[QCrit] Historical Fantasy - A Magical Cold War: The Fires of India (91K words, 2nd attempt)
A MAGICAL COLD WAR: THE FIRES OF INDIA (91,300 words) is a standalone historical fantasy with series potential. The novel is tailored for readers who enjoy the alternative history themes of Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park, the intertwined political, intrigue, family and magic dramas in The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield, and the mix of speculative brinkmanship, military and geopolitical conflicts in the 2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman and retired Admiral James G. Stavridis.
The year is 1945, in an alternate history where magic is widespread and President Katharina Schroder of the Germania Republic faced the most difficult choice: dropping an atomic bomb on Soviet Russia to end WW2 and disrupt the rival British-Franco colonial empire’s perfidious schemes. In retaliation, she is nearly assassinated. She awakens after a magical surgery went wrong and now shares her mind with Allan, an astronaut from another universe who destroyed an alien portal during a war. The collapsing portal teleported both his mind and hostile alien minds to Katharina’s world.
Meanwhile a Soviet magician during his surgery becomes a host to the aliens. Secretly plotting world conquest, the aliens’ puppet partners with Chinese communists to develop a powerful magic arsenal to rival nuclear weapons.
Katharina and Allan must cooperate with their significantly different perspectives and backgrounds if they are to share the same body and survive. The pair support nationalist rebels in the Indian independence war for their own goals. Katharina seeks to defeat her two geopolitical archenemies; the Chinese backed rebels and the British-French clinging onto their colony. Allan is driven to save his new world from the aliens’ exploitation of the three-way conflict.
Simultaneously, the pair navigate a family dispute between Katharina’s human rights journalist brother and her adoptive sister, the director of the Germanian secret police. They need the brother’s public influence expertise and the sister’s network of spies to win the war in India and ensure Germania’s safety in an era of nuclear and destructive magic proliferation.
First 274 words of the first chapter:
PROLOGUE (in medias res)
August 18th, 1945, Germania Republic, Frankfurt, at the Presidential Palace
“People of Germania, I am proud to announce our long war has a light at the end of the tunnel! Our brothers, sons, and fathers will finally return home!” President Katharina Schroder of the Germania Republic excitedly raised a fist into the air. “We committed our industries to the greatest scientific gamble in history, and won!”
‘Putting up a strong public face as always, despite deeming the bomb usage to be monstrous.’ State Security Minister Ursula Richter quietly smiled while standing alongside Schroder. ‘After this, I can focus on crushing the clumsy Soviet agents operating in Germania.’
“For the communists who are listening, I await your presence at the peace talks.” Schroder smiled in a mocking tone, intended for the enemy. “If you refuse peace, we will continue to harness the unlimited power of atoms to burn your cities!”
She bowed as the crowds went ecstatic.
A voice spell interrupted Richter’s thoughts. “Sniper! West rooftop! Take cover!”
Richter’s eyes widened in horror as she rushed forward and spun up her magic director to cast a shield in front of Schroder. The thick sheets of bullet resistant glass in front of Schroder shattered from six anti-tank shells incoming from different directions.
The shells crashed through the glass and four exploded into fragments upon striking Richter’s shield. But the rest tumbled through her broken shield and into Schroder’s own shield. Richter grabbed the falling, unconscious Schroder before she hit the floor, amidst the panicked screams from the crowds.
“Stay with me, sister!” Richter cried as she held Schroder’s limp, blood covered hand.
Previous query: https://old.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1j7jm39/qcrit_historical_fantasy_a_magical_cold_war_the/
I'm not sure if I should drop the family drama stuff from the query (which used to be a central theme in my previous queries, before I significantly scaled it back to bring the Allan-alien plot into the focus).