Kraut
Posts: 2551
Joined: 8/13/2002 From: Germany Status: offline
|
My favorite author is Harry Turtledove. His speciality is Alternate History, but he also writes Fantasy. A real classic is "Guns of the South"; white supremacists from South Africa use a time machine to supply General Lee with AK-47. The South then wins the war, but that is just beginning of much more interesting developments. I especially like the "World War" series. During World War II aliens invade earth, the former enemies are forced into an uneasy alliance. Turtledove makes the most of this scenario, a host of viewpoint characters, some fictional, some historical gives the story a gripping, personal feel. There also is a sequel series, "Colonization", where aliens and humans have worked out a very unstable equilibrium, at leat at the beginning. Also highly recommended. In the "Great War" series the South has again won the Civil War, this time without any Science Fiction trappings. As a consequence, there is "Second American Civil War", in which the South again preserves its independence. The North later enters World War I on the side of the Axis powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey) the south on that of the Entente (Great Britain, France and Russia). This series is due to its subject matter very bloody, you may feel a little shell-shocked after reading it. Right now I'm reading his "Darkness" series. It is a kind of World War II set on another planet where magic works. Her he mixes Alternate History with Fantasy. Sounds a little strange, but it works very well. Here's Turtledove's website: http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/turtledove.html I'd like to add that I'm in no way associated with Harry Turtledove (or his agent). ;) I just like his books.
|