The Gladiator

Crosstime Traffic #5

by Harry Turtledove

The Soviet Union won the Cold War. The Russians were a little smarter than they were in our own world, and the United States was a little dumber and a lot less resolute. Now, more than a century later, the world's gone Communist, and capitalism is a bad word.

For Gianfranco and his friend Annarita, a couple of teenagers growing up in Milan, life in a heavily regimented, surveillance-rich command economy is just plain dreary. The eventual withering-away of the state doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon.

Annarita's a hard-working student and a member of the Young Socialists' League. Gianfranco is a lot less motivated--but on the other hand, his father's a Party apparatchik. The biggest excitement in their lives is a wargame shop called The Gladiator, which runs tournaments, and stocks marvelous complex games you can't find anywhere else.

Then, abruptly, the shop is shut down. Someone's figured out that The Gladiator's games are teaching counterrevolutionary capitalist principles. The Security Police are searching high and low for the shop's proprietors, who've not only vanished into thin air, but have left behind sets of fingerprints that aren't in the records of any government on earth.

Only one staffer is Gianfranco and Annarita's friend Eduardo. He's on the run, and he comes to them in secret with an astonishing he's a time trader from our own timeline, accidentally left behind when the store was evacuated. The only way Eduardo can get home to his own timeline is if Gianfranco and Annarita can help him reach one of the other time trader sites in this world--and the Security Police will be on their tails all the way there.

Genres: Alternate History, Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopia, Historical Fiction, Time Travel

288 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2007

About the author

Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.

Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.

Reviews

[Craig Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not a true science fiction book, this one belongs in the alternate history genre, it has a few "techie" things that make it science fiction. I picked this book up on the cheap and read the jacket and I thought it might sound like something I would like. I did. However it took me a few chapters to realize that the voice of the author seemed a little dumbed down. It was then I realized I was not the intended audience and had inadvertenly picked up a "young adult" book. I am not sure what that means except the author tries not to use strong language and the heroes are generally teenagers. And there is always some sort of "I can help or I can solve it moment". While I was fine with these constraints, it does beg the question, why do young adults get coddled? I am sure there is more language at school (there was in my junior high) than in this book. And as far as too much information or dumbing things down, I wouldn't presume a young adult who actually buys an alternate history science fiction book is stupid or needs to be spoon fed. But I digress... It was good. It is also a series, and maybe I will pick up another one in th eseries if it lands on the discount table but I will not be actively seeking them out.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 - Very readable and I need all the help I can get on that front

[Genevieve Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is hands down my favorite Crosstime Traffic.

Sadly, that is not a high bar. Most of the others I've read have been pretty far on the dumb side of YA. It's a common pitfall for adult authors who later venture into YA, so I get it, but after a while it's hard to take so many cutesy not-swears and basic concepts treated like something revolutionary.

The later Crosstime Traffic books make the extremely brilliant move of beginning to tell the story from the in-universe perspective rather than always following the character from our alternate, and this book pulls that off the best of the lot. This series is all about making you think, and very light on plot comparatively, especially by YA standards! This is the book that I think comes closest to achieving the series's actual goals, instead of falling prey to a lot of the "gee whiz, slavery is bad" kind of takes from the earlier installments.

When I was a kid I thought this book was like wow, so thought-provoking. Now I think that, while interesting, it's kind of simplistic and straightforward. I guess that's just the way the ball bounces. I'm leaving the rating alone because it reflects my opinion back when I was actually the book's target demographic. I still enjoy reading The Gladiator and wrapping my mind around the different perspectives, but especially right at this moment in time, it doesn't give the same smug, satisfied zing as it used to.

"A country where the people actually had power instead of just giving the state their name? A country where, if people didn't like what the government was up to, they could do something about it? What would that kind of country be like? What would living in that kind of country be like? Gianfranco didn't know."

Feel that, Gianfranco.

[The other John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know, but I've been aching to read some Harry Turtledove since I've returned from overseas. Maybe it was living in an "alternate world" for the past years that moved me to seek out the master of alternate history. Maybe not. Anyway, when I saw this one on the library shelf I snatched it up. The Gladiator is a novel in the Crosstime Traffic series, set in a world where the Soviet Union won the cold war. The year is actually around 2090, and the Crosstime Traffic folks have set up a few gaming shops in Communist Italy. The games they offer are quite different than standard fare, allowing folks to role play capitalism. The store also offers books to help customers play the game better. It's a brilliant, subversive scam, but one that the secret police notice and shut down. All but one of the Crosstime Traffic folks escape, and he has to rely on a teenage customer and his neighbor to find a way back to his home reality. The book isn't spectacular, but it is an entertaining read with good setting and likable characters. Check it out.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love time travel and so alternate reality travel was an okay substitute. The two teenagers as main characters wasn't my favorite since it seemed like a YA book, but they weren't terribly love-struck or hormonal so it was not too bad. There were a couple of issues with the alternate reality travel that didn't work for me, but overall the story was decent. I felt like Turtledove hits the reader over the head too much with the "communism is bad because they are like prisoners; capitalism is good because they are free" idea. It was too simplistic and the arguments against capitalism were weak and almost non-existent. This is not meant to be a novel to explore political systems in depth, so I had to overlook the oversimplification.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a very cerebral read, although in its defense, Gladiator is written for a young adult audience. I kept expecting something to happen, but there was no hook, and no delivery. I felt empty after speed reading through pointless descriptions and situations that did not develop the story or characters in a compelling way. A disappointment.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turtledove's Crosstime books are some of my favorites. This is another gem.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had somehow missed this fifth volume of the Crosstime Traffic series when it came out. I liked the others, and wanted to see this one, because it had a very interesting thing. The main characters live in a version of our world in which the Soviet Union won the Cold War, and it led to a world in which the the "Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist" viewpoint won out. The problem is that this leads to a world that runs like Cold War Russia, which means barely at all. Technology advances at a crawl, now that it's not needed for military conflict. One weakness of the book is that there's no discussion of what this means, but since the story was intended for a Young Adult audience, maybe the author decided that wasn't necessary. In any case, it's set about a hundred years in the future, but it's also a world where nobody fixes the elevators. That was a running gag in the Soviet Union to the point where it was used in a major SF novel, so having that be true in the Communist version of a future Italy was quire convincing.
The real key to the story's intriguing nature is that the "heroes" from a dimension more like our own are teaching history and culture through the use of board games, and books supposedly written to explain historical concepts in those. Thus, one of the main characters gets hooked on a game about building 19th century railroads. What the Communist-world Italians don't know is that they're being educated to think in terms better suited to a capitalist world, and to think outside the Marxist box.
Things go wrong, of course, and the resolution of that was interesting, but awkward. It felt like there were details missing, but again, that may be due to the intended market. Still, this may be the only book in which avid board gamers may be the heroes of a counter-revolution someday.

[Blind Mapmaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 While I love a good Turtledove novel, this was hard work to finish. I don't doubt it depicts young adulthood in a socialist country quite well, but Turtledove's trademark repetitions keep coming on and there's just not enough plot to make this worthwhile. Authors writing YA for a change is always a bit of a dice roll (title picture reference intended), but the Disunited States of America was a good deal more interesting.

And boy, did contrasting socialism with state-sponsored surveillance and denunciation with capitalism and everlasting freedom not age well. And don't get me started on hundred years of no technological progress without huge ecological disasters...

[Nikki Boisture · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A YA book with an alternate history timeline, this is better than I expected it to be. It focuses on two Italian high school students, Gianfranco and Annarita, who lived in a future where the Soviet Union won the cold war. They meet up with a game-shop owner who comes from our own timeline and is stuck in this alternate.

I expected a lot of action, but it's pretty character-driven with a lot of focus on the way things work in the communist world.

I'd recommend it to any YA readers who like historical fiction.

[richardrpjasper.org · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another goodie

Even with his lightweight YA stuff -- and that's very much the case here -- Turtledove has a deft touch, with plenty of history and nice characterizations of his young protagonists, their parents, and their peers. Four stars instead of five only because it really is fluff.

[Sam Riner · Rating 5 out of 5]

After 4 slavery/racism books it was quite a whiplash to now tackle Communism/Capitalism. The subject is handled well and I like how it's changed so both of the teenager POV is from the alternate timeline. Crosstime still finds its relying on teenagers way too much, but at least it wasn't a part of the original plan.

[Ramsey Meadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I liked it and liked the characters. It was really light on plot. Sorta meanders for a while so that we can get to know the characters and setting. When we get back to it the ending was good. Overall I like it.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounding up because I enjoy the genre and this was just a fun read!

[Matt Boland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the ending could've been more climatic, I found myself unable to put this book down. The "what's going to happen next"/suspense factor will hook you. A riveting read!

[Barbara Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

A science fantasy about alternative universes, mainly set in one where the Soviet Union won the Cold War and board games are a popular subversive activity. The Republic of San Marino makes a brief appearance which nevertheless is pivotal to the plot.

[Roz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent thought experiment. I feel like I would need to read more of the Crosstime Traffic series to tell why Eduardo and his home timeline would care about the changing this particular timeline, but I also don't know that I actually care it enough to pick up the rest of the series. I did appreciate that Turtledove acknowledged that capitalism has its faults and that the US "winning" the Cold War didn't create a utopia even if it was better than this world where Soviet communism was the only option. The home timeline might be slightly better than this timeline, but it's still not the best option either.

[D. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Gladiator, Turtledove takes advantage of the Crosstime Traffic mythos to draw distinctions between life in a mostly capitalist world versus life in a mostly communist world (one in which the Soviets "won" the Cold War, and so most countries embraced their economic system). It's a compelling, but at times far too repetitive, look at the strengths and weaknesses of each system.

For the first time in the series, none of the main characters come from the "home timeline"; we instead see the story from the perspective of Gianfranco and Annarita, teenagers in Milan who are sort of forced together by circumstance: their apartments share a communal kitchen area. Gianfranco has become obsessed with a mysterious new game shop called The Gladiator, where he participates in tournaments of a game called Rails across Europe, which simulates 19th-century railroad enterprises. When Annarita learns of the shop through her Young Socialists club, who suspect its games may promote capitalism, both she and Gianfranco get embroiled in the secrets of this strange shop and its clerk, Eduardo.

Turtledove does little to hide who runs the shop and why they illegally promote capitalism; The Gladiator is more of a meditation on the virtues of capitalism and the drawbacks of communism. Turtledove goes to great lengths to show that each system has strengths and weaknesses, but the book ultimately sides with capitalism for its promotion of free enterprise (though he points out that communism's lack of personal freedom can be viewed as a positive with the right perspective: less worry, more gratitude for what little one does have, etc.). The book gets swept up in these conversations debating each system, which is what causes it to sometimes repeat itself.

However, the characters of Gianfranco and Annarita are compelling enough to carry a story that is sometimes too talky for its own good. Gianfranco, raised in ignorance of capitalism, can't explain why he's so drawn to Rails across Europe; he doesn't even understand that the building of a railroad empire is capitalism. He doesn't even realize he's learning, because the games aren't tedious like his schoolwork. Annarita, on the other hand, loves school and wants to be a good Party member who might someday run for office. She worries about living so close to a rebellious goof who cheers on capitalism, but she can't help her inquisitiveness and finds herself asking questions whose answers challenge what she's always known as the truth.

The biggest drawback is that, during Gianfranco's brief stay in the "home timeline," his experience of the capitalist society he's yearned to see is mostly limited to a few simple observations and a lot of conversations with Eduardo. I would have rather seen him spend some time there, maybe a long time, choosing to stay there rather than be subjected to a communist dictatorship, before ultimately choosing to go home because, while it's better than home, it's not the utopia he expected--and he misses his family. Still, it's pretty good despite my editorial critiques, and a solid primer for the capitalist/communist debate for the book's target age group (young adults).

[Mathew Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

While each book in this series seems to improve on the previous in some respects, this one seems to have made a leap. While I still think it only deserves a three-star rating, the difference between this and the previous book (which I also rated at 3) is significant. While that one barely made it to 3, this one left me with no doubt. If you only read one book in this series, so far this should be it (and most would probably be better off to not read any of the earlier books).

While the basic premise is the same, the approach in this novel is drastically different from the earlier novels. The focus here is almost entirely on characters in the alternate timeline, in which the USSR won the Cold War and strong Socialist governments have become entrenched throughout most of the world. For readers familiar with the series, there are obvious clues to the eventual outcome and less room for doubt. For those new to the series, there is plenty of room to question how everything will turn out, and this helps draw the reader into the story.

The elements of travel between timelines and the things Crosstime Traffic are trying to accomplish in those timelines are brought forth in a much more natural fashion than in the previous books. While the others may give the reader a better idea of what the home timeline may be like, this one is, by far, the best-told story of the series up to this point.

While the descriptions of characters and their thoughts sometimes fall into the same patterns of the earlier novels in terms of underestimating teenagers, it seems to happen less often, or less noticeably, in this book than in the previous novels. For some, the descriptions of the game with which one of the main characters becomes obsessed early in the novel may be a bit tedious, but I only mention this because some people will probably skim over the details for a page or two, while others will find it deeply interesting, and maybe even something they would enjoy playing.

[Alan Gilfoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though fiction, he seems to do very well at painting a vivid picture of life under Communism. Likewise, his "The Guns Of The South", while also fiction seems to do a particularly good job of illustrating issues related to _its_ setting (the American Civil War). It was an interesting experience in and of itself and it also felt good to be reminded of one of the highlights of Turtledove's career.

The US standing down during the Cuban Missile Crisis and losing the Vietnam War even worse make sense as turning points. Turtledove said something about US missiles in Turkey. I already knew about that, but it was good to see the relatively unknown historical detial reflected.

The description of the game store and its patrons seems quite accurate - I've been there done that, although I'm more into fancy card games than those sorts of board games. It almost got to the point of being nerd fanservice, though I suppose it's a good thing if that's the worst I can say about that aspect. I noticed how the boy didn't realize that the girl was eventually only feigning interest in his hobby - though that's happened to me with people besides significant others, it still felt very relevant. As usual for the Crosstime Traffic series, I liked how the romance between the male and female leads was not overplayed.

Trying to subtly influence revolution was a nice change of pace from the other Crosstime Traffic books, where the activity in the alternates was simply a way of procuring resources for the home timeline. That helped keep the series from gettign stale despite other strong structural similarities. Also, it was a nice spin in science fiction with hands-off policies (see the Star Trek Prime Directive) or direct contact. I liked how Turtledove explained that military intervention would be logistically unfeasible.

I liked how Eduardo seemed quite realistic and fair in describing the weaknesses of democratic capitalism.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 5 installment of the Crosstime Traffic series of young adult books. There are a total of 6 in the series, but they are all standalone and mostly can be read in any order.

Crosstime Traffic is a company with the ability to travel to alternate timelines. The series is set in our world (I assume) in the future where traveling to other alternate worlds is used to secretly bring to the home timeline needed resources and to monitor the others to see if they are near to discovering this technology.

The stories usually revolve around a teen who is a part of a family visiting the alternate. Then something happens and he or she must figure a way to get back to their entry point to be transported home.

The stories are light and adventurous though they tend to harp on or over explain a point.

I liked this installment a little more than the others in that in this world where Russian Communism won the cold war, the focus is on two teens that reside here and who meet the stranger from another timeline.

So instead of the situation of a teen trying to escape from this "crazy world with no freedom" we get two teens attempting to help a man who is stranded. And in learning where he is from, their minds are opened and they gain confidence in questioning their world and system.

The novel isn't deep but it's a nice entry point to this sub-genre of science fiction for a young reader or to an older one that wants to revisit that golden age when they first started reading science fiction.

[Joey Patapas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up in an airport bookshop at the end of a holiday. I had a long flight ahead and had finished the books I brought with me. This book looked interesting and I decided to give it a go. While I enjoyed the world that was built in this novel, the story was pretty boring and the characters one dimensional. I am hesitant to read anything further from this author.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love dystopian novels, but this one doesn't make the grade. It doesn't really focus on the dystopia but rather on two ordinary high school students who live and behave pretty much like high school students do anywhere. The Soviets win the cold war. How? America just decides that life under the Soviet's power is preferable? It doesn't really say. The plot takes place in the city of Milan in an alternate universe, in the future, but people from our universe (also in the future though it's identical to the present) go there, set up some D&D type shops in order to convert them to be more like our universe? It doesn't really matter how, but what I want to know is why. First of all, how would setting up a few shops in random cities change worldwide, monolithic communism? No one would consider that. Secondly, the voyagers into this alternative timestream work for some kind of corporation, so where is the profit motive? The communist state itself sounds exactly like what I was taught of the Soviet Union and Eastern-bloc countries in junior high and high school during the 80s, word for word. Capitalism is likewise simplified. The method in which a crosstime traffic-er finds fellows from his home timestream in order to escape the pursuing government and return to the home timestream is so improbable and set up as if to be logical that it insults the intelligence. This is not a dystopian novel. This is hackwork. If you want dystopia go watch The Big Short.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Gladiator has an interesting concept, but it's really about 150 pages too long. At its core is a short story that's been stretched beyond its capacity. I found far too much desperate proselytizing in a story based on the idea "What if the USSR won the Cold War?". It could have been an exciting adventure, but this truly turned into a scene from the 1980's when you knew that Soviets were evil and the Stallone from our reality would save us all by boxing Dolph Lundgren from their's in a winner-take-all match to decide the fate of the parallel worlds of the universe.

After reading Neal Shusterman's work (albeit, as a latecomer), it's easy to see why he's so successful. He asks questions and the reader must struggle with themselves to answer them. Harry Turtledove doesn't ask questions, so much as hit you over the head with his opinion club and drag you back to his literary cave in such a style that it comes off as heavy, almost panicked propaganda. While that could be an intentional decision, it was executed in a rather average fashion.

All in all, it was definitely okay. The series seems like a solid idea with alternate timelines and for 4 dollars, it wasn't a waste. Turtledove went a little over the top trying to drive home the evils of Soviet Communism and in doing so, comes off as easily dismissible as the propaganda he derides in his book.

[Jess Mahler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit it--I picked up this book because of the d20.

Harry Turtledove is not one of my favorite author, I find his stuff very hit-or-miss, but this book is definitely a hit.

Set in Italy in an alternate timeline where the USSR won the Cold War, the story follows Gianfranco and Annarita as their normal lives as teenagers learning to be good communists is disrupted by the intrusion of Crosstime travellers from a timeline that might be the future of our world.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is that it follows Gianfranco and Annarita as the main characters, letting us see their world--good and bad--through their eyes. It turns what could have been a book about a stranded capitalist looking down on the backwards communists he's come to try and rescue, into a coming of age story as A&G struggle to find their way in a world where everything they believed is being overturned, and they need to decide what is right and wrong when their world's version of the devil incarnate comes knocking on their door asking for help.

The writing and characters are well executed, the world believable and the subplots around A&G's school add a strong touch of realism.

I'd like to give it a 4.5--it's a really good book, that I highly recommend, but when I finished it didn't give me that "OMG, that was great" feeling that I expect from a 5 star book.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-writen book. It suffers, though, from a rather formulaic plot. The plot is supported by the idea of parallel alternate universes, which I find so far-fetched and impossible that it necessarily undermines the believability of the plot (how often is an alternate universe spawned? Once a year? Once a microsecond? Once a femtosecond?). The book was set in an alternate universe in which the US and the West lost the cold war, and the Soviet Union reigns supreme. Life is as dull and drab as our USSR was, and the security police are as ubiquitous and brutal as well -- even in Italy, where the setting for the story is. In another alternate universe, the US and the West won the cold war, and technology has advanced in leaps and bounds in the intervening 150 years, to the point where travel between alternate universes is fairly routine. The people in the "good" alternate universe are attempting to infiltrate society and undermine the government in the "bad" alternate universe. A couple of high-school students get caught up in the goings-on and things get complicated.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept was great- people from one timeline, where Capitalism has won the day, have figured out how to travel across parallel universes. They call the enterprise Crosstime Traffic. In this novel, the reader follows Gianfranco and Annarita in Milan, Italy in a timeline where Socialism/Communism has won. Gianfranco frequents a store called the Gladiator, where games are sold, from miniatures to cards to role-playing. In each game, Capitalism is inserted subtly. The Gladiator stays out of the sights of the Security Police, until one day, it is closed. Eduardo, the owner, shows up on the doorstep of the shared flat of Gianfranco and Annarita's family. My only complaint is that I never felt the characters were in any real danger, despite the repeated warnings of the Security Police and the Young Socialists Club that Annarita belongs to at her high school. Maybe I needed to read the first three books in this series first!

[Joel Flank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the Crosstime Traffic series by Turtledove. This time, the alternate world is one where Soviet Communism won the cold war, and people's revolutions swept across the world. In Italy in the 2090s of this alternate, a strange game store sells games that seems suspiciously like capitalism. The big twist in this book is that neither of the two main characters is from the home timeline, but instead have their lives and perspectives turned around when they meet one of the Crosstime agents who is cut off from escape after a police raid on the game store. The book gives a chilling view into a world run by a police state, and while the big questions about the future are never answered, it shows how ideas can germinate in fertile minds.

[Nathan Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked it up in the adult section of the library, but I wonder if it was intended for young adult? The writing seemed amateurish to me. There were an unusually high number of misspellings. It felt like it should have been an author's first book, so I was surprised to see he has written so many. Perhaps this one was rushed?

As for the story line, the main characters do have a problem to solve, but it's not earth-shattering or terribly dangerous. The book does raise some interesting questions about communism / socialism / capitalism, but I felt like that was the main point of the story--the actual story wasn't the main point. I muscles my way through to the end, but this one left me I satisfied.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim but apparently Harry Turtledove is quite well known for his AU novels. This also is apparently #5 in a series (Crosstime Traffic). I would definitely pick up a few more of his books. This was very well written with engaging characters and an interesting story line. I like using the concept of gaming to improve school work and invoke thought in young boys. I like a strong female who comes into her own as she learns to both play along with those around her, but also question them and come to her own conclusions about the society around her – even if she can’t vocalize her thoughts.