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Forum General Harry Turtledove (Fearless Blue)

Harry Turtledove (Fearless Blue)

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Maestro2000 (Fearless Blue)

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 00:28Link
Anyone read any of his books?
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Serpent

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 04:27Link
Sounds kinky.
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Lorelei (Little Upsilon)

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 06:13Link
Never heard of this author.... is it of the romantic genre?
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Billy_Bob_Joe_Bob_Steve (Kebir Blue)

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 09:45Link
Looked him up on wikipedia (yay for wikipedia!). He wrotes historical fiction. Explains why no one here has heard of him.
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NiAi

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 09:46Link
Alter-history genre. Im thinking of picking up some of his books for some light summer reading.

Maestro, where do you recommend me to start?
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Scarlet

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 10:07Link
How Few Remain

American Front
Walk in Hell
Breakthroughs

Blood and Iron
The Center Cannot Hold
The Victorious Opposition

Return Engagement
Drive to the East
The Grapple
In at the Death

Longest continuous storyline I ever read, haha.
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Maestro2000

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 15:18Link
I haven't seen any new titles out lately.

He's done a number of alternate history books.

If you enjoy American Civil war books then try : The Guns of the South. This one gives the war an alternate ending.

I've read a dozen of his books. Some alternate history some just fantasy.
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Maestro2000

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 15:26Link
A fun read was his "Worldwar" series. In the middle of World War 2, aliens invade earth. I read all from this series. (8 books)
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Open Sesame (Little Upsilon)

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 15:37Link
I've read him before and to me, he comes off as a little bit racist. He writes countless books and stories where:

1) Nazi Germany conquers the British Empire and proves to be most effective at stopping India's independence.

2) The South wins the civil war and so racism and slavery still exist.

3) The United States is never founded and so:
a) Most states remain pro-slavery
b) Except for Mississippi, which is now a black-separatist state.

4) A nuclear war occurs during the sixties and so nearly everyone has a generally nasty attitude towards black people.

In all cases, characters are prejudiced against African-Americans, characters use racial slurs and the setting and plot feature racism prominently and sometimes glorify it. 'Negro' occurs, I think, 12 times in the Westside-Valley War. The narrator justifies and rationalizes racism in The Disunited States
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Maestro2000 (Kebir Blue)

All worlds
23 Apr 2011 20:09Link
Maybe there is some racism in some of his books, but there is racism in the world. Sometimes reality sucks and an alternative reality can really suck for a certain group of people.

Another good alt history writer...John Stirling. Did a three book series on the island of Nantucket being pushed back over 2,000 years.
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Lorelei (Fearless Blue)

All worlds
24 Apr 2011 08:31Link
Wow! You are very well read, Open Sesame, for a 14-yr-old. I'm impressed! lol
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Open Sesame (Little Upsilon)

All worlds
24 Apr 2011 16:47Link
"Maybe there is some racism in some of his books, but there is racism in the world. Sometimes reality sucks and an alternative reality can really suck for a certain group of people. "

Good point.

"You're very ... for a ..."

Seems to be the typical format for a left-handed compliment. Thanks anyway.
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Tristan The Great (Golden Rainbow)

All worlds
25 Apr 2011 13:31Link
Keep in mind, the time period that at least the first few books of the "How Few Remain" series takes place in a time when racism was alive and well, and the norm for the majority of the world.

The writer shows various characters as smart, capable and clever, regardless of their color or ethnicitiy. This tends to counter the cry of racism, in my opinion.

That being said, while I enjoy his writing, it tends to be a bit repetitive. And his usage of stock phrasing gets be a tad heavy handed... yes, we know he's a fair skinned redhead, yes we know he's gonna put zinc on his nose, yes, we get that he would prefer to be in a cooler cloudier clime... is it necessary to mention it every time the character is active? :)

Stirling has the same issue, imo. He has a handful of stock characters (the wise and bad ass foreigner, the tough kick ass