Alt Hist Issue 7: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History
By Mark Lord
5/5
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About this ebook
Alt Hist returns with the seventh issue of the popular magazine of historical fiction and alternate history. This is the biggest issue of Alt Hist so far and this time we have seven wonderful short stories for you—including two parts of the popular Battalion 202 series and stories from Alt Hist favourites Priya Sharma and Andrew Knighton. If you like historical fiction, then you are sure to love this issue of Alt Hist.
Alt Hist Issue 7 features the following stories:
“The Vivisectionist's Daughter” by Jason Kahn
“Cold Flesh” by Andrew Knighton
“The Independence Day” by Pavel Nikiforovitch
“Heff in Dearborn” by Michael Fertik
“Battalion 202: The Sheep and the Goats” by Jonathan Doering
“Set Britain Ablaze” by Jonathan Doering
“The Red Vortex” by Priya Sharma
Mark Lord
Mark Lord studied Medieval Studies at the University of Birmingham and wrote his M. Phil. Thesis on Medieval Alliterative Poetry. Since then he has worked in publishing and writes historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction in his spare time.Mark is the author of the novels Hell has its Demons, The Return of the Free and numerous short stories. He is also editor of the popular Alt Hist magazine - one of the few literary magazines to focus exclusively on historical fiction and alternate history.He lives in Hertfordshire with his family.
Read more from Mark Lord
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Titles in the series (10)
Alt Hist Issue 1: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alt Hist Issue 4: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Alt Hist Issue 3: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alt Hist Issue 6: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alt Hist Issue 5: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alt Hist Issue 2: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alt Hist Issue 7: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alt Hist Issue 8: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlt Hist Issue 9: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlt Hist Issue 10: The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for Alt Hist Issue 7
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Book preview
Alt Hist Issue 7 - Mark Lord
Alt Hist Issue 7
Edited by Mark Lord
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Mark Lord on Smashwords
Published by Alt Hist Press
http://www.althistpress.co.uk
http://althistfiction.com
Copyright 2015
All fiction works and book reviews are copyright the respective authors. All other material is copyright Mark Lord.
Proofreading by Yoann Re.
Cover: Surrender of General Burgoyne by John Trumbull.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Contents
About Alt Hist
Editorial
The Vivisectionist's Daughter by Jason Kahn
Cold Flesh by Andrew Knighton
The Independence Day by Pavel Nikiforovitch
Heff in Dearborn by Michael Fertik
Battalion 202: The Sheep and the Goats by Jonathan Doering
Set Britain Ablaze by Jonathan Doering
The Red Vortex by Priya Sharma
About Alt Hist
Submissions
Fiction
1. Must be a short piece of fiction – under 10,000 words.
2. Must be 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.
Non-Fiction
Reviews and articles about historical fiction, alternate history books, genres and writers are welcome and criteria 4) and 5) above also apply.
Artwork
We would love to have your artwork to illustrate the magazine and website.
How To Submit
Visit http://althistfiction.com/submissions for details. You should expect a response to your submission within three months.
How to Get Alt Hist
Alt Hist is available in a printed format from all good booksellers and as an e-book from all the major eBook retailers. Go to http://althistfiction.com for details.
Editorial
by Mark Lord
Welcome to Alt Hist Issue 7. We have now been going for over four years and pretty much staying on our target of publishing two issues a year. The main purpose of Alt Hist is to provide a home for quality short fiction with a historical setting—be it alternate history, historical fantasy or straight historical fiction. I think that our seventh issue has some outstanding pieces of fiction.
In The Vivisectionist's Daughter
by Jason Kahn the famous physician and anatomist Andreas Vesalius comes to Istanbul. The end of Vesalius’s life is shrouded in mystery. It is reported that he died in 1564 after being shipwrecked on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Jason Kahn gives us an alternative view of the last days of Vesalius through the eyes of Qadri, a construction worker in Istanbul who rescues Vesalius’s daughter from danger and from then on finds his fate being intertwined with Vesalius himself.
Cold Flesh
by Andrew Knighton brings us a morality tale from Medieval England. Matthew Tinderfield is happy to see his neighbour, Sir William Bodray, hang for his part in a rebellion against the king. But his satisfaction turns to dismay and horror as he reaps what he has sown. Andrew has previously had other stories with a medieval setting published in Alt Hist—see Alt Hist Issue 1 and 2. Cold Flesh
neatly combines dark humour with visceral horror.
Heff in Dearborn
by Michael Fertik is an unusual tale that brings together a figure from Greek mythology and the champion of modern factory assembly lines, Henry T. Ford. Hephaistos, ancient Greek god of the forge, now living in contemporary Los Angeles recounts a key incident in his life. The incident took place in early 20th century America, when Hephaistos, disguised as a man named Heff, met Henry Ford. It was the dawn of the automobile; cars were still being made by hand. Hephaistos and Ford race their hand made cars on the famous racing beach in Daytona. Hephaistos wins handily, embarrassing Ford. Ford, secretly suspecting his opponent's real identity, decides to invent a new process, a new way of manufacture that will kill the old ways once and for all.
Independence Day
by Pavel Nikiforovitch is an alternate history set in a present day when celebration of the 4th July in America is very much a minority activity. Most Americans aren’t patriots. One man struggles to celebrate the most important day in his country’s history. The main things he has to fight against are the indifference of his own family and neighbours—in this reality, the USA barely exists as a political entity. The cover of this issue of Alt Hist pays homage to a reference in Independence Day
.
Battalion 202 returns with two new stories written by Jonathan Doering. Battalion 202, for those who haven’t read recent issues of Alt Hist, is the what-if tale of British resistance to a Nazi invasion in WW2. The first story in this issue, The Sheep and the Goats
, takes us back to Harold Storey, a local policeman in Pontefract who is forced to work with the occupying Gestapo. Will Sergeant Storey risk his own life to aid the British resistance? Set Britain Ablaze
reveals a significant part of the back-story to the Battalion 202 series through a variety of personal records of figures such as Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill and the Head of the SOE, Major General Gubbins. You can read in their own words, how these historical figures might have responded to a Nazi occupation of Britain. We anticipate that there will be another four stories in the Battalion 202 series and that will be published in the next few issues of Alt Hist, concluding with the finale in Alt Hist Issue 10.
Priya Sharma has contributed a number of stories to Alt Hist in the past. Her last story, After Mary
from Alt Hist Issue 5, was recently recognized by Ellen Datlow as one of the most notable horror stories of 2013. Her latest piece for Alt Hist, Red Vortex
, is my favourite of Priya Sharma’s stories so far. Red Vortex
is a compelling exploration into the psychology of a great figure in history. Priya paints a picture of an early life that is completely believable and fearsome. The Red Vortex
lifts the lid on the psyche of a monster.
I hope you enjoy the stories in Alt Hist Issue 7. If you have any comments about them then we would love to hear from you.
Mark Lord
Editor of Alt Hist
Email: althist.editor@gmail.com
Website: http://althistfiction.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/althist
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alt-Hist/125227137521391
The Vivisectionist’s Daughter
by Jason Kahn
Qadri spent his short lunch break eating grape leaves as he sat in the shade of one of the many statues commemorating the Sultan. He stretched out his long, muscular frame, his back against the statue’s base as he watched the multitudes pass through Istanbul’s central bazaar. Qadri had spent all morning helping build a mosque designed by the architect Sinon. It was grueling work, hauling stone and mortar, but he was strong and it paid enough for Qadri to support himself, living on his own with no family.
He watched men of all sorts from places he would never see, some tall, some short. Some dark skinned like him, some pale, walking or riding or leading strange beasts, great and small. But one man caught his eye. Garbed head to toe in the robes of the desert tribes that roamed the plains away from the city, this one strode in a slightly different manner, hips swaying, arms held almost delicately. Then he realized—it was a woman.
A woman disguised as a man? Qadri shook his head. Allah alone could unravel the mysterious workings of the minds of women.
He was about to shrug it off as another of Istanbul’s strange sights, and he had witnessed many, when he noticed a figure stalking the disguised woman. Qadri corrected himself—three figures. He frowned, recognizing them as thieves who worked for Bekesh, the local crime lord. They strolled casually but in perfect synchrony, forming a triangle as they closed in on their prey. And she was completely unaware. They would be on her as soon as she crossed the bazaar and entered one of the shaded side streets.
Qadri did not know what spurred him to motion. Perhaps it was Allah’s teaching to protect the weak, or his curiosity regarding the woman seeking to hide her identity. Perhaps it was because of his hatred for Bekesh’s minions, always seeking to extort and steal from those who lived in near poverty such as himself. Whatever the case, Qadri found himself suddenly up and moving on a swift path to intercept the woman.
He shouldered his way through the milling throng, avoiding a rearing camel and a man with chickens squawking in their cages as they swung toward his head. Qadri felt the familiar oppressive heat on the back of his neck as he waded into the press, reaching the robed figure and falling in at her side.
He spoke loudly, as if meeting a friend. Ho, Tarik, it is good to see you, cousin! Come, my sister will make us a meal that will put the Sultan’s table to shame!
Qadri reached and grabbed for her. Beneath the robes, he felt a slender arm. The muscles stiffened and she was about to stop, but he muttered quietly, Keep moving if you wish to avoid being accosted.
He heard a soft intake of breath and before she could turn her head to look, Qadri muttered again, There are three of them, thieves, and they will rob you and leave you for dead or worse if you do not follow my lead.
Qadri could almost sense her swallowing in fear. Then a short nod of her head and a gesture for him to lead on.
He pulled her along, not so rapidly as to arouse suspicion. At the periphery of his vision, Qadri made note of the thieves, who were keeping their distance now that he had intervened. But their hesitation would not last long.
Qadri’s voice proclaimed loudly as he carried on a one-sided conversation with his cousin
, all the while searching for the right opportunity. Just before they reached the other side of the bazaar, he saw it.
Four overburdened slaves carried a fat merchant on a palanquin to his right, while to his left a man pushed a cart with a cage full of tree monkeys, doubtless entertainment for some noble’s private zoo. Ahead of him several horses were being led, their eyes covered by blinders so they would not be spooked by the crowd pressing in on all