Title: The Goddess of Fortune
Author: Andrew Blencowe
Series: Standalone Title
Genre: Historical Speculative Fiction/ Alternate History
Publisher: Hamilton Bay Publishing
Release Date: Mar 24 2014
Edition/ Formats: 1st Edition ~ Formats: eBook
& Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
What if, by the
passing of just two events, Japan and Germany had won World War 2?
The Goddess of Fortune is a work of alternative fiction in
which history is re-explored, in sometimes surprising ways:
·
Beautiful Louise, while only 24 years old, uses
her intelligence, wiles, and body to dominate the so-called "stronger
sex."
·
Kaito Sasaki of the Bank of Tokyo, inspired by
Lenin (“The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the
currency”), proves just that with his printing of U.S. 100 dollar bills.
As a work of historical fiction, Goddess reveals the private
foibles, quirks, and lusts of the famous of the period.
“I can retire, I will
go quietly. Paul can tell the world I am ill.”
Without saying a word, the host moved to the desk and
pressed a hidden electric buzzer. Four SS guards entered the room; the host
nodded. With the authority of the German Chancellor, the four lifted Goering
bodily and stood him against the cold concrete wall.
Goering’s eyes opened wide.
“You can’t be...”
Before he could finish his sentence the four had discharged
their Lugers. The corpse of the former Great War flying ace—leader of the late
Red Baron’s Flying Circus—slumped to the floor.
“Get rid of him,” the host said flatly, as if ordering one
of his favorite cream tarts.
“Bury him behind the greenhouse. Use the picks to break the
frozen ground.”
Paul and the host left, taking with them the folders.
Once back in the great room, the host said,
“What the hell was he thinking; did he not realize the
implications? With your radio work and my performances, we’ve neatly been able
to trick the world. The rest of the world wonders openmouthed at the power and
the solidarity of the German juggernaut. Damn, if the world actually knew how
frail we actually are, how brittle this spider’s web I try to hold together. Jesus.
Remember when we marched into the Rhineland in ‘36? I know those fools in the
Wehrmacht were ready to skin me alive if the democracies so much as farted. But
as the British and French did nothing, our Struggle survived to live another
day. Do you think the British are weak and as brittle as we are? Surely
not—they cannot be that frail and fragile. For one thing, they have a wonderful
ruling class. And that big moat, of course. But we have to be so, so careful.
You know, I loved Hermann, and he had so many great and redeeming features, but
perhaps it was the morphine for the shoulder. Perhaps it was the loss of his
Swedish princess. Perhaps it was... God, I don’t know. He was such a tower of
strength. Such a titan.”
Paul nodded at the host’s puerile musings. Business-like, as
always, he said,
“Well, we’ll announce that he was killed by the Resistance
while visiting France. Always good to bank some grievances, real or imagined.
If the truth ever does get out, we will simply deny it; we should be safe for
at least six months. Now regarding these files, I see absolutely no reason to
keep them or the film. Yes, of course you are correct, there are other
copies—those fucking French can be depended on to try to fuck us, but thank
goodness we found this out now and not later.”
Back in the great room, Paul fed one sheet at a time on to
the fire. Even the plain, buff-colored manila folders themselves were burnt.
The cellulose film burnt with an acrid smell and filled the great room with
lachrymose fumes. After a few minutes, all that remained was the charred steel
spool.
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Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Andrew
Blencowe discovered at an early age what it was like to live on the edge of
life. During his high school years he dropped out to become a motorcycle racer.
Smitten by computers in his early twenties, he went on to become founder and
CEO of an international software company with offices on five continents. It is
his international perspective and a drive to challenge assumptions that
influence his writing interests.
As a weekend
student of history, one point he noticed over and over was how a seemingly
trivial action had such immense consequences. Regarding this point of minute
actions, it is akin to a 1,000-ton boulder balanced precariously on a steel
knife edge; at present still, but with the smallest nudge, an army of men
cannot stop the monolith from rolling down the hill.
Another reoccurring
point was how people's time frames are always myopically short; Zhou Enlai,
when asked in the early 1970s about the significance of the French Revolution,
was reputed to have answered, "Too early to say".
This myopia is
daily becoming worse and worse as the destruction of the intellect by mobile
"telephones" accelerates. Combined with iPads and other electronic
reading devices, the ability of the human mind to think and ponder
disturbance-free is being destroyed one interruption at a time.
These are some of the main threads in
Blencowe's novels - the arrogance and massive overconfidence in the new
(blithely and wrongly considered better); the panoply of quick fixes rather
than a thoughtful analysis of the unexpected consequences of these often
dangerous modern expedients.
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