Drive to the East by Harry Turtledove

The second book in Harry Turtledove's Settling Accounts series tells the story of the American Stalingrad which takes place in Pittsburg, 1942. This is the third trilogy to spin off from Turtledove’s novel How Few Remain, telling the story of how the Confederate States achieved their independence in 1863.

I love Turtledove. For a long time it seemed like he was the only writer working in the alternate history genre. Now there are a lot of good writers dabbling in the alternate history. It’s great to get back to basics. Turtledove has a knack for spinning a multigenerational yarn on the thread of solid alternative history research.

All of the elements and many of the characters from the earlier series are here. There is the McGregor clan of bombers resisting US occupation of Canada. Yanks go home, eh.

There is Scipio the ex-slave who now works in a fancy restaurant in Augusta, GA. Afraid his past as a Red Rebel during the Great War will catch him and trying to keep his family safe as the Freedom Party commits genocide against the Blacks.

As usual some of the best liked characters die in this book, but if you read Turtledove you just get used to that. There are also interesting appearances by historic figures; notably Jimmy Carter’s tragic-comic cameo. But can anyone tell me why General Macarthur’s name is Daniel?

Turtledove has a real feel for military scenes, especially dealing with naval combat and armored warfare. Personally my favorite character in this series is Sam Carsten who began as a young sailor during the Great War series, rose up through the ranks and became an officer during the American Empire series and now has command of his own ship – a destroyer escort fighting the British in the North Atlantic.

Another favorite character is Clarence Potter, battling whig veteran of street fights with the emerging Freedom Party, who is now a General in charge of Intelligence for the Confederate Army. All he every wanted to do was hurt the Yankees. He’s very effective at it in this book and is starting to make plans for the Confederacy after Jake Featherston.

I hope Turtledove has at least one more trilogy to come from this. I would enjoy reading of the post-War world. After the Holocaust in the Confederacy I think the African-Americans deserve an independent state ala Israel. Cold War tensions moving toward a unification movement as the world approaches the millennium.

I read somewhere on the web that Harry Turtledove had sold his soul for success and believes that if he writes enough books he can get his soul back. I think it was written by someone who was a little jealous of Turtledove’s success. I say keep writing Harry.

Settling Accounts: Drive to the East is a great read, but you will enjoy it more if you know the series. That’s a lot of reading, but well worth it.