I am a huge fan of Robert Jordan (and eventually Brandon Sanderson's) amazing Wheel of Time series. It is a series which, consciously or unconsciously, much of modern fantasy owes some homage to. It has everything one might want, prophecy, madness, war, amazing magic, battle scenes, and a plot which can propel you through fourteen books and get you misty eyed at the end. Truthfully, I loved pretty much every minute I spend in the world Robert Jordan created, and I thank him for much of the work he did which inspired other authors. Now, however, Amazon has sought to bring his work to the small (very small) screen in their multi-million dollar adaptation of his series.
Does it do anything for readers or watchers? Let me offer my initial thoughts. I have, so far, only watched the first two episodes, which is what I will be basing my thoughts on. SPOILERS BELOW
In a stunning sequel to the epic alternate history novel Shattered Nation, Jeffery Brooks spins an intriguing tale of political intrigue, racial tensions, and geopolitical rivalries. I can happily say that I enjoyed this book just as much as his previous works, the first of which I reviewed in order to pave the way for this review. The book is a fascinating look at a world changed by the vortex around Atlanta in 1864 and set in the not too distant future of 1867.
As a note, there are slight spoilers for the previous installment, Shattered Nation, as I'm writing this I am assuming readers will be familiar with that book and so feel no compunction about some spoilers. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do.
So join me now as I examine a world where the United States is a shattered nation, bordering a House of the Proud.
Just recently I finished re-reading a book I picked up a few years back by fellow alternatehistory.com member Anaxagoras, otherwise known as Jeffery Evan Brooks, which is (if you haven't already guessed) an interesting take on an alternate ending for the American Civil War. Now, most Civil War novels will tend to focus on men like Robert E. Lee or Stonewall Jackson, the great commanders of the South, and even then they will largely focus on the events of 1862-63, with things like the battle of Antietam or Gettysburg and all of these become major war winning victories. This novel, does things a little differently.
Hello again readers! Here now I bring you a short and humble opinion piece. This piece has everything to do with writing a review of something on Amazon. Now personally I'm no stranger to Amazon reviews and have seen and been seen by many other inhabitants of Amazon. Though I really only browse the book and Kindle section I have noticed some trends.
The first trend I've seen is for people to give either really short positive, or really short negative reviews. This is something I personally abhor. Small barely three sentence reviews tell a casual browser nothing about the book other than that you liked or disliked it. I've seen reviews that are 500 characters that really only said, 'I liked it, the author did a good job' or on the flip side 'I hated it, the author can't write at all'. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on how unhelpful either of these reviews are.
People who are browsing the review section are generally looking for something just a bit more than tiny snippets of opinion. Most of the highest rated reviews I've read on Amazon have been ones which are at least two full paragraphs of text. They briefly illustrate why a reviewer liked or disliked a novel and explaining what they thought overall about it. Sort of like a brief mini blog review.
On the flip side of all that though, there are people who post entire blog reviews on the review section. Now from a personal perspective I don't mind this nearly as much as other people, I want deep insightful reviews which give me a look into what I'm buying, but some people merely want brief snippets of the good and bad. This is what generally makes me think the 'blog format' review on Amazon is a bad idea. Most people will skip over such long reviews it seems and simply look for shorter, less intense pieces.
These are the two extreme's that I find in the review section on Amazon. So in my own humble opinion I think people ought to try and meet somewhere in the middle.
Shorter, neat and concise reviews giving the straight up honest likes or dislikes (and importantly, reasons) of a reviewer are best. They are honest and tell people what to expect when reading the book. More importantly they generate lots of either good or bad publicity for a novel, and drawing publicity (in any form) are incredibly important to aspiring writers.
Sadly I myself am guilty of some of these very same things, and I will be working to improve upon them and write detailed, well thought out, and ultimately fair reviews in the future. So look forward to me practicing what I preach, and rightly call me out on it if you see otherwise!
Here is an image of what I consider to be a good review done by myself (unfortunately, yes there is a spelling mistake in it, but I really can't go back and fix it):
So there we go readers! Some Amazon etiquette and a mini-review of a book from me all in one! I dare say that it was a productive post! Take some time to browse my own humble reviews if you like, and remember this little piece of proper discourse on the internet when you next go to write something!
Though the title here is a bit inaccurate (I am insanely behind scheduel) and I apologize, I promise in the coming weeks I shall make up for my tardiness with many a blog post!
I suppose though I ought to get this quickfix out of the way and on with something of more substance though eh?
Now of course as everyone ought to know, Canada has a new future monarch in the form of the young Prince George (I actually had the name right btw) and he is such a cute little baby prince! Hopefully he will someday sweep another common girl off her feet and continue what seems to be a good pattern amongst the monarchy and bring in some fresh blood and establish a strong tie with the people.
He's also adorable
Many people of course took the opportunity of the hype surrounding the royal baby to bring out their rabid hatred of the royal family whether they had a legitimate point or not. I am a firm supporter of the monarchy and since many of the people who hate them seem to think that the royal family's biggest sin is either a) being a royal or b) being wealthy I can't stand the uninformed and idiotic criticism. Much of it is also hypocritical in my opinion since I saw far fewer people complaining over the media circus which was the birth of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's daughter, North West.
Long live the Queen and hail to the new born prince I say!
In other less happy news, it seems that the military take over of Egypt is going nowhere. Mind you the Muslim Brotherhood wasn't exactly a bastion of democracy and liberal values, and Morsi probably deserved to go. My greatest criticism of the military is for their brutal crackdown and rather ugly handling of the protests which have been dispersed with liberal ammounts of tear gas and bullets.
This in many ways though is like the French Revolution, there was no real power structure ready to take the place of the monarchy in France when they overthrew the king, and likewise when the protestors topples Mubarak the only group which had the political apparatus and popular support in place was the Muslim Brotherhood, who much like the National Assembly proved unpopular and were consequently overthrown. We can only hope that the military government in Egypt however, turns out nothing like the French Committee of Public Safety.
In news from around the internet and popular media I am pleased to announce that the first trailer for the new film 47 Ronin is out. Though I was a little disapointed it would not be the historical thriller about the true forty-seven ronin I had been expecting, I will admit the film looks to be the Japanese version of 300, and that could be something. It seems like it is worth watching, but here look at the trailer and decide for yourself.
Speaking of 300, the sequel, Rise of Empire continues to astound us with a lovely parade of teaser trailers which merely make me want to see it more. See for yourself!
In other news Matthew Quinn is releasing a slew of short stories right now. I've just finished his most recent story in the Afrikaner verse, Picking up Plans in Palma which I will be reviewing soon. It is a wonderful espionage thriller. Taking place in a world where a hyper-Calvinist South African federation/theocracy faces off in a cold war between a larger US it details one agents plan to pick up where his predecessor failed to obtain battle plans for a new orbital space station mounting space planes and kinetic weapons.
Its a fun read and a great universe with a fascinating alternate history!!
The World in question.
Combined with that he is doing a series of short stories centering around the ubermenshe Andrew Patel. I have yet to read these stories but I would recommend picking them up for sure! His writing was already wonderful, and thus far it is only improving.
As a final note I would like to share something my fellow blogger Korsgaard has also shared. There is an attempt ongoing right now to create a mini-series on kickstarter called The Confederation. The series deals with the question 'What if the Confederacy had won the Civil War?' Now this is of course one of the most often asked and contentious questions asked in alternate history, it is an interesting answer this project provides.
In this scenario the Confederacy is bogged down in a brutal Vietnam-esque occupation of Cuba and is fighting a guerilla war to keep a hold on the island. It follows a group of female snipers (showing the Confederation is really pressed for manpower) and former slaves as they tromp across the island in a savage war for control of the land.
It is an interesting take on a war series and an awesome bit of alternate history, I sincerely hope it gets off the ground.
This is a link to their Facebook page and website. It doesn't seem to have the support they need so I would ask that people please look into it.
Though I must note they seem to be going through some trouble right now so the project may simply be on hold. Only time will tell though.
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Well readers this caps up the 'Weekly' Word #3. I have some new posts coming up, and God willing I will keep up with the Weekly word scheduel now! Thank you for your patience and please keep on reading!
As a history enthusiast myself this information and the very odd, yet fascinating, version of history it presents is to much to pass up!
Guest blog post from Matthew Quinn of the wonderful blog The World According to Quinn, who is also the writer of many fine stories which may be found on Amazon, and should really be added to your Kindle!
The consensus of historians on the assassination of Grand VizierSokullu Mehmed Pasha on October 11, 1579 AD (or 20 Sha'ban 987 AH in the Islamic reckoning) is fairly well-known in our field. The Ottoman SultanMurad III, alienated from the vizier who had served his father and grandfather so long and ably by his motherNarbanu Sultan and Venetian-born wife Safiye Sultan, took steps to reduce the vizier's influence on government. The vizier's allies were sent to faraway positions or assassinated. Ultimately, a mentally-unstable dervish talked his way into the vizier's office and stabbed him. This kind of intrigue was fairly common in the Ottoman Empire, especially during the period known as the Sultanate of Women.
However, some recent discoveries by Miskatonic University researchers of documents thought lost forever during the civil unrest that wracked Constantinople when the Janissaries were suppressed has shed new light on the circumstances of the vizier's assassination and an incident that took place in 1571.
These documents paint a far more sinister picture of the vizier. They include accusations of dealings with agents ofSafavid Persia, with whom the vizier had counseled peace as opposed to the usual border wars, and even black magic. The documents accuse the vizier of, under the influence of an agent of Persian Shah Tahmasp I, acquiring a book of black magic from an Armenian merchant who had visited the long-vacant shrine of a corrupted Sufi order that had been destroyed by Turkish nomads not long before. The use of this book resulted in an incident in Constantinople that killed dozens of Ottoman soldiers, destroyed one war galley and forced the scuttling of a second, and caused significant damage to theBayezit II mosque.
These accusations against Sokullu are not new, but have been long dismissed as the slanders from his political enemies. However, the mosque was damaged somehow, necessitating repairs by the famed Ottoman architectMimar Sinan in 1573 and 1574. Furthermore, it is often said that converts make the best zealots. Safiye Sultan was a Catholic before she became a Muslim, while the most recent evidence suggests Narbanu was an Orthodox Greek from Corfu before her conversion. If Sokullu was involved in the dark arts, or was widely believed so, this could have provoked the ire of the Imperial women. They would not wish one so tainted to continue virtually ruling the Ottoman Empire in place of their son and husband. And the dervish orders might be willing to provide an assassin to dispose of the vizier, especially given his (tangential) connection to a Sufi order that had become warped by dark forces.
Of course, this is all just speculation. The documents describe how the soldiers killed in the incident were buried in a mass grave outside Constantinople that was given special attention by Muslim imams, Orthodox Christian priests, and even a Jewish rabbi, while the materials used by Sokullu in the incident were confiscated, burned, and abandoned in Persia. Should this mass grave or the dumping site be found, it would lend credence to the incident described in the documents.
So just why was the Grand Vizier assassinated, and is the author's theory about dark powers manifesting in Constantinople actually true? Read "The Beast of the Bosporus" on Amazon.com or onSmashwords to find out!
So despite the fact that I as yet have nothing to author up to the Kindle (yes, yes I know lame pun) I have still decided to start an Amazon account. I am currently doing very little save for reviewing books and looking for things I might review in the future.
In fact if readers had any ideas for books I could review I'd be glad to do it. Though for now I'm content to do such on my own.
I'm running through the books on my shelf for things I've read and I'm trying to give at least a short blurb to them all so I can be seen out here on the web. It's actually quite fun to do in my spare time, and it can be good practice for expanding into blog posts later on.
In the meantime readers if you want to see some of my modest reviews (including one on my least favorite book ever) please look me up as MDStien on Amazon. I'll be steadily doing more and more so keep your eyes peeled, I may just review a book you like/hate.
