Unsong

Unsong by Scott Alexander (audio version)

Scott Alexander has a cult-like following on his blog (Slate Star Codex and later Astral Codex Ten). He writes a lot and elicits a huge number of comments. This book was originally serialized over the span of a couple years on the blog. It has the feel of a work full of inside jokes. 

The book is an alternative history starting from the 1960s. The mission to the moon broke an important crystal surrounding the earth and started messing up the magic. Things started going wrong in various ways. Angels, demons and other religious figures are real and heavily involved in earth. Words have great power. Saying the right word can have real actions. (In one scene, the President burns up because somebody hacked a teleprompter to get him to say "light myself on fire" word.) Companies have set up ways to find words - and then copyrighted the words. This has caused problems as others are not permitted to use them - even if they would help a lot.

The book goes through many digressions at it explores possible kabbalistic interpretations of people, places and things. San Francisco is similar to Jerusalem, with many areas having words that match Jewish names. In one scene, a character goes through a deep theological analysis of the song "American Pie". He is only stopped by someone taking this discussion in other ways.

The book is very long and has a "blog feel". There is something of a plot with the rise of a fallen angel and the conflict with the world. However, that is of minor importance compared to the string of short episodes. Good angels are busy trying to "debug" the functionality of earth. Hell comes out in the open and partners with countries in earth. Historic episodes take place in this weird world, though often with more obvious manipulation. It would not be hard to read some sections out of order.

The audiobook was prepared as a podcast. The narration is pretty well done, but the volume can be variable.

The Plot Against America

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

In this alternate history, Charles Lindbergh defeats FDR in 1940 on a strong "no Americans in World War II" program. The book is told from the view of a Jewish boy he sees a gradual rise in anti-semitism in the US. There are plans to send urban Jews to farms to adopt American culture. While most Jews are against the administration, one Rabbi supports Lindbergh and rises high in the administration. The narrator has ties to all sides, with one brother going to a Kentucky farm, while another brother joins the Canadian army to fight Nazis. (This brother loses a leg and returns home a cripple.) Matters get worse, with a Jewish candidate being killed in Louisville. Then Lindbergh flies solo out there and disappears on the way back. The vice president eventually takes power and declares martial law. There are rumours that the Jews had him killed, whiles others that the Germans were behind it. Eventually, FDR gets elected to be president and America joins World War II. There is a possible history presented that Lindbergh was a puppet of the Nazis due to them kidnapping his son. However, Lindbergh refused to be as harsh with the Jews as they wanted so he was disposed of.

The story is a long look at life of northeastern urban Jews. People can easily turn to anti-semitism. However, legal and cultural protections do limit how far it could go in America vs in Germany. 

A Master of Djinn: A Novel

An early 20th century version Egypt has magic as part of its society. A murder occurs, and a woman detective is put on the case. She is also given a partner to work with her on the case, much to her chagrin. (However, she reluctantly agrees to work with her, realizing there are not many females that get the opportunity.) 

The society seems similar to our modern society. Concerns of westernization, gender equity and LGBTIA rights are all issues that come in to play in this "magical society". The big difference is the magic (and "fake magic") that are part of this society.

There are a number of topics of colonialism, slavery, and magic involved as the Djinn have their magical powers, yet are somewhat subservient. The British people in Egypt end up being troublemakers among a society that has come at peace with the magical presence.

Underneath all this magic and political commentary, there is a detective story. They do manage to uncover the source of the murder. There are plenty of twists and turns in the case (many involving the supernatural.)

The Golden Shrine: A Tale of War at the Dawn of Time

Golden Shrine is historical fantasy set so far back in time that it doesn't matter if there is any historical part to it. The book felt like a bunch of modern characters meandering around in the distant past. It has been on my list to read for years, but I have been slow to get too it. I don't feel like a missed much.

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

Babel is set primarily in an alternate version of 19th century Oxford, England. The British empire spans the globe and is rapidly industrializing. The British assume that other people are eager to come to England and partake of the fruits of prosperity. Many laborers see their livelihood taken away by the industrialization and struggle to adapt. China has very little need for English goods and destroys the opium sitting in the harbors of Canton. Britain is ready to go to war to force Opium on the people.

So far, it is mostly historical. The "fantasy" part involves linguistics and silver.  Silver can heal disease, power machines and so much more. However, it only gets its power when words are spoken by an expert. It is the difference between two "similar" words in different languages that grants this power. A group of skilled translators work in a secure building in Oxford. They are linguistic experts. Many have been recruited from all over the world. They have been specially trained in different languages. Their special skills provide the power behind the "industrial revolution".

The book centers primarily on foreign youth who have been taken from their homes and come to Babel. A Chinese youth is taken from his family and taken under a guardianship before going to Oxford. These youth also meet with a secret group of other Oxford students who are opposed to the societal change. On a trip to Canton, they become disenchanted with what is going on (and accidentally kill a guardian.) They return to Oxford and lock themselves into the tower and withhold silver from society. This leads to a collapse of Oxford and then other parts of England.

The premise and the linguistic power is very well done. My biggest complaint was that it was not carried out enough. It would be possible to take away silver and just consider this "historical fiction". Why not eliminate the fantasy elements to explore the challenges of Anglo-centric industrialization? Or take the opposite approach and go further with the fantasy to explore more of the long term impacts?

The Five Books of (Robert) Moses

In the Bible, the Israelites experience in Egypt had become horrible. Moses leads them out. However, they have a long trek in the wilderness before they reach the promised land. Eventually, they do reach Zion shortly after Moses dies. The author here just could not resist the putting Robert Moses in the roll, having the book end with Robert Moses dying shortly before his group of people reach Zion National Park.

The Five Books of (Robert) Moses is a very long book. It is over a thousand pages and the audiobook lasts over 60 hours. The narrative bounces around in time and place. The time from early 1900s until early 1970s is fairly historically accurate with a few embellishments. Attention is paid to the life of Robert Moses and his brother Paul. Robert creates his political fiefdom in New York and is able to push through public works projects regardless of who gets impacted. He destroys the city with his many highways. He also has a bad relationship with his brother Paul who has had investments go sour and been cut off from his inheritance. 

The other historical timeline is the story of the college civil rights movement and the Columbia University sit ins. The novel goes in depth with characters that are involved with these aspects of the civil rights movement. The particular characters may not be historical, but the details of the movement are well covered.

Then there is the hard-core fiction. A dirty bomb is set off in the city. Both Paul Moses and one of the civil rights students have some involvement. The city is gradually getting more and more dangerous to live in, with parts being evacuated. Eventually, the government creates "Rescue City" in the Nevada desert to relocate people that can't relocate themselves. This is structured to be just like New York City. Food and supplies are flown in. Officials are there to help out the residents. The military is also in place to keep order. There is the anticipation that people can go back when New York is safe again. However, for the time being, the only way in or out is via government charter. What could go wrong?

The government hires a private contractor to supply the city. They eventually use unmanned airplanes. The military moves out. Rescue City results to mob and gang rule. There are also some strange experiments done on people. Some people end up there without knowledge of why they are there. Others can experience what other people are feeling. There are various extreme methods of keeping people in line. Eventually, some groups start expeditions out of the city. However, this is a perilous operation, with many dying, and some resorting to cannibalism to survive.

The various stories gradually unfold. Many of the historical parts are told as "memories", often while one of the characters is the middle of a horrible situation. (The book is filled with various types of depravity.) It takes a while to figure out what is going on, but it all starts to fit together in the end.

Pavane

Pavane is an alternative history set in "modern" England. However, the assassination of Queen Elizabeth led to the Spanish Armada defeating the English. From this, the Catholic church was able to reign supreme and limit innovation. Some technology has gradually permeated society. However, things like electricity are fundamentally banned (though sometimes clandestinely adopted by the wealthy.) The book consists of a number of small stories in this quasi-steam-punk environment. The end explains that limiting technology may be useful in helping to give people time to adopt to the new before they cause problems for themselves. The stories have a feudal feel to them. While I found the idea intriguing, I had a difficult time getting into the book.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Magic exists, but is not very common. Fairies are also a separate race that can cause all sorts of problems. Other than that, things are pretty much as we would expect in Victorian England. That is the scenario for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The book centers around the two named magician who learn the art of magic and try to document the history. Magic is used to help win wars. However, fairy magic has also lead to plenty of bad historical events.

The book contains a number of "stories" that are related. I found some of them to be quite good. However, I had trouble keeping interested at the end. It is a long book that may have been better if shortened.

The Sorceress: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book 3

William Shakespeare and Billy the Kid show up as new Immortals in the third Nicholas Flamel book. The stakes have now gone greater. The dark elders want to unleash demons stored in Alcatraz and take over the world. The twins are still struggling to determine who the good guys and bad guys are. Josh is becoming ever more linked to his sword. They are also gradually being awakened, learning the power of water. John Dee and Machiavelli are chasing them down, but do not manage to catch them.

A Mutiny in Time: Infinity Ring, Book 1

Three kids must try to fight "Bad guys" to fix broken history. They live in an alternate world where Columbus was overthrown by a mutiny and a two brothers discovered America. There are also many other parts that are just a little bit different from our current world. One of the kids helps complete work on a ring that allows them to travel in time. They go back and try to fix problems in history. There are both "good guys" that help them as well as "bad guys" that are trying to take their advantage. It is a fun story with an interesting take on alternative history.

Rising Tides: Destroyerman 5

Rising Tides is the fifth book in the "Destroyerman" alternative history/science fiction series. Some world war 2 ships end up in some alternate earth filled with sentient animals. There are crazy mean monsters as well as cats that serve as crew. The author is obviously a military buff and spends a lot of time talking the details of military equipment. The plot is confusing with a large number of characters and animals doing various things. The book just had no appeal to me.

My Tank is Fight

World War II lead to many great technological innovations. However, with all innovations, there are a string of failures along the way. My Tank is Fight covers the failures. The author uses a humor to describe many of the innovations that never saw the light of day (or that did appear but were never very useful.) For each invention, he provides the factual details of the process and the contraption itself. He then provides a possible history of what would have happened if the invention was actually produced and used on the battlefield. (Usually, this part ended with a catastrophic failure.) A lot of the inventions were "gigantic" or "combination" vehicles. A huge tank may seem great, but it would be very slow. A submarine/tank combo would go anywhere, but would be neither a good submarine nor a good tank. A ship made out of ice mixed with sawdust would be difficult to break, but would also consume a huge amount of resources to build. The book included the narrative with a reporter and the "combatants" from each of the major powers, with the story reaching its humorous end in the post script. If the German's had not spent so much effort in search of the super weapon, would they have won the war? (On the other hand, would they have not made the useful advances if they were not searching so hard for the "big win".) The important thing is to know when to fail fast. Luckily, we can enjoy the humorous story of some of these "failures" that lasted a little longer than they should have.

Leviathan

It took me a while to understand what was going on in Leviathan. It sounded like a World War I novel. Were walkers and airships real things? Wait, they are creatures created by "Darwinists". There is obviously some science fiction involved. And finally once it is a third of the way through, I'm finally starting to get the characters and understand what is going on.

The story takes place at the dawn of World War I. One main character is a boy who is the son of the "guy with the funny hat" whose assassination started the great war. He gets to pilot a "walker" to a safe house on a glacier where he discovers that he is next in line to rule the empire. The other lead is a girl who is disguised as a boy to join the British military and work on a living "airship". The end up meeting and help each other out.

Once I realized what was going on, I liked it. The history is a million miles removed from the actual "real" history. However, it just took a few minor turns to get there. The story isn't much. However, the setting and the characters make up for it. We'll see if the next few books in the series start to focus more on plot.

The Eighth-Grade History Class Visits the Hebrew Home for the Aging

Harry Turtledove's short story is available online at TOR: http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/01/the-eighth-grade-history-class-visits-the-hebrew-home-for-the-aging-harry-turtledove.

I had previously read one of Turtledove's novels and was not impressed. However, this short story was quite well done.

We get the account of an eighth-grade class that visits Anne Berkowitz in a retirement home. Anne was a Jew living in the Netherlands during World War II. We hear her account of the atrocities of the time and how they made it through. As the story unfolds, we gradually realize that this is Anne Frank. However, in this history she lived. After the war ended she destroyed her diary so she wouldn't have to relive some of the memories. However, the students can hear her first hand accounts.

The story does a good job of gradually unfolding the story, letting the reader realize on their own who this "Anne" is. It raises some interesting questions. Anne Frank died in a concentration camp. However, she is well known today because of her diary. However, if she had lived, she would have likely lived a very anonymous life as an unknown holocaust survivor.

1434

[August 2011] In 1434, Gavin Menzies provides an Chinese-centric history of the renaissance. This is a follow up to 1421 in which China is seen as having early contact with the American continent. Eventually bureaucracy shut down the grand explorations and Europe went on to assume its role as great explorer and innovator.

The stories presented are roundly criticized by historians for not being factual. However, the arguments do have a strong element of plausibility. Perhaps the real truth is somewhere in between. China obviously provided some inspiration to Europe. (Nobody discounts Marco Polo). There could have been much greater connections that were simply lost in the historical record. (People would much rather have appeared to come up with something on their own than to have copied it.)

West and East: The War that Came Early

Ostensibly, this is an "alternative" history that contains a fictional account of World War II where the war starts earlier. However, you can hardly tell. The book focuses on the events of individual people. About the only clue you get that it is an alternate history is the mention that Paris wasn't captured by the Nazis. Ok, I'm pretty sure that they captured that early in the war.

As for the other events, it is mostly minor events that are mentioned. Denmark gets captured by the Nazis. Sweden remained nuetral. Hmmm... Well, I think something like that happened. But off hand, I'm not sure of the actual timing.

The story focuses on the people. And the characters here are not really worth focussing on. They all seem to be stereotypical caricatures of world war ii-era people as seen through modern eyes.

Rather than being an "alternative" history, this simply comes across as a "bad" history. It is as if a teacher gave students a brief outline of world war ii and told them to right a history. They might get a few facts right and a few wrong. And the characters would be shallow means of advancing the plot. After reading this, I think I've had enough of Turtledove.