The Children's War : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Great Political Thriller
Review: A truly gripping thriller, this is a real page turner, I can't believe it comes from a first time author it is so well crafted.

Rating:
Summary: A Dark Alternate Vision of Life Under Victorious 3d Reich
Review: As a fan of alternate history, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. This is not the first novel to focus on the potential of a victorious Germany. It is the first I have seen, however, that focuses not on the geo-politics but on the lives of ordinary people determined to be less than fully human. The world depicted here imagines a Europe completely subjugated by the Nazis, even England. The 1200 page novel initially follows several different stories. First is, Peter Halifax, captured British underground member, who becomes a slave to a haughty German family and whose treatment is harrowing. The book also follows the lives of a group of Polish patriots who live free underground and hold off Nazi attack through the threat of retaliation. The novel also follows the life of a high level official in the Nazi government as he navigates his way through Nazi incompetence and viciousness. Ultimately these characters all come together in a series of complex and unlikely happenings.

The novel is well written but very dense. The characters are uniformly not nice people, understandable given their circumstances. It is not easy to like them as they are not particularly heroic. Peter, in particularly is damaged by his disastrous childhood and his systematic brutalization and degradation in his slave years. This is described in brutal detail. Ultimately the plot, which I am intentionally not revealing, is rather simple. The strength of the novel is the portrait of blighted characters in a horror world that it reveals. As the book is read the author reveals a bleak world without much hope of redemption in which simple survival is far from guaranteed. The 1999 of the "Children's War" is a world most of us could not imagine in our worst nightmares. This book was not easy or pleasant reading. When I was finished I had a bad taste in my mouth. (and my head) Whether Germany could have ever won the war and whether a German Europe fifty years later could have resembled this nightmare is far from clear. One thing that is clear is that after you read this novel, you will be glad you live in the real world, not the world of J.N. Stroyar's imagination.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: How do I start, this is without a doubt one of the best books that I have ever read. Many books are described as emotional roller coasters but this one really is. Stroyar really puts you in the mind and hearts of her characters and makes her imaginary world seem all too real. I just don't understand the negative reviews - don't these people read the newspapers.

It amazes me the press hasn't picked up on this sleeper masterpiece. Hollywood should turn it into a movie, its way better than the sacharine stuff Tinseltown churns out these days.

Rating:
Summary: A Great "Alternate Future" Book
Review: I found this on a bargain book table for two dollars...my guess is that people were put off by it's daunting size. Despite it's length, it's a surprisingly quick read - I was so absorbed in it that I finished it in five days. It's a very imaginative and well-written book...a good bet for WWII history buffs or people who love alternate scenario sort of books.

Rating:
Summary: Overwhelming but rewarding & enlightening
Review: The size can be intimidating but you will find yourself immersed in a world that rivals the scope of any in science fiction. The novel revolves mainly in Poland, more than half a century after the Nazi VICTORY in WWII. Much of Europe and the United Kingdom is under Nazi occupation. The British gov't has relocated to Toronto and has joined with Canada and the U.S. to form the North American Union, which doesn't recognize the Nazis as the offical government of the Third Reich. The range of characters can also make your head spin but essentially the main group is an English resistance fighter who joins with the Polish Underground and a high official in the Nazi gov't.

The facinating aspect of the book is that virtually every act of violence or abuse happened to real victims of oppression somewhere in the world in the past century. The author simply crafted these stories with fictional characters in a fictional world. The violence in the story can get downright numbing and no one will get through the constant torture of one servent in the book unscathed.

The novel also showcases the sometimes hypocritical role of the United States. While they condemn the rumored atrocities, they have no problem selling the Reich weapons and torture devices (something the US does to this day). One scene shows Polish rebels discussing what was better, dictatorship or occupation. But one of many great scenes involves a rebel traveling to the US and marveling at the free and unregulated knowledge in an independent bookstore.

The single great moments in the novel are when two characters discuss the current world they live in and how they choose to change it. Everyone from North America to the Middle East can understand the very different perspectives these conversations bring up. The novel was written before 9/11 and it seems to be quite sympathetic to the cause of terrorism, but just like the reality, it isn't black and white. It showcases the brutality of terrorism while emphasizing the fact that it is really a response to oppression.

If there's any complaints, length can get pretty monotonous and the dialouge can sometimes verge into soap opera territory. Also, and this is really being over-analytical and beside the point of the story, but it is hard to believe that a regime as corrupt and murderous as the Nazis could last as long as it does in the novel. I know many will bring up the Soviets but there's was an empire centuries in the making, while the Nazis took an incredible 3 years to invade and take over much of Europe. Everyone could go on and on about the merits of my argument and none of this should take away the beauty of this book.
I hope many will listen to a slave laborer's declaration to a Berlin girl right before his escape,
"Change the world."

Rating:
Summary: Unanswered questions
Review: This is a very, very depressing book. It shows the world under the heel of a victorious Nazi Germany. More depressing,the other half of the Eastern Hemisphere is ruled by a Russian tyranny. Perhaps the worst thought is that one realizes that all the hate and bullying and utter disregard for humanity presented here is replicated in scores of countries today - constant fear, secret police, informers, torture chambers, relentless efforts by the State to force agreement even when all know it's a lie....

What was most convincing was not the cruelty or slavery or even the total thought control but the utter greyness, drabness and shabbiness. That kind of rundown degredation seemed so awful yet so real. I would've liked a 4 1/2 star rating. The missing half point was for two reasons: (1) The geopolitical aspects were scant. What about Japan, the USSR, India, etc? (2)The idea that despite their victory, every German would behave like a guard at a concentration camp is unrealistic - especially in light of widespread disattisfaction with living conditions. Few parents would let their children witness them degrading, beating and torturing someone, even in Naziland. Germany, like all such regimes, knew that kind of behaviour was uncivilized and sought desperately to hide it from the world.

The best part was the tale of the underground, a daring and very realistic group of (mainly) Polish restistance fighters. How the two separate plots - the British slave and the underground - merge is a wonderful piece of plotting. The good guys are not squeaky clean; they are determined and realistic. The sci-fi aspect introduced at the end seemed almost perfect.

This is a great read for a cold winter night

Rating:
Summary: Long, difficult, ultimately rewarding
Review: This is the first alternate history novel I have ever read, so I was not sure what to expect. One thing I did expect was a greater level of detail. I felt very frustrated at times, because I felt that the everyday things of Stroyars world were not very well fleshed out. What did people's clothes look like? What did the architecture look like? The cars? Although I did not really "see" this world, I sure as heck could feel what it was like to live in it. The details of Peter's torture and mistreatment drew me in, especially his enslavement in the German household. It was almost too much at times, but I don't remember the last book that has given me such a viscereal reaction. It was a little too lengthy, and the characters spent a little too much time thinking, talking, thinking about their feelings, talking about their thoughts etc... Nevertheless, i thought the characters were engaging, and the premise has lots of potential. I am looking forward to seeing this story continue in the sequel, hopefully at a faster pace than the original.

Rating:
Summary: Recent Newcomer To Alternative History
Review: What can I say about Children's War. Deeply moving, involved is not an appropriate word, but its all that I can think of, maybe involved times 10. Simply a wonderful book. Its been a long time since I cared about a character in a novel and I deeply cared for Peter he became a part of my life for the better part of a month. I was lent the book by a friend along with The Plot Against America, and In the Presence of Mine Enemies, needless to say I was not overly impressed with either of those, I have read Alt. History but pick and choose what I read. 1901, and Fatherland have been about the best I've read up till Children's War. I was a bit intimidated upon first being lent the book, but once I started I loved it. I would recommend picking up this book, though the paperback might be a better choice the hardback can become a little uncomfortable at times, and reading it becomes a physical task as well as mental.

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: 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...