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History & Alternate History

Queer Female Pirates Unerased From History

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Inexorable - Lesbian Pirates

Two trailblazing female pirates who shared a tender same-sex romance have been commemorated with a striking new statue. Anne Bonny and Mary Read, born in the late 18th century, have largely been erased from history by predominantly male historians – but now, they are taking their rightful place in the annals of the past. The women, who were lovers, have been immortalised by artist Amanda Cotton in a sculpture titled Inexorable. Previewed at London’s Execution Docks on 18 November, the artwork was commissioned to mark the launch of Hell Cats, a new Audible podcast that celebrates Bonny and Read’s lives … Read more

recreating the Smells of 16th Century Europe

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nose smell - pixabay

History is written, read, told — but rarely ever is it smelled. Historians and scientists across Europe have now gotten together with perfumers and museums for a unique project: to capture what Europe smelled like between the 16th and early 20th centuries. A European street today may smell like coffee, fresh-baked bread and cigarettes. But what did it smell like hundreds of years ago? As part of this three-year-long project called “Odeuropa,” the researchers want to find all the old scents of Europe — and even recreate some of this ancient smellscape: from the dry tobacco scents and the earthy … Read more

Fierce Female Warrior’s Remains Found in Peru

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Peru Warrior

Silently moving in the wilderness of the Andes mountains, ancient hunter-gatherers stalked a herd of vicuña. The hunters threw stone projectile points with ease, hitting some of the beasts and leading the rest to scatter. The vicuñas, wild ancestors of alpacas, fell and the skilled hunters — both females and males — went to examine their wins. This somewhat hypothetical account is in stark contrast to the accepted history of such hunter-gatherers: ancient men hunted big game, while women gathered herbs and plants. But a recently discovered 9,000-year-old burial of a female hunter, and analyses of other hunter burials, suggests … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Dead Letter Office – Gillian St. Kevern

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The Dead Letter Office

QSFer Gillian St. Kevern has a new MM gothic paranormal romance out: “The Dead Letter Office.” Look what the mailman dragged in… Jasper Carruthers has turned deciphering smudged addresses and avoiding conflict into a fine art. A crate from Egypt contains a problem he cannot return to sender: a mummified cat sought by a desperate thief. Failure to deliver the cat will give the Postmaster General—Jasper’s vengeful son—the excuse he needs to oust Jasper from the postal service.  Jasper’s attempts to deliver the package attract the interest of Captain Candy, an insufferable bore under the mistaken impression that Jasper tolerates … Read more

REVIEW: The Ghost of Hillcomb Hall – Joshua Ian

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The Ghost Of Hillcomb Hall - Joshua Ian

Genre: Paranormal, Historical, Romance LGBTQ+ Category: MM Gay Reviewer: Maryann Get It On Amazon About The Book England, 1910. Landscape designer Jonas Laurence arrives at the cheerless and fog enswathed Hillcomb Hall, home to the Earl of Stanley and his family, to renovate their crumbling gardens. With a great storm crashing all around, his time is at the mercy of the house’s odd and mysterious occupants. Captivated by the hauntingly attractive portrait of Lord Stanley’s ancestor, which constantly seems to watch and taunt him, Jonas’s dreams become weird and distressing. And his waking moments are consumed by the strange stories … Read more

Was This Viking Warrior Gender Fluid?

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Vikings - Pixabay

An ancient Viking warrior who was given a hero’s burial may have been “transgender, non-binary or gender fluid”, according to researchers. Three years ago, the ornately dressed remains of a high-status Viking warrior from the mid-900s were discovered alongside swords, spears and two slaughtered horses in Birka, Sweden. Following studies, it was assumed that the remains of the Viking warrior were those of a female – a finding that threw into question a once commonly-accepted view that Vikings ascribed to traditional gender roles. Now, three years on, scholars are questioning whether the remains could actually have been those of a … Read more

REVIEW: The Harvest Moon – Joshua Ian

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Harvest Moon

Genre: Paranormal, Historical, Romance, Dark LGBTQ+ Category: MM Gay Reviewer: Maryann Get It On Amazon About The Book England, 1834. On the night of a harvest moon, in the shadows of late autumn, Malcolm comes across a quaint village tucked away in the forest. It seems the perfect spot for a weary traveller to lay his head, and maybe find a little company. But there is dark magic afoot, and lots of local gossip swirls around the seductive titian-haired weaver, Daniel. All Malcolm seeks is a night’s pleasure. He never suspected he would have to worry about losing his life. … Read more

AI “resurrects” Roman Emperors

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roman emperors - Courtesy of Daniel Voshart/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ancient Roman emperors’ faces have been brought to life in digital reconstructions; the unnervingly realistic image project includes the Emperors Caligula, Nero and Hadrian, among others.  The features of these long-dead rulers have been preserved in hundreds of sculptures, but even the most detailed carvings can’t convey what these men truly looked like when they were alive. To explore that, Canadian cinematographer and virtual reality designer Daniel Voshart used machine learning — computer algorithms that learn through experience — in a neural network, a computing system processes information through hierarchies of nodes that communicate in a manner similar to neurons in a brain. In … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Ghost of Hillcomb Hall – Joshua Ian

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The Ghost Of Hillcomb Hall - Joshua Ian

QSFer Joshua Ian has a new MM historical/paranormal romance out, Darkly Enchanted Romance Book 2: “The Ghost Of Hillcomb Hall.” England, 1910. Landscape designer Jonas Laurence arrives at the cheerless and fog enswathed Hillcomb Hall, home to the Earl of Stanley and his family, to renovate their crumbling gardens. With a great storm crashing all around, his time is at the mercy of the house’s odd and mysterious occupants. Captivated by the hauntingly attractive portrait of Lord Stanley’s ancestor, which constantly seems to watch and taunt him, Jonas’s dreams become weird and distressing. And his waking moments are consumed by … Read more

REVIEW: Secrets of Milan – Edale Lane

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Secrets of Milan - Edale Lane

Genre: Alt History, Fantasy LGBTQ+ Category: Lesbian Reviewer: Devon Get It On Amazon About The Book The Night Flyer had brought Florentina and Madelena together but now threatens to drive them apart. While Florentina searches for a mysterious underworld organization that has attempted to murder the woman she loves, Maddie struggles to deal with the danger Florentina is courting. Her brother, Alessandro, has become the most prominent merchant of Milan, but the Night Flyer uncovers a secret so shocking it could destroy them all. Secrets of Milan is the second book in Edale Lane’s Night Flyer Trilogy, a tale of … Read more