For over a decade, Harry Turtledove produced a volume in his "Southern Victory" alternate history series every summer like clockwork. In it, he explored the eighty years after a Civil War in which the South had won its independence, with his last volume, [b:In at the Death|101515|In at the Death (Settling Accounts, #4)|Harry Turtledove|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1171480216s/101515.jpg|97871], concluding with the Confederacy defeated and dissolved after their version of the Second World War. Having apparently tired of the series, Turtledove moved on to a different premise by taking the "Werewolf" resistance movement devised by the Nazis before the demise of the Third Reich and puts it in the hands of Reinhard Heydrich, whom is spared his assassination by Czech partisans during the war. Benefiting from better planning and more ruthless leadership, the Werewolves unleash a fearsome terrorist campaign against the Allied occupation forces. Soldiers are murdered and mutilated, truck bombs explode, and leading commanders targeted by rocket launcher-equipped fanatics. Having read Turtledove's earlier series I found his depiction of this similar to that in his earlier novels, when he envisioned disaffected Mormons becoming suicide bombers and conquered Confederates waging a diehard resistance against occupying U.S. forces. But whereas in the earlier novels these elements were only part of the storyline, here they assumed center stage and formed the basis of the action.

As I read this book, it soon became apparent to me that Turtledove drew much of his inspiration for the book from the then-ongoing American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, both in terms of the occupation and in the reaction to it on the home front. Much of it comes across as a metaphor that serves as commentary on modern-day events, one that is much less subtle than in earlier novels. Yet as I read this, I couldn't help but think how much more interesting his premise would have been in a new volume of his "Southern Victory" series, which ended in a place similar to where this novel begins. Perhaps he could not have done what he wanted as easily had he stuck with his earlier series, but this book suffers by comparison from the much more interesting world that he spent so many years assiduously developing. Because of this it seems a poor substitute for what he had entertained his fans with in the past, an abandonment of fruitful effort in order to make a heavy-handed point. ( )

Not bad, but somewhat predictable, since there wasn't much new that he could come up with that hasn't been done in Iraq. This is the story of what happened if one particular Nazi commander had not been assassinated, and instead became the head of a resistance movement after the war. ( )

An interesting "alternative" history of the end of WWII. However, I found the ending rather lame. TurtleDove seemed rushed to bring the book to an end, after building the main story scenario in detail. Is is that the author ran out of ideas, was forced by editors to end the project, or did some unschooled editor at Ballentine royaly botch the author's efforts?

Jag kan inte riktigt bestämma mig för om jag verkligen tycker om den här boken. Å ena sidan är Turtledove väl påläst och gestaltar livet i det ockuperade Tyskland direkt efter andra världskrigets slut på ett initierat och levande sätt. Å andra sidan är boken full av anakronismer, inte minst i författarens sätt att närma sig hur en mer effektiv nazistisk motståndsrörelse (än den som existerade fram till 1947) skulle ha agerat. Här lånar han i princip rakt av från 2000-talets terrororganisationer, med självmordsbombare, road-side bombs och till om med kapade flygplan som störtas i byggnader. Vad detta har med 1940-talet är svårt att veta och Turtledove lyckas inte övertygande motivera för hur motståndsmännen vänder sig till dem.
Utöver detta är boken slarvigt redigerad. Den upprepar ett antal scener med minimala variationer om och om igen i större delen av boken, vilket gör mittenpartiet (omkring 300 sidor) till riktigt långtråkig läsning.
Trots allt detta finns flera intressanta berättelser mitt i den större utvecklingen och jag kan inte låta bli att läsa boken till slut, ett slut som faktiskt är öppet, riktigt intressant och allt annat än såsigt. ( )

** spoiler alert **

The first book that I ever read by Harry Turtledove was Guns of the South, and I remember really enjoying it. I saw this book at the library while randomly browsing through the new releases, so I immediately picked it up. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be.

The premise is interesting enough - a viable German resistance after World War 2 has officially "ended," carried out by a still-living Reinhard Heydrich - but the execution left a lot to be desired. In reality, this is less of an alternate history novel and more a thinly-veiled commentary on the current Iraq war.

Apparently the reader is supposed to believe that the Second World War and the Iraq war are quite similar to one another, which is ridiculous. The big difference, of course, is that Germany declared war on the United States (which really gave us no option but to fight against them), while the United States invaded Iraq by choice. This changes the whole perspective - except in Harry Turtledove's world.

So, really, reading this was like reading the news headlines from a few years ago, except replace "Iraqis" with "German Freedom Fighters," "Reinhard Heydrich" with "Saddam Hussein," "Harry Truman" with "George W. Bush," and "Diana McGraw" with "Cindy Sheehan." Also, the Democrats are the "good" guys now (they want to "stay the course," even if it takes forty or fifty years to do it), while the Republicans are those pesky people who think bringing home the troops is a good idea.

Turtledove's bias was obvious throughout the story, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Ironically enough, Truman isn't portrayed in a particularly rosy light, so I wonder if Turtledove is a fan of Bush and his policies. Regardless, it's definitely clear that Turtledove does not support bringing the troops home any time soon.

Cindy Sheehan - oh, wait, I'm sorry, Diana McGraw - is a particularly troublesome character to me. Her son, Pat, was killed after victory was declared in Europe. Angered by his death, she begins protesting, eventually spearheading a national movement that ultimately results in America withdrawing from Europe. During this, she becomes something of a pop icon and rubs elbows with a lot of famous/powerful/rich people. This makes her grow increasingly unsatisfied with her "boring" life at home with her "boring" husband, so she has a one-night stand with a man whose last name she doesn't even remember. I'm not sure if it was intentional (although I would be surprised if it WASN'T intentional), I got the distinct impression that the moral of that story was that the little woman should have stayed at home where she belonged. If only she hadn't decided to go out into the world, instead of staying in the kitchen, she never would have become dissatisfied with her life and an adulteress. It really left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Turtledove's constant harping on rape (both violent and non-violent but coercive) was also troubling to me. Yes, I am quite aware that there was an epidemic of rape after Germany was invaded, especially as carried out by the Russians. However, that doesn't mean that I want to read about it every twenty or so pages.

As for most of the others who appear in the book, there's little character development. You're introduced to dozens of characters whose only purpose is to die, which just doesn't make me feel connected to them, or their stories, at all.

I had to force myself to finish this book, and I was left greatly disappointed with it after finishing it. Maybe if I reread Guns of the South I wouldn't be so impressed with it (it's been several years since I read it), but I was expecting a much better story than what I got. And, as someone who has never supported invading Iraq, I found myself grinding my teeth regularly. I got the distinct impression that Mr. Turtledove thinks that people like me are idiots (those like me in the book were certainly portrayed in a less than favorable light), and that really soured the novel for me even more. I'll definitely think twice before picking up another book by him. ( )