Harry Turtledove

[Starr Polish]

Anyone else a fan of his?

I'll admit, I haven't read a whole lot by him, but I'm in the process! I was actually introduced to him through my father, who is a huge fan. I was bored one weekend while at his house, and picked up a book of short stories by Mr. Turtledove, and instantly hooked. He writes mostly alternate history, but some of the stories weren't exactly of that genre, I suppose. I especially like the one about the rabbi eating pork from a pig that chews cud and the one about a history studying, time traveling student who makes a mistake in his travels.

[olsonm]

I haven't read many of his works. I've read How Few Remain and am thinking of going on to his alternate WWI series. I think he's good.

[markedel]

I own worldwar colonization and the great war series, and darkness, I own a short story collection of his, have read a different flesh, and between the rivers. His works are the only ones I actually buy religiously. I make sure to buy the sequels as soon as they come out. I am totally hooked it's depressing. But one must admit the first reading of The Center Cannot Hold gave me chills and he's built good characters. And anyone who pulled off the race can't be bad.

How Few Remain is superior to the first book of the series, its strength lies in its gritty details, and the characters who develop over time. By now the series has reached 1934 so many of the young characters are now sober adults with kids. And then there's Jake Featherston...

I think his best series is worldwar, followed by darkness. In terms of originality worldwar is the best. Many fans claim his videssos series are the best of the lot, but I've never read them, except for a few short stories, both of which were fascinating. If you're into Alternate History and want something different from him you could look into S.M Stirling who's Draka series is excellent (if not rigorous AH, and it's not for the squeamish). You could also The man in the high castle which is a great work of Alternate history.

[webwizard333]

I found his books a couple of monthes ago, but have only read the first two of the WWII series so far. They do raise a lot of interesting ideas, though I have a little difficulty getting into them.

[galadriel88]

He sounds very interesting, what do you reccomend as the best alternate history novel of his to start off with? I'd like to read some of his works.

[Ben]

Turtledove's books were next to Tolkien's in the fantasy section and always looked interesting. I finally decided to pick up "The Guns of the South" last year and loved it. I also read the Worldwar series. I have "How Few Remain" but haven't had a chance to finish it yet.

I like the meticulous detail - even though the situations are outlandish, everything seems plausible and historically accurate.

[markedel]

How Few Remain is an excellent book (in many ways far superior to his series books). If you're into his alternate history read worldwar-it's better then great war is. Both are good though. He wrote some straight fanatsy stuff-Videssos, Between the Rivers and the Case of the Toxic Spell Dump if you're not into the history. He also wrote some short stories that won Hugos and Nebulas-some of which I can't find. And he also wrote a "historical fantasy series" called Darkness which feels a lot like the wwi series-it's a fanstasy WWII. I like that one a lot. Finally if you want some historical fiction about the byzantine empire (he has a phd in it) he writes some under the pseudonym Turtletaub.

Yes I read way too much of his stuff. As addictive as lime cured ginger when you're in heat.

[BeardofPants]

Hmm. I'll have to check some of his stuff out. I really enjoyed P K Dicks The Man in the High Castle; is Turtledove's stuff very similar to Dicks stuff?

[markedel]

No. Dick's work is on a much higher level, but Turtledove's alternate history can be very interesting, in that it is based on plausible scenarios, but his writng quality can be uneven, and sometimes his editor has gotten sloppy. I'm hooked but for a small toss of his best stuff read Guns of the South or How Few Remain. For some excellent Alternative History you can check out the Draka series by S.M Stirling-very very fascinating but not for the squeamish. It features some very graphic violence and sex. There's also the quasi-AH Island in the Sea of Time series, also by Stirling. Very interesting though the quality of the trilogy drops as it progresses. The first one is a real gem. You can read the classic Bring the Jubilee another excellent one.

Of course since this stuff (esepcially Turtledove) reads like standard historical fiction, you can read the excellent Guy Gavriel Kay who writes fantasy books that are essentially historical fictions with a moderately fantastic background. They are excellent all around, especially Tigana and the Lions of Al-Rassan. Sailing to Sarentium isn't bad either.

So there you go three excellent authors-Turtledove. Stirling and Kay. Kay is actually the best of the lot, but the only author who make sure to faithfully patronise is turtledove-every 6 months I shell out 40 bucks for a hardcover and then read the books a dozen times each. What can i say?