[rate 3.5]
Written by Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George
Thought I knew all the Stephenson books, but somehow this and its followup (Interface) slipped past me for almost 10 years. This was originally out 1996, but was reprinted in paperback in 2005. I found it about 3 weeks ago and grabbed it. (more…)
[rate 3.0]
I finished The Truth this morning and told my wife she could read it now. The first thing she said was “I didn’t hear you laughing.” To be honest, there isn’t much to laugh about.
Oh sure, there are jokes in there, but far fewer than his previous books Lies and Rugh Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot.
But really, how can you laugh about an administration that has screwed things up this badly? How can you laugh about a member of congress supporting an organization that tricks girls into moving to Saipan, working in sweatshops or as sex slaves, forces them to have abortions if they get pregnant, all so you can put a “made in the USA” sticker on it and sell it at Wal-Mart? How can you laugh about a prominent religious figure first saying that indian gaming is bad, then turn around and say it’s good?
I don’t have the chance to listen to Air America as much as I like (see my article about Sirius for why I don’t listen to much terrestrial radio anymore). This book condenses a lot of the problems we’ve seen and how Bush was able to beat Kerry in the 2004 election. A lot of these things that regular listeners of “The Al Franken Show” would already know, but you can get it in three hours of reading instead of three hours a day over a few months. And no commercials.
It also takes a step away from what we’ve normally seen in politics. The “Us vs. Them” mentality that drives a lot of the fringes on both sides. Neither side has the absolute truth, and anyone claiming otherwise is a liar. There are good Republicans along with bad Democrats. Included is a great excerpt from Sen. Barak Obama’s keynote address to the DNC in 2004. He’s right.
[rate 4.0]
This book is a continuation of the American Empire novels, which is a continuation of The Great War novels, which goes back even further. Depending on how you count, this book is either the 7th or 8th in the series (How Few Remain can be considered the beginning of this series).
The year is about 1940. The Confederate States of America (CSA) successfully broke away from the US back in the 1860s and have had numerous wars with the US in the meantime. In a lot of ways, imagine that World War 1 took place with the US as the central theater instead of Europe. Same with this, only it’s now what we would consider World War 2. I don’t have a great history of World War 1 or 2, but you can see a lot of similarities. The CSA (Germany) had their economy destroyed as a result of the cease fire by their stronger opponents (the rest of Europe). A charismatic Jake Featherson (Adolf Hitler) tells the population that their ills are caused by the terms of the previous war and he’s not going to take it anymore.
The world Turtledove has created shows how small changes in history can have larger impacts later on. FDR makes an appearance as an assistance secretary of war, his chances of being US President ruined once word of his Polio was known. MacArthur and Patton are tank commanders facing off outside Richmond VA. Quebec is an independent state and the remainder of Canada has been occupied by US and Quebecois forces for some 30 years. Mormons in Utah have decided they wanted independence as well, even though their state is surrounded by the US. They have waged a guerrilla war with funding by the CSA.
As usual, Turtledove shows the world through the eyes of not one, not two, but close to 20 different people from all over the map. Since his story has gone on for almost 80 years, older generations die off of old age or war and the story picks up with their offspring. The scenes change rapidly between people, so it’s sometimes hard to (say) follow the explits of Sam Carsten rounding Cape Horn then immediately switch to Jefferson Pinkard running a ‘camp’ and wondering how to ‘reduce the population’ of its inmates.
If you’re interested in alternate history, I’d recommend one of Turtledove’s first books in the genre: Guns Of the South. It’s alternative history with a touch of sci-fi to it.