Hello,
Author of The Gothengau Colony, W. F. Logan, has committed to donating all profits from sales of his book (from 22ndto 26thAugust) in honour of Ukraine's Day of Independence on 24thAugust, to support the Ukrainian people. Profits will go to the British Red Cross charity.
Bill Logan explains, "Ukraine has the title role in my novel, The Gothengau Colony: Gothengau is what Nazi Germany called much of Ukraine in the brief period that they governed it. Konrad, the principal character of the story, is a soldier-farmer based there, together with the people who committed the Holocaust."
The author spent seven years writing his debut novel, The Gothengau Colony, for fans of sci-fi and alternate history, using computer science and graph theory, to propose an alternate WW2 timeline, setting and story ARC.
Fascinating and growing alternate-history genre
The alternate-history, WW2 fiction genre, is hugely popular, driven by growing interest in books, films, TV shows and games such as Fatherland, SS-GB, The Man in the High Castle, The Plot Against America and Castle Wolfenstein.
Premise of the book: appearances can be deceiving
The Gothengau Colony by W. F. Logan (Heart of Bruce, June 2022, paperback, ebook and audiobook) is an exploration of how misguided and dangerous it can be to judge a book by its cover - how appearances can be deceiving. Logan explains, "I had a Black grandfather, am an Israeli citizen, am the father of two Israeli soldiers - daughter in the air force and son in the reserve military - and I am disabled. None of which are apparent on first meeting me."
Long-term interest in Germany & WW2 history
Author, W. F. Logan (William), originally from Salford in the UK, has lived in Germany, Israel, Mallorca, and the Netherlands. William first became interested in WW2 history during a trip to Israel in his late teens to volunteer on a kibbutz - it was a life-changing experience. He met Holocaust survivors and was greatly moved by their first-hand accounts of horrors and near misses. After nearly a decade in Israel, including marriage, two children and a near-death injury after being hit by a car while he was standing on a pavement, William returned to Europe, then spending years living with his second wife in the old town of Heidelberg, Germany. Spared bombardment during WW2, Heidelberg retained haunting vestiges of its Nazi past. Following a visit to Castle Wewelsburg, he was inspired to apply the computer science concept of graph theory to the idea of forming associated relationships and plot points for his debut novel.
Ukraine setting
The story is set, in a large part, in Ukraine. There was a short-lived SS colony in Crimea during the war called Gothengau. Then, as now, Ukraine's geography and natural resources were key to its political appeal.
Considering a unique timeline, setting and story ARC
Unlike other well-known WW2 alternate-history novels, Logan's timeline plays out in different locations and from different vantage points. Rather than a ‘what if the UK and/or US lost the war' story set in a Nazi-occupied nation, this story offers an entirely different arc: what if there was no war with the UK? The US was neutral? And The Third Reich was able to carry out its formidable ambition to clear out populations across Eastern Europe and install legions of soldier-farmers to create a new food source, to support further expansion by the Nazis? With complicit help from King Edward VIII, whose sympathies towards Hitler and Nazi Germany are well known, and who in this timeline didn't abdicate for the love of Mrs Simpson, but rather, married the real-life German Princess Barbara of Prussia. The novel's mathematical design using graph theory results in an action-packed novel that was thoroughly researched for a close alignment with reality.
The Gothengau Colony
By W.F. Logan
"Equally entertaining and horrifying."
"A ripping yarn with a fresh take on the WW2 alternate-history genre."
"W.F.Logan's novel illustrates how history and geography are never ‘settled'."
UNIQUE ALTERNATIVE HISTORICAL WW2 FICTION FOR FANS OF GAMES SUCH AS CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN, BOOKS SUCH AS THE YIDDISH POLICEMAN'S UNION & TV SHOWS SUCH AS FATHERLAND & THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE!
When saving a life in 1946 Alabama, Amish giant Konrad took one in return and must run before the electric chair claims him. In New York, Nazi propaganda fools him into jumping on a ship to Berlin, capital of the Third Reich. In 1965, at Gothengau, an SS-run colony in Ukraine, a terrorist rocket attack on Berlin compels soldier-farmer Konrad to focus on his duty: commanding an SS convict battalion. He must flex his muscle for the armed forces or the Holocaust's perpetrators - his superiors, colleagues, and neighbours in Ukraine. Survival means playing both sides, but will the fellow German-Americans he arrived with 20 years earlier join him in his fight and in the process, trigger the dawn of a Fourth Reich?
About the Author
Originally from Salford, Greater Manchester, William spent formative years living in the Shetland Islands where his father worked on the oil terminal. The topography inspired a passion for geology that years later, William hoped to pursue while at Cambridge University. Colour-blindness proved to be an obstacle, so he switched fields and graduated with a degree in Computer Science.
A trip to Israel in his late teens to volunteer on a kibbutz proved life-changing. There he met Holocaust survivors and heard their first-hand accounts. He settled there, married, and had two
children. William was seriously injured by a car whilst standing on the pavement near his home in Israel and spent months in hospital recovering. At a crossroads, he interviewed with spy agency Mossad, and when asked to propose a possible undercover operation, he impressed them with his powerful storytelling and imagination. The life of a writer was more to his liking than a career in spycraft.
He returned to Europe and worked as a software engineer and consultant in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Mallorca. He and his second wife - a native of New York City - lived for several years in the old town centre of Heidelberg, Germany, with its haunting vestiges of its Nazi past. Following a visit to the "Nazi Castle" Wewelsburg, William was inspired to apply the computer science concept of graph theory to the idea of forming associated relationships and plot points. He left the technology sector to focus on realising his dream of writing a novel.
Whilst working on his novel, he worked as a maths tutor, taught computer coding to children, volunteered to help the elderly learn basic computer skills, and became a certified mindfulness meditation coach. He now lives in London with his New York-born wife. He speaks fluent Dutch and has a working knowledge of Hebrew and German.
ESSENTIAL DETAILS
Title:The Gothengau Colony
Author:W F Logan
Genre:Alternate History, Fiction, Counterfactual Fiction, Action & Adventure
Publisher:Heart of the Bruce
Publication date:June 2022
Availability:Paperback, eBook, International distribution
ISBNs:
(paperback) 9781739665913
Page count:264
Price:£8.99
Online:twitter.com/WFLoganAuthor
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