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War Between the Provinces #1
Sentry Peak
A war between Avram, King of Detina, and his cousin, Grand Duke Geoffrey, culminates in a final battle for a mountain called Sentry Peak. Reprint.
506 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
6 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Harry Turtledove
566 books1,975 followersDr 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 1, 2015
I'm a HUGE Harry Turtledove fan, so I had the usual great expectations for this book.
Unfortunately, after falling asleep twice while reading it (the second time it put my Kindle to sleep too), I admitted defeat and quit reading it.
It's got the usual Turtledove style and quality, but after reading 11% of the book, nothing much has happened. It's all well-done character development and background (no, not info-dumps, Harrison is much better than that). Yawn!
I still recommend his books since most of them are superb, but I'll give this one a pass.
I gave it 2 stars on Amazon, but their star system is different.
Unfortunately, after falling asleep twice while reading it (the second time it put my Kindle to sleep too), I admitted defeat and quit reading it.
It's got the usual Turtledove style and quality, but after reading 11% of the book, nothing much has happened. It's all well-done character development and background (no, not info-dumps, Harrison is much better than that). Yawn!
I still recommend his books since most of them are superb, but I'll give this one a pass.
I gave it 2 stars on Amazon, but their star system is different.
January 20, 2019
The book is a Harry Turttledove book. I can see why multiple people have given this one or two stars because it is a fairly simple story without many twists or turns. What makes it, and other Turttledove novels, so much fun to read is that it is multiple small stories that weave together to give you a bigger picture.
Turttledove's writing is similar to what historians do to piece together the past. They are written similar to voiceovers in documentaries reading letters and diary's from those who lived the history. As someone who enjoys history and finds the individual stories compelling, his novels resonate with me.
Sentry Peak is not something significantly new or different. Turttledove doesn't build a world such as many fantasy novels do. He asks you to accept that this is a world of magic mixing medieval, fantasy, and historical worlds together without a lot of detail about how everything works. He demands his reader be the historian reading these accounts and piecing together the life of those who's diary's we are reading.
I love this. I find these stories enjoyable because they are entirely about the characters who lived them. I would give the novel five stars, but it is not the best "story" as while it may be a work of fiction, it follows historical events moved to a fantasy world. I enjoyed it, but if you are looking for a unique fantasy story which draws you in with drama and intrigue, this is not that novel. If you want an enjoyable, well written, story about characters who are sharing their lives with you then this is excellent!
Turttledove's writing is similar to what historians do to piece together the past. They are written similar to voiceovers in documentaries reading letters and diary's from those who lived the history. As someone who enjoys history and finds the individual stories compelling, his novels resonate with me.
Sentry Peak is not something significantly new or different. Turttledove doesn't build a world such as many fantasy novels do. He asks you to accept that this is a world of magic mixing medieval, fantasy, and historical worlds together without a lot of detail about how everything works. He demands his reader be the historian reading these accounts and piecing together the life of those who's diary's we are reading.
I love this. I find these stories enjoyable because they are entirely about the characters who lived them. I would give the novel five stars, but it is not the best "story" as while it may be a work of fiction, it follows historical events moved to a fantasy world. I enjoyed it, but if you are looking for a unique fantasy story which draws you in with drama and intrigue, this is not that novel. If you want an enjoyable, well written, story about characters who are sharing their lives with you then this is excellent!
October 5, 2011
Had a great deal of trouble slogging through this one. Indeed, had I had the sense to check and see it was the first of a trilogy rather than a stand-alone, I would not have made the effort.
It's an alternate history of the American civil war, except that instead of the slave-holding south rebelling against a president, it's the serf-holding north rebelling against a king. Also, instead of horses the cavalry rides unicorns. And instead of muskets they have crossbows, instead of railroads they have flying carpets, instead of telegraphs they have crystal balls, and, oh yeah, they also have sorcerers. Oh, and did I mention the serfs are all blond? All the elements, in other words, that should have made for a fascinating read.
One would also think that such a book might focus on the ways in which, say, mage-craft would impact the strategies and tactics of the war. Instead, the author's approach could be stated as "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Where he really focuses is on the simple fact that without competent, reasonably selfless leadership, all the interesting magic in the world doesn't much help. Both sides of the conflict seem hell-bent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and most of the word-count is spent on various characters - most of them high officers, but also a few privates, captains, and the like - either meditating on the failings of their leadership and their distaste for the same, back-biting and raging against immediate superiors, or having knock-down drag-out arguments with each-other and trying to get each-other dismissed. And a good portion of the rest is spent having these same characters meditate on the unfairness/fairness) of the king's proclamation to free the serfs from the land up north, the righteousness/unrighteousness of the northern cause, the sad reality of a world in which blacks - whoops, I mean blonds - have to constantly prove themselves to their brown-haired companions, and on and on ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
I was tired of it within the first few chapters, but kept reading waiting for Something to happen. And there were any number of battles and skirmishes, some of them even important. But for the most part it was a slow, bad-tempered slog.
If my husband is bored sometime I may have him read the first few chapters and see if he, with his significantly greater knowledge of the actual civil war (not to mention tolerance for , finds it more interesting than I. It's clear there are a lot of inside jokes, paeans, and nods in here: I simply don't know enough to get them all. As for myself, I'm not planning to pick up the sequels.
It's an alternate history of the American civil war, except that instead of the slave-holding south rebelling against a president, it's the serf-holding north rebelling against a king. Also, instead of horses the cavalry rides unicorns. And instead of muskets they have crossbows, instead of railroads they have flying carpets, instead of telegraphs they have crystal balls, and, oh yeah, they also have sorcerers. Oh, and did I mention the serfs are all blond? All the elements, in other words, that should have made for a fascinating read.
One would also think that such a book might focus on the ways in which, say, mage-craft would impact the strategies and tactics of the war. Instead, the author's approach could be stated as "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Where he really focuses is on the simple fact that without competent, reasonably selfless leadership, all the interesting magic in the world doesn't much help. Both sides of the conflict seem hell-bent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and most of the word-count is spent on various characters - most of them high officers, but also a few privates, captains, and the like - either meditating on the failings of their leadership and their distaste for the same, back-biting and raging against immediate superiors, or having knock-down drag-out arguments with each-other and trying to get each-other dismissed. And a good portion of the rest is spent having these same characters meditate on the unfairness/fairness) of the king's proclamation to free the serfs from the land up north, the righteousness/unrighteousness of the northern cause, the sad reality of a world in which blacks - whoops, I mean blonds - have to constantly prove themselves to their brown-haired companions, and on and on ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
I was tired of it within the first few chapters, but kept reading waiting for Something to happen. And there were any number of battles and skirmishes, some of them even important. But for the most part it was a slow, bad-tempered slog.
If my husband is bored sometime I may have him read the first few chapters and see if he, with his significantly greater knowledge of the actual civil war (not to mention tolerance for , finds it more interesting than I. It's clear there are a lot of inside jokes, paeans, and nods in here: I simply don't know enough to get them all. As for myself, I'm not planning to pick up the sequels.
October 2, 2015
This does not do it for me.
It has on the surface what I would Love - the American Civil War retold in a fantasy setting.
The problem that I have with this book is that it is a civil war story and it is told - there is a ton of politics (because, guys, there was) - and a ton of military strategy (yeah, that too) - but there is not too much to keep me going.
Replace the Calvary with Unicorn riding military (very cool) replace trains with magic carpet 'slipstreams' kind of, weird, - and replace guns with crossbows.
The sad part is, that there is not anything to taste in this large meal - because it is an allegory and a retelling of sorts, there is nothing to be excited about, there are no characters to like, and a few characters to hate.
In watching North and South, it is a very dramatic movie with war thrown in and also romance. This is like that with less actual fighting (the war is more of a backdrop than front and center) and thank god there is not a romance angle.
Point being, this is more of a Fantasy History book, and not a Fantasy novel with action that I had hoped for.
3 stars because I love the concept, and the mixture of time-periods, but I did not love this story and will not continue this series. Maybe another in the Turtledove line.
It has on the surface what I would Love - the American Civil War retold in a fantasy setting.
The problem that I have with this book is that it is a civil war story and it is told - there is a ton of politics (because, guys, there was) - and a ton of military strategy (yeah, that too) - but there is not too much to keep me going.
Replace the Calvary with Unicorn riding military (very cool) replace trains with magic carpet 'slipstreams' kind of, weird, - and replace guns with crossbows.
The sad part is, that there is not anything to taste in this large meal - because it is an allegory and a retelling of sorts, there is nothing to be excited about, there are no characters to like, and a few characters to hate.
In watching North and South, it is a very dramatic movie with war thrown in and also romance. This is like that with less actual fighting (the war is more of a backdrop than front and center) and thank god there is not a romance angle.
Point being, this is more of a Fantasy History book, and not a Fantasy novel with action that I had hoped for.
3 stars because I love the concept, and the mixture of time-periods, but I did not love this story and will not continue this series. Maybe another in the Turtledove line.
December 21, 2009
The trilogy starting with Sentry Peak does for (or perhaps to) the American Civil War what Turtledove's 'Darkness' series does to World War II - places it in a feudal/post feudal, magic-using alternate world.
The humor is broad enough that even those with little knowledge of the Civil War will get some of the in-jokes. The storey revolves around a soldier in the Southern Army - one of the blondes the Northern magnates are fighting to keep in bondage - serfdom, not slavery; and a junior officer in the Northern army.
The humor is broad enough that even those with little knowledge of the Civil War will get some of the in-jokes. The storey revolves around a soldier in the Southern Army - one of the blondes the Northern magnates are fighting to keep in bondage - serfdom, not slavery; and a junior officer in the Northern army.
December 29, 2010
Meh. For a Harry Turtledove book this was pretty much a big let down. I love his alternate histories, but this really didn't do much to impress me. I understand that Civil War buffs complain that it's almost an exact re-telling of a series of battles, but I'm not a Civil War buff so that really didn't impact me so much. I may check out the rest of the series at some point (if he even wrote more), but it certainly isn't high on my "to do" list.
August 16, 2011
For someone who didn't know much about the Western Front in the real-world US Civil War, it was a neat little read. I know it was basically a retelling of the war (in an inverted, North is South and East is West fantasy version), but I found it pretty entertaining. I read the entire series, in fact.
June 8, 2015
If you are familiar with the civil war, its characters, and outcomes of battles, etc and like fantasy than read this book. It's basically taking the Civil War history and changing the names to a Fantasy world with Fantasy characters.
December 7, 2013
This is the start of a very interesting series. The War of North and South with magic. I like the way that Turtledove uses historical characters with a bit of a twist. His combat scenes are very well done. I enjoyed this book.
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August 22, 2008Sentry Peak by Harry Turtledove (2000)
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January 9, 2010baen ebook
September 3, 2013
Quite standard fantasy, i recognize what seems to be a similarity in premise to other series by same author.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews