Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good, but wait for the paper back to come out
Review: A good story on what might have been, although if the time-line really went in this direction, some of the people and events in the story would have never been born or happened. Obviously there are a few flaws that hamper things, like the ineffectiveness of the combined American and German fleets against the English in the Atlantic, or the standstill on the Canadian front. He likes to use a lot of characters, which makes the book jump around, and gives the reader the impression that most are basically the same person in different situations, but also allows seemly the entire plot to be told through the thoughts and words of his characters. Besides from some ackward and pointless sex scenes, those are the only negative points. On the Whole, he presents an exciting story of what could have happened with a US lost during the Civil War. The battles are gripping and well told, and by not choosing a side himself, he leaves the reader to root for either. Turltedove fans should do themselves a favor and buy the book, only they should wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent work of alternative history
Review: I have just finished the second in Turtledove's epic series on WWI. The work is strangely compelling in that the series of "what ifs" blend with the actual historical occurances in a seamless fashion. Turtledove has a great command of the technological changes that took place during the great war period and is able to combine those changes with the Southern agarian gentlemen mindset that was prevailant during the war of succession some fifty years earlier. This results in a clash of ideals that could have easily taken place in the United States as it did in actuality in the British army during the 1914-1918 conflict. The characters are a continuation of those introduced in the first work in the series, America's Front, and I have come to appreciate the shades of personality and interaction which the author developes. I look forward to August 1, 2000 when the third part of this promised four part series becomes available. My only complaint will be having to wait for Turtledove's ultimate conclusion some time next year.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is the next one?
Review: God I am so disappointed the next book is not out yet. Why doesn't he just write and publish the whole series at once.In this book, Turtledove not only comes up with a remarkable and realistic account of what might have been, but he allows the war to grow with time and technology. The blacks and the mormons cause problems and the methods that are used to battle against them are very intriguing. Further, the alliance structure and population advantages of each side are well documented in this book. At the end of the book, all I could say was where is the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Great Sequal, Great Series
Review: I said in my review of The Great War: American Front that this would be Turtledove's best series ever, and the second installment does not disappoint. It's not just that his cast is strong, or that his development of the (many) plotlines from the first book continues precisely as it ought. No, no. The big thing is is mastery of history, his complete understanding of the events and undercurrents of the time -- in the real world -- and his artfull weaving of them together in the changes circumstances of his premise. I have seen nothing I have had to disagree with; moreover, I have learned a great deal. As an historian, for me, that says it all. Wonderful, wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Turtledove's best series keeps rolling along
Review: Although Harry Turtledove is probably best known for his World War series, the Civil War series that began with HOW FEW REMAIN is doubtless his greatest work. The back-story for this series is a plausible world in which Lee's plans for the 1862 invasion of Pennsylvania did not fall into Union hands. After battles at New Cumberland and Camp Hill in which Lee crushed the Army of the Potomac, leaving Washington cut off, England and France intervene--forcing the North to sue for peace. In HOW FEW REMAIN, the story picked up in 1881 when the North declared war on the Confederacy following the latter's purchase of Chihuahua and Sonora from the Empire of Mexico. Following another British and French intervention, the Confederacy was again victorious. The Union is left embittered and hungry for revenge. At the end of HOW FEW REMAIN, Turtledove foreshadowed the GREAT WAR tetralogy with clear hints of an emerging alliance between the Union and Imperial Germany. In AMERICAN FRONT, the story picked up in 1914. World War I has broken out in Europe. The Union and Imperial Germany are staunch allies, while the Confederacy remains allied with England and France. In short order, the Union and the Confederacy plunge into a war paralleling that in Europe. The war doesn't make a lot of sense. In World War I, all of the European players had clear war aims. The war turned out to be a tragic folly, but they all knew why they went to war. In contrast, it's not clear why the Union and Confederacy are fighting (old animosities?) or what their respective war aims are. Does the USA believe it can conquer and reabsorb the Confederacy? Perhaps this is Turtledove's point-the utter folly of war. If so, his story powerfully illustrates the utility of George Washington's advice that the US steer clear of "entangling alliances" with European powers. As made even more clear in WALK IN HELL, privation and radical social change are the war's only sure outcome. As usual with Turtledove, there are a lot of sub-plots to keep track of--at least a dozen! Crib notes are almost a necessity. Besides being hard to keep track of, some of the plot lines are duplicative. Consider the McGregor and Galtier sub-plots. Both are based around oppressed Canadian families living in territories occupied by US forces. (Even though Germany's experience in two world wars demonstrates that two-front wars are a bad idea, the Union happily jumped into one with the Confederacy to the south and Anglo-Canada to the north.) The chief difference between the two is that they illustrate distinct reactions to occupation...resistance by the McGregors and (slower to be unveiled) a slow fall into collaboration by the Galtiers. From a dramatic perspective, Turtledove would have done better to combine these separate plot lines into a single one, in which the conflict could have been established within a single family, heightening the tension. One of the nice points in WALK IN HELL is the way Turtledove captures the complexity of life in war and the moral ambiguities was forces upon us. Consider, for example, the interesting Cincinnatus plot line-a black southerner in Union occupied Kentucky finds himself caught between self-preservation, working a day job for the Union, entanglement with a pro-Confederacy resistance movement, and the black socialist underground. Cincinnatus must sail between Scylla and Charybdis with no room for error. Although characterization generally is not one of Turtledove's strengths, the Cincinnatus sub-plot is an excellent treatment of the hard choices such a war would have forced upon ordinary people. (On the other hand, Cincinnatus has the misfortune of being subjected to one of Turtledove's embarrassing sex scenes.) One thing worries me: In the Jake Featherston subplot Turtledove is doing some pretty blatant foreshadowing. Featherston is a front line Confederate soldier with increasingly strong racist attitudes towards blacks. So here's a prediction as to where Turtledove is going: after two more books in THE GREAT WAR series, the south will lose the war. Economic privation and social breakdown will follow. (Think Weimar Germany.) Then a former front line soldier will rise to power as a racist demagogic leader. Featherston will be the Confederacy's Hitler and the blacks will be the south's Jews. And we'll be buying yet another tetralogy-this time dealing with WWII. Although I still think HOW FEW REMAIN is superior to the the GREAT WAR tetralogy (to date), the latter still is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it
Review: Well I have to say that I really liked this book. I won't go into the plot, enough others have done that. This is the second in what should be a series of 4, with the next coming out in July, I believe. This series will stand up by itself, or you can also read Guns of the South and How Few Remain, which can also stand alone or make an excellent continuation. Guns is of course in a different universe, but we can't have everything. The only problem I have with the book is that there are large number of characters spread across the entire continent. The problem becomes trying to keep track of who is on which side and where they are at. I wish a list of characters were included, or each section began by telling the date and location of characters. But as I said we can't have everything, but then again (I have to brag) I do have an autographed copy.
Rating:
Summary: Turtledove's Second Volume Is A Victory
Review: After reading 'How Few Remain' and 'Great War: American Front', I had many expectations for 'Walk In Hell'. I am glad to say Turtledove's second volume in the 'Great War' series is a success. Although many have complained the novel is too slow, Turtledove's characters are totally believable, and you cannot help but sympathize with them as they struggle through this brutal, if fictional, war. Turtledove is not afraid to kill characters, even leading ones, so there is a constant element of uncertainty present in the novel. Who will survive? Being British, I am interested to see who wins the war in Europe in this reality, and what consequences it will have on the world. Like many other people, I hope Turtledove decides to continue the series on to World War II. If you enjoyed the first volume of this series, 'American Front', and the prequel, 'How Few Remain', you will love this novel, and eagerly await the final two installments. Or you could go away and read 'Worldwar' again, to pass the time before the release of the third volume, 'Breakthroughs'.
Rating:
Summary: Hell American Style
Review: Harry Turtledove is a fine storyteller. Both AMERICAN FRONT and A WALK IN HELL leave me anxiously awaiting the next installment. Nevertheless, I fear that he will somehow contrive to have the Confederacy win again. This was bad enough in HOW FEW REMAIN. As a fluke, I can understand how the South would have won the Civil War in the way Turtledove depicts, but a second round with the North should have finished the CSA. Turtledove's portrayal of a second Confederate victory is absurd, but it does set up his GREAT WAR series rather nicely. The characters are not all that confusing, but I admit that I lose track of them between installments. Perhaps when they are all written, I will take the time to read it all at once.
Rating: 
Summary: Political logic lacking
Review: This, similar to the last book shows Turtledove's great ablity at writing multi-perspective war story. However, the political scene beyond America, is murky and confused. It is not clear who Russia, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire are allied with. Though Austria is name dropped at several points in the series it is never clear whom they side with. If Germany was allied with the USA then it would theoretically be allied with Russia instead of Austria. If so, then the Germans would be much closer to Paris.In Our Time-Line, the Turks were discive in winning the war, but in This Time Line, the Turks make no apearance. The last thing that is very fantasic is that the war starts here in exactly the same way as in OTL. With a Point of Divergence in the 1860s the world would not play out the way illustrated here.
Rating:
Summary: a must-read for alternate-history buffs
Review: a terrific yet painstaking dramatization of what may have been in the "war to end all wars." it shows every aspect of the war thru all eyes,whether they be victor or vanquished,superior or subordinate,occupier or occupied. an action-packed saga with too much emphasis on sexual gratification. overall,a very good book you can never put down let alone ignore.
|
