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War Plan Crimson

War Plan CrimsonWar Plan Crimson by Michael Cnudde
Published by Smashwords Edition on 21 June 2011
Genres: Type I - Hard
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
four-stars

Premise - Point of Divergence (POD)

In November 1934 Major General Smedley Darlinton Butler USMC was to sit down in front of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and expose those intending to overthrow the government. In 'War Plan Crimson' he never made it as the day before he was due to testify he was killed in an 'accident' that involved a very large truck.

The Story

We were lucky.

In our history, Franklin Roosevelt quietly and easily suppressed the 1933 Business Plot, a little-known attempt by a group of Wall Street barons and power brokers to overthrow and replace him with a homeland fascist government.

What if we weren't lucky?

What it the coup plotters had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams and placed a homegrown Hitler in the White House? By using hitherto top military secret documents and historical research, author Michael Cnudde tells the story of The War That Almost Was.

The Review

I enjoyed this book immensely. It comes across as being solidly grounded in the history of the time, and shows just how thin the veneer of civilisation can be.

The author’s mixing of historical and fictional characters is well balanced, something that he shares with Harry Turtledove. I particularly liked the portrayal of Erwin Rommel and the role he plays in the story (as well as Rommel’s eventual reward). While many of the characters don’t survive the chaos that follows the coup, the balance between those that don’t and those who do is nicely achieved. And importantly, given how nasty the baddies are, they all end up getting their come-uppances!

Michael is telling a big story from a large number of view points, fortunately he has the knack of being able to quickly introduce a character, and to successfully build a bond between that character and the reader. In some cases this is by reinforcing the views already formed about historical characters, but more often he is introducing someone who is simply in the wrong place in the wrong time. And in this respect, I believe Michael’s ability to create characters for whom the reader cares is superior to that Harry Turtledove. 

Along these lines the death of J Edgar Hoover gave me a totally different view of the man. Talk about going out with all guns blazing!

four-stars

Her Majesty’s American

Her Majesty’s AmericanHer Majesty's American by Steve White
Published by Baen on 4 September 2018
Genres: Type III - Soft
Pages: 240
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
one-star

Premise – Point of Divergence (POD)

1689 - William III and Queen Mary of England unexpectedly produce a male heir (Maurice I)
1775 - First American Revolution
1778 - A reapprochement is reached between the English Crown and the rebels.

The Story

In an alternate future where the British empire never crumbled, the space ships of Her Majesty’s Navy work to keep the spaceways safe. Commander Robert Rogers of the Royal Space Navy is a defense intelligence officer known for his unconventional ways. Rogers is American born-and-raised, a loyal citizen of the Viceroyalty of North America. He’s a descendant of the founder of the highly effective, pro-British Rogers’ Rangers during the Colonial unpleasantries of 1776, and he’s inherited his ancestor’s intelligence and drive in spades.

But there are those among the stars who are not so happy being subjects of the British Empire. In the Tau Ceti system, a cauldron of trouble brews as a terrorist faction of the rebellious Sons of Arnold attacks the empire from within, and warships of the theocratic Caliphate enters the system, prepared to do their worse to destroy the hated empire head on. Yet standing against the coming anarchy and tyranny is one intrepid spy prepared to risk all for queen and empire.

The Review

I bought the book based on the fact that it was billed as an all-new alternate history science fiction from <i>New York Times </i>best-selling author Steve White. Great, I thought, a book from someone who knows how to write – how wrong I was!

Steve White has written this book, while demonstrating all the skills of a first time author, and this is not a good thing. The characters are flat, the chief two villains particularly. But so too is Grey, the female double agent who eventually wins Rogers’ heart (Rogers being the book’s hero). Of course she’s pretty, and naive, but there is never any explanation why she is so stupid.

And Grey is not the only stupid one. Rogers is one of the Royal Navies top investigators and yet he fails to keep his contact at the embassy of his discoveries, and then he gets captured twice. The information he has is both vital, and time critical to the security of the Empire. I mean,seriously, he gets hit by a sonic stunner, and thinks “Idiot!”, then pretty much does the same thing all over again later! Personally, the only hope I have is that he is seriously reamed out on his return, unfortunately I suspect he’ll get away with it as a result of his embellishments/lies in his reports.

But getting back to Mr White’s elementary writing mistakes: he actually uses the phrase “As you undoubtedly know,” when he has one character (De Graeff) launching into providing some back story to Rogers. This is lazy writing, and even lazier editing — if Rogers already knows, why should De Graeff have to waste time telling him.

Perhaps Mr White was so impressed with his own cleverness and the back-history he had created, that he failed to remember that he still had to tell a good story. Frankly, I have no idea what book the reviewers from <i>Booklist</i> and  <i>Publishers Weekly</i>) (the reviews quoted on the Amazon site) were reading but it certainly wasn’t the same one I’m reviewing.

I will admit that my opinion may have been skewed as I had just finished reading Corner-Bryant and Price’s On Editing, so unless you’re in the mood for flat characters, stupid heroes, and a writer who seems to have ditched whatever writing ability they had before starting this book give this one a miss. Having said that, I did actually finish the book, so it does get one star, rather than than the 1/2 it might otherwise demand.

one-star

Gunpowder Empire

Gunpowder EmpireGunpowder Empire by Harry Turtledove
Series: Crosstime Traffic #1
on 2003
Genres: Type III - Soft
Pages: 286
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Buy on Amazon
three-stars

Premise – Point of Divergence (POD)

Homeline: The discovery by Galbraith and Hester in the 2040's on the home timeline of the alternatives allows the creation of 'Crosstime Traffic'. Traffic is undertaken via capsules.

Agrippan Rome: General Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa did not die until much later and thus oversaw the conquest of Germania. Agrippa later succeeded Augustus as emperor, and laid the foundation for a more stable and longer-lived empire.

The Story

Jeremy Solter is a teenager growing up in the late 21st century. During the school year, his family lives in Southern California - but during the summer the whole family lives and works in the city of Polisso, on the frontier of the Roman Empire. Not the Roman Empire that fell centuries ago, but a Roman Empire that never fell.

For we now have the technology to move between the timelines, and to exploit the untapped resources of those timelines that are hospitable to human life. So we send traders and business people - but as whole-family groups in order to keep the secret of Crosstime Traffic to ourselves.

But when Jeremy's parents duck back home for emergency medical treatment, the gateways stop working. So do all the communications links. Jeremy and his sister are on their own. Polisso is suddenly under siege, and there's only so much you can do when cannonballs are crashing through your roof ...

The Review

Obviously this was developed as a primer and a way of introducing young adults to the Alternate History genre. As a result there is a lot of info dumping as the young reader is introduced, whether they like it or not, to the concept of alternate histories.

I enjoyed the book, but there certainly wasn’t much depth to the characters, and I don’t think Turtledove was able to realistically portray the young brother and sister who were the hero’s of the book.

Turtledove’s strengths have never been his characters, and in this book  restricted by length and a fairly generic back-story he can’t play to his strengths, nor can he play around with history. As a result I think it stumbles as an introduction to the genre.

three-stars