How to use this Page

What if the draft had been extended to young women in WWII as well as men? That’s the premise of Michael Grant’s new book, Front Lines, and that’s pretty much all I needed to know before making grabby hands at it at NCTE this year. I saw the cover, saw the tagline – “she’s fighting for her country” – and was like, oh yes, I shall be reading you, book. I mean, I will read alternate histories any day of the week and if they’re alternate histories that focus on women’s experiences, then hell yes, I’m there. And as far as that goes, Front Lines did not disappoint! So Front Lines follows three young women – Rio, Frangie, and Rainy – as they enlist in the army and are shipped overseas. They have different motivations: Rio, a white girl from California, wants to do her part (but is also talked into it... Read more »

The post Front Lines: Review appeared first on The Midnight Garden.

Add a Comment

The Only Thing To Fear. Caroline Tung Richmond. 2014. Scholastic. 288 pages. [Source: Review copy]

What if the Nazis had won the war? The Only Thing To Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond is set in an alternate universe where this is so. It is set in the future, eighty years after the Nazis win the war. Zara St. James is our sixteen year old heroine. She is a bit unusual. And not just because the Nazis are so strict as to what is normal and abnormal. There are a couple of premises in the book: 1) Germany and Japan were successful in creating super-soldiers, genetically enhanced superior soldiers giving them the military advantage. 2) Russia, or the Soviets, never joined the war against the Nazis. I share these details because it is important to be grounded in this imagined reality or future. Both facts are important not only in understanding the past--as created by the author--but the future as well.

Though the eastern states have been under Nazi rule for almost eight decades, there are plenty of Americans still angry enough to fight and rebel. Zara's uncle Redmond leads the local Alliance. Zara whines for almost the entire book on how it is so completely unfair that she's not allowed to join yet. Zara is the only family Uncle Red has left. He's lost almost everyone he's ever cared about. Plenty of people have lost loved ones to the Nazis. Zara refuses to accept that that is just the way things are. She demands justice. Not clinging to future justice when the Alliance gains strength and numbers, but a RIGHT NOW justice even though all the odds are against them.

So Zara's rebellion is strengthened by her odd gifts. To say more would be to spoil the book. To say less would give you the wrong impression of the book. This book is DEFINITELY speculative fiction and not just because it's set in an alternate future. Zara has a unique advantage over most people--an unnatural advantage. I almost wish that it hadn't gone that direction. I wasn't looking for that kind of read.

Romance. What would a YA read be without a little romance?!

The Only Thing To Fear was a quick read. I liked it just fine. I didn't love it.


© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Add a Comment

The Boleyn King. Laura Andersen. 2013. Ballantine. 358 pages. [Source: Library]

Alternate history. What if Anne Boleyn had given Henry VIII the son he so desperately wanted and needed? What if she survived her husband instead of being beheaded? What if Henry VIII had only had TWO wives? What if Elizabeth and her younger brother grew up with both parents, relatively happy? King William is that son. His father has died, and, he though under the age of 18, has been England's king. He faces challenges, every king does, and those challenges are what The Boleyn King is all about. The book has four narrators: William and Elizabeth (royal siblings) and Minuette and Dominic (close and trusted friends of both William and Elizabeth). Minuette seems to be the type of heroine that no male character can resist. Elizabeth somewhat secretly is in love with a married man, no surprises as to who that is. William is being pressured to marry well. Will his choice be a) Mary, Queen of Scots b) Jane Grey c) a French princess d) someone of his own choice that will upset his advisers and the court just as much as his father's decision to marry Anne Boleyn. This is the start of a trilogy...

The good news: It's a quick read. I read it in one day. It is also a premise-driven book. For readers who find the premise intriguing, this one is worth the read. Especially if one can get it from the library. Just in case. I liked seeing which characters avoided death and disaster. I don't know if these characters will continue to have happily ever afters, of, if they'll find themselves in troubles of a different sort. But. It was an interesting enough read.

The bad news: It's light on history. This one focuses more on fictional characters than on real people. And the characters based on real people aren't always that accurate. This makes some sense for some characters whose lives were very different in this alternate universe. But this may leave some readers disappointed that there isn't more substance and depth. If you're looking for a character-driven book, this one might disappoint. Also. It definitely is trying to appeal more to romance readers than historical readers. If that makes sense.

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Add a Comment

Have you ever imagined what the world would be like if the Axis powers, Germany, Japan and Italy, had won World War II.  Well,  author Caroline Tung Richmond has done just that in her debut novel The Only Thing to Fear.  

It's been 80 years since the Allied Forces lost the war and surrendered after being defeated by Hitler's genetically-engineered super soldiers.  The United States has been divided into three territories, the Western American Territory ruled by Japan, the Italian Dakotas, and the Eastern American Territories ruled by the Nazis.

For Zara St. James, 16, living in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern American Territory, life has been hard.   She has lived with her Kleinbauer (peasant) Uncle Red since her mother was killed by the Nazis in a Resistance mission when Zara was 8.  Since then, Uncle Red has wanted nothing more to do with Resistance matters, but Zara can't wait to join Revolutionary Alliance, and with good reason.
English on her mother's side, Japanese on her father's, Zara is considered a Mischling by the Germans and there has never been a place for mixed-race children in Nazi society. But Zara is also hiding a secret, one that would mean instant death - she is an Anomaly, able control the air around her.  Anomalies are the result of genetic testing by the Nazis in their concentration camps in the 1930s and, as super soldiers, they helped them win the war.  But only full-blooded Aryans can be Anomalies, everyone else is put to death instantly.

Into all this comes Bastian Eckhartt, son of the formidable Colonel Eckhart, commanding officer of Fort Goering.  Bastian attends the elite military academy where Zara is assigned cleaning duties and lately she has noticed he has been looking her way more and more frequently.  But what could the son of a powerful Nazi leader possibly want with a Kleinbauer who garners no respect whatsoever?  The answer may just surprise you.

I was really looking forward to reading The Only Thing to Fear when I first heard of it.  There aren't many alternative histories for teen readers about the allied Forces losing the war to the Axis powers and what that would have meant for the future.  Unfortunately, this doesn't come across as an alternative history so much as it really just another dystopian novel.   What seems to be missing is a strong sense of ideology - on both the Nazi and the peasant side.  The Resistance was there to overthrow the cruel Nazis, but there is not sense of how or why they will make the world better if or when they succeed.

Richmond's world building was pretty spot on, though not terribly in-depth.  I really like the idea of generically engineered Anomalies, which added an interesting touch.

Zara is quite headstrong and can be a bit whinny and annoyingly brave in that she takes chances without thinking through the consequences.  Zara has a lot to learn, and a lot of growing up to do, even by the end of the novel (or maybe it is going to be a series and she can mature at a later date).

One of the things that always amazes me in books about people fighting for their lives is that there is always time for romance.  Yes, Bastian is originally interested in Zara for reasons that have nothing to do with romance, yet even as things take a dangerous turn, they both find they are attracted to each other.

The Only Thing to Fear is definitely a flawed novel, but still it is one worth reading.  As I said, it is Richmond's debut novel, and though you might find it a bit predictable, it is still a satisfying read.

The Only Thing to Fear will be available in bookstores on September 30, 2014.

This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was an E-ARC obtained from NetGalley

Sophisticated readers might also want to take a look at Philip K. Dick's 1962 Hugo Award winning alternate history novel The Man in the High Castle.

Add a Comment

The Long Earth. Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. 2012. HarperCollins. 352 pages.

In a forest glade: Private Percy woke up to birdsong. It was a long time since he had heard birdsong, the guns saw to that. For a while he was content to lie there in the blissful quiet.

There's a very good chance you'll like this one more than I did. Why? Well, let's just say that by the end of this one, we were not on good terms. I ended up hating this one. I didn't start out hating it, mind you. The first third--perhaps the first half--of the novel I thought the novel had potential to be for me. The good news is that the issues I had with the book are probably not going to be your issues. This book just happens to fall into the not-for-me category. I prefer those categories--a book being either for me or not for me--as opposed to saying that a book is either good or bad. The very qualities that make one person love a book, may make another hate a book. (My big issue with the book has more to do with ideology, philosophy, etc. I didn't find this one faith friendly in the slightest.)

So what can I say about this one? Well, the last part reminded me of the later Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov. In particular, the last novel of the Foundation series, the book that I've spent years trying to forget. I can't talk about details, obviously, without spoiling The Long Earth.

Characters and Pacing. This novel has SO MANY characters, so many points of views, so many story lines. And the book isn't always clear on chronology, meaning, as a reader I was always a bit unsure about how much time has passed. Has it been a year from step day, five years from step day, ten years from step day, twenty years from step day, etc. By just barely getting to know characters and just following their story for a chapter or two or three, one doesn't get a clear glimpse of how much time has passed, and how things are going--or not going--on Datum Earth.  The narrative gives us extremely brief, extremely limited "flashes" of what life is like on probably a dozen or so different Earths--maybe even a hundred--but no framework, no context is given to really grasp everything going on. Perhaps we're never meant to understand, perhaps it's beyond comprehension, perhaps that is the point--that endless earths with endless possibilities with endless variables is too much of a riddle to be solved by humanity. Pacing does become a slight issue at least because the moment the story begins to gain momentum and focus on something interesting and compelling, we're sent down another path. I felt, in some cases, there were characters/stories introduced that we never went back to.

The book that would have proved most interesting to me would have chosen a small handful of characters that we would follow as they pioneered across the Long Earth trying to find the right Earth for them as settlers. The book would have focused on new beginnings, establishing settlements, creating civilizations, facing unknown dangers, dealt with homesickness, etc. The book could have even focused on several settlements on several different Earths showing the differences in how societies, civilizations, governments, communities are set up, allowing for differences in politics, ideology, philosophy, etc. Perhaps showing the struggle between the new "earth" they were claiming as home, and the old earth with all its problems, etc. But The Long Earth does none of those things.

It is a science fiction adventure story. And it has many, many characters. And a few of these seem to be main character material. But I didn't particularly like the ones I was supposed to like most of all. I found myself more interested in the characters that were with us for five or six or maybe even twenty pages.

The book does start with an interesting premise, but, I ended up disappointed in the direction this one went. A good reminder, to me, that premise isn't everything.

Read The Long Earth

• If the premise of having endless alternate Earths that you can 'step' between intrigues you
• If the premise of each Earth having evolved differently based on small and large variables appeals to you; each Earth represents one "what if"
• If the premise of humans exploring and settling these Earths fascinates you (just don't expect this to be a book about settling and establishing)
• If you like science fiction adventure stories with a blend of human characters and artificial intelligence

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Display Comments Add a Comment

Glamour in Glass. Mary Robinette Kowal. 2012. Tor. 336 pages.

Finding oneself a guest of honor only increases the presentiment of anxiety, should one be disposed to such feelings. Jane Vincent could not help but feel some measure of alarm upon hearing her name called by the Prince Regent, for though she fully expected to be escorted into dinner by someone other than her husband, she had not expected to accompany His Royal Highness and to be seated at his right hand.

 Sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey.

How much should you know going into a book? On the one hand, I had a difficult time getting into Glamour in Glass and just a hint of what it was REALLY about would have helped me so much. On the other hand, would knowing have taken out all the suspense and tension?

I enjoyed quite a few things about Glamour in Glass. I liked that it was a clean read, for the most part. It is so refreshing to read a honeymoon book that is not graphic in detail. I know that wouldn't be a plus for every reader, but, for me, it worked out well. And while this one is a 'honeymoon' book--meaning that everyone is waiting to see *when* the honeymoon would be over, when the couple would start fighting and getting annoyed with one another--it isn't just that though. If the real drama had not started, I might have given up on this one. If the book had just been about the tension between these two as business partners--as glamour partners--or if the book had just been about her getting annoyed with her husband for not sharing enough about his feelings, his memories, his doubts, his dreams, etc., then I would have probably given up on it.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

But this book is set in Europe during a dangerous but exciting time (exciting to read about perhaps, not exactly exciting to live through). Napoleon's threatening return. And since this honeymoon just happens to be in his path--well, things get a bit exciting.

What I didn't exactly love in this one was all the talk about glamour, about *how* glamour worked, about the new experiments in glamour, about all the rules of glamour and what that meant for married women in particular. In some ways the talk was just too much, but in other ways even with all this talk, not enough was clearly said. For example, we're told that pregnant women could never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever use glamour. Ever. But we're not told why really. We're not told how using glamour effects the unborn baby, and what risks would be involved if a woman dared to break the rules.

Read Glamour in Glass

• If you enjoy Regency romances, particularly clean romance
• If you enjoy historical fiction
• If you enjoy fantasy (though this is more alternate history...what if magic/glamour were real)
• If you enjoy Jane Austen or other classic authors

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Display Comments Add a Comment

11/22/63. Stephen King. 2011. Scribner. 864 pages.

I have never been what you'd call a crying man. 

This is the second Stephen King novel I've read, and honestly I'm not sure how I'd compare the two I've read: Under the Dome and 11/22/63.

In Under the Dome, the violence is graphic, and the bad language proved problematic...for me. But, oh, the tension. It was such a compelling read. The pacing was amazing. It really was. It was a page-turner. I didn't like the characters particularly. I hated some of them--granted, some of them were evil incarnate. But I HAD TO KNOW what happened next. The premise, well, it was horrifying and intriguing all at the same time.

11/22/63 was in many ways a tamer novel. Less violence, less bad language (though it's still there to a certain degree. I am NOT claiming this is a clean read.) But. Well, how can I say this? For me at least it lacked tension. The premise of time travel should have been wowing me from start to finish. But it didn't. The only one that had to deal with consequences--in my opinion--was the narrator Jake Epping who time-traveled under the name George Amberson. So long as he remained alive and able to return to 2011 through the time-bubble, all other mistakes, all other consequences just didn't matter at all. Not really. Sure, they mattered to him. He, personally, felt those mistakes and had his struggles and doubts. But no one else could ever know the difference between worlds and alternate realities.

I'm not sure how I really felt about the narrator, Jake/George. On the one hand, his "good angel" intentions of playing God and determining the future and making the world a better place by preventing a handful of tragedies were understandable. I mean if you could prevent a death by time-travel, shouldn't you? Jake knew one person whose life was forever-changed one Halloween night when his drunken father came home and murdered his mother, his two brothers, and his sister. He was the only one to survive--and only because he was in the bathroom when the killing spree began. But he saw too much--much too much--and his father tried and failed to kill him too. So when Jake discovers this time-travel-bubble that automatically sends you to September 1958--almost a full month before this tragedy--he feels like he has to "fix" things. He has to test time-travel to see if he can change things...for the better.

But Jake/George's main goal, his main mission, is not to save his friend from a horrible childhood, but to save "the world" or "the nation" from experiencing the tragedy of Kennedy's assassination. A world where Kennedy continued his term (and was reelected) as president would have to be a better world than the one we now live in, right? Especially if you're tempted to think he was the best human, best leader, best politician, best president ever, ever, ever. To think that he was the best, smartest, wisest, kindest, strongest.

So that is his mission: prevent JFK from being assassinated. And, to a certain degree, King stays on task. But his idea of staying "on task" isn't the most thrilling way to spend your time. Readers are treated to five years (at least) of Jake/George living in the past. And part of the focus is on his mission, but much of it is not. Part of it is focused on his career as a teacher/mentor. Part of it is focused on his 'career' as a writer as he prepares a manuscript or two. Part of it--a large part of it--is focused on his finding his one, true love. Yes, a good part of 11/22/63 is a romance novel with focus on feelings, dancing, and secret weekend hideaways. 

While many elements of the story are nice enough i

Display Comments Add a Comment

Firestorm at Peshtigo: A Town, Its People, and the Deadliest Fire in American History Denise Guss and William Lutz

On October 8, 1871, Peshtigo, WI burned down. A combination of drought, wide spread and intense forest fires, and a storm system that most likely spawned an F5 tornado combined to create a firestorm that the armed forces would study in WWII to plan the firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo.

There was a tornado of fire, 1000 feet high and 5 miles wide. Sand was turned to glass. A billion tress in Wisconsin's virgin forest were gone--a forest so thick and dense you couldn't walk through it in a straight line, with trees 180 feet tall and so thick two people couldn't hold hands around them. Embers and shrapnel from exploding trees set fire to boats docked 7 miles offshore. The peat bogs smoked for a year afterwards.

Peshtigo had 2000 known residents. 1800 died. Many others outside of Peshtigo, on both sides of the Bay of Greeny Bay died for an estimated death count of 2500. It's hard to say-- no one knew how many people were in the area. Lumberjacks and railway crews mean a transient population. Immigrants arrived on a regular basis, including a boatload the day before. Plus, the fire burned so hot that all that was left of many of the dead was a pile of ashes that then blew away in the storm.

It's the deadliest fire in US history and one of the deadliest natural disasters. (Galveston's the worst, Johnstown or Peshtigo are second and third. Using the numbers that Gess and Lutz put forth, Pestigo was more deadly than the Johnstown Flood.)

Despite all this, have you ever heard of it?

I'm guessing you haven't, and I know why--it took place on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire. We learned about it in school, mainly because we were closer to Peshtigo (about 50 miles north of Green Bay) than Chicago. Even in school though, it was taught alongside Chicago, more of a "by the way, the same night Peshtigo burned down and did a lot more damage and killed a lot more people." I always thought it was coincidence that both fires happened at the same night.

No. Fires had been raging in the upper midwest for months. A prairie fire that swept from the Dakotas, across Minnesota, hit the Wisconsin woods where it met with fires already burning. Coupled with a severe weather pattern on the 8th and large portions of the upper midwest burned on October 8th. Not just in Chicago and NE Wisconsin, but large chunks of Michigan, too.

And when morning dawned, help was hard to come by. The telegraph lines had burned and when they could get their pleas to Green Bay, Milwaukee, Madison, they had already dispatched any supplies they had on hand to Chicago.

This is an excellent social history of Peshtigo before, during, and after the fire. It focuses mainly on the people and the town. It briefly mentions the Michigan fires, but doesn't really talk about them. It does talk about the Chicago fire. I could have used a little more "big picture" to see how much burned that night.

My only other complaint is the way they use "Green Bay" is confusing. Green Bay refers to two things--

Add a Comment

Invisible Things Jenny Davidson

I loooooooooooooooooooooooved The Explosionist. As soon as I finished, I wanted more. I loved the alternate-history world that Davidson had built. I loved the mystery and the tension. IRLYNS creeped the hell out of me.

I had been waiting FOREVER for the sequel. I was so excited when my hold came in!

Sadly... it fell short. Really, really short.

I've been sitting on this review for awhile, to see if I could temper it a bit. How many of my problems are the actual fault of the book and how many are just "it's not the book I wanted?"

Sadly, I've come to realize that my major issue with the book had nothing to do with my expectations.

Mikael and Sophie have successfully made it to Denmark. War still looms and there are shocking developments in Sophie's back story (the explosion that killed her parents wasn't an accident! Aunt Tabitha has scandalous secrets!) It starts with a terrorist attack on Niels Bohr's birthday party. We then jump back a few months to Mikael and Sophie's life living at the Institute for Theoretical Physics. We know the attack is coming and that Sophie and Mikael will be there. Plus there's a beautiful femme fatale Russian Weapons Dealer that might be masterminding the whole thing...

But...

It overall just felt really flat.

This should have been just as gripping and tension filled as the first. There are certainly enough exciting plot points and developments but it just never got to the same level as the first book. Also, certain things that I loved about the first book get dropped. The whole spiritualist movement is only mentioned occasionally, almost in a "oh yeah, we should talk about that because it was so big in the last book" sort of way. But it was such a huge part of the world Davidson built in the first book and isn't a part of the world in this book at all. Also, I missed the creepy IRLYNS subplot. I know that they couldn't do a lot about it because Sophie was no longer in Scotland but... it just gets the occasional mention because, well, it's not like you could completely ignore what was going on there.

There are a few good things-- I did love how science-y this one is. I liked the conversations between the physicists. I also liked the food. Sophie sure does love cake, and I sure do love reading about it. (Cut me some slack, I'm almost 7 months pregnant. There is nothing in the world more important than cake.)

BUT BUT BUT the last 100 pages turn the whole thing into a retelling of The Snow Queen (although in doing some poking around to see if there will be a sequel, I discovered that The Snow Queen was Davidson's original title.) But, I found the shift to fairy tale retelling jarring and odd, especially if you couple the story of this book with the first book. (And you know ho

Display Comments Add a Comment

Behemoth. Scott Westerfeld. 2010. October 2010. Simon & Schuster. 485 pages.

Alek raised his sword. "On guard, sir!"
Deryn hefted her own weapon, studying Alek's pose.
His feet were splayed at right angles, his left arm sticking out behind like the handle of a teacup. His fencing armor made him look like a walking quilt. Even with his sword pointed straight at her, he looked barking silly.

Behemoth is the sequel to Leviathan. It's a science fiction action-packed historical novel that presents an alternate what-if to the Great War. Its alternative world is fascinating. A world divided into two camps: Clankers (those who love machines and technology) and Darwinists (those who love splicing together 'incredible' new beings).

The books have two narrators: Alek, a young boy who is trying to hide his real identity, and Deryn, a young woman who is trying to keep her gender hidden so she can be in the British Air Service. She's living her new life as Dylan Sharp. In the first novel, these two begin an unpredictable friendship. After all, he's a Clanker, she's a Darwinist. Both have secrets--if his secret is revealed, he'd become a prisoner--if her secret is revealed, then her military career would be over. (She's guessed his secret. But he doesn't have a clue about hers.) Can they trust each other? Can they help each other?

The setting for Behemoth is interesting. It's set in Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire. It's a compelling novel. I enjoyed it more than the first novel.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Display Comments Add a Comment

Dick, Philip K. 1962. The Man in the High Castle. 272 pages.

For a week Mr. R. Childan had been anxiously watching the mail.

What can I say about this one? Really. An alternative reality is created, a reality in which the Axis powers won World War II. The United States? Not so united. They've been divided--some being more occupied than others--between Germany and Japan. Life isn't all bad--well, unless you happen to be Jewish or black. For this reason, it is better to be on the Japanese side of the border. (Don't even ask what the Germans did to Africa.) This nightmarish reality is all too real for the handful of characters the reader meets. (Yes, a few of the characters are Jewish.)

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. This book is all about choices--ethical and moral questions that these characters have to answer. It isn't easy to be the person you want to be, should be. Life is too complex to be simplified into wrong and right...or so it appears. Some decisions change your life forever. Some change who you are. Some hasten the inevitable...death itself. How much of yourself would you be willing to sacrifice to be "safe" in this nightmare-of-a-world?

One of the fascinating aspects of this one is how the novel revolves around a book or two. Specifically, the novel revolves around another novel and its author. A science-fiction novel that in itself is an alternate reality. A novel imagining what life would be like if the Allies had won the war. This novel is by Hawthorne Abendsen. It's called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. And this novel weaves its way into the stories of the many characters and narrators. As you can imagine, this novel isn't all that popular with the powers-that-be. It's outlawed on the German-occupied side of the country. But that doesn't stop people from reading it. Giving this novel power. If anything, it makes it all that more popular.

This one is definitely interesting! It's a bit more philosophical and ideas-oriented than action-packed. But I enjoyed reading it.

Plot summary (from the publisher?)

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war--and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to awake.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
If you're reading this post on another site, or another feed, the content has been stolen.

Display Comments Add a Comment

Pastore, Stephen R. 2007. Never On These Shores.

The time? 1942. The place? America. Jacket flap:

1942: The Nazis have successfully landed in Mexico and have invaded the United States through Texas. The Japanese have conquered western Canada and have captured and occupied most of the West Coast from Seattle to the outskirts of Los Angeles. The Italians have launched a massive amphibious assault from Cuba and have taken control of Florida and the Southeast as far north as Atlanta. New York City and Washington D.C. are fortifying and preparing for the onslaught. American forces are stranded in Europe and Southeast Asia. the homeland is being defended neighborhood to neighborhood by women, the elderly, and gay men, all ineligible for military service. The KKK and Right Wing radicals are supporting the invaders hoping to establish concentration camps where blacks and Jews are being transported all over the western U.S. Amid the carnage and brutality of an enemy seeking to destroy everything in its path, the American Spirit is put to its greatest test. Pastore weaves a tale that will not soon be forgotten as this highly imaginative story unfolds. It is an awe-inspiring parable of the true nature of the American people when put to their greatest test.

Except for the end where it gets a little too proud for its britches, it is a fairly good assessment of the plot. As far as alternate histories, alternate realities go, exploring the "what if's" of the Nazi's winning the war is a highly popular subject for "imaginative" speculation. There are several Star Trek (Original Series) episodes, for example, that feature Nazis or Nazi-thinking. There are several Twilight Zone episodes as well. (And that's just what I've seen. I can only imagine that they're is much more out there in film and in print that I'm not familiar with.) There must be something inexplicably fascinating or captivating about going there, about allowing yourself to go that dark and scary place and envisioning how events would unfold if the Nazis (Nazi thought, Nazi culture, or flesh-and-blood actual Nazis) controlled the world. Maybe it's because they just make the ultimate bad guys? Who knows? But this book relishes the idea of being your worst nightmare.



Told through multiple points of view, Never on These Shores is the most violent, most hate-filled, most vile imagining possible. The language. The violence. The murder. The rapes. It's meant to 'shock-and-awe' you I imagine. When I was *warned* to expect dirty language, I shrugged it off. I've seen plenty of movies, read quite a few books, how much more "shocking" can something get? Well, there is the language of an "R" film, and then 500 miles past that is this book. Is it as it should be? Maybe. Maybe not. As I mentioned earlier, if the Nazis had invaded, if war was invading our neighborhoods, our backyards, if our lives were being threatened by three enemy armies...keeping our language clean and pristine WOULD not be on the agenda. If ever there would be a time to let loose, then that might be the time. Still, it makes for an uncomfortable read.

Everything about this book is designed to make you uncomfortable and ill-at-ease. The fact that invading armies are slaughtering people. The fact that Americans--both civilians and politicians--are joining up with the Nazis, supporting them fully, working against the American resistance. The fact that the murderous agenda is being carried out--the rounding up of blacks to be gassed and burned. (Of course they're not called black.) This book is just a million and one disturbing images.

What can I really say about this one? It's not for everyone. I can see that some people might like it. Might enjoy it. (If enjoy is the right word.) But it's not for those that are easily disturbed. Reading it can turn your stomach. Is it realistic? I'm not sure. I don't think it is. Not really. Maybe in some areas, but not others. I have a hard time accepting it from the military point of view. I don't know how even working together these three armies have enough men, enough soliders, enough troops to hold their positions in Europe and Asia (and wherever) and conquer North America as well. I don't know how they could spread their armies out so thin to hold positions in so many places. And if they were using their newly-conquered enemies as soldiers, I'd imagine that sooner or later that would backfire on them. And I certainly don't buy that the entire nation was soldier-free in the spring of 1942. I'm not an expert. Obviously. But I've done *some* reading, and it just seems unlikely. War takes training, it takes recruitment, it takes time.

But one idea that this book stirs up is racism and prejudice and propaganda. Modern readers can look back at this time and see how "wrong" we were to hate the Germans, hate the Italians, hate the Japanese. How "wrong" we were to fear an invasion. How "wrong" we were to tell people to keep an eye out, to keep a watch out for suspicious behavior. How "wrong" we were to mistrust German, Italian, and Japanese citizens. How "wrong" we were to doubt anyone's loyalty based on descent. How "wrong" we were to create propaganda--ads, cartoons, etc.--during the war. But in this book, we see that the propaganda was right. We did have something to fear. We did have ample reason to mistrust. Not that there is much they could do about being "right." But still. But the part that is really unsettling, the part that throws doubt on everything is the fact that the book shows 'normal' and 'average' American citizens (some politicians, but most just regular folks) joining in the Nazi cause. In most cases, not out of fear, not out of wanting to come out on the winning side, but because of genuine support for the Nazi's white supremacist philosophy. It's the out-in-the-open (as well as the behind-closed-door variety) of racism, of hate, of prejudice that turns my stomach so. The thought that maybe just maybe racism is so dangerous, so deadly that something like this could have happened then. And the fear, the realization, that racist thought might not be as dead as we'd like to believe. Racism should be scary, should be crazy to modern readers. It should carry some shock-and-awe kind of punches.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Display Comments Add a Comment

Add a Comment