Product Description
What if there never was an American Revolution? Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss and Hugo Award-winning author Harry Turtledove present readers with a rollicking adventure of an America that never was--but could have been! What if George Washington had made peace with King George? What if America was still part of the British Empire? And the Sons of Liberty were waging war against the King in the 1990s?. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (76)

Great Read For It's Purpose
This book came highly recommended to me by a friend because he knew my interest in history, alternative history, the Colonial period and the possibilities of alternate endings to the Insurrection of the colonists from the lawful Crown of England.

The book was just that. An alternative plot surrounding a series of historical events. For those that are complaining about the content on one way or another it seems obvious that they were wanting a different sort of book and in some ways so was I, but that was not the point of this book and I recognize that.

The characters of this book were very real to me and I could see the setting and the conflicts very clearly. It is easy, of you are interested in this sort of thing to get sucked into the story and the plots and sub plots that this story creates.

I loved the solution to the story and the way that the plot was tied together at the end into a cohesive ending that did not leave you with any questions. Yes, things could have been added or removed or the plot could have been different but then it would not be this book and the intent of the authors would not be honored. All in all I really liked this book and it was sort of the opening of the door to alternative history as a genre for me.

Steam Toff
The premise is that Colonists elected to maintain their British Citizenship.
This changed history somewhat: Without a revolutionary war, Europeans didn't get so riled up against their own landlords. Britain had the support of most of North America against subsequent opponents.
Progress happened slower with fewer wars.
Slavery ended 30 years earlier when the British ordered it to end.
In the present day of the story, a terrorist organization descended from southern slavers tries to rile up Americans against Britains.They don't have much luck.the only ones who take them seriously most of the time are working class irish coal miners.Read this novel if for no other reason than the alternate version of Richard Nixon.

Snoozer
Each time I sat down to read this book, I found myself nodding off. I wanted it to be a good read. I love most of Harry Turtledove's work and was optimistic about Richard Dreyfuss as an author. Man was I disappointed.

Turtledove's Best Work
In my opinion, this is my favorite book done by Turtledove period. This book should be on every Alt. History fans bookself.

Good Literature; Weaker Alternate History
Yes, it starts off slow. In fact, I had to skim large sections to keep up interest. The authors would be better afforded to dwell less on the mystery of the theft of a painting, and more on the strangeness of the society they are proposing, especially the point of divergence, which is only lightly touched upon and never fully developed. (What would cause Washington to submit to George II? I have no idea. Neither, evidently, do the authors.)

However, after the first 100 pages, it is well worth the read. Once I accepted that this book had been badly billed, and was less alternative history than a detective story with a twist, it was exceptionally well written. This is literature, with strong character development and exceptional conversational nuance. Dreyfuss and Turtledove's style is to state emotions, but in a complex and overlaying manner. The plot is also engaging, with multiple endings and surprising twists. And in the best of the genre, we truly explore what life would be like had the American Rebellion never occurred, and America never seceded from Britain. It is a world surprisingly pleasant, although not without flaws. It is simpler technologically, with a lack of awareness of basic health. Ironically, without the fight for independence, there is a deeper commitment to equality (although they haven't completely reached a utopia in that regard). And most assuredly, without that one little paragraph in a constitution that never occurred, guns are nearly unheard of in civilian matters, and deaths are far, far lower. Kind of gives a feeling of nostalgia for the good old days under King and Country. ... Read more

Product Description
Harry Turtledove was born in Los Angeles in 1949. He has taught ancient and medieval history at UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State L.A., and has published a translation of a ninth-century Byzantine chronicle, as well as several scholarly articles. He is also an award-winning full-time writer of science fiction and fantasy. His alternate history works have included several short stories and novels, including The Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; American Empire novels: Blood and Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and Ruled Britannia. He is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (64)

Mediocre, read if nothing else in front of you
My review is the same for all books of the series.Decent story, a little slow, but also one of the most annoying series becuase he repeats things over and over. Examples are that southern tobacco is way better that northern and northern smokes taste terrible. Also,this black guy was former butler who worked for this white rich lady and was taught to talk like an educated white man and details about his time there. Many more things like this, so just about anytime a soldier smokes in these books( about 100 times) you have to hear about the tobacco, etc. Each character has something told about them over and over and over and over and over, see how annoying that is.

Part 8 in a series
TL-191 has jumped the shark.At this point there's no denying it's a shadow of its former self.Settling Accounts tells the story of the Second Great War, which is so much duller than the first there's no comparison.

In this first installment, however, the main story arc manages to be interesting.Now it's long been a truism of fiction that the more interesting a story is, the more flaws we're willing to forgive.Return Engagements contains most if not all the flaws of the later SA books, but they're easier to overlook.

When we left off Featherston had launched a sneak attack on the US.It would have been a powerful cliffhanger ending had we not seen it coming from a mile away.Here we see the attacks strike home.Philly gets raided and Flora whines that there's been no declaration of war.Armstrong's barracks get hit in the leadup to a major offensive into Ohio.The US retaliates by sending a carrier to Charleston and killing Anne while she's hanging out with Strom Thurmond.Her brother takes over POV responsibilities.Characters variously react to the opening of hostilities and we end up with a bunch of front line POVs.Actually, as we did in the Great War, we have a good balance of front line and home front POVs.I'm sure we'll maintain that throughout the war . . . right?

So the Rebs attack Ohio and soon make it all the way up to the Great Lakes, cutting the US in half.Dowling, the commander, gets hauled in front of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a plot convenienve that lets Flora provide exposition of offstage developments.He holds his own because he has dirt on the congresscritters: records showing that they voted for military budget cuts before the war started, leaving his army unprepared.Now it's been established that Remembrance made the US more authoritarian than the one we know, but an elected legislature--we know the elections are legitimate, Flora and Chester have given us inside looks--is so opaque that its voting records are top secret, and can be used to blackmail the members?"Be nice to me or I'll tell your constituents where you stand on the issues!""No!Please!Anything but that!"

The Rebels used automatic rifles and the US used bolt-action.That gave theCS a faster rate of fire and cancelled out what had always been their Achilles heel, especially in an offensive campaign--their numerical disadvantage.So the Committee recommends that Congress immediately allocate funds for R&D into the US's own automatic rifles--oh no, I'm sorry.That's what someone with a brain would have done.

The CS Army holds steady on the banks of the Great Lakes and offers to renegotiate with Smith, who tells Featherston to stick it.The US launches a counteroffensive into Northern Virginia but the CS Army is ready and the front bogs down, though it remains active for a while.

Flora learns of the genocide Featherston's running against blacks and tries with very limited success to stir up moral outrage at home.The genocide continues as Pinkard goes from running a small concentration camp to running a huge one.Cincy and Scipio, in whom I lost interest years ago, have to stay one jump ahead of the genocidaires.

A physicist asks Featherston to invest research into atomic weapons and Featherston takes a pass.The Plot Convenience Committee discovers a huge mysterious War Department expenditure in Hanford, Washington and I'm sure somebody read the book without immediately knowing what it was.

Since they can't ship across their own territory the US needs to ship stuff through Canada.But they can't spare the troops to provide security and ask the Quebecois to chip in.Quebec agrees but their hearts aren't in it.Mary McTerrorist, who's been killing people on and off while being a hayseed and a housewife with nothing interesting to say, hears doors opening and blows up a train.Here she went a step too far.

Speaking of Quebec, Leonard O'Doull has rejoined the army.I'm sure he'll have something interesting to do there, right?

The Japanese attack Hawaii and sink Carsten's carrier.In the Great War the Japanese were a combatant like any other.Now they're this snake in the grass that pops up out of nowhere to launch attacks without clear motivation.Sometimes they get what they want, sometimes not; but they never, NEVER suffer negative consequences.It's really not believable.

In the end President Smith, who spent the whole book dealing with the political fallout of having let Featherston play him for the fool in the last book (a nice touch) is killed in an air raid.As the new President is sworn in, Flora grimly thinks that the US has no one who's indispensible.Her side can lose a leader, replace him, and keep coming back.She knows that won't happen should Featherston die.I wasn't sure why the book ended on this note, but it did start to resonate later on as we come to see the US mostly being led by an amorphous blob of gray men.

If I've made the story sound simplistic, it is.However, it's not without its redeeming virtues.Most of the characters are interesting most of the time, and they do add a sense of suspense to the story: the overconfidence of the Confeds, the grim persistence of the US characters, even the dogged determination of Mary McTerrorist all make it possible for me to care.Like a Shakespearean play set in some exotic location, you look forward to hearing an old story in a new way.It's easy to see where the story is going, but there's hope interesting things will happen along the way.

Alas, it's all downhill from here.

First time reading one of his books...
I've always been interested in alternate history and what-if type stories, so I thought I'd give this book a read. I really wanted to love it, but couldn't. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just ponderous and slow. And like others before me have said, the author tends to rehash some of the stuff he already said. There was even one paragraph about the Canadian postmaster that was practically a cut and paste job, and they were chapters apart! But I've heard his other books are really good, so I'll probably give him another chance.

The Reviews are more Entertaining than the Book
These books are sort of infuriating.If you get pulled into the narrative, then they become hard to put down - sort of like a bag of pistachios.

Turtledove is a formula writer.Take a war, make up a dozen or so characters, each representative of a particular group.Start from the premise that something is different about the war from actual historical events, such as it is between the US and Confederacy instead of US and Germany.Give each character an identifying characteristic, such as Jewish exclamations, propensity to sunburn.Lay out the time line, turn on the word processor and start stringing together the time line by writing ten pages or so about each of the characters.

The writing cries for an editor.This is not so much a series of novels, but one long novel that is two and a half times as long as War and Peace; each volume ends after approximately 640 pages.Turtledove makes up words, "barrel" for tank, "flabble" for complain (loosely).This can be jarring, especially his use of the word "flabble" which occurs several hundred times in this series (I counted them on my Kindle).Only the first of these books has any kind of a story arc or sense of a conclusion at the end.

Still there is something wierdly compelling if you are prone to this kind of thing.Turtledove has some real talent as a writer, and badly written as this series is, it still has some narrative force.He also has quite a bit of imagination and intelligence, every now and then he has some intriguing ideas.

If Turtledove were to take the time to read what he wrote and cut it down to a second draft, he'd probably be a good writer.If he were to spend some time polishing in addition, he'd be a very good writer.And, if he had a decent editor on top of that he could be an excellent writer.Alas, he is a writer with intelligence, talent, good ideas and a lot of energy, but his books are poorly written and overly long.

Too expensive even at $0.00
I downloaded this book to Kindle because it was one of the free offers for the month, and I thought I'd try a new author.I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it much.I normally compulsively finish books I begin, but I deleted this one from Content Manager after the first two chapters.

The storyline is that the South is fighting the North again, but this time, it is in the 1940's and the North has a Socialist President.And at least one female, single-mom, Socialist congresswoman. The story is written from the congresswoman's POV, and very much emphases intelligence and understanding over physical strength, so you'd think it would appeal to a woman, but it didn't hold my attention.I always felt as though I were reading a book, rather than slipping into another world.

I did enjoy the free download of Charlie Huston's book (Caught Stealing) and am looking forward to reading more of Huston's books. ... Read more

Product Description
Otto of Schlepsig is risking his neck as an acrobat in a third-rate circus in the middle of nowhere when news arrives that the land of Shqiperi has invited Prince Halim Eddin to become its new king. Otto doesn’t know the prince from Adam, but he does happen to look just like him–a coincidence that inspires Otto with a mad plan to assume Halim’s identity and rule in his stead. True, Shqiperi is an uncivilized backwater, but even in uncivilized backwaters kings live better than acrobats. Plus, kingship in Shqiperi comes with a harem. Rank, as they say, has its privileges.

With his friend Max, a sword-swallowing giant whose chronic cough makes every performance a potential tonsillectomy, Otto embarks on a rollicking journey filled with feats of derring-do, wondrous magic, and beautiful maidens–well, beautiful women. And that’s before he enters a royal world that is truly fantastical. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good but lacking zoom
Turtledove is always a bit hit or miss for me. It is hard to argue his mastery or his essential grasp of history. Unfortunately sometimes his books read a little like history and this book was one of those. I can pinpoint nothing bad about this book. The characterization and setting were both very good. I just found it a little too dull to read it all the way through. I gave up about halfway through the book when the main character had yet to even reach the country that he intended to hoodwink. There was a lack of momentum that gave me no inclination to keep reading or to pick up the book again once I had set it down. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did if I hadn't brought it on a trip. The humor of the book is also very dry to match the pacing. If you like a slow build up, lots of realism, and dry wit in your fantasy this book will probably serve your needs. If you require a little more action and suspense to keep you reading you may want to try one of the author's other books.

Turtledove tries something fun and it works
He's a trapeze artist for one of the worst circuses in the world, but when he sees in the newspaper that a small kingdom is looking for a king--and that their candidate looks exactly like him--Otto of Schlepsig decides to become Prince Halim Eddin and to play the role of his life. Along with sword swallower-turned aide-de-camp, Otto heads to the new nation of Shqiperi, bamboozles the general who holds actual sway, entertains the harem (with the help of a well-paid wizard and the oversized sword swallower, Max, and actually gets himself crowned.

Once officially crowned king, Otto does his best to act like a king--and not just in the bedroom. Because Shqiperi's boundaries were drawn by the major powers without much reference to the wishes of the locals or their neighbors, war threatens--and Otto goes ahead and declares war on an insulting neighbor. For a while, in fact, it looks as if he's going to war with everyone in the region.

Author Harry Turtledove takes a break from serious alternate history in a truly funny romp that may remind readers of the fantasy fiction of another era (e.g., The Mad King by Burroughs or Hope's Prisoner of Zenda. Like these books, Turtledove sets his story in a version of the Balkans during the period of the Balkan wars (1912-1913), wars which formed a major part of the lead-up to World War I. In Turtledove's world, though, magic works, dragons and wizards are forces to be recognized, and jokes about trolls hiding under bridges just might turn out to be no-so-funny or funnier than the teller had imagined.

Readers looking to take a break from fantasy that sees itself in all-to-serious terms might just find EVERY INCH A KING to be every inch a treat.

great fantasy on a smaller scale based on an alleged true event
One night after a stellar performance given by Dooger and Clark's Traveling Emporium, circus performance Otto of Schlepsig reads in the paper that the temporary ruler of Shqiperi wants the Hassockian Empire to send Prince Hallim Eddin to be their new king.Accompanying the article is a picture of the prince who could be Otto's identical twin.Not one to miss such an opportunity, Otto and his friend Jim the sword swallower head for Shqiperi.

On the trek they have to first fight off a sea serpent and a vampire which they ultimately do.When they arrive, Otto, masquerading as the prince, orders Essad Pasha to introduce him to the army.He also wants the treasury and his harem moved to his palace after he is crowned king.He shows Essad Pasha in various ways that he will not be a puppet ruler and earns respect for that.Otto shares everything with Jim but his friend worries that they will be found out and if they don't come up with a plan of escape if circumstances warrant, they will be killed.

EVERY INCH A KING is a delightful, straight forward fairy tale that will definitely enchant the audience.The main character is an anti-hero scammer and con artist, who doesn't have a mean bone in his body and would be a good ruler given the chance.Readers will adore him and hope he doesn't get himself killed.Fans of Harry Turtledove's epic alternate histories should know he is a great fantasist of smaller scale alleged events as well.

Harriet Klausner

Truth is Stranger (and funnier) than Fiction
One of the funniest books I've read for a long time.
As with his "Derlavi" and "Dettina" series, Turtledove has taken real events, moved them to a world with magic instead of technology, and changed the names and compass points. But where the "Derlavi" series which began with "Darkness Descending" was a very dark account of World War Two, and the "Dettina" series which began with "Sentry Peak" was an account of the American Civil war with a mixture of military history and whimsy, this story about a circus clown who managed to get himself crowned King of Albania is farce from beginning to end.

Because the outrageous events described in this book have been discreetly omitted from serious history books about the founding of the nation of Albania, I had not previously heard of them. However, it was not all that hard to recognise the background of the book as a pretty accurate account of the situation in the Balkans just before World War One, and it didn't take long to look them up. To my astonishment, I discovered that apart from the references to magic, dragons, etc the plot of the book appears to be essentially accurate.

When Albania broke away from the Ottoman Empire in 1913, they offered the throne to Halim Etti, a nephew of the Ottoman sultan. His photograph was published abroad, and a German clown called Otto Witte noticed that he closely resembled Etti. Witte arranged to have a telegram sent from Istanbul to the head of the Albanian army announcing the arrival of the prince. Then he set off for Albania with a sword-swallower called Max Schlepsig - some sources say Hoffman - playing the role of his aide-de-camp. The pair of imposters arrived in "borrowed" theatre costume uniforms and were saluted by the port authorities. They proceeded to Tirane, where Witte was crowned on 13 August and enjoyed the next five days by setting up a harem and declaring war on Montenegro.

I won't say any more about what really happened to avoid spoiling the book, but this is an absolute gem.

As with Turtledove's Dettina series, one of the most entertaining exercises for the reader is working out what the names mean - mostly country names in this case. Some are very easy and some quite hard. I won't give them all away, but two middle-difficulty examples to give an idea is that Macedonia is referred to as "Fyrom" and America as "Vespucciland."

Explanation: When Macedonia broke away from Yugoslavia they had to call themselves the "Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia" or FYROM to avoid upsetting the Greeks. And of course the eponymous explorer whose gave his name to the New World continents was Amerigo Vespucci ...

If you enjoy humorous fantasy stories like those of Piers Anthony, or if you have enjoyed any of Turtledove's other more whimsical pieces, you will love this book.

The most difficult art:
Being consistently funny is about the most difficult of literary feats.Turtledove manages it here without (visibly) breaking a sweat.The lowest response-meter anywhere in this one was a broad grin!

Best of all, it's based closely on real history; most of this stuff (the magic aside) actually happened.

I heartily recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (10)

A Flawed morality to teach young folks
I loved Andre Norton's novels, and Robert Heinelein's, when I was in elementary school and perhaps I learned a kind of morality from them. (It was inadequate after some further life experiences and graduate study.)

"In High Places" works as a "Young Adult" novel because it has two young adults engaging challenges.The violence is not graphic, nor is sexual activity depicted.The Science Fiction convention of "parallel timelines" based on alternate histories is well done (but it does antedate both H. Beam Piper and Andre Norton).Mr. Turtledove's narration and description are very clear and I believe at a level suited to a literate teen-ager, and a motivated or adult-aided non-literate teen could also plow through.

My quibble is the privileging of "the home timeline" (OURS) as the home of tolerance and inclusion and totally lacking in ethnocentrism or demonizing xenophobia --EXCEPT for those pesky religious characters.

Every time that Annette, the primary protagonist, considers religious people, even in ours, the most enlightened timeline, it is paired with "and they have caused a lot of trouble" and as I recall, use of biological weapons is one example of the trouble religious people have caused.

Plus the tired, old canard that as long as a person believes in Heaven, Hell, and Divine Punishment, they will never have any other moral incentive or insight.

Islam, Christianity, and an author-invented version of Christianity for an alternate timeline, are all treated with equal respect.

"Making a comfortable world for everyone" seems however,to be the only moral imperative and the only universalizable maxim in this novel's world ( or rather "set of worlds").Perhaps this is understandable for Annette, but it is never seriously called into question for the reader.

A good read for all ages, and very suitable for a post-9/11 culture, but with an ethnocentric blind spot.

Argumentum ad hominem material: I AM one of those pesky religious people!

Flat with no passion or real adventure
This third installment of Harry Turtledove's Crosstime Traffic series focuses on a young woman from a "modern" society that travels across dimensions into alternate Earths. This modern world is NOT ours, perhaps one of the other dimensions they trade with is ours. Like all the Crosstime books the hero and heroine are in their late teens and the book appears to be pointed at the young adult audience. The hero of this piece is a young man from a version of Europe that never rose out of the Dark Ages and must, in the end, find his way in the heroine's modern world.

The concept is intriguing, the twists to history are interesting but the writing is flat! There's wonderful detail but it's presented almost like a text book. I never became engaged with either of the main characters and found both more than a little annoying at times. Turtledove's books for adults, like Guns of the South, are so much better written it isn't funny. It's almost hard to believe that they are written by the same person. There's no reason why a young adult book can't be an exciting read even if it is trying to be very, very moral with good "things" for young readers to learn!

In High Places has an interesting premise and is fast read, but it falls flat for me. The characters just go through their paces, there's no passion, no excitement, no real adventure. And it's sad, it could have been so much better.

A Power Trip
In High Places (2006) is the third novel in the Crosstime Traffic series, following Curious Notions.Annette Klein has spent the past year as Khadija, a muslim girl, in an alternate timeline.She is presently living with her parents in Paris within the Kingdom of Versailles, but will soon be returning to Marseilles and then to her home timeline.She is very happy to be returning to civilization.

In this novel, Jacques is a guardsman in the service of Duke Raoul.Jacques has met the Kleins in their identity of Muhammad al-Marsawi and family and was attracted by Annette, although the robe and veil hid all but her hands and eyes.He though she was about his own age, but he couldn't really be certain.Muhammad had aroused Duke Raoul's curiosity for various reasons, including his perfect Parisian accent;now Jacques is working as a caravan guard while spying on Annette's family.

South of Grenoble, brigands ambush the caravan, taking captives and looting the pack animals.Annette reacts to a lunging attack with a Judo throw and also to the next and the next, but then somebody hits her on the side of the head and she goes down.After another blow to the head, she loses consciousness.Jacques is shot in the leg as he runs back to the Kleins and then surrenders to the brigands.

When Annette regains consciousness, she finds that Jacques is still with her on their way to Madrid.But her parents had been taken to Marseilles.Arriving in Madrid, they are both sold to the same master and follow him to a compound within the city.

That evening they are taken down to a subcellar, placed against the wall, and see a silvery box suddenly appear in the center of the chamber.Annette immediately recognizes the box as a transposition chamber and knows that the slavers have access to crosstime technology.Soon she realizes that the technology must have been acquired within her own homeline;someone in Crosstime Traffic is running the whole show.

This novel portrays the ultimate nightmare of the Crosstime Secret:rogue employees using alternate timelines to act out their own frustrated perversions.The outlaws have taken slaves from various timelines and used them like animals.Even worse, some people have paid to be treated as such slaves, abused and beaten into submission.Of course, none of the paying customers are intentionally killed, but nothing keeps the guards from killing the real slaves.

This subject is addressed in Piper's Paratime series, but never covered to this extent.The characterization is much better developed herein, particularly among the technologically primitive slaves.Also, Annette and Jacques learn much about themselves and their cultures from such close contact with both the slavers and the slaves.

One of the things that Annette learns is the need for slaves (or the equivalent) in low technology cultures.All kinds of necessary work must be done by unwilling individuals if labor saving machines are not available.Insofar as the reviewer is aware, such work was performed involuntarily in all such low technology cultures, from the Norse thralls to the Chinese peasants.Such servitude -- from indentured servants to chattel slaves -- was common into the nineteenth century and, despite all efforts to eradicate it, still occurs elsewhere in the world.

Highly recommended for Turtledove fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure and alien cultures.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Good to see
I have, for some time, been interested in the Young Adult market, considering most the stuff I've found has been some kind of Catcher-in-The-Rye wannabe, about disfunctional losers.

An earlier reviewer reminds us that Andre Norton's work, before she went to fantasy in the Witch World--when she was doing "hard" science fiction--was frankly YA, and had its young protagonists facing moral choices.This is true of her longer-lasting Star Rangers series, beginning with Starman's Son.It is also true of the Solar Queen stories, and of the less well-preserved stories she did which apparently never got out of paperback. Do I recall her doing Ace Doubles half a century ago?Still, they were all YA, and all valuable.Heinlein, up through Starship Troopers, was primarily YA and well done.

I am a great fan of Rosemary Sutcliff, the British author who built YA stories around the history of Britain, and sometimes other places.I reviewed her Sword Song at some length.

I am glad to find Turtledove's series going forward.The moral instruction of the young is a responsibility of society. How it is done shapes the future.If it is not done--that shapes the future as well.The only choice is in the content.

Turtledove emphasizes courage, willingness to sacrifice for others, and self-reliance in this story of crosstime travel gone wrong.Not only do the protagonists save themselves, they clear up a monstrous traffic in slavery.As an interesting subject,Turtledove introduces the concept of people warped enough that they would pay to be a "slave" for a period of time, or to be a slaver, or slave guard, or a high-tech conqueror of poorly-armed primitive people.These miscreants, too, are dealt with by the exertions of the two young subjects. I must say that the bad guys are bad enough that I was disappointed our two young heroes didn't manage to personally damage some of them.
The situations in which the young subjects of the story find themselves are made clear enough that the reader will be asking, "What would I do?", a very valuable question.

The Romans told each other the story of Horatius at The Bridge for a thousand years.Why? Should we be interested in the stories we tell each other, and our children?

That having been said, both of my favorite YA authors (Norton and Sutcliff)had far better style than Turtledove.His ROA (really old adult) novels are lively, entertaining, and the reading itself is a pleasure.This story shows signs of having been done as a self-imposed duty.I hope he can bring more of his talent to future work in this area.

Strongest installment yet in Crosstime Series
Disguised as Moslem traders from Marsailles, Khadija and her parents are actually crosstime traders--buying the stuff that lets the home timeline prosper. They're exploring a world where the black plague lasted longer and killed more people than in the home timeline--a world where Europe was so depopulated that Moslem invaders reconquered Spain, moved further into the Balkans and Southern Europe, and even defeated most of France than in our own history. In this alternate world, a holy man proclaimed himself to be Henri, God's second (and more important) son.

When Khadija and a young caravan guard, Jacques, are taken captive and enslaved, Khadija hopes that Crosstime will rescue her. A lifetime of slavery seems like a nightmare. But that nightmare pales compared to the reality she faces. She and Jacques are purchased not by locals, but by rogue elements of the home timeline--elements with illegal access to the transportation chambers that allow Crosstime to move goods and people across the multiple dimensions of history. Khadija and Jacques are slaves in an alternate reality unexplored by Crosstime--and held captive by people who get their jollies out of owning slaves--and killing anyone who gives them trouble.

Author Harry Turtledove continues his Crosstime saga with the strongest story yet in this young adult-oriented series. Although the movement between two alternate realities, and the limited access Khadija and Jacques have in the slave-world allow Turtledove to do less exploration of the differences that small changes in history might make, Turtledove deals with real moral issues and human problems.

Young readers, in particular, will enjoy seeing Khadija planning her escape--and respect her fears that Crosstime itself must be infiltrated. I found Khadija's escape plan to be a bit simplistic and unbelievable, but that didn't keep IN HIGH PLACES from offering an intriguing look at alternate history. ... Read more

Product Description
AMERICAN EMPIRE: BOOK TWO

In this spectacular, thought-provoking epic of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has created an unparalleled vision of social upheaval, war, and cutthroat politics in a world very much like our own—but with dramatic differences.

It is 1924—a time of rebuilding, from the slow reconstruction of Washington’s most honored monuments to the reclamation of devastated cities in Europe and Canada. In the United States, the Socialist Party, led by Hosea Blackford, battles Calvin Coolidge to hold on to the Powell House in Philadelphia. And it seems as if the Socialists can do no wrong, for the stock market soars and America enjoys prosperity unknown in a half century. But as old names like Custer and Roosevelt fade into history, a new generation faces new uncertainties.

The Confederate States, victorious in the War of Secession and in the Second Mexican War but at last tasting defeat in the Great War, suffer poverty and natural calamity. The Freedom Party promises new strength and pride. But if its chief seizes the reins of power, he may prove a dangerous enemy for the hated U.S.A. Yet the United States take little note. Sharing world domination with Germany, they consider events in the Confederacy of little consequence.

As the 1920s end, calamity casts a pall across the continent. With civil war raging in Mexico, terrorist uprisings threatening U.S. control in Canada, and an explosion of violence in Utah, the United States are rocked by uncertainty.

In a world of occupiers and the occupied, of simmering hatreds, shattered lives, and pent-up violence, the center can no longer hold. And for a powerful nation, the ultimate shock will come when a fleet of foreign aircraft rain death and destruction upon one of the great cities of the United States. . . .


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (59)

Mediocre, read if nothing else in front of you
My review is the same for all books of the series.Decent story, a little slow, but also one of the most annoying series becuase he repeats things over and over. Examples are that southern tobacco is way better that northern and northern smokes taste terrible. Also,this black guy was former butler who worked for this white rich lady and was taught to talk like an educated white man and details about his time there. Many more things like this, so just about anytime a soldier smokes in these books( about 100 times) you have to hear about the tobacco, etc. Each character has something told about them over and over and over and over and over, see how annoying that is.

Part 6 in a series
This is another one I want to give a 3.5.Unlike B&I, it just doesn't seem to be trying very hard, so I'm lowballing it.If you've followed the series from the beginning, by now you'll notice a dropoff in quality.We're far from hitting rock bottom, though.

Of all the novels, this one tries to cover the most time--nine years.It feels quite breakneck as a result.It's got a few good story arcs but it's mostly character driven.It's like "We've got a lull in the action, let's chat with our friends the characters to pass the time."Most of the character arcs are not interesting, but I'll give you the highlights.

Reggie gets killed by Freedomite street thugs.He's replaced by Clarence Potter, who, when he's not loving Anne Colleton, becomes an anti-Freedomite street thug.

Hip also becomes a POV here--He was boring as a bit player and he'll be even duller here, until his shocking downfall in The Grapple.(Stupid Grapple.)

Lucien loses his beloved wife.Those scenes are poignant; he'd been so happy, too.

Mary McGregor debuts as a POV.She's going to be a stupid nasty terrorist but first we have to watch her grow up.Turtledove does not write children as POVs well and young Mary is some of his worst work in that area.

Freed of Custer, Dowling commands the US garrison in Utah.We get to watch some fishy dealings develop, and they have repercussions later on.

Pinkard volunteers to prop up the Mexican emperor in a civil war and begins a career as a jailer.And oh does he become a jailer by the time we're finished with him!

Sylvia tries to write a book and becomes bunk-buddies with Ernest Hemingway.

Flora marries Hosea Blackford, has his son, and becomes First Lady.It's a pointless development since she was already positioned to cover Philadelphia's halls of power, and is just another chemistry-free marriage.

Nellie Semphroch loses her husband.I always liked Hal Jacobs, even though I thought the marriage was pointless and the baby really stupid.He's the only smoker out of the zillions who appear in this series ever to suffer the health consequences (and we'll certainly have more to say about smoking in Settling Accounts!) and he never once smoked onstage until he started hacking up his lungs and declared "I've smoked for sixty years!"Then he gets diagnosed with a rare cancer and says "Hmm, wonder why" and dies.It was an undignified ending for one of my favorite bit players.

Morrell gets a visit from Hitler.Hitler goes on some rant about how the international Jewish conspiracy cut the hot water during his shower that morning, and after he leaves a Jewish bit player tells Morrell "He reminds me of Featherston."That way, in case you're behind the curve, you can say "Wait, so that must mean that Featherston should remind me of . . . Hitler! Wow!"

There are other character developments but they're too boring to mention.

The story progresses like this: Sinclair's second term is a time of soaring capitalist success due to economic deregulation.Now Sinclair was just this side of a Marxist.Eugene Debs, Seymour Stedman--These people were radical leftists.So were Flora and her old Lower East Side cronies.Now it's natural for a party to move into the center once they take power.But Sinclair, a radical, moved so far to the right on economic policy, he became Calvin Coolidge!He was so capitalistic by the end that it was probably his idea to reprint the SA books as "trade paperbacks" that cost twice as much as mass market editions.

Flora revisits the old ward office on Election Night and her old Socialist cronies are giving each other stock tips.Rather than point out how bizarre this is for real, we just get what's supposed to be comic relief.The transformation of this party from a radical element to a centrist party is way too abrupt.It makes sense that it could happen over several election cycles, but here it was nearly instantaneous.

Oh, and when Sinclair beat Roosevelt in '20, his economic policy was popular and his foreign policy was not.So of course he chucks the popular one and pursues the unpopular one.

Blackford, who was supposed to be the moderate who'd rein Sinclair in, succeeds Sinclair in '28 and economic policy shifts to the left, to about Herbert Hoover territory.But then a depression hits and because these "socialists" haven't been building a safety net, the effect is disastrous.It hits not because of a stock market crash but because Russia defaulted a loan to Austria-Hungary or something stupid like that.See?See?Not everything is following the historical script exactly!

Then the US catches Japan smuggling weapons to the Canadian resistance, not that Japan has any reason to do so.A war starts but because the US has let its navy go to pot it's mostly a phony war, except for an air raid on LA.Blackford gets voted out in favor of Coolidge, but Coolidge dies and Hoover succeeds Blackford instead.

The depression in the US spreads to the CS.Everyone is poor and out of work and that frustration that Featherston had fed off of is back.He reemerges on the political scene and is elected President of the Confederate States in 1933.In the final scene of the book, he takes the oath of office and stands there, quietly satisfied, as he contemplates the opportunity he now has to make good on the hatreds that have been eating away at him for fifteen years.This understated ending is far more frightening than if he were crowing in triumph.Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is that it left me contemplating this terrifying image for a whole year.Now that's how you end a book!

An otherwise indifferent book.

History's fabric gets warped again
Once again, Harry Turtledove takes the fabric of history and twists it into a new shape.With a mixture of fictional and historical characters, he takes us through the rest of the 1920's and into the 1930's.He's not afraid to knock off a character or two along the way as well, thus opening up new storylines along the way.He truly is the master of alternate history!

its a good book
this is my 16 year old son's review.he loves history and really enjoys this series of books.

His review:

i found the book to be slow in the beginning and it stays stagnant yet interesting though out much of the book.

however, things get really exciting in the end.

Gearing up for the next war
This is the second volume of Turtledove's AMERICAN EMPIRE trilogy, and the sixth book in the eleven-book series that began with How Few Remain.

This book picks up where American Empire: Blood & Iron left off - right at the end of 1925.Early on, a well-liked character who survived the Great War suffers an untimely death at the hands of the Freedom Party in the CSA - Turtledove's group of political dimwits patterned after the Nazis.(Hitler won't come to power in this storyline, since Germany and her U.S. ally were victorious over Great Britain, France, Russia and the Confederate States in Turtledove's fictitious account of WWI.)

A significant event in our own actual history comes to pass in this alternate history timeline - the stock market crash of 1929.In this case, though, it's ~crashes~ since the markets in the USA and CSA both take a nosedive.The resulting Great Depression only adds to the lure of the Freedom Party for people down on their luck - just like the actual Depression in Germany gained support for the Nazis.

This installment winds up with the dreaded certainty of Jake Featherston winning the CSA presidential election of 1933, and ends on March 4, 1934 as he takes the oath of office.This will, of course, set events in motion shown in the next book, American Empire: The Victorious Opposition (American Empire), which will lead to the second Great War on the North American continent during the 20th Century - ending with the four-book SETTLING ACCOUNTS series.Many of the characters from the Great War trilogy are getting long in the tooth by this time, and it'll be up to their sons and daughters to try to live through the horrors of another war.
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Product Description
In Videssos the city, tribune Marcus Scaurus was bored. The legion that had been magically transported to this strange world was far away. But the Emperor's niece Alypia was near -- and willing.
When their secret trysts were betrayed, Emperor Thorisin Gavras was forced to condemn Marcus as a traitor -- but with a promise of freedom and Alypia, if he could reclaim a rebel province from a fanatic usurper, with no military aid. With only centurion Gaius Philippus, Marcus set out to try the seemingly impossible task.
But the fates conspired against them, driving them further westward, into the innermost sanctum of Videssos' great enemy Yezd -- and toward the torture chambers of the evil, deathless wizard-prince Avshar.
But behind them, without orders, the men of the legion were on the march!
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Customer Reviews (8)

Good
This fourth book of the Videssos Cycle concludes the best series that Harry Turtledove every wrote.The books are great because the characters for once are three dimensional and Dr.Turtledove manages to wrap up all the loose ends quite nicely.I wish he would return to Videssos and stop with his grand alternate World War series that just seems to get worse and worse.

Overall-Read this book

Awesome!
Harry Turtledove wraps up what may be his best series ever written in this, the fourth book of the Videssos Cycle. It is a classic tale of good and evil, light and darkness. Dr Turtledove brings to life the medieval Byzantine Empire in a fantasy world through his Videssos. As a lover of Byzantium, I have had few good fiction works to read about it. Dr Turtledove gives us a brilliant picture of this fabled-yet-neglected city in all his Eastern Roman works. He should be commended highly for bringing to the forefront this forgotten city.

One of the best fantasy books...
A great fantasy story by one of the genre's finest masters. The story is fast paced, intriguing, full of interesting twists. A Roman legion and a Barbarian army unit are magically transformed into an alien world where Magic is a common thing. The legioneers try to blend in with the locals while preserving their own culture at the same time.

Five Stars is Not Enough
Harry Turtledove has said that his life was shaped and molded by reading "Lest Darkness Fall" by L. Sprague De Camp. To my mind this firstseries by the master of alternate history is a time travel book basedloosely upon that previous classic. Elements of one of Caesar's legions aretransported forward in time to the Byzantine Empire. Only it's not theByzantine Empire, it's the Videssos Empire in another universe where magicworks. Aside from that, it's the Byzantine Empire written by a Byzantinehistorian. Aside from just surviving, the hero must prevent his newhomeland from being overrun by barbarians "Lest Darkness Fall".For this reason I consider this the best time travel series to a fictitiousuniverse ever written, as well as the best series about a Roman Legion. Itis a must read for anyone interested in the Roman Empire, the ByzantineEmpire, or time travel.

One of the many things which make this seriesinteresting is that the heroes are from Caesar's Rome. Rome is youngenergetic vibrant and, most of all, expanding at this time. They aretransported to the Byzantine/Videssos Empire while it is in a period ofdecline. (If it were the real Byzantine Empire, it would be the finaldecline, but we can still hope for a revival of the Videssos Empire.) Thedecadence brought by a thousand years of Empire is sharply contrasted withthe vibrant patriotism of our heroes who remain unknowing that this is thedestiny of their empire too.

This isn't just a military book where thelegion moves from battle to battle. This is a much more realistic andcomplete world where the hero is thrust into the middle of court politics,and has to fight to overcome the shear inertia of the Empire's slidetowards collapse. The hero spends more time facing corruption, politicalintrigue, distrustful monarchs, intolerant monks, and tax collectors thanhe does facing mounted cavalry units.

I don't want to repeat theexcellent review about the warfare in this series written by Robert, 12 MAR99, under "The Misplaced Legion" (Videssos Cycle, Book 1). Iwould like to add though, that this is not a series about a general. Thisis not a David Drake/S.M. Sterling series about Belisarius. As Robertpoints out, the hero of this series stands in the middle of the battles,and seldom knows more of what's going on than immediately to his left andright. The battles themselves are mostly standup fights where two sideshack at each other. This is really much more realistic though. Mostbattles, especially in the Roman era, were fought this way. Even thoughnowadays it seems like every book we read is about Belisarius, brilliantgenerals with innovative battlefield ideas come along only once in athousand years or so. Most battles are fought without them.

"TheMisplaced Legion" (Videssos Cycle, Book 1) is followed by "AnEmperor for the Legion" (The Videssos Cycle Book, 2), "The Legionof Videssos" (Videssos Cycle, Book 3), and "Swords of theLegion" (Videssos Cycle, Book 4). There are two prequel series aboutVidessos. The first is the Tale of Krispos series, beginning with"Krispos Rising." This is actually a two book story, which isexcellent, and a third follow on novel which is very good. The otherprequel, The Time of Troubles series, begins with "The StolenThrone". This series is entertaining, but not really as good as thefirst two series.

Although there are ten other books about Videssos,there can never be enough. And there are only four books about theMisplaced Legion. There needs to be a sequel series not another prequel.Perhaps "Legion of Videssos: Next Generation" where Marcus's son,born and raised in Videssos, can become Emperor, with Dad and his Legionhelping out of course. This could lead to a new golden age for Videssos,and maybe even . . .

Excellent just excellent ( if only it was in hard cover)
The videssos series ratesin my top 3 series along with drizzt stories and Tom Clancys books.I like the fact that magic is incorporated into the story as opposed to the story being written around the magic. many diversecharacters and the interaction of those characters has u excited onemoment, sad the next, and laughing the next. All around EXCELLENT :))) ... Read more

Product Description
During World War II, three of the world's deadliest foes are forced to join efforts to save the planet from aliens, but Earth might be completely destroyed in order to win the war, in the conclusion of the Worldwar series. Original." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

A Memorable Swansong...
Funny thing with Harry Turtledove is that you think him dull at first, but he grows on you. Maybe this is because he isn't glib or necessarily eloquent, but he has a memory the size of L.A. - the sheer volume of information & research he crams in, as well as the evolutionary characterizations make for an addictive combination.

This ending volume has lost the interesting characters in the form of Jens Larssen & Teerts, but still the others bring home the bacon. There are several new threads which lead the story in new ways. As an example, there is the Lodz storyline, which culminates in an action which could only have come about in this timeline - a German, a Jew & a Russian united against a common enemy.

There is also the story of Ussmak - the rebellious Lizard, who ends up facing the dilemmas of Soviet Justice, and there is also Atvar, who becomes astute at Realpolitik, in a way that seemed impossible before.

I would tell you more yarns from the book - e.g. those of Molotov, Liu Han & the British - but I don't want you knowing all his secrets! All that needs saying is that Turtledove is the master of alternate history, and takes the plot in realistic yet surprising directions.
And the best thing? This series can be started from any stage, which may make the beginning slow, but means this book can be approached by anyone (as long as you are OK with sexual content...)

Whoever wins, we lose
Much of the book is really more of the same that we've seen from the last two issues... the adventures of the dozen or so characters who've as of yet survived.There's starting to be a lot of repetition, as in book two and three, bashing us over the head with the same old s-word (example, "ZOMFG I love the emperor," Lizard casts his eyes down at mention of the sovereign."By the emperor"---Lizard casts his eyes down at the mention of the Emperor---"I do say that I love the Emperor"---Lizard casts his eyes down at the mention of the Emperor---"too.")

Even by the end of the book, the war is over and yet we have over a hundred pages left.Aside from the last bit of journey with Heinrich Jager and Ludmila Gorbunova and Mordechai Anielewicz hunting down Otto Skorzeny in Lodz as he tries to detonate another atomic bomb, it's really more and more of the exact same descriptions, especially of the ambassadors at the peace conference---Molotov has a face made of stone, von Ribbentrop is a fat blustering idiot, Shigenori Togo is logical and boring, the American and English ambassadors are the voices of reason, Cairo is hot, Cairo is hot, Cairo is effing hot.

Turtledove also either has little understanding of Nazi Germany, or he disregards the fact that even Hitler and his associates are still humans, or he simply is racist against Germans, or he is simply so biased against Nazis that he lets it interfere with his story.Even branching into the first book of the Colonization series, anytime something bad and stupid happens, it almost becomes like that Family Guy episode with the gag "Who else but Quagmire?"---it becomes like a "OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!", and "Who else but Hitler?""He's Hiiitler, Hiiitler", "Giggity giggity giggity giggity let's have war!"

According to Turtledove's depictions, Hitler is fully willing to have the Lizards exterminate all of Germany without being able to put up much of a fight, Nazi Germany is so utterly stupid, Nazi Germany refuses to make peace with the Lizards even if they are utterly destroyed.The fact is that while in the late part of the REAL war Hitler was fully willing to destroy Germany just to destroy the Soviet and Allied attacks, he was only willing to do so BECAUSE he had the CAPABILITY of making good on those threats, AND because the very EXISTENCE of the Reich was at stake.

Here, not only are the Germans incapable of fending off a CONCENTRATED Lizard attack (should peace be made with the rest of the nations, the Lizards could focus ALL of their war on Germany), but if they make peace, THE REICH WILL LIVE ON!So there is NO REASON at all for Hitler to risk exterminating his entire Aryan ideal just to irritate the Lizards.Hitler was an evil genius and a brutal person, but he was not a stupid effing idiot.

In the end though, who really wins the war?The Lizards are basically given HALF the world's surface.HALF.ALL of South America, ALL of Africa, a lot of Asia including India and the Middle East, Poland, ALL of Australia, including New Zealand and Oceania, Indonesia, Central America, etcetera.This leaves pretty much only America, Germany, Russia, Britain, China, and Japan as the only independent and free countries of the world.We lost.Big time.


I plan on reading on to the end of this series, but thus far Turtledove's storytelling skills are starting to not make up for his really lazy, monotonous writing and totally outrageous and in some cases downright retarded characterizations of real people.Alternate history doesn't mean outright fantasy---just because things have changed doesn't mean Person A becomes Person B without any journey in between.

To Every Beginning...an End (Until the next trilogy)
Both the United States and Germany have learned how to make atomic bombs on their own as Worldwar: Striking the Balance, the fourth and concluding volume of Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series, opens. And the Soviet Union is frantically trying to develop the technology. This new development complicates the situation for the reptilian invaders who have interrupted World War II. Their colonization fleet will arrive in 20 years, and they don't want the Earth turned into a radioactive wasteland. Thus, they're reluctant to use their own nuclear weapons for more than retaliation. On the other hand, the speed of innovation among the humans frightens them. While their technology is vastly superior now, if their conquest isn't complete by the time the colonization ship arrives, they believe humans could surpass them technologically and even threaten their other worlds.

But while the humans are doing much better in the war than previously, they still are at a disadvantage. And the alliances between the formerly warring nations are strained at best, particularly in the areas where Germans and Soviets are forced to cooperate (and when the Jews in Poland and Palestine must choose between hurting the invaders and fighting their former oppressors).

Even in the United States and Germany, the rate of production of the atomic weapons proceeds very slowly. But the attacks against the invaders are frequent enough that the alien leaders begin to seriously consider another way to settle the war.

Turtledove continues to follow his large cast of characters, both human and alien, through their many adventures. On this scale, there is much of interest happening. Many characters, especially in Europe, have their loyalties tested repeatedly, despite the dangers of acting morally but in defiance of the potential retributions of their governments. The odd and interesting relationships built earlier in the series often play important roles in this final volume. And interestingly, Turtledove twists some of the characters around, turning sympathetic figures from the earlier books into villains here, and a few unlikeable ones into heroes.

From a macroscopic view, however, the final novel is less satisfying. As with Volume 2, the overall plot moves little until near the end of the novel. The resolution makes sense as the only one possible, but the world that exists at the end of the novel seems much more interesting than the war that created it. This would be less a problem if not for the massive length of this series. But while Turtledove handles the war details and the political maneuvering with intelligence, he leaves readers with unanswered questions that are much more interesting than the original premise. It's glaring enough to make readers wonder why he spent all the time reaching this point.

That's not to say the series isn't worth reading, however. Turtledove effectively and realistically deals with the questions he does start with, and it's an entertaining and thoughtful exploration.

I really hate to suggest such things, especially at the end of a long series. But I think if Turtledove followed up his closing idea, he'd have something much more significant than this.

Decent ending to the first half of this marathon series
There is a lot of repetition in these books, and by the fourth book, there is no doubt that it subtracts from the overall quality for those of us who have been following the series all along.It is almost like the oldtime Flash Gordon serials, because at the beginning of each new episode, you have to go thru a recap of the last few episodes, otherwise newcomers would be somewhat lost.

I give this fourth book in the series 3.5 stars (rounded down to 3), as there just isn't enough unique material in this fourth book.

A lot more of the main characters get bumped off in this book, and two of them happened to have been my favorites - but, this is a book about a deadly war, and if characters weren't dying off, it wouldn't be believable.

I'm now moving on to the 2nd part of this Marathon series, with COLONIZATION: SECOND CONTACT.I'm hoping to find some new favorite characters.

Ending and Beginning
Turtledove continues to maintain interest in the final book of the first subseries of World War.It is a satisfactory ending, and beginning.The plotlines are neatly wrapped up, with a number of shockers.But not too neatly wrapped up- there is a lot of room to see how the two species will develop next to each other.

It is most enjoyable to see the development of history along parallel lines.After all, this is the purpose of alternative history books.We learn more about history by contemplating what might have been, and therefore learn what could be.Turtledove does this very well, showing how the major powers of WWII might have responded to an alien attack.He does this precisely and accurately, not simply using the 1940's as background to his real story, but trying to truly predict what might have been, based on what was- the facts and people on the ground.And so the ending is really very realistic- what we would expect from an advanced species attacking earth, but a species that has a much slower cultural evolution than do we.

It is a bit depressing to see so many cities destroyed by nuclear warfare- especially a good number of cities I've lived in.This detracts a little from the enjoyment of the work.But I am eager to begin reading the next subseries. ... Read more

Product Description
AMERICAN EMPIRE: BOOK ONE

Twice in the last century, brutal war erupted between the United States and the Confederacy. Then, after a generation of relative peace, The Great War exploded worldwide. As the conflict engulfed Europe, the C.S.A. backed the Allies, while the U.S. found its own ally in Imperial Germany. The Confederate States, France, and England all fell. Russia self-destructed, and the Japanese, seeing that the cause was lost, retired to fight another day.

The Great War has ended, and an uneasy peace reigns around most of the world. But nowhere is the peace more fragile than on the continent of North America, where bitter enemies share a single landmass and two long, bloody borders.

In the North, proud Canadian nationalists try to resist the colonial power of the United States. In the South, the once-mighty Confederate States have been pounded into poverty and merciless inflation. U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt refuses to return to pre-war borders. The scars of the past will not soon be healed. The time is right for madmen, demagogues, and terrorists.

At this crucial moment in history, with Socialists rising to power in the U.S. under the leadership of presidential candidate Upton Sinclair, a dangerous fanatic is on the rise in the Confederacy, preaching a message of hate. And in Canada another man--a simple farmer--has a nefarious plan: to assassinate the greatest U.S. war hero, General George Armstrong Custer.

With tension on the seas high, and an army of Marxist Negroes lurking in the swamplands of the Deep South, more than enough people are eager to return the world to war. Harry Turtledove sends his sprawling cast of men and women--wielding their own faiths, persuasions, and private demons--into the troubled times between the wars.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (82)

Mediocre, read if nothing else in front of you
My review is the same for all books of the series.Decent story, a little slow, but also one of the most annoying series becuase he repeats things over and over. Examples are that southern tobacco is way better that northern and northern smokes taste terrible. Also,this black guy was former butler who worked for this white rich lady and was taught to talk like an educated white man and details about his time there. Many more things like this, so just about anytime a soldier smokes in these books( about 100 times) you have to hear about the tobacco, etc. Each character has something told about them over and over and over and over and over, see how annoying that is.

Poltitical Fiction inside Literary Science Fiction
This is the first Turtledove book I have read. From the title, I thought it was about Germany and Bismark. Its not surprising that in the pages of this epoc, the author can squeeze in all the trite generalizations that have drizzled into our society from fictional accounts of convenient facts and history.

This novel is what is becoming common place in our film and popular reading material.It is docudrama. Or in the case of this novle , its docufiction. Jay Leno, the late night TV comedian, frequently asks random people on the streets common questions such as who won the second world war, who is Vice President. Who lost the last Presidential election.Some may find the non correct answers funny, but besides being poorly educated in our current school systems, part of the problem is the only Hisory known to the average citizen now comes from novels and films, instead of what really happened in 1492.

Despite trying to correct history from the inside out, and replacing today's political correctness into the 14th century, History should be taught (and written) as close to the truth as possible. In Europe, rich, landed white men dominated through guns and religion. They made money on the backs of slaves and colonial states. It was terrible. But at the same time, they created most of the good things we have today. From the steam engine, the Guttenburg type setting process, cars, TV, and the IPOD.

Art and Culture come from people who ignore the norms of society. They are the ones who tell others the world is not flat, man can fly, and polio can be conquered. In the thousands of years of the growth of man, somehow, the white male emerged as the dominant force, for good and evil. To parody these men as evil does an injustice to the majority.

This "fictional novel" may seem clever to some readers. Obviously those who enjoyed it voted positively. I have offered my personal view as someone who reads books, fiction and non-fiction. If the government wants to warn us that smoking is unhealthy, Big Macs are junk food, and other knowledge that peronally I find a waste of time and my money; then published works should also contain warning labels.Science Fiction, cartoons, and fiction is not real.Editorials belong in the Editorial Section. Not in the sports page or Front page, or in the opening headlines of the evening news.


Fiction, but the youth of this country, if they actually read something in our current school system have been drenched with tripe. Political correctness is ok.So is feeling something for the common man.I have worked in factories, in the military and for the government. I have worked with a great many minorities who have taken MY birthright to earn a living through merit. I am the son of immigrant parents, a non Anglo-Saxon, but from European ancestry. Twisting History to promote socialism is bunk. No socialistic society has ever lasted as long as countries that have practiced socialism, or as long as countries that have had strong monarchies and aristrocatical leaders.If the past is to be presented in a Fictional form, it should comply with the basics of reality. This novel is more a cartoon, a political propaganda organism and for me, was not a pleasant read.

Some examples of twisting the fictional truth from the facts. Prohibition was the idea of women and "progressives."The south is the not the only place where racial prejudice exists. Factories produce goods everyone needs. Everyone will buy the cheapest unless they can afford better. The poor contribute to strikes because they want what they can't have.If they want cheap quality goods, they are the ones who buy from overseas, putting themselves out of jobs, or letting their jobs go to those who are willing to work for less. Nobody works for nothing, whether its honest wages or honest profit. Whether the latter are honest are politcal ideas, not economic.Whether a novel is fact or fiction, an author should not stray from basic economics or basic human nature. US history has its blemishes, but what country or regime has not. Name one socialistic country that has not practiced the same sort of sordid behavior. Alsace-Lorraine is a perfect example of twisting fiction and present it as factual. Louis 14 of France decided to purchase its neighbor, which was culturally Germanic. The French language and customs and language replaced German, whether the citizens wanted it or not. The 1870 Franco-Prussian war could easily be intrepreted as righting a wrong, yet this novel presents this minor war as another example of the evils of the German state. Which at the time, was deliberately divided by the larger European states.

Placing the anti-hero in the South igonores the factual reality that the south was a victim of the victorious North. Rather than accept blacks in their neighborhoods, it was more profitable and politically better to place unqualified blacks in positions of authority. Slavery and the birth of the CSA could have been avoided had the North purchased the slaves they wanted to free.But the North was venal. It really didn't want to end slavery without profit. James Brown, a mad murderer whose "rebellion" to free the slaves started with the death of a black freemen. "Uncle Tom's Cabin

Part 5 in a series
Giving this book four stars feels a bit generous, but three would be stingy.Consider it three and a half stars, with me erring on the side of generosity.I'm willing to do that much for this book because, by the standards of post-Great War TL-191, Turtledove really tried on this one.

So the war's over and demobilization is taking its toll on all the veterans.The book opens with a handy little reminder of what each of them is up to.Everyone who'd been conscripted goes back to their day jobs.Some have troubles of the heart--Moss is pining away for a Canadian woman who hates him, and Pinkard's trying to patch things up with his slutty wife.

The career soldiers--well, the Confeds, Featherston and Kimball, get demobilized.They both kick around aimlessly for a little while, then get involved in politics.This book is mainly about Featherston's meteoric rise to prominence as a national political leader.It's quite incredible how quickly he becomes the leader of the nation's major opposition party, until you realize he's being modeled on Hitler, which doesn't take long.Hope you like Featherston, because from now on he's our most important character.Kimball and Anne Colleton soon hitch their wagons to Jake's star.Pinkard joins the pary and becomes a real diehard in no time, so much so that Emily starts sleeping around again.I never saw it coming.

Oh, and throughout the CS hyperinflation is taking hold as a result of the Versailles-esque treaty's demands for reparations.This along with the shame of defeat creates a sense of anger on which the Freedom Party capitalizes.

Up north, we see that nothing fails like success.The US economy has taken a hit, and labor tensions are at an all-time high.Chester Martin, who is only ever mildly interesting at best, gets involved in unions.And of course Flora is living high on the hog.The Socialists take the Congress in 1918 and say that with the war over there's no need to give the War and Navy Departments huge budgets, as they've enjoyed for forty years.Thus, Morrell, who wants to work in tanks, can't; and Carsten, who wants to work on carriers, can't.Both projects get scrapped as the flag officers, who have suddenly had their allowance cut, get back to basics.After all, if you have to run a large military on a small budget the last thing you'd want to do is develop force multipliers.

Upton Sinclair is elected President in 1920 and the Remembrance Era is over.Theodore Roosevelt is sent packing.His last scene is poignant as, in Washington to hand over power to Sinclair on Inauguration Day, he first visits Edna's coffee shop, where he gives her new husband, Hal Jacobs (one of many dull, unconvincing love stories) a long-overdue medal.Roosevelt tells the pair he's going to ride off into the sunset and enjoy his retirement; but we've been following him since How Few Remain and we know that's just not in his nature.He will die offstage in the next book and have a big funeral, but this is our chance to say, Farewell, Mr President.

Dowling is still shackled to Custer, who, after a stint scraping gum off the bottoms of chairs in the General Staff movie theater, becomes Governor of Canada, which he's been wanting since his brother died there back in 1881.He goes up and sets in motion the stupidest possible occupation policy: be too harsh to win their loyalty but not so harsh that they're afraid to resist.A major uprising almost takes place but Laura Secord, who has finally come around to Moss, tips him off.What kind of nationwide uprising can be completely unravelled by one defection?

With the major resistance squashed, Arthur McGregor continues his bumbling bombing campaign.When Sinclair puts Custer out to pasture, Custer plans a major parade all the way to Philly.McGregor plans to bomb him when he passes through Rosenfeld but Custer is ready for him and turns the tables, killing McGregor instead.It's a nice, dramatic finale for Custer, and it puts an end to the tedious McGregor story, right?Oh, damn!

So our two big heroes have made their exits and it's time for the next generation of movers and shakers to rise.Featherston narrowly loses a presidential election.Bitter Freedomites assassinate the guy who won and the Freedom Party loses its prestige temporarily.Its opponents--including Reggie Bartlett, Tom Brearley, and (sigh) Clarence Potter--are emboldened and act against Kimball.As a result Brearley dies in a suspicious house fire, but not before the world knows that Kimball sank the Ericsson after the CS had sued for peace.Sylvia Enos goes down to South Carolina and kills him to avenge George.She expects to swing for it but Anne Colleton, who has temporarily left the Freedom Party, arranges for her release.This is a major blow to Featherston, and he becomes--gasp!--bitter.The new US President feels bad for the CS and forgives the reparations, allowing the CS economy the chance to recover and further diminishing Freedomite prestige.

What else--a bunch of characters find unconvincing love interests because it gives them something to do.Carsten becomes an officer at the end.Sinclair gets reelected--I'll have more to say about the Socialist dynasty when I review The Center Cannot Hold.Lucien Galtier finds that living in a free republic and having a Yankee son-in-law agrees with him.Leonard O'Doull even names his son after Lucien.I really enjoyed the Riviere-du-Loup scenes between Lucien and Leonard.Jeb Stuart Jr comes to rub Featherston's nose in his disgrace.Oh, he'll pay!

The book sort of rushes through several years' events to get us to the point where things will accelerate.Unfortunately, along the way it bogs down in a lot of useless character arcs.Just the same, this book works.

A fantastic follow-up to the Great War Series
I had a bit of trepidation about reading this book.After all, I had recently finished the author's Great War Series and since this one didn't figure to have much in the way of combat, I thought it might be boring.

I was wrong.

Once again Turtledove lured me in with his great characters and plot.Watching how both the USA and CSA start to develop after the Great War was very entertaining and I definitely want more.There are obvious parallells between the CSA and Nazi Germany, so I can't wait to read the next book and find out what happens next.Two more books to go before I get to World War II--sweet!

Good, but flawed.
The American Empire series is an alternate history series set in a United States still separated into two factions, the confederacy and the USA.The story is told in a series of vignettes featuring different characters living in different parts of the American continent.I listened to the unabridged audioedition of this novel and- although Turtledove's style took some getting used to, I eventually quite enjoyed it.

There are some elements I didn't care for. I found the Southern attitude towards African Americans to be a bit shallow. I would've liked to see more diversity in the opinions of the south and how the confederacy is portrayed. I also got bored with the characters such as MacGregor who spent so much of his time obsessed with vengeance. I mean, I understand why he felt the way he did, but aside from his obsession with Custer, he was rather boring. My biggest peeve was the multiple POV switches. Too many characters and too much headhopping made it very difficult to figure out who was who and what was going on.

This is actually supposedly book 1 in this series, but there apparently are other Turtledove books which address the war prior to this. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (18)

Good Juvenile Fiction
Harry Turtledove has done some really excellent alternate history novels. I found this one entertaining, if not entirely innovative.It will be a good read for younger people in their teens, and for some of us oldsters.Not greatly challenging, but also not bad.Not bad at all...

What a horrible book
Harry Turtledove takes a very interesting concept ... and butchers it.The writing is beyond bad, it's horrible!Simple concepts are beaten to death, cliche phrases are overused, the "characters" appear to have no basis in reality.

I give it one star for an original idea but I would never ever recommend anybody actually spend money for this book.

The Disunited State of America
This book is not one of Harry Turtledove better books -- it is really simple to good reading

Decent Turtledove
Whether you like it or not, Turtledove is the master of American "alternate history." While this isn't to the epic par of his Timeline-191 series, it's worth a read, and even if you're not a teenager (I'm 24,) as a paperback, it's a fun weekend diversion. It's fast paced, like the rest of this series (unlike Timeline-191 or Guns of the South,) and pretty straightforward. Crosstime Traffic kid meets local kid, and goes through a local snapshot of another "what could have been." If you want Turtledove at his best, start with How Few Remain and Great War: American Front. If you want a easy way to happily kill a weekend, the less than $10 for this book will do.

Wasted opportunity
In the unlikely event that scholars decide to study Harry Turtledove's fiction, they will certainly note the frequent mismatch between the author's inventive ideas and failures in execution.As with so many other recent Turtledove books, The Disunited States of America is a virtual primer on those deficits.

This book, obviously intended for a younger reader but not so labelled, is part of Turtledove's "Crosstime Traffic" series.The premise is that by the end of the 21st centry, the world has solved few problems -- most have gotten worst -- but does know how to travel to "crosstime" alternate realities.These parallel universes are exploited for their resources in a merchantilistic way, while the authorities at Crosstime Traffic make sure that the more advanced of these worlds do not stumble upon crosstime travel themselves.

In this volume, the alternate world is a very high tech version of the United States that never stayed united.The action, such as it is, centers around two older teenagers, Beckie, a politically correct native of the powerful nation of California, and crosstime traveler Justin.Both have been stranded in a tiny town in the racist nation of Virginia, which is under attack by aggressive Ohio.Ohio, for what we are told are generally economic reasons, has gone so far as to unleash a deadly plague on its neighbor, while cynically stirring up a doomed insurrection by Virginia's oppressed blacks at the same time.From Ohio's over the top behavior, you would almost think that there was a football rivalry at stake.Either way, virtually none of Turtledove's largely passive characters react in a realistic way.

Leaving aside that very little of this hangs together, this book represents about the worst Turtledove writing I've seen in years.Here you will find all of the mind-numbing repetition, cliches, tepid pacing, bland characters and lack of satisfying resolution the made the World War series so painful to read.

Turtledove has written nice things in the past several years -- but not too many.Whatever is going on, and my bet would be overproduction, the "Master of Alternative History" may need to take a sabbatical.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Brilliant piece of science fiction

Harry Turtledove is mostly known nowadays for massive Alternative History works, but he has also written some spellbinding science fiction. I'm surprised this doesn't have a lot more five star reveiws: IMHO this is one of his most entertaining SF books.

Set in a future universe in which a human survey service charts the galaxy and the most important principle on which they operate, exactly akin to the "Prime Directive" from Star Trek, is that of non-interference - pre spaceflight civilisations must be left to develop in their own ways. And where Jim Kirk seems to find an excuse to break the Prime Directive every episode, in this book the principle of Noninterference is strictly enforced, at least until David Ware boards a survey ship.

Because the universe is so vast, even a civilisation with faster then light travel only gets around to visiting the more remote planets every few hundred years.

David Ware, an idealist on a survey ship exploring a remote and very backward planet on the fringe of the explored area of space, tries to persuade his shipmates to make a very minor exception to the principle of noninterference. The case becomes a cause celebre back home, but even so it is hundreds of years before a human ship returns to that planet. When they do, they discover that an apparently insignificant action has had consequences vastly beyond what anyone could possibly have imagined ....

Pretty mediocre compared to Harry's best work
The first thing you'll think of reading this minor novel is "Prime Directive," even though it has nothing to do with Star Trek. The Survey Service keeps an eye on pre-technological civilizations, with a strict hands-off policy, but a member of one team takes pity on the personable ruler of a Sumer-like culture and gives her something to cure her cancer. Unfortunately, when the next survey team comes back 1,500 years later, they find the queen is still alive and her kingdom is far ahead of where it reasonably ought to be. The Survey Service has political enemies who would like to see it shut down, and this is all the ammo they would need. And at that point, this turns into a lightweight version of a John Grisham chase story, with a bloodyminded bureaucrat committing mass murder to protect her budget. Speaking as a professional semi-bureaucrat myself, the author is way over the top on this one. I didn't find it believable at all, not even on its own terms.

Didn't do much for me
I enjoyed the concept of this book but the pace was too jumpy, the characters too flat, and the overall story was ultimately rather dull.

gets good at the end
When I read this I kind of got a Foundation meets Star Trek TNG feel,although let it be known that this book was written a couple of yearsbefore the beginning of TNG.There's lots of politics, except younever really get to see the effects of interferance on Bilbeis 4.That'swhy the end is the most interesting.I don't know if Turtledove wastrying, ut he has made the best case against noninterference that I haveever seen.Bilbeis 4 was advancing very quickly because of theirprogressive queen and was probably soon to join man among the stars.Imean how would you like it if you finally got to the stars and all the goodplanets were already taken?The best thing to do would be to helpprimitive planets.

A good, solid read
Turtledove's take on the "Prime Directive" philosophy is well worth reading.Good characters and an interesting story keep this book moving along. ... Read more

Product Description
Hugo Award winner and best-selling author Harry Turtledove has garnered high praise for his mastery of alternate history science fiction, and for his fantasy adventure novels, but he is equally a master of science fiction adventure, as he proves in this new Baen MegaBook containing two complete novels and a baker's dozen of brilliant shorter works.

Earthgrip - Jennifer Logan, young and beautiful, wanted to teach Middle English. But getting a job required a striking resume, and she thought that getting a berth on an interstellar trading ship would be just the ticket. And before she could say, this wasn't what I had in mind, she was off on what would be the adventure of a lifetime-though her lifetime might suddenly be cut rather short.

Noninterference - The Survey Service was supposed to observe alien worlds on the verge of civilization, without in any way interfering. But the expedition to Bilbeis IV, over 1,000 years ago, had broken the rule, with results that no one could have predicted. The Survey Service was still around, more bureaucratic than ever, and when they returned to Bilbeis IV and saw what the previous expedition had done, they knew that they could not allow the facts to get out. And unless one man could stop them, more than incriminating documents might be shredded-an entire inhabited world was at risk!

Kaleidoscope - A selection of short science fiction and fantasy for all tastes. Suppose Jack the Ripper was a vampire, and another vampire was given the job of catching him? Suppose all the other races in the galaxy have starships, but haven't developed the other technologies that have exploded on Earth-including weapons? Suppose the Nazis had to deal with Mahatma Gandhi and his nonviolent resistance? And much more.

Publisher's Note: Earthgrip, Noninterference and Kaleidoscope have been previously published as separate books. This is their first combined publication. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Good Way to Expand your Turtledove Exposure
Featuring a section of short stories and two novels/novellas, most of the fiction in this anthology has apparently seen print before.However the shorter fiction include some enlightening introductory autobiographical paragraphs from the author, and at least one of the stories is presented in an original, as yet unpublished form.

While this may not appeal to diehard Turtledove fans who might already own most of the work, if you have read some Turtledove, enjoyed it and are looking for a way to get more exposure to his work, this book is great.That's the position I'm in and am thoroughly enjoying myself.

A Great Collection
I have always like Harry Turtledove's stories. This book introduced me to some I did not know of. It is a collection of shorter fiction, all of which are pretty good. Some are genuinely great. The combination of humor and good writing makes for a fantastic read.

Be aware: Some of the stories have been published before as books.

Reprint
I'm a big Turtledove fan, but I won't be ordering this one, because it's a reprint of some of his older work that I already have.Although this isn't (presently) clear from this site's description of the book, it includes the previously published Earthgrip, Noninterference and Kaleidoscope.

If you haven't read these before, 3 x T is worth a look. ... Read more

Product Description
In a parallel-world 21st-century San Francisco where the Kaiser's Germany won World War One and went on to dominate the world, Paul Gomes and his father Lawrence are secret agents for our timeline, posing as traders from a foreign land. They run a storefront shop called Curious Notions, selling what is in our world routine consumer technology-record players, radios, cassette decks--all of which is better than anything in this world, but only by a bit. Their real job is to obtain raw materials for our timeline. Just as importantly, they must guard the secret of Crosstime Traffic--for of the millions of parallel timelines, this is one of the few advanced enough to use that secret against us.

Now, however, the German occupation police are harassing them. They want to know where they're getting their mysterious goods. Under pressure, Paul and Lawrence hint that their supplies comes from San Francisco's Chinese...setting in motion a chain of intrigues that will put the entire enterprise of Crosstime Traffic at deadly risk. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Stupid, stupid, stupid...
That pretty much sums up my opinion of the main character, Paul Gomes. It's because of that stupidity that I am rating the book as low as I am. The idea behind the book (and the series as a whole) is good, though juvenile. But the main character's stupid behavior throughout the book made it difficult to get through.

Twice, Paul does something incredibly stupid, that he knew at the time was stupid. First, when the shop was raided, he could have snipped back the the home alternate and told Crosstime Traffic what had happened. Once he did that, there is no reason he could not have come back (with backup) to get his father out. Later, after he's been picked up by Crosstime Traffic and taken to safety, he decides he wants a hamburger and just up and leaves! It was at that point that I seriously considered throwing the book across the room in disgust. How is the reader supposed to feel for the characters when every reader (even a young adult) is going to see right through the stupidity.

As other commenters have said, Paul and Lucy do not run the events of the book. They are swept along and react as necessary. (Paul's reason for not returning home after his father is taken is the idea of rescuing him. But that doesn't actually happen. His father is rescued "off-screen" by others.)

Good alternate history but for young adults
Ok, not Turtledoves best effort. The dialogue is simplistic and the characters are even simpler. Good guys are good, bad guys are bad. Adults do not think much. Teenagers think about lots of things. There are quite a few flaws in this work. But realize it is written for a teenager not a mature adult. This does not excuse the flaws in logic of the story line (already mentioned in several other reviews), but it does explain the exchanges between Paul and Lucy.
This alternate world is seen from their perspective and Turtledove provides subtle glimpses of the "Home" timeline from Paul's contrasting views of this and his San Francisco. Harry Turtledove does alternate universes better than most and Curious Notions is another good job from the master of parallels. He just should have advertised the youth angle of the book better.
I still enjoyed reading it and even knew of the youth audience before hand. It is a quick, simple read that provides another look at a post World War defeated America occupied by Germany.After I finished reading my copy I lent it to another friend who enjoys the SF genre. I was that confident in my recommendation.

Sam Hendricks, author of Fantasy Football Guidebook and Fantasy Football Almanac 2009 (available 1 May 2009)

Better, but...
I started reading this with a bit of trepidation, having been somewhat disappointed with the earlier book in this series, Gunpowder Empires. I was pleasantly surprised that the characters were fleshed out a bit more and the plot had more twists than the first book. Still not up to what I've come to expect from Harry Turtledove, but definitely a step in the right direction. I still feel that this should be classified as juvenile fiction. It was not a disappointing read, just not a satisfying one.

Where Do They Come From?
Curious Notions (2004) is the second novel in the Crosstime Traffic series, following Gunpowder Empire.Lawrence Gomes is a CT employee living in San Francisco in an alternate timeline where Germany has won the Great War.Paul Gomes is his son.They are storekeepers in the Curious Notions shop where electronic gadgets are sold to get money to buy foodstuffs for the home timeline.

In this novel, Lucy Woo is a Chinese girl who works in a shoe factory in this alternate San Francisco.Charlie Woo, her father, is a radio repairman who knows a lot about the current electronic industry.He has been puzzled over the gadgets sold by Curious Notions for some years.

One morning shortly after Paul and his father took over the store, Inspector Weidenreich dropped in to inspect their identification and business permit.He finds nothing out of order, but questions Paul about their source of supply.Paul denies any knowledge of the buying side of the business and refers the Inspector to his father, who is not in the store at the moment.The Inspector leaves, but promises to come back to see Paul's father.

When Lawrence comes in a few minutes later, he is less than pleased to learn of the Inspector's visit.Paul's Dad pulls several names out of the phone book and, when the Inspector returns, gives him the names as suppliers of the gadgets sold in the shop.Charlie Woo is included in this list.The Germans promptly take in Charlie for questioning.

Lucy Woo is rather angry about the situation and visits Curious Notions to express her opinion.Paul passes on her complaints to his Dad and arrangements are made to release Charlie Woo.Paul continues to see Lucy after that and they have several conversations.However, Paul underestimates Lucy's intelligence and gives her some significant hints about his origins.

In this novel, the Germans continue their investigation of Curious Notions, leading to the apprehension of Paul's Dad.Now Paul is on the run with the entire German empire on this tail (at least it feels this way).Lucy thinks about the clues and comes up with the Crosstime Secret.Everything is really going well . . . Not.

This novel shows another aspect of being an agent for Crosstime Traffic:a sufficiently advanced society is more difficult to fool.Even worse, such a society is probably capable of developing crosstime travel if the secret comes out.Crosstime Traffic has made a major mistake in opening Curious Notions.

Of course, flooding the alternate timeline with perfect counterfeits would be even more disastrous to the Crosstime Secret.Such an operation would require large quantities of small bills, thus making the juxtaposition of two identical bills very likely.Moreover, the transposition device would be fixed in place since the foodstuffs would have to delivered to the homeline.Thus, the Germans probably would soon learn of the counterfeits and would quickly follow the trail back to the device itself.Voila tout, no more Crosstime Secret!

Highly recommended for Turtledove fans and for anyone else for enjoys tales of alternate history and travel thereto.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Turtledove doesn't give good value
I read this book, and I'm unhappy with it.There are gaping logic holes in it.For one thing, the crosstime trading company is supposed to have been in business for some decades now, and have policies set in place.However, they send a teenage boy (just out of high school) and his father on a very critical assignment.Father and son do not work together well, even beyond the normal teen/parent squabbles.True, Turtledove is writing for teenagers, but he should not assume that they are all brainless and senseless (even though some of them are, quite a few are not).The company is portrayed as very efficient, and quite inflexible.It surely would have had protocols in place that would require a junior agent to work in less sensitive areas at first.The father is also borderline incompetent, again, not someone who should be sent on a dangerous and critical assignment.What's more, the reader is told several times that a certain thing cannot be done under any circumstances...but at the end of the book, whoops, it seems that this thing CAN be done after filling out a lot of paperwork.

I was very disappointed in this book.The world/time setting is interesting, and I believe that the plot and character problems could have been avoided quite easily, while still having a very tense atmosphere.It's quite readable, which is why I gave it two stars, but the reader would probably have a much better experience with a Heinlein juvenile, even as dated as they are.Heinlein always put as much thought into his juveniles/YA books as he did in his books intended for adults. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not *NEARLY* as good as it might have been
There are some authors whose comparatively least successful work is still far above the average -- authors like Cherryh and Le Guin and Powers. But most writers go from superior to execrable, with the average being pretty, er, average. Turtledove, unfortunately, is one of those. This collection of thirteen of his short stories shows it isn't just a matter of being better at longer or shorter length, either. A couple of the stories are among his best, like "And So to Bed," a Pepys pastiche about the survival in the New World of australopithecines, and what their existence alongside homo sapiens might say to an intelligent man about natural selection. And there's "The Road Not Taken," in which most alien species discovered antigravity and hyperdrive early on, so that the invaders arrive in spaceships with cutlasses and flintlocks in hand. And the much-anthologized "The Last Article," an alternate history story in which the victorious Nazis who conquered British India have their own way of dealing with Gandhi's passive resistance. And there's "Crybaby," a well-written little piece of horror (which the author's wife refuses to read, and no wonder). But most of the remaining stories are thoroughly mediocre, especially the two Dunsany-like fantasies. Even the "The Girl Who Took Lessons," which isn't SF at all, reads like a REDBOOK reject.

Excellent and eclectic short story collection
Harry Turtledove usually hits the best seller lists these days with huge multi-volume works. But in this collection of short stories he's doing something right at the other end of the spectrum - and having to get an idea over in a short space of words brings out some of his best writing.

This book is now out of print, but well worth buying if you get the opportunity.

Needless to say, a few of the thirteen stories in this collection are alternate history, but most are other genres - in fact I cannot recall finding a book by this author with so many stories in it which are not alternate history. The preface to "The girl who took lessons", the last story in the book, described it as the only mainstream fiction piece which the author has ever sold.

These stories range from mainstream to fantasy, from whimsy to horror. Some are absolute gems, but not all would suit every taste. The author says that his wife, a novelist in her own right, will not even look at the story "Cry-baby" and he doesn't blame her. Neither do I, and in fact I wrote a note in my copy shortly after our children were born warning my own wife never to read it either.

However, one or two of the stories in this volume are amongst the most original things Turtledove has ever written, and that is saying a lot. For example, "The road not taken" is probably the most unusual - and funniest - tale of an alien invasion of earth ever written, and it's possibly also a better candidate to use as a base for a multi-volume series than many short stories which have actually had that treatment.

"Bluff", superficially an account of a trading voyage to another planet, was inspired by a paper on how consciousness might have evolved as a species becomes intelligent and presents a picture of a completely different civilisation to ours - and what effect a few words from humans might have on them.

"The Last Article" is a chilling account of what might have happened if Mahatma Ghandi had ever met the Nazis. And at the start of the preface to that story, Turtledove sums up in a few words the real theme of many of the books he has written:

"Alternate history stories are not really about the alternate worlds in which their authors set them. They're about our own world, as seen through the funhouse mirror of a changed past."

Book is out of print, but well worth looking for.
Since I had been looking for this book in used book stores for some time,then finally got it by placing an out-of-print order with amazon.com, itseemed only fair that I review it here.Like most short-story collections,this is a bit uneven, but most of the stories are above average.Some,like "The Boring Beast" are very funny.Others, like "TheLast Article" and "The Road Not Taken," are very originaland thought-provoking.Several of the stories have appeared in othercollections or anthologies.This book is not easy to find, but if you canget your hands on it, it is well worth your time. ... Read more

Product Description
Videssos was beset by enemies abroad and had fallen into decadence at home. But on his first night in the imperial capital, The Empires health mattered less to Krispos than finding a dry place to sleep.

Driven by crushing taxes from the farm where his family had lived -- and died -- Krispos had come to the. city seeking what fortune a good mind and a strong back could earn. He had a single goldpiece to his name -- the gift, years past, of a nomad chieftain to a ragged peasant boy. Now, though the night was raw and the inn was warm, he was loath to spend that coin, for the barbarian had claimed it carried magic.

Keep his lucky goldpiece or trade it for a warm, dry bed? Krispos tucked the coin away and stepped back into the wet streets -- all unaware that so simple a choice would lead to a world of peril and possibility... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Decent
I do commend the author on lending a lot of realism to his novel.Obviously an expert on Byzantine culture, all of the customs,concerns, and situations of the people and nations are very much believable and more fleshed out than most pure fiction.On the other hand, however, as far as fantasy fiction goes, where is the fantasy?The scenes are so grounded that you hardly get the feeling that Videssos is any more exciting a world than the one you currently inhabit.Sure, there is "magic", but it is presented in a very dry way, and there is more to creating a magical world than that.But I guess that is the author's preference.

Much of the novel is about the intrigues and politics of the Videssian Empire, and though I enjoyed that, it came off a bit dumbed down most of the time.All the supposed cleverness and power plays seemed to me to be ordinary common sense, yet Turtledove makes it sound you would have to be a master tactician to survive in this arena.Like when Krispos' life is in danger from Patronas, he seeks help from Gnatios (who is Patronas cousin and close ally, as had been noted MANY times already). I was dumbfounded- "what is he, high?"Only half way through the conversation did he finally realize his error.Who on earth, when his life is in mortal peril, makes the mindnumbing mistake of asking guidance from your opponent's friend and relative?It doesn't speak of intrigue, it speaks of Krispos not being very bright.Or when Anthimos shows the "maturity" to suggest that Patronas be guarded on the way to the temple, lest he try to escape after Anthimos had JUST THEN disposed of him... well, of course he needs to be guarded.A simpleton could figure out that one.

Even so, the care the author has taken to create a very realistic, balanced, Byzantine-like world makes it enough for you to be quite interested about how everything will play out, even if you feel like giving some advice to the characters in the book every now and then.

Only the best
This is the series that got me into reading fantasy novels. The characters are dimensional and believable and the story flows beautifully. Don't buy this unless you have the other two to complete the set or you'll be beating yourself over the head while you wait to read those. If you've read the Videssos Cycle this takes place a couple hundred years before. All the places and the races are described beautifully and comprehensivly. After all the years since i first read this, this is still my favorite book.

An alternate Byzantine world
To quote W.E.H. Lecky (History of European Morals, 1869) in regard to the Byzantine Empire - "The history of the empire is a monotonous story of the intrigues of priests, eunuchs and women, of poisonings, of conspiracies, of uniform ingratitude, of perpetual fratricides."The present novel creates an alternate world empire, with the story based on an altered version of the rise of Basil I (in this story Krispos) and the Byzantine Emperor Michael III (in this story Anthimos), with some amount of magic added in.

The novel gives a fairly accurate depiction of a Byzantine type empire where various people scheme to obtain power, barbarians raid the borders, and nobels live high on the hog while peasants often starve.The novel follows Krispos' rise to power from his early beginnings as a peasant child carried into captivity by barbarian raiders.Along the way he must survive crippling taxation, epidemics, barbarian raids, homosexual overtures, and attempted assassinations.

The novel has significant sexual content (including orgy style banquets), homosexual relationships, and some violence.Based on content, I would give it a PG-13 rating.

I loved it!
The Tale of Krispos, based on the real life adventures of Basil the Macedonian, Eastern Roman Emperor(867-886 AD) is truly excellent and well written fantasy. The author keeps us gripping the book and you will have to buy the sequel to this when you read it! Good character development. Excellent plot.

An Excellent Read
This book is, in my opinion, one of Turtledove's best. One of his problems is that many of the characters in his varied series are essentially the same; this does not happen here. The story too is relatively fresh. While it is a basic rags-to-riches plot, the execution is relatively flawless and the details are wonderful. The plot itself is loosely modeled on the rise of Byzantine Emperor Basil I (book two is largely based on Basil II) but the interaction of magic and other various details makes this book unique. It's a well written and exciting read. Moreover, minor details tie it in to the other two Videssos located series, the "Videssos Cycle" and the "Time of Troubles" cycle. Well worth reading, I give it full marks. ... Read more

Product Description
From Harry Turtledove, bestselling author and critically acclaimed master of the short story, comes a classic collection of science fiction tales and what-if scenarios. In narratives ranging from fantastic to oddly familiar to eerily prescient, this compelling volume illustrates Turtledove’s literary skill and unbridled imagination.

FORTY, COUNTING DOWN: With the help of his time travel software, computer genius Justin Kloster returns to the past to stop himself from making a terrible mistake–but all actions have their consequences.

THE MALTESE ELEPHANT: A legendary detective finds himself in grave danger when a noir masterpiece takes a stunning new twist.

GODDESS FOR A DAY: Taking a page from history, a young girl dares to challenge the gods–and is richly rewarded for her efforts.

DECONSTRUCTION GANG: Mired in unemployment and despair, an academic finds happiness and intellectual fulfillment in a most unexpected place.

TWENTY-ONE, COUNTING UP: Justin Kloster’s college life and romantic dreams are rudely interrupted–and irreversibly disrupted–when forty-year-old Justin arrives from the future to save him from himself.

Plus twelve more thrilling, unforgettable tales of wonder!


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

When was the last time a book was SO BAD you had to go online and write a review for it?
Hmmm I picked up this book on a whim as I love short sci-fi collections and have read a few interesting novels by Harry Turtledove.

I was sadly disappointed.The writing was dry and obscure (although if I was an American or World War history buff, it might have been understandable).The collection seemed disjointed and many of the stories left me thinking "Did I miss something?".I love short stories as they put forth an idea, explore a new area, make you think or simply entertain.Many of these stories seemed to do none of those!

Don't waste your money, find something better!

Success apparently breeds laziness
When he tries, Harry's work can be pretty damn good -- especially in the alternative history genre, which he pretty much owns at present. But when he gets lazy -- which he seems to do too often lately -- his prose can be embarrassingly unreadable. The best example in this collection of seventeen short stories of the pretty damn good are the two interconnected bookend stories, about a young computer designer of our own time (more or less) who hasn't been the same since his wife walked out on him with full justification. He wants her back, so he decides to return to the past of his own youth and do something about it by mentoring himself in maintaining a good relationship. "Forty, Counting Down" is that story, from the later viewpoint, "Twenty-One, Counting Up" retells it from the POV of his younger self. (And the two stories originally were sold to two different magazines, an interesting marketing ploy.) There's a good deal of thoughtful, insightful writing here and any guy will twinge in sympathy with Justin's plight. Of the other pieces, "Must and Shall" is a pretty good, frequently reprinted examination of a different sort of "if the North had won the War" world. (Yes, that's what I said.) "Deconstruction Gang" is a witty put-on of contemporary lit-crit (which civilians aren't going to appreciate most of). "After the Last Elf Is Dead" is an interesting anti-Tolkien investigation of the sometimes narrow boundary between good and evil. "The Green Buffalo" isn't bad, but it doesn't fulfill the possibilities of the set-up.

The rest of the volume, unfortunately, comes nowhere near even this level of skill. "The Maltese Elephant" is a flat pastiche of Dashiell Hammett, while "Miss Manners Guide to Greek Missology" is simply bad. "Ready for the Fatherland" and "The Phantom Tolbukhin" are forgettable alternate World War II stories. "Goddess for a Day" is (he says) based on a true incident, but the story itself is kind of pointless. "Vermin" has a point to make about social interference, but it's plagued with gaping plot holes. "Ils ne passeront pas" also has possibilities but doesn't follow up on them. "In This Season" is confused and doesn't make a lot of sense. "Honeymouth" is a one-joke unicorn story. "The Decoy Duck," set in the Videssos universe, is merely dumb; so is "The Seventh Chapter." C'mon, Harry, pay attention! You can do better than this!

What do Unicorns have in common with Bill Clinton ?
This short story collection covers a very wide range of subjects and genres.

The first and last stories in the book. "Forty, counting down" and "Twenty-one, counting up" are essentially the same time travel story told from two different perspectives.

There are two short stories set in the "Videssos" universe,
"The decoy duck" which is a rather sad tale set about 900 years before the events of the "Lost Legion" quartet, and "The Seventh Chapter," an amusing story which is apparently based on a real event in medieval England.

Needless to say, there are several alternative history stories in the collection, two of which I had read elsewhere -"The Phantom Tolbukhin" set during the war between the Soviets and Nazis, and "Must and Shall" set in an America where the end of the Civil War had been somewhat different.

Other alternative history stories in the book include "Ready for the Fatherland." The ghastly possibility of a Nazi victory in World War II has inspired a host of alternative history stories - including Turtledove's excellent "In the presence of mine enemies" - but here he examines another possibility: what if there had been a stalemate ?

"In this season" also relates to people suffering under the nazis, but this one is a tale of the supernatural rather than alternative history.

"Ils ne passeront pas" describes the sufferings of soldiers during the battle for Verdun. "Vermin" is a straight science fiction short story.

Stories covering ancient Greek mythology in this volume include "Goddess for a Day", a novelised version of a real historical event related by Herodotus, and the hysterically funny "Myth Manners' Guide to Greek Missology #1: Andromeda and Perseus."

"Deconstruction Gang" and "The Maltese Elephant" are parodies.

There are a couple of fantasy stories - "After the last Elf is dead" is a serious one, "Honeymouth" is a comedy - and you will have to read this one if you want to know in what way Unicorns think like Bill Clinton.

I doubt if anyone would like every single story in this book, they are so varied, but most people who like to have their imagination stimulated will like at least some of them.

Mostly OK
I found this collection a pretty mixed bag.I liked the idea of the title stories that bookended the collection, but didn't think it worked as well as it could have, as the closing story didn't add all that much to the beginning story.Better if it had spent more time showing how the results of what happened in the first story led to the changes in the character's life.

Really, none of the stories really blew me away, but I was at least entertained by the alt-history stories.Out of the stories outside of that area, I probably most enjoyed "Deconstruction Gang," but I work in higher ed, which may explain it.

The Greek/Roman themed stories did very little for me.I will also admit to not reading the Videssos stories, as I've not read any of that series.

Overall, it's worth a look, but keep your expectations in check.

Recycling is generally good, but not in literature.
This is a collection of short stories from the alternate history writer Harry Turtledove. He considers it a collection of stories that were not published in other works, but I found that all were recycled with the exception of the title story, which is actually two stories, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the collection. They each tell a different point of view in a universe where a man travels back through time to meet his younger self and save a marriage that his younger self doesn't even know exists, let alone that it was in trouble. The twin points of view were interesting, but they were the sole saving grace in a book that was dull otherwise. Think of a sawdust cake with delicious vanilla icing. ... Read more

Product Description
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched an attack against United States naval forces stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. But what if the Japanese followed up their air assault with an invasion and occupation of Hawaii? With American military forces subjugated and civilians living in fear of their conquerors, there is no one to stop the Japanese from using the islands' resources to launch an offensive against America's western coast. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (58)

Good WW2 alternate history story.
Days of Infamy is set on Hawaii, in December 1941. In this story the Japanese follow up their airborne attack on Pearl Harbour, with a land invasion. I thought it was a gripping and exciting read, for the most part. The battle scenes, both in the air and on land are very vividly described, and the author seems to know his stuff, with regards to the planes, tanks, guns etc., that were used at this time.

The book is not quite as exciting, when the fighting ends, but is still quite interesting, as you wonder how the inhabitants of the island, and in particular the American POWs, will cope under Japanese rule. I look forward to reading the sequel.

Turtledove's Masterpiece
This is the AH story of a Japanese invasion and occupation of Hawaii beginning in December 1941.

The characters and the history are masterfully crafted. The characters make the reader feel immersed in 1940s Hawaii as the beautiful paradise is transformed into a grim reign of terror by the Japanese. His characters represent the many ethnic groups on the island, are male and female, and long-time residents and newcomers. His Imperial Japanese Army and Navy characters also reveal the contrasts between the martial spirit and the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. The story is so well crafted that the reader will feel as if he/she has LIVED the experiences of the characters, and that is the mark of a great novel.

The historical lesson I took away from this book was how fortunate the United States was that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a hit-and-run mission. Had the Japanese opted for an invasion instead of a raid they would have pulverized the ill-prepared American forces on the island and taken it away from us as they did with the Philippine Islands. The people of Hawaii would then have fallen under the barbarism of Japanese occupation as did the other nations of Asia. Turtledove does not sugarcoat how wickedly evil that occupation would have been.

It is another tribute to Turtledove's craftsmanship that the Japanese Army and Navy men are portrayed as human beings, however wickedly some of them treated their American captives. He captures equally well the plight of an American population living under foreign military occupation. Some people are able to survive relatively well, some starve to death, some collaborate with the enemy, and some are tortured and murdered for petty offenses at the whim of the occupiers. Most just try to survive by staying out of the occupier's attention.

As in all other of his novels Turtledove expresses the subtle complexities of human nature that run from noble idealism to wickedly selfish behavior. Through his characters he captures the brutal spirit of Japanese Imperialism.

Exciting Read
I had been wanting to read a Turtledove book to see if I'd enjoy his type of story telling and glad to say I was not dissapointed! He's a master of alternative history. I really enjoyed how he told this story from different views of the action from the Americans, Native Hawaiians and of course the Japanese invaders. It held my interest throughout. I immediately purchased and have begun reading the sequel to this story.
I will definately look into reading more of Mr. Turteldove's books.

Great Premise - Hollow Characters
I just got on the Harry Turtledove kick in the last couple of months after visiting Gettysburg.I started with "Guns of the South," and after that, this book seemed like a huge step down.

First of all, I have to say that the premise is great.It's almost annoying how some writers sit down and knock out ideas that you look at and think, "why the hell didn't I think of that?"I mean, Japan occupying Pearl Harbor instead of just bombing it?Very plausible.

It's the development of the characters that didn't sit well with me.Many of them seemed to be the walking cliches of the movies from that era.Maybe Turtledove was paying tribute, but some of the dialogue seemed lifted from too many sources, the men seeming a little too stoic, the women seeming a little too brassy.I pictured all the men looking like Humphrey Bogart and all the women as Bette Davis.

Compared to some of Turtledove's other achievements, this book seemed a bit two-dimensional and shallow.The sequel pleased me more, but I'll save that for another review.

Again - for me this was a great idea bogged down by cutout characters.

Americans under Occupation
Turtledove does a great job of showing what an occupation of Hawaii by Japan would be like. I also liked how he showed the culture class between the different nationalities. Other reviews don't like that this is going to be a series, but I can't wait to read more about the different characters. ... Read more

Product Description
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched an attack against United States naval forces stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. But what if the Japanese followed up their air assault with an invasion and occupation of Hawaii? With American military forces subjugated and civilians living in fear of their conquerors, there is no one to stop the Japanese from using the islands' resources to launch an offensive against America's western coast. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (58)

Good WW2 alternate history story.
Days of Infamy is set on Hawaii, in December 1941. In this story the Japanese follow up their airborne attack on Pearl Harbour, with a land invasion. I thought it was a gripping and exciting read, for the most part. The battle scenes, both in the air and on land are very vividly described, and the author seems to know his stuff, with regards to the planes, tanks, guns etc., that were used at this time.

The book is not quite as exciting, when the fighting ends, but is still quite interesting, as you wonder how the inhabitants of the island, and in particular the American POWs, will cope under Japanese rule. I look forward to reading the sequel.

Turtledove's Masterpiece
This is the AH story of a Japanese invasion and occupation of Hawaii beginning in December 1941.

The characters and the history are masterfully crafted. The characters make the reader feel immersed in 1940s Hawaii as the beautiful paradise is transformed into a grim reign of terror by the Japanese. His characters represent the many ethnic groups on the island, are male and female, and long-time residents and newcomers. His Imperial Japanese Army and Navy characters also reveal the contrasts between the martial spirit and the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. The story is so well crafted that the reader will feel as if he/she has LIVED the experiences of the characters, and that is the mark of a great novel.

The historical lesson I took away from this book was how fortunate the United States was that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a hit-and-run mission. Had the Japanese opted for an invasion instead of a raid they would have pulverized the ill-prepared American forces on the island and taken it away from us as they did with the Philippine Islands. The people of Hawaii would then have fallen under the barbarism of Japanese occupation as did the other nations of Asia. Turtledove does not sugarcoat how wickedly evil that occupation would have been.

It is another tribute to Turtledove's craftsmanship that the Japanese Army and Navy men are portrayed as human beings, however wickedly some of them treated their American captives. He captures equally well the plight of an American population living under foreign military occupation. Some people are able to survive relatively well, some starve to death, some collaborate with the enemy, and some are tortured and murdered for petty offenses at the whim of the occupiers. Most just try to survive by staying out of the occupier's attention.

As in all other of his novels Turtledove expresses the subtle complexities of human nature that run from noble idealism to wickedly selfish behavior. Through his characters he captures the brutal spirit of Japanese Imperialism.

Exciting Read
I had been wanting to read a Turtledove book to see if I'd enjoy his type of story telling and glad to say I was not dissapointed! He's a master of alternative history. I really enjoyed how he told this story from different views of the action from the Americans, Native Hawaiians and of course the Japanese invaders. It held my interest throughout. I immediately purchased and have begun reading the sequel to this story.
I will definately look into reading more of Mr. Turteldove's books.

Great Premise - Hollow Characters
I just got on the Harry Turtledove kick in the last couple of months after visiting Gettysburg.I started with "Guns of the South," and after that, this book seemed like a huge step down.

First of all, I have to say that the premise is great.It's almost annoying how some writers sit down and knock out ideas that you look at and think, "why the hell didn't I think of that?"I mean, Japan occupying Pearl Harbor instead of just bombing it?Very plausible.

It's the development of the characters that didn't sit well with me.Many of them seemed to be the walking cliches of the movies from that era.Maybe Turtledove was paying tribute, but some of the dialogue seemed lifted from too many sources, the men seeming a little too stoic, the women seeming a little too brassy.I pictured all the men looking like Humphrey Bogart and all the women as Bette Davis.

Compared to some of Turtledove's other achievements, this book seemed a bit two-dimensional and shallow.The sequel pleased me more, but I'll save that for another review.

Again - for me this was a great idea bogged down by cutout characters.

Americans under Occupation
Turtledove does a great job of showing what an occupation of Hawaii by Japan would be like. I also liked how he showed the culture class between the different nationalities. Other reviews don't like that this is going to be a series, but I can't wait to read more about the different characters. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (16)

Okay at best
The other Crosstime novels are young adult fiction, but adults can enjoy them.

This effort, not so much. The author ported in his usual WLB (Whiner Little Bitch) viewpoint character used in all the series. This one was even more cardboard than usual. (The WLB viewpoint character in the series can be male or female, what counts is being annoying and pissy).

Anyhow, in most of the series the WLB has some reason for being that way, even if it is just being overly young or lonely. This time, just the pissy without much reason, and being stupid pissy to the point of endangering themselves and others.

Moving past the WLB, all the characters were also cardboard. Just very little fleshed out there. When something would happen that normally would advance our view or understanding of a character, it felt more like the author had been using a checklist. "Okay, being a archer is....check. Now he feels loyal to his commander but sorry for the bad thing....check!"

The setting was interesting, but no more than that. As others observed, the political and tech setting simply does not stand up to a few minutes thought.

The plot moves along well, but is hampered by the characters not existing as other than cut-outs and the lack of thought or good reason for their actions and decisions.

Harry needs to re-read the Heinlein juveniles
Like many other reviewers, I was interested in this vision of a southern California where the familiar is mingled with desolation. It was fun. I really did like the book overall and for the same reasons given by other reviewers. But I also agree with many of the criticisms.

1) Turtledove talks down to his young readers. Heinlein did not do that. There is too much repetition (as some have pointed out) of arguments, etc. Teenagers want to be treated with respect. Mostly Harry does that. His characters are in difficult situations, usually not of their creation, and they generally come off well. That is, they get by, using their wits and the advantages of their knowledge. Luck plays a part too.

2) No ipods or sliderules.OK, this is something Heinlein did too. He had characters using log tables and sliderules for astrogation in Starman Jones. Granted, I don't know if anyone could have predicted mice or touch screens, etc. Still Heinlein came up with no-moving parts controls for the giant starship in "Universe" so he might have done something. But Turtledove should know better than to talk about iPods etc. Some of the repetition in other places could be used to imagine the technology of the future.

3) If the Cross-time corporation is so concerned about mention of the cross-time travel, then use some hypnotic suggestion or other techniques to help the characters not slip up. It won't catch everything, but give the characters some help. Like explaining that all passwords should not reference things knowable in the current time line, no matter how cute.

I think the slips that Liz makes are fairly natural, and actually are part of the growth of Liz's character. She learns the difference between ignorance and stupidity. I think all of that is pretty well done. Still, more training for Liz would be useful.

Dan is handled pretty well, I think. But if he really has any ambition or gumption, the things he has seen and learned should motivate him to want to improve things in his home area. If he were really wise, he would realize that working with the Cross-time folks, even in a limited way, would do more than railing against them. But that is a step well beyond where he is now. His reactions I think are pretty natural.

A cute little paragraph deals with the dissemination of scientific knowledge. I do, however, think that journals would get around faster than two years.

It is a good book and the series is getting better (Gladiator was very good.)
Kick it up a notch, Harry.

After Doomsday
The Valley-Westside War (2008) is the sixth SF novel in the Crosstime Traffic series, following The Gladiator.In the previous volume, Eduardo took Gianfranco back to the home timeline, where he received a mental treatment to protect him from spilling the secret.Then he was returned to The Gladiator subbasement and worked his way home.

Annarita, her family, and the Mazzillis were very pleased at the return of Gianfranco, but the Security Police were not happy.They questioned Gianfranco and learned little about his disappearance.His father was very irritated at the Security Police, but Comrade Mazzilli's position within the Communist Party left the Security Police with nothing on which to vent their frustrations.

In this novel, Liz Mendoza is the daughter of a historian and a doctor specializing in genetics diseases and the effects of radiation. When her parents get a grant to study a timeline where nuclear war had started in 1967, Liz went along to add protective coloration.After all, a couple looked more normal with an eighteen year old daughter.

Dan is about the same age as Liz, but is a native on this timeline.He is a private -- a lowly archer -- in the Valley Army.

In this story, Dan is part of the parley group that warns the Westside troops to remove the wall built across Sepulveda Pass.Colonel Morris refuses in the name of the Westside Council.Captain Kevin takes his troops back to the Valley to report to King Zev.

When the Valley army returns, they have a surprise for the Westside forces.The heavy machine gun shatters their defenses and drives the troops back through Westwood Village.The Valley forces pursue the fleeing troops.

Liz and her parents are surprised when Dan knocks on their door and demands entry.Liz's father opens the door and allows the the Valley troops to enter.He gives them his trading goods and the cash box.Then the invaders leave.

However, Sergeant Chuck leaves one trooper behind to let other Valley troops know that the house has already been looted.Dan spends several hours talking to Liz.Soon he develops a crush on her.

Liz knows that she shouldn't be too offensive toward the occupying troops, but Dan is really getting on her nerves.She spends quite a bit of time complaining about him to her father and mother.Naturally, they are rather amused by the situation.

Then Dan sees Liz leaving the UCLA library and asks what she is doing there.She tells him that she is looking for the cause of the nuclear war.He finds her explanations a little weird.Who wants to know anything about history?

Sergeant Chuck warns the troops about spies and Dan begins to wonder if Liz is searching for Old Time weapons in the library.He reports his conversations to Sergeant Chuck, but the noncom doesn't think that his interest in Liz is really about spying.The sergeant tells him to report anything suspicious in future talks.

This tale turns more dangerous when the Valley troops break into the house and then Dan finds the secret subbasement.Naturally, the Mendozas have already fled the timeline.But then they decide to come back.

The story is mostly about Liz's reactions toward Dan.She sees him -- and his whole timeline -- as ignorant, flea bitten barbarians.Yet Dan impresses her with his intelligence.Ignorance is not the same as low mentality!Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Turtledove fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of nuclear disaster, cultural differences, and thwarted romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

A review of The Valley-Westside War by Harry Turtledove
[Note: this review first appeared in my "Guest Reference Library" column in the January/February 2009 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and then was reprinted on SFScope.com.]

The Valley-Westside War is the sixth book in Harry Turtledove's "Crosstime Traffic" series, but it works just fine as a stand-alone novel. The series is set in the many parallel worlds accessible through the technology discovered by the company Crosstime Traffic. This particular story is set a century and a quarter after a nuclear war didn't destroy the planet, but did knock all of humanity back to a pre-electricity era. Buildings are left, along with a partial knowledge of the time before, but none of the comforts the home timeline is used to. In this milieu, Liz and her family are researching the causes of the nuclear war. They know it happened in 1967, but they are trying to figure out who started it (the US or the USSR?) and why.

Teenaged Liz has recently graduated from high school in the home timeline, and is on assignment with her researcher parents. She's thinking of becoming a crosstime researcher herself, and is hoping to bulk up her resume before entering college. Her parents' grant has sent them to this timeline, where they're living as traders in the mini-kingdom known as Westside. The cover works, as Liz spends most of her days at the remains of UCLA, in the library, reading 150-year old copies of Time, Newsweek, and any other contemporary news sources she can find.

Her research is threatened when the neighboring kingdom of The Valley invades Westside, in response to the Westsiders attempting to charge their neighbors a toll through the wall across the 405. The war is limited in the ways of war with bows and arrows, a few flintlocks, and the exceedingly rare high-powered guns from a distant past must be. Indeed, one machine gun discovered by the king of the Valley is enough to turn the tide, and suddenly Liz and her family are living under an occupying force while trying to continue their research. Keeping their heads down as unremarkable traders wouldn't be terribly difficult... if Liz hadn't attracted the attention of Dan, a soldier in the Valley army who is smitten with her.

Young Dan has the stirrings of intelligence that is untapped in this world. It isn't just Liz's looks and attitude that keep Dan coming back. He isn't sure if she's different, or suspicious, so he keeps coming around. Liz, for her part, finds him an uncultured savage, and barely tolerates his attention, which of course makes Dan suspect even more.

Dan's suspicions and intelligence also come to the attention of his superiors, he is promoted, and life becomes too hot for Liz and family. They flee, only to return through another transposition chamber to try to continue their research. Unfortunately, as with all historical research, there is never a definitive answer.

Liz and Dan are fully fleshed-out characters, though most of the rest seem little more than ciphers to me. all in all, this is an interesting exploration of what a post-apocalyptic world might be, and how our more advanced descendants might interact with it.

A total waste of time
This book is shelved in the adult fiction section of my library. It is however, not a book aimed at adults. The writing is meant for juveniles, maybe 10-year-olds. But I think, even a 10-year-old would be disappointed by this book. This is the second Cross Time Traffic book I read. The other book, Gladiator, was much better. I'm OK with the premise. People have learned how to cross over into an alternate reality where history has taken a different path. This is Harry Turtledove's life work, writing such novels. My real problem with this book is that there is plenty of story but virtually no plot.The only thing that kept me going was the hope that Liz was going to discover where this world had gone wrong. What was the turn that led to a nuclear war? My hope was realized, she does figure it out.The reason turns out to be so academic and trivial that I was really sorry I'd wasted my time.No more Cross Time Traffic novels for me. Most likely no more Harry Turtledove novels for me. ... Read more

Product Description
In the twenty-first century, Germany's Third Reich continues to thrive after its victory in World War II-keeping most of Europe and North America under its heel. But within the heart of the Nazi regime, a secret lives. Under a perfect Aryan facade, Jews survive-living their lives, raising their families, and fearing discovery... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

Sorry, Harry
Although I like Turtledove's work, this one is a bummer. Among the various reviews of this novel, at least one or two mention that it was a work which Mr. Turtledove felt compelled to write because of his own Jewish background and feelings, or words to that effect. I suggest that this helps explain the novel's serious weaknesses. He may be just too close, emotionally, to his subject. He lavishes page after page of sluggish non-action, on a premise which I believe is seriously flawed. I just could not achieve the "willing suspension of disbelief" on the possibilities of a small Jewish "culture" surviving hidden in the midst of the 80-year Reich, and actually retaining their identity and faith and passing it along to their adolescent children. Sorry, Harry, I just wasn't convinced that these folks had pulled off such a monumental accomplishment of surviving with their cultural identity largely intact. It is just too likely that any Jewish survivors would have been Jewish in genes only. Of course, most of the SS types are depicted as abysmally stupid. I guess that's supposed to help explain the survival of a few Jews. Hundreds of sluggish pages, until the SS finally pushes the Wehrmacht too far. The plot lacks even the virtue of the hidden computer guy being a main player in the demise of the evil regime -- as in Sam Hall. The parallels to the Soviet demise were too obvious -- although the point that harsh regimes may become more moderate over time is valid. Yeah, the passages where the Wehrmacht (sp?) gives the SS it's come-uppance are fun, but . . . . I just don't know how I managed to actually finish this book. Maybe that's a plus for Harry, or maybe it shows my streak of morbid curiosity.

Ultimately falls short of expectations
About 400 pages into this 500 page book, things start to get interesting.

The problem is that the first 4/5 of the novel is highly repetitive and unimaginative.I was intrigued by the premise and all the possibilities it might offer, but the author focuses on a minute idea and pounds the reader over the head with the same themes so that it ultimately feels as if he never explores the real meat of the idea.At times, you literally feel as if you're reading the same scenes you had 50 pages before.

Even when things get moving near the end, our characters are mere passive observers who fail to take an active role in the action with one exception.However, this moment is glossed over so quickly, that it might as well never have happened.

If you don't mind passive characters, predictable plot points, deus ex machina, and bridge, this novel may hold your interest for the duration.If not, you could probably skip it.

Ready for the sequel
One of Turtledove's most plausable concepts. Some of the dialogue gets a little drawn out, but the story line is too good to let that get in the way. I'm ready for the sequel!

A Major Disappointment from Turtledove
Despite his many weaknesses, Harry Turteldove is a great story teller.His books usually offer well thought out, and generally plausible 'what-if' scenarios.More often than not the scope and story of his books make up for his repetition, two-dimensional characters, and hollow dialogue.Sadly, "In the Presence of Mine Enemies" doesn't succeed much on any level.

"Enemies" was based upon a very good Turtledove short story of the same name, written years earlier.The story centered around a Jewish family in post World War II Berlin- in a timeline where Hitler won the war.That story was a simple tale of a family revealing to its daughter that she and the family are in fact Jewish, that their friends were Jewish, and that she must keep it a secret as all the Jews of the world are presumed to be dead, murdered by the SS.If the secret is revealed, the daughter is told, the SS will come for them.

This story makes up the first chapter of this unnecessary novel in which the family and their Jewish friends live day to day with the fear of being found out.Turtledove then uses this alternate Nazi Germany as a parallel for the fall of the Soviet Union as a Gorbachev-type leader comes to power and is overwhelmed by a more dynamic Yeltsin-type figure.The story should have worked, and probably would have had Turtledove been willing to cut out 100-150 pages.As it is the book is just too long and with too many repetitions.It seems that literally every 2 or 3 pages a character goes into a little diatribe about the fear of being discovered as a Jew.

Two and half stars seems more appropriate than just two, as Turtledove does manage to create an eerie Nazi-victory world complete with Speer's redesign of Berlin at its heart.But historical twists and goodies like that can't elevate his generally dull and uninspired work.Turtledove can do so much better.

Visions Of A Terrifying Future
While far from perfect, In The Presence Of Mine Enemies is yet another example of why Harry Turtledove is the master of Alternate History Fiction.

The book itself is about life in a 21st Century in which the Third Reich won not only World War II, conquering all of Europe, including England and Russia, but also won World War III, conquering and effectively destroying as a world power the United States. Its difficult to determine what the point-of-departure for Turtledove's story is, but it seems that, in this world, the United States never entered World War II (presumably there was no attack on Pearl Harbor) and effectively sat out the war long enough for the Germans to win in both the East and the West. But the book isn't about world politics in a Nazi dominated world, its about what it would be like to be a Jew living in the heart of the Third Reich 60 years after the conquest of Europe.

Of course, these are not Jews who are living openly as such. They live in secret, pretend to be perfect Aryans, and, in an effort to keep their religion alive, share their secret with their children when they reach 10 years old. Turtledove tries to show us what it would be like to try to live in a society that had as one of its central principles the beleif that you are an enemy that must be destroyed.

The story principally unfolds as the story of the family of Heinrich and Lise Gimpel and their three children, one of whom turns ten as the book opens and thus learns her true identity as a Jew. As she struggles with this new knowledge, we learn, in bits and pieces, what is happening in the rest of the world. And, when the reigning Furher, named quite ineptly, after a certain former head of state in Europe, dies, we begin to see the beginnings of what looks like it could be reform in the Third Reich and a new birth of freedom.

In some ways, this book suffers from some of the same weaknesses as Turtledove's other books. There is far too much repetition of plot elements and character traits -- we don't need to know more than once, for example, about the pediatrician who can't operate a coffee maker, or how Heinrich's co-worker has the hots for the cute blond secretary. The most annoying parts of the book for me, though, came in the long, drawn-out bridge-playing scenes between the Gimpels and Heinrich's co-worker and his wife. They did very little to advance the plot and, quite honestly, mean nothing to me because I know next to nothing about bridge. Its obvious Harry is a bridge player, or has at least researched the topic well, but he shouldn't have assumed that his readers would have the same familiarity with the subject. More than once, the plot slows down needlessly because of this.

As the book unfolds though, the excitement builds. There is a threat to the Gimpel family that looks like it could bring their whole world crashing down. And there is a political sub-plot that is part Tiananmen Square, part the fall of Communism circa 1989, and part Gorbachev-Yeltsin. In the end, there are significant changes in the Third Reich but still not resolution for its remaining Jewish citizens who must continue passing there secret along, hoping for the day when they can live openly again.

While I wouldn't count this among Turtledove's better books, it was still an enjoyable read and painted enough of a picture of a 21st Century dominated by Nazi Germany to make me glad that this particular version of history never came to pass



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