Into the Darkness: A Novel of the World at War

I really enjoyed this book when I read it. It is the first book in a six book series that tells the storry of WWII through a fantasy theme, airplanes are dragons, tanks are behemoths guns are sticks thatt fire lightning and speacial weapons are magic spells. This book (book one of six) tells you about how the war started and the early stages of the war. From what I know about WWII (which isn't very much I will say) is accurate but the story of the characters is what really grabs you to keep reading. A full map of the fantasy world is included with a list of characters with an asterix by the characters from whose lives you will be reading. This book is a great begining to the series and I don't see how anybody could absolutly hate it.

Into the Darkness (1999) is the first novel in the World At War fantasy series. This storyline can be considered an allegory of World War II, but with magical instead of technological weapons. As one result of this difference, there is much less variation in weapons and equipment, for everybody mostly uses the same magical repertory. Also, the animal equivalent of vehicles has much less variety. Thus, strategy and tactics are much more significant than the hardware per se. During the Six Year war, Algarve lost the Duchy of Bari and highly resented the loss. However, other neighboring nations are determined to keep Algarve from recovering the Duchy. One of the background factors in international relations is the Kaunian Empire, long fallen, its descendants often despised, yet still influencing the culture of many of the belligerents. In this novel, a generation later, the Duke has died and King Mezentio sends his troops into Bari. Valmieri, Jelgava, Forthweg and Sibiu then declare war against Algrave. Unkerlanter and Gyongyos are fighting in the Elsung Mountains. Gyongyos and Kuusamo are fighting over Obuda Island. Zuwayza is playing off Unkerlanter against Algrave, but is mainly focused on her border with Unkerlanter. Lagoas is presently remaining neutral in this war. All this fighting and diplomacy is told in terms of the participants. Although the Kings and high ministers have their say, so do the farmers and scholars and other people of little import in the war, but of great significance to their families and friends. There is the Fortwegian lad and Kaunian lass who are lovers, the Jelgavan marchioness, the Lagoan mage, the Unterkanter peasant, the Algarvian constable, and fighting men of every nationality. As with his other war novels, the author dwells more upon the results of war than its causes: the death and suffering, the injustices and sacrifices, the rhetoric and consequences. The changes in names and geography help conceal the nationality of the participants, so that the reader can look at the situation with clearer vision. Highly recommended for Turtledove fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of human characters trying to just carry on their lives despite great hardship and tragedy. -Arthur W. Jordin

I thought "Into the Darkness" was a very well thought out and executed story. This book roughly parallels WW2 where magic holds sway instead of technology. Many different characters take center stage as the story is told from their point of view; this added a lot to the plot and helped move the story line along. No longer is each side in the war just the good guys or bad guys; now each side is populated with real people that the reader can identify or empathize with. Harry Turtledove wove a masterful tale in "Into the Darkness", and I definitely recommend this book to any and everyone.

As said in the above review, Setabul is a real city in Portugal. So what? A little known fact is that the names Sibiu and Tirgoviste are names of towns in the Romanian provence of Transylvania. I doubt this was what the the author wanted Sibiu to represent. I belive that Lagoas does represent Britain. Think about it. A battle against Algarve (Germany) in the Land of the Ice People (North Africa). It makes a lot more sense than Lagoas being Portugal, for Lagoas does not stay neutral through the entire war, but declares war when Sibiu is attacked. Also, the Duchy of Bari, I think, is the Sudentenland (forgive the spelling) region of then Chzechoslovakia, which was annexed by Germany before conquering the rest of the country, which almost got the war going. This makes a little more sense, I think. This leaves Kuusamo as America (Manhattan Project?), Unkerlant as Russia (crazy dictator ruler, impressors, Suligen or Stalingrad), Ortah as Switzerland (neutral and mountainous), Sibiu as Greece, Valmieria as France, Forthweg as Poland (split by Russians and Germans in WWII), Zuwayza as Sweden (hot, not cold like Land of the Ice people is cold, but N. Africa hot), and Gyongyos as Japan (warrior race, island war with Kuusamo). If anybody sees any faults with this, please e-mail me.

I personally like in my books a combination of action, politics, and how things go in daily life so I can get into the book on a personal level. This book goes through multiple story lines as well as giving you the whole story. You find yourself in the begining of a war, then you go through the war from the soldiers perspectives on each side, the daily people from commoner to nobility, and you get to see how to politicians are doing. Also in this book you get alot of magic and many mythical creatures which keeps readers motivated to read it. This is a must for all readers who love to be entangled with story line of the books they read.