Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a huge, unabashed, completely biased, 100% rabid Harry Turtledove fan.
Example of my fandom: My friend Steven started on book 9 of a 13 book series. I started on book 1.
Guess who finished first?
Me! And these weren't short books. There's easily 7,000 PAGES of stuff...probably more.
So, has anyone else read anything by him? If not, then I'll explain.
Harry has a very definite style.
Creative idea that's executed with great believability. Lotsa characters that are sympathetic (or not) and interesting.
Here's an example of what I mean.
His Worldwar Series (four books long) is an absurdly silly concept. I mean, its hard to describe it with a straight face. Here I go: Aliens invade in the middle of World War II.
But its done with a great care to detail, both historically, scientifically and logically. The aliens are believable and consistent and the resulting mashup is as chilling as it is exciting. And the characters are all interesting and cool and, most importantly, LIKABLE!
Which is a rather astounding feat seeing as how there are...at least 20 of them. That is, 20 view point characters. Each with their own 'mini-cast' around them. And they connect and cross in believable and awesome ways. Though, this being a war story, not all of them make it to "The End"...in fact, some die in shockingly pointless ways.
I'm still sore about him killing a character that will go nameless. Survives two major battles, four years of occupation, twenty years of uneasy peace then dies from an infected wound caused by a knife chopping chicken. Blegh.
Now this is not to say that his books are perfect. They're not. I can name quite a few problems that reoccur again and again in his stuff.
Problem 1) Samy battles. Most of the time, his battles are exciting and realistic...but...they do get a bit samy after a while.
Problem 2) A wee bit preachy. He does a great job of having racist characters, non-racist characters, hateful characters, nice characters, downright scary characters...but occasionally, his own bias will slip in despite their leanings, in tiny little asides that always struck me as odd. They're not quite annoying, cause his characters never notice them...but they're still...odd.
Problem 3) Lick em'. No matter what universe, what time frame, or what ethnicity, at least ONE guy in ONE scene will say, right after war has been declared, "Don't worry, we'll lick em'." Americans fighting reptilian aliens outside of Chicago. One plucky Sergent will mutter, "We'll keep fighting till we lick em'." Post apocalyptic L.A tribsemen decide to invade those uppity Westside folks. "We'll lick em'." GAH!
Problem 4) Depressing. Don't read these books if you don't want to be a bit depressed. Most of the characters probably won't make it through the story happy...or alive.
Problem 5) Not all the characters are likable. Most of them are, but some you just want to hurry up and stop a bullet with their face. I really don't know how he made a mother of one and loving wife so unlikable that I cheered her execution by firing squad, but he did. Oh right, he made her bitter, angry and unable to notice she had managed to get a good life, then screw it all up by ruining someone else's. That was how.
Other than that, if you can get into his books, they're ripping good fun. A good place to start would be his "Worldwar" series or his recently wrapped up "Southern Supremacy' books, which are a whopping 13 books long and cover a period of 40 years of alternate history.
Fun times.
PS: Funny story. I've been reading so many of his books that all the characters are starting to blur together, leading to some *really* weird crossovers in my mind. Like, what if Ealistan met Jonathan Moss.
God I need to get to sleep. Too bad its five in the morning. DAMN YOU INSOMNIA!
Example of my fandom: My friend Steven started on book 9 of a 13 book series. I started on book 1.
Guess who finished first?
Me! And these weren't short books. There's easily 7,000 PAGES of stuff...probably more.
So, has anyone else read anything by him? If not, then I'll explain.
Harry has a very definite style.
Creative idea that's executed with great believability. Lotsa characters that are sympathetic (or not) and interesting.
Here's an example of what I mean.
His Worldwar Series (four books long) is an absurdly silly concept. I mean, its hard to describe it with a straight face. Here I go: Aliens invade in the middle of World War II.
But its done with a great care to detail, both historically, scientifically and logically. The aliens are believable and consistent and the resulting mashup is as chilling as it is exciting. And the characters are all interesting and cool and, most importantly, LIKABLE!
Which is a rather astounding feat seeing as how there are...at least 20 of them. That is, 20 view point characters. Each with their own 'mini-cast' around them. And they connect and cross in believable and awesome ways. Though, this being a war story, not all of them make it to "The End"...in fact, some die in shockingly pointless ways.
I'm still sore about him killing a character that will go nameless. Survives two major battles, four years of occupation, twenty years of uneasy peace then dies from an infected wound caused by a knife chopping chicken. Blegh.
Now this is not to say that his books are perfect. They're not. I can name quite a few problems that reoccur again and again in his stuff.
Problem 1) Samy battles. Most of the time, his battles are exciting and realistic...but...they do get a bit samy after a while.
Problem 2) A wee bit preachy. He does a great job of having racist characters, non-racist characters, hateful characters, nice characters, downright scary characters...but occasionally, his own bias will slip in despite their leanings, in tiny little asides that always struck me as odd. They're not quite annoying, cause his characters never notice them...but they're still...odd.
Problem 3) Lick em'. No matter what universe, what time frame, or what ethnicity, at least ONE guy in ONE scene will say, right after war has been declared, "Don't worry, we'll lick em'." Americans fighting reptilian aliens outside of Chicago. One plucky Sergent will mutter, "We'll keep fighting till we lick em'." Post apocalyptic L.A tribsemen decide to invade those uppity Westside folks. "We'll lick em'." GAH!
Problem 4) Depressing. Don't read these books if you don't want to be a bit depressed. Most of the characters probably won't make it through the story happy...or alive.
Problem 5) Not all the characters are likable. Most of them are, but some you just want to hurry up and stop a bullet with their face. I really don't know how he made a mother of one and loving wife so unlikable that I cheered her execution by firing squad, but he did. Oh right, he made her bitter, angry and unable to notice she had managed to get a good life, then screw it all up by ruining someone else's. That was how.
Other than that, if you can get into his books, they're ripping good fun. A good place to start would be his "Worldwar" series or his recently wrapped up "Southern Supremacy' books, which are a whopping 13 books long and cover a period of 40 years of alternate history.
Fun times.
PS: Funny story. I've been reading so many of his books that all the characters are starting to blur together, leading to some *really* weird crossovers in my mind. Like, what if Ealistan met Jonathan Moss.
God I need to get to sleep. Too bad its five in the morning. DAMN YOU INSOMNIA!
