Book Nook: Alternate History Books

During the pandemic, reading has become very popular again. Many publishing houses are reporting that they are seeing robust book sales. One genre that is really seeing an increase in sales is alternate history. This is where a historical event such as the assassination of President Kennedy, or Pearl Harbor, or the the death of Abraham Lincoln is changed and a what if, it never happened unfolds. I had a chance to interview best-selling author, Charlie Brindley. Brindley has written the highly acclaimed Seventh Calvary series, a set of alternate history fiction books. The lates in his series, The Last Mission of The Seventh Cavalry: Book Two: Finding the Soyuz Escape Capsule was just released.

 
What makes alternate history so popular?
Alternate History stories not only gives the reader a snapshot of historic events, but it also allows him or her to see what would happen if the outcome had been different.

How can alternate history novels help us learn the truth about history?
If the writer portrays the outline of the event in accordance with documented facts leading up to the event, then the reader will learn about the actual people involved in the incident as well as the political and geographic landscape.

How do you get your ideas for alternate history books?
I’m a student of ancient history and in particular the Punic Wars, specifically the second one, sometimes called Hannibal’s War.

How do you develop your characters?
In doing research on historical characters, I find there are many ancillary people contributing to the person’s success or failure. Many of these people are unnamed in the history books. I select a person close to the main character, give them a name, then create a life for them. I try to make their life historically correct for the era I’m writing about, such as clothing, food, living quarters, and social norms of the time. Often I will also give them a romantic involvement.

Why is imagination so powerful (and important) even for adults?
Without imagination a person cannot plan for the future. A cow beds down in a grassy field not realizing the sun will soon rise on a new day. If she could imagine that, she could also imagine winter is coming and food will not be growing out of the ground. So, she, having been through winter before, decides she had better plan for the months of food shortage, otherwise she will be pawing away the snow hoping to find dead grass from the previous summer.

A farmer, imagining the coming years of rain and drought, builds a barn and stores hay and grain against times of shortages.

By using his imagination, he has not only provided a future for his shortsighted cow, but also for himself and his family.

You newest book is actually the second book in a The Seventh Cavalry series, tell me about the series and the first book?
In book one, a unit of the Seventh Cavalry is on a mission over Afghanistan when their plane is hit by something. The soldiers bail out of the crippled plane, but when the thirteen men and women reach the ground, they are not in Afghanistan. Not only are they four thousand miles from their original destination but it appears they have descended two thousand years into the past where primitive forces fight each other with swords and arrows. Apparently they have dropped right into Hannibal’s army as he is on his way to the Alps to take his soldiers and elephants over the Alps and into Italy to attack the Romans. The platoon is thrown into a battle where they must choose sides quickly or die. They are swept along in a tide of events so powerful that their courage, ingenuity and weapons are tested to the limits of their durability and strength.

Book two picks up the story in the captured city of Rome. The radio operator for the Seventh, picks up a radio transmission from a Soyuz escape capsule from the International Space Station that has crashed on a mountain above Sarajevo. The two men and one woman crew are trapped on a glacier.
Sergeant Alexander and his twelve soldiers, along with three thousand warriors and boat crews, sails from Rome aboard 14 captured Roman ships. Aboard one of the large ships is the elephant Obolus.
They encounter a force of 25 Greek warships. The Greeks attack with arrows and Greek fire, then their Hoplite soldiers board the Seventh’s ships.
Using a trebuchet built by one of Seventh’s soldiers for use in Hannibal’s land battles, he sinks four of the Greek ships, then when the Seventh’s soldiers superior arms and fighting ability defeat the attacking Hoplites, the Greek fleet surrenders.
With 27 ships, the Seventh lands on the Dalmatian coast. But they must fight their way through two battles to reach the stranded astronauts. The elephant Obolus is instrumental in these victories.
After the rescue, the Seventh Fleet sails from Dalmatian toward North Africa to take Obolus and his handler, Liada, home to Valdacia.
On the Mediterranean Sea, they encounter a fierce storm that scatters the fleet. They land at Malta to repair and resupply, then sail on to Carthage, and then travel over the Atlas Mountains to Valdacia.

How have readers responded to your books?
Book one has 63 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.2 stars out of 5. Book Two
was released last week and has 2 reviews with an average of 4.5.

All 25 of my books have received many reviews over the years with an overall average of 4.3 stars.

Are you already working on a third book in the series?
I am working on book three. It will be finished in about six months.
I also have six other books in progress.

Learn more:
His website is https://www.charleybrindley.com and Amazon site is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08STJTJBL/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0