Rating: 
Summary: Exciting alternate historical fantasy
Review: The Derlavian War that has devastated the world is now over three years old with no end in sight. Led by the magic derived from slaughtering the Kuusamians, the Algarvian Empire continues the fight with the Kingdom of Unkerlant in spite of the recent loss at Sullingen.
In Kuusamo mages work on developing a new magical "genie" that will stop the Algarve aggression. However, though distant, even here Algarvian magic attacks try to disrupt the mage project that the Kuusamo is turning to successfully end the war as the victors.
In the conquered lands, small resistance movements to overthrow the yoke of the Algarvian Empire have sprung up. However, gains are so minuscule that even the resistance fighters feel they are just gnats attacking dragons.
Harry Turtledove's latest magical portrayal of World War II is an interesting alternate history tale. The author shows that war is gritty and the two prime heavyweights (the Algarvian Empire and the Kingdom of Unkerlant) both are nasty and use people as fodder. Mr. Turtledove also shows numerous perspectives of war so that it is difficult to understand any viewpoint. In spite of six hundred plus pages, the magical history of World War II seems more like the trench warfare at Verdun during World War I as the story moves forward less than a year and there remains two more years of fighting. Like the three previous Darkness novels, RULERS OF DARKNESS is a rich complex tale that adheres to the core message that regardless of the weapons (magical or mundane) war makes hell look like a tropical spa. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: And the war drags on...
Review: The war on Derlavai continues on into it's fourth year, and the momentum is shifting away from Algarve. Turtledove continues to follow the history of our own world's WWII in this interesting and enthralling series. After their defeat at Sullingen(Stalingrad) in the last book, Algarve(Germany) re-groups, and looks to finish off Unkerlant(Russia) for good. But the Unkerlanters don't look to lie down so easily. Meanwhile, the sorcerous version of the "Manhattan Project" continues to progress in Kuusamo(America), but not without it's own setbacks. At the same time, there are several conquered nations, where the people are trying to survive, and fight back, under the rule of the Algarvians. This does not prove to be an easy task.
Again, we follow the action through many different viewpoint-characters from all of the involved nations. Most of them are well developed enough so that you come to expect many of their action and reactions.
Turtledove portrays the war in a way that makes it difficult to "root" for any particular side. The portrayal of King Swemmel(Stalin) makes it very easy to want to see Unkerlant destroyed. But at the same time, the atrocities being commited by the Algarvians make them a less than suitable champion.
I enjoyed this book, and anxiously await the next installment in the series.
Rating:
Summary: The Saga Continues....
Review: This is book four of Harry Turtledove's series of having World War Two fought in a fantasy setting. Guns, bombs, planes and tanks are replaced by sticks, eggs, dragons and beheamoths, while events roughly parallel those in our own world. This book begins with the "German" defeat at "Stalingrad" and continues through the events of 1942 into 1943. Usually by the fourth book in a series, especially one as long and complex as this one, the author begins to loose some of his momentum that made the first few books so good (i.e. - Robert Jordan), however, Turtledove does a very good job of keeping his narrative thread and throwing in enough twists to keep things exciting. While readers with any knowledge of World War Two will certainly know the outcome of some battles long before Turtledove writes them (and maybe become bored in the process)it is intesting to see who survives and who doesn't. This book also sees the introduction of iceberg aircraft carriers and finally some results with the "Manhattan Project." The same problems remain from the first few books. Some characters lack depth and always seem to be doing the same thing every time we read about them (i.e. - Krasta going shopping). The author's sex scenes are overwhelmed with dirty cliches and should have been skipped. The author also does not explain certain things that would have been an integral part of the war - yes, there are guns, but what about machine guns? or what about the strategic bombing campaigns launched by the "allies", are they using different types of dragons for that? In my mind, these kinds of inconsistances would have only served to make the book better. The devil is in the details, as they say. Since this is the fourth book in the series, do not read this one before you read the first three - you will be lost. But if you read the first three and enjoyed them, you will not be disappointed by this book.
Rating:
Summary: Life During Wartime
Review: This is the fourth book in Harry Turtledove's _Darkness_ series, a fantasy retelling of WWII where there is no technology but plenty of magic. Instead of airplanes, pilots ride dragons, they drop magic exploding eggs instead of bombs, and people ride ley-line caravans rather than trains (ley-lines are magical meridians that trained magicians can tap for many purposes, and the confluence of two lines creates power points). Even the level of magic differs depending on which country Turtledove is writing about, corresponding with our world's distribution of engineering and manufacturing. And then he describes, in passing, each country's dietary, musical, and physical traits, while showing that people are people the world over. The same characters viewpoint characters from books 1-3 are back (except for those who managed to die), each being pulled in yet more directions as the Derlavaian War affects just about everyone. While the first book was pretty much all soldiering, all the time, this one has pulled back from a lot (not all) of the fighting to show how civilians are affected too. And some of the civilians have become fighters as well, just as the real WWII turned so many lives in new directions. If you have not read Books 1-3 in the series, I'd suggest you do so before tackling this one. Not only would the plot development make more sense, but so would each character's history. It's very difficult to have an emotional stake in each character's adventures without their backstories, and each of them has a lot going on. Sidroc, a soldier in King Plegmund's Brigade, joined the army to fight on behalf of occupying Algarve, and he did so to escape being charged with murder of his cousin Leifsig. This book continues with both Sidroc and his cousin Ealstan's stories (yes, Ealstan was Leifsig's brother), but if you aren't aware of their relationship and how it soured over years, their slightly intertwined stories won't have the same effect. One interesting plot development in this book is how Turtledove continues the fanstasy worldview that killing people releases magical energy, and how he retells WWII while using each country's history in our world with this additional fillip. In this installment, Gyongyos (Japan) makes plans to use life energy, but not as Algarve does (murdering Kaunians, as the Germans killed Jews in death camps) or Algarve's enemy Unkerlant (killing their own peasants to fight back, as Stalin's Russia killed so many countrymen). The war grinds on, and there are many signs in this book of things falling apart. Bembo, an Algarvian constable, wins a rare vacation from his duties in occupied Forthweg (Poland) and finds home isn't the same as when he left. The resistance movement in Valmiera (France) continues with a lot of hit or miss, with some of its supporters changing sides when convenient. And the tide turns in the Big War, as Unkerlant now has Algarve on the run after the latter loses yet another big battle in the southwest (think northeast, the entire planet is flipped upside down with Derlevai in the southern hemisphere with Unkerlant in the west. Meanwhile, the equivalent of the Manhattan Project continues, but the Kuusamans (USA) still haven't officially entered the war, and their relationship with the Lagoans (British) isn't one of 100% trust yet. What I love about Turtledove's books is how he can spin out a story with so many characters, get me to care about what happens, and get me thinking about how the real history went down while I read this world's version. I wanted to know more about European history and politics in 1942 so I could more appreciate this book.
Rating:
Summary: Life During Wartime
Review: This is the fourth book in Harry Turtledove's _Darkness_ series, a fantasy retelling of WWII where there is no technology but plenty of magic. Instead of airplanes, pilots ride dragons, they drop magic exploding eggs instead of bombs, and people ride ley-line caravans rather than trains (ley-lines are magical meridians that trained magicians can tap for many purposes, and the confluence of two lines creates power points). Even the level of magic differs depending on which country Turtledove is writing about, corresponding with our world's distribution of engineering and manufacturing. And then he describes, in passing, each country's dietary, musical, and physical traits, while showing that people are people the world over. The same characters viewpoint characters from books 1-3 are back (except for those who managed to die), each being pulled in yet more directions as the Derlavaian War affects just about everyone. While the first book was pretty much all soldiering, all the time, this one has pulled back from a lot (not all) of the fighting to show how civilians are affected too. And some of the civilians have become fighters as well, just as the real WWII turned so many lives in new directions. If you have not read Books 1-3 in the series, I'd suggest you do so before tackling this one. Not only would the plot development make more sense, but so would each character's history. It's very difficult to have an emotional stake in each character's adventures without their backstories, and each of them has a lot going on. Sidroc, a soldier in King Plegmund's Brigade, joined the army to fight on behalf of occupying Algarve, and he did so to escape being charged with murder of his cousin Leifsig. This book continues with both Sidroc and his cousin Ealstan's stories (yes, Ealstan was Leifsig's brother), but if you aren't aware of their relationship and how it soured over years, their slightly intertwined stories won't have the same effect. One interesting plot development in this book is how Turtledove continues the fanstasy worldview that killing people releases magical energy, and how he retells WWII while using each country's history in our world with this additional fillip. In this installment, Gyongyos (Japan) makes plans to use life energy, but not as Algarve does (murdering Kaunians, as the Germans killed Jews in death camps) or Algarve's enemy Unkerlant (killing their own peasants to fight back, as Stalin's Russia killed so many countrymen). The war grinds on, and there are many signs in this book of things falling apart. Bembo, an Algarvian constable, wins a rare vacation from his duties in occupied Forthweg (Poland) and finds home isn't the same as when he left. The resistance movement in Valmiera (France) continues with a lot of hit or miss, with some of its supporters changing sides when convenient. And the tide turns in the Big War, as Unkerlant now has Algarve on the run after the latter loses yet another big battle in the southwest (think northeast, the entire planet is flipped upside down with Derlevai in the southern hemisphere with Unkerlant in the west. Meanwhile, the equivalent of the Manhattan Project continues, but the Kuusamans (USA) still haven't officially entered the war, and their relationship with the Lagoans (British) isn't one of 100% trust yet. What I love about Turtledove's books is how he can spin out a story with so many characters, get me to care about what happens, and get me thinking about how the real history went down while I read this world's version. I wanted to know more about European history and politics in 1942 so I could more appreciate this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fairly Interesting
Review: This is the fourth volume of Turtledove's Darkness series. This series is a fantastical look at the Second World War, with dragons taking the place of aircraft, leviathans the place of submarines, and so on. I liked this book, it provides a good continuation to the series; Turtledove proves once again that you can't count on him to keep all his characters alive, and action is well-balanced, with a wide variety of viewpoints. The only problems that I saw were basically structural; we already know how the series will end, but undoubtably with a few curveballs thrown in too, and there were a few errors with characters being called by the wrong name, things like that. If you're just beginning this series, I recommend you start with the first book, otherwise you may totally be lost in terms of story. Good book if you have read the previous volumes, the series is getting a little long, though.
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