Rating: 
Summary: For enthusiasts of political fiction and science fiction
Review: Be forewarned: Blood & Iron is Book 1 of a projected series. It falls somewhere in the realm of science fiction and alternative history, in a world where war has erupted twice between the U.S. and the Confederacy. A newfound war explodes worldwide, drawing in other nations and bringing a more fragile peace as socialists rise to power in the U.S. Enthusiasts of political fiction and science fiction alike will find these settings detailed.
Rating: 
Summary: a very good book overall,but...
Review: This is something I could not,would not put down since I took up "The Guns Of The South" and "How Few Remain" et al.The action, intrigue,and politics expressed and implied throughout the book left me asking more questions instead of tying up loose ends like most sequels normally do.Overall,this is an excellent read if it were not for the sex scenes the author has a bad habit of using as filler for his stories(which seem to escalate in quantity and intensity book by book).
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but the best may be yet to come
Review: I've been hooked on this series since "How Few Remain". While the history research is not exhaustive (it reads like historical fiction, not a textbook), it's been fun to follow the characters, which have dwindled in number from 20 down to 15 since the Great War began. I believe that originally this book was meant to be the fourth and final installment in the Great War series ("Settling Accounts"), but Turtledove decided to keep on going. This would explain some of the unusually happy positions most of the characters find themselves at in their concluding segments of the book. A lot of the Featherston material feels added in, to build up to the meat of the new "American Empire" series, so I can forgive what seems predictable now in hopes that things will get really shaken up in the next chapter. For starters, I suspect the character Sam Carsten is onto something when he speculates on a possible falling out between the United States and Germany. Like the new Star Wars films, I'll need to see the next two before passing final judgment on the whole work.
Rating: 
Summary: Good start with a rushed finish
Review: The first two thirds of the book were good to quite good, but then things seemed to hang a bit. The last three or four chapters seemed to have been written with a close deadline and reminded me of some of the history papers I wrote in college at the last minute.The two most vivid descriptions of a sexual relationship between two separate "couples" seemed to have been a case of copy and paste even though in the first case it added to the feel of the characters, while in the second case it really brought little enhanced value to the two characters.The focus needs to expand a bit more to other characters and not just North American characters. More information needs to be provided about what is happening to the other countries involved in the Great War. A minor mention of rioting in France indicates that other pots are boiling. One can't have a World War either past or future only in North America. Uninformative comments about England, Japan, Germany, and Russia need to be replaced with more information in order for the saga to hang together going forward. For instance, we know that while England and Japan were on the losing side, they did not suffer the losses suffered by the CSA and France. England retained most of its empire which must require a large military to control. Japan was as much ignored by the European and American powers after this version of the Great War as it was after the real one yet comments made by characters in the USA indicate that a conflict is already expected with Japan someday.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable
Review: With this book, Turtledove feeds directly off his Great War series, which itself was an extension of How Few Remain. So if you're just jumping in with this book you're already four behind! The book is standard Turtledove prose. Each section frames around a character, and are only 2-3 pages each, allowing the reader to move swiftly from person to person and never losing characters along the way. His take on Alternate History, of which he is usually brilliant takes a turn for the boring in this book however. Quickie background. The south wins it's independence in the Civil War, receives recognition (and alliances with) Britain, Canada and France and becomes a major opponent of the USA (aided by Germany) and they fight us in a war in the 1880s where the USA is thrashed. When World War 1 breaks out in Europe the USA and CSA fight as well. In this case, the USA and the Germans win. The USA conquers Canada and large chunks of the CSA, reducing the rest of the south to a poverty stricken mess. That's the first four books. Blood and Iron picks up right where the last series ended, around 1918 with a victorious USA imposing a harsh peace on the south. In the south inflation is rampant, people are humiliated and angry, and an ex-sargeant who bitterly hates his officers for "bungling" the war joins a radical party and quickly takes them over with his fiery rhetoric and enormous drive. His party (dubbed Freedom) pledges action and revenge against the external enemies as well as the people they've scapegoated (the rich, the African Americans, the officers) as the internal enemies. The Freedom party holds lavish rallies, have "soldiers" who march in white shirt and brown slacks and generally act as hoodlums, attacking those groups who oppose them. Sound familiar yet? In this book, Turtledove is neatly mimicking the actual history, basically retelling word for word the events that happened in post war Germany before the Nazis took over. A few names were changed of course but I'm afraid this is getting really predictable. There's even a version of the Munich putsch at the end of this book with the same results. Let me guess, in book two the economy will drop into the Great Depression and the Freedom (Nazi) party will rise to power. Then in the next book they'll build up their armanents while the USA sleeps. Then in a future series World War 2 will break out again and the USA will detroy the southern states (as we did Germany and Japan in World War 2) after almost being defeated ourselves. A nuke or two will be used. While the books might have interesting points how excited can you get about something when you pretty much know what will happen? Harry Turtledove is a much better writer than this and much more creative to. This book (and probably the series I fear) is just lazy.
Rating:
Summary: Same old, same old...
Review: I'm a big fan of Turtledove's work and overall I think this "the south won the war" series is really good. But, after five installments and another two (at least) on the way, Turtledove has developed some horrible habits about repeating himself. As someone else said, this book just basically kills time before the next war breaks out. This next war most likely involving the Freedom Party (another version of the Nazi's). Overall, 'Blood and Iron' just isn't very interesting. There's pretty much no character development, and the plotline is so predictable it's sad. Here are some things that just don't sit well with me: 1 - The Featherston/Hitler parallel. It's obvious that Featherston is going to be this world's Hitler, but some of the similarities Turtledove makes are just plain stupid. Many times it's mentioned that Featherston is a great speaker, just like Hitler was. But all we ever hear Featherston say is junk like, "Now, I aim to throw those dern fools in the War Department out on their behinds." Wow, he's certainly captured my attention.
2 - The sex scenes. They're badly written.
3 - Turtledove repeating himself. Yes, Dowling is fat, Custer is arrogant, Nellie and Edna fight a lot, and Sam Carsten has delicate skin. Do these people have a life beyond this?
4 - Lucien Galtier. 'Nuff said. I think it's clear that Turtledove is pushing more for quantity than quality. At least these past few years. Writing two or three 550-page novels a YEAR for years in a row can't be easy, and I think the strain is finally starting to show. I for one wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer if it meant that there would actually be some depth to the characters and there would be a plot where maybe something interesting happened. But hey, this is just my opinion. I give this book three stars because I'm a Turtledove fan and he does write some really good stuff now and then. But for the uninitiated, I'd wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Weakest of the series so far
Review: I thought of giving "Blood and Iron" 2 stars, but if you're into the series it's a must-read... even though you'll grumble your way through it. For one thing, the alternate history content and action are much less than in any of the books in the Great War series. For the most part, we're just marking time until the next war breaks out. Complaint number one: Some of the characters are SO boring! And Turtledove is even more into the rut of constantly re-explaining their motivations. Nellie and Edna are even more tedious than ever. And nothing happens of interest to Lucien Galtier exept some tiny bits of exposition about the Republic of Quebec. Nothing's happening with Erasmus either. Complaint number two: The sex scenes! It seemed as if the author was writing for his 13-year-old male readers... who no doubt find the near-constant descriptions of couplings to be effectively pornographic. Sorry, but Turtledove is not good at this. I found the descriptions to be silly and felt embarrassed for the author. Complaint number three: Repetition! Why does he always have to tell us that Dowling is fat? We know it already! The hyper-inflation descriptions were way overdone too. I felt dazed from having it pounded into me time after time. Here's hoping more actual events take place in the next book. Best advice: hold off until this is in paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Where will it go next?
Review: If you haven't read the "Great War" trilogy, you'll probably miss the earlier stages of character development, though at least Turtledove inserted a prologue that summarizes the situation leading into this book. I think non-initiates will also want to bone up on their interbellum history, to see where this parallels it, and differs from it. In one particular instance, Featherston (Hitler), doesn't get thrown in jail (like Hitler was after the Beer Hall Putsch) where he writes his magnum opus ("Over Open Sights", in this case). Instead, his party is discredited by a different sort of event, which leaves him the downtime to put his thoughts (read: rantings) in order. There are some others, as well, mostly arising from the Confederate political system (like the US system, but with presidents limited to one 6-year term). Still, some echoes from our own world are put in, like a massive Freedom Party rally in Columbia, SC (the Freedom Party's Nuremburg?).
My main complaint with this book is the pace with which Turtledove bypasses vast stretches of time. It makes the book more episodic in nature, unlike the Great War trilogy, which seemed to flow rather constantly. The book begins towards the end of 1917 and ends in the spring of 1924, covering twice the time of the Great War trilogy in one-third the space. At least in this book there isn't the near-complete lack of time cues like in the Great War series. But, it's a minor complaint.
I wonder where the series will go next. The end of Blood and Iron foreshadows the return of the Freedom Party by the use of propaganda and the media, and presumably there will be a stock-market crash and a Great Depression, though that's not guaranteed to happen. Eventually, I guess, this will lead to another series setting World War II in the same universe. That could be very interesting indeed.
Rating:
Summary: It can't happen herre--or can it?
Review: This is one of the really frightening books of the past good many years. Watching the rise of a political party based on hate in some of the United States (the United States of real history, that is) made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, especially when the lead character in the party is so scarily real-seeming. You want to say no, but you see that you can't no matter how much you wish you could. It feels too much like it really could have happened. And keeping track of other people we've already met in this universe is also interesting. Turtledove has shown he can have very little mercy on them, so you never know what will happen next. Some reviewers have complained that this is an allegory. I do not think that is true. Allegory is about drawing morals and driving them home with a sledgehammer, and this book doesn't do that at all. It says "This is how things are. What do you make of that?" There are certainly analogies (comparisons) between the real Germany and the fictional Confederate States, but that is not the same thing at all. I think it is legitimate, because the Confederate States in this world experienced many of the same things the real Germany did after World War I, so they could be expected to react in the same sort of way. BLOOD AND IRON is a book you will be thinking about for a long time after you read it. You can't say that about many. Definitely worth a look
Rating:
Summary: So obvious - or is it a joke?
Review: A great book in a series that started with "How Few Remain" and had some lows, but also highs like this one. Through three books Turtledove had WW1 taking place in America and now presumably we are in a inter-war period. In the South there is a disgrunted former sergant with a racist message gaining followers. Even if he suffers a setback we can expect him to rise again. And there will be an election in 1933 ... Now how obvious can you get? Or could it all be a great joke? Isn`t the couple Flora Hamburger / Hosea Blackford a lot like Rosa Luxemburg / Karl Liebknecht? Will the North - after all Germany's ally in this alternate history - become the Nazi North? Too bad it won't be funny.
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