Alt Hist: Historical Fiction and Alternate History

By the Blood of Heroes reviewed by Ian Shone for Alt Hist

Mark — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:55:33 +0000

Ian Shone has kindly volunteered his time to Alt Hist to help out with book reviews and proof-reading, and I’m glad to say that his review of By the Blood of Heroes by Joseph Nassise is is now available on the Alt Hist site under our Book Reviews section. By the Blood of Heroes is a combination of alternate history and zombie-fueled horror, and I think you will find Ian’s review interesting.

Please go along and take a look at the review.

Great Review of Alt Hist Issue 3 at Fantasy Book Review

Mark — Sun, 06 May 2012 06:38:13 +0000

Fantasy Book Review has recently post a rather good review of Alt Hist Issue 3. Here’s a quick extract from the review:

All five stories in Alt Hist Issue 3 make for great reading and all will awaken an interest in the times and events upon which they are based. I strongly recommend that you check out the Alt Hist website – http://althistfiction.com/ – where you can read exceprts and purchase this, and earlier, editions. Alt Hist is a fine magazine that is getting better an better with each publication.

Issue 1 of Fantasy Short Stories Now Published!

Mark — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:14:53 +0000

Reblogged from Fantasy Short Stories: the New Magazine of Fantasy:

And finally it’s here! Fantasy Short Stories Issue 1 is finally available as an eBook! I think we’ve got an excellent selection of stories available for you here, so please do take a look. To get hold of a copy please see the links at the end of this post – at the moment just available from Smashwords and Amazon, but once the distribution channels kick-in it will be available for your Nook or iPad, iPhone, and via a variety of other eBook retailers.

Donations to Alt Hist

Mark — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:31:17 +0000

As you may know Alt Hist is currently a small publication. We publish two issues a year and are able to pay authors only a token fee of $10 for their stories. However, we would like to pay authors more – and also maybe pay our volunteers an honorarium as well for helping out. To this end you can now donate if you so wish to Alt Hist. Please use the link below or in the sidebar. Alternatively, you can contribute just by buying an issue of Alt Hist!

If/as donations come in, we will give a report of what the fund is and how this might be split out to pay authors in the future.

Alt Hist needs Volunteers

Mark — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:44:27 +0000

Would you like to help out with Alt Hist? In order to move the publication forward I am looking for volunteers to help out with the publication. Payment will be minimal – a free issue most likely – but hopefully the work will be interesting.

I am looking for help with the following:

Blogging on new books including book reviews, or general genre related posts

Proof-reading final proof of each issue

Filtering submissions for further consideration by the editor

If you think you can help with any of these things then please drop me a line at althist.editor@gmail.com

Should Alt Hist offer subscriptions – please vote in the poll

Mark — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:42:22 +0000

Naomi Novak’s Crucible of Gold published in the US

Mark — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:38:09 +0000

Crucible of Gold, the seventh book of Naomi Novak’s Temeraire series has just been published (6th March) in the US. I have only read the first book in the series so far, but I loved the premise and the execution of it – reminded me of a slightly dumbed down version of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but a great read nevertheless (sometimes dumbed down is good!) I have a special affection for historical fantasy, so the next six books of the series are in my to read eventually list!

There’s a funky trailer here:

And here’s some more information from Del Rey’s press release about the book:

Naomi Novik’s beloved series returns, with Captain Will Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire once again taking to the air against the broadsides of Napoleon’s forces and the friendly—and sometimes not-so-friendly—fire of British soldiers and politicians who continue to suspect them of divided loyalties, if not outright treason.

For Laurence and Temeraire, put out to pasture in Australia, it seems their part in the war has come to an end just when they are needed most. But perhaps they are no longer alone in this opinion. Newly allied with the powerful African empire of the Tswana, the French have occupied Spain and brought revolution and bloodshed to Brazil, threatening Britain’s last desperate hope to defeat Napoleon.

And now the government that sidelined them has decided they have the best chance at negotiating a peace with the angry Tswana, who have besieged the Portuguese royal family in Rio—and thus offer to reinstate Laurence to his former rank and seniority as a captain in the Aerial Corps. Temeraire is delighted by this sudden reversal of fortune, but Laurence is by no means sanguine, knowing from experience that personal honor and duty to one’s country do not always run on parallel tracks.

Nonetheless, the pair embark for Brazil, only to meet with a string of unmitigated disasters that force them to make an unexpected landing in the hostile territory of the Incan empire, where they face new unanticipated dangers.

Now with the success of the mission balanced on a razor’s edge, and failure looking more likely by the minute, the unexpected arrival of an old enemy will tip the scales toward ruin. Yet even in the midst of disaster, opportunity may lurk—for one bold enough to grasp it.

Alt Hist – changes to Submission Policy

Mark — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:30:05 +0000

Alt Hist’s submission policy for fiction has begun to creak a little bit. I have realized that I haven’t been clear enough about what we’re looking for. To that end I have updated the submissions policy for fiction. Here’s the new policy:

Fiction submitted:

1. Must be a short piece of fiction – under 10,000 words.
2. Must be either historical fiction, alternate history, or historical fantasy.
3. Must be a well written character based story rather than an exercise in ‘what if …’
4. Must not be simultaneously submitted to another publication.
5. Must be an original work that has not been published elsewhere.

If anyone has any questions please let me know – it will be a sure sign that I need to refine things a bit more!

Alt Hist Issue 4 – What’s Coming

Mark — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 09:08:24 +0000

I thought I would give a quick update on Alt Hist Issue 4. We now have six stories accepted for the fourth issue so we should be on track for publication in May – probably eBook publication first with print book publication to follow. The sixth story has only recently been accepted so I will be starting on getting draft copies of each story edited and typeset during March, with final changes being made during April.

I will provide some updates on exactly what’s going to be in Alt Hist Issue 4 next time!

New Historical Fiction book: The Rebel Wife: A Novel by Taylor M Polites

Mark — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:56:34 +0000

The Rebel Wife: A Novel by Taylor M Polites

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451629516
ISBN-13: 978-1451629514

Brimming with atmosphere and edgy suspense, The Rebel Wife presents a young widow trying to survive in the violent world of Reconstruction Alabama, where the old gentility masks a continuing war fueled by hatred, treachery, and still-powerful secrets.

Augusta Branson was born into antebellum Southern nobility during a time of wealth and prosperity, but now all that is gone, and she is left standing in the ashes of a broken civilization. When her scalawag husband dies suddenly of a mysterious blood plague, she must fend for herself and her young son. Slowly she begins to wake to the reality of her new life: her social standing is stained by her marriage; she is alone and unprotected in a community that is being destroyed by racial prejudice and violence; the fortune she thought she would inherit does not exist; and the deadly blood fever is spreading fast. Nothing is as she believed, everyone she knows is hiding something, and Augusta needs someone to trust. Somehow she must find the truth amid her own illusions about the past and the courage to cross the boundaries of hate, so strong, dangerous, and very close to home. Using the Southern Gothic tradition to explode literary archetypes like the chivalrous Southern gentleman, the good mammy, and the defenseless Southern belle, The Rebel Wife shatters the myths that still cling to the antebellum South and creates an unforgettable heroine for our time.

via Amazon.com: The Rebel Wife: A Novel (9781451629514): Taylor M Polites: Books.