Bombs Away

From "the master of alternate history" comes a new trilogy that reimagines a mid-20th century in which General MacArthur, without bothering to consult President Truman, detonates nuclear warheads in several Manchurian cities after China enters the Korean War. In his acclaimed novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has scrutinized the twisted soul of the 20th century, from the forces that set World War I in motion to the rise of fascism in the decades that followed. Now this masterly storyteller turns his eyes to the aftermath of World War II and asks: In an era of nuclear posturing, what if the Cold War had suddenly turned hot?

©2015 Harry Turtledove (P)2015 Recorded Books

Seeing the graphic consequences of tactical nuclear weapons.

This is not his best writing. He tried hard to blend somewhat obscure history lessons with a political agenda and combine it with some action writing. It dragged along with multiple plots requiring explanations with characters that were perfectly happy blending in the background. For Harry that is unusual. I hope the next in series is better. Much better.

Captivating

I love Turtledove books. This did not disappoint. The narrator was superb. The plot stuck to me like glue.

Only fine.

What did you like best about Bombs Away? What did you like least?

The story was incredibly interesting. I liked how the author plays with with short period in history where MAD was not quite established, but very much in people's minds. I felt that the author sacrifices deeper involvement in each character for having as many points of view as possible. Characters often repeat experiences without adding to our understanding of the situation.

What didn’t you like about Henry Stozier’s performance?

He sounds a bit like my grandfather after a scotch and just wants to go to bed. Each voice that portrayed distress sounded exactly the same and he got a bit annoying after a while.

Any additional comments?

Harry Turtledove has a lot of wonderful ideas about alternative history. However, there are many parts of this book where it seems as though he got bored mid paragraph and wanted to end it so that he could move on with his life. He then rapidly ends a story arch without any buildup, like when Captain John McIntyre left MASH. I was often left wondering "what in the world just happened," without any desire to go back and listen to it again.

Fine.

Fine story. But its Turtledove, so there is a lot more listening to go.

Not bad!

So I was hesitant to start another Turtledove book as I thought "supervolcano" was awful.

But this was good. A bit like Clancy's "Red Storm Rising" but in the 50's with Atom bombs!

My only complaint is that it has so many characters and location I wished it was announced when a scene changes. Occasionally hard to follow in audible format due to that. I will be listening to the 2nd part "Fallout" as soon as I finish the new Star Wars novel!