Upstream Reviews Presents…!
Did you miss us?
Whew! Well, I don’t know about you, but four posts in a row is a fair bit of work. And look at the news which broke while Upstream Reviews Presents! took time off. My, my, but the world does not stand still, does it?
The books and podcasts listed below will not stay still, either. If you want something new to read or a podcast worth downloading, then be sure to peruse this new list. After all, you may find something you did not expect to see and would have missed otherwise!
Alt-History
History is boring, we are often told. And yet it is filled with real-life tales that are almost unbelievable. This makes it a rich source of inspiration for writers, something the authors below recognized and ran with:
Shadow of the Crescent by Margaret Ball
Twenty-seven years after the fall of Constantinople…Caterina, Countess of San Florian, keeps a book of important things she’s learned, from poison antidotes to cosmetic recipes, from charms for toothache to ways of raising and commanding demons. Having a reasonable care for her soul, she has never actually tried demonic magic. Yet.Gian, captain of her personal guard, has an innate magical talent that does not rely on incantations, but warns him of danger and awakens him to opportunities. It makes him nervous.And Sultan Mehmed II wants one last great victory. San Florian would be an excellent base of operations for his army to attack Venice. On the run from Venice to Constantinople after the Turkish-aided takeover of San Florian, Gian and Caterina will need all their wits and every scrap of magic they can employ to escape, to survive, and to recapture their city.
1812: The Rivers of War by Eric Flint
In this alternate history of the American frontier and the Jacksonian era, a small change takes place in the Battle of the Horseshoe Bend during the War of 1812. What results is a cascade of new developments that becomes an avalanche. In our world, Ensign Sam Houston, just turned 21, led the charge on the creek barricade in that battle and almost died from a terrible wound that took him a year to recover from. In this world, his wound is minor, so he is able to continue fighting the British—and develop his close relationship with Andrew Jackson much sooner.
Along with a radical Scots-Irish immigrant in the U.S. Army, Patrick Driscoll—one of “the Men of ’98”—Houston organizes a defense of the U.S. Capitol that prevents the British from destroying it and makes him a national hero. He and Driscoll then play a central role in the defense of New Orleans under Jackson’s command. They change the course of that battle in ways that will, over time, transform the relationship between the United States, the Indian tribes of the south, and the slaves brought over from Africa.
1824: The Arkansas War by Eric Flint
The relocation of the southern Indian tribes to Oklahoma engineered by Sam Houston following the War of 1812 also swept up many black inhabitants of North America. Many of the states in the USA—free as well as slaveholding—have passed laws ordering the expulsion of black freedmen. Having nowhere else to go, they joined the migration of the southern Indian tribes and settled in Arkansas. What results by 1824 is a hybrid nation of Indians, black people, and a number of white settlers as well.
The situation is intolerable for the slaveholding states, which find a champion in Speaker of the House Henry Clay, whose longstanding ambition to become President of the United States looks to be coming to fruition. But Sam Houston and his friends and allies —the freedman Charles Ball, a former gunner for the US Navy and now a general in the Arkansas army, and the Irish revolutionary Patrick Driscol—are building a powerful army of their own in Arkansas.
The crisis is brought to a head by the election of 1824. The war that follows will be a bloody crisis of conscience, politics, economics, and military action, drawing in players from as far away as England. And for such men as outgoing president James Monroe, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, charismatic war hero Andrew Jackson, and the violent abolitionist John Brown, it is a time to change history itself.
Historical Fiction
Why alter history when you can set new characters and fictional events in the tableau of human experience? These novels take a reader to times in the past when the world as we know it was still being forged!
Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour
Here is the kind of authentically detailed epic novel that has become Louis L’Amour’s hallmark. It is the compelling story of U.S. Air Force Major Joe Mack, a man born out of time. When his experimental aircraft is forced down in Russia and he escapes a Soviet prison camp, he must call upon the ancient skills of his Indian forebears to survive the vast Siberian wilderness. Only one route lies open to Mack: the path of his ancestors, overland to the Bering Strait and across the sea to America. But in pursuit is a legendary tracker, the Yakut native Alekhin, who knows every square foot of the icy frontier—and who knows that to trap his quarry he must think like a Sioux.
The Gentle Infidel by Lawrence Schoonover (reviewed by Kirkus here)
In a turbulent and changing world where old orders are threatened by a new strength rising from the desert, a young warrior discovers a history he had long forgotten and must choose between two worlds. Lawrence Schoonover’s powerful tale of religions and cultures challenging and testing each other on the world’s greatest stage, for the highest stakes on earth.
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas [And it’s $0.99!]
A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ's robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene's robe-a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity and is set against the vividly limned background of ancient Rome. Here is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption.
Short Stories
Don’t have time to read a full-length novel? Try these short stories instead!
Pretending to Sleep: A Communist Survivor’s Short Story by Monalisa Foster (reviewed here)
Based on actual events, this short story provides a quick glimpse into life under Ceaucescu's brutal communist regime. Like so many Romanians, ten-year-old Renata lives in fear of Securitate (Ceaucescu's secret police). They don't always take you in the middle of the night. In a world where the living envy the dead, not all examples are made in the shadows. Some are made in the light of day.
The Most Expensive Alley Cat in London: A Historical Fantasy Short Story about an Urchin, a Dragonet, and a Mysterious Cat (Elfling) by Corinna Turner [Oh, look, it’s free!]
A DESPERATE URCHIN. A MYSTERIOUS STRAY. SALVATION…OR DEATH?
Young Serapia Ravena is living rough on the streets of old London, along with her dragon-like pet, Raven. Starving and desperate after a near-fatal illness, Serapia is delighted to find the meal she so desperately needs to survive—even if it’s just a skinny white alley cat. But nothing about this cat is as she expects. It may provide a very different means of deliverance—or doom.
Cecil the Combat Wombat by Kelly Grayson
He didn’t ask for cartilaginous ass plates, but military science made him a warrior. And late at night when the nightmares come of innocents killed or twerking an enemy to death in a dark tunnel, he tells himself he did it to protect the other wombats in his unit. He sucks it up, soldiers on and does his duty.
He’s Cecil the Combat Wombat, and he’s seen some shit, man.
One-Eyed Dragon by Cedar Sanderson
One-Eyed Dragon is a story of medieval Japan, a man retired from war, and the quiet village he set up shop in. When a strange woman comes to him for a tattoo, he reluctantly takes her money, and tries to unravel her mystery. Meanwhile, savage men threaten his newfound peace. Can there be friendship in exile, for a man who is so scarred and cast out?
42 Years of Summer by Karina Fabian
When we married, he promised we'd see the summer through and greet the winter together. Uranus wouldn't let him keep that promise.
On the eve of winter, Allison Hoag reminisces on her summer romance. But when summer lasts 42 years, it's a story of enduring love as they raised a family in the harsh environment of a mining station on Uranus.
Magazines
Want something you can pick up, put down, then pick up again without worrying about remembering your place? Try the stories in these magazines and see if they scratch that itch!
Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense Issue #16 / Fall 2023 [NEW!!!]
Novels
The Gold Exigency
(Part 3 of 4)
By MICHAEL TIERNEY
Conrock and Mackstar narrowly escaped the Five-Thousand Fingered Hand! Can they track down the missing Philean with help from Phaedra and her companions?!
Novelettes
Dead Men Do Tell Tales
By TEEL JAMES GLENN
A gangster with vampire thugs is on the warpath, and Dead Fred’s still-talking head may hold the key as to why! Will Ghostmaker Jack Silence get answers or the bite?!
Fossils of Truth and Grace
By E.E. KING
A young grad student staying on the Cornish coast discovers a witch’s pit! Is the mystery connected to her past? Her mother had been a guest at Trelawny Manor!
Metamorphoses at the Gate
By LYSANDER ARDEN
There is nothing quite like a Summer friendship! However, Kaz is a stranger friend than most, especially since the local cult seems to have a keen interest in him!
The Chilling Account of the Wolf-Bann of Krallenburg
By J.E. Tabor
Krallenburg is beset by a werewolf! Can witchhunter Friedrich Rosch stop the monstrous curse before the town succumbs to siege by Protestant mercenaries!?
Short Stories
The Dusk Next Door
By MARK PELLEGRINI
Every year, the children draw doodles for the Duskmen! And every year, one high-schooler must deliver them to the town of Dusk to keep them over there!
Children of Summer
By LOUISE SORENSEN
A scouting party has gone missing! Can Aedyn and Kerry find them in the bug-infested post-apocalyptic wastes, or will they too become food for giant insects?!
The Angel Hanna
By RODICA BRETIN
Alix has always been a bit odd… but her past is even stranger! An orphan tells her strange tale of friendship and loss—a story of a girl who thought she was an angel!
And much more!
Savage Realms Monthly: March 2023: A collection of dark fantasy sword and sorcery short adventure stories (Savage Realms Monthly Dark Fantasy Sword and Sorcery Adventure Magazine Book 19)
Sword and Sorcery Fans Rejoice!
Pick up the latest issue of Savage Realms Monthly and fill up on stalwart heroes doing battle with the forces of evil in this epic collection of short sword and sorcery fiction. This month brings you an exciting crop of stories, including a rousing tale from David A. Riley of a kidnapped princess and a bard determined to rescue her, a Valkyr swordswoman battling a sorcerous demon, and another tale of Ulfgar and Hanaa. Don't miss the latest issue of Savage Realms!
"Fantastic Sword and Sorcery Action!"
"I hope for a long future for this fun monthly magazine."
"If you need your fix of larger than life, sword wielding hero’s and damsels in distress, look no further!"
Fans of Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, Clark Ashton Smith, and Karl Edward Wagner will love this new fantasy fiction adventure magazine.
EconoClash Review #7: Quality Cheap Thrills
Lucky Number Seven of EconoClash Review presents nine quality cheap thrills of neo-pulp lunacy that will push the envelope of genre limitations. Themes of hard luck and ill fate weave throughout this fresh anthology featuring: time slipping lovers, day-drunk step-dads, fantastically stoned fairies, brawny tavern heroes, haunted beauty queens, underestimated female lawmen, blown-cover spies, smack fiend postmen, and even honest to God cowboys. All of them fighting to survive worlds they unwittingly created themselves.
Whether you find top notch schadenfreude to be your guilty pleasure or anonymous up-vote, the seventh issue of ECR is your lucky ticket to a world of quality cheap thrills. Read original stories by Simon Broder, J. Travis Grundon, Angelique Fawns, Matthew X. Gomez, Willow Croft, Russell W. Johnson, Scott Forbes Crawford, Kevin M. Folliard, and Mack Moyer only in EconoClash Review #7 from Down & Out Books.
StoryHack Action & Adventure, Issue Seven
StoryHack is back with another batch of thrilling stories in a variety of genres. StoryHack is a short fiction magazine heavily inspired by the great pulps of yesteryear.
Eyes as Blue as Metal
by Dominika Lein
After discovering a human upon a worn-torn planet, an alien commander is betrayed by an ambitious underling.
That Summer's Evening Long Ago
by Misha Burnett
How do you catch a criminal who uses magic to erase the memory of the item he stole?
Titan Up
by David J. West
Can a modern man rise to the challenge when a muse mystically summons him to mythic Greece to rescue her from a titan?
Song for Melienope
by Alexandru Constantin
Oswin the Magnificent and a bawdy monk find refuge from a terrible snowstorm in a mysterious lodge. However, all is not as it seems and a frozen death may have been preferable to what awaits them on this dark night.
The Berserker's Son
by Michael DeCarolis
The city of Bero is hit by a surprise attack, leaving renowned berserker Furth to choose between defending the city or fighting his way back to his wife and son.
And much more!
Non-Fiction
Tired of fiction, historical or not? Why not give these non-fiction books about history a look, then? You might find new information you didn’t know existed before:
Fighting for the United States, Executed in Britain: US Soldiers Court-Martialled in WWII by Simon Webb
This book relates a chapter of American military history which many people would rather forget. When the United States came to the aid of Britain in 1942, the arrival of American troops was greeted with unreserved enthusiasm, but unfortunately, wartime sometimes brings out the worst, as well as the best, in people. A small number of the soldiers abused the hospitality they received by committing murders and rapes against British civilians. Some of these men were hanged or shot at Shepton Mallet Prison in Somerset, which had been handed over for the use of the American armed forces.
Due to a treaty between Britain and America, those accused of such offences faced an American court martial, rather than a British civilian court, which gave rise to some curious anomalies. Although rape had not been a capital crime in Britain for over a century, it still carried the death penalty under American military law and so the last executions for rape in Britain were carried out at this time in Shepton Mallet.
Fighting For the United States, Executed in Britain tells the story of every American soldier executed in Britain during the Second World War. The majority of the executed soldiers were either black or Hispanic, reflecting the situation in the United States itself, where the ethnicity of the accused person often played a key role in both convictions and the chances of subsequently being executed.
The Fall of Japan: The Final Weeks of World War II in the Pacific by William Craig
By midsummer 1945, Japan had long since lost the war in the Pacific. The people were not told the truth, and neither was the emperor. Japanese generals, admirals, and statesmen knew, but only a handful of leaders were willing to accept defeat. Most were bent on fighting the Allies until the last Japanese soldier died and the last city burned to the ground.
Exhaustively researched and vividly told, The Fall of Japan masterfully chronicles the dramatic events that brought an end to the Pacific War and forced a once-mighty military nation to surrender unconditionally.
From the ferocious fighting on Okinawa to the all-but-impossible mission to drop the 2nd atom bomb, and from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s White House to the Tokyo bunker where tearful Japanese leaders first told the emperor the truth, William Craig captures the pivotal events of the war with spellbinding authority. The Fall of Japan brings to life both celebrated and lesser-known historical figures, including Admiral Takijiro Onishi, the brash commander who drew up the Yamamoto plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor and inspired the death cult of kamikaze pilots., This astonishing account ranks alongside Cornelius Ryan’s The Longest Day and John Toland’s The Rising Sun as a masterpiece of World War II history.
1812: The War of 1812 by Walter R. Borneman
In June 1812 the still-infant United States had the audacity to declare war on the British Empire. Fought between creaking sailing ships and armies often led by bumbling generals, the ensuing conflict featured a tit-for-tat "You burned our capital, so we'll burn yours" and a legendary battle unknowingly fought after the signing of a peace treaty.
During the course of the war, the young American navy proved its mettle as the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," sent two first-rate British frigates to the bottom, and a twenty-seven-year-old lieutenant named Oliver Hazard Perry hoisted a flag exhorting, "Don't Give Up the Ship," and chased the British from Lake Erie. By 1814, however, the United States was no longer fighting for free trade, sailors' rights, and as much of Canada as it could grab, but for its very existence as a nation. With Washington in flames, only a valiant defense at Fort McHenry saved Baltimore from a similar fate.
Here are the stories of commanding generals such as America's Henry "Granny" Dearborn, double-dealing James Wilkinson, and feisty Andrew Jackson, as well as Great Britain's gallant Sir Isaac Brock, overly cautious Sir George Prevost, and Rear Admiral George Cockburn, the man who put the torch to Washington. Here too are those inadvertently caught up in the war, from heroine farm wife Laura Secord, whom some call Canada's Paul Revere, to country doctor William Beanes, whose capture set the stage for Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner."
1812: The War That Forged a Nation presents a sweeping narrative that emphasizes the struggle's importance to America's coming-of-age as a nation. Though frequently overlooked between the American Revolution and the Civil War, the War of 1812 did indeed span half a continent -- from Mackinac Island to New Orleans, and Lake Champlain to Horseshoe Bend -- and it paved the way for the conquest of the other half.
During the War of 1812, the United States cast aside its cloak of colonial adolescence and -- with both humiliating and glorious moments -- found the fire that was to forge a nation.
Podcasts
Not up to reading at all? We still have you covered. Check out these podcasts and see if any of them sound interesting!
Sky News Australia has one:
https://www.youtube.com/@SkyNewsAustralia/podcasts
Then there is the Lord of Spirits podcast:
https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/lordofspirits
Literature Devil podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/@LiteratureDevil/podcasts
Voyage Comics and Publishing: