Rating: 
Summary: Turtledove pushes the way...
Review: Everybody who disliked The Two Georges, I am assuming, disliked it because of the basic reason why I did: the writing of Richard Dreyfuss. As someone who has read six Turtledove books before this one, the literary problems must stem from Dreyfuss' lack of experience in this genre, as well as my assumption that Turtledove was no move than a ghostwriter. Besides that, I enjoyed the book immensely. This was the first book I've read in a long time where I found myself actually rooting for the characters. I wanted Thomas Bushell and Sam Stanley and Dr. Flannery to find that painting and to unmask the Sons of Liberty. The Turtledove cleverness in the book makes me feel weird, as the point of view comes from the people whom we actually revolted again. However, I would rather be a citizen of the British Crown than a member of the Sons of Liberty. The only thing really lacking is better understanding of what were the circumstances of the Washington-King George agreement, as well as how Great Britain took over the entire North American Continent. Besides that, the appearences of Martin Luther King and John Kennedy might not have been necessary, but the including of Richard Nixon as a used-car salesman was funny, not an insult to him. I think The Two Georges is well worth the money and the time.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly flawed, but a good tale nonetheless
Review: The premise for the Two Georges is an interesting topic, one that the two authors have handled well, though they have fallen down with some of the dialogue (not all Brits have upper class accents). It would be nice to see a follow up, or another alternate history from Mr. Turtledove concerning the British (possibly WW1 based), but the Two Georges is one of the best of the genre I have read.
Rating: 
Summary: A rather poor effort
Review: An interesting plot and thought-provoking premise is subverted by very poor, cliche-ridden writing. Richard Dreyfuss should stick to acting, and Turtledove should stick to winning Hugos.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected, but not Turtledove at his best
Review: This book was panned by the mainstream critics, but I enjoyed it. It is not as good as The Guns of the South or the Worldwar series, but that's praising with faint damns. The characters are interesting, the parallel world is plausible (though it's not entirely clear why the British Empire of the 1990s is so far behind our world -- no WWII to stimulate technical progress? that's my guess, but he gives no hint) and the action satisfying. If Turtledove has a flaw, it's that he writes too many books. I shouldn't complain of that, as I eagerly read each one that comes out. But if his publishers agree with me, there's an easy solution: pay him more!
Rating: 
Summary: The Two Georges; A Fascinating Look at What Could Have Been
Review: The idea of the sun never setting on the British Empire is fascinating even to patriotic Americans and Dreyfuss and Turtledove have given us their view of the possible result. In an interesting mystery with a lot of twists and surprises, the authors give us an America where things are slower, crime is lower, and technology minimal. Though it paints a picture of a "kinder and gentler" America--short of the homegrown terrorism of the Sons of Liberty--much of what we still hold dear as Americans is demonstrated by Colonel Bushell and his aide Captain Stanley: An unfettered view of right and wrong, loyalty to what is demonstrated as a just system, and the desire to succeed against all odds. This is certainly an excellent book with lessons for the real United States in the closing years of the 20th century.
Rating: 
Summary: Glacial plot makes airships seem comparatively supersonic.
Review: Judging from the cover photo of Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove, they must have enjoyed writing the Two Georges even less than I enjoyed reading it.What was the reason for their partnership? Was it the money - as in "The Two Gorgers"? Was it to poison the careers of a great actor and a great writer - as in "The Two Borgias"? The Two Georges is set in the present but in an alternative world in which the American Revolution never happened and the USA remained a British colony. As far as I can tell, the best thing about this alternative world is that The Two Georges would never have been written there. The plot becomes a mystery after murder, mayhem and misappropriation manifest themselves at the showing of the book's eponymous painting. The mystery, of course, is why anyone would develop a plot that moves as ponderously and predictably to disaster as the Hindenberg docking in New Jersey. The hero is a lovable boozing, cuckolded RAM or member of the Royal American Mounted Police. Airships and steam-driven cars abound in this novel and we frequently accompany the cops in a transcontinental chase that makes the reader really feel the bun-tinglingly slow pace of hot pursuit by blimp. Finally, the musical ride ends and the demouement should not surprise readers with weak hearts, even if any should manage to make it so far. Stealing a chapter from bad movies, the authors provide a second climax just when you might have thought the world had become safe for visiting British royalty. At least the authors spared us any kingly tampon quips in the alternative world.
Rating:
Summary: great concept good story
Review: The Two Georges was a book I had just happened to pick up in the time between the end of school and the start of the holiday season. It promised a good story from a Hugo award winning author, Harry Turtledove and much to my surprise Richard Dreyfuss. The storyline unfolds as we find the Americas ruled by Great Britain and the King Emperor who rules the once colonies, but now protected territories of his majesty. The theft of a national symbol of unity between the British and the former colonies introduces the interplay between stanchly British subjects in the form of the loyalist police force and there opposition, the terroist group known as the Sons of Liberty.This story is spun though the eyes of the chief of the Royal American Mounted Police and romance and intrigue sneak into his rather stiff upper lip existance and we as readers are drawn into his rather mundane life. The reader has adequate suspense and mystery and oh' did i mention that this is a story about what would have been had the war of independance never been fought, but had been reconciled. It shows a portrait of America as a nation of tea drinking gun control enthusiasts. I highly recommend this novel for it's original story and highly evolved plot.
Rating:
Summary: Both Georges are no doubt spinning in their graves.
Review: This by far the worst book I have ever read. I finished it only because I was looking for the punch line. There wasn't one, and I've never so regretted time wasted. Since I've never read a Turtledove, I'm not sure who to blame here. I suppose I can blame both: A good writer would have made an attempt to fix the book, halt it's release, or take his name off the front cover. The action is clunky, the prose is stilted, the dialogue is unnatural and cliche, and the premise is as uninteresting as it is unimportant.
Rating: 
Summary: No American Revolution, No Internet?
Review: It's great fun following the authors' assumptions about the political, economic, and technological ramifications of the world that never experienced the American Revolution. Colonial empires dominate the world, other powerful revolutionary movments, such as the French and Russian Revolutions, didn't happen, and technological innovations proceed in a leisurely pace. Too bad the plot doesn't capture the same level of excitement. You keep plodding along hoping that you can develop interest in the two-dimensional characters that populate this novel, but usually the story line only serves as an excuse for Turtledove and Dreyfuss to share their "clever" observations of a world that might have been. You can't escape the sense that we are reading a story designed for an eventual reincarnation as a block-buster film (starring Harrison Ford perhaps as the doggedly heroic Thomas Bushell?). But give the authors their due. They finished the novel with one of the greatest closing sentences I have ever read. Michael Sockol, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Summary: ALTERNATE HISTORY OF AN AMERICA UNDER THE BRITISH CROWN
Review: TURTLEDOVE HAS CREATED ANOTHER MASTERPIECE OF ALTERNATE HISTORY, WITH THE HELP OF RICHARD DREYFUSS. IMAGINE A 1990S AMERICA STILL UNDER BRITISH RULE, ALONG WITH 3/4 OF THE WORLD. THE SONS OF LIBERTY, A MILITANT REVOLUTIONARY GROUP, CALL THE TREATY BETWEEN GEORGE WASHINGTON AND GEORGE III OF 1763 TRATORIOUS, AND WISH AMERICA TO BE FREE. THEY STEAL THE PAINTING SYMBOLIZING THIS TREATY, CALLED "THE TWO GEORGES." IT'S REALLY HARD FOR THE READER TO ROOT FOR THE "SONS," EVEN THOUGH THEY WANT WHAT WE ARE, BECASUE THEY ARE SO BAD. HE USES THE BALD EAGLE AS A BAD SYMBOL FOR THESE SONS; IT'S MORE OF AN IMPERIAL EAGLE SYMBOL THAN WHAT WE HAVE. JFK IS STILL ALIVE, AND A MAJOR PROPONENT OF LIBERTY AND THE SON'S; HE IS THE PUBLISHER OF COMMON SENSE MAGAZINE, WITH WHAT WE CALL THE MODERN AMERICAN BALD EAGLE AS IT'S SYMBOL. AND FINALLY, MARTIN LUTHER KING IS THE LEADER OF THE UNION HERE IN NORTH AMERICA (COMPOSED OF MODERN US AND CANADA), AND I CAN'T TELL, BUT I THINK RICHARD NIXON GETS ASSASINATED; HE IS A USED CAR DEALER. AN INTERESTING LOOK AT TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICS IF THINGS HAD CHANGED JUST SLIGHTLY...
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