Rating: 
Summary: Slow Going
Review: Between the Rivers is the story of Sharur, son of a master trader from a city called Gibil, in a semi-fantastical Mesopotamia at the dawn of civilization. The premise of the book is that each city-state has its own patron god, who interacts directly with the people of the city. The god controls and affects the daily life of every individual person in his city and the outlying area, and as a result, the people of each city-state are dull-witted and dependent, relying on their god to make decisions for them. In recent generations, Engibil, the god of the city of Gibil, has grown lazy, and has allowed his people to think for themselves. The result has been a slow increase in technological advancement. The people of Gibil have discovered how to make bronze, and how to keep records that live longer than a man's memory - the secret of writing.
As the novel begins, Sharur is beginning to lead a trade expedition outside the land between the rivers. He meets with unexpected resistance, and his caravan fails to make a profit. The reason for this initally seems to be that the gods of other lands have decided that the people of Gibil carry dangerous ideas and thoughts, which might cause the foreign gods' own people to leave them behind. However, as we find out later, and which comes off as a hastily rewritten premise by the author, the real reason is that a divine artifact has been unwittingly taken from these foreign gods into Gibil.
At the time of this story, writing had been invented only a couple generations ago. I recall reading in my history textbooks that most of the cuneiform writing that has been discovered has been trading invoices and inventories, and that's exactly how Turtledove has his characters using it. As a son of a master trader, Shurur keeps track of customers' debts and counts trade inventory. Other aspects of early Bronze-age life is depicted in the story. Turtledove writes about marriage customs, slave-keeping practices, and day-to-day activities of the inhabitants of this ancient city. I enjoyed the descriptions of life in the city, as well as the battle between the two nations as the gods came out to fight alongside their people.
The novel was interesting as a scenario of the dawn of civilization. However, the story moved along very slowly. The failed trade expedition took up about a quarter of the book, and was heavily redundant in places. Also if this is supposed to be Mesopotamia, a map of the cities under the names Turtledove gives would have been nice. If it's a non-earth fantasy-world, it would have been nice to have that confirmed with a map. None of the city names bear a resemblance to any places I'd known, so it didn't really matter if the story was set in Mesopotamia, or ancient Indiana. Another thing that took away from the story was that much of the plot hinges on Sharur's ability to trick the gods, and this seems to me to be a little too easy for him.
Though there is much about the premise to recommend the novel, it was a bit too slow for me. It's not that there's no action, because there is. It just seems like a formality to the story. Turtledove had a good concept for the setting, but could have developed a better story to set in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Between/Rivers bears no relationship to ancient Mesopotamia.
Review: First let me say that Between the Rivers is a passable story with a unique storyline. Unfortunately, when writing this story, Mr. Turtledove made absolutely no attempt to give the reader even the barest feeling for the rich culture of ancient Mesopotamia. The characters in this story, both Giblut and others, come off as late-Twentieth Century Americans magically transported away from their technology. Mr. Turtledove cheats the reader by using an already known milieu, while he himself apparently has precious little understanding of it. If you pick this book up, hoping that it will introduce you to interesting characters with an alien perspective, then for Enki's sake, put it down!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent! Classic Turtledove. Buy it!
Review: From Glenn H. Reynolds, University of Tennessee: A very enjoyable read, and more than that. Another review of this book says that Sharur is a lot like other Turtledove characters: Gerin the Fox, Krispos of Videssos, etc. That's true, but it shouldn't be an indictment. Like the works of Robert Heinlein, Turtledove's novels are works of moral instruction -- though Turtledove is lighter-handed about it than Heinlein sometimes was. But like Heinlein, Turtledove is fascinated with competence and moral responsibility. His characters play that out. In "Between the Rivers" he also meditates on free will, privacy, and other important topics -- without slowing down the tale or making it didactic. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Turtledove does it again!
Review: Harry Turtledove's work has certain characteristic strengths -- solid characterization, realistic motivations, good description, and fast-paced action. BETWEEN THE RIVERS adds a witty, intriguing look at the Bronze Age... in a world much like ancient Sumeria, but one where the gods are very real. Turtledove's extrapolations from this idea are solid, down-to-earth and a mixture of the hilarious and the horrific. For as one character says, to be a god you don't have to be very smart -- just very _strong_. His hero's adventures in a world where humans are still -- literally -- as insects beneath the feet of a very solidly realized pantheon are a treat for any reader of SF, fantasy or historical fiction. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Ending For This Book
Review: I believe that Turtledove could have done better to work out a better ending. How about ending with Sharur in the Alashkurri Mountains, with all the Alashkurrut thinking for themselves as the Giblut do. I would have liked to have known if the gods of Alashkurri punished Sharur with their remeining power. This book left alot of questions unanswered.
Rating: 
Summary: Not your typical Turtledove, but worthwile.
Review: I first noticed Harry Turtledove when he kept showing up in anthologies. When the Worldwar Series came out, I jumped at that, and have since been reading his older material, but also keeping up with new work as it comes out. If you only think of Harry Turtledove in terms of alternate history, this book is not what you would expect. It has some echoes of "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump" in style, but it really doesn't compare that closely with any of his previous work that I have read. It is a fantasy set at the beginning of the Bronze Age, in what would appear to be an analog of Mesapotamia, but with different place names and with actual living, breathing gods. The gods are definitely superhuman, but fall a long way short of being omnipotent. As in most of his work, Turtledove leaves room for more, While I still prefer his alternate history science fiction, this fantasy was very enjoyable, with characters that you will care about. If there is a sequel(s), I would look forward to reading more about this world.
Rating:
Summary: Don't know quite what to say!
Review: I found this book on a remaindered table; sometimes that's a good place to get interesting, little known books. Unfortunately, in this case, the reason it was on that table was more than abundantly clear to me as soon as I began reading it. It's a dud and I am at a loss to understand the good comments some other amazonians have vouchsafed it here. This is a tale of the dawn of civilization in the ancient Near East, describing a time when mankind first gathered in small city-like settlements in the Fertile Crescent area under the aegis of its gods. The central conceit is that the gods are somehow real, as though the way they are portrayed in the ancient cuneiform literature we have found in the archeaological remains, walking among and speaking to mankind, was the way it really was. In this case, the very old cities portrayed here (apparently pre-existing any of the later cities which are known to present day archeaologists) are each presumed to be the province of a special god and each god seems to be the product of the coalescing of aimless desert spirits or demons around human settlements in order to gain control of them. These cities are seen as the earliest sites of human civilization but also as fully in the thrall of these spirits who thrive on the humans they have captured. But one city's god has begun to grow lazy and, as such, its humans are beginning to grow away from this spirit. The tale is built entirely around this drawing away and what certain of the gods do to fight this. But it is absurdly told. A valiant effort is made by the author to effect the "voice" of the ancients as found in the old poetic texts, using a minimum of vocabulary and extensive repitition. But frankly this grows incredibly tiresome after the first 50 or so pages. And the story itself is utterly silly. The characters are flat and uninteresting. The gods have all these powers yet fail to notice the human's efforts to conceal things from them when they have only to reach inside the human's minds! We are never shown clearly why some of the gods are lazier than others (what is going on with them anyway? is a natural evolution taking place? an accident of fate?) or why, when they are manifestly interested in what their humans are doing, certain of them fail to probe more deeply to find out the truth the humans are concealing from them. The tale finally just peters to an end. I was expecting a surprise, e.g., why does Engibil manifest himself as smaller than Enimhursag in the final battle and yet his city is so much more powerful and effective on the battle field? Could some new development have been at work in which Engibil was himself somehow in the loop? And why didn't he search where he should have known the item of his interest lay? And what was the special nature of this item anyway? And why would the gods of the mountains have done such a manifestly foolish thing in the first place, I mean what was in it for them? I hate writing negative reviews these days and yet this book could have been so much more. But it wasn't. And there you have it.
Rating:
Summary: Turtledove's best book so far
Review: I normally enjoy books by Harry Turtledove, but this one is much funnier than the rest. It's fast-moving and the humour is nearly British. I really hope that he will write more books like this one!
Rating:
Summary: Original fantasy, believable history
Review: I teach ancient history and regularly recommend this book to my students as a fun accompaniment to our course. Turtledove's usual meticulous scholarship works wonderfully in Between the Rivers where he creates a believable take on Bronze Age Mesopotamian society (with a fantasy twist, of course). Some idiosyncracies can only be appreciated if you know the history: for instance, the characters' habits of restating key phrases reads just like some early Sumerian texts. There are many wonderful historical tidbits about daily life, dining, business and housing that Harry Turtledove has worked into this book. That said, this is a historical fantasy and, by giving these cities "real" gods, Turtledove deftly works in the fantasy elements to his story. The conflict between humans and the gods, starting with the people of Gibil and spreading to the other cities (through trade and example) is a bit predictable and the hero's character might seem one-dimensional, but Between the Rivers still makes for a rollicking good read!
Rating:
Summary: Impressive
Review: I think that Harry Turtledove is a writer of uneven talent. In my opinion, his novels alternate between the brilliant and the banal. Between the Rivers is one of the former. The core concept of the book, alone, deserves high praise for its innovativeness. Such a high-concept plot, by itself, could make a book worth reading. Turtledove takes the story to a higher level by brilliantly capturing the feel of what it would be like to live in the early bronze age. Under his authorship, he turns what could have been a simple story about simple folk into a complex tale of faith and reason. Most importantly, he shows that, in their own way, the people of that time were extremely sophisticated and that they were undergoing the equivilant of high-tech revolution in their culture. This is certainly one of the better books that I've read this year and I'm certain that I shall long remember it.
|
