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Review
‘Turtledove plays heady games with actual history, scattering object lessons and bitter ironies along the way. Strong, complex characters against a sweeping alt-historical background.’ Kirkus Reviews on Return Engagements
‘This political and racial background makes for much of the best writing in the book, peopled as it is with Turtledove’s usual mass of characters and actions . . . Turtledove’s books are always great entertainment but in all these novels about an alternate North America the possible route of democracy, demagoguery and repression ring all too true . . . the power of the book is in its ordinary people and their struggles.’ SFX Magazine on Return Engagements
‘An impressively detailed and consistently believable alternative history . . . disturbing, convincing.’ Vector 239 on RETURN ENGAGEMENTS
'With shocking vividness, Turtledove demonstrates the extreme fragility of our modern world ... This is state-of-the-art alternate history, nothing less' Publishers Weekly (starred review for How Few Remain)
'Good fun. It has an authentic speculative quality, energy and dash.' Time Out on A World of Difference
'Engrossing ... definitely the work of one of alternate history's authentic modern masters ... totally fascinating.' Booklist on The Great War series
'The latest volume in Turtledove's colossal and brialliant saga of an alternate (and disunited) United States may be the strongest and most compelling since the opener, How Few Remain.' Publishers Weekly on American Empire series
‘This political and racial background makes for much of the best writing in the book, peopled as it is with Turtledove’s usual mass of characters and actions . . . Turtledove’s books are always great entertainment but in all these novels about an alternate North America the possible route of democracy, demagoguery and repression ring all too true . . . the power of the book is in its ordinary people and their struggles.’ SFX Magazine on Return Engagements
‘An impressively detailed and consistently believable alternative history . . . disturbing, convincing.’ Vector 239 on RETURN ENGAGEMENTS
'With shocking vividness, Turtledove demonstrates the extreme fragility of our modern world ... This is state-of-the-art alternate history, nothing less' Publishers Weekly (starred review for How Few Remain)
'Good fun. It has an authentic speculative quality, energy and dash.' Time Out on A World of Difference
'Engrossing ... definitely the work of one of alternate history's authentic modern masters ... totally fascinating.' Booklist on The Great War series
'The latest volume in Turtledove's colossal and brialliant saga of an alternate (and disunited) United States may be the strongest and most compelling since the opener, How Few Remain.' Publishers Weekly on American Empire series
Product Description
It is 1939, and the world is overshadowed by the thunder-clouds of war, once again. In this alternate history twist the US fights while across the Pacific Japan is ready to fight again.
Once again brother fights brother, friend against friend and the New World is ravaged by all the horrors of modern warfare.
This is the first book in a new series on the first global conflict by the modern day master of alternate history. Epic, exciting and incredibly powerful, it deals with relatively recent past so cleverly. This is World War II as it might have been... (20050129)
Once again brother fights brother, friend against friend and the New World is ravaged by all the horrors of modern warfare.
This is the first book in a new series on the first global conflict by the modern day master of alternate history. Epic, exciting and incredibly powerful, it deals with relatively recent past so cleverly. This is World War II as it might have been... (20050129)
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Flora Blackford woke from nightmare to nightmare. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Flora Blackford woke from nightmare to nightmare. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am great fan of alternative history books and read a lot of Turledove and the superior SM Stirling. However i felt a little disappointed with this novel. I have read all the previous books watching Featherston getting higher and higher in the CSA and waiting for the invitable outbreak of war. But when it came it was disappointing. The battle scenes did not really grab me and it seemed too dull. Turtledove is trying to parallel the second world war with Featherston obviously being Hitler, but Hitler defeated France, Belgium, Holland, Norway and Denmark in six weeks, throwing the British out at Dunkirk. I was waiting for something similar to happen but it didnt.
Also, i got so tired of the same conversation that almost every charcter had, in the case of the black charcters almost every time they appeared, e.g. something like "Tell me I'm wrong" said in a vairiety of ways.
Perhaps Turtledove has peaked? SM Stirling's books who I discovered quite recently is a breath of fresh air. Read The Peshawar Lancers!
Also, i got so tired of the same conversation that almost every charcter had, in the case of the black charcters almost every time they appeared, e.g. something like "Tell me I'm wrong" said in a vairiety of ways.
Perhaps Turtledove has peaked? SM Stirling's books who I discovered quite recently is a breath of fresh air. Read The Peshawar Lancers!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am great fan of alternative history books and read a lot of Turledove and the superior SM Stirling. However i felt a little disappointed with this novel. I have read all the previous books watching Featherston getting higher and higher in the CSA and waiting for the invitable outbreak of war. But when it came it was disappointing. The battle scenes did not really grab me and it seemed too dull. Turtledove is trying to parallel the second world war with Featherston obviously being Hitler, but Hitler defeated France, Belgium, Holland, Norway and Denmark in six weeks, throwing the British out at Dunkirk. I was waiting for something similar to happen but it didnt.
Also, i got so tired of the same conversation that almost every charcter had, in the case of the black charcters almost every time they appeared, e.g. something like "Tell me I'm wrong" said in a vairiety of ways.
Perhaps Turtledove has peaked? SM Stirling's books who I discovered quite recently is a breath of fresh air. Read The Peshawar Lancers!
Also, i got so tired of the same conversation that almost every charcter had, in the case of the black charcters almost every time they appeared, e.g. something like "Tell me I'm wrong" said in a vairiety of ways.
Perhaps Turtledove has peaked? SM Stirling's books who I discovered quite recently is a breath of fresh air. Read The Peshawar Lancers!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A FUN, FAST READ
24 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback
In Settling Accounts: Return Engagement author Harry Turtledove returns to the world of alternative history that reflects what would happen if the South had won the Civil War. In this future, a harsh and violent regime much like Nazi Germany has come to power in the South. A brutal surprise attack launches a world at war with a large part of the fighting taking place in the United States.
Jake Featherstone - a sergeant from a rural part of the South - has created the "Freedom" Party and become president of the Confederacy. He has also instituted a "final solution" to deal with the problem of a large black population that is ineligible for citizenship. Perhaps the most shocking part of this book is how easy it is for very sympathetic characters to devolve into mass murderers.
On a side note, Jake's Vice President Don Partridge - a bumbling westerner without much smarts but lots of political and family connections is obviously a parody of Dan Quayle. It makes me wonder if there are other parodies that I'm just not smart enough to catch.
For the most part, Mr. Turtledove's writing style makes this an easy read, one that can just be enjoyed as an alternative history. On the other hand, one can read deep ideas lurking behind the surface. What exactly are the nature of class and race in the United States? Why have we as a nation sidestepped some of the potential conflicts - real conflicts with genocide, slavery, and intergenerational hate - that have plagued Europe and Asia? Is there such a thing as American exceptionalism or were we just lucky? What must we do to deal with these challenges in the future? This book is crafted so that you can come to your own conclusions, but don't be surprised if they are different from a friend who has read the same book.
I highly recommend this book, but one should only read Turtledove in small doses. He writes each book as if it is your fist introduction to this alternative world, so it can be a bit repetitive and grating. Additionally, his writing style and turn of phrase can become annoying if you try and read all of his books in a particular storyline in one sitting.
Jake Featherstone - a sergeant from a rural part of the South - has created the "Freedom" Party and become president of the Confederacy. He has also instituted a "final solution" to deal with the problem of a large black population that is ineligible for citizenship. Perhaps the most shocking part of this book is how easy it is for very sympathetic characters to devolve into mass murderers.
On a side note, Jake's Vice President Don Partridge - a bumbling westerner without much smarts but lots of political and family connections is obviously a parody of Dan Quayle. It makes me wonder if there are other parodies that I'm just not smart enough to catch.
For the most part, Mr. Turtledove's writing style makes this an easy read, one that can just be enjoyed as an alternative history. On the other hand, one can read deep ideas lurking behind the surface. What exactly are the nature of class and race in the United States? Why have we as a nation sidestepped some of the potential conflicts - real conflicts with genocide, slavery, and intergenerational hate - that have plagued Europe and Asia? Is there such a thing as American exceptionalism or were we just lucky? What must we do to deal with these challenges in the future? This book is crafted so that you can come to your own conclusions, but don't be surprised if they are different from a friend who has read the same book.
I highly recommend this book, but one should only read Turtledove in small doses. He writes each book as if it is your fist introduction to this alternative world, so it can be a bit repetitive and grating. Additionally, his writing style and turn of phrase can become annoying if you try and read all of his books in a particular storyline in one sitting.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
If you've read the first seven installments, my review is probably moot
23 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback
Anyone who is going to read this book should know, if they don't already, that it is the 8th volume in a series extending back to the classic How Few Remain. Beginning with the premise that the South won the American Civil War, Turtledove has created an entire "what if" universe in which the USA and CSA have remained mortal enemies through the late 1930s. Seeing the horrors of modern warfare---entrenched soldiers, nightly bombing raids, poison gas---visited upon familiar places like Columbus, Philadelphia, and Richmond serves to remind the reader how lucky Americans were to have avoided such massive destruction and bloodshed during the last century.
The newest novel in the series begins with a surprise Confederate attack on the USA. Although the characters don't know it, World War II has begun. Throughout the novel we follow familiar characters on various "sides" in the war as the two nations prepare to engage in one of the bloodiest conflicts the war has seen. (The Freedom Party dominated-CSA, playing the role of the Nazis, is also embarking on its quest to eliminate the untermenschen and solve the "black problem" once and for all.)
Turtledove continues to use multiple personal perspectives to paint an intimate portrait of the times, and his habit of killing off a few of these characters in each novel simply serves to underline the "reality" of the story. (As well, I applaud his use of normal, non-military circumstances---like car wrecks, domestic abuse, old age, disease, etc---to kill off characters, because that is the way real life works.) His pacing is excellent, and the novel, like its seven predecessors, is a page-turner. As well, like the best of alternate history, Turtledove's work allows us an interesting vantage point from which to look at our own history and see why things turned out the way that they did.
The newest novel in the series begins with a surprise Confederate attack on the USA. Although the characters don't know it, World War II has begun. Throughout the novel we follow familiar characters on various "sides" in the war as the two nations prepare to engage in one of the bloodiest conflicts the war has seen. (The Freedom Party dominated-CSA, playing the role of the Nazis, is also embarking on its quest to eliminate the untermenschen and solve the "black problem" once and for all.)
Turtledove continues to use multiple personal perspectives to paint an intimate portrait of the times, and his habit of killing off a few of these characters in each novel simply serves to underline the "reality" of the story. (As well, I applaud his use of normal, non-military circumstances---like car wrecks, domestic abuse, old age, disease, etc---to kill off characters, because that is the way real life works.) His pacing is excellent, and the novel, like its seven predecessors, is a page-turner. As well, like the best of alternate history, Turtledove's work allows us an interesting vantage point from which to look at our own history and see why things turned out the way that they did.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Enjoy his series
1 July 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
long book but well worth the read. His series is getting deeper into the unfolding drama of the US vs. the CSA.
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