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After the Downfall
1945: Russian troops have entered Berlin, and are engaged in a violent orgy of robbery, rape, and revenge. Wehrmacht officer Hasso Pemsel, a career soldier on the losing end of the greatest war in history, flees from a sniper's bullet, finding himself hurled into a mysterious, fantastic world of wizards, dragons, and unicorns!
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First published March 1, 2001
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232 people want to read
About the author
Harry Turtledove
566 books1,973 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 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 6, 2010
1. I intentionally read some real crap. This book is worse than those books. This might be the worst book I have ever read.
2. On the cover is a Nazi riding a Unicorn. A motherfucking Nazi is riding a fucking UNICORN!! That is fucking badass. That is the kind of shit that should just write itself into awsomeness! Seriously, this is like having at your disposal all the plot points to make the greatest Star Wars movie ever, have Boba Fett's father, the Clone Wars that sounded so fucking awesome in the original movies, all of the Jedi's getting their asses handed to them, the Dark Side giving a bigger ass kicking to the Alliance than in Empire Strikes Back, having all of this and then creating the episodes 2 and 3. This book is that bad! It's just not as disappointing because my youth didn't have any expectations for Nazi's and Unicorns in it. This wasn't some of the best memories of being a little kid getting anally raped by George Lucas, in Star War terms this was more like Greedo shooting first. Inexplicably retarded.
3. Maybe the position has been filled, but for Goodreaders living in the San Francisco area, Night Shade Books is desperately in need of an editor. While the quality was a step above self-published in the spelling and grammar department, there was no reason for this book to exist in its finished form.
4. I started this book a year ago. I made it halfway through the 600 pages (I stopped on about page 310) and forgot about the book until last week when Karen suggested I finally finish this after reading about the Nazi's in a history book.
4a. The history book didn't mention time portals, or unicorns.
4 (cont). The 290 pages I read in the past week were painful. I had already thought this might be the worst book ever, but I didn't realize that the second half of the book would have 2 big plot events, one that would take up a whole five pages or so in the last ten or so pages, and one other that would happen about 100 pages from the end. The rest of the 300 pages were retellings of pretty much the first half of the book, endless reiterations of the parallels between the German's vs. the Jews and Slavs and the Big Blond Assholes vs. the little dark people in Unicorn land, and how he Nazi solider is learning that the little dark people are people too, and maybe this means the Russians and Jews were too. Endlessly telling this. Over and over and over and over and over. And when this wasn't being said, endlessly talking about ho the main character boffed, made whoopie, slept with, had sex with, banged, got a blow job from a big blond goddess who is hotter than anything you can possibly imagine, like a barbie doll with a workable cooze. And how awesome it was, and with all of the words that pre-teen boys use for sex. And in the brief moments when the narrator isn't thinking about that, there are comments about how often he needs to get some, because he's a man, and he needs some and he has to get some because men need it all of the time, they need to boff women.
Needless to say, nothing really happened in the last half of the book that anyone couldn't see coming. The Nazi realizes that everyone is a person and maybe it's wrong to discriminate against them.
5. The unicorns are barely in the fucking book and even when they are they don't do much of anything.
RIPOFF!! UNICORN RIPOFF!!
6. Another reviewer politely mentioned that Turtledove is so repetitive that thirty pages would be cut out of the book if the repetitions were cut out. I disagree. I think at least 100 pages could be excised from this book on repetition alone, and the whole book could be edited down to under 300 pages, if anyone at this hack-shop of a publisher cared enough about the reader to make this book as painless as possible (actually to be as painless as possible, they should have sent the manuscript back to Harry Turtledove, told him to go get himself laid to get himself over his frustrations, or to not let his thirteen year old son interject all of his wet dreams and theories of sex into the book. Or maybe just use the manuscript as toilet paper).
7. All of this said, I'm the loser who read this, and who spent money on it. I feel cheated of my five bucks or whatever this cost me. I want my money back Turtledove, and then I want you and Lucas to go fuck off with each other and never possibly ruin anything for me, ever, ever again.
2. On the cover is a Nazi riding a Unicorn. A motherfucking Nazi is riding a fucking UNICORN!! That is fucking badass. That is the kind of shit that should just write itself into awsomeness! Seriously, this is like having at your disposal all the plot points to make the greatest Star Wars movie ever, have Boba Fett's father, the Clone Wars that sounded so fucking awesome in the original movies, all of the Jedi's getting their asses handed to them, the Dark Side giving a bigger ass kicking to the Alliance than in Empire Strikes Back, having all of this and then creating the episodes 2 and 3. This book is that bad! It's just not as disappointing because my youth didn't have any expectations for Nazi's and Unicorns in it. This wasn't some of the best memories of being a little kid getting anally raped by George Lucas, in Star War terms this was more like Greedo shooting first. Inexplicably retarded.
3. Maybe the position has been filled, but for Goodreaders living in the San Francisco area, Night Shade Books is desperately in need of an editor. While the quality was a step above self-published in the spelling and grammar department, there was no reason for this book to exist in its finished form.
4. I started this book a year ago. I made it halfway through the 600 pages (I stopped on about page 310) and forgot about the book until last week when Karen suggested I finally finish this after reading about the Nazi's in a history book.
4a. The history book didn't mention time portals, or unicorns.
4 (cont). The 290 pages I read in the past week were painful. I had already thought this might be the worst book ever, but I didn't realize that the second half of the book would have 2 big plot events, one that would take up a whole five pages or so in the last ten or so pages, and one other that would happen about 100 pages from the end. The rest of the 300 pages were retellings of pretty much the first half of the book, endless reiterations of the parallels between the German's vs. the Jews and Slavs and the Big Blond Assholes vs. the little dark people in Unicorn land, and how he Nazi solider is learning that the little dark people are people too, and maybe this means the Russians and Jews were too. Endlessly telling this. Over and over and over and over and over. And when this wasn't being said, endlessly talking about ho the main character boffed, made whoopie, slept with, had sex with, banged, got a blow job from a big blond goddess who is hotter than anything you can possibly imagine, like a barbie doll with a workable cooze. And how awesome it was, and with all of the words that pre-teen boys use for sex. And in the brief moments when the narrator isn't thinking about that, there are comments about how often he needs to get some, because he's a man, and he needs some and he has to get some because men need it all of the time, they need to boff women.
Needless to say, nothing really happened in the last half of the book that anyone couldn't see coming. The Nazi realizes that everyone is a person and maybe it's wrong to discriminate against them.
5. The unicorns are barely in the fucking book and even when they are they don't do much of anything.
RIPOFF!! UNICORN RIPOFF!!
6. Another reviewer politely mentioned that Turtledove is so repetitive that thirty pages would be cut out of the book if the repetitions were cut out. I disagree. I think at least 100 pages could be excised from this book on repetition alone, and the whole book could be edited down to under 300 pages, if anyone at this hack-shop of a publisher cared enough about the reader to make this book as painless as possible (actually to be as painless as possible, they should have sent the manuscript back to Harry Turtledove, told him to go get himself laid to get himself over his frustrations, or to not let his thirteen year old son interject all of his wet dreams and theories of sex into the book. Or maybe just use the manuscript as toilet paper).
7. All of this said, I'm the loser who read this, and who spent money on it. I feel cheated of my five bucks or whatever this cost me. I want my money back Turtledove, and then I want you and Lucas to go fuck off with each other and never possibly ruin anything for me, ever, ever again.
March 28, 2012
I only managed to get halfway through this. I normally love Harry Turtledove's work, but this one seemed to be beating me over the head ... a lot ... with the Holocaust.
I can understand a fantasy world which offers a Nazi Germany allegory ... in this case, the super-Aryan Lenello vs. the beastlike Grenye ... and this initially is what drew me to the book. Then it gets a little bogged down in all of the similarities protagonist Hasso Pemzel is seeing between the Lenelli's campaigns and the failed Nazi incursion into the Soviet Union. After a while, the amount of passages of Pemzel dining on ashes over WWII tends to alternate with the fantasy aspects, and it gets tedious. If it were me, I would've focused more on what was happening to change Pemzel's mind about the Grenye (and ultimately about his own countrymen), rather than tedious recap after recap which tends to say the same thing: "Hitler had his ass handed to him by the Soviets because he was an arrogant prick who thought Russia was beneath his attention, much like the Lenello treat the Grenye."
I can understand a fantasy world which offers a Nazi Germany allegory ... in this case, the super-Aryan Lenello vs. the beastlike Grenye ... and this initially is what drew me to the book. Then it gets a little bogged down in all of the similarities protagonist Hasso Pemzel is seeing between the Lenelli's campaigns and the failed Nazi incursion into the Soviet Union. After a while, the amount of passages of Pemzel dining on ashes over WWII tends to alternate with the fantasy aspects, and it gets tedious. If it were me, I would've focused more on what was happening to change Pemzel's mind about the Grenye (and ultimately about his own countrymen), rather than tedious recap after recap which tends to say the same thing: "Hitler had his ass handed to him by the Soviets because he was an arrogant prick who thought Russia was beneath his attention, much like the Lenello treat the Grenye."
September 23, 2016
Harry Turtledove is such a prolific author that it's hard to be consistent. Some of his books are great and some are terrible. This is definitely one of the good ones. A German officer from World War II escapes Berlin just before the downfall and finds himself in a world of unicorns and magic -- and forced to make some tough choices between repeating the mistakes of the past and learning to respect other cultures and ethnic groups.
When I was 12 years old, this would have been my idea of the perfect story. It has World War II weapons and tactics, beautiful goddesses, and tons of battle scenes. The magical side of the story is pretty half-hearted (unicorns and dragon bones) but overall it's a very satisfying read for anyone who likes World War II, time travel, and adventure.
When I was 12 years old, this would have been my idea of the perfect story. It has World War II weapons and tactics, beautiful goddesses, and tons of battle scenes. The magical side of the story is pretty half-hearted (unicorns and dragon bones) but overall it's a very satisfying read for anyone who likes World War II, time travel, and adventure.
July 26, 2014
A heartwarming story about a Nazi who learns that brown-skinned people are worthy of respect after teaching everyone about gunpowder and having women throw themselves at him willy nilly.
Seriously, for half of the book the protagonist's biggest problem is that the woman he's having sex with isn't one of the two other women he really wants to have sex with. It also features a fairly standard future-man-teaches-savages-about-gunpowder subplot, as well as an unsubtle critique of racism. It's a pretty fun and quick read, so if the blurb sounds like something you'd enjoy reading, you probably will - but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without all the caveats above.
Seriously, for half of the book the protagonist's biggest problem is that the woman he's having sex with isn't one of the two other women he really wants to have sex with. It also features a fairly standard future-man-teaches-savages-about-gunpowder subplot, as well as an unsubtle critique of racism. It's a pretty fun and quick read, so if the blurb sounds like something you'd enjoy reading, you probably will - but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without all the caveats above.
March 29, 2015
This should be a 3.5 rather than 3 stars.
After the Downfall starts during the final downfall of the third reich with a captain in the German army fighting the Russian army rolling into Berlin. This German, Hasso, is magically transported to another world and into another building war - one at a much lower tech level, but with magic. Just as in the world Hasso comes from, there is sex with beautiful women, racism against those who aren't the "Aryan Ideal," and soldiers who bond over fighting technique (apparently). From here, the war in the story is obviously (and stated) as comparing to the German invasion of Russia, the Americans fighting in Indians, and the English fighting the Aborigines with the difference being Hasso's ideas from another dimension.
While the premise of the story was interesting, but I feel like it failed to live up to that promise. There were vocabulary lessons (necessary when you learn multiple new languages), but who spends so much time thinking about exactly what tense (present perfect, predictive) they are thinking in by name? There were comparisons to the various invasions... over and over. And there was the necessary coming to grips with the similarities between the German's WWII activities and the behavior of the groups in this new world - leading Hasso to question his own racist tendencies.
Harry Turtledove is a well-loved writer of alternative history, I think that this foray into medieval warfare with modern twists would have been better handled as a story set as alt history, but it did give them a chance to put a Nazi riding a Unicorn on the cover.
After the Downfall starts during the final downfall of the third reich with a captain in the German army fighting the Russian army rolling into Berlin. This German, Hasso, is magically transported to another world and into another building war - one at a much lower tech level, but with magic. Just as in the world Hasso comes from, there is sex with beautiful women, racism against those who aren't the "Aryan Ideal," and soldiers who bond over fighting technique (apparently). From here, the war in the story is obviously (and stated) as comparing to the German invasion of Russia, the Americans fighting in Indians, and the English fighting the Aborigines with the difference being Hasso's ideas from another dimension.
While the premise of the story was interesting, but I feel like it failed to live up to that promise. There were vocabulary lessons (necessary when you learn multiple new languages), but who spends so much time thinking about exactly what tense (present perfect, predictive) they are thinking in by name? There were comparisons to the various invasions... over and over. And there was the necessary coming to grips with the similarities between the German's WWII activities and the behavior of the groups in this new world - leading Hasso to question his own racist tendencies.
Harry Turtledove is a well-loved writer of alternative history, I think that this foray into medieval warfare with modern twists would have been better handled as a story set as alt history, but it did give them a chance to put a Nazi riding a Unicorn on the cover.
January 13, 2022
This should really be 3.5 stars. I've read a lot of books by Harry Turtledove, so I will state my bias up front. When it comes to mixing present day with fantasy, Turtledove is a master. The plots are great and mixes old with new together well.
In this novel, Hasso Pemsel is moved from the Russian ring closing around Berlin to a world where the Lenelli dominate the Greyne - a struggle not all that different between Germany and Russia.
I liked the plot and the twists are quite good. My only issue with some of Harry Turtledove's writing these days is that as he has written so much over the years, some phrases can seem to become a bit repetitive. For this book, if I read "plucked his beard" one more time, I'd likely start screaming. Really, it probably turned up three or four times. But that is minor.
There is a lot of back and forth between Germany and Lemmel that, at times, can be a bit tedious. And I get it, there is a lot of comparison between how the Nazis fought to the death with the Russians as they thought they were superior.
But don't let that get in the way of a fairly good story. The inflammatory nature of Velona and the much calmer character of Drepteaza as love interests contrast well.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and think that it is worth the read.
In this novel, Hasso Pemsel is moved from the Russian ring closing around Berlin to a world where the Lenelli dominate the Greyne - a struggle not all that different between Germany and Russia.
I liked the plot and the twists are quite good. My only issue with some of Harry Turtledove's writing these days is that as he has written so much over the years, some phrases can seem to become a bit repetitive. For this book, if I read "plucked his beard" one more time, I'd likely start screaming. Really, it probably turned up three or four times. But that is minor.
There is a lot of back and forth between Germany and Lemmel that, at times, can be a bit tedious. And I get it, there is a lot of comparison between how the Nazis fought to the death with the Russians as they thought they were superior.
But don't let that get in the way of a fairly good story. The inflammatory nature of Velona and the much calmer character of Drepteaza as love interests contrast well.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and think that it is worth the read.
September 11, 2009
This is a better book than The United States of Atlantis, which I finished right before reading this one. Although I found the author's style is very similar. If fact, the books are not dissimilar at all. Both follow a protagonist through a primitive ground war. In both cases, he's got a dry wit he's constantly exercising with a companion. If I let my mind wander, I could easily drift from one setting to the other.
The twist in this book is that the unlikely hero is a Nazi, dumped into a fantasy world. He re-examines his beliefs as the story works its way along. I didn't find him all that likable, and I didn't find anything ground-breaking here, either.
The folks on the dust jacket rave about the author. It says he's won a Hugo, and a Nebula. He's supposed to be an expert on history. I've read a good number of these kinds of stories, and I'm afraid that I wasn't that impressed. It was an OK read, but that's about it. Maybe I'll look at another of his books if I come across one, but I wouldn't go out of my way.
The twist in this book is that the unlikely hero is a Nazi, dumped into a fantasy world. He re-examines his beliefs as the story works its way along. I didn't find him all that likable, and I didn't find anything ground-breaking here, either.
The folks on the dust jacket rave about the author. It says he's won a Hugo, and a Nebula. He's supposed to be an expert on history. I've read a good number of these kinds of stories, and I'm afraid that I wasn't that impressed. It was an OK read, but that's about it. Maybe I'll look at another of his books if I come across one, but I wouldn't go out of my way.
March 18, 2017
I admit I'm getting a little worried about how much Turtledove writes about Nazis.... The premise is a German soldier in Berlin in 1945 is transported to a realm of magic, but where the technology is only about Middle Ages level. In a very heavy-handed metaphor, he lands in a realm ruled by tall blonde warriors (Lenelli) who fight a kingdom of people (Grenye) who look like Hitler's stereotype of Jews. The story is supposed to be his journey of realizing that the Grenye are people too. Again, Turtledove is always good when it comes to describing battle scenes and soldier's life and has some entertaining "fish out of water" scenes.
November 2, 2009
I'm not going to lie; I read this book because there's a picture of a Nazi riding a unicorn on the cover. Oh, and the book was free (thanks, Laura!). Hamso Pamsell, our "hero," spends so much time repeating himself that I bet the book could've been at least 30 pages shorter. Turtledove also makes some pretty lame attempts at erotica. Overall, an underwhelming read.
January 8, 2017
Likely not the fault of the quality of the book, but I felt like I was trudging through upstate NY bog mud. Took about three times the normal length of time to push my way through 60 pages.
I had severe issues with the brain-space of the lead character, and trying to watch through the eyes of said character was just too much.
I had severe issues with the brain-space of the lead character, and trying to watch through the eyes of said character was just too much.
January 12, 2018
This book presents a fun combination of history and science fiction that allows the author to raise questions about colonialism, imperialism, racism and war. It is well written with interesting characters. This is not a great novel but a fun story that reminds me a bit of the author's novels about aliens that invade earth in the early years of World War 2.
January 21, 2018
This book is nuts, imagine Trump as a nazi teleported to to world where the rulers are arian Kings and replace the persecuted with small hairy things called the Grenells (or similar). Add some magic and you have a thoroughly rubbish read.
October 31, 2008
Turtledove definitely was phoning this one in...he must have had a boat payment due...
August 6, 2025
I really enjoyed this novel, telling as it does of how an ardent Nazi learns to sympathize with non-aryans. The tale starts with the same situation as the beginning of "Witch World" by Andre Norton, but it goes in a very different and fascinatingly twisted fashion. The author's alternate history retellings are excellent but I have to say that his fantastically original and creative twists on "what if" are better than his alternate histories and make my imagination go wild. Great read, this!
February 28, 2022
Love Turtledove, but I'm much more into alternative history and scifi than fantasy. This, though, is a mix of history and fantasy, and is just as well-written as all his other books. Interesting characters, big plot twists, great detail, just a fun read too.
June 16, 2023
A good read, but could have used more of Hasso Nicenazi interacting with the world around him and less reminiscing about the one he left.
(And I kept wondering why Hasso was still only a captain....)
(And I kept wondering why Hasso was still only a captain....)
Read
June 21, 2021DNF.
May 3, 2023
Absolutely fantastic, Wehrmacht officer on unicorn with magic and live gods. I think it is the best novel written by Harry Turtledove.
January 19, 2015
Okay, so the last big Friends of the Library book sale was a bit of a letdown for me. I had prior obligations for both the Friday evening preview and the Saturday sale. Somewhat dejected, I headed down on Sunday, sure that everything had been picked over. It was, but since everything was half-price, I lowered my standards and grabbed just about anything that caught my eye. With a picture of a Nazi soldier riding a unicorn on the cover, After the Downfall was one of those books. It's the tale of Hasso Pemsel, a Wehrmacht officer who is mystically snatched from the fall of Berlin in 1945 to another world where magic exists and technology is at the medieval level. Shortly upon his arrival he uses his machine gun to rescue Velona, the human embodiment of a goddess. Through her gratitude he becomes her lover and a welcome guest of the Lenelli, a tall, blond haired, blue eyed race. These particular Lenelli are colonists, having come across the western sea to settle on a new continent. The natives, a shorter, darker skinned race named the Grenye, take exception to this, but what can they do against a master race? As the tale progresses, Hasso's role as an outsider combines with his experiences on the losing side of World War II to make him question the status quo and his own beliefs. It's not a great book, but worth the time to read.
November 29, 2015
Something less than four stars.
I was intrigued by this title. I have read a few of Turtledove's alternative historical novels and enjoyed them, but this is not one of my loves. This book is different in that while it involves and alternative world, it takes a German officer in Berlin 1945 about to be overrun by the Soviets and killed or, worse, captured, and flings him to an alternative reality. This reality has Aryan like invaders on a new continent who are fighting a much less advanced small brown people who the officer associates with what Jews look like. In this world the Aryans have magic and a Goddess who manifests in a woman who becomes his love. Ultimately the book seesaws and the officer sees the value in both sides with an outcome reached.
Fairly interesting and mostly held may attention as the German officer helps the side he is on with what he might know, with the state of warfare and technology and the time he has available.
I was intrigued by this title. I have read a few of Turtledove's alternative historical novels and enjoyed them, but this is not one of my loves. This book is different in that while it involves and alternative world, it takes a German officer in Berlin 1945 about to be overrun by the Soviets and killed or, worse, captured, and flings him to an alternative reality. This reality has Aryan like invaders on a new continent who are fighting a much less advanced small brown people who the officer associates with what Jews look like. In this world the Aryans have magic and a Goddess who manifests in a woman who becomes his love. Ultimately the book seesaws and the officer sees the value in both sides with an outcome reached.
Fairly interesting and mostly held may attention as the German officer helps the side he is on with what he might know, with the state of warfare and technology and the time he has available.
January 10, 2013
I picked this to read while at the beach last summer. The book explores the evils of absolute power and hate and one man who comes to see that everything he believed to be true is a lie. Even though the story is set at the close of WWII the author is successful in correlating self-deception, abuse of power and hate-violence to modern day questions. This book is true to Harry Turtledove's ability to turn out an enjoyable read with any subject.
August 3, 2013
The book had an interesting idea: knights in another magic dimension using blitzkrieg tactics led by a Nazi soldier. But the book failed to really "amaze" me in the heat of the battle. The story seemed too long for a short book and it had too many scenes that were unneeded. I was disappointed as I usually love Turtledove books. Then again, this isn't really alternate history. I wouldn't recommend this book.
March 30, 2009
Interesting llok at how and where a person can fit in a society (by looks or by philosophy).
November 28, 2009
Disappointing. Sort of Harry Turtledove does a Gor novel. Many questions unanswered as to why, making suspension difficult. Well written, naturally, but not quite compelling enough.
August 29, 2015
A mixture of Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Time Machine. Throughly enjoyable.
May 22, 2016
This wins the Worst Book Ever award. I stopped reading after 3 chapters. No guilt. I would give it a negative star if I could.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews