J's Pages

by Harry Turtledove

First read in June of 2008.

Check it out if you've come this far.
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Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191

10/5
The Grapple
by Harry Turtledove

First read in June of 2008.

Waiting room material
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Labels: HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191, WaitingRoomMaterial

First read in April of 2008.

This time around I seemed to be more sensitive to the concentration camp scenes. Whether it was due more to Mr. Turtledove's writing or the disgusting nature of the concept, I don't know.

Check it out.
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Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

first read in April 2008.

Check it out.
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Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

First read in February of 2008.

Checked and rechecked it out.
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Labels: AmericanEmpire, CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

First read in December of 2007.
This one's lost its magic for me. I realized that this series really does spend way too much time updating backstories. I wonder if Mr. Turtledove expects people to pick up these books without having read the predecessors. Anyway, it makes for a great book to read at the bus stop or in a waiting room.

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Labels: AmericanEmpire, HarryTurtledove, Timeline-191, WaitingRoomMaterial

by Harry Turtledove

(first read in December of 2007.)

Check it out.
LibraryThing link

Labels: AmericanEmpire, CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

First read in August of 2007.

on my shelf
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Labels: HarryTurtledove, OnMyShelf, TheGreatWar, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

First read in August of 2007

Check it out.
 LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, TheGreatWar, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

First read in September of 2006.
  
on my shelf
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Labels: HarryTurtledove, OnMyShelf, TheGreatWar, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

I just had to check it out again.
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Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

At last! The final volume of the Settling Accounts tetralogy which is the final section of the eleven volume Timeline-191 saga. One could argue that this book sees the end of two wars. The first is the "Second Great War", or World War Two, as we called it in our reality. It's the final conflict between the greater population and resources of the United States of America and whatever secret weapons the Confederate States of America might be able to pull out of their collective hat. This book also offers, one could say, the end of the War Between the States. There is a definite end of hostilities and after four wars of increasing intensity, both the North and the South realize that they cannot peacefully coexist on the continent. Like The Great War: Breakthroughs, this volume picks up the pace from its predecessor, bringing an end to the interweaving stories that recount American life during wartime. I'm pretty sure also that this is the end of the saga. I suppose Mr. Turtledove could create some tales from an alternate history cold war, I hope he'd refrain and turn his talents to some other endeavor. (like maybe that Kennedy story he had started on.)

Worth checking out, if you've been following the series.
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Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

Ah, the penultimate volume of the Timeline-191 series! I am such an addict! By this time, I have to admit that these alternate history books about the ongoing conflict of the United States and Confederate States have devolved into hackwork. You get the same ideas swirling around and around throughout the tale. Highly competent soldiers on the front lines can (and should) get away with mouthing off to their superiors. Confederate tobacco is much superior than the crap the USA produces. The superior numbers and manufacturing capability of the USA can win the war if it's drawn out... unless the CSA manages to split the atom first. So why do I keep reading? Well, I've come this far. 10 volumes as of this book. I want to see how it ends. Who lives, who dies, and will Jake Featherston get the nasty death that he truly deserves? Guess I'll just have to get the next one to find out. (And pray that Mr. Turtledove hasn't decided to embark on an alternate Cold War epic....)

Merely waiting room material.
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Labels: HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191, WaitingRoomMaterial

by Harry Turtledove

This is part two of the Settling Accounts tetralogy, the story of World War II fought in a world where the South won the Civil War. The Confederate Army have invaded Ohio, hoping to cut the United States in half and force a surrender. However, neither Confederate victories or the death of the American president have caused the USA to cry uncle. So, the Confederate troops turn eastward, hoping to capture the city of Pittsburgh and cripple US manufacturing capabilities. (That brings up one oddity about this alternate world--everybody worries about losing access to the factories in the East, yet West Coast efforts are rarely mentioned. Were all the West Coast magnates of our world of Confederate stock or something?) Meanwhile, in the CSA, the noose is tightening around the necks of the black community as more and more people are shipped off to the concentration camps. It looks mighty bleak. I can only hope that in the two novels remaining in this series, we might see a happy... well, at least a somewhat just, ending to this tale.

I couldn't wait to check it out!
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Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

It occurred to me that this Timeline-191 series is like a big ol' soap opera. The books jump between dozens of characters, each caught up in their own little stories, which together make up a larger tale. I was impressed by the format in the first volume that I read of this series, now it seems like just another formula. There are times I get tired hearing that Scipio once served as the head butler for Anne Colleton, or that Mary Pomeroy's brother was unjustly executed by the occupying American troops during the Great War. But, I keep on reading. Like a junkie, I went out and borrowed this next volume, even though I have a number of other half-read books clamoring for my attention. What a wretched man I am! Anyway, on to the book. Return Engagement starts the Settling Accounts four-parter, the story of World War II in a world where the Confederate States of America won the Civil War and remained an independent nation. The year is 1941 and June 22nd becomes the day that will live in infamy. The president of the CSA has launched his attack on the United States, sending bombers over Philadelphia and tanks and troops into Ohio. The plan is to thrust up to Lake Erie and cut the USA in half. The question is, will the USA be up to the challenge of thwarting President Featherston's plan? Or will they pay the price of relaxing in the glory of their victory in the Great War?

I just had to check it out.
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Labels: CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, SettlingAccounts, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

This, the seventh book of Mr. Turtledove's Timeline-191 series is essentially the chronicles of the first Featherston administration, starting in 1934. As the book opens, Jake Featherston--this reality's version of Adolf Hitler--has just been sworn in as the President of the Confederate States of America. All through the proceeding volumes, he's been holding grudges and remembering those who slighted him. Now he gets a chance for payback. There's no real surprises in how that particular storyline plays out. (Actually, there is one, now that I think of it, but you'll have to read the book to discover it.) But that's only one of the plot threads running through the series. Life goes on in North America, from the State of Sonora in the Confederate southwest to the Republic of Quebec, that puppet nation carved out of Canada during the Great War. All in all, it's a good read. My only real complaint is that, as part of a lenghty storyline, Mr. Turtledove finds it necessary to pull in a number of recaps from the previous novels for those readers who may not have read them. I wish he could have used footnotes or something, so I could blip over them and continue on with the action. Oh, well. When I get around to writing an 11 volume story, I suppose I can do it whatever way I want.

I just had to check it out.
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Labels: AmericanEmpire, CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

This is the middle volume of the American Empire trilogy, volume six of the story arc in which the South's victory in the Civil War makes the North American continent a place of hatred and bloodshed. At this point, the whole story has run out of steam, somewhat. This part of the tale runs from the early 1920s until 1932. Things happen, but life during the boom of the Roaring 20's and the depressed 30s isn't quite as dramatic as it was during wartime. The characterization is still good, and I'll undoubtedly read onward. It's just not as good as its predecessors.

It's very good waiting room material. Excellent, really.
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Labels: AmericanEmpire, HarryTurtledove, Timeline-191, WaitingRoomMaterial

by Harry Turtledove

Why am I reading this book? This is the first volume of the American Empire trilogy, which is the sequel to The Great War trilogy, which is a sequel to How Few Remain. I think that makes it the fifth volume of a 11 or so volume series. (Did I mention the trilogy or whateverlogy that follows American Empire?) What can I say? Mr. Turtledove has created some interesting characters and he hasn't killed them all off yet. So we have Blood & Iron. The Great War is over and folks are dealing with the aftermath. The people of the United States are ecstatic, basking in the glory of their first victory over the Confederacy. The (surviving) soldiers either return home seeking to prosper in civilian life or remain in the service to face the cutbacks in government spending that follows the war. The Confederates, on the other hand, are suffering not only an unfamiliar humiliation, but also the burden of war reparations. Inflation soars and anger simmers. The nation's discontent finds a voice in the newly formed Freedom Party, who look to blame the Confederacy's defeat on the current government and people with dark skin. (Because the CSA could have beaten the damnyankees if the Socialist blacks hadn't rebelled in 1915 and diverted the war effort.) And then there's the Canadians, who don't have a fierce rivalry with the USA, but just wish the jerks would stop occupying their country and go home. Like it's predecessors, this book's a nice tapestry of human lives lived against the backdrop of history. Well, alternate history, anyway.

Checking it out, one book at a time.
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Labels: AmericanEmpire, CheckItOut, HarryTurtledove, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

I'm afraid I read this one out of order. Back last year, I happened to stumble across The Great War: American Front, which tells a tale of World War I in a world where the Confederate States of America is an actuality. The characters in the book referred, from time to time, about a second War between the States that had occurred in the 1880s and had served to create deeper divisions between the North and the South. I found myself wishing that I could also read that tale, foolishly unaware that it had already been written. How Few Remain is that tale, an enjoyable read in its own right. The year is 1881 and after almost 20 years of Democrats in the White House, the president is once again a Republican. He's itching to regain some lost glory, and when the Confederate States of America expand their territory by purchasing the states of Sonora and Chihuahua from Mexico, President Blaine considers it sufficient cause to start military action. The resulting war is told from the viewpoint of various characters. It's the same technique Mr. Turtledove uses in The Great War, but in this case, the featured characters are all famous characters from our own history--Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson, Frederick Douglass, Samuel Clemens and a disgraced ex-president, Abraham Lincoln, among others. Mr. Turtledove does a good job breathing life into these characters, sending me to the Wikipedia to scope out what these people were really like. And, of course, also sending me to the bookstore to hunt down the subsequent titles in this alternate history epic.

I want this one on my shelf!
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Labels: HarryTurtledove, OnMyShelf, Timeline-191

by Harry Turtledove

This sucks! No, not the book. The book is quite well written and interesting. In it, Mr. Turtledove wraps up the First World War. Well, the first world war of this particular alternate reality. You know, the one where the South had won the Civil War. Now the USA and CSA are fighting across the trenches, just like the European powers. Like the previous volumes of the trilogy, Mr. Turtledove tells the tale from the perspective of a variety of people: soldier and civilian; rich and poor; damnyankee, reb and canuck. That's where the problem lies. Some of those plot threads end somewhat happily, others, not so well. One... ah, one just sucks. It's good writing. It shows an important facet of life during wartime but... I won't spoil the surprise. I hated it. Still, seeing how I have the other two volumes of the trilogy, I'll track down a copy of this one to put on my shelf. sigh....
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Labels: HarryTurtledove, OnMyShelf, TheGreatWar, Timeline-191