John Sowerby schrieb:
> One set of ideas I do like is from Harry Turtledove. In a
How do you rate Turtledove? He does have some neat ideas about alternate
histories. But...
So far I have only read 'Colonization: Second Contact'. For those who
don't know it: It is a follow-up to his 'World War' series, in which a
race of Alien Humanoid Lizards arrived right in the Middle or World War II and
tried to conquer Earth, but only managed to grab about half of it. In
'Colonization' it's about 20 years later, Aliens and Humans have somewhat
settled down and learned to live with each other.
I must say, I have pretty mixed feeling about that book. He has some good
ideas about the cultural interaction between Lizards and Humans. Otherwise, I
was not impressed. His descriptions of nations other than the USA are a mix of
stereotypes and sloppy research [ I can elaborate on that if you wish], and I
found long stretches boring and somewhat repetitive. Nor did his character
grab my attention. I didn't finish it.
What are your opinions? Are his other books better?
Greetings
On Thu, May 30, 2002 at 05:22:04PM +0200, KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de
wrote:
> How do you rate Turtledove ? He does have some neat ideas about
[snip]
> What are your opinions ? Are his other books better ?
I'd say so. The whole _World War_ series, IMHO, is desperately in need
of an editor. His earlier stuff is much better - I can recommend _The
Guns of the South_ in particular (time-travelling AWB white supremacists
give AK-47s to Robert E. Lee).
> I'd say so. The whole _World War_ series, IMHO, is desperately in need
Guns of the South is very good, and actually very thought provoking. Get
away from the idea of the AK-47's and there's a lot of good meaty
comment on the mind states of both the CSA and USA.
> --- KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de wrote:
> I must say, I have pretty mixed feeling about that
Keep in mind, when dealing with Germans he's a Jew writing about a world where
the Nazis stay in power after WWII. Objectivity is NOT going to be his strong
point.
and I found long stretches
> boring and somewhat
Yes.
His Videssos series (a pair of trillogys and a tetralogy) are... well, about
the only way you can make a good living of a PhD in Byzantine History.
Semi-fantastic renderings of Byzantine history. It's
almost as much fun tracking down each of his allusions as it is just reading
the book. My favorite of his books is a collection entitled Agent of Byzantium
(point of departure: on a trading mission to Damascus, Mohammed converts to
Orthodoxy and spends the rest of his days writing Christian hymns in a
monastary in Syria.)
His Great War series and it's prequel (How Few Remain) are much better than
his World War series.
> What are your opinions ? Are his other books better
> His Videssos series (a pair of trilogies and a
Well, he also does or did work for the Environmental Protection
Agency--he said familiarity with Byzantine history was quite useful in
that environment. He wrote "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump" which was
fun, albeit not particularly SG/DS/FT related.
[quoted original message omitted]
On Thu, May 30, 2002 at 05:22:04PM +0200, KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de
wrote:
> John Sowerby schrieb:
> From what I can tell he has a distrubing tendencies to start series.
Roughly every other book is the first in a new series. It's a good job that he
can't half write fast. I have a suspicion there is no such person; it's really
a team of writers.
This becomes more likely when you wander into a bookshop that has a decent
amount of his stuff. He's currently got at least two alternate historys on the
go and a couple of fantasy series as well.
> So far I have only read 'Colonization: Second Contact'. For those who
That's one of them.
So far, off the top of my head:
CSA won the civil war: How Few Remain, American Front, Walk in Hell,
Breakthroughs, <new series I forget the name of>
WWII, aliens arrive: Tilting the Balance, In the Balance, Upsetting the
Balance, Striking the Balance, Colonisation, <new one I haven't read>
King George & Washington came to an understanding, and it's now 1990s but
Britain rules the world: The Two Georges.
Mars has life: A World of Difference.
Britain attacks US in victorian(?) times: Stars And Stripes In Peril,
..Forever,..Triumphant.
World War One in a fantasy world: Into the Darkness, <one I don't recall>
And that's only in the last few years... and I don't really follow the fantasy
series...