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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Good stuff - like the whole line of books that led up to this one, an intricate exploration of how history might be different if the chain of events had zigged instead of zagging back in the middle of the Civil War. Well thought out, believable, and thought-provoking.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Medical content, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Antisemitism
slow-paced
This is the second book in the "Settling Accounts" tetrology (I think that's the word), in which he details the Second World War, concentrating on the struggle between the United States and the Confederate States of America.
In the first book, the CSA started the war and immediately headed up into Ohio to the Canadian border, cutting the US in two. The US tried attack after attack into Virginia, and made a little progress, but not near enough.
In this book, we see the war through 1942 and a little way into 1943. The Confederacy, under the "leadership" of Jake Featherston and the Freedom Party have instituted a program to eradicate all of the Negros within their borders through concentration camps. And with continued victories, they begin to look forward to peace on their terms.
The US, meanwhile, is not only fighting the CSA, but is also having to deal with insurrections in Utah and Canada (which became part of the US at the end of the "Great War"). Meanwhile in Washington state, there is a secret project to try to separate uranium-235 for a weapon. As with most of Turtledove's books, there are far too many stories going on to adequately summarize everything that happens.
Turtledove once again weaves a fascinating tale of alternate history, and he achieves a nice balance between battlefield and behind the lines, something I don't think he did with the "Great War" trilogy. It'll be interesting to see how this all turns out.
In the first book, the CSA started the war and immediately headed up into Ohio to the Canadian border, cutting the US in two. The US tried attack after attack into Virginia, and made a little progress, but not near enough.
In this book, we see the war through 1942 and a little way into 1943. The Confederacy, under the "leadership" of Jake Featherston and the Freedom Party have instituted a program to eradicate all of the Negros within their borders through concentration camps. And with continued victories, they begin to look forward to peace on their terms.
The US, meanwhile, is not only fighting the CSA, but is also having to deal with insurrections in Utah and Canada (which became part of the US at the end of the "Great War"). Meanwhile in Washington state, there is a secret project to try to separate uranium-235 for a weapon. As with most of Turtledove's books, there are far too many stories going on to adequately summarize everything that happens.
Turtledove once again weaves a fascinating tale of alternate history, and he achieves a nice balance between battlefield and behind the lines, something I don't think he did with the "Great War" trilogy. It'll be interesting to see how this all turns out.
tom colleton sections = could be better
michael pound sections = awesome
dowling = awesome
morrel = awesome
carsten = awesome
for such a long buck, 580 pages, theres not as much action sequences in pittsburgh as i would have thought, just in the last 100 pages or so.
Carsten's stuff is especially good.
michael pound sections = awesome
dowling = awesome
morrel = awesome
carsten = awesome
for such a long buck, 580 pages, theres not as much action sequences in pittsburgh as i would have thought, just in the last 100 pages or so.
Carsten's stuff is especially good.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
There is a good deal to like in Turtledove’s latest installment of his ongoing alternative history saga of a divided America. The second volume of the “Settling Accounts” series picks up right where the last one left off, with the United States and the Confederate States at war once again. The American president is dead and the Confederate drive through Ohio has split the U.S. in two. Yet with a new president the war continues, and Turtledove entertains with his own version of the Second World War, following a number of characters from the previous volumes as they fight and live through the conflict.
There is an interesting new note to this volume. The Mormon revolt in Utah – an ongoing subplot that dates back to the initial volume in the series – produces a new weapon that is more familiar to readers from today’s headlines than from histories of World War II. It seems that Turtledove has decided to introduce an element of 21st century warfare to his 1940s battlefield as a way of commenting on current events, suggesting his own attitudes to today’s violence. It will be interesting as well to see if he develops this idea further in the next volume.
Yet as enjoyable as the novel is, it suffers from a degree of sloppiness. Some of the sloppiness is error borne of too little research – I doubt that the U.S. would name a destroyer escort after a Southerner, for example – while some seems to be of exhaustion. Compared to the initial volumes of the series there seems to be a growing degree of repetitiveness in this book, not just of the last installment (a little understandable due to the need to refresh readers from what happened previously) but within the book itself. Observations and even plot developments are recycled and rehashed almost as if Turtledove is simply trying to fill space. While I am as eager for the next volume as any other fan of the series, I would be willing to wait a little longer if it led to a novel of the caliber of “How Few Remain.” Though this work may develop the tale he started with that book, it seems to be a little hollow by comparison.
There is an interesting new note to this volume. The Mormon revolt in Utah – an ongoing subplot that dates back to the initial volume in the series – produces a new weapon that is more familiar to readers from today’s headlines than from histories of World War II. It seems that Turtledove has decided to introduce an element of 21st century warfare to his 1940s battlefield as a way of commenting on current events, suggesting his own attitudes to today’s violence. It will be interesting as well to see if he develops this idea further in the next volume.
Yet as enjoyable as the novel is, it suffers from a degree of sloppiness. Some of the sloppiness is error borne of too little research – I doubt that the U.S. would name a destroyer escort after a Southerner, for example – while some seems to be of exhaustion. Compared to the initial volumes of the series there seems to be a growing degree of repetitiveness in this book, not just of the last installment (a little understandable due to the need to refresh readers from what happened previously) but within the book itself. Observations and even plot developments are recycled and rehashed almost as if Turtledove is simply trying to fill space. While I am as eager for the next volume as any other fan of the series, I would be willing to wait a little longer if it led to a novel of the caliber of “How Few Remain.” Though this work may develop the tale he started with that book, it seems to be a little hollow by comparison.