Rating:  Summary: It Was Always Going To Happen.. Review: Before reviewing this edition I would like to say that it was the immediate companion "Walk In Hell" that I read first so I have treated "How Few Remain" and this masterpiece "American Front" first of the Great War trilogy as prequils.This edition locked into place the start of the Great War and the link to the Second Mexican war. In reality Harry Turtledove should have placed a bridging novel between "How Few Remain" and this one to cover the years 1882 - 1913 with a little more depth. It would have been nice to see how the Confederacy coped with freeing the slaves, the rise of Teddy Roosevelt and the San Fransisco earthquake. As with How Few Remain we are given the reason for the global situation the Turtledove world is in at present(sic). A reminder that the USA's hand was forced into submission by Great Britan and France. Now the USA has entered the European war thus making it a global conflict, on the side of Germany, with revenge against those that weakened it. The CSA, France, Great Britan and Canada. Faces from How Few Remain show up but as time has moved on they have become older and in some cases, none the wiser. Roosevelt is a tough hard hitting president and his most senior General, Custor, a bombastic and defiant old man. The two strong personalities enevitable collide after years of resentment... New Characters make an appearance and some faces will become all too familiar over the next twenty or so years. It is the first time that the CSA slave/labor issue finally gets a conclusion that leads to bloodshed and anarchy that will start to derail the CSA. Once again watch the map, it's going to change. The variation on Utah "Beehive Nation" is good but I found it unbelievable that one of reality's most loyal member states of the USA is given such a hard time in this edition as it had in the previous. However we are introduced to one of the conflicts more colorful characters - Gordon McSweeny. We are introduced to a gunnery saregent fighting for the CSA, Jake Featherston, a US fisherman called George Enos, a CSA steel worker named Jefferson Pinkard, a CSA submarianer Cpt Kincad, a US pilot Moss fighting in the cold skies of Canada. Once again a strong female cast is repersented and they all come to the fore including the most formidible of all, Anne Collerton...watch this space! Lots more faces inside including to totally different Canadian Families and the variations on their lives which have to suffer the rigours of war and a suprise outcome. A free flowing and exciting storyline that ends on a high. Five Stars*****
Rating:  Summary: Disapointing Review: I really tried to get into this book, but gave up after about 200 pages of jumping around from one underdeveloped character to another. The problem is that there are many potentially excellent characters, whom I would have loved to read more about. By the time one character sparked my interest though, the book jumped to another location, with a new character to become aquainted with. I like the concept of the series and would like to see read more stories like this, but instead of having to keep up with so many characters in one novel, why not just spread them out into seperate novels alltogether?...
Rating:  Summary: Great!!! Review: This is great alternate history. The scenario is so believeable that I had to remind myself that Germany was not allied with the USA during WW I and that the CSA lost the War Against Yankee Arrogance. The charachters are all interesting. If you like alternate history or war novels, I would highly recommend this book, its prequel How Few Remain, its sequels, and the American Empire Trilogy, which is the continuation of the series.
Rating:  Summary: A good read Review: You must understand that when you read this book, you have to be engaged not only in the characters but the whole scheme of things in this version of WWI. Red Fear, the oppresion of blacks in the south, and the world struggling with a new type of warfare play prominent roles in this book. I commend Turtledove for his treatment of these topics. This is how things could have been. However, he doesn't quite give the reader full characters to root for or against. They come off a bit flat and a bit stereotypical. However, they fulfill their roles well. This is a must read in my mind, and I hope that you can suspend disbelief just long enough to think about what could have been.
Rating:  Summary: An epic that Homer would lose his voice telling Review: I liked the book because of the historic coincidences that the book presents to the reader. One thing that was irritating was that there were 20 different plot lines and goes in 50 directions but an excellent read for a person who is a persistant reader
Rating:  Summary: Turtledove does it again. Review: Harry Turtledove is the world's best Alternative History author. This book is stuning both in terms of character development and the portrial of an alternative history of WWI. It is a continuation of the series where in an alternative history the Confederacy was able to break away form the USA. Here is the 3rd war between the states, with the USA allied with Germany fighting Canada and the Confederacy allied with England, France and Russia. Japan is taking advantage of this extended world war by doing its own expansionist program. This book feels like it was based on actual writings from the front. A great work.
Rating:  Summary: Just a war story Review: Turtledove has written some good stuff (Guns of the South, How Few Remain), but this is just a war story about a war that never was, for the most part. What makes alternate history special for me is the chance to understand real history better, and what might have been had things turned out differently. Despite the title and hype, there isn't much of that here. Instead, Turtledove follows a bunch of fairly ordinary folks through long and not particularly compelling narratives. Very disappointing, but then The Two Georges, another letdown, should have warned me. Turtledove has skill at characterization and can write a crackerjack book when he wants to, but it seems that now he is just riding the crest of popularity and churning them out. Be warned, folks, and give this one a pass. You want good alternate history?: Ward Moore, Bring the Jubilee H. Beam Piper, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen Robert Harris, Fatherland
Rating:  Summary: A warning Review: OK, this isn't a review so much as a warning, and it'll probably get lost among 100+ reviews, but just be aware what you're getting yourself into. This was originally going to be a four-book series but now it's SIX (two trilogies, not counting the somewhat interrelated HOW FEW REMAIN prequel). Browse the reviews for the third and fourth (when it's out) books in the series and see if you still think it's worth your time. Like many HT series, THE GREAT WAR gets off to a great start and then quickly turns tedious and repetitive. I gave up after three books; I have better things to do with my life than slog through this stuff.
Rating:  Summary: A Different World Indeed Review: Turtledove's world is vivid, the people interesting and varied, and the results are surprising. I am always ready for the next installment, interested in what will happen next.
Rating:  Summary: A day that will live in infamy, remember Hawii ! Review: I really enjoyed this book. I found Tutledoves' treatment of the battlefields of North America to be evocative of acounts I have read of the BEF fighting on the Werstern Front in France 1914-18. Seeing it transposed to a new frontier set me thinking about who the ultimate victors of this conflict will be. Startegy and tactics for both sides seem to be portrayed realistically, neither side is needlessly vilified (except in the other sides' propaganda). I have to say that sadly I think that Britain will loose Canada, but we can make the Yanks pay a steep price for it! The Characters are a little numerous, but I still found them Engaging. It would have been nice to see the war through the eyes of some British, Canadian or Japanese combatants, to get an outsiders perpective on this theatre. But I can live with the current cast.
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