Departures and The Great War by Harry Turtledove Reviews
Here you will find our reviews of Departures and The Great War by author Harry Turtledove.Departures by Harry Turtledove
Del Rey, June 1993.Paperback, 342 pages.
ISBN: 0345380118.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
This appealing collection of short stories from master
alternative history storyteller Harry Turtledove,
author of The Guns of the South, provides
entertaining historical plot
twists for the reader. Lovers of alternative history and
science fiction will be enchanted with these tales that include
a genetically altered pig that might be considered a kosher meat,
a baseball player that continually gets fluke hits, a retired
confederate captain who returns to the battlefield for
a reunion and a student who finds Genghis Kahn in the
twentieth century. Rich characters and scenes make the
stories come to life.
Departures is a grand collection of alternative
history and science fiction short stories. A great way for
readers to introduce themselves to the alternative history
genre.
The Great War: American Front by Harry Turtledove
Del Rey, June 1998.Hardcover, 503 pages.
ISBN: 034540615X.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
This massive work by leading alternative novelist Harry Turtledove
postulates what World War I could have been like had the United
States never joined together as one country.
The book comprises the full development and action of an engaging war between
two sides of the United States in 1914, known as the Great War.
The Northern States (called the United
States) have joined forces with Germany and are led by President
Ted Roosevelt. The Southern States (called the Confederacy)
have joined forces with Britain and France and are led by President
Woodrow Wilson. On either side are the blacks, who are still slaves
in the South, and are oppressed and looked down upon by most of the
Whites in the country. The Great War ravages North America and takes place
on land, sea and the sky as Turtledove shows how the airplane becomes
a remarkable fighting machine. The book also provides frightening depictions
of the introduction of the machine gun on the war front.
The novel focuses on the lives of specific characters
and their personal experiences in dealing with the Great War,
including Scipio an educated black servant for a white southern
woman who has to deal with two sides of the war, Abner Dowling a
bright lieutenant
who has to diminish and thwart some of the inane battle plans of his
commanding general George Custer and Irving Morrell
a brave captain trapped in a hospital, who has to fool
the doctors into not aumputating his leg and letting
him return to the battlefield.
Believable characters and alternative historical accounts that seem like real historical events make the reader believe this could really have been the way it happened if our country had never united. A moving and spellbinding work.
Return to the October 1998 issue of The IWJ.
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