Tannhäuser - Matriarchy Troops Arrive!

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I Feel Uchronic!

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Pulp of the Week - Uchronic Tales: The Horn

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COMING SOON!

Uchronic Tales: The Horn should be available for Kindle and Nook by Monday Night at the special introductory price of 99 cents! The introductory pricing on The Zeppelin will end on Friday, March 23rd, so pick up both titles while they're cheap!

The Uchronic Press is proud to announce “Uchronic Tales: The Horn,” our second release. This thrilling 17,000 word novella by W. Peter Miller has a stunning cover by the talented Mike Fyles (Amazing Spider-Man and Iron Man Noir covers) and features the Ace Insurance investigator Clark Tyler, a man that trouble seems to find. Or perhaps he is just good at finding it. This story is available now on Kindle, with Nook and all other formats to follow.

The Uchronic Press is here to serve all readers that crave action, excitement, and a bit of an edge in their pulp adventure fiction. Our stories take place in an alternate past, a Uchronic world greatly like our own, but with a dash more mystery, danger, and the macabre. Here you will find heroic adventures, outlandish science, ferocious alchemy, mystic forces, and an alternate history just slightly larger than our own.

Uchronic Tales: The Horn follows Clark Tyler, an investigator for the Ace Insurance Company, as a simple job spirals toward an Earth-shattering conclusion all set against the backdrop of the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.

What is the Horn and why do some distinctively nasty visitors want to get their hands on it? What would happen if someone decides to give it a blow? Clark is there to stop that from happening. Clark is joined in “The Horn“ by a daring aviatrix, a charming archaeologist, and a strange mercenary from Clark’s past.

Join us for the mysteries, the thrills, and the startling conclusion of…

The Horn.

The Tannhauser customs fans out there may recognize the guy riding the motorcycle on the cover - that is none other than... The Jackal! He is also briefly in The Zeppelin, but he has a much bigger role to play here, along with his two pets!

In the months ahead, danger will put Clark in middle of many Uchronic Tales. Look for stories featuring the classic days of Hollywood, earth-shattering danger, lost civilizations, and bizarre visitors from the unknown aether.

Welcome to Uchronic Tales

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Pulp Film of the Week - John Carter of Mars

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Directed by Andrew Stanton

John Carter is a sumptuous production of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, A Princess of Mars. This book started both his Mars series and his novel writing career. The book was first serialized in All Story Magazine beginning in 1912, and is one of the most successful of the scientific romance genre, as well as being an inspiration to thousands of writers and filmmakers. It is hard to judge a version of the original on its own merits as it has been copied so often. Pieces of John Carter also echo sequences from other films, most obviously the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

The beautiful city of Helium

The cast is quite good and the visual effects are gorgeous, but there seemed to be something lacking that kept the film from being a 10. I has been many years since I read the novel, but one thing is obviously different. In Burroughs' book, the Martians are nude for the most part. I guess I can forgive Disney for not putting a few hundred million into an R rated nudie SF film. That aside, the production design, costumes, and characters felt right.

Frank Frazetta's iconic A Princess of Mars painting

I loved the way the framing story was handled and I am hoping that the movie does well, because there is enormous opportunity to make the additional Mars books into movies as well as the classics of the SF and Fantasy genres. Very few have been made into films.

John Carter meets Tars Tarkus

John Carter and Deja Thoris meet

A flyer

The film is not without its faults. A big arena scene feels very much like the finale sequence of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and a chase on flyers reminded me of the pod racer sequence in The Phantom Menace - even the sound design echoed the pod racers. While John Carter is not a perfect film, I can't imagine that I will ever see a better film version of A Princess of Mars.

A wedding is planned

 Regarding the marketing of the film… I do understand why Disney chose to not call this movie A Princess of Mars. I'm sure the testing showed that boys were repelled by that title. But, the generic "John Carter" title, while letting the fans know that this is the Burroughs book, says nothing to the majority of the audience. I think they should have gone with "John Carter of Mars" (which is clearly the title the movie itself thinks it has) or even "John Carter of Earth." Either way, we'll never know if that would have helped the movie sell tickets. As of this writing, Deadline is estimating the film will have a 29 million dollar opening weekend, so it would seem that unless the word of mouth is fantastic (my audience applauded at the end) Disney stands to lose a bundle on this movie, which is a shame. Rotten Tomatoes critic score is 49% and the audience score is 72% as is common with popular cinema.

Last night I plunked down $18 for an Imax 3D screening of John Carter. I wish it would have been simply in Imax. I don't know if it was the projector alignment or what, but there was far too much ghosting. The fact that this was prevalent in the trailers as well convinces me it was the theater, not the movie itself. I also think the film may have been a bit too cutty for 3D. If I take the kids, I'll opt for 2D. The gorgeous visuals suffer somewhat from the muted brightness of the 3D process. I'll give the movie an 7.5 out of 10. It is a classic story well worth seeing.

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Tannhäuser Tuesday - Matriarchy Troops Released!

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Fantasy Flight Games has released the Matriarchy Troop Pack!

From the Press Release:

"Punish the enemies of the Matriarchy in a hail of bullets and a storm of fire with the Matriarchy Troop Pack for Tannhäuser. This expansion gives you access to the Boepripacy Soldat and the Zazigag Soldat, and these new troopers open a whole wealth of strategies for the Matriarchy. With a large boost in available firepower, the forces of the motherland grow even stronger."

"Only the most faithful soldiers of the Matriarchy are promoted to Boepripacy Soldati. Tasked with the vital mission of carrying extra ammunition into battle, these troopers use their Supplier ability to give their allies Extra Ammunition tokens. This allows the recipient of the token to make an additional attack. Furthermore, this trooper wields the deadly PPSH-42 Double Drum Carbine, a gun that throws out an overwhelming amount of shots.

"Well known for their bravery in battle, the Zazigag Soldat uses the Gnev Bogov Ognemet to bathe enemies in deadly flames. While this flamethrower has a short range, it is capable of burning multiple targets. Since these troopers are often exposed to the flames of their own weapons, they wear flameproof armor that keeps them safe. This allows the Zazigag Soldati to spread their flames and defend the motherland without remorse.

Increase your firepower with the Matriarchy Troop Pack, an expansion for Tannhäuser. These troopers allow you to field a Matriarchy force without Voïvodes for the first time, and now you’ll be able to employ new strategies to secure victory. Pick up your troopers at your local retailer or order them from our webstore."

In other news, newer players, especially Von Heizinger fans, should enjoy the re-release of Yula, a terrific addition to the Reich forces.

I Feel Uchronic!

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Pulp Film of the Week - Call of Cthulhu

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A few days after seeing The Artist I was trolling Netflix and came across "The Call of Cthulhu", a film from 2005, that I had seen in the dealer halls of several conventions. Being an old H.P. Lovecraft fan I clicked "Watch Now". Much to my surprise, I was watching my second silent film of the week.

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society Logo

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society produced the film and have also produced a film of "The Whisperer in Darkness."

In "Call of Cthulhu", Matt Froyer stars as the man compelled to follow the trail to the bizarre island of R'lyeh.in the Antarctica.  He does a passable job, but the real charm of the film is the dogged determination to make the fim look like a relic of the silent era.

Scratches, dirt, and jump cuts contribute to the effect. Director Andrew Leman also uses forced perspective, miniatures, and surreal images to enhance the mood of this 45 minute film. While "TheCall of Cthulhu" fails on several levels, the overall effect is charming.

As far as I know, this is the only film adaption of this Lovecraft work. 

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