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A review by sjlee
The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove, Richard Dreyfuss
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The premise of this book had it on my radar for several years. I spotted it in a used bookstore and took the opportunity to finally read it. What a disappointment.
The basic premise of The Two Georges is that the American Revolution ended in a peaceful settlement between the British Empire and the American colonies. In the present of the novels (the 1980s or 1990s as far as I can tell), America is something like a dominion of the British Empire and the countries are far more closely aligned together than say Canada and the United Kingdom are in our world.
I think the setting is quite ridiculous in the story. My main objection is that the world is essentially a steampunk world. Cars operate on steam engines, air travel is restricted to dirigibles, etc. The world is very much frozen in a different time. There's a bizarre quality to this, in my opinion, in that a lot of the culture of world seems to be Victorian a century after that period. I don't understand why the authors wouldn't simply set the novel in the 1800s if they wanted steampunk technology and Victorian values. Instead the reader is asked to accept a world radically unchanged over many decades. It nearly feels like the authors considered what a more British America would look like and got stuck in a very cartoonish style for the country.
The plot itself centers on a anti-imperial independence movement and the hunt for the thieves of a precious, symbolic painting. Centering the story around a painting strikes me as odd. I cannot think of anything like that in this world what would have an equivalent social value.
The story itself is... fine. It's a big, dramatic adventure, rushing around North America to show off how the place developed differently from our world. Some parts are interesting, but not terribly so.
Overall, it was a disappointment and failed to really grab or hold my interest with the setting, characters or plot.
The basic premise of The Two Georges is that the American Revolution ended in a peaceful settlement between the British Empire and the American colonies. In the present of the novels (the 1980s or 1990s as far as I can tell), America is something like a dominion of the British Empire and the countries are far more closely aligned together than say Canada and the United Kingdom are in our world.
I think the setting is quite ridiculous in the story. My main objection is that the world is essentially a steampunk world. Cars operate on steam engines, air travel is restricted to dirigibles, etc. The world is very much frozen in a different time. There's a bizarre quality to this, in my opinion, in that a lot of the culture of world seems to be Victorian a century after that period. I don't understand why the authors wouldn't simply set the novel in the 1800s if they wanted steampunk technology and Victorian values. Instead the reader is asked to accept a world radically unchanged over many decades. It nearly feels like the authors considered what a more British America would look like and got stuck in a very cartoonish style for the country.
The plot itself centers on a anti-imperial independence movement and the hunt for the thieves of a precious, symbolic painting. Centering the story around a painting strikes me as odd. I cannot think of anything like that in this world what would have an equivalent social value.
The story itself is... fine. It's a big, dramatic adventure, rushing around North America to show off how the place developed differently from our world. Some parts are interesting, but not terribly so.
Overall, it was a disappointment and failed to really grab or hold my interest with the setting, characters or plot.