Connections. Some of my friends love to play the Kevin Bacon game. Not me. I just tend to live it.
Michael Dickson tells us that he is reading All Quiet on the Western Front, a classic anti-war novel about the horrors of World War One and the ensuing disintegration of German civilian life.
Ironically, I have been reading a novel about World War One, as well. But it could hardly be described as a classic. It is not even literature.
American Front is the first novel in Harry Turtledove's trilogy of the First World War. But it is an alternate history. He starts with the presumption that the Confederates won the Civil War. As a result, when World War One begins, the United States is allied with Germany and Austria; The Confederates are allied with the Mexican Empire, Canada, Britain, and France. You can see that odd configuration in the map at the top of this post.
I just finished the book. And I have ordered the other two books in the trilogy. However, I would not recommend them to others -- for several reasons. The first -- and most important -- is that they are not very good.
The writing suffers the same problem as the John Jakes historical novels, the Left Behind series, or anything written by Tom Clancy. The characters are merely tools to keep the story going. Whether the author kills them off or lets them live simply does not matter. There is no more emotional attachment to them than there would be to random cock roaches.
I will admit the story is well-developed. And the pages keep turning. Turtledove has an interesting unstated philosophy that even if circumstances change, history pretty much takes the course that is familiar to us.
So, how did I end up with this book on my reading table? Here are the connections.
Cruise ships have started visiting the port of Guaymas. Brenda and Roy have been keeping us posted on the new visitors. In my never-ending desire to stock up on more Trivial Pursuits ammunition, I researched points of interest for Guaymas. And I ran across this doozy: "In the alternate history novel How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove, the Confederate States of America acquire Guaymas together with the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, from an impoverished Mexican Empire. This is a causus belli that sparks the Second Mexican War between the United States and the CSA."
Whether or not I could win a trivia game with the answer, I knew I needed to read the book -- the very idea of the Mexican Empire surviving the first Maximilian fascinated me. My used book store did not have a copy of How Few Remain, but I found the first novel in the subsequent series, left $4 and a bit of my literary dignity behind, and became the proud owner of American Front.
Why do I relay all that -- if I have no intention of recommending the book? Easy. This post is not about the book. It is about the effect we have on one another -- especially through our blogs.
If I had not read Brenda and Roy's interesting post, I would not have read American Front, and I would not have started my hot tub discussion with Michael Dickson.
You know, I think this is just about the way World War One began.
Michael Dickson tells us that he is reading All Quiet on the Western Front, a classic anti-war novel about the horrors of World War One and the ensuing disintegration of German civilian life.
Ironically, I have been reading a novel about World War One, as well. But it could hardly be described as a classic. It is not even literature.
American Front is the first novel in Harry Turtledove's trilogy of the First World War. But it is an alternate history. He starts with the presumption that the Confederates won the Civil War. As a result, when World War One begins, the United States is allied with Germany and Austria; The Confederates are allied with the Mexican Empire, Canada, Britain, and France. You can see that odd configuration in the map at the top of this post.
I just finished the book. And I have ordered the other two books in the trilogy. However, I would not recommend them to others -- for several reasons. The first -- and most important -- is that they are not very good.
The writing suffers the same problem as the John Jakes historical novels, the Left Behind series, or anything written by Tom Clancy. The characters are merely tools to keep the story going. Whether the author kills them off or lets them live simply does not matter. There is no more emotional attachment to them than there would be to random cock roaches.
I will admit the story is well-developed. And the pages keep turning. Turtledove has an interesting unstated philosophy that even if circumstances change, history pretty much takes the course that is familiar to us.
So, how did I end up with this book on my reading table? Here are the connections.
Cruise ships have started visiting the port of Guaymas. Brenda and Roy have been keeping us posted on the new visitors. In my never-ending desire to stock up on more Trivial Pursuits ammunition, I researched points of interest for Guaymas. And I ran across this doozy: "In the alternate history novel How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove, the Confederate States of America acquire Guaymas together with the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, from an impoverished Mexican Empire. This is a causus belli that sparks the Second Mexican War between the United States and the CSA."
Whether or not I could win a trivia game with the answer, I knew I needed to read the book -- the very idea of the Mexican Empire surviving the first Maximilian fascinated me. My used book store did not have a copy of How Few Remain, but I found the first novel in the subsequent series, left $4 and a bit of my literary dignity behind, and became the proud owner of American Front.
Why do I relay all that -- if I have no intention of recommending the book? Easy. This post is not about the book. It is about the effect we have on one another -- especially through our blogs.
If I had not read Brenda and Roy's interesting post, I would not have read American Front, and I would not have started my hot tub discussion with Michael Dickson.
You know, I think this is just about the way World War One began.
