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American Empire #3
The Victorious Opposition
Harry Turtledove’s acclaimed alternate history series began with a single question: What if the South had won the Civil War? Now, seventy years have passed since the first War Between the States. The North American continent is locked in a battle of politics, economies, and moralities. In a world that has already felt the soul-shattering blow of the Great War, North America is the powder keg that could ignite another global conflict—complete with a new generation of killing machines.
“Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” In 1934, the chant echoes across the Confederate States of America, a country born of bloodshed and passion, stretching from Mexico to Virginia. But while people use the word to greet each other in the streets, the meaning of “Freedom” has become increasingly unclear.
Jake Featherston, leader of the ruling Freedom Party, has won power—and is taking his country and the world to the edge of an abyss. Charismatic, shrewd, and addicted to conflict, Featherston is whipping the Confederate States into a frenzy of hatred. Blacks are being rounded up and sent to prison camps, and the persecution has just begun. Featherston has forced the United States to give up its toeholds in Florida and Kentucky, and as the North stumbles through a succession of leaders, from Socialist Hosea Blackford to Herbert Hoover and now Al Smith, Featherston is feeling his might. With the U.S.A. locked in a bitter, bloody occupation of Canada, facing an intractable rebellion in Utah, and fatigued from a war in the Pacific against Japan, Featherston may pursue one dangerous proposition above all: that he can defeat the U.S.A. in an all-out war.
The Victorious Opposition is a drama of leaders and followers, spies and traitors, lovers and soldiers. From California to Canada, from combat on the high seas to the secret meetings where former slaves plot a desperate strategy for survival, Harry Turtledove has created a human portrait of a world in upheaval. The third book in his monumental American Empire series, The Victorious Opposition is a novel of ideas, action, and surprise—and an unforgettable re-imagining of history itself.
“Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” In 1934, the chant echoes across the Confederate States of America, a country born of bloodshed and passion, stretching from Mexico to Virginia. But while people use the word to greet each other in the streets, the meaning of “Freedom” has become increasingly unclear.
Jake Featherston, leader of the ruling Freedom Party, has won power—and is taking his country and the world to the edge of an abyss. Charismatic, shrewd, and addicted to conflict, Featherston is whipping the Confederate States into a frenzy of hatred. Blacks are being rounded up and sent to prison camps, and the persecution has just begun. Featherston has forced the United States to give up its toeholds in Florida and Kentucky, and as the North stumbles through a succession of leaders, from Socialist Hosea Blackford to Herbert Hoover and now Al Smith, Featherston is feeling his might. With the U.S.A. locked in a bitter, bloody occupation of Canada, facing an intractable rebellion in Utah, and fatigued from a war in the Pacific against Japan, Featherston may pursue one dangerous proposition above all: that he can defeat the U.S.A. in an all-out war.
The Victorious Opposition is a drama of leaders and followers, spies and traitors, lovers and soldiers. From California to Canada, from combat on the high seas to the secret meetings where former slaves plot a desperate strategy for survival, Harry Turtledove has created a human portrait of a world in upheaval. The third book in his monumental American Empire series, The Victorious Opposition is a novel of ideas, action, and surprise—and an unforgettable re-imagining of history itself.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published July 29, 2003
58 people are currently reading
826 people want to read
About the author
Harry Turtledove
564 books1,964 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 - 30 of 38 reviews
October 12, 2020
Whew! Mr. Turtledove went a little "Game of Thrones" in this one, what with all of the characters dying (no, I won't mention who - sometimes, but only sometimes, I won't give away the story). Some, of course, are people I won't really miss, and some are people whom, while I didn't necessarily care for their overall story-arc, I did appreciate their point of view on the events unfolding. Of course, as time is passing and others are becoming adults, we are also meeting new characters - however, as of yet, I'm not really enjoying any of them.
Having said all of that, there are a couple of characters who are, by far, my favorite and, whom in my opinion, are the "main characters" of the story. First would have to be Abner Dowling (Brigadier General Dowling by the end of this book), who seems to be a sort of "every man" that I can find myself easily identifying with as I read. Sure, he and I may not always see eye-to-eye, for he is an ardent Democrat and I a Socialist; however, the same level of "common sense" seems to be shared between us. Mayhaps Flora Hamburger/Blackford serves the same role for a female reader?
Second, would be Clarence Potter (also General by the end of this book), who is almost a sort of counterpart, in my humble opinion, to Dowling (and thus equally, Anne Colton?). Potter's need to "make peace with the system that he is vehemently opposed to for the perceived 'greater good'" is something that lies near and dear to mine own life. Recognizing that one is good at something, even if one needs to employ that in an unideal setting and ultimately seems to help one's "enemies," is almost a mantra of the modern age.
I also understand many complaints that Mr. Turtledove is very repetitive, for he often mentions a factoid about a character again and again and again...or loves to employ the same descriptors; I can't tell you how many people are described as having a "map of Ireland on their face". And I've never known so many people to consume so many eggs so often. But, I also don't think that I'm the average reader. For someone who only reads a couple of dozen pages per day, if that, and thus may take a month or more to finish this rather weighty tome, constant refreshers may be appropriate.
Having said all of that, there are a couple of characters who are, by far, my favorite and, whom in my opinion, are the "main characters" of the story. First would have to be Abner Dowling (Brigadier General Dowling by the end of this book), who seems to be a sort of "every man" that I can find myself easily identifying with as I read. Sure, he and I may not always see eye-to-eye, for he is an ardent Democrat and I a Socialist; however, the same level of "common sense" seems to be shared between us. Mayhaps Flora Hamburger/Blackford serves the same role for a female reader?
Second, would be Clarence Potter (also General by the end of this book), who is almost a sort of counterpart, in my humble opinion, to Dowling (and thus equally, Anne Colton?). Potter's need to "make peace with the system that he is vehemently opposed to for the perceived 'greater good'" is something that lies near and dear to mine own life. Recognizing that one is good at something, even if one needs to employ that in an unideal setting and ultimately seems to help one's "enemies," is almost a mantra of the modern age.
I also understand many complaints that Mr. Turtledove is very repetitive, for he often mentions a factoid about a character again and again and again...or loves to employ the same descriptors; I can't tell you how many people are described as having a "map of Ireland on their face". And I've never known so many people to consume so many eggs so often. But, I also don't think that I'm the average reader. For someone who only reads a couple of dozen pages per day, if that, and thus may take a month or more to finish this rather weighty tome, constant refreshers may be appropriate.
October 18, 2019
Turtledove continues his exploration of his alternate history, which began when he posited a world in which the Confederate States of America won their independence in the Civil War. In this volume, which covers a number of years in the 1930s, we begin with Jake Featherstone and his Freedom Party taking control of the CSA government. He immediately begins consolidating his power by attacking his political enemies, and then begins to work to return the territories captured by the USA during the Great War to CSA control. The parallels between Featherstone's Freedom Party government and the Nazi regime of our actual history are clear and obvious.
Meanwhile, the politics of the USA remain unsettled, as the government struggles with the ongoing economic issues. The residents of occupied Canada chafe under the yoke of the authority of the US occupation authorities. Distracted by these issues, the US seemingly seems distracted from the growing threat from the Freedom Party in the CSA. But eventually it becomes increasingly clear that another war is looming on the horizon. The tensions don't quite break into open warfare in this book, but the stage is clearly set for another global conflagration, which forms the basis for the next set of books.
The obvious parallels between the Freedom Party and the Nazis makes me wonder whether Turtledove believes that such ideas were inevitable and would arise in any version of history, or whether he intentionally manipulated his alternate history to give him a vehicle to explore the issues around the rise of such a regime in a fictional milieu. While I'm not sure which is closer to the truth, it is fascinating to see how Turtledove explores the details of how a fascist regime consolidates its control and suppresses dissent. We also see how concentration camps can evolve from confining political opponents into something more sinister, used to eliminate an undesirable ethnic population.
Clearly, those who have enjoyed the earlier books in this alternate history will enjoy this continuation of the story. But anyone who is interested in the history of the first half of the 20th century will find this alternate version useful in better understanding our actual history.
Meanwhile, the politics of the USA remain unsettled, as the government struggles with the ongoing economic issues. The residents of occupied Canada chafe under the yoke of the authority of the US occupation authorities. Distracted by these issues, the US seemingly seems distracted from the growing threat from the Freedom Party in the CSA. But eventually it becomes increasingly clear that another war is looming on the horizon. The tensions don't quite break into open warfare in this book, but the stage is clearly set for another global conflagration, which forms the basis for the next set of books.
The obvious parallels between the Freedom Party and the Nazis makes me wonder whether Turtledove believes that such ideas were inevitable and would arise in any version of history, or whether he intentionally manipulated his alternate history to give him a vehicle to explore the issues around the rise of such a regime in a fictional milieu. While I'm not sure which is closer to the truth, it is fascinating to see how Turtledove explores the details of how a fascist regime consolidates its control and suppresses dissent. We also see how concentration camps can evolve from confining political opponents into something more sinister, used to eliminate an undesirable ethnic population.
Clearly, those who have enjoyed the earlier books in this alternate history will enjoy this continuation of the story. But anyone who is interested in the history of the first half of the 20th century will find this alternate version useful in better understanding our actual history.
May 24, 2022
Alternate History is a genre in which the author takes a particular point in history and asks what if something different had happened? In this case, author Harry Turtledove has built several series of novels on the question of What if the Confederacy had won the Civil War?
This book picks up where his previous novel, American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold left off. It is the 1930’s as the world struggles out of the Great Depression. In the United States, the Democrats are in power but have not succeeded in creating more jobs as thousands still are out of work. Socialist Al Smith from New York is then elected President (the Republicans are nowhere to be seen) and promptly makes some pretty huge mistakes. Although readers know what is coming based on our own history, the characters seemingly do not. Many people also just plain do not want war again and do understand that to avoid it sometimes there are choices to be made that are unpleasant. Still, many do cringe at Smith’s choices, even some of the Socialists who support him.
The Confederacy, meanwhile, elected its first President from the Freedom Party at the end of the previous novel. During the Great War, Jake Featherston saw a potential military career go down the drain due to the politics of the elite. The simmering anger rose and now boils over as he is now the person in charge of those who held him down before. To forestall an uprising by the “red” blacks in the Confederacy – which hurt them greatly during that first world war – he orders any Negro committing even the slightest crime (or any interpretation of one) to be imprisoned in “prison camps”. The “prison camps” were originally set up for those that disagreed with Featherston politically. What is coming, you can probably guess.
TO read my full review, please go to: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
This book picks up where his previous novel, American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold left off. It is the 1930’s as the world struggles out of the Great Depression. In the United States, the Democrats are in power but have not succeeded in creating more jobs as thousands still are out of work. Socialist Al Smith from New York is then elected President (the Republicans are nowhere to be seen) and promptly makes some pretty huge mistakes. Although readers know what is coming based on our own history, the characters seemingly do not. Many people also just plain do not want war again and do understand that to avoid it sometimes there are choices to be made that are unpleasant. Still, many do cringe at Smith’s choices, even some of the Socialists who support him.
The Confederacy, meanwhile, elected its first President from the Freedom Party at the end of the previous novel. During the Great War, Jake Featherston saw a potential military career go down the drain due to the politics of the elite. The simmering anger rose and now boils over as he is now the person in charge of those who held him down before. To forestall an uprising by the “red” blacks in the Confederacy – which hurt them greatly during that first world war – he orders any Negro committing even the slightest crime (or any interpretation of one) to be imprisoned in “prison camps”. The “prison camps” were originally set up for those that disagreed with Featherston politically. What is coming, you can probably guess.
TO read my full review, please go to: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
July 16, 2022
Wow! Such an awesome close to the third book of the American Empire series and the 7th book of the Southern Victory series. I'm really curious as to what will happen next but it'll likely be a while before I get there. Harry Turtledove creates such a real feeling world with many many characters. While some characters standout more than others, the fast pace between characters means before one character has a chance to totally bore you (which rarely happens) you are following another character before coming back later. I'm shocked how invested I have become in these characters and their lives. Some characters I have grown to hate, not because it they are badly written but rather their descent into evil. Because of everything involved, these books are really big. I usually estimate a book in this series to be a bit more than 600 pages with 20 chapters approximately 30 pages long, with 6 character pov in each chapter lasting about 5-6 pages. This means that the book is both a daunting read for size but also easy to take breaks. Due to its size, I haven't read anything in this series since 2020. But these characters are so fresh in my mind because of all the journey I have been on with them. While easy to take a break, it's hard not to give into just 5-6 more pages when you have the time. This is in my view one of the strongest in the series yet with many emotional moments.
August 7, 2017
At last, It's war once again! I got so thrilled by the build-up towards the war. Finally, Jake Featherston and Freedom Party got what they always wanted: a chance for revenge. Meanwhile, USA, once again back in the hand of the socialists conceded to the demand of plebiscites on some of CSA territories that had been occupied by USA since the last war. As usual with this kind of novel, the lives of viewpoint characters sometimes intertwined with each other. There are also few surprise death of the characters I've already followed from much earlier books of the series. Nevertheless, I am curious about how the war between these nemeses will be conducted.
July 13, 2020
Great way to end the interwar years. Got me to buy into the next series!
Two gripes I have with Turtledove, despite being an overall fan of the books:
- Repetition: How many times do I have to read "this state is a dry state, but he was able to get a beer" and "Sam Carsten's fair skin" etc. etc.
- The timeline's events make sense, but sometimes it's a little too "what happened in Europe, except in the US" for me. The Japanese pseudo-war was interesting just because it didn't happen in real life...
Two gripes I have with Turtledove, despite being an overall fan of the books:
- Repetition: How many times do I have to read "this state is a dry state, but he was able to get a beer" and "Sam Carsten's fair skin" etc. etc.
- The timeline's events make sense, but sometimes it's a little too "what happened in Europe, except in the US" for me. The Japanese pseudo-war was interesting just because it didn't happen in real life...
January 9, 2020
At his best, no one can surpass Harry Turtledove at alternative history. The American Empire series is among his best. What makes his distinctive is his ability to show individuals at all levels of society, from the commonest worker, parent and householder to the richest, most influential individuals, from the disenfranchised to those at the highest political powers, from the simple soldier and sailor to the generals and admirals who make war, but do not fight in them.
July 14, 2020
This really is closer to 2.5 stars, as the plot is somewhat predictable given HT's narrative strategy to flip the European context onto the North American situation. To say any more than that would get me into spoiler alert zone. I am glad to have this one read, but I am not all that eager to move on to the next one.
January 28, 2018
Pretty good, I’m ready for the next war
Some of the characters deaths were shocking but kept it interesting. Watching people change was very interesting too. I’m about to start the next book
Some of the characters deaths were shocking but kept it interesting. Watching people change was very interesting too. I’m about to start the next book
December 20, 2017
Brilliant! I could not put it down...I kind of became a hermit until I finished.
August 21, 2020
The freedom party are now in power , and preparations for war begin in earnest .
These novels are chilling to read at times . All the more because they actually happened in the 1930's in Europe .
These novels are chilling to read at times . All the more because they actually happened in the 1930's in Europe .
January 31, 2021
This one felt very depressing and annoying to read.
July 26, 2021
Turtledove really is a master of this multigenerational story telling.
January 27, 2022
Now it starts
First six books sat up the final show down. Now onto the last four. Can't wait to begin number seven
First six books sat up the final show down. Now onto the last four. Can't wait to begin number seven
December 18, 2024
Not my cup of tea
October 19, 2023
This is the 7th book of an 11-book series. Very entertaining and packed with interesting twists on history from after the American Civil War until the end of World War II. I'm saving the four- and five-star rating for weightier material.
May 29, 2011
This is the third book in the “American Empire” trilogy, and is the seventh book in what most fans refer to as the “Southern Victory” series—Turtledove hasn’t officially named the series that I know of. This series is based on the premise that the Confederacy won the American Civil War in 1863 and remained a separate country. The previous trilogy in the series, “The Great War” details World War I in this alternate history, in which the USA defeats the CSA and Germany defeats Britain and France.
At the start of the book, it is 1933, and Jake Featherston, the rabble-rousing Confederate gunnery sergeant from “The Great War” series, has rallied his anger at the USA, at those in charge of the Confederacy who lost the war and the dissatisfaction that is rampant in the wake of the Great Depression, into a political party (the Freedom Party, which sounds like a mix between two parties in our world, but I won’t go into it because if anybody does read this, I’m sure they’ll misread it—deliberately or otherwise) and has ridden the anger to become President of the Confederacy—sound familiar? Given the South’s hatred of Negroes anyway and the fact that he blames them for sabotaging the war effort by becoming Communist and rising up against the whites, and the parallels with Germany in our world, it is no surprise that he begins to open camps—at first, they are just for political enemies of his, but they soon expand.
He also argues that Kentucky and the western half of Texas—which is now a state in the USA called “Houston”—were stolen from them, and demands that they be allowed to return to the CSA. Al Smith, the Socialist who replaced Herbert Hoover after one term, begins a campaign of appeasement and allows those areas to have a plebisite, on the condition that Featherston ask for nothing else. Of course, the plebisite victories aren’t enough, and Featherston makes demands for the rest of the lands “taken” from the CSA at the end of the war.
Meanwhile, in Canada, people there are bristling under their occupation by the USA and some begin to fight back.
As with all Turtledove books, there is a lot going on in this book, and what I wrote here just barely scratches the surface. There are many stories with many characters who interweave at some points to knit a rich tapestry. You have to pay attention (and you really should read the other six books before you read this one) to try to keep everybody and everything straight. If you can do that—and have a good sense of history—you will be richly rewarded. Again, I find that this book, as well as the other two in the trilogy, are probably the best books in the series—and the only thing I can figure is that with the previous trilogy being set during the war, all of the battles and fighting got tiresome after a while. This storyline now goes into World War II for the next (and final) four books, and I’m really hoping that those don’t get boring, given my interest in that time period.
At the start of the book, it is 1933, and Jake Featherston, the rabble-rousing Confederate gunnery sergeant from “The Great War” series, has rallied his anger at the USA, at those in charge of the Confederacy who lost the war and the dissatisfaction that is rampant in the wake of the Great Depression, into a political party (the Freedom Party, which sounds like a mix between two parties in our world, but I won’t go into it because if anybody does read this, I’m sure they’ll misread it—deliberately or otherwise) and has ridden the anger to become President of the Confederacy—sound familiar? Given the South’s hatred of Negroes anyway and the fact that he blames them for sabotaging the war effort by becoming Communist and rising up against the whites, and the parallels with Germany in our world, it is no surprise that he begins to open camps—at first, they are just for political enemies of his, but they soon expand.
He also argues that Kentucky and the western half of Texas—which is now a state in the USA called “Houston”—were stolen from them, and demands that they be allowed to return to the CSA. Al Smith, the Socialist who replaced Herbert Hoover after one term, begins a campaign of appeasement and allows those areas to have a plebisite, on the condition that Featherston ask for nothing else. Of course, the plebisite victories aren’t enough, and Featherston makes demands for the rest of the lands “taken” from the CSA at the end of the war.
Meanwhile, in Canada, people there are bristling under their occupation by the USA and some begin to fight back.
As with all Turtledove books, there is a lot going on in this book, and what I wrote here just barely scratches the surface. There are many stories with many characters who interweave at some points to knit a rich tapestry. You have to pay attention (and you really should read the other six books before you read this one) to try to keep everybody and everything straight. If you can do that—and have a good sense of history—you will be richly rewarded. Again, I find that this book, as well as the other two in the trilogy, are probably the best books in the series—and the only thing I can figure is that with the previous trilogy being set during the war, all of the battles and fighting got tiresome after a while. This storyline now goes into World War II for the next (and final) four books, and I’m really hoping that those don’t get boring, given my interest in that time period.
February 17, 2023
The Turtledove Consortium Writes Again
Another book by the consortium who writes under the Turtledove name and again it has its highs and lows. (BTW: it must be a consortium given the production rate of new books appearing each year under the Turtledove label. Also the distinctly female POV of some scenes make it hard to believe that one man wrote it all. So I guess the master himself writes stand-alone novels and farms out series to his consortium)
The book itself is on one hand a gripping description of a country sliding deeper into tyranny and madness. On the other it tries to give its characters a personal life, meaning that its (mostly senior) heroes have sex. Or regret not having sex…
Those parts where fundamentally decent people get sucked into a system of evil are fascinating to read and let the reader understand how similar things happened in the Europe of the 1930s. Also the domestic side of appeasement, how hope against hope made bargains with the devil possible, comes to life in this book.
Stretching out the story to 30 years (50 if you count How Few Remain) and continuing means that a lot of characters change. The partner in charge of their storyline sometimes discards them and brings in someone new, a relative or descendant of the killed character.
F.e. Boston fisherman George Enos was killed and replaced by his wife. Now she is killed (because of bad sex) and replaced by their son, George jr. Such replacements do not always work out well because I suspect that the they do not always fit the writing style of the partner who is in charge of them.
I wonder if the names some of the characters bear are a programmatic regarding their fate in the story arc. Scipio, Cassius, Achilles … the name partner of the consortium is supposed to know his classics. I am really looking forward to the next book(s) to see if their fate follows that of their ancient name-sakes.
Another book by the consortium who writes under the Turtledove name and again it has its highs and lows. (BTW: it must be a consortium given the production rate of new books appearing each year under the Turtledove label. Also the distinctly female POV of some scenes make it hard to believe that one man wrote it all. So I guess the master himself writes stand-alone novels and farms out series to his consortium)
The book itself is on one hand a gripping description of a country sliding deeper into tyranny and madness. On the other it tries to give its characters a personal life, meaning that its (mostly senior) heroes have sex. Or regret not having sex…
Those parts where fundamentally decent people get sucked into a system of evil are fascinating to read and let the reader understand how similar things happened in the Europe of the 1930s. Also the domestic side of appeasement, how hope against hope made bargains with the devil possible, comes to life in this book.
Stretching out the story to 30 years (50 if you count How Few Remain) and continuing means that a lot of characters change. The partner in charge of their storyline sometimes discards them and brings in someone new, a relative or descendant of the killed character.
F.e. Boston fisherman George Enos was killed and replaced by his wife. Now she is killed (because of bad sex) and replaced by their son, George jr. Such replacements do not always work out well because I suspect that the they do not always fit the writing style of the partner who is in charge of them.
I wonder if the names some of the characters bear are a programmatic regarding their fate in the story arc. Scipio, Cassius, Achilles … the name partner of the consortium is supposed to know his classics. I am really looking forward to the next book(s) to see if their fate follows that of their ancient name-sakes.
February 10, 2008
This, the seventh book of Mr. Turtledove's Timeline-191 series is essentially the chronicles of the first Featherston administration, starting in 1934. As the book opens, Jake Featherston--this reality's version of Adolf Hitler--has just been sworn in as the President of the Confederate States of America. All through the proceeding volumes, he's been holding grudges and remembering those who slighted him. Now he gets a chance for payback. There's no real surprises in how that particular storyline plays out. (Actually, there is one, now that I think of it, but you'll have to read the book to discover it.) But that's only one of the plot threads running through the series. Life goes on in North America, from the State of Sonora in the Confederate southwest to the Republic of Quebec, that puppet nation carved out of Canada during the Great War. All in all, it's a good read. My only real complaint is that, as part of a lenghty storyline, Mr. Turtledove finds it necessary to pull in a number of recaps from the previous novels for those readers who may not have read them. I wish he could have used footnotes or something, so I could blip over them and continue on with the action. Oh, well. When I get around to writing an 11 volume story, I suppose I can do it whatever way I want.
August 9, 2009
Part three of the "American Empire" trilogy show Jake Featherston and the Freedom Party taking control of the CSA, and the predictable reprocussions that happen as a result. It's clear that Turtledove knows his interwar history, and he brings all of that to bear here.
There were two main problems I had with this book: first, Turtledove seems much more interested in using his characters to advance the plot, rather than having the plot happen as a result of the characters. I got the feeling I could have read a synopsis of the plot online and gotten just as much as I did out of reading the book. Even things like deaths of fairly major characters happen quickly, and then we're whisked off to some other part of the story, without time to really let it all sink in.
The second problem was that, even though this was the final part of a trilogy, there was no real solid end to the book. The entire trilogy, in fact, reads a little like it's just chapters 5-7 in the 11-part serial "American Civil War" timeline that Turtledove has established. Call me old-fashioned, but I want closure in my books!
There were two main problems I had with this book: first, Turtledove seems much more interested in using his characters to advance the plot, rather than having the plot happen as a result of the characters. I got the feeling I could have read a synopsis of the plot online and gotten just as much as I did out of reading the book. Even things like deaths of fairly major characters happen quickly, and then we're whisked off to some other part of the story, without time to really let it all sink in.
The second problem was that, even though this was the final part of a trilogy, there was no real solid end to the book. The entire trilogy, in fact, reads a little like it's just chapters 5-7 in the 11-part serial "American Civil War" timeline that Turtledove has established. Call me old-fashioned, but I want closure in my books!
June 11, 2015
Last book in this series. You've got a Hitler-like Confederate veteran firmly in control of the South, rebuilding its economy and militarizing it (just like Hitler did in Germany). The sub-plot involving how the South treats Blacks is very interesting. Turtledove has them playing the role the Jews played during the Holocaust with a serious amount of Marxism mixed in. The more that I thought about it, it is very surprising to me that Blacks in the American south didn't embrace Marxism a long time ago. They do in this series.
December 8, 2011
Like all the rest this was a really good read. I will say that this series does get better the further into it you go and this one is the farthest I've read and was by far my favorite. I particularly liked the way things got handed off to a mostly new generation of characters in this book as a lead up to the war, not something that happens as the war starts. I also found the organic grouth of what are obviously turning into concentration camps in the CSA to be particularly chilling.
April 3, 2013
best one of the american empire, possible second best of the series after How Few Remain.
this is the book where all the build up finally happens - revenge is served.
aside from some longtime fav characters getting unceremoniously killed off to make room for new narrators, the book is really entertaining.
this is the book where all the build up finally happens - revenge is served.
aside from some longtime fav characters getting unceremoniously killed off to make room for new narrators, the book is really entertaining.
February 16, 2016
After losing some faith in the previous book in the series (The Center Cannot Hold), HT returns to a bit of form here and the story picks up some pace. It probably helped that a few of the older characters who were not doing much in the story got bumped off. An interesting build up to the next series...
March 31, 2009
On it goes. In Harry Turtledove's alternate world, some of the things that happened in Europe between the world wars happen in the United States and Confederate States instead; interesting to think about how people here would have felt and acted in those circumstances.
August 10, 2010
The end of a trilogy that deals more with politics than war, which I find much more interesting. Characters that we've known for books are dying, replaced by their children who were newborns in previous titles. Turtledove's imagination is without limits.
June 11, 2013
What if the Confederate states fought a second war and won their independence? What if the new Confederate nation's leader was a bigot who saw Blacks as expendable and expansion of this country a necessity beyond question. Makes for an interesting read.
December 4, 2013
This was a great series. I love how Jake Featherstone becomes the South's version of Adolf Hitler. The parallels are scary, but effective. The work camps are a great approximation of the Nazi's war on the Jews. The combat and characters are worth investing in.
January 12, 2016
Ik heb een haat/liefde verhouding met deze auteur. Desalniettemin er ongelofelijk veel storende elementen zijn blijft hij de nieuwsgierigheid prikkelen zodat je toch wil weten hoe het verder afloopt met de personages, dus op naar boek 8.
September 16, 2007
Great set up for the coming showdown between the USA and CSA. The one gripe is using the Holocaust as an entertainment component of the novel.
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