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    Jake's Monthly- Alternate History Anthology
    Jake's Monthly- Alternate History Anthology
    Jake's Monthly- Alternate History Anthology
    Ebook88 pages52 minutes

    Jake's Monthly- Alternate History Anthology

    By Jake Johnson

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Welcome to Jake's Monthly. This month's trip around the best and strangest genres has taken us to Alternate History- a popular subgenre of SciFi where history turned out differently.

    We have all sorts of flavors here, including light fantasy, steampunk, military, and Bizarro. These stories are intelligent, well-written, and overall good examples of the genre.

    So, sit down, pull up a chair, and gaze into worlds where you never did.

    We hope you enjoy your stay.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJake Johnson
    Release dateJul 7, 2012
    ISBN9781476047546
    Jake's Monthly- Alternate History Anthology
    Author

    Jake Johnson

    A seventeen-year-old freelance writer and professional editor, Jake J. Johnson is not using a pseudonym. Starting to read at any early age, he built up college-level reading comprehension on a steady diet of imaginative SF and horror before entering high school. It was around this time that he discovered a talent for writing, and, shortly thereafter, another for editing. He is rather disenchanted by novels which appear in English curricula, and much prefers newer, original stories created using recent media. For example, the interactive stories told through the video games “The Stanley Parable” and “Dear Esther”, the concept of the “light novel”, and the community-told story of “The Fear Mythos”. He much prefers looking to the future to studying the past. His favorite novel is both Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash” and Lawrence Miles' "This Town Will Never Let Us Go", and his favorite short story is Isaac Asimov’s “The Last Question”. His ultimate goal is to become an anthology and manuscript editor at ACE, ROC, TOR, or DAW. For now, he's content with gaining a hold on the world of publishing.

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      Book preview

      Jake's Monthly- Alternate History Anthology - Jake Johnson

      Jake’s Monthly

      (Part 9)

      Alternate History Anthology

      Edited by Jake Johnson

      ***

      Table of Contents

      Copyright Page

      Preface

      For Want of a Dollar by Michael A. Kechula

      All Quiet by Ross Baxter

      Wild Geese Have the Sharpest Quills by John H. Dromey

      Dark Glass by James Wymore

      The Khan’s Sword by Melissa Embry

      A Perfect Hell on Earth by Matt Mitrovich

      Heart of Fire Beneath Dresden by T. Fox Dunham

      Next Time

      About the Editor

      ***

      Copyright Page

      Published by Jake’s Monthly on Smashwords.

      All featured authors now receive their reprint rights.

      ***

      Preface

      Welcome to the ninth anthology in Jake’s Monthly. This literary voyage through the best and the weirdest genres is now reaching towards its final stretch.

      This month’s genre is Alternate History, a hard-hitting science fiction subgenre based entirely around worlds where history turned out differently. The submissions I received in the last two months were both original and unexpected, and I hope you enjoy them.

      If you don’t want some general information for these stories, I’d advise you to skip this next section.

      For Want of a Dollar is Michael Kechula’s contribution here, a story which carries his trademark Bizarro insanity. Fantasies can be made real, if you can stop your own assassination.

      All Quiet is by Ross Baxter, and it weaves originality into an old but good plot.

      Wild Geese Have the Sharpest Quills by John H. Dromey stretches Alternate History with a speculative historical tale of a man who never existed and the war he never won.

      Dark Glass is a story by the techno-writer James Wymore. It’s a supernatural conflict in a lovely steampunk setting.

      The Khan’s Sword is a story of intrigue and espionage in a royal court set in a world where Saladin never conquered Jerusalem. It was written by Melissa Embry.

      A Perfect Hell on Earth is the strange story a young man’s journey as he’s recruited in 2000 to fight a World War I which never ended. It’s by Alternate History editor Matt Mitrovich.

      Heart of Fire Beneath Dresden is by modern bard T. Fox Dunham. It’s a short, fantastical story about destruction, the magical, and a terrible cycle.

      After you’ve read those stories, stick around for Next Time, where the genre of the next collection will be revealed!

      ***

      For Want of a Dollar

      By Michael A. Kechula

      Talbot saw an intriguing ad in the morning paper: Relive the Past. Not Yours. Somebody Else’s. Call for Details.

      Disgusted with his miserable life, Talbot dialed the number.

      Past Lives Incorporated. Zero speaking.

      I’m calling about your ad, Talbot said. What does it cost to relive somebody else’s past?

      Ten thousand dollars.

      Aw, hell. I shoulda known you guys were fast-buck artists.

      I assure you, Sir, we’re a highly respected, legitimate corporation. In fact we’re listed on the New York Stock Exchange. We’re registered with the Better Business Bureau, and we sponsor a Little League team. Plus we have plenty of references from highly satisfied customers. Many are very famous people whose names you’d recognize immediately. Right now we’re having an end-of-month sale.

      Sale or no, I can’t afford thousands of dollars.

      Perhaps we can work something out. This is our slowest time of year. How about a dollar…and your soul? You’ll have the time of your life. Guaranteed, or your double your money back.

      Thirty minutes later, Talbot was in the Past Lives office.

      Whose past would you like to relive? Zero asked.

      Julius Caesar’s.

      Wonderful choice! Checking a computer printout, Zero added, Right now Caesar’s last twenty years are available. Do you mind at the end of twenty years being dispatched by multiple stab wounds at the hands of Brutus? For an additional dollar, we can arrange to make it painless."

      What happens after he stabs me?

      You’ll die, of course. But when you’re dead, we can bring you back to life for a dollar. Guaranteed. How can you lose? Wanna make a deal to relive Caesar’s last twenty years?

      Yeah.

      Good. That’ll be a dollar, plus another dollar to make your stabbing painless. As to your soul, we won’t require that today. Our soul extractors are booked solid for the next year.

      Talbot paid and signed the contract.

      When do you wanna get started? Zero asked.

      How about tonight?

      Sure. Take this pill before bedtime. It’ll put you into a deep sleep so we can transfer your brain waves and vital essences. When you wake up, you’ll be in Julius Caesar’s body. By the way, you’ll be in Cisalpine Gaul.

      Where’s that?

      It’s the ancient Roman name for the area around France and Switzerland. It’s gonna be chilly.

      Should I wear a coat to bed?

      No. You’ll wake up wearing Caesar’s winter clothes. By the way, you’re scheduled to lead Roman legions in battle tomorrow at sunrise. In case you’re not familiar with Roman history, you’re gonna whip the hell out Vercingetorix.

      Who’s he?

      "A two-bit, renegade tribal

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