivers, Michigan, wake up to find themselves cut off from the outside world. The power has failed and the roads are cut off. We quickly find out, thanks to an experiment at a local research facility gone awry, they have been shifted across timelines. </p><p>Wilson takes great care to paint a picture of the world the town’s residents have landed in. It’s a theocratic version of North America called the Consolidated Republic, built on a form of Gnostic Christianity that briefly flourished in the Middle Ages, but lasted in this reality. The Republic is dominated by its religious secret police, the proctors.</p><p>The Republic and the proctors quickly occupy and clamp down on the town, treating it with a mixture of curiosity and horror. The sudden emergence of the town and its residents is a direct challenge to be quashed ruthlessly. They act of out fear. They see Twin Rivers as a threat to everything they stand for. </p><p>Meanwhile, the residents of Two Rivers are faced with a world, not of their making. How they react is based is as varied as the individual character. Some individuals, like school teacher and main protagonist Dexter Graham, try to adapt but become openly suspicious. He also manages to fall in love with Evelyn Woodward, one of the academics whom the Republic has sent to study the town. Evelyn, in turn, has her eyes opened by what she sees.</p><p>Wilson has an eye for detail that paints a picture of the town of Two Rivers as an idealized town stuck under a malevolent alien microscope. He also takes great care to detail the new world that we reader finds ourselves in.</p><p>He also keeps the plot moving along enough to sustain the reader’s interest.</p><p>Recommended reading. </p><p><b style="color: #222222;">What's Next?</b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">I apologize for taking so long between reviews. I'll try to do better.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 (both free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Until then, please take care of yourselves.</span></p>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-17348161019772271192021-09-26T00:13:00.005-04:002021-09-27T00:45:17.260-04:00Book Review: Daggers in Darkness, by S.M. Stirling <p><span style="color: #222222;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvkP-tGdMdeOw0oCvdJKGkearrdys6g9yMrOk2WQeLMQ21_xEKkCcAH6PhrkhlOjRu_4-Fe7utQuGzVzOdJzwXM745L7O_UI3lSNkxg-6l8PRhYQUTOuWq-QJfMwSkjt0DcyAExRWLjFX/s2048/911259C7-BACE-4572-A0B9-0B5208E3659C.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1357" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvkP-tGdMdeOw0oCvdJKGkearrdys6g9yMrOk2WQeLMQ21_xEKkCcAH6PhrkhlOjRu_4-Fe7utQuGzVzOdJzwXM745L7O_UI3lSNkxg-6l8PRhYQUTOuWq-QJfMwSkjt0DcyAExRWLjFX/s320/911259C7-BACE-4572-A0B9-0B5208E3659C.jpeg" width="212" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #222222;">It’s been five years since we last met American super-spies Luz O’Malley Arostegui and Ciara Whelan, in<br /> the previous installment of S.M. Stirling’s Black Chamber series, <i>Shadows of Annihilation.</i> </span><p></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, the world has settled into an uneasy three-way peace. On one side: the Oceanic Alliance of the United States; the British Empire now led out of New Delhi; and the rump government of Overseas France, headquartered in Algiers. On the second side, the European Central Powers, led by the German Empire. On the third side, the Japanese Empire. Each party is armed with the ultimate weapon, the “horror gas,” which brought Germany to the brink of victory in 1916. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">So it is where we find ourselves when <i>Daggers in Darkness </i>opens. The novel begins a new trilogy in the larger series, set in the aftermath of the Great War. In this timeline, Teddy Roosevelt won the 1912 election and remains president into the current year of 1922. He has presided over a massive peacetime expansion of the U.S. economy and military and a restructuring of society.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">Agents Arostegui and Whelan, now very much in the family way, are brought out of semi-retirement to investigate a sudden flood of Chinese antiques into the United States that are being used to finance the construction of a horror gas plant somewhere in Central Asia, by persons unknown. This threatens to upset the delicate Mexican standoff between the three Great Power blocks. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">We join our heroes as they go on this hazardous mission, adopting the cover of a family-owed firm of antique traders. They first travel deep into San Francisco’s Chinatown, and then across the Pacific by airship to Shanghai, with family and friends in tow. In the process, we benefit from Sterling’s world-building prowess; where we are perhaps overindulged a little on the sumptuous detail. There are no missteps in terms of technology or societal progress in this alternate world. Stirling is also quite possibly the grandmaster of the literary stall, a plot device by which the action is slowed down to make a point. In this case, it’s five pages dedicated to a parade in San Francisco, relatively early in the novel, which is the backdrop to a quiet but significant development.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">The action rolls along in San Francisco and later in Shanghai, so fans of blood and thunder won’t be disappointed here. There is a lot of richly described action to go around. Weaved around this are more literary and pop-culture references that will put a stupid grin on your face when you catch them. D<i>aggers in Darkness </i>is a careful read that richly rewards the careful reader. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;"><i>Daggers in Darkness,</i> the first in a new trilogy from a master storyteller, merely whets our appetites for what is to come. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of the adventures of Agents Arostegui and Whelan and everyone else from the Black Chamber.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Highly Recommended for both fans of the series and of the genre.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>What's Next?</b></span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Next month, I'll have another piece of alternate history to review and discuss...</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 (both free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Until then, please take care of yourselves.</span></p>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-23959757612390872242021-08-02T21:54:00.002-04:002021-08-03T20:48:27.865-04:00One From My Bookshelves: Alternities, by Michael P. Kube-McDowell<p style="text-align: left;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqTWV46KCcWNGS5LnvHEmISuaoptDD4x2-pOrbRBLMFd6T9LpqyYRHfzyCc9kTrj24Bu4s_47NhIOcfjsJu1ii2vQ1TNsH_7onIWjdGAQskZ-y3KNnYOclKO41W4H33FNBf-f9Bx0c27E/s885/139660.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="544" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqTWV46KCcWNGS5LnvHEmISuaoptDD4x2-pOrbRBLMFd6T9LpqyYRHfzyCc9kTrj24Bu4s_47NhIOcfjsJu1ii2vQ1TNsH_7onIWjdGAQskZ-y3KNnYOclKO41W4H33FNBf-f9Bx0c27E/s320/139660.jpg" width="197" /></a></i></div><i>Alternities</i>, by Michael P. Kube-McDowell, is one of my favorite alternate history novels. It is set across multiple worlds that have split into alternates, all linked by the unworldly maze that connects them. <p></p><p>The world of the protagonist, Rayne Wallace is remarkably different from our own. The government of the United States on this world, the accidental discoverer and sole holder of the multiple worlds secret is an impoverished, isolationist, technologically backward country with a president bound and determined to finish matters once and for all with that world’s Soviet Union. Rayne is employed by the government as a “runner” to transit the maze to bring back advanced technologies and medicines. His world, the so-called Home Alternity, maintains a network of gatehouses throughout the different worlds it has color-coded.</p><p>I want to talk a bit about world-building here. Readers of this space will know that this is one of what I hold as a hallmark of excellent fiction of any genre. To hold the reader’s attention, especially their sense of disbelief in a subgenre such as alternate history, the writer needs to be able to build a credible world. To Kube-McDowell’s credit, the author takes great care in showing us the Home Aternity and giving us a feeling of what it is to inhabit that world, as well as the other alternate worlds the story takes us to. This is done by emphasizing the little details such as clippings from newspapers or other things that the author lets us see in passing.</p><p>Problems surface when Rayne gets assigned to a more technologically and socially advanced but just as flawed version of the United States, in Alternity Blue (it’s not us, for once; we’re Alternity Orange) which is once again delineated through the smallest of details. He meets and falls for a woman, Shan, who is connected with sort of a national neighborhood watch. It is this way that he falls into the hands of the Alternity Blue’s authorities. As authorities go, they are not a bad lot, but I do believe they react realistically and humanely given who and what Rayne represents.</p><p>I’m not going to give much more away plot-wise, and how the situation between the United States and the Soviet Union plays out in Rayne’s home alternity, except to say first the ending is satisfying and not altogether unrealistic. Also satisfying is the point of divergence that causes the worlds to split, as is the realization that there may be something else far larger at play here.</p><p>Highly recommended and very much worthwhile for the online hunt.</p><p><b> What’s Next:</b></p><p>I have three new books that I will be reviewing over the next few months:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Daggers in Darkness</i>, The fourth entry in S.M. Stirling’s<i> Tales of the Black Chamber </i>Series, featuring the adventures of American Black Chamber super-spies Luz O’Malley Arostegui and Ciara Whelan. It’s ten years later and a new threat to Teddy Roosevelt’s alternate America has emerged;</li><li>The third book in Peter Tieryas’<i> United States of Japan </i>series, <i>Cyber Shogun Revolution</i>, where the Axis won World War Two and that means one thing: lots and lots of mechas, and, finally;</li><li><i>Dixie Curtain</i>, by Mark Ciccone, an intriguing look at a world where the South won the Civil War and North America is divided a Berlin War, <i>writ large</i>. Peace talks are in the offing between the Union and Southern leaders, but will they happen?</li></ul><p></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 (both free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Until then, please take care of yourselves.</span></p>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-1833312782832262912021-06-19T11:09:00.009-04:002021-07-13T16:16:22.558-04:00Book Review: Shadows of Annihilation, by S.M. Stirling<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_0Vwp38_qsiYgAb4zSVcoB6hg7NbkARjf1fk8yyqjWo9J3DZ9zcml027Yhn9HHtYSuhA2fXXfy3zHhihXn52Pqr4PIrgHI96JS6nh7nx-QFebDit7MHS_o8irCZvFE3dVATWvgnRtAY8/s500/49556784._SX0_SY0_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_0Vwp38_qsiYgAb4zSVcoB6hg7NbkARjf1fk8yyqjWo9J3DZ9zcml027Yhn9HHtYSuhA2fXXfy3zHhihXn52Pqr4PIrgHI96JS6nh7nx-QFebDit7MHS_o8irCZvFE3dVATWvgnRtAY8/s320/49556784._SX0_SY0_.jpg" /></a></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In the third book of S.M. Stirling’s alternate history of the Great War, </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Shadows of Annihilation,</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> the shoe is firmly on the other foot. In the latest instalment, our heroes, the intrepid American Black Chamber super-spies Luz O’Malley Arostegui and Ciara Whelan must foil a plot aimed (where else? ) squarely at America. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">In the first two instalments of the trilogy, Arostegui and Whelan operated behind enemy lines. But now they are on home turf and must stop a team composed of Luz’s old enemy, Horst von Drucker, real-life stormtrooper Ernst Rohm, and a band of scraggily Mexican banditos that look like they came from Central Casting.</span></p><div><p><b>Here be Spoilers:</b></p><p>The enemy's target is a large industrial complex in the Mexican Protectorate (in this universe, where Teddy Roosevelt won re-election in 1912, the US has occupied Mexico since 1916), operating under the ominous name of the Dakota Project. Since using the so-called “horror gas” on France and England and its attempted use on the US east coast in 1916 in the first book of the series, <i>Theatre of Spies</i>, Imperial Germany has had pretty much Europe to itself. </p><p>The gas has become the nuclear deterrent of its time, with neither side daring to use it on the other for fear of the consequences. However, the US and the Entente’s stocks are based on what has been stolen from the Germans, and they are slowly becoming inert, hence the need for the Dakota Project. </p><p>When Arostegui and Whelan are sent into Mexico to assess the security of the vital project, they initially have no idea that the Germans are in-country and pose a threat to the project. What we get instead, is kind of an alternate-history travelogue, showing in great detail how Mexico has benefitted under America’s benign but firm hand. It’s the kind of world-building that Stirling excels at. </p><p>Unfortunately, it’s only about halfway through the proceedings that our protagonists realize that something is amiss. As the scattered reports come in, they put two and two together. </p><p>The book's structure relies upon two widely divergent points of view (Drucker vs. Arostegui and Whelan) and only seems to really come together in the final reel. Personally, this makes for a little dry reading at times. </p><p>These criticisms aside, <i>Shadows of Annihilation i</i>s a good book. It benefits from solid characterizations and world-building but perhaps could’ve done with more attention to Drucker and company, as they almost seem to become missing in action at times.</p><p>Nevertheless, this is a necessary read for followers of the series and a recommended one for fans of the genre.</p><p><b>What's Next</b></p><p>I'll have another work of alternate history to share with you next month. As a note, I've paid for most of the books that I've reviewed in this space out of my own pocket. If you're an author and would like me to review your genre work (alternate history only please!) please reach out to me at <a href="mailto:somersethousepress@gmail.com">somersethousepress@gmail.com</a>. </p><p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Until then, please take care of yourselves.</span></p></div>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-15661046633435392832021-04-30T21:20:00.004-04:002021-05-01T00:52:54.503-04:00 Reviewing Season Two of For All Mankind<p>I’ve just finished watching Season Two of <i>For All Mankind</i> on Apple TV+. It comes from the fertile mind of Ronald D. Moore. Last year, in season one, Moore and his writers asked the question, “What if the Soviet Union landed on the moon first?”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcNqKiXVkJmGS92onlZ2uqCxY9_uOpLl7W6JD3YfCVq4bq7FTEYCXyHNF81p_QGoy9U9FdwfL9dyYHCEN0FJIVSzwhT4llu3fp6oogXQ0X-_uBJezHyWUSFVrcAZ_gmHzeUsPuZzO96TY/s2009/180325417_10159867904248760_2395555095486106069_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="2009" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcNqKiXVkJmGS92onlZ2uqCxY9_uOpLl7W6JD3YfCVq4bq7FTEYCXyHNF81p_QGoy9U9FdwfL9dyYHCEN0FJIVSzwhT4llu3fp6oogXQ0X-_uBJezHyWUSFVrcAZ_gmHzeUsPuZzO96TY/w366-h184/180325417_10159867904248760_2395555095486106069_n.jpg" width="366" /></a></div>The second season starts by asking, “What next?” When season two starts it’s the early 1980s, and Ronald Regan is already into his second term as president, having been elected in 1976. Both the United States and the Soviet Union have large south polar lunar bases at Shackleton Crater and the Cold War is at a boil. The two adversaries are staring at each other across the crater. The continuing tensions over the ice deposits in the bottom of the crater make the Americans decide it's time to send in the Marines.<p></p><p>Things go badly from there.</p><p>The world Moore and his writers have crafted is a mixture of the familiar and the tantalizingly off-center. John Lennon is still alive, but the Middle East peace deal brokered by Jimmy Carter never happened because Carter never became president. Because of the accelerated pace of the space program, technologies such as electric cars and cell phones appear decades earlier than in our timeline, with NASA becoming self-funding off the patents. However, some things remain the same as in our timeline, when the KAL 007 shootdown occurs on schedule in September 1983 with major repercussions. It’s an entirely believable reality.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcWxGChbxjZLHac5l5jg1PzFPmwY48So2AbnH-GEAmEtomYycUfVlzhLX8a5zN7S-APz8nRwAc0Bnoffq4ZZ9h93fZx0GeO8IKj-W17rzoH-snSsRlc55NM1tX6kZ8FtKfyvztWLVsbf_/s1533/Screenshot-916-1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1533" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcWxGChbxjZLHac5l5jg1PzFPmwY48So2AbnH-GEAmEtomYycUfVlzhLX8a5zN7S-APz8nRwAc0Bnoffq4ZZ9h93fZx0GeO8IKj-W17rzoH-snSsRlc55NM1tX6kZ8FtKfyvztWLVsbf_/s320/Screenshot-916-1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Our protagonists have moved on. After the death of their son in the first season, Ed and his wife Karen Baldwin have adopted a Vietnamese girl, Kelly as their daughter. Gordo Stephens and his wife Tracey have not only broken up but have moved into different orbits. Other characters, such as Ellen, who is left on the moon to give the first season’s valedictory address, also move forward.<p></p><p>In that sense, Season Two takes things onward and upward, culminating in a lunar standoff reminiscent of the Cuban Missile Crisis, with the Soviets blockading the Americans. How this is successfully resolved is a demonstration of excellent storytelling. </p><p>Moore and his writers handle character growth mostly well, except the business involving Karen that seems to move on a predictable trajectory. Meanwhile Kelly, after some serious reflecting, is definitely being set up for a larger role in Season Three. Ellen, who by the end of Season Two is the head of NASA, also seems to be set up for a greater role next season – that is, if her private life remains private. </p><p>I enjoyed Season Two. There is a lot more I could talk about here, but I’ll restrain myself. The highlights of the second season are the character arcs of Gordo and Tracey. Redemption has never been so bittersweet. Their actions frame the third season, which as of this writing, has already been greenlit. I'm eagerly awaiting more of what the season's final episode pre-credits teaser is promising us.</p><p>This show demonstrates how a believable alternate history can be constructed. If you’ve not watched it yet, you’re missing out. Highly recommended.</p><p><b>What’s Next?</b></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzyjlrMavqQjZZKB5FnT00gzpjFcl0mExAHyX681NVEgRtSDpf00DoN48ozg3Y4PKJl9SWpoNS83aaVPmK2wTYYLQ16NiuBsXnKD0tVz8GB5B7ajrvK3UCi8Mpp-2rCAS0htZs57eoiSk/s500/49556784._SX0_SY0_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzyjlrMavqQjZZKB5FnT00gzpjFcl0mExAHyX681NVEgRtSDpf00DoN48ozg3Y4PKJl9SWpoNS83aaVPmK2wTYYLQ16NiuBsXnKD0tVz8GB5B7ajrvK3UCi8Mpp-2rCAS0htZs57eoiSk/s320/49556784._SX0_SY0_.jpg" /></a></i></div><br />Next month, I will have a review of<i> Shadows of Annihilation,</i> the third book (so far) in S.M. Stirling’s alternate history of the Great War, which continues the adventures of American Black Chamber super-spies Luz O’Malley Arostegui and Ciara Whelan. <p></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Until then, please take care of yourselves.</span></p>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-85300234975699003782021-03-07T16:30:00.012-05:002021-04-02T13:51:57.517-04:00Book Review: Winds of Wrath, by Taylor Anderson<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxlEoGWIoEqV7iDJI32vncAGfEy6nQ7VyVJWyvvI0y-aE0hoJad2MGANGZyWVTZM60RYM686zJUzgWzoEnfNdPIhTBml-25VlNn4Ce20mokaa_AALRO8FeQA5Oanhy7CVsqaw7cbBhHgG/s2048/91f2qhvrxxL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxlEoGWIoEqV7iDJI32vncAGfEy6nQ7VyVJWyvvI0y-aE0hoJad2MGANGZyWVTZM60RYM686zJUzgWzoEnfNdPIhTBml-25VlNn4Ce20mokaa_AALRO8FeQA5Oanhy7CVsqaw7cbBhHgG/s320/91f2qhvrxxL.jpg" /></a></div>Well, it had to come, didn’t it? In this post, I'll be looking at the 15th and final instalment of Taylor Anderson’s <i>Destroyermen</i> series, <i>Winds of Wrath</i>. For those who are unfamiliar with the series, <i>Destroyermen</i> follows the adventures of captain Matthew Reddy and the crew of the <i>USS Walker</i>, an elderly American destroyer thrust from the Second World War in the Pacific to a parallel world where they are suddenly fighting a different but just as deadly war.<p></p><p><b>Note: Spoilers Ahead:</b></p><p><i>Winds of Wrath</i> finds the ancient enemy of Reddy's Lemurian allies, the Grik, has been all but defeated in Africa. However, one holdout Grik general, Esshk, remains with his army, and he has a lot of fight left in him. </p><p>Much of the action has shifted west to the Caribbean and the showdown with the fascist League of Tripoli and their allies, the Holy Dominion. On the land, General Shinya's Allied army is driving towards the Dominion’s capital of New Granada. Meanwhile, the hastily-assembled Allied fleet under Reddy is about to meet the League’s task force of modern battleships, cruisers, and destroyers.</p><p>The ensuing action on land, sea, and air is fast and furious. Author Taylor packs a lot of action into this, the final volume, and is perhaps his work as a storyteller here is among his best as he puts it on display as he invites us to become almost an active participant. It’s Taylor’s habit to knock off a couple of main characters in each book; expect a lot more of that here. And be warned: there are a couple of shocks coming. This is especially hard because the author spent the series developing their character arcs and we've become invested with them, so when it happens – <i>umph!</i></p><p>I also like how Anderson has engaged in a bit more world-building here, which frankly, I wish he would’ve done earlier. We find, for example, that this world in the grips of an ice age, which is behind the League’s drive for <i>Lebensraum</i>.</p><p>Like all good things, the series has to end, as Taylor points out in his afterward. I understand that there may be some dissatisfaction with how the book and series ended. Honestly, without giving away the ending, I think is this ending the most logical outcome, given the weight of forces deployed against the Allies. I can’t really imagine Reddy and company charging into the Mediterranean for one final war of liberation. It just isn’t possible and wouldn’t ring true from a storytelling standpoint. That being said, can we expect further adventures in this world? We just might, according to Taylor. </p><p>I hope so. <i>Winds of Wrath</i> is an enjoyable, fitting conclusion to the <i>Destroyermen</i> series. Highly Recommended.</p><p><b>What’s Next?</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJNy-s8Dt13IQvDcokx_61HUXBaevvzqbqHdcGt9j8mB7JslKSQ7RfXBVH3pUIctMPTSmfO_WcDJib-inZ_XueZu4bOZyRQ-WwJEv9OKa1Es1eYfPHLGvBcjE1WWRFv6uaofDqbL7NBeu/s750/For-All-Mankind-Season-2-750x421.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJNy-s8Dt13IQvDcokx_61HUXBaevvzqbqHdcGt9j8mB7JslKSQ7RfXBVH3pUIctMPTSmfO_WcDJib-inZ_XueZu4bOZyRQ-WwJEv9OKa1Es1eYfPHLGvBcjE1WWRFv6uaofDqbL7NBeu/s320/For-All-Mankind-Season-2-750x421.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I apologize for missing the last month. I’m currently watching the second season of <i>For All Mankind</i>, now airing on Apple TV+. It picks up a decade after the first season with a fully established Jamestown lunar colony, Ronald Reagan in the White House four years early, and Cold War tensions at an all-time high. <p></p><p> I am loving it and will have a more in-depth review for you later.</p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Take care of yourselves.</span></div>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-88575295087007089032021-01-31T12:39:00.007-05:002021-02-21T02:27:18.374-05:00Book Review: From the Ashes: An Alternate History Novel, by Sandra Saidak<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSddHJzPhJddWhFHJtlpmsGW_JKS0qIZSxcf6D0SfFTowhYD0gvWUGoJy6R7RANlv9uyss5nEWjRjK41v6CGmaKAwg-i3adsa8A2Zm029ixHoUTisskp8lJjEIkK5EtHrSHRiSh9Wx3qa/s499/5108AEuTkxL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSddHJzPhJddWhFHJtlpmsGW_JKS0qIZSxcf6D0SfFTowhYD0gvWUGoJy6R7RANlv9uyss5nEWjRjK41v6CGmaKAwg-i3adsa8A2Zm029ixHoUTisskp8lJjEIkK5EtHrSHRiSh9Wx3qa/s320/5108AEuTkxL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" /></a></div>Here we have another novel, <i>From the Ashes: An Alternate History Novel,</i> by Sandra Saidak, where the Nazis have won the Second World War. Not only have they taken over Europe, but they have also taken over the world (I wonder what their former Japanese allies would have to say to that).<p></p><p>I’ll come right out and admit it: I don’t like this book very much. I really tried to like it, but there were too many things that got in the way. And that’s too bad because there are some positive points about this novel.</p><p>Author Saidak builds from an imaginative standpoint based on the historical fact that had the Nazis won, they had planned to establish museums in the perverse memory of the cultures they obliterated. It is in one of these museums dedicated to the memory of the Jews, that a group of young university students of the Reich’s elite gather to explore the shards of Jewish culture.<br /></p><p>Okay, so far, so good.</p><p>But suddenly, things get out of hand. Both for the characters and the novel they inhabit. Suddenly our chief protagonist Adolf Goebbels (an imaginative name) gets mixed up in a revolution against the Nazis. Quickly, perhaps too quickly, not only does Adolf become a Rabbi, but he also becomes a leader of the revolution. Surely, the Ministry of Enforced Irony is working overtime here.</p><p>The writing and plot are a lot like that: forced, plodding, and pedantic. Where the author could use a light touch, she instead hits with a sledgehammer. And where she should be showing, building out a world that has been under the Nazi jackboot for generations, she tells. Showing is the mark of a good storyteller, where all of the physical senses are engaged by showing what the protagonist’s reactions and feelings are to their environment. Telling is simply that: telling. Unfortunately, in this instance, Saidiak does too much of the latter and not enough of the former.</p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span>In summation, a good premise, poorly executed. </span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>What's Next?</b></span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Next month, I'll have another review for you.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Take care of yourselves.</span></div>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-50864788604781786342020-12-31T02:15:00.003-05:002020-12-31T11:13:03.499-05:00Happy New Year: Looking Ahead<p><span style="color: #222222;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhjpbpVyrwTTpr57e77eVxoDC8fy1E0X4oKJzd2pS6S6KPH3iPHPcHpZwr-j-my158Um0k2LMqP-1QhKf70woqltb37_j9ntNHO8oDh_nWOMhHR2-d536L9YdxXFKu5NJ44_tiV9lGbeq/s1920/balloon-3206530_1920.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1503" data-original-width="1920" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhjpbpVyrwTTpr57e77eVxoDC8fy1E0X4oKJzd2pS6S6KPH3iPHPcHpZwr-j-my158Um0k2LMqP-1QhKf70woqltb37_j9ntNHO8oDh_nWOMhHR2-d536L9YdxXFKu5NJ44_tiV9lGbeq/w287-h224/balloon-3206530_1920.jpg" width="287" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #222222;">The year 2020 could not have ended too soon. It was like an unwelcome houseguest that had overstayed its welcome. From COVID-19, to the continuing sad, sorry saga of Donald Trump and the the civil unrest that gripped much of the world over racial inequality, </span><span style="color: #222222;">I think we will be glad to bid good riddance to the year. </span><div><p></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">Nevertheless, 2020 is almost over, which is perhaps the best thing that can be said of it. I believe that 2021 will be a better year and am certainly looking forward to it. In terms of my reading schedule, I am looking forward to a significant reviewing schedule, including:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #222222;"><i>From the Ashes,</i> by Sandra Saidak, is a novel that takes place roughly a century after the final victory by the Third Reich. I am currently reading this novel, and I will review it next month in this space.</span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><i>Winds of Wrath</i>, by Taylor Anderson, is the final installment in his 15-part epic <i>Destroyermen</i> series that has followed the adventures of Captain Matthew Reddy and the crew of the time lost <i>USS Walker.</i> I’ve been following this hugely enjoyable series since it first appeared and will be looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you.</span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><i>Shadows of Annihilation</i>, by S.M. Stirling, is the latest entry in the author’s action-packed alternate First World War series, furthering the adventures of ace American superspies Luz O’Malley and Ciara Whelan.</span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;">Finally, expect a review of the second season of <i>For All Mankind</i>, the alternate history of the space race, premiering February 19, 2021, on AppleTV+ Ronald Regan is in the Oval Office and the Cold War is getting hot on the moon. </span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">Thank you for staying with the blog for the over ten years that I have been writing it. It has been, to quote the Grateful Dead, a long strange trip. I hope that you will join me in the New Year and that 2021 will be both safe and productive for you all. </span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Take care of yourselves.</span></div></div>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-27138956949603873552020-11-30T23:15:00.010-05:002020-12-01T12:18:19.615-05:00Book Review: The Oppenheimer Alternative, by Robert J. Sawyer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-q8r6Pg7_EEJIQV1guDCDvNuxFzz2Eh9H56ZoVAOxtP52tDbbuZZbItOkDc6Zh5LeIamJG8CflKlofY4nPAel5qNE6sNKzWUMP499pEQBJSJH1ADOW2oBsoyrTBuEExFK9qHq-ZANXX7/s500/51ix-2GhfcL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="348" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-q8r6Pg7_EEJIQV1guDCDvNuxFzz2Eh9H56ZoVAOxtP52tDbbuZZbItOkDc6Zh5LeIamJG8CflKlofY4nPAel5qNE6sNKzWUMP499pEQBJSJH1ADOW2oBsoyrTBuEExFK9qHq-ZANXX7/s320/51ix-2GhfcL.jpg" /></a></div><br />This is not a perfect book, but nonetheless, I quite enjoyed it. <p></p><p><i>The Oppenheimer Alternative</i> is a biographical piece of alternate history, expertly researched and written by author Sawyer. It closely follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer as he led the research effort under the Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb and the period. He emerges as a fully-fleshed out historical character, warts and all, which is a testament to the author’s storytelling abilities.</p><p>It’s something of a slow burn to get the meat of the novel and the point where our history spits from that of the novel. Much of the early part of the novel is spent in the careful building of relationships (and conflicts) with historical personages such as General Leslie Groves, Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller, Richard Feynman, and many others. </p><p>When the point of divergence comes it’s a big one. While researching the atom bomb, the Manhattan Project team uncovers that all life on earth is doomed in 2030, when a massive solar coronal mass eruption one astronomical unit in diameter (the orbit of the earth around the sun) that they dub the solar purge will occur.</p><p>Wanting to avoid a panic, Oppenheimer assembles a dream team that grows to include some of the major scientific luminaries of the mid-20th Century, including Albert Einstein, Wernher von Bruan, and Jon von Neumann, as well as a great many of his Manhattan Project colleagues. The group named the Arbor Project works in secret even as the Cold War dawns and the Red Scare takes hold, which eventually brings about Oppenheimer’s fall from grace. The goal of Project Arbor is no less than the relocation of the human race to Mars, which falls outside the radius of the solar purge.</p><p><b>Here be spoilers:</b></p><p>Unfortunately for our heroes and the rest of the human race as it seems, Mars is not what it seems to be. Instead of the world with water flowing through the canals of Percival Lowell they had expected, they face the reality of a cratered, desert world presented to them by the images from the first space probe to reach Mars, <i>Mariner 4,</i> in 1965. This is almost a terminal disappointment.</p><p>Almost. What comes next is almost – <i>almost </i>– out of left field. Sawyer does foreshadow what’s to come in a blink and you’ll miss it a moment, just so much that the resolution doesn’t drop out of the sky, all <i>dues et machina</i> when it finally happens. And that just doesn’t ring particularly true for me, which is unfortunate. </p><p>Ultimately, with that single but significant proviso, <i>The Oppenheimer Alternative </i>succeeds as an alternate history story. It's much better, more demanding reading than the good half-dozen usual "what-if-the-Nazis-won" alternate history novels circulating out there I could name. </p><p>Recommended.</p><p> <b>What's Next?</b></p><p>I have several novels I'm looking forward to reviewing over the next few months. Stay tuned.</p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Take care of yourselves.</span></div>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-7838570399118854482020-10-04T17:58:00.019-04:002021-02-21T02:36:18.549-05:00Book Review: Pass of Fire by Taylor Anderson<p><br /></p><p>The latest entry in paperback in author Taylor Anderson’s <i>Destroyermen </i>series, is <i>Pass of Fire</i>. It’s the 14th and penultimate entry in the series, which begins the set up for the events to come in the final novel, <i>Winds of Wrath</i>.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPzDvoGuQ9QXciAuuO8XbWH8dVDxSUncudrdNBtLzkDJG9Bd8XZlzLzWFcRTKmbDpLl-rgufuVHt3nFMyNfwuiv-V5HbIciIe0mo33nmUYlDSaBjm-WxiMDbYJ6YfKM92Xh-DQmSxBl6U/s1735/34019102._UY1735_SS1735_+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1735" data-original-width="1176" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPzDvoGuQ9QXciAuuO8XbWH8dVDxSUncudrdNBtLzkDJG9Bd8XZlzLzWFcRTKmbDpLl-rgufuVHt3nFMyNfwuiv-V5HbIciIe0mo33nmUYlDSaBjm-WxiMDbYJ6YfKM92Xh-DQmSxBl6U/s320/34019102._UY1735_SS1735_+2.jpg" /></a></div>For newcomers to the space, the <i>Destroymen</i> series tells the story of the captain and crew and the crew of the aging “tin-can” World War Two destroyer <i>USS Walker</i>, thrust into a parallel earth, where the asteroid strike that wiped the dinosaurs never occurred. Throughout the series Captain Matthew Reddy and his crew allied themselves with friendly Lemurians who against the reptilian Grik, who have allied themselves with the crew of a Japanese battlecruiser, <i>Amagi</i>, commanded by Captain Kurokawa, whom the transition between realities has been too much who has become insane.<p></p><p>The series can be best seen and digested as occurring in a series of cycles that first see Reddy and his allies (who grow to include various groups of descendants of other time-lost humans) stop the Grik and then ultimately start to push them back. Other cycles introduce newer enemies including the bloodily theocratic Holy Dominion and most recently, the more technologically-advanced fascist League of Tripoli, the latter who come from an alternate second world war.</p><p><b>Spoilers ahead</b></p><p>I’ll be upfront here.<i> Pass of Fire</i> is all about clearing the decks for the action to come in the concluding volume of the series. By the end of this installment, the Grik have been all but defeated, except for a small remnant commanded by General Esshek. Reddy and his allies have taken the Grik capital, and not only capturing their queen, the Celestial Mother, but making them allies as well.</p><p>But now the emphasis shifts solidly on what’s to come. News comes that the League of Tripoli has sortied its battlefleet of modern battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, in aid of its ally, the Holy Dominion. The odds are against Reddy and the Allies who are scrambling to develop modern warships of their own. He must gather together his scratch force which is both smaller presumably smaller in size and quality. </p><p>For fans of the series, like myself, this and the next book will be required reading. Throughout the series and into this book, author Anderson maintained a steady narrative drumbeat. Characters continue to be refined and developed – although how much can do be done with a cast this large – is debatable, but this is a natural outcome of epic series like this. </p><p>Strongly recommended not only for fans of the series, but for fans of the genre. If you haven’t picked up the series yet, or have put it down along the way, there’s still time for one massive binge-read.</p><p><b>Mea Culpa</b></p><p>I must apologize for missing last month’s post. I seem to be getting sloppy. I have been struggling a little bit as of late, and sometimes things do slip. I hope all of you are well and are managing in the current situation. </p><p><b>What's Next?</b></p><p>Up next, I have a novel b<span style="color: #222222;">y Robert J. Sawyer,</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><i style="color: #222222;">The Oppenheimer Alternative,</i><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #222222;">which retells the story of one of the 20th century’s most influential scientists in a different light. </span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"></span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Take care of yourselves.</span></div>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-90613166054989319992020-08-08T20:05:00.004-04:002020-08-09T22:05:02.626-04:00Apple TV+ Previews the Season Two of For All Mankind<p><span style="color: #222222;">Apple TV+ has finally dropped a teaser trailer for the long-awaited second season to <i>For All Mankind.</i></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">If you’ll remember, <i>For All Mankind</i> is an alternate history story that asks what if the Soviets beat the Americans to the moon in 1969. In season one, showrunner Ronald D. Moore - producer of the reimagined <i>Battlestar Galactica </i>– did an excellent job in exploring the implications of this question.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U48vnfP0Rjo" width="320" youtube-src-id="U48vnfP0Rjo"></iframe></div><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">Now with season two in the offing we see that Ronald Reagan is in the Oval Office and Cold War tensions are ramping up. There are astronauts on the moon carrying assault rifles and the world seems to be dancing on the knife edge. For anyone like me who lived during those times, the images brought back the feelings of low-level fear immediately. It seems all very real.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">One scene that I must nit-pick is that we a space shuttle apparently returning to earth from the moon. I don’t know how that would work and even <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mIRFxYYaC0" target="_blank">YouTube space guy Scott Manley</a> has problems with it. I just hope it’s not a sign of bad things.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face="" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face="" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face="" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" face="" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face="" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span> </p>Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-86112166839335196232020-07-06T23:06:00.006-04:002021-07-30T00:06:00.435-04:00From my bookshelf: Circumpolar! and Countersolar! by Richard A. Lupoff<div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Honestly, this is a pair of zany alternate history books I’ve been wanting to review for a very long time. <i>The Twin Planets Novels</i> by Richard A. Lupoff - <i>Circumpolar! and Countersolar! -</i>take place in a universe that is very different from our own. And I mean that in a very definite way. Not only is our history different with something resembling a mercifully truncated Great War that ends in a sound Prussian defeat, but there is also “an Emperor of Australia and a President of Japan.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Pretty good stuff, because I wouldn’t well, uh… the earth they live on is flat. As in like a pancake. And it has a hole in the centre which kind of makes it look like a giant record, with a giant ice wall at the rim.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Well, at the least the flat earthers got <i>something </i>right.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">It’s into this familiar but out-of-joint backdrop that we are introduced to <i>Circumpolar!,</i> which tells the story of a Roaring Twenties around-the-world race staged between Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes, and Amelia Earhart against a group of suitably dastardly Prussians including the Red Baron, Manfred von Richtofen and his brother, Lothar. The air race takes the competitors across their side of the world, over the ice wall, and onto the other side where they encounter the mysterious ancient civilizations of the other side of the flat earth and back up through the north polar hole. There’s a lot of fun and action to be had, including an amazing aerial sequence involving flying mechanical horses.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">The sequel, <i>Countersolar!</i> takes place a few years later. It’s 1942 and the world is at peace. While the world is at peace, the underlying tensions between Prussian revanchists and their backers in Peronist Argentina and the rest of the world that threaten to explode when a faint but urgent distress signal is picked up from an undiscovered counter-earth, orbiting on the far side of the sun. If you’ve accepted the concept of a flat earth at this point, the appearance of the counter-earth is one more violation of orbital mechanics that is briskly disposed of as the plot moves along. …and did I mention that the <i>Titanic</i> was still afloat? Lupoff takes the reader through a guided tour of the solar system, winding up on Counter-Earth, where their version of America is under threat from homegrown fascists.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Both <i>Circumpolar!</i> and <i>Countersolar!</i> are well-researched period pieces, with their backdrops and protagonists and antagonists, fictional and otherwise, finely drawn, all in the name of good fun. Lupoff invites just enough suspension of disbelief, which is the mark of a great storyteller, greater still that we get so deeply immersed in his flat-earth alternate-reality that we forget the finer things such as science.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="text-align: left;">Highly recommended. Go looking for the books online or in your local bookshop. They’re well worth your effort.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>What’s Next?</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">First, apologies for being late with this blog. Unfortunately, my laptop had an unplanned meeting with the floor which resulted in a highly predictable outcome. However, the good news is that the computer has been repaired and that I am good to go again.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In terms of what’s on my review list, I have two books coming up. First, the latest novel in Taylor Anderson’s long-running <i>Destroyermen</i> series, <i>Pass of Fire</i>, and then a novel by Robert J. Sawyer, <i>The Oppenheimer Alternative,</i> which retells the story of one of the 20th century’s most influential scientists in a different light. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the meantime, you can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">Take care of yourselves.</span></div>
Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-37218160434388948822020-05-08T23:25:00.001-04:002020-05-13T22:24:36.778-04:00Reviewing HBO’s The Plot Against America<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">First, I’ll come out and say that I liked HBO’s <i>The Plot Against America.</i> The six-part miniseries based on Philip J. Roth’s 2004 alternate history novel of the same name, follows the life of a working-class Jewish family, the Levins, in Newark, New Jersey in the early 1940s as they witness the rise of Charles A. Lindbergh to the Presidency of the United States of America.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The real Charles Lindbergh speaking at an America First Rally</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The character of Charles Lindbergh is a very complex one. In our history, he was one of the leaders of the isolationist America First movement which sought to keep America out of the Second World War. It is also true he also travelled to Nazi Germany in 1938 and met with high-ranking officials of the Reich. He also upon numerous occasions had expressed anti-Semitic remarks. Historians have since come to see Lindbergh as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh#cite_note-189" target="_blank">a well-intentioned but bigoted Nazi sympathizer</a>. In the alternate history world, Roth and the creators of the miniseries, have not far to go in getting their man.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86WyGtWWvD0JaNlhc4alSm163Twj2LzZgGPA9CBBec11yqRbcGRHe_X5GmgT7_vyQHEqyqpVj0FoBi4RRvFX-A6u3TmqjurwrTBZSY4q36quzZsw-0O7IA54rbTjVc7EQ4bfQSWjlSJe1/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86WyGtWWvD0JaNlhc4alSm163Twj2LzZgGPA9CBBec11yqRbcGRHe_X5GmgT7_vyQHEqyqpVj0FoBi4RRvFX-A6u3TmqjurwrTBZSY4q36quzZsw-0O7IA54rbTjVc7EQ4bfQSWjlSJe1/s320/image.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Levins in an uncomfortable moment.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Like most Americans the Levins (who are modelled loosely on the author Roth’s own family), both husband Herman (Morgan Spector) and wife Evelyn (Winona Ryder) find themselves curiously attracted to the great aviator Lindberg, because as he says on one of his stump speeches when he flies the <i>Spirit of St. Louis</i> to Newark, “It isn’t a choice between Lindberg and Roosevelt; it’s a choice between Lindberg and war.” </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">It’s a theme that resonates enough to bring Lindberg, played by Ben Cole, into the White House. The changes they see, the petty slights and discrimination is incremental at first and but then it begins to build: it’s almost like the story of the frog in the pot of water that is slowly brought to boil, by the time the Levins realize the trouble they’re in, it’s almost too late. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquXnU9Mu8I6Xpjl1SveIc5AWF0vVedrwR6AyFKZBVfcf7XbDz5_tOFQr3ldGklX-JqZn6x6Ao9U3Ok5qXiYnMrSHai8Dg6CCSQi5bwYQXLsXPdgVtnG9b9JyTFZOYdpTs2wjuLX26Ouy2/s1600/08PLOT10-superJumbo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquXnU9Mu8I6Xpjl1SveIc5AWF0vVedrwR6AyFKZBVfcf7XbDz5_tOFQr3ldGklX-JqZn6x6Ao9U3Ok5qXiYnMrSHai8Dg6CCSQi5bwYQXLsXPdgVtnG9b9JyTFZOYdpTs2wjuLX26Ouy2/s320/08PLOT10-superJumbo-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The President and the Rabbi</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The series features many strong performances by a strong cast. But one of the standout performances of the series by John Turturro who plays Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf, who sells his soul to get in good with the new administration. He conceives of a plan to resettle Jewish families. Curiously, he is blind to see the monumentality of his betrayal until he finds ultimately himself betrayed. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">On the opposite end of the spectrum is Herman’s nephew Alvin (Anthony Boyle), who joins the Canadian Army in violation of neutrality laws, only to come home wounded to a country that has changed. Although the story is told from the point of view of the extended Levin family, we still get telling glimpses of the changed world around them, with newsreel footage of Lindbergh shaking hands with Hitler in a secret meeting in Iceland, signing a non-aggression pact, which is a twisted fun-house version of the Roosevelt -Churchill meeting and the signing of the Atlantic Charter.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Without giving away too much, the ending is left in doubt, which is a departure from the source novel. It’s not too much to say that the show’s producers intended the series to be a reflection of the current situation in the United States, which has seen a resurgence of isolationism, anti-Semitism and with the rise of the so-called alt-right, fascism. Perhaps recent years have stripped away the thin veneer and have revealed what had been lying there all along, under the surface. In the alternate history of the series, it takes a man like Charles Lindbergh to bring out the worst in people; in our world, all it took was the election of Donald Trump.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Alternate history in its best form, raises an interrogative mirror to our world and allows us to not only ask <i>what if,</i> but also, <i>if this goes on</i>. <i>The Plot Against America</i> holds such a mirror to our uncertain times and allows us to ask not only these questions, but more. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Highly recommended viewing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What’s next?</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I apologize with lateness of this blog post. Like many people with onset of COVID-19, I am now working from home. I found have found it difficult to manage and deal with the circumstances around us.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Next month, I’ll be back with another post. Until that time, please look after each other and yourselves.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">In the meantime, you can</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-85201228465464463352020-03-29T18:01:00.003-04:002021-07-30T00:03:17.577-04:00Reviewing Michael Moorcock’s The Nomad of the Timestreams Trilogy<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">This month I am reviewing a long-time favourite series of mine, T<i>he Nomad of the Timestreams</i> trilogy – <i>The Warlord of the Air</i> (1971), <i>The Land Leviathan</i> (1974), and The <i>Steel Tsar </i>(1980). These books were among my first exposure to the alternate history genre.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IJsCXLx5NZk3j_N3t4VyVE0YUZTT8nHu3aRU-7yANqak_W8fdg1Yf344E-uW0D_nXi2ENZmVasqv_hekfrVR9S6sNUFvz8w2dE_KY1ri4L6VYqxxowWdzIsJU1Y-kWRHsoanQA_25HvM/s1600/IMG_7736.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1600" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IJsCXLx5NZk3j_N3t4VyVE0YUZTT8nHu3aRU-7yANqak_W8fdg1Yf344E-uW0D_nXi2ENZmVasqv_hekfrVR9S6sNUFvz8w2dE_KY1ri4L6VYqxxowWdzIsJU1Y-kWRHsoanQA_25HvM/s320/IMG_7736.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The primary protagonist of all three novels is one Captain Oswald Bastable, a Victorian soldier in the British Indian Army, circa 1902. In the opening novel, he’s sent to put down a rebellion in the north-east of India only be taken prisoner in an ambush. He manages escapes into the Temple of the Future Buddha but that's when his troubles truly begin. There’s an earthquake, and suddenly Bastable is thrust forward into the year 1973. Only it’s not our 1973. Neither the First World War or the Second World War, the Great Depression or the Cold War has happened. Instead the great European colonial powers, along with the the United States and Japan, continue to rule the globe. Upon being rescued by a British airship, his adventures only start. After a shorts stint as an air policeman, he gets involved with a motley band of anarchists and revolutionaries, many of whom we meet in different guises in the throughout of the series. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Like some latter-day Flying Dutchman, Oswald Bastable is fated to cross from timeline to timeline finding only war but never peace. We next find Bastable in <i>The Land Leviathan</i>, in another 1902, where society has all but collapsed after a devastating global war. After another series of adventures, Bastable finds himself at the side of the “Black Attila,” an African leader set to conquer the world. For me, this is probably the strongest of the three books, although the story of Bastable himself actually the slimmest, if only in page count. In many ways, it reminds me of the later works of H.G. Wells, in particular <i>The War in the Air </i>(1902) and <i>The Shape of Things to Come </i>(1933), in his distrust of technology and the blind faith in that progress that most of us still have.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The books are connected by the conceit that author Moorcock is actually relating a true story though his grandfather and then much later, himself. This adds an extra layer to the story and a dash of whimsy. And frankly, a part of me would love to believe the stories were true. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Together the trilogy is both a criticism of imperialism, racism, and of our blind faith in technology and utopia. All of these concerns are as valid today as they were back when the books were first published. Definitely worth an online hunt.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>Finally…</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I’m writing this blog in my second week of working from home, like so many of us are. The COVID-19 coronavirus, which seemed like a blip on the horizon last month for so many of us is now a daily reality. I sadly believe that things will get worse before they get better. But an important thing to remember is that things will get better and the current situation indeed will pass. How the situation will pass is in large part, how we respond as a species in the coming months. I would like to believe that we would emerge as more caring and connected, not only for each other but for the world around us.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Until that time, stay safe and look after yourselves and each other. I’ll be back next month. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">In the meantime, you can</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-74414703955185790822020-02-09T14:23:00.000-05:002020-02-09T14:23:42.708-05:00Book Review: S.M. Stirling’s Theatre of Spies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>Theatre of Spies</i> is the second book in S.M. Stirling’s alternate history of the Great War, which continues the adventures of American super-spy Luz O’Malley Arostegui, and her companion, technical wizard Ciara Whelan. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">It’s late 1916 and Teddy Roosevelt is President and America is now at war (Spoilers ahead). Imperial Germany has launched a deadly gas attack on the Entente Powers, all but destroying France and crippling England. America’s eastern seaboard would’ve fallen to similar fate, if not for the intervention of Arostegui, an agent for America’s spy agency the Black Chamber, and her friend Whelan, who is now an agent in her own right. Now word has leaked out that the Germans have developed another potentially war-winning weapon, one that the Entente must have at all costs, if only to maintain the precarious balance.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Astroegui and Whelan manoeuvre through a series of masterfully-plotted adventures ending in a satisfying climax. They travel through a deiselpunk paradise of technology given the full-steam ahead signal both by Roosevelt and the pressures of war. Let it not be said that Stirling does not have a sense of humour. Pop culture references abound from James Bond movies, to Hogan’s Heroes, and Young Frankenstein.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Stirling is a masterful storyteller, doing what any mature writer does, showing, not telling. By giving his protagonists and antagonists – and us – an opportunity to walk through such a richly-detailed universe, which is a real treat. Stirling is a past master of the alt-history genre, having first cut his teeth in the <i>Draka</i> series, and then moving forward from strength to strength to strength.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Highly recommended. Definitely looking forward to the next instalment.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>Update:</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">In a <a href="https://www.somersethousepress.com/2019/10/the-case-for-parallel-universes.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, I had written that scientists have recently speculated that they had found evidence of matter leaking in from a neighbouring universe via “Cold Spots” in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), possibly as a result of a collision between bubble universes sometime in our very distant prehistory. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The concept of a bubble universe may fly in the face of the generally accepted theory of a flat universe, but a key piece of data retrieved from the European Space Agency’s Planck space telescope suggests that we be in fact living inside a bubble universe of our own, prompting a paper from Nature Astronomy warning a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0906-9.epdf?referrer_access_token=2d96QZkcmbgy_Shm1rk6XdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NqA1r1vCcOgNn4LDpENPnwoeHNKdiccffHhZYAzAfWii0Tk9ku7-P1GMWkqLaRw6soFO9SxIerxhXcGwGUXR2oQ10VO3o9MkgsqPO0HfMifVYddhcI37Al-oWpJYpEGFNMUHHOjDWKC2XRPQgwaegQ&tracking_referrer=vice.com" target="_blank">“cosmological crisis.</a>” Reviewing the most recently published data, the paper suggests that Plank, whose mission was to map CMB, may have also recorded a phenomena known as “gravitational lensing,” were gravitational fields are bent, distorted and warped. According to the data, the CMB is being gravitationally lensed much more than expected. One possible explanation for this seeming curvature in spacetime is that the universe is itself closed. In fact, according to the paper, there is a high level of confidence to this, on the order of 99%.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Mind blown yet? So let’s draw a few concluding links to set our heads really spinning. If our universe is in fact a gigantic bubble and Cold Spots in the CMB represent matter leaking in from neighbouring universes, is it possible to travel between universes through such a Cold Spot? Have people or other beings done it, accidentally or on purpose? Are there Type V universe-spanning civilizations out there, such as the one in H. Beam Piper’s <i>Paratime </i>series, that have turned these Cold Spots into portals and have mastered how to transit them? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I don’t know about you, but my mind is sufficiently blown now. I’m going to have a drink. If you don’t see me in this space next month, it’s quite possible I’ve fallen through a Cold Spot. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What's Next?</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Next month, hopefully now that the ruckus of the move to a new apartment and the setting of my new job continues, I’ll be reviewing <i>The British Lion</i>, a novel of Britain under Nazi occupation, by Tony Schumacher. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-67292537334691024632020-01-04T19:36:00.000-05:002020-01-05T17:17:06.711-05:00First Season Review: For All Mankind<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">First things first. I am going to say I loved <i>For All Mankind</i>. That gets my biases out of the way, once and for all. As a work of alternate history, the series, whose first season has finished streaming on Apple TV + is an emphatic, positive retelling of that early heroic age of manned spaceflight.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YScsLrNLl-LkqXvnlo3YewQag7ruJwMf-f-0LdsVl66I2QUOlIi6Dr_cS77jXv4pi9MknFoZglhfiOLLhChNFG6Qi6S-wBUxoDQk_IzTgxPEjaFbMMEwnh2uHCZLOdOYtimigIx7sjo7/s1600/For-All-Mankind-ddba298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="620" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YScsLrNLl-LkqXvnlo3YewQag7ruJwMf-f-0LdsVl66I2QUOlIi6Dr_cS77jXv4pi9MknFoZglhfiOLLhChNFG6Qi6S-wBUxoDQk_IzTgxPEjaFbMMEwnh2uHCZLOdOYtimigIx7sjo7/s320/For-All-Mankind-ddba298.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The series opens in June 1969, with people around the world glued to their flickering television screens to watch Soviet cosmonau</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; text-align: center;">t Alexei Leonov step onto the lunar soil and plant the hammer-and-sickle flag and proudly claim the moon for the “Marxist-Leninist way of life.” Impossibly, the Soviets have beaten Apollo 11 to the moon by a few short weeks. Instead of sending the Americans reeling in panic, showrunner Ronald D. Moore - producer of the reimagined </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; text-align: center;">Battlestar Galactica</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; text-align: center;"> - has President Richard Nixon upping the ante and the space program’s budget by setting the sights on the establishment of the first lunar base. And so, the “race for the base” is on. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Apollo 11 makes its historical landing – albeit with some complications. From there on things get different, with the goal of all subsequent Apollo flights to find water on the moon to sustain the base. In reaction to a female Soviet female cosmonaut making a lunar landing, Nixon orders a crash program to find and train suitable female U.S. astronauts. The plot, which is tight, moves along briskly with enough moments that provide for suitable gasps and clenched teeth. It’s all very plausible stuff.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25iM0H7ioj6KFjbYD_hqInn3Lmt3K005HGxS50xk0xXM2DX5svd4t50zwiJbBqV7RFnXIbal2llp29kiYd7SI1WrJBYFhzHYxdmPGDU4WiooKTQinPvPRLjqZrIK5f_kjWTxMJT3ebw5v/s1600/MV5BZTdhNjA2MmMtZWExMi00MGM3LWEyZDAtYTE1OGExYjhjOWVlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk%2540._V1_UX477_CR0%252C0%252C477%252C268_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="477" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25iM0H7ioj6KFjbYD_hqInn3Lmt3K005HGxS50xk0xXM2DX5svd4t50zwiJbBqV7RFnXIbal2llp29kiYd7SI1WrJBYFhzHYxdmPGDU4WiooKTQinPvPRLjqZrIK5f_kjWTxMJT3ebw5v/s320/MV5BZTdhNjA2MmMtZWExMi00MGM3LWEyZDAtYTE1OGExYjhjOWVlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk%2540._V1_UX477_CR0%252C0%252C477%252C268_AL_.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Moore and crew do an excellent job in blending fictional characters with well-developed story arcs with historical personalities. Some reviewers have complained about this at length and note many historical players appear to have been given short shrift. To my mind, they don’t seem to get it. This is first and foremost, a work of alternate history. Historical figures such as Wernher von Braun, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong are well represented. Actor Chris Bauer, for example, does a standout job portraying Deke Slayton, who in our history was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts but due to heart problem, only flew much later on the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. As a space enthusiast, I commend Moore and his team for getting so many important details right. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An N-1 booster shortly before<br />
failure, June 27, 1972</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">An important question that many people who have watched the series are asking is when does the point of divergence from our history occur? In our history, the Soviet N-1 booster which was to carry Leonov to the moon never made it off the pad, past <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9fkYIrRwbo" target="_blank">a few disastrously short test flights</a>, the last of which occurred in 1974. Although the design process began in 1961, around the same time as JFK’s announcement to land a man on the moon and return him by the end of the decade, the N-1 project was plagued by poor funding and competing priorities. The project only seemed to gain any real impetus in 1964, by which time it was almost too late. Another problem was the fractured nature of Soviet space program which had multiple design bureaus competing against each other for scant funding and often not in best interests of the program. Finally, there was the health of Sergei Korolev, “Chief Designer” of the Soviet space program and chief backer of the moon program who died under routine surgery in 1966.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The only way I could see of Leonov getting to the moon is that the Soviet leadership took JFK seriously and funded Korolev’s N-1 project as far back as the U.S. President’s announcement. They would also have given Korolev total leadership on the project, so to rule out any competing visions. There is also the question of Korolev’s health, but we have a handy answer for that. Moore and the writers of <i>For All Mankind </i>have stated that in their history, <a href="https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/for-all-mankind-ronald-d-moore-apple-series" target="_blank">Korolev survived the surgery</a> and went on to work the kinks out of the N-1 in time to beat the Americans to the moon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I highly recommend this series. This the new standard-bearer for alternate history on the small screen. This not only how the space race could’ve been, it’s how it should’ve been. As of this writing, <i>For All Mankind</i> has been renewed for a second season. Indeed, the post-credits scene in the season’s final episode ends things on a particularly triumphant note. I eagerly anticipate whatever direction the next season will take. Mars, anyone?</span><br />
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<b style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">What's Next?</b><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">It's been an eventful year-end around the old blog. I have a new job, for which I am exceedingly grateful for. I thank all of my readers for your continued support.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Next month I'll be reviewing the second book in S.M. Stirling’s alternate First World War series, <i>Theater of Spie</i>s, which continues the adventures of American super-spy Luz O’Malley Arostegui, and her companion, technical wizard Ciara Whelan. After that, I’ll be reviewing <i>The British Lion</i>, a novel of Britain under Nazi occupation, by Tony Schumacher. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> purchase</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-61144964284307436522019-12-04T16:06:00.000-05:002019-12-04T22:22:00.107-05:00Reviewing Season Four of The Man in the High Castle<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Well, it’s over.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I’ve just finished binge-watching the fourth and final season of Amazon’s T<i>he Man in the High Castle</i>. I will say (and there are spoilers ahead) that while it was a far from perfect season, the series’ show runners have managed to present us an ending, that while not entirely satisfying, at least manages to bring the series to a conclusion. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: small; text-align: start;">John Smith in the multiverse.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The twined character arcs of antagonist </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">Reichsmarschall</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"> John Smith and protagonist Juliana Crain – and it is important to think of them as that – move in different and telling directions. When we last saw them at the close of Season Three, Juliana had just winked herself out of her own universe, nanoseconds after being shot by Smith.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Juliana lands smack-dab in what is later revealed to be our universe, narrowly missing being hit by a car driven by none other than Smith – who in our timeline, seems to be a rather nice guy. Juliana views her new surroundings with a mixture of relief and incredulity. The alternate version of Smith gives actor Rufus Sewell a chance to stretch even more so a character who has already proven to be very complex, engaging, and ultimately, damned. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Meanwhile, in the Pacific States, we see that Trade Minister Tagomi has been assassinated even before the season began. How they handled this was very problematic for me. The alleged assassins were a black communist guerilla movement that did not exist before the start of this season, so the writers spend a lot of time and effort retconning them into the series in the first few episodes of the new season. It would’ve been much better had they been introduced someplace in Season Three. That the Japanese Empire is also fighting for its life against communist forces in China is also a surprise, and likewise should have also been introduced, or even just hinted at, much earlier.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Part of the problem with <i>The Man in the High Castle,</i> while an ambitious and largely successful work, is that although it stuck fairly closely to its source material, the novel of the same name by Phillip K. Dick, for the first season, it lost its sense of direction after that. In Season Two, the show’s writers began to search for new material and stories to tell. Going into Season Three, the series brought in elements such as the <i>Nebenwelt</i> from Dick’s unpublished sequel. However, for a large part of Seasons Three and Four, this sense of rootlessness unfortunately, showed to the series’ determent. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">However, with even these criticisms, the series remains very worthwhile watching.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">With that aside, probably the best part of the series has been the journey of John Smith and his rise and fall. We see in this season the original sin of John Smith, born out of simple expediency to save his young family. We see him gazing across the multiverse in envy of life he could’ve lived but at the same time, couldn’t have.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What's Next?</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Currently I’m reading the second book in S.M. Stirling’s alternate First World War series, <i>Theater of Spie</i>s, which continues the adventures of American super-spy Luz O’Malley Arostegui, and her companion, technical wizard Ciara Whelan. I hope to have a review for you next month. After that, I’ll be reviewing <i>The British Lion</i>, a novel of Britain under Nazi occupation, by Tony Schumacher. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-19693910928994232512019-11-08T18:55:00.001-05:002020-10-12T01:19:30.511-04:00Alternate History Makes it Big on the Small Screen<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Fans of alternate history are in rare good fortune this year, with the premiere of a new genre streaming series, <i>For All Mankind </i>and the final season of <i>The Man in the High Castle</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>For All Mankind</i> tells the story of an alternate space race between the Soviet Union and the United States where the Soviets manage to successfully manage to land a cosmonaut on the moon, just months before Apollo 11. Instead of crushing the Americans, the renewed challenge only spurs them onward. Apollo 11 with its historical crew successfully lands on the moon – albeit with some minor complications. Instead of being hacked away after the moon landings as it was in our history, NASA's budget gets ramped up to beat the Reds.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Helmed by the producer of the reimagined <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>, Ronald D. Moore, <i>For All Mankind</i> is a reimagining of the Space Race, only bigger and bolder. As of this writing, the series has been greenlit for a second season. I’m currently watching the first season and I’m liking what I’m seeing. I’ll have a review for it coming up.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>For All Mankind</i> is available on Apple’s streaming platform, Apple TV+.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Of course, no discussion of alternate history on the small screen would not be complete without mentioning <i>The Man in the High Castle</i>, whose fourth and final season launches on Amazon Prime, in just a few days from now on November 15, 2019. This will be the season that wraps it all up. What will happen to Juliana Crain as she simply popped into thin air, nanoseconds after being shot in an impotent rage by <i>Reichsmarshall</i> John Smith? Will the Nazis succeed in dominating the multiverse? Questions, questions.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I am ardently looking forward to finding out and will have a review on this as soon as possible.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What's Next?</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Currently I’m reading the second book in S.M. Stirling’s alternate First World War series, <i>Theater of Spie</i>s, which continues the adventures of American super-spy Luz O’Malley Arostegui, and her companion, technical wizard Ciara Whelan. I hope to have a review for you next month. After that, I’ll be reviewing <i>The British Lion</i>, a novel of Britain under Nazi occupation, by Tony Schumacher. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-11663312774720970272019-10-26T15:31:00.000-04:002019-11-09T14:10:30.411-05:00The Case for Parallel Universes<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">If you’re a regular reader of this blog you must hopefully believe that deep down, parallel universes, somehow exist. I do. Certainly, we’ve been aware of the possibility thanks to quantum theory. In 1952, physicist Erwin Schrödinger first proposed the concept in a speech in Dublin.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>Some Theory</b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrq78KSnvpl8Z2EXzSBAzRxoNx2nrD1MOYzofV_Yy9ljS2SswfTbSu3WLeFjIW5C8BPT7HIyQba9OJ9Zr0EN69YwoJAMituOfZ4qDSwRZiSdi7hS5nxfc7CKQQwk2aGer9fFSh6jy6nzk/s1600/cats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="507" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrq78KSnvpl8Z2EXzSBAzRxoNx2nrD1MOYzofV_Yy9ljS2SswfTbSu3WLeFjIW5C8BPT7HIyQba9OJ9Zr0EN69YwoJAMituOfZ4qDSwRZiSdi7hS5nxfc7CKQQwk2aGer9fFSh6jy6nzk/s200/cats.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Some years earlier Schrödinger had introduced his famed thought experiment, where a cat was locked into a box with a container of poison gas triggered by the decay of a radioactive element. According to the Copenhagen Interpretation, the cat is both dead and alive until the box is opened and the wave function collapses when an observation takes place (the observer effect). However, the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) holds that the cat is both dead <i>and </i>alive in equally real but separate parallel universes. Basically for every decision that is made at quantum level, the universes branch out, until, as MWI predicts, we have an infinite number of divergent parallel worlds, existing at the same time, complete with their own alternate histories. Ultimately, MWI says that it’s impossible to communicate between the universes, much less travel between them, which is sure to let down many SF fans.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEW4ZaOFPetE3MsDYHlU3WoyCMQAqKX86RWnpoXHNJK1kX09YcC4kYF7o8anSdB6GGop0FYKmEKqvQUGmSJuGnq6PltNm6tynPlUrdqWj7ovmxi6iA02NF9H2NKDfehyLaLdBJMyHE00r/s1600/multi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="597" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEW4ZaOFPetE3MsDYHlU3WoyCMQAqKX86RWnpoXHNJK1kX09YcC4kYF7o8anSdB6GGop0FYKmEKqvQUGmSJuGnq6PltNm6tynPlUrdqWj7ovmxi6iA02NF9H2NKDfehyLaLdBJMyHE00r/s320/multi.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Recently, some however slight physical evidence of parallel universes has come to light, raising the tantalizing possibility of travel between them. In 2015, the European Space Agency’s orbiting Planck Telescope found what <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2063204-mystery-bright-spots-could-be-first-glimpse-of-another-universe/" target="_blank">US researcher Dr. Ranga-Ram Chary</a> described as a “Cold Spot” in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) – light lingering from the Big Bang, which might be indicative of matter from a neighbouring universe leaking into our own. As far-fetched as it may seem,<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1704.03814.pdf" target="_blank"> the British Royal Astronomical Society does not rule this out</a>, noting in April, 2017: “Another explanation could be that the Cold Spot is the remnant of a collision between our Universe and another ‘bubble’ universe during an early inflationary phase…” </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What if ?</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">What If and if… a Cold Spot is indeed an indication of universes brushing up against each other? What if it is in fact, still happening? Is it possible that more of these Cold Spots are in fact, all around us? And if matter – and presumably people - can seep back and forth between universes in apparent violation of MWI, what are the implications? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">If these Cold Spots are more common than we think, is it possible that a person can transit through them? I’ve talked about this possibility before <a href="http://www.somersethousepress.com/2015/12/visitors-to-and-from-universe-next-door.html" target="_blank">in an earlier posting</a>. In 2018, in the United Kingdom, for example, <a href="https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/latest-news/1018-missing-people-publishes-latest-uk-statistics.html" target="_blank">someone was reported missing every 90 seconds</a>. In that same year in the United States, it was reckoned</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"> <a href="ttps://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/in-these-states-missing-persons-cases-are-piling-up.html/" target="_blank">t</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><a href="ttps://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/in-these-states-missing-persons-cases-are-piling-up.html/" target="_blank">hat there were 90,000 people missing at any one time</a>. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">In our surveillance society, that would seem impossible</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"> Many missing people are eventually found. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">But history is also full of individuals who have simply disappeared. Gran</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">ted that most have vanished due to things like foul play, misadventure, or the simple deep personal wish to start over under a new name. But what if <i>just one </i>of those people unwittingly stepped into a Cold Spot and through the walls of reality?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>Sideslipping </b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSEbX7DqgO0za6Ggag9f8lNj3G8DxJbg34K1RjMVQqOekDY_-CLo-lvLkg8hQ0pip1pxAZs36TReCyiXUpCznOtboxnFcjYPqLwSLnvmoCtznAzBgGT2laU_s_p5If_H-ryg8o65UmKI9/s1600/Sideslip+%2528Ron+Archer%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSEbX7DqgO0za6Ggag9f8lNj3G8DxJbg34K1RjMVQqOekDY_-CLo-lvLkg8hQ0pip1pxAZs36TReCyiXUpCznOtboxnFcjYPqLwSLnvmoCtznAzBgGT2laU_s_p5If_H-ryg8o65UmKI9/s320/Sideslip+%2528Ron+Archer%2529.jpeg" width="190" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The idea of an individual innocently minding their own business and stumbling across into a parallel world has long been a staple of the alternate-history genre. Several novels, such as Philip K. Dick’s <i>The Man in the High Castle</i>, have used this as a major or minor plot device. Another novel, the not so well-known, <i>Sideslip </i>(1968), by Ted White and Dave van Arnam, has its protagonist, a hard-boiled but decidedly down on his heels New York private eye by the name of Ronald Archer ( a nod to Dashiell Hammett) transit from his world to a world that is not his own. It’s a world where the Second World War never happened thanks to the benevolent intervention of a race of alien overlords called the Angels. With the action fast and furious, Archer becomes the unwelcome focus of attention of the surviving Nazis, Communists, and Technocrats, and eventually the Angels themselves as they engage in an all-out power play. Although the book in paperback comes in at a slender 188 pages, White and van Arnam are both able to develop Archer as the primary protagonist and make him more than just a two-fisted gunsel and build out the alternate universe he finds himself in, thanks to some tight plotting and world-building.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>Sideslip</i> is one of my perennial favourites. You can try finding a copy online or your at local used bookshop. It's worth the hunt.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What’s Next?</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Cl_78KhPvv6Rtlponen5EWlEv23KJaCTx9GoYqO4PEkSqjj1QaXFIxs8tqvsQgHE5sgKcLqurJz-4AaGV0bTku-7EfFWVuA3h8JV2dLWkBL5IANINxr0Gx-tbm42d6YwVFqq6gulYnzV/s1600/51dM8ZvTWML._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Cl_78KhPvv6Rtlponen5EWlEv23KJaCTx9GoYqO4PEkSqjj1QaXFIxs8tqvsQgHE5sgKcLqurJz-4AaGV0bTku-7EfFWVuA3h8JV2dLWkBL5IANINxr0Gx-tbm42d6YwVFqq6gulYnzV/s320/51dM8ZvTWML._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Currently I’m reading the second book in S.M. Stirling’s alternate First World War series, <i>Theater of Spie</i>s, which continues the adventures of American super-spy Luz O’Malley Arostegui, and her companion, technical wizard Ciara Whelan. I hope to have a review for you next month. After that, I’ll be reviewing <i>The British Lion</i>, a novel of Britain under Nazi occupation, by Tony Schumacher. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">(Note that in any inaccuracies in the science portion of this blog are my fault.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-52346366622372976052019-09-29T17:26:00.003-04:002019-09-30T11:25:11.599-04:00Book Review: Afterwar, by Lilith Saintcrow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWK3vNHPIodXxfbdXjL0_mhhioYqX9N6yu9Cv_IAFIMWtf6Nl5KlBbeoZGoMThAtHc7XqZRSwM34gue2IDfAo4QJNrg5aN8OV_-QOJz28LPt1LeFUt7wFp9iVbUZh-c8yhjUHgxTiboS7G/s1600/36204341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWK3vNHPIodXxfbdXjL0_mhhioYqX9N6yu9Cv_IAFIMWtf6Nl5KlBbeoZGoMThAtHc7XqZRSwM34gue2IDfAo4QJNrg5aN8OV_-QOJz28LPt1LeFUt7wFp9iVbUZh-c8yhjUHgxTiboS7G/s320/36204341.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">After finishing the novel <i>Afterwar</i>, I still can’t make up my mind whether the story occurs in an alternate history past or the near future. While I’ll leave that up for you to decide, I will tell you the warning it delivers – when and wherever it is situated – is both timely and important.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"> And that's why I’ve given it space on this blog.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>Afterwar</i>, as the name implies, occurs at the end of a conflict, in this case, as the Second American Civil War is winding down. The Federal forces, after 10 years in exile on the west coast have driven out a brutal fascist government led by a dictatorial president, who possesses certain parallels to the incumbent of the Oval Office. We meet our protagonists, Swann’s Riders, a group of irregulars attached to the Federal armies as they liberate a concentration camp. We also met our primary antagonist, is the camp’s second-in-command, at the same time. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">It's not a spoiler to say both their paths will cross but not quite meet until the novel's conclusion.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Even though the war might’ve ended, there are still many pieces to pick up, and Saintcrow takes us through a well-crafted vision of a post-war America, which she conducts us through in brisk style, but at the same time sparing us no details or horrors. Both protagonists and antagonists have complete and satisfying arcs and Saintcrow demonstrates some very fine storytelling here.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The book seems timelier than ever before as America seems as politically and culturally divided as it was just before it lurched into the Civil War in 1861. Certainly some of the rhetoric is far from encouraging. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">For all of these reasons and much, more, this book is highly recommended.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">(<b>Note: </b>I had planned on reading<i> Afterwar</i> and reviewing it in this space months ago. I only published it some hours before I saw the Trump tweet. Sometimes I wish that fiction didn't imitate reality so well.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What’s Next?</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I’ll be reviewing the next novel in S.M. Stirling’s alternate World War One series, <i>Theatre of Spies</i>. After that, I’ll also be looking at <i>The British Lion</i>, a novel of Britain under Nazi occupation, by Tony Schumacher. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-56150785214610290082019-08-28T11:57:00.000-04:002019-08-28T11:57:30.598-04:00Book Review: Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pnp9zvj01bydR2aG0rQIvAOU4-uZ1rLWk1cLXhOGjt3XJkaOWFltN1b4vtwzfikyQv7t648GYtwJ_8eUH5fGWHM_ZolEht-7HwgOhkSyeA1GoSOICMtJcSC6LhnHd_wAXroneXRC9AuI/s1600/Oppel.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="542" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pnp9zvj01bydR2aG0rQIvAOU4-uZ1rLWk1cLXhOGjt3XJkaOWFltN1b4vtwzfikyQv7t648GYtwJ_8eUH5fGWHM_ZolEht-7HwgOhkSyeA1GoSOICMtJcSC6LhnHd_wAXroneXRC9AuI/s320/Oppel.jpeg" width="205" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><i>Airborn</i> is a novel of high adventure set in an alternate Edwardian era where heavier-than-air travel never quite got off the ground. Instead, giant airships have become the primary method of transport, plying the air routes around the world. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Our chief protagonist, Matt Cruse, is cabin boy aboard the airship <i>Aurora</i>, the same ship his father once sailed upon before he met his untimely demise. For a novel of just over 320 pages (in paperback), author Oppel takes great care in both character development and in building the world they inhabit.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">While serving as a lookout during a cross of the Pacificus (read: Pacific Ocean), Matt spots a battered balloon drifting nearby. It is brought aboard with its sole passenger an elderly man clinging to life. He later dies, but not before he and his diary reveal tantalizing clues about strange winged creatures.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrvs46phFgBiKDx37d857W12vQwH2ZcGI1YUjjkKiiC4VuExUNaLO4-wP3rok1Gcumc89wl816unye1Iy-jMqa8E7Y0Qh672gZ663JMrTAEzOVtVbESAjImvrT1aG92g_pHcv40yl9asL/s1600/27369059_10156222577113760_9156851585599726615_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1156" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrvs46phFgBiKDx37d857W12vQwH2ZcGI1YUjjkKiiC4VuExUNaLO4-wP3rok1Gcumc89wl816unye1Iy-jMqa8E7Y0Qh672gZ663JMrTAEzOVtVbESAjImvrT1aG92g_pHcv40yl9asL/s320/27369059_10156222577113760_9156851585599726615_o.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Flash forward one year later. Matt is still serving as a cabin boy on the <i>Aurora</i>, after narrowly losing out to a much-deserved promotion to the son the airship line’s owner. In true heroic fashion, Matt tries to keep above it for the most part and Oppel plays this internal struggle quite well. One of the late-arriving passengers is a young woman whom Matt immediately develops a connection with her and her priggish chaperone (a bit of a cliché here).</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Our course now firmly set, the plot moves forward to a climax involving dastardly air pirates, a mysterious island (what novel would be without that?) the resolution of the mystery of the winged creatures, young love, and much daring-do.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><i>Airborn</i> has many touches right of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and later authors such as Michael Moorcock and should satisfy every reader. And although classified as a “young adult” (see my comments below), I highly recommend <i>Airborn </i>for all ages. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">If you haven't made your acquaintance with this novel, it's past time you do.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">A funny thing happened on the way to this book review.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">I found <i>Airborn</i> sitting on the shelves of my local thrift shop; since knowing the book was set in an alternate world and thus fit into the scope of this blog, I picked it up and took it to the cashier. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The cashier looked at the book and sniffed at me, “That’s young adult fiction!”</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">I looked back at her, the hint of a Clint Eastwood glare in my eyes. <i>Yeah, I got that. Just ring me through already. </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">There is still a remarkable bias towards so-called “young adult fiction.” That the bias exists is something of a head-scratcher; after all the category occupies a growing space on the shelves of most bookstores, particularly in the SF and Fantasy sections, prime examples being the<i> Harry Potter</i> and <i>The Hunger Games</i> series, both of which are best sellers and major motion picture franchises. Of the books in the SF category, many do fall into the alternate-history genre, in particular, the more specialized steampunk sub-genre. Much of this success can be attributed to readership among young adults; however, one doubts they would have become the successes they are without their adult readership.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, palatino linotype, palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Funny indeed.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-22926835467927559762019-07-22T14:29:00.000-04:002019-11-09T10:48:57.721-05:00Book Review: River of Bones, by Taylor Anderson<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuogVaKkywdnofkX9y9CcG0cwHZeP2wyKhOe7VS93npddvOj1UtG5IyOZic0pZKo-KFcuSLKmS6LaVMDZhRLYo6asCzRcqIkPt_cwhI-Kmbq5d4S1z69PPUESUqdX72m3HWlef-R1De7mg/s1600/River+of+Bones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuogVaKkywdnofkX9y9CcG0cwHZeP2wyKhOe7VS93npddvOj1UtG5IyOZic0pZKo-KFcuSLKmS6LaVMDZhRLYo6asCzRcqIkPt_cwhI-Kmbq5d4S1z69PPUESUqdX72m3HWlef-R1De7mg/s320/River+of+Bones.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Taylor Anderson’s 13th novel (this is a review of the paperback edition) in his <i>Destroyermen </i>series,<i> River of Bones</i> picks up exactly from where the previous novel in the series, <i>Devil’s Due</i> ends.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>Destroyermen</i> centres on the exploits on the crew of the elderly “four-stacker” destroyer, </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">USS Walker</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">, led by Commander Matthew Reddy and her crew who, catapulted from their own universe in the early days of the Second World War in the Pacific into an alternate world, they find themselves in the midst of an even more desperate struggle between their soon-to-be Lemurian allies and the reptilian Grik.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Now almost three years into their new war, and after acquiring new allies – and enemies – Reddy and the alliance are at the tipping point. Still recovering from the pyrrhic victories from the events of the previous two books, they must undertake a desperate Hail-Mary pass, sending the merchantman-turned-protected cruiser <i>Santa Catalina</i> and her crew up the Zambezi River and deep into Grik Africa to block the oncoming Final Swarm and buy time.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Once again, Anderson treats us to wall-to-wall action wrapped up with top-notch characterizations of both protagonist and antagonist alike as the outnumbered crew of the <i>Santa Catalina </i>fight for their lives in last-stand combat worthy of the Alamo. Of course, with a series this long and well-developed, the author leaves himself plenty of time for characters to develop and when we experience their deaths, we feel it even more so. As I’ve mentioned before, the author’s skills in both world-building and in the slow reveal are on full display here as he gives a master’s level course for any aspiring author. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Over the next few novels in the series, it looks like Anderson is setting us up for the final battle between the Grik, while at the same time, building the pace for the ultimate showdown with the newly revealed alliance between the Holy Dominion and the League of Tripoli. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I highly recommend the book and the series – that is, for anyone who is not yet familiar with it. Other than that, I can only pay it perhaps the highest compliment I can give in my current financially straitened circumstances: I almost bought the next book in the series, <i>Pass of Fire</i>, in hardcover.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What’s next?</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtO-t30x0tlPYZkTwl025wTmz45O_1ChewcWbKhWPzVq0y6ElLz6LxGIqrozam8Q_9CQ0yippezTAMQRyLgJjEqqdfA8zeleb8zer0nxZPkYor5o4mwHbgkmS7qLgyQl_KsXL1Vidfs3m/s1600/Oppel.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="542" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtO-t30x0tlPYZkTwl025wTmz45O_1ChewcWbKhWPzVq0y6ElLz6LxGIqrozam8Q_9CQ0yippezTAMQRyLgJjEqqdfA8zeleb8zer0nxZPkYor5o4mwHbgkmS7qLgyQl_KsXL1Vidfs3m/s320/Oppel.jpeg" width="205" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I’ve just started reading <i>Airborn</i>, by Kenneth Oppel, a so-called “young adult” novel, which takes place in alternate late 19th/ early 20th century where heavier-than-air flight never got off the ground and giant airships are the means of commerce. More on this later.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-49238995474540639512019-06-22T21:21:00.000-04:002019-07-22T18:42:54.929-04:00Book Review: Clemhorn: Nightfall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>Clemhorn: Nightfall </i>by Andrew J. Harvey, is the first novel in what promises to be an epic multivolume series. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">The novel tells the story of one of the ruling families of the Cross-Temporal Empire, the Clemhorns. The empire they help rule harkens back in the best possible way to those other great timeline-spanning dominions of science fiction such as Keith Laumer’s </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">Imperium </i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">or H. Beam Piper’s </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">Paratime</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">As we are introduced to the Empire and its inhabitants, we are made aware that all is not well. There is a power struggle at the very top between the ruling families with the death of Empire’s First Leader, setting the stage for a civil war. The action of the novel focuses primarily on the younger generation of Clemhorns: Conrad, Arnold, Donald, and Ivy. For the most part, characterizations are strongly developed and each is clearly delineated with solid narrative arcs, with the plot moving along briskly. Each timeline is given enough detail as to present its own sense of otherness. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I enjoyed the book. But I will also say it demands attentive reading. You may find yourself consulting the appendices that the author has thoughtfully provided at the end of the book as I had. With something this epic, spanning multiple worlds and potentially multiple novels, the thought is definitely appreciated. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Recommended. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">You can obtain your copy of<i> Clemhorn: Nightfall</i> in either trade paperback or ebook formats, from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nightfall-Clemhorn-Andrew-J-Harvey/dp/1945430672" target="_blank">Amazon</a> or other online retailers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>Note:</b> This review is based on a copy of the book provided by the publisher.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0T0oYGLA2mxW8FRIBCsSpmKuPOmITWq2SGdAdwwdQiDQIwqVDZXDrsbY2L8K1aOufyG9PiP0UrkBdTHBQcg8U5zwxc1Yub3a3ZvFz5hFUzZnCgKdNjiSUZURj7hSLEA4AIf1pl6_Da_1z/s1600/36457620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0T0oYGLA2mxW8FRIBCsSpmKuPOmITWq2SGdAdwwdQiDQIwqVDZXDrsbY2L8K1aOufyG9PiP0UrkBdTHBQcg8U5zwxc1Yub3a3ZvFz5hFUzZnCgKdNjiSUZURj7hSLEA4AIf1pl6_Da_1z/s320/36457620.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Currently, I’m reading the <i>River of Bones</i>, the 13th book in Taylor Anderson’s multivolume <i>Destroyermen</i> series. I hope to have a review for you next month. I also plan on bringing you a review of <i>Afterwar</i>, by Lilith Saintcrow, which tells the story of a second American Civil War, but I’ve added something a little different to the mix as well, <i>Airborn</i>, by Kenneth Oppel, a “young adult” novel which takes place in a “reimagined late 19th Century,” filled with airships, sky pirates, and all sorts of daring-do.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.</div>
Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8657826105157442596.post-11203428946921993532019-05-26T21:31:00.000-04:002019-05-26T23:15:29.452-04:00Book Review: The Delirium Brief, by Charles Stross<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><i>The Delirium Brief</i>, the latest entry in paperback of author Charles Stross’ long-running <i>Landry Files</i> series, sees everything finally come unglued for our valiant band of heroes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFlG9Dxk7Q8wrnLI8vLDcWsljOEoiKjZ5pymJnK7o90IogJssrEubHeDCE6Jt78cK9pparAerXwSEDYUh13iZ-jn7aiaPTE4pQ7FZvxmAq7pFeywOrYSXbPIAbuo2nYANinrJ5EEVGNBs/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="548" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFlG9Dxk7Q8wrnLI8vLDcWsljOEoiKjZ5pymJnK7o90IogJssrEubHeDCE6Jt78cK9pparAerXwSEDYUh13iZ-jn7aiaPTE4pQ7FZvxmAq7pFeywOrYSXbPIAbuo2nYANinrJ5EEVGNBs/s400/1.jpeg" width="258" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">Now pay attention: if you’re not familiar with the series here’s a quick catch-up. The series’ primary protagonist, Bob Howard, a member of the Laundry, which is a super-secret British spy agency tasked with defending humanity against the Many-Angled Ones and other Things that Go Bump in the Night. That somewhere along the way, Bob has become an Eater of Souls and not quite human anymore is almost quite incidental. But not.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">However, for the Laundry and its staff, things have gone very bad. Not only is the Grand Conjunction upon us, when the Nameless Horrors will seep through the walls of reality and begin to snack on our brains, but its deep cover has also been blown, thanks to a very messy extradimensional invasion of London by an elven host that was ultimately defeated. Thanks to this and other unseen events that slowly come to fore, the Laundry and its people face perhaps its greatest adversary: privatization. Even worse, Bob is forced to do… public relations. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">That’s all I will say here, except to note that the novel ends on a definite downbeat where certain trade-offs are made. Stross’s writing is stylish and witty, punctuated with sharp satiric barbs that reflect certain ongoing events in the U.S. and in the UK. This seems to be more of a wrap-up novel, as storylines and character arcs from previous novels in the series – protagonist and antagonist -are brought together and tied up, setting the stage for deeper and more ominous events to come.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I know, strictly speaking, <i>The Delirium Brief </i>and the <i>Laundry Files</i> series aren’t alternate history novels – well, except they have involved the occasional foray into alternate universes and dimensions – it is a series well worth your attention if you haven’t picked it up already. If you like your Lovecraftian horror with dose a of Len Deighton, then these are the books for you. Very satisfying.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><b>What’s Next?</b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgum0p4p-AhV53f19BC6S_KFf4eGrH_VZ8jomoKqZdez_1tfw7NGKDaEcoy-3XpAG6EVngv4ZFXpLZnr5SISFPQCZnVEGJ2m9yWgrqKLWLwSIEAqLAEAMahzxp1iAIxzyT-E9Pc622YiHkI/s1600/clemhorn.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="808" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgum0p4p-AhV53f19BC6S_KFf4eGrH_VZ8jomoKqZdez_1tfw7NGKDaEcoy-3XpAG6EVngv4ZFXpLZnr5SISFPQCZnVEGJ2m9yWgrqKLWLwSIEAqLAEAMahzxp1iAIxzyT-E9Pc622YiHkI/s200/clemhorn.jpeg" width="133" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;">I am continuing to read with interest <i>Clemhorn: Nightfall</i>, the first book in an epic multi-universal empire series by Andrew J. Harvey. I am looking forward to having a review on this book in my next post. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">n the meantime, you can help out a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/michael-cnudde/12/801/185"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="poor unemployed:0" grmarkguid="ef77260e-f6de-4c40-bcd5-cf2b23a54d2a" gruiphraseguid="b3e63dd7-4d37-469f-9143-2efeb84ebf80" style="border-radius: 2px;">poor unemployed</span> writer</a> by purchasing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"> </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106474" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">Elvis Saves JFK!</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="for:0" grmarkguid="14cd4ef9-9a2d-49aa-ad81-04a2bc1ccb04" gruiphraseguid="bd4bb44a-6d2c-470e-8306-3ed9ad7cc2ac" style="border-radius: 2px;">for</span> just 99 cents and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68354" style="color: #993300;"><i><span style="color: #983100; text-decoration-line: none;">War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History</span></i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; line-height: 21px;">, for $2.99 and now<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/346081"> <i>The Key to My Heart</i>,</a> also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. </span>Thanks.Somerset House Presshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14710766926384418372noreply@blogger.com1