Breakthroughs

The reader familiar with the previous installments of the Great War series, as well as other alternate history works of Dr. Turtledove, usually looks not for the new content in his work but for the continuation of the story. In a way, it's addictive, like waiting for the next episode of a soap opera to see what happens next. Turtledove remains true to himself in Breakthroughs: multiple story line, emotionally charged scenes on both sides of the trenches, sharp, if sometimes dark, wit, excellent incorporation of actual historical figures into the fictitious history - this and much more is present. But once you finish the last page and close the book, the feeling of foreboding will be hard to avoid; what will become of North America where the exhausted but bitter and vengeful United States, with the principles of democracy and equality providing a window dressing for the more and more German Empire-like administration, finally triumph over not only the Confederacy, but Canada, as well?

Personally, I thought this was another great Turtledove book. I love how he twists history into these alternate images, for they are the way things could have ended. I think Turteldove is a great writer and it's sad to see that everytime a good book like "Breakthroughs" comes out that people have to snipe at it and criticize it for not being perfect. Im no high-minded history professor who knows the shoe size of every soldier who fought in WWI, but I know enough to imagine that Turtledove knows his history as well as can be expected. That's the biggest thing in his books, imagination. All it takes is a little imagination and these stories really come alive, that's how I see it. "Breakthroughs" really moves too, it doesn't seem to bog down and has several twists in the plot to keep you reading all the way to the end. The characters are still numerous and several of them stand out in this novel, such as Jake Featherston, the disgruntled Confederate artilleryman and Irving Morell, a U.S. colonel who becomes a barrel commander and is my favorite character from the series, he's intelligent and I see him (as well as Featherston) becoming major players in the next story. It would be nice to see more information on the war as it happened in Europe, but I think that would sort of be like telling it how it really happened, since this is alternate history, it probably is better if the story is not so embroiled in the war in Europe. Imagining it happening in your backyard and directly effecting you... It adds a new flavor to the situation. (...

I was a little skepitcal when I read the first book in this series, 'American Front.' I felt it conatined far too many characters and situations that the overall story would get lost in the shuffle. This fear followed me into the next book, 'Walk in Hell.' Although 'Walk' was a lot better I was worried that Turtledove was missing out on some great ideas with regaurds to the way the European war progressed and also the political aspects of the war in the two Americas. But I am happy to say that the new book in the series, 'Breakthroughs,' addresses these aspects of the war in a wonderful and satisfying way. As the war continues, new tactics are employed that allow the U.S. to force her enemies to seek peace- but that's just the beginning of the troubles that lie ahead, troubles that both Yankees and Rebs simply aren't prepared for. In the north the U.S. must learn to integrate it's hard-won conquests into the union, in the south confederates stuggle to adjust to humiliation and defeat and turtledove even gives a character with disturbing parrellels to Adolf Hitler during his time in the trenches. Far and away the best of the series so far (excluding 'How Few Remain') this is a fun romp through what might have been. Turtldove is once again on top of his game!

First off I'd like to say that I've liked all of the Turtledove books that I've ever read and this one was just as good or better as all of his other books. I did have some problems with this book and the rest in the series. I always wanted to know what was happening in Europe so that I could see the difference between our world and this one. The only real glimpses we got were in the second book when Verdun fell to the Germans, which held out in our world, and when France and the UK threw in the towel. They mention that Germany created the Kingdom of Poland with land taken from the Russians and that Russia was in Revolution, but that was about it. As for the res though I really enjoyed this book. I found it very interesting the way Custer was very similar to George Patton in this book by wanting to mass his Barrels (Tanks) and some of his sayings were almost direct quotes of Patton. I was surprised at how easily Turtledove has killed some of his major charecters in all three of these books. I was glad to see some go but also sad to see others go. Of course I was cheering for the American-German alliance throughout these books. I think it was east to tell that they were winning the war by the end of the second book. I would have liked to have seen all of the CSA and Canada occupied by the USA and all of France by Imperial Germany but I was glad to see them win. I can see possibilities unfold in the future for the universe and that's part of the reason I enjoy Alternate History and especially Hary Turtledove. It can open your mind to speculating what could have happened. Overall I think this book was very enjoyable. I don't think it was as well written as the others and I was disapointed by how many charecters he killed, but that added to the suprise factor. I am eagerly awaiting the final book in this series as I am awaiting all of Turtledove's books.

The Great War series has been excellent, and this is undoubtedly the best so far! The pace of the action picks _way_ up, and doesn't slow down till the end. I haven't reviewed the previous two books, so I'll start with a few words about the series in general, for the benefit of those who haven't read them. It is set in the same world as Turtledove's earlier (and highly recommended) "How Few Remain". In this world, the Confederates won the battle of Antietam, and went on to secede from the Union with help from Britain and France. The first book ("The Great War: American Front") opens up in 1914 with the beginning of World War I. The war in Europe goes much as it did in real life, with Britain, France, and Russia squaring off against Germany and Austro-Hungary. At this point, however, things get more complicated. The CSA is quick to join the war on the side of its old friends, Britain and France. The US is equally quick to join the war on the side of its one European ally, Germany. The result is a bloody, grinding trench war along the US-Confederate and US-Canadian borders, accompanied by battles between the US and British Pacific fleets. Like the real WWI, the result is slow, gory, and not terribly decisive. It is tense and well told, but not much land changes hands.In "The Great War: Breakthroughs", this changes very quickly. What has long been a war of positions makes the slow but inexorable transformation into a war of mobility. Throughout the series, many new tactics and technologies have been introduced. In this volume, they really begin to pay off. The result is some of the fastest, most exciting military-SF action to be found this year. Airplanes drop increasingly deadly and accurate payloads of bombs, wreaking destruction on both civilian and military targets. The US and it's Latin American allies launch an assault against vital supply lines in the Pacific, hoping to starve Britain into submission. Confederate submarines struggle to break the US Navy through hit-and-run tactics. Artillerymen concoct increasingly nasty chemical weapons. General George Armstrong Custer, long thought useless, finally does some good with his innovative use of barrels (tanks). The result of all this: soldiers are no longer safe in their own trenches, and war will never be the same again. The viewpoint characters must learn to live with this rapidly changing world. As artillery shells fall on Washington, DC, Nellie Semphroch quickly learns that obnoxious men are no longer her biggest concern. Gordon McSweeney, solidly religious but thoroughly bloodthirsty, delivers the Fires of Heaven to the Confederate heathens through the barrel of a flamethrower. George Enos hunts Confederate subs from the deck of the USS Ericsson. Jake Featherston, a stalwart Southern nationalist, turns his battery of howitzers on any who would dare hinder the Confederate war effort. The end result: one whopper of