Harry Turtle Dove Darkness Series
When the Duke of Bari suddenly dies, the neighboring nation of Algarve, long seething over its defeat a generation ago in the Six Years' War, sees its chance to bring Bari into the fold.an action which the other countries surrounding Algarve cannot, by treaty, tolerate. As nation after nation declares war, a chain of treaties are invoked, ultimately bringing almost all t When the Duke of Bari suddenly dies, the neighboring nation of Algarve, long seething over its defeat a generation ago in the Six Years' War, sees its chance to bring Bari into the fold.an action which the other countries surrounding Algarve cannot, by treaty, tolerate. As nation after nation declares war, a chain of treaties are invoked, ultimately bringing almost all the Powers of Derlavai into a war of unprecedented destructiveness.For modern magic is deadlier than in ears past. Trained flocks of dragons rain explosive fire down on defenseless cities. Massed infantry race from place to place along a network of ley-lines. Rival powers harness sea leviathans to help sabotage one another's ships. The lights are going out all across Derlavai, and will not come back on in this lifetime.Against this tapestry Harry Turtledove tells the story of an enormous cast of characters: soldiers and generals, washerwomen and scholars, peasants and diplomats.
For all the world, highborn and low, is being plunged by world war.into the darkness. First and foremost I have to say I've tried reading this book since the seventh grade. At first I was impressed by the dragon and what not on the cover, but as I actually tried to read it I was severely daunted by the fact the character listing is five pages long. Despite that, I still tried to read and only managed to get past the first chapter before deciding this was not worth my time and considered it confusing and very boring.
Years later I bought the book, and soon the other five followed First and foremost I have to say I've tried reading this book since the seventh grade. At first I was impressed by the dragon and what not on the cover, but as I actually tried to read it I was severely daunted by the fact the character listing is five pages long. Despite that, I still tried to read and only managed to get past the first chapter before deciding this was not worth my time and considered it confusing and very boring.
Years later I bought the book, and soon the other five followed and they've been sitting on my bookcase for quite some time.Well, I picked it up again and though it was still a ridiculously tough read; boredom struck whenever character development was attempted. I finished it and am now going to read my way through the remaining part of the series. And I don't know how that happened. I'm not particularly interested in alternate universe type of stories and nor am I savvy in the elaborate and intricate histories of World War 2. There is just this sense of.charm, I guess, to it that made me grudgingly want to read the others.
I mean once you figure out what countries in the book reflect the ones in real life, you pretty much have the whole general story summed up.So why am I still drawn to it? There's too many characters to become attached to so you pretty much stay away from liking anyone of them because you're more concerned with keeping names straight rather than worrying about what fresh hell they're going through. But yet, you still feel bad for the viewpoint characters when something does happen; like this unwanted love some how sprang out of nowhere like some disease. Sure you don't like being around people who are sick, but you still love and feel bad for the guys anyway when they become worse or, karma cap, die. Chapters drawl on for pages where, quite literally, nothing develops. It's supposed to expose who the designated viewpoint characters are, but you find yourself flipping forward a few more pages to see how much is left until a new view point character is brought in.I find myself drawn into this world thinking about how it relates to actual history, but I soon forget completely that this is based off of a real situation and get sucked in. It doesn't make any sense.
I enjoy how he replaces 'modern' technology with that of the fantasy realm, however, despite all of my mindless nit picking.Which also makes Turtledove a good author if he can pull that off. If can't be the only person in the world who actually thought this way and yet still chugged through the rest of the series. I just hope the next book won't be a let down considering I've got a lot more books to read. This was a decent read, and it was quite interesting at certain points.
There were parts that I liked, but also things that I disliked.One of the things that I really enjoyed, and which quite surprised me, was that the dragons (which function as a substitute for air planes) are not portrayed as mythical or wise creatures. They are basically treated as normal animals, and portrayed as very stupid animals at that. This might seem a weird thing to like, but I found it to be quite refreshing. It's This was a decent read, and it was quite interesting at certain points. There were parts that I liked, but also things that I disliked.One of the things that I really enjoyed, and which quite surprised me, was that the dragons (which function as a substitute for air planes) are not portrayed as mythical or wise creatures. They are basically treated as normal animals, and portrayed as very stupid animals at that.
This might seem a weird thing to like, but I found it to be quite refreshing. It's an original aspect of the story, and, in my opinion made the concept of dragons far more interesting.Another part that I liked were subtle ironies (or at least what I perceived to be ironies) that Turtledove put in in reference to WWII. For example, for Adolf Hitler, the ideal soldier was tall, blond and had blue eyes. In 'Into the Darkness', the Kaunians (whom are the substitutes for the people of the Jewish population) are the tall blondes instead. I don't know whether Turtledove did this on purpose, but I noticed it and I liked it.Things that I did not like were that the author seemed to have a very limited vocabulary for certain aspects of the story.
Eggs (the equivalent of bombs) for example, are forever thrown by 'egg-tossers', I don't think he used a different word for it even once. Furthermore, when the eggs were carried by dragons, they were always 'dropped'. They did not just fall, or rain down from the sky, they were just dropped. Now this might seem like only a minor thing, but at a certain point I had read these words so often that they actually started to annoy me. I think it's a shame, because I feel like it would have been just that much better had he put in a little bit of variety in his choice of words.This was also the first book where I could not actually distinguish between characters. When I'd start reading a new part with a different viewpoint again, for example I'd think the character that was 'telling the story' was a Valmieran, and then he'd turn out to be an Algarvian (Valmiera and Algarve are on opposite sides in the war). Some of the male characters especially were sometimes hard to distinguish from the others, since they mostly all had a single goal; they were all hoping they could win the war so they could get some sexual intercourse with some pretty or willing lady.In the end, however, this was not a bad read at all.
I will definitely finish the series someday, because the concept interests me quite a lot. Some story lines especially managed to capture my attention, and now I am curious about how those will continue. We'll see about that when I start book II, Darkness Descending. Too much going on, way too many characters to keep track of and only the first of many in a series.
Of the dozen or so plot threads i only enjoyed 2 of them.they were what kept me going to the end. Once i got to the end and realized that this book was the first of a few in a series I decided to not read any of the others. Very disappointed after reading 'ruled britanica' by the same author. I usually go thru a book a week or so and this took me 1 month to read, very hard to really get a good p Too much going on, way too many characters to keep track of and only the first of many in a series. Of the dozen or so plot threads i only enjoyed 2 of them.they were what kept me going to the end.
Once i got to the end and realized that this book was the first of a few in a series I decided to not read any of the others. Very disappointed after reading 'ruled britanica' by the same author. I usually go thru a book a week or so and this took me 1 month to read, very hard to really get a good page turning going when you only get 3-4 pages per plot thread before you have to read another dozen plots to get back to what just got your attention.
By the time i get back to an enticing thread i have forgotten what has happened. Almost like reading 12 differnt books at one time. Just could not get compelled enough to keep going before the author put the brakes on and switched gears on me:(. I thought this would be really great since I've heard that Turtledove is a great writer of alternate military history, and being set in a fantasy world full of dragons, behemoths, unicorns, and sorcery,where would I go wrong? For me, there were about five different nations to keep track of, and unlike The Lord of the Rings, which I gotta say, towards the end of the series.I was getting bored. Get to Mordor already! But I digress.I am able to mostly keep the characters straight, the storylin I thought this would be really great since I've heard that Turtledove is a great writer of alternate military history, and being set in a fantasy world full of dragons, behemoths, unicorns, and sorcery,where would I go wrong?
For me, there were about five different nations to keep track of, and unlike The Lord of the Rings, which I gotta say, towards the end of the series.I was getting bored. Get to Mordor already! But I digress.I am able to mostly keep the characters straight, the storyline just isn't keeping my attention, which mostly surrounds how each nation strategizes to wage war on the other. That, and the characters are out of the middle ages, but have sorcery.but still have to deal with headlice? Isn't there a spell for that? I personally do not enjoy reading books like many others do but Into The Darkness written by Harry Turtledove really got me pulled in due to its storyline evolving around a fictional land called Algarve.
I enjoyed this book so much I would probably read it again since it is really different from a lot of books with its storyline jumping to different nations/characters and not really focusing on certain people for a while. At the beginning you follow a boy named Ealstan in a place called Forthweg I personally do not enjoy reading books like many others do but Into The Darkness written by Harry Turtledove really got me pulled in due to its storyline evolving around a fictional land called Algarve. I enjoyed this book so much I would probably read it again since it is really different from a lot of books with its storyline jumping to different nations/characters and not really focusing on certain people for a while.
Harry Turtledove Darkness Series Order
At the beginning you follow a boy named Ealstan in a place called Forthweg where everyone in the town just learns that the Duke of Bari suddenly dies. At the beginning of the book you jump around from different character at different random points in the book and it is confusing but once you get into the book you will understand it’s movement. After everyone hears this new news all the people get scared because they know a war is coming. Many people that are soldiers, mages, wizards, and whatever reinforcements they have go off onto a journey to keep peace within the land. There are many pages of explicit and greatly detailed wars throughout the book that will definitely give you a good image of this fictional land and everything surrounding it. I would definitely recommend this book to someone that adores fiction anything that revolves around magical fairy tales that could never be true and I like I have stated before I believe greatly that this book is related to a game called Skyrim greatly.
Any book that starts with a multi-page Dramatis Personnae is going to be complex. I usually have a good head for characters so I didn't have to refer to it too often, although I probably should have checked it more. I had trouble connecting to the book at first because there were just too many people introduced too close together, and then not appearing again for chapters. I was over 100 pages in before I really started getting into the story. I did grow attached to a lot of the characters, whic Any book that starts with a multi-page Dramatis Personnae is going to be complex. I usually have a good head for characters so I didn't have to refer to it too often, although I probably should have checked it more.
I had trouble connecting to the book at first because there were just too many people introduced too close together, and then not appearing again for chapters. I was over 100 pages in before I really started getting into the story. I did grow attached to a lot of the characters, which kept the book from becoming a hard slog.I did have trouble keeping track of which countries were which, and who was doing what to whom and when. Part of that was deliberate, I think, to draw attention to how difficult it can be to tell the difference between an aggressor, a liberator, and a victim. The shifting alliances and the difficulty in keeping up with who was supposed to be the 'good guys,' was probably also deliberate, to prove that things aren't always as clear-cut as we like to think they are, especially once the 'fog of war' rolls in.I look forward to continuing with the series, now that I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of the current situation. I just hope it's not an entire new set of characters in the second book, and maybe the cast list will thin a little.
People die in war, of course-preferably the people I already don't like. It was not an easy decision to stop reading this book. I like the way Turtledove writes, and his easy way of telling a story is pleasant to enjoy.Unfortunately, the story itself is not of my taste. The overall misery of neigh every character is monotone and to me too close to normal to be thrilling - but that's likely only true for the likes of people who've known dark times for real.War, in my experience and view, is a matter of logistical and economical conflicts.
War fought for glory, grudges It was not an easy decision to stop reading this book. I like the way Turtledove writes, and his easy way of telling a story is pleasant to enjoy.Unfortunately, the story itself is not of my taste. The overall misery of neigh every character is monotone and to me too close to normal to be thrilling - but that's likely only true for the likes of people who've known dark times for real.War, in my experience and view, is a matter of logistical and economical conflicts. War fought for glory, grudges or madness, does simply not convince me. And most of the dialogs, especially those among common soldiers, where entirely disconnected from what happened around the characters, increasing the sensation of a dampened thrill which the events should have given.I admit that the whoring and squabbling did nothing to improve my time with this book, but want to point out these minor inconveniences had no influence on my final opinion. Turtledove certainly knows his craft, alas, he's writing the wrong genre for me. This book is an alternate history of World War II.
It has magic, dragons, unicorns, behemoths, and leviathans. There are so many characters to keep track of and sometimes it's hard to tell who's who. Algarve is supposed to be Germany. The Algarvians are described as being redheaded. The Unkerlanters are supposed to be the Russians. King Swemmel of Unkerlant is such an idiot!
He goes to war with anyone and everyone whenever he feels slighted. He doesn't think about the consequences of going to wa This book is an alternate history of World War II. It has magic, dragons, unicorns, behemoths, and leviathans. There are so many characters to keep track of and sometimes it's hard to tell who's who. Algarve is supposed to be Germany.
The Algarvians are described as being redheaded. The Unkerlanters are supposed to be the Russians. King Swemmel of Unkerlant is such an idiot! He goes to war with anyone and everyone whenever he feels slighted. He doesn't think about the consequences of going to war all the time. He once fought against his own brother because their mother didn't tell them which twin was older. There is a lot of racism in this book, most of which is directed at the Kaunians (those with blue eyes and blond hair).
The Kuusamans are described as being slant-eyed. Some of the characters like King Swemmel are unlikeable, but there are others who are really interesting.
Like many of Turtledove's later works (looking at you Sentry Peak) there's little fantasy or innovation and a lot of bad copying. It would almost be a better novel if the author had just written an original story with war dragons and war elephants instead of such a poor (and implicitly racist) parody of World War II. In this alternate version the 'Kaunians' attack first thereby justifying Hitler, hmm. Multiple times I was sure I would just give up reading it entirely but somehow I pushed throu Like many of Turtledove's later works (looking at you Sentry Peak) there's little fantasy or innovation and a lot of bad copying. It would almost be a better novel if the author had just written an original story with war dragons and war elephants instead of such a poor (and implicitly racist) parody of World War II.
In this alternate version the 'Kaunians' attack first thereby justifying Hitler, hmm. Multiple times I was sure I would just give up reading it entirely but somehow I pushed through (many many pages) and was rewarded with more repetition.
Two dimensional (and maybe even one dimensional?) characters abound, especially every female character.Do yourself a favor, skip this one. I was looking forward to this book. I enjoy Turttledove's style where he moves between multiple first person perspectives giving you an insight into the bigger picture while drilling down on the details of individuals. Adding dragons, and SIGN ME UP!The book is solid overall. I think my challenge, and what held me back from five stars, is that I spent the entire book looking for parallels from World War II.
The additional effort held me back from simply immersing myself in what is quite an inter I was looking forward to this book. I enjoy Turttledove's style where he moves between multiple first person perspectives giving you an insight into the bigger picture while drilling down on the details of individuals. Adding dragons, and SIGN ME UP!The book is solid overall. I think my challenge, and what held me back from five stars, is that I spent the entire book looking for parallels from World War II.
The additional effort held me back from simply immersing myself in what is quite an interesting story. As the first volume in the massive World at War series, INTO THE DARKNESS successfully draws the reader in to Turtledove's very well-developed alternate reality.
Here we get our first glimpse into the vaguely familiar, but starkly unique, world that is meant to mirror our own, but in a fantasy setting. Loosely based on our own history's World War II, this story may be more enjoyable for those with a greater familiarity with the major events and figures of WWII. That being said, this is still an As the first volume in the massive World at War series, INTO THE DARKNESS successfully draws the reader in to Turtledove's very well-developed alternate reality. Here we get our first glimpse into the vaguely familiar, but starkly unique, world that is meant to mirror our own, but in a fantasy setting. Loosely based on our own history's World War II, this story may be more enjoyable for those with a greater familiarity with the major events and figures of WWII. That being said, this is still an enjoyable story even if you are ignorant of -or simply ignore- the connections between it and our own history.The greatest complaint that this book has received has been the overabundance of point of view (main) characters.
With each chapter being broken up into 5-10 short segments representing the view from one of 16 primary characters, this book can be confusing at first. However, as you become more familiar with the terms, lands, and characters, you'll find yourself becoming comfortable with this style.
One thing it does lead to though, is very slow character development. If each chapter was dedicated to a single character, most characters would only have had a single chapter all told.
That doesn't leave very much room for really getting to know the characters. I at least hope that Turtledove stuck with the same POV characters throughout the series.Another interesting aspect of this book is the complete lack of 'good' and 'bad' characters.
Each of the them are cast as being very 'human' with good and bad qualities, and with unique perspectives that cause them to act and believe in certain ways. Soldiers on both sides of a war typically think that they are on the side of justice, and Turtledove manages to capture that aspect of war very nicely. You may like some characters over others, but you can't really pinpoint which characters are the heroes and which are the villains.Overall, I enjoyed this read.
Not as much as I had hoped for, but I look forward to continuing the series. Recommended for fans of fantasy, especially those with a good grounding in the history of WWII. Two things got me to read this fantasy epic:1) The badass cover.2) The unique concept of retelling the history of WWII in a fantasy world.Turtledove simply replaces the countries with fantasy-y names, and switches out airplanes with dragons, tanks with giant prehistoric rhinos called 'behemoths,' submarines with mythical whale-like creatures called 'leviathans' and switches out guns with magic wands that shoot out energy/lightning. Pretty sweet right?I also liked the broad range of characters Two things got me to read this fantasy epic:1) The badass cover.2) The unique concept of retelling the history of WWII in a fantasy world.Turtledove simply replaces the countries with fantasy-y names, and switches out airplanes with dragons, tanks with giant prehistoric rhinos called 'behemoths,' submarines with mythical whale-like creatures called 'leviathans' and switches out guns with magic wands that shoot out energy/lightning. Pretty sweet right?I also liked the broad range of characters Turtledove covers in this epic, so that we get a good sense of how the war affects characters at all levels of life.
Probably my only complaint about the characters though is that sometimes the viewpoint characters seemed too similar, especially the soldiers for the different countries. Another reviewer pointed out that they all want the same thing, to push through the next battle and hopefully get laid afterwards. Also, there are only three female perspective characters, one of them is unbearably annoying, one of then (the scientist) is not very interesting, and the only one I enjoyed reading was the Kaunian young woman but then of course she is the one who has to watch the ones she loves suffer and then she gets raped by the book equivalent of a Nazi.
I know things won't get better for her too because the Kaunians represent the Jews, and the Holocaust is coming.:-( Another complaint is Turtledove's repetitive writing, usually in his choice of vocabulary. The magic wands that stand in for guns are always called 'sticks.' Such a bland, boring word for a potentially awesome device. And the dragons always 'drop' their eggs.
Not released, not discharged, just dropped dropped dropped.But I like fantasy, and I am a WW2 buff, so I liked this book. I probably only recommend this if you love fantasy/history. So I first encountered Turtledove's Darkness series at the height of my fascination with WWII(late middle school/high school) and was sucked in immediately. I mean, who wouldn't like to see WWII played out with dragons and sorcerers? Certainly not me.While Turtledove obviously drew most of the action and plot from actual WWII events, I liked how he adapted them for his setting as well as changing a few things up that I did not expect (such as the Holocaust analogue). Turtledove does a nice job g So I first encountered Turtledove's Darkness series at the height of my fascination with WWII(late middle school/high school) and was sucked in immediately.
I mean, who wouldn't like to see WWII played out with dragons and sorcerers? Certainly not me.While Turtledove obviously drew most of the action and plot from actual WWII events, I liked how he adapted them for his setting as well as changing a few things up that I did not expect (such as the Holocaust analogue). Turtledove does a nice job giving all the countries in the world he creates unique cultural characteristics that in some ways mirror their real world analogue and in others are completely novel (such as the Finland analogue being a desert peninsula where everybody complains about how terrible roofers are).
Doing this really help the story avoid being a 1:1 conversion from real events and cultures into their fantastical counterparts.One of the main strengths of this book is the multiple POV characters. Turtledove does a masterful job giving each their own unique voice/outlook while conveying the events of the war or occupation through their eyes and experiences. And just as good: he is willing to kill off characters (hey, it is war after all).These books are, however, behemoths (see what I did there people who have already read this?). Tons of characters to keep track of across thousands of miles of space. Thankfully there is a character list at the beginning of the books and a very useful map as well. I could see how some folks would be put off by the size and scope (not to mention the subject matter). But if you are a fan of WWII and fantasy epics you will really dig this series.
Summary: This book is a bit of a mix. A huge diverse plot and a magic system that gives its armies modern type warfare - it should be good, but I just found its breadth too wide, too many actors from too many regions. The actors are not really introduced and I didn't feel any connection to them.
I never got any feedback on why every nation was at war with every other nation. The author maintains seemingly hundreds of threads each only a few pages long. Its an incredible feet of storytelling, but Summary: This book is a bit of a mix. A huge diverse plot and a magic system that gives its armies modern type warfare - it should be good, but I just found its breadth too wide, too many actors from too many regions. The actors are not really introduced and I didn't feel any connection to them.
I never got any feedback on why every nation was at war with every other nation. The author maintains seemingly hundreds of threads each only a few pages long. Its an incredible feet of storytelling, but just too complex to follow. I constantly had to look at the map to see who was who, I would have had no chance finishing this book if it was an ebook.
I somehow finished the book expecting at least some answers, but no. I've ended up giving it 1 star as I really wish I'd never picked it up, but their are elements of the book that deserve 5 stars. I won't be reading the sequel.Plotline: Incredibly complex, huge breadth.Premise: Stunning magic system, really clever.Writing: Too complex without enough depth of characterEnding: Abysmal.Pace: Boring from start too finish. Been eyeing this series for a while, as Turtledove is known as an alternate-history writer with a focus on wars. In this book, rather than an alternate history in the modern world, we have a world war in a world where magic replaces technology. (But unlike fantasy books, magic isn't all-powerful or the main focus here.) There are many similarities to WWII history and references to WWII military tatics, which makes for interesting reading.Reading this book can give you a headache due to the sheer Been eyeing this series for a while, as Turtledove is known as an alternate-history writer with a focus on wars.
In this book, rather than an alternate history in the modern world, we have a world war in a world where magic replaces technology. (But unlike fantasy books, magic isn't all-powerful or the main focus here.) There are many similarities to WWII history and references to WWII military tatics, which makes for interesting reading.Reading this book can give you a headache due to the sheer number of characters (author goes for a large cast of characters with no clear protaganist) and locales. The timeline might be linear, but skips along and leaves the reader to fill in the gaps.However, the book is still strangely engaging, as the war proceeds apace, seen from many different viewpoints. Will have to pick up the next in the series. World War 2 as translated to a fantasy setting.
The first book of a longer series.Now, when I say translation, I mean direct translation of events. Only the names have changed, with chrome such as tanks, subs and planes beig replaced with fantastic animals and rifles with what seem to be wands of lightning.I have a mixed view of this. I still like Turtledove's usual style of following a range of characters across a broad ranging global event, but the fact that it is WW2 means that there is no ' World War 2 as translated to a fantasy setting. The first book of a longer series.Now, when I say translation, I mean direct translation of events. Only the names have changed, with chrome such as tanks, subs and planes beig replaced with fantastic animals and rifles with what seem to be wands of lightning.I have a mixed view of this. I still like Turtledove's usual style of following a range of characters across a broad ranging global event, but the fact that it is WW2 means that there is no 'what is going to happen next?'
Question that makes you really want to continue with it. The fate of nations is known, and the fate of most of the characters can probably be guessed quite accurately.So, good writing, good chracters. Poor vehicle for them.Rated MA for war violence, racial themes, adult themes and implied sexual violence.
First I would like to say that I really loved reading this book. The story is completely engrossing from beginning to end, and the narrative point of view shifts from person to person, so it is never boring.Second, this is not one of Harry Turtledove's 'alternative history' novels. It is a straight fantasy novel, set in a word where dragon really exist, fly and breath fire and serve men as machines of war.
Magic really works as a form of technology, with sometimes unplesent side effects.And it i First I would like to say that I really loved reading this book. The story is completely engrossing from beginning to end, and the narrative point of view shifts from person to person, so it is never boring.Second, this is not one of Harry Turtledove's 'alternative history' novels. It is a straight fantasy novel, set in a word where dragon really exist, fly and breath fire and serve men as machines of war.
Magic really works as a form of technology, with sometimes unplesent side effects.And it is a war novel set on a world wide plain, with a vast collection of locations and environments and cultural backgrounds.It's a long book, more than 500 pages and there are 5 other volumes in the series. The only problem I had as a reader was in decided if one was enough or should I go on reading?Recommend to any who love HT, or fantasy buffs.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,I rated Into the Darkness a five because it is a very good book and the author does a very good job at portraying what is happening and what the characters are thinking at the same time. Harry Turtledove did a great job in creating a new world and I am glad that there are several books after Into the Darkness to give a complete ending instead of a sudden stop ending.The book gives you a great sense of reality in how the world and characters are portrayed but the ending could have a more subtle e I rated Into the Darkness a five because it is a very good book and the author does a very good job at portraying what is happening and what the characters are thinking at the same time. Harry Turtledove did a great job in creating a new world and I am glad that there are several books after Into the Darkness to give a complete ending instead of a sudden stop ending.The book gives you a great sense of reality in how the world and characters are portrayed but the ending could have a more subtle ending instead of having ended with Colonel Sabrino going to sleep and waking up to eggs falling out of the sky.I would definitely read another book from Harry Turtledove because Into the Darkness is part of a series and I definitely would love to read the next book in the series. As stated in a few of the other reviews.
The start of the book was kinda hard to get past. It felt like work getting through all the character introductions and the story foundations. Even after I got past it all I would have to go back to the beginning of the book to remind myself who this or that character was. But I think it was worth it. The story is engrossing I couldn`t put it down once i really got into it. Most of the characters stories were fun to read.
Some more then other of corse but As stated in a few of the other reviews. The start of the book was kinda hard to get past. It felt like work getting through all the character introductions and the story foundations. Even after I got past it all I would have to go back to the beginning of the book to remind myself who this or that character was. But I think it was worth it. The story is engrossing I couldn`t put it down once i really got into it. Most of the characters stories were fun to read.
Some more then other of corse but there were relatively few that I didnt care for. The stories premiums was awesome. Come on ww2 with magic and mythological creatures. So if you a fan of fantasy and ready to make a comitment to a series (because i would consider this a commitment.) Then I recomend this series to you. So, as the other reviews of this book indicate, this is basically World War Two, with magic. Instead of airplanes and tanks, you have dragons and behemoths. Instead of submarines, you have leviathans.
This is a fun premise, no doubt. True, there's a bit of wide-scale plot spoiling involved; if Algarve is the fantasy version of Germany, and Unkerlant is a stand-in for the Soviet Union, then we all know how it's going to play out.
The interesting things are 1) how exactly it's going to So, as the other reviews of this book indicate, this is basically World War Two, with magic. Instead of airplanes and tanks, you have dragons and behemoths. Instead of submarines, you have leviathans.
This is a fun premise, no doubt. True, there's a bit of wide-scale plot spoiling involved; if Algarve is the fantasy version of Germany, and Unkerlant is a stand-in for the Soviet Union, then we all know how it's going to play out. The interesting things are 1) how exactly it's going to translate (what's the magical equivalent of the atom bomb, for instance?) and 2) what happens to the viewpoint characters. I can guess, naturally; the poor guy who's in the French-equivalent country's army is probably not going to enjoy military successes.
But it's still fun to read. I keep wanting to like Turtledove and I keep being disappointed. If you do want to read an alternate history of WWII, I would instead recommend Turtledove's Worldwar and Colonization series, which takes WWII and plays on what would happen if aliens attacked.Into The Darkness is basically a find/replace of the historical events with too many forgettable and heavy-handed characters with unfamiliar names.
If you want to read that King Mezentio fought the Valmierians with Behemoths and imprisoned th I keep wanting to like Turtledove and I keep being disappointed. If you do want to read an alternate history of WWII, I would instead recommend Turtledove's Worldwar and Colonization series, which takes WWII and plays on what would happen if aliens attacked.Into The Darkness is basically a find/replace of the historical events with too many forgettable and heavy-handed characters with unfamiliar names.
If you want to read that King Mezentio fought the Valmierians with Behemoths and imprisoned the Kaunians, instead of Hitler fighting the French with tanks and imprisoning the Jews, then this is the series for you.I scanned the last two hundred pages, as I felt I knew what was going to happen, and I don't plan on reading the other six books. I normally love Harry Turtledove and own several ( around 20) of his books but theis was one series that I stopped dead on at the first book. I forced myself to finish this book picking at it over the course of several years and plan to sell it now that I've finished it. I normally love his technique of following several characters over a large landscape but for some reason the fantasy charaters and especially the different countries were confusing for me. I never seemed to be sure where I was i I normally love Harry Turtledove and own several ( around 20) of his books but theis was one series that I stopped dead on at the first book. I forced myself to finish this book picking at it over the course of several years and plan to sell it now that I've finished it.
I normally love his technique of following several characters over a large landscape but for some reason the fantasy charaters and especially the different countries were confusing for me. I never seemed to be sure where I was in this landscape or what culture the characters were supposed to be from and who was at war with who. I read a lot of fantasy and alternate history so it wan't just the strange names or the number of them. This book just never hooked me and I had no desire to find out what happened next. Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. In Byzantine history in 1977.Turtledove has been dubbed 'The Master of Alternate History'.
Within this genre he is known both for creating original sce Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. In Byzantine history in 1977.Turtledove has been dubbed 'The Master of Alternate History'. Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
Coast Guard rescues 252-pound loggerhead turtle that was unable to dive for food and covered in growths. The Coast Guard along with marine wildlife rescue organizations have managed to save an enormous, ailing Loggerhead turtle. The creatures are bottom-feeders who eat crabs and other sea floor dweller.
Crew noticed the turtle needed help because it had strange growths on it and was having trouble diving. Turtle was taken to Tutle Recover Center in New Jersey where to will recoverByPublished: 17:27 BST, 14 June 2017 Updated: 17:52 BST, 14 June 2017. 'The Coast Guard reported it directly to us, because it was in Delaware waters,' said Suzanne Thurman, executive director of the Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute in Lewes said.'
We sent a couple of our responders out to assist and oversee, and I gave instructions over the phone so that they could pick it up where they were. If the boat travels away from the turtle in the water, it becomes like a needle in a haystack.' We're very fortunate that the Coast Guard saw it,' Thurman said. 'They did an amazing job, we were able to talk about how to safely get the turtle out of the water without causing inadvertent injury.' The crew of the Lawson then contacted members of MERR and arranged to pick them up in order for them to take a closer look at the animal.
Members of Sea Turtle Recovery toook Tammie the loggerhead turtle away for care and rehabilitation. Due to the species' weight, the rescue required two boats'Members of MERR and Sea Turtle Recovery knew right away that the turtle was sick because it was floating,' said Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Taylor. 'They told us that if turtles can't dive, they can't eat, and if we hadn't helped it, it would have slowly starved to death.' The crew of the Lawson managed to use a cargo net to scoop the turtle on board where scientists and the Sea Turtle Rescue team were able to take a closer look providing it with care as they assessed its condition.' It was a unique experience and took a lot of coordination and teamwork to rescue the turtle and ensure it received the best possible treatment before being returned to its natural habitat,' said Lt.
Joseph Rizzo. The turtle was notices to be in difficulty because it had trouble diving for food and had a strange growth on its back'It's a great feeling for the crew to know that we had a part in saving an animal in jeopardy of becoming endangered.' Scientists from Sea Turtle Rescue decided to name the turtle Tammie.' The rescue was successful. The Coast Guard was an amazing help, they just are professionals on the water, they have the expertise to do something this involved and take the turtle back to the New Jersey side,' Thurman said to.