The Grapple

long book but well worth the read. His series is getting deeper into the unfolding drama of the US vs. the CSA.

A fast paced and exciting continuation of the rest of the series. I enjoy reading Turtledove's stories but his constant retracing of his steps drives me insane. A good storyline but the constant backtracking to cover the past character storyline will make me happy when this series ends.

I've read all of Turtledove's Civil War AH books and thought that THE GRAPPLE was the best. The action is fast-paced and describes in believable detail a WWII analog in North America in which the USA finally mobilizes its technological and industrial might under effective generalship to crush a Nazified CSA. The important aspect of THE GRAPPLE is how it sets up for the concluding novel in the series. The CSA is nearly beaten to its knees, but it and the other world powers are rushing to develop the A-bomb. Will the CSA or the CSA's British ally get the A-bomb first and use it to stop the USA? Or will the USA win and put Featherston, Pinkard, and the other CSA "Nazis" on trial for war crimes? However it turns out, it will make for some interesting action in the final novel of the series. As to the alternative history, it is sound in all aspects of a continuing conflict between the USA and CSA. However, it is hard to believe that the USA would allow rebellions to go on in Utah and Occupied Canada for generation after generation. It is much more likely that the Mormons in Utah would have been pacified and Occupied Canada would have been annexed to the USA without much controversy north or south of the border. One gets the impression that the series will end with North America destined to resume its present configuration with a unified United States, an independent Canada, and a Mexico with its CSA-held territory restored. Regardless of how much one agrees or disagrees with Turtledove's extrapolation of AH, THE GRAPPLE has achieved its purpose in getting the reader excited to read the concluding novel in the series when it is published.

In Settling Accounts: Return Engagement author Harry Turtledove returns to the world of alternative history that reflects what would happen if the South had won the Civil War. In this future, a harsh and violent regime much like Nazi Germany has come to power in the South. A brutal surprise attack launches a world at war with a large part of the fighting taking place in the United States. Jake Featherstone - a sergeant from a rural part of the South - has created the "Freedom" Party and become president of the Confederacy. He has also instituted a "final solution" to deal with the problem of a large black population that is ineligible for citizenship. Perhaps the most shocking part of this book is how easy it is for very sympathetic characters to devolve into mass murderers. On a side note, Jake's Vice President Don Partridge - a bumbling westerner without much smarts but lots of political and family connections is obviously a parody of Dan Quayle. It makes me wonder if there are other parodies that I'm just not smart enough to catch. For the most part, Mr. Turtledove's writing style makes this an easy read, one that can just be enjoyed as an alternative history. On the other hand, one can read deep ideas lurking behind the surface. What exactly are the nature of class and race in the United States? Why have we as a nation sidestepped some of the potential conflicts - real conflicts with genocide, slavery, and intergenerational hate - that have plagued Europe and Asia? Is there such a thing as American exceptionalism or were we just lucky? What must we do to deal with these challenges in the future? This book is crafted so that you can come to your own conclusions, but don't be surprised if they are different from a friend who has read the same book. I highly recommend this book, but one should only read Turtledove in small doses. He writes each book as if it is your fist introduction to this alternative world, so it can be a bit repetitive and grating. Additionally, his writing style and turn of phrase can become annoying if you try and read all of his books in a particular storyline in one sitting.

Turtledove continues the storyline that began sixty years earlier. The characters, some old, some new, are handled exceptionally well; leading the reader through the opening days of World War II in a world that COULD have been. Excellent.