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The Children's War
Peter has had more identities than he can remember and suffered pains and humiliations he longs to forget. But, whether spy or prisoner, slave or propaganda tool, none of his roles has brought the one thing he wants above freedom.
THE CHILDREN'S WAR
Bad papers. That's how Peter's nightmare began. Living in contemporary Europe under Nazi domination -- more than fifty years after the truce among the North American Union, the Third Reich, and the Soviet Union -- Peter has struggled to make sense of the reign of terror that governs his world. Now, arrested for bearing a false identity, he is pulled full-force into a battle against Nazi oppression. The crusade for freedom that belonged to generations past is now Peter's legacy -- and his future depends not on running away, but on fighting back.
Escaping a Nazi prison camp and joining the Underground Home Army, Peter dedicates himself to breaking down the system that betrayed him. But by facing the evil at the heart of the Nazi political machine, Peter falls deeper into a web of intrigue and adventure that risks everything he holds dear -- in this life and for the sake of future generations.
A disturbingly real vision of what could have been, The Children's War is a page-turning epic thriller with a mesmerizing premise and an unforgettable cast of characters. J.N. Stroyar's searingly authentic, impassioned vision of human triumph over the forces of corruption and cruelty stands as a powerful tribute to the millions who have sacrificed and died in the name of freedom.
THE CHILDREN'S WAR
Bad papers. That's how Peter's nightmare began. Living in contemporary Europe under Nazi domination -- more than fifty years after the truce among the North American Union, the Third Reich, and the Soviet Union -- Peter has struggled to make sense of the reign of terror that governs his world. Now, arrested for bearing a false identity, he is pulled full-force into a battle against Nazi oppression. The crusade for freedom that belonged to generations past is now Peter's legacy -- and his future depends not on running away, but on fighting back.
Escaping a Nazi prison camp and joining the Underground Home Army, Peter dedicates himself to breaking down the system that betrayed him. But by facing the evil at the heart of the Nazi political machine, Peter falls deeper into a web of intrigue and adventure that risks everything he holds dear -- in this life and for the sake of future generations.
A disturbingly real vision of what could have been, The Children's War is a page-turning epic thriller with a mesmerizing premise and an unforgettable cast of characters. J.N. Stroyar's searingly authentic, impassioned vision of human triumph over the forces of corruption and cruelty stands as a powerful tribute to the millions who have sacrificed and died in the name of freedom.
1168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 7, 2008
This is a huge book, but well worth reading if you have the stamina for it.
Takes a classic sci-fi staple, alternate history, and takes it to the very bitter end.
What if the Nazis won World War II is a very common alternate history idea used in many sci fi stories, but this one extrapolates this idea with so much detail and heartbreaking realism, that you end up thanking our lucky stars that we DID win WWII.
The book already takes place in a time where the Nazis have won WWII and pretty much conquered all of Europe. America is still technically its own country and the last free country in the world, but has no influence or power over the Nazi empire.
There are few small pockets of resistance left in Poland and we see some resistance fighters struggle against the awesome juggernaut of the Nazi empire. Our hero is a disillusioned Brit who somehow ends up in the Polish Resistance and we see through his eyes just how dismal life is under the iron heel of Nazi rule.
Takes a classic sci-fi staple, alternate history, and takes it to the very bitter end.
What if the Nazis won World War II is a very common alternate history idea used in many sci fi stories, but this one extrapolates this idea with so much detail and heartbreaking realism, that you end up thanking our lucky stars that we DID win WWII.
The book already takes place in a time where the Nazis have won WWII and pretty much conquered all of Europe. America is still technically its own country and the last free country in the world, but has no influence or power over the Nazi empire.
There are few small pockets of resistance left in Poland and we see some resistance fighters struggle against the awesome juggernaut of the Nazi empire. Our hero is a disillusioned Brit who somehow ends up in the Polish Resistance and we see through his eyes just how dismal life is under the iron heel of Nazi rule.
September 25, 2018
¨Cool Reich¨ o ¨Who Framed Agent Halifax?¨
I.
First things First. On one hand, there is almost no explicit allohistory suporting the worldbuilding and the implicit facts, sugested in the story itself, are annoyingly far fetched. And yet, there is an enormous effort to make the story and background as credible and realistic as it can he. Characters, on the other hand are utterly cartoonish. So, the first and greatest critique I have to this novel is that contrast due to ¨uneveness¨ of imagination. The background, the world, and the characters seem to belong to different universes. It is somewhere claimed that this book is the result of a ten years research. I doubt it. Ten years of writting, may be. As I read it, it felt as if the autor (or authors) wrote a chapter, corrected it (perhaps) add it to the pile, and went on. Chapter after chapter. Later on, the same author, or some other one, may have re-read some of those chapters, and correct the inconsistencies in the following ones to make everything fit so not a single paragraph had to be left out. Thus, a one thousand and hundred and fifty two novel got published. A tome of alternative history as thick as a Bible, with two pages of allohistorical background, if so, and a plot that doesn´t really go anywhere. The worst part is, that all the elements were there. This could have been a sort-of Spy novel about a betrayed agent finding out why and who. Or a family saga going from the end of the war to the refugee inmigrants, passing through resistance, concentracion camps, forced labor, betrayal, collaborationism, etc. Just to name some ideas. But no. ¨Childrens War¨ is the Maquis De Sades ¨How to survive in Nazi Europe, should the Axis win WWII, for pseudo-patritriotic pseudo-reasons, (even when you can fit in or emigrate since your comrades abandoned/used you, and/or don´t really care about it)¨ handbook.
Not only the novel lacks of allohistorical notes, or explanations, or references but the only ¨public¨ character in the whole story is no less than ¨The Fürer¨, and he is not named really, he is just described with the, allegedly, worst aspects of Hitlers, alleged, personality. There are no maps and no precise dates. That is what I call, ¨literary cowardice¨, at the service of making your ¨Bible Thick¨ novel more ¨Credible¨, more ¨plausible¨. The absence of a allohistorical tale, and the grotesquely biased version of friends and (specially) foes by themselves do not make this novel a bad one (at least not to me) but considering the stlyle and tone, the ¨texture¨, if I may say, of such a mamoth of work, wich deserves my entire respect, those are not negligible failures.
II
As I read the novel, in other words, I had the impression that the sole purpose of it was to satisfy some twisted fantasy of torturing to extintion every single NAZI anyone one can imagine, or I shall rather say, torture Nazism itself. So the narrator goes page after page, humiliating them, defiling their still living bodies, their wanning race, so they may become usefull gimps for their polish overlords, whithout them even noticing.
More than once, it is stated, by the same NAZIS that the ¨Lesser Beings¨ are as Aryans as the Aryans, and they are ¨objetively¨described by the omnicient narrator as blue eyed, blonde, sexy, born-and-raised-for-the-job, outlawed renegades. More Aryan than the Aryans, in fact. They act as one, even when they have ample political differences, and therefore, very diverse political agendas, whitin these ¨Home Army¨, in wich they serve or serves them, depending on your point of view.
Let us stop here a moment. Stroyars Home Army survived eightysome years after the end of the war, but what did it became?. Are they rebels within the Reich? Resistance? Guerrilla? Terrorist? Political Minority? ... what do they want?. Cesesion? Topple the goverment? Control from inside?. NEIN. The Home Army, in ¨Childrens War¨ is a ¨Cobra-I.S-Hydra-ZealotsInMassada-StarWars-esque¨ spearhead group of the coolest secret agents, femme fatales, Rambos, Chiens de la Guerre, infiltrators, smuglers, frankshooters, hackers, etc, that ever lived. They demand things from foreing powers, steal state secrets from highly secured facilities, plant bombs, kill any member of the governement they chose, impose conditions on any authority or institution they may encpunter, blackmail the High Command of the Third Reich and infiltrate to their Highest spheres of powers, with absolute impunity, among other things. And one wonder ¿doesn´t this means they already control the Third Reich?. NO. Remember the purpose of the novel. It does not matter how retarded, groggy, fiendish, fat, small and self destructing cowards the NAZIS are, they are still dangerous, and the omniscient narrator insist upon it, against the proof presented by ¨itself¨. But, since germans are not humans, you can kill as many as you want, in plain day, with your own bare hands, then rub some humectant cream and breastfeed your baby before you retire for a quiet nap, because if its against the Nazis, its not Genocide.
If I could grant ¨Cero¨ stars, or ¨half a star¨, to a book, I would still give ¨Childrens War¨ one full star. It, quite skillfully, portrays the unappealling, and somehow ridiculous, kinky S.M relationship between this ¨Peter/Alan¨ and: his NAZI femdom owner (and her husband, and her confused daughters and sons), a Rebel Blond Busty Mind-Dominatrix, a British Resistance comrades wife, a Gay Concentration Camp Commander, some ugly fat teens, and a selection of all their friends and relatives. The only one who seems to be missing the irresistible sexual charisma of this ¨bondesque¨ hero seems to be the anal-probing maniac cientinst with german accent.
In ¨Childrens War¨ we also find an ¨almost¨ masterpiece of surrealism, since, as the ¨plot¨ unravels, the reader comes to realize some things, situations and personae in this world are too good, too bad, too moronic, too naive, to be true, some character (mostly Ryszard) realices how odd that is, as if by doing so, the plausibility of such machinations and coincidences, of this entire (non written) alohistory and its couterfactual reality, were restored. Always remember the importance of credibility when writting and selling Alternative History. So, there are moments when Ryszard apears to very close to becoming aware that he is a character in a ¨normalweird¨ novel.
III
I really tried. I tried to read this novel as a reference to all those rebelious movements and resistence groups in the twentieth century. Some kind of atempt to understand those who opose modern oppression and end being even more oppressive than their oppressors. But it doesn´t fit either. (SPECIAL NOTE HERE: In my country, Argentina, suggesting that freedom fighting may include retaliatory abduction of your enemies babies will certainly earn you some eyebrows lifting, and, perhaps, some graffiti in your house).
I expected some twist, something like those two or three dialogues in wich Ryszard exposes his reasons to take over the Reich, lets say, by ¨inflitration¨, instead of taking it by assault, in wich some character, or the narrator ¨itself¨ reaches some deep conclusion about the lack of purpose of life, humanity, and history, and/or how war and struggle, ideology, religion and flags, provide an ilusion of such purpose. But I was greatly disapointed. Frustrated even. I tried to see the action as a product of the characters psichology, but, any achievement in that aspect, character building I mean, is more due to be a result of the length of the time the reader spents with them (the amount of words dedicated to them, that is), rather than the quality of the quill they came from.
I do respect the efort though. Stroyar (or the Stroyars behind her) went far, she was close. She tried too. And all in all, I shall read the second part of this story, just to see if next time we can both nail it.
I.
First things First. On one hand, there is almost no explicit allohistory suporting the worldbuilding and the implicit facts, sugested in the story itself, are annoyingly far fetched. And yet, there is an enormous effort to make the story and background as credible and realistic as it can he. Characters, on the other hand are utterly cartoonish. So, the first and greatest critique I have to this novel is that contrast due to ¨uneveness¨ of imagination. The background, the world, and the characters seem to belong to different universes. It is somewhere claimed that this book is the result of a ten years research. I doubt it. Ten years of writting, may be. As I read it, it felt as if the autor (or authors) wrote a chapter, corrected it (perhaps) add it to the pile, and went on. Chapter after chapter. Later on, the same author, or some other one, may have re-read some of those chapters, and correct the inconsistencies in the following ones to make everything fit so not a single paragraph had to be left out. Thus, a one thousand and hundred and fifty two novel got published. A tome of alternative history as thick as a Bible, with two pages of allohistorical background, if so, and a plot that doesn´t really go anywhere. The worst part is, that all the elements were there. This could have been a sort-of Spy novel about a betrayed agent finding out why and who. Or a family saga going from the end of the war to the refugee inmigrants, passing through resistance, concentracion camps, forced labor, betrayal, collaborationism, etc. Just to name some ideas. But no. ¨Childrens War¨ is the Maquis De Sades ¨How to survive in Nazi Europe, should the Axis win WWII, for pseudo-patritriotic pseudo-reasons, (even when you can fit in or emigrate since your comrades abandoned/used you, and/or don´t really care about it)¨ handbook.
Not only the novel lacks of allohistorical notes, or explanations, or references but the only ¨public¨ character in the whole story is no less than ¨The Fürer¨, and he is not named really, he is just described with the, allegedly, worst aspects of Hitlers, alleged, personality. There are no maps and no precise dates. That is what I call, ¨literary cowardice¨, at the service of making your ¨Bible Thick¨ novel more ¨Credible¨, more ¨plausible¨. The absence of a allohistorical tale, and the grotesquely biased version of friends and (specially) foes by themselves do not make this novel a bad one (at least not to me) but considering the stlyle and tone, the ¨texture¨, if I may say, of such a mamoth of work, wich deserves my entire respect, those are not negligible failures.
II
As I read the novel, in other words, I had the impression that the sole purpose of it was to satisfy some twisted fantasy of torturing to extintion every single NAZI anyone one can imagine, or I shall rather say, torture Nazism itself. So the narrator goes page after page, humiliating them, defiling their still living bodies, their wanning race, so they may become usefull gimps for their polish overlords, whithout them even noticing.
More than once, it is stated, by the same NAZIS that the ¨Lesser Beings¨ are as Aryans as the Aryans, and they are ¨objetively¨described by the omnicient narrator as blue eyed, blonde, sexy, born-and-raised-for-the-job, outlawed renegades. More Aryan than the Aryans, in fact. They act as one, even when they have ample political differences, and therefore, very diverse political agendas, whitin these ¨Home Army¨, in wich they serve or serves them, depending on your point of view.
Let us stop here a moment. Stroyars Home Army survived eightysome years after the end of the war, but what did it became?. Are they rebels within the Reich? Resistance? Guerrilla? Terrorist? Political Minority? ... what do they want?. Cesesion? Topple the goverment? Control from inside?. NEIN. The Home Army, in ¨Childrens War¨ is a ¨Cobra-I.S-Hydra-ZealotsInMassada-StarWars-esque¨ spearhead group of the coolest secret agents, femme fatales, Rambos, Chiens de la Guerre, infiltrators, smuglers, frankshooters, hackers, etc, that ever lived. They demand things from foreing powers, steal state secrets from highly secured facilities, plant bombs, kill any member of the governement they chose, impose conditions on any authority or institution they may encpunter, blackmail the High Command of the Third Reich and infiltrate to their Highest spheres of powers, with absolute impunity, among other things. And one wonder ¿doesn´t this means they already control the Third Reich?. NO. Remember the purpose of the novel. It does not matter how retarded, groggy, fiendish, fat, small and self destructing cowards the NAZIS are, they are still dangerous, and the omniscient narrator insist upon it, against the proof presented by ¨itself¨. But, since germans are not humans, you can kill as many as you want, in plain day, with your own bare hands, then rub some humectant cream and breastfeed your baby before you retire for a quiet nap, because if its against the Nazis, its not Genocide.
If I could grant ¨Cero¨ stars, or ¨half a star¨, to a book, I would still give ¨Childrens War¨ one full star. It, quite skillfully, portrays the unappealling, and somehow ridiculous, kinky S.M relationship between this ¨Peter/Alan¨ and: his NAZI femdom owner (and her husband, and her confused daughters and sons), a Rebel Blond Busty Mind-Dominatrix, a British Resistance comrades wife, a Gay Concentration Camp Commander, some ugly fat teens, and a selection of all their friends and relatives. The only one who seems to be missing the irresistible sexual charisma of this ¨bondesque¨ hero seems to be the anal-probing maniac cientinst with german accent.
In ¨Childrens War¨ we also find an ¨almost¨ masterpiece of surrealism, since, as the ¨plot¨ unravels, the reader comes to realize some things, situations and personae in this world are too good, too bad, too moronic, too naive, to be true, some character (mostly Ryszard) realices how odd that is, as if by doing so, the plausibility of such machinations and coincidences, of this entire (non written) alohistory and its couterfactual reality, were restored. Always remember the importance of credibility when writting and selling Alternative History. So, there are moments when Ryszard apears to very close to becoming aware that he is a character in a ¨normalweird¨ novel.
III
I really tried. I tried to read this novel as a reference to all those rebelious movements and resistence groups in the twentieth century. Some kind of atempt to understand those who opose modern oppression and end being even more oppressive than their oppressors. But it doesn´t fit either. (SPECIAL NOTE HERE: In my country, Argentina, suggesting that freedom fighting may include retaliatory abduction of your enemies babies will certainly earn you some eyebrows lifting, and, perhaps, some graffiti in your house).
I expected some twist, something like those two or three dialogues in wich Ryszard exposes his reasons to take over the Reich, lets say, by ¨inflitration¨, instead of taking it by assault, in wich some character, or the narrator ¨itself¨ reaches some deep conclusion about the lack of purpose of life, humanity, and history, and/or how war and struggle, ideology, religion and flags, provide an ilusion of such purpose. But I was greatly disapointed. Frustrated even. I tried to see the action as a product of the characters psichology, but, any achievement in that aspect, character building I mean, is more due to be a result of the length of the time the reader spents with them (the amount of words dedicated to them, that is), rather than the quality of the quill they came from.
I do respect the efort though. Stroyar (or the Stroyars behind her) went far, she was close. She tried too. And all in all, I shall read the second part of this story, just to see if next time we can both nail it.
March 21, 2012
Heavy book. Heavy in weight, heavy in subject, and just plain really hard to make sense of. Where was the editor? And why give it 4 stars if the plot lines are flailing around like the ends of a broken rope? Len Deighton also tackled the alt history of "what if the Nazi's had won?" in "SS-GB" and did it with so much better characterization, plot structure, and sense of place. Why did I like this book and the sequel "A change of regime" so much? Because of the main character, a young man run afoul of the authorities who begins in the absolute nightmare of being crated up like a vase for shipping to rise as a fighter, a husband, and as a father. His ultimate redemption runs in parallel with the changes in the regime both from within and without and give us hope for the future. A rewarding slog.
November 28, 2021
This story had an interesting concept. Hitler won the war. Germany took over all of Europe, including England. This book focused on the people working for the Polish Underground. The reason I kept reading the story, though, was because the character of Peter was so interesting. He was raised in England and went to Eton. His brother turned him in to the Gestapo, but Peter wasn’t home, so his parents were taken instead. They both were killed. Peter was on his own. He was caught as a draft dodger, so he was made a criminal and given a tattoo. He was sent to Germany for re-education and was experimented on. He lived for years as a slave to a sadistic Nazi, Karl, and his family. Peter is the reason I finished this story because I really wanted things to get better for him. He got Elspeth, Karl’s wife, pregnant and had a daughter by her. He got married to an underground assassin, Zosia, and adopted her daughter, who was killed because she was with him one day when he got caught. He and Zosia had another daughter as well. In the end, Zosia finally ended up falling in love with him, rather than just using him for the cause. Good story.
May 24, 2019
I found this tome to be a captivating story. It is is a monumental literary work, marvelously written, rich is detail. Tolstoyian. The first 390 pages is tough because the author takes the reader into the deepest depth of human depravity, but none of the activities are unfounded in mankind's history. Nothing in this section or what follows following rings false. This section is a foundation for what follows, including the themes the characters wrestle with, such as, what is collaboration, is collaboration a justification for survival, what price is paid to belong to a group, when are you a murderer instead of a couragous freedom fighter, & what makes us human or less than human. I liked how the author teases out the story of Peter, the main character, throughout the entire book. The author brings out the hearts and minds of the characters. Resting on human behavior with slavery, the Holocaust, the underground activities in WWII, this is a brilliantly structured story.
April 26, 2015
Theoretical Physicist Stroyar spent 10 years researching for this book. It shows and in all the best ways possible. What an incredible story. Written as an alternate history, Stroyar takes the reader into a world where Nazi Germany didn't lose but instead won. What would the world look like with Nazi Germany as its ruling regime?
The world ruled by the Nazi Regime is experienced through the voice of Peter. It's not his original name, not even the second name he's had, it's just one of many as he tries to survive the regime and fight it from the underground. Every part of the world Stroyar imagines under Nazi rule is so realistic that it isn't impossible to believe in its reality if Germany had succeeded. We meet Peter about 50 years after Europe has been governed by the regime. He's spent a few years in the British underground seeking ways to undermine the Nazis and a few years in labor camps as a result of minor infractions. We meet him in a Nazi prison about to undergo a 'reeducation' in order to allow him back into society...as a slave or forced laborer. We experience life in a regime governed country through the eyes, feelings, and observations of a slave to the Party. Peter, in an effort to retain some individuality, refuses to become a robot of the Party and jeopardizes his life often for that refusal. Digging deep he is able to tap into a hidden reserve of strength and escape the life of forced labor for the Nazi's to another kind of life, another kind of labor - that of the underground movement to destroy the regime from the inside out.
50 years ago the parents and grandparents of the underground members were fighting to keep Germany from winning World War II and now their children continue the war and battle cry for freedom but from secret and hidden places.
What a phenomenal read. Lots of political observations and commentary weaved in but nothing that offended this particular reader. America's role in the Nazi ruled Europe is so interesting and spot on for its role in the present with certain nations. The regime is portrayed as holding back its countries and citizens a good 30 or so years from technological advances, it felt like Europe was stuck in the 1950's while America had kept moving forward. This portrayal seems extremely realistic given the control Nazi wants to have on its people. The most interesting contrast and comparison, in my opinion, comes from that of the regime rule and the underground effort. If you have read the Hunger Games series it is very similar to the contrast and comparison between District 13 and the Capitol. In the end there are more similarities between the two rather than differences. I also found interesting the behavior and attitudes of the underground member toward Peter and those like him who had grown up under the thumb of the regime and been abused by it for so many years. The isolation of the underground members bred a certain contempt for those who had to do whatever it took to survive and flee from the Nazi government and yet that is what they were supposed to be fighting for, freedom for all from that kind of rule. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to spoil this amazing story for others. Here's the last thing I will say. Yes, it's a hefty and weighty read but it is worth every single word, every minute you spend on it. There's a sequel, half the size of this novel, and I am anxious to read it.
The world ruled by the Nazi Regime is experienced through the voice of Peter. It's not his original name, not even the second name he's had, it's just one of many as he tries to survive the regime and fight it from the underground. Every part of the world Stroyar imagines under Nazi rule is so realistic that it isn't impossible to believe in its reality if Germany had succeeded. We meet Peter about 50 years after Europe has been governed by the regime. He's spent a few years in the British underground seeking ways to undermine the Nazis and a few years in labor camps as a result of minor infractions. We meet him in a Nazi prison about to undergo a 'reeducation' in order to allow him back into society...as a slave or forced laborer. We experience life in a regime governed country through the eyes, feelings, and observations of a slave to the Party. Peter, in an effort to retain some individuality, refuses to become a robot of the Party and jeopardizes his life often for that refusal. Digging deep he is able to tap into a hidden reserve of strength and escape the life of forced labor for the Nazi's to another kind of life, another kind of labor - that of the underground movement to destroy the regime from the inside out.
50 years ago the parents and grandparents of the underground members were fighting to keep Germany from winning World War II and now their children continue the war and battle cry for freedom but from secret and hidden places.
What a phenomenal read. Lots of political observations and commentary weaved in but nothing that offended this particular reader. America's role in the Nazi ruled Europe is so interesting and spot on for its role in the present with certain nations. The regime is portrayed as holding back its countries and citizens a good 30 or so years from technological advances, it felt like Europe was stuck in the 1950's while America had kept moving forward. This portrayal seems extremely realistic given the control Nazi wants to have on its people. The most interesting contrast and comparison, in my opinion, comes from that of the regime rule and the underground effort. If you have read the Hunger Games series it is very similar to the contrast and comparison between District 13 and the Capitol. In the end there are more similarities between the two rather than differences. I also found interesting the behavior and attitudes of the underground member toward Peter and those like him who had grown up under the thumb of the regime and been abused by it for so many years. The isolation of the underground members bred a certain contempt for those who had to do whatever it took to survive and flee from the Nazi government and yet that is what they were supposed to be fighting for, freedom for all from that kind of rule. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to spoil this amazing story for others. Here's the last thing I will say. Yes, it's a hefty and weighty read but it is worth every single word, every minute you spend on it. There's a sequel, half the size of this novel, and I am anxious to read it.
March 31, 2010
Wow - this book is rotten. Seems as though it was written by 5 different lame authors. Very poorly edited, the plot moves one way and then shifts without explanation. Weakly constructed events that vaguely support later action seem to have been inserted here and there almost arbitrarily.
There isn't one character in the book you'll care about - all seem childish and wildly selfish - they spend a great deal of time thinking about the world's lack of gratitude for their continued sacrifices - tedious.
The protagonist is pointlessly argumentative, arrogant and dim witted - and the woman he loves matches. Feels like something a 16 year old boy would write. No adult understanding of marriage, men and women, parents - life in general.
Yuck.
There isn't one character in the book you'll care about - all seem childish and wildly selfish - they spend a great deal of time thinking about the world's lack of gratitude for their continued sacrifices - tedious.
The protagonist is pointlessly argumentative, arrogant and dim witted - and the woman he loves matches. Feels like something a 16 year old boy would write. No adult understanding of marriage, men and women, parents - life in general.
Yuck.
November 15, 2019
Ooooooof. As an alternate history set about 50 years after the Nazis won World War II (the main turning points seem to be Hitler deciding not to turn on Russia, and England capitulating to Germany), it is detailed and thorough. But lord, it is bleak and so very hard to stomach. All boys of the Reich and Reich-controlled territories (most of Europe) serving six years of forced labor/military duties beginning at age 16. Millions of people reduced to slavery, labeled untermenschen and fit for nothing except unpaid servitude to their Nazi betters. Good Aryan wives more or less required to bear a minimum of eight (!!!) children for the Reich, while the English and other subdued populace can barely muster the energy or the food coupons to have one. The Polish resistance literally living underground, in a catacomb of bunkers, teaching their children Polish (but also never to speak it aboveground or in mixed company). And I don't know precisely what happened to the remaining Jewish population of Europe, but it sounds like Hitler got his wish.
The book also makes very clear that this is not a fix-it scenario. The world has changed so much during the 50 years since WWII (the book is set at some point in the 1990s, years are never specified) that there is no going back to what it was before. Poland, and most other European nations, are gone. Populations have so melded with German populations that even if the resistance got their wish and had a new homeland established, it would be extremely sparsely populated, because people no longer think of themselves as nationalities, only whatever degree of volk they've been labelled. Revenge is not viable--justice isn't viable, because so much has been lost that can't be replaced, so many have died that an eye for an eye would leave the world depopulated. Even the US is only somewhat recognizable (and viewed through weary European eyes), seen as a country full of shallow fame-loving people who only care in fifteen-minute bursts, depending on how the press spins things. A member of the resistance realizes this and is deeply, deeply angry because everything he's suffered, his family has suffered, the war he's been taught to fight (and that his parents fought, this is the children's war of the title, a war that never really ended) will never be won. The book ends with a scrap of justice, and with the possibility of change on the horizon, but this world will never become our world. I can't even tell what it will become.
Warnings for a lot of humiliation and degradation--one character is essentially the slave of a Nazi family for three years, and there is nothing he does not suffer--and for the graphic and horrifying death of a child.
The book also makes very clear that this is not a fix-it scenario. The world has changed so much during the 50 years since WWII (the book is set at some point in the 1990s, years are never specified) that there is no going back to what it was before. Poland, and most other European nations, are gone. Populations have so melded with German populations that even if the resistance got their wish and had a new homeland established, it would be extremely sparsely populated, because people no longer think of themselves as nationalities, only whatever degree of volk they've been labelled. Revenge is not viable--justice isn't viable, because so much has been lost that can't be replaced, so many have died that an eye for an eye would leave the world depopulated. Even the US is only somewhat recognizable (and viewed through weary European eyes), seen as a country full of shallow fame-loving people who only care in fifteen-minute bursts, depending on how the press spins things. A member of the resistance realizes this and is deeply, deeply angry because everything he's suffered, his family has suffered, the war he's been taught to fight (and that his parents fought, this is the children's war of the title, a war that never really ended) will never be won. The book ends with a scrap of justice, and with the possibility of change on the horizon, but this world will never become our world. I can't even tell what it will become.
Warnings for a lot of humiliation and degradation--one character is essentially the slave of a Nazi family for three years, and there is nothing he does not suffer--and for the graphic and horrifying death of a child.
January 29, 2026
As much as I want to like this book, I find it difficult to enjoy one that makes so various attempts.
The Children’s War explores what would have happened if Hitler had won the war. There is a problem with this story; it is all over the place. There seem to be five different authors contributing to this story. The plot moves one way and then switches without explanation. In some parts, poorly built events that loosely tie to later ones appear randomly placed.
In this book, the characters are forgettable. They find as infantile and selfish. Much of their time involves worrying about how the world overlooks their sacrifices. It becomes quite tedious.
The story feels disjointed, making it hard to follow. Also, the characters are not well-developed, which does not spark empathy or interest. This disjointed approach weakens an interesting idea. Instead of feeling engaged, I felt frustrated by the alternate history in the book.
The book is not worth reading. The disjointed story and weak characters make the book frustrating and unsatisfying.
The Children’s War explores what would have happened if Hitler had won the war. There is a problem with this story; it is all over the place. There seem to be five different authors contributing to this story. The plot moves one way and then switches without explanation. In some parts, poorly built events that loosely tie to later ones appear randomly placed.
In this book, the characters are forgettable. They find as infantile and selfish. Much of their time involves worrying about how the world overlooks their sacrifices. It becomes quite tedious.
The story feels disjointed, making it hard to follow. Also, the characters are not well-developed, which does not spark empathy or interest. This disjointed approach weakens an interesting idea. Instead of feeling engaged, I felt frustrated by the alternate history in the book.
The book is not worth reading. The disjointed story and weak characters make the book frustrating and unsatisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2023
I have read the reviews here and I really don't have much to add... except this: I read the book when it was first published back in 2001. I thought the book was devastating, just brilliant. There probably hasn't been a year since that I haven't thought about the experience. I thought about it today, that I wanted to read it again. Happy to discover additional books in a series. I'm looking forward to reading them all. Yeah, I had the same feeling the first time I read War and Peace -- I didn't want it to end. Reader Response Criticism -- tough to argue with personal preference.
October 16, 2024
Read this years ago (maybe 2007?). I was thinking of it recently. Disturbing premise. I remember it being well-written. I remember some plot details and doubt I could reread it now that I have children. But to remember it after all these years, definitely made an impression.
February 15, 2018
Just couldn't do it...I was willing to stick with it for 500 pages, but couldn't hold my interest. The novel is in bad need of an editor!
June 4, 2018
DNF- page 472
November 24, 2018
One of the best really long books that I have read. Anyone that likes history, or just a great story, pick it up!
March 17, 2017
This is an excellent story, presented with well developed characters. I would not categorize it as sci-fi, but as good fiction. It is well worth reading. It took me only 2 weeks to read it - I amazed myself. You will enjoy reading this book and I highly recommend it.
March 31, 2008
This book was interesting because it combined a very fast moving/eventful plot with a well developed character analysis of the main protaganist..Peter. The author combines events from the history of the Nazi Regime and the powers fighting World War 2, as well as the formation of revolutionary moments, and used them to speculate on what life would be like if Germany won World War 2 through the eyes of Peter, an educated English man, a resister, a servant, and eventually a revolutionary fighter/husband and father. The book was over 1,000 pages long, but i found it easy to stay in to and would recommend it to those who like history and a good story to get lost in.
August 11, 2007
Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Nazi's won WWII? This long-winded story takes you into the history of the Nazi regime and weaves a somewhat outlandish plot around the Nazi party and an underground group attempting to undermine their attempts at "ethnically cleansing" their society and taking over Europe. I may knock the book a bit, but weighing in at over 1,000 pages you know it had to at least be well written and enjoyable for me to continue reading it. By the second section of the book you are invested in the main characters and want them to succeed in their resistance.
May 11, 2007
This is a very well written book where the basic plot line is "What if Hitler had won WWII..." There are three main characters in the book, the most prominent of which is Peter Halifax whose life is the focus of the book. The book follows his life from a 'normal' citizen of the Third Reich to him becoming a forced laborer. The other two main characters are Polish freedom fighters.
While the book is very long it is full of content and there is always something new happening that keeps the pages turning. This is not my favorite book, but it definetly ranks on my top five list.
While the book is very long it is full of content and there is always something new happening that keeps the pages turning. This is not my favorite book, but it definetly ranks on my top five list.
August 9, 2007
The book weaves a story about what Europe and the Western world would look like if the Nazis had won the war. The main character was born in London but after a lot of misforutne, torture, labor camps and servitude, he ends up working and living in the Polish undergroud. The title refers to the fact that the generation after the war (the children) don't remember the way life was before the war.
Very, very long and drawn out. The main characters are very memorable but...I think a lot could have been cut.
Very, very long and drawn out. The main characters are very memorable but...I think a lot could have been cut.
August 14, 2016
I almost stopped reading a couple of times because of the excessive sex scenes and general brutality of the book.
That said, this is good alternate history right here. It's a vivid, dark, awful world when the Nazis rule.
The protagonist's horribly strained relationship with one of the female characters reads like an ongoing train wreck. It's unpleasant but added a lot to the "realness" of the lives these characters live. I actually thought the protagonist seemed pretty solid but a lot of the other "good" characters have some serious psychological problems.
That said, this is good alternate history right here. It's a vivid, dark, awful world when the Nazis rule.
The protagonist's horribly strained relationship with one of the female characters reads like an ongoing train wreck. It's unpleasant but added a lot to the "realness" of the lives these characters live. I actually thought the protagonist seemed pretty solid but a lot of the other "good" characters have some serious psychological problems.
September 26, 2022
One of my favorite books of all time. Read it. It’s incredible. Yes, it’s long - I had to prop it up on a pillow when my hands got tired from holding it - because I read it for 8 hours straight until 6 in the morning. It stayed in my head for years. I read the sequel - also amazing. Then I read it again. And read the sequel again. Blown away by both each time. Just finished the third and last and starting all over to tie it back together.
July 26, 2016
I found this book in a used book store and felt the ratings on here were good enough to give it 50 pages. I was hooked within the first 10. I don't usually read alternative history, but this turned out to be quite the story. The protagonist is very relatable and the horrors he suffers are easily personified in an abstract universe. Looking forward to reading part two; although, I cannot imagine the storyline being as compelling.
August 10, 2008
Never read War and Peace, but I'm thinking it's comparable in length. A "what if" story, w/ the 3rd Reich having won WW II. At the end, I know more details about the life of Peter Halifax than my closest friends and family...but worth the read!
January 24, 2011
The novel paints a realistic and grim picture of a Europe dominated by the Nazis (who have won the Second World War) but there is also a less realistic, more fanciful tale of the Resistance that Didn't quite work for me.
December 26, 2007
An very interesting perspective to what could have been if Hilter was to succeed.
Want to Read
December 20, 2008alternate history based on long lasting third Reich
February 21, 2009
Much, much too long.
March 29, 2011
Another of my all-time favorites.
August 16, 2011
This was an excruciating book to read. Although good it was depressing to be in this story under Germany's rule and experience the times.
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