Rating: 
Summary: A crucial and Important work
Review: What if Hitler never invade Russia andkept America from launching D-day? What would life be like in a world where National Socialism survived beyond 1945? J.N. Stroyar takes us to such a world through the eyes and life of Peter Halifax. Peter Halifax begin life as a criminal (because he opposes the Nazi regime), becomes a prisoner (brutalized beyond all imagining), goes on to become a slave before he manages to run for freedom, and ultimately, joins the partisan movement. His is an extraordinary life. This is a long book, but not a tedious book, and it has an important statement. Everyone of us has a responsibility to make sure such a world never emerges.
Rating: 
Summary: Websters defines "editor" as.......
Review: While I am certainly not adverse to long books, they should justify the investment of time and energy that goes into reading their story. It is very difficult to write a sustained fiction narrative that justifies so many pages and the destruction of so many trees. Not only must the story and characters develop over time, but a larger more metaphysical question must arise from the story. Unfortunately, although successful as an alternative history, The Children's War is just not able to sustain 1150 pages as a novel. ( Two recent examples of how to write long fiction that is worthwhile are The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and Neil Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. Like
this book, both these novels deal with World War Two, but use the war as a metaphor to deal with universal/existential issues. The ultimate long novel to use WWII this way, and one of the highlights of 20th century fiction is Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow.) This novel would have been better at 300-400 pages, and with less sensationalist and unnecessary violence. The story is fairly interesting but also familiar. Ms. Stroyar gets some things right- especially the complex relationship between Peter and his owner's wife. Characters are not one dimentional, they have conflicting, and often counter-sympathetic agendas. However, their lives seem to accidentally intersect with each other on such a regular basis that Europe appears to be a small town rather than a continent. What currently passes for alternative history is no threat to Philip K. Dick. (Henry Turtledove has certainly lost his way with the redundant and stagnant World War series. The Children's War is much better than that.) Ms. Stroyar may be a physicist, but she is no economist: no modern country could survive with the type of productive system she posits for post-war Germany.
Slave labor, forced labor and other conscripts proved disastorous for Germany in the real war. The middle section of the book is its strength- until a violent scene involving a child
jolts the story and makes the reader wish it would end much sooner. But after reading 700+ pages, what are you going to do?
Rating:
Summary: Unanswered questions
Review: Why did Germany not invade Russia? Why is New York a "free city (huh?)" and not part of the United States? Why is the swastika banned in the U.S.? We never banned the hammer & sickle during the cold war. What happened to Japan??? The author never answers these questions.
Check this book out from the library before purchasing it. Or, better yet, read "Fatherland" by Robert Harris, "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick, or anything by Harry Turtledove.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T MISS THIS ONE!
Review: Wow, how do I start this?
First off: do not be deterred by the length of this book. Yes, 1149 pages can be a lot to work your way through but I promise, you won't even notice that this is a particularly long book. You'll get so absorbed in the story that you will only curse the fact that the book is so heavy and thus does not lend itself to being carried on the subway etc. Stroyar describes a world in which the Nazis have won the Second World War. I would not call this a simple history (or more appropriately alternative history) book though. Rather, Stroyar's book is heavily character-driven. We meet a handful of characters and are allowed the privilege to view a horrifying world through their eyes. Stroyar does a fantastic job of fleshing out the characters in her book. Even relatively minor players come fully to live in the hands of this truly gifted author. By the time you've read the first couple of chapters, you can visualize what the characters see to the point that you can almost smell or hear what they smell or hear. Their pain and struggles become yours. I should warn prospective readers that Stroyar introduces the reader to a tremendous amount of violence. This, however, should not deter anyone. The world she describes is full of gruesome acts of injustice and torture. Stroyar describes scenes of murder and torture not for any sensationalistic purpose but because they are integral parts of the German Reich she writes about. The book is divided into three separate parts. I personally very much enjoyed the first part that focuses on Peter, an English fugitive who becomes a slave laborer in the household of a sadistic Nazi officer. The second and third parts deal with an Underground movement and its desparate fight against the existing regime. I was pleased to read in another review that somebody else preferred these latter parts of the book over the first one because this means that any reader is bound to love one or the other parts of the book. Stroyar does not attempt to give us clear-cut answers. Nothing in this book is black and white. Just like in real life, even the hero (Peter) is not perfect. He is simply human. He reacts in ways we would, ways that are not always perfect and sometimes not even understandable. The Underground soldiers are not portrayed as simple knights in shining armour. They lead a highly complex fight and thus face highly complex choices and dilemmas. And the Nazis? Well, they are described as evil and typically not very smart. This was my only tiny problem with the book. It seemed implausible that the Third Reich survived the last 50 years with mostly incompetent officers leading and running it. Then again, this book could not possibly be about everything. I simply resigned myself to the fact that Stroyar had to concentrate on certain themes (Peter, the Underground movement, the foreign opposition, etc.) and, as a result, her treatment of the Nazis fell a little short, tending to slide into a black and white picture. It never bothered me while reading the book, I only realize this now... One more thought: some reviewers have commented that they were a bit disappointed in the ending of the book. I read these reviews before I myself had finished the book and prepared myself for a major let-down. I must say though: I do not agree at all with this view. The book is a true epic and it had to end somehow. I did not feel cheated by the ending. It was not a neat and fast wrap-up of all unresolved issues and it was not a dramatic cliffhanger either. Rather, it was an ending that is certainly true to life. Without giving away too much: It did not portray the complete collapse of the Third Reich (that would have been ludicrous and unrealistic). Like the book in its entirety, it concentrated on the characters and described an ending to their stories. An ending that leaves much room for the reader's imagination (could we dare hope for a sequel???). An ending that is satisfying and troubling at the same time. I truly recommend this book to everyone. I guarantee you will enjoy it and, like me, it will leave you wanting for more from this wonderful first-time author. How she will possibly be able to live up to her debut is a mystery to me. But I can hardly wait to find out...
Rating:
Summary: A modern epic novel?!
Review: Yes, surprise of the decade, a genuine modern epic novel has been published! With the eerie resonance of Grossman's classic "Life and Fate", Stroyar depicts the destruction of the individual soul (then its rebirth) against background of an alternate-history which has Nazi Germany victorious in WW II and ruling most of Europe with the application of its hideous racial and dehumanizing policies. Unlike most fiction coming out these days, this remarkable work carries profound impact.
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