Saturday, December 27, 2014

After the Downfall

by Harry Turtledove

Okay, so the last big Friends of the Library book sale was a bit of a letdown for me. I had prior obligations for both the Friday evening preview and the Saturday sale. Somewhat dejected, I headed down on Sunday, sure that everything had been picked over. It was, but since everything was half-price, I lowered my standards and grabbed just about anything that caught my eye. With a picture of a Nazi soldier riding a unicorn on the cover, After the Downfall was one of those books. It's the tale of Hasso Pemsel, a Wehrmacht officer who is mystically snatched from the fall of Berlin in 1945 to another world where magic exists and technology is at the medieval level. Shortly upon his arrival he uses his machine gun to rescue Velona, the human embodiment of a goddess. Through her gratitude he becomes her lover and a welcome guest of the Lenelli, a tall, blond haired, blue eyed race. These particular Lenelli are colonists, having come across the western sea to settle on a new continent. The natives, a shorter, darker skinned race named the Grenye, take exception to this, but what can they do against a master race? As the tale progresses, Hasso's role as an outsider combines with his experiences on the losing side of World War II to make him question the status quo and his own beliefs. It's not a great book, but worth the time to read.

Good waiting room material.
LibraryThing link

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