When Avram became King of Detina, he announced his intention to liberate the blond serfs from their ties to the land. This noble assertion immediately plunged the kingdom into a civil war that would prove long and bloody, and set brother against brother. The northern provinces, dependent on the labour of their serfs, seceded, choosing Avram's cousin, Grand Duke Geoffrey, as their king. To save the kingdom, Avram sent armies clad in grey against the north, battling Geoffrey's army, arrayed in blue. Though King Avram held more land and wealth than Geoffrey, Geoffrey's men were better soldiers and the north had better and more powerful wizards. Still, as the war raged on, the tide turned against the north. Even so, the war is far from over. Earlier, the north had held an almost impregnable position - but was overrun when an overconfident sorcerer's spell went awry. Use of sorcery was often unpredictable, and in the more mundane aspects of the war, battle plans could also go awry. The south seemed to be winning, but the outcome was far from certain...
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Turning the American Civil War literally upside-down, this winning fantasy brings to life a war to free the blond serfs of the North and raise them to equality beside their swarthy masters. Turtledove not only swaps South for North but replaces rifles with crossbows, horses with unicorns and railways with magic carpets. The book opens in the fourth year of the war, when it's clear that the gray-clad armies of King Avram of Detina have the advantage over the followers of the traitorous Grand Duke Geoffrey, who has proclaimed himself king of the seceded North. Many Northern infantrymen have been reduced to robbing Southern bodies for shoes and warm clothing; and while the North has the best wizards, the Southern engineers have invented a rapid-firing crossbow that gives their soldiers a tremendous advantage in battle. The course of this war closely parallels the real one, which makes for a somewhat predictable story but clears the way for a focus on the various entertaining and well-drawn characters, including numerous homages to-or parodies of-various historical figures. Charm and humor balance out the grimly realistic depictions of battlefields and occupied towns, flavor the beautifully subtle treatment of racism and help to mask the occasional lack of descriptive detail. While perhaps best suited to Civil War buffs, this tale proves quite enjoyable for the less tactically inclined, and it's a must-have for any fan of alternate histories.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Turtledove borrows the title from the memoirs of Confederate general John Bell Hood, who here, as in history (magical aid notwithstanding), brings about the Gotterdammerung of his own cause, despite high courage, in a misguided campaign of inadequate strength. Turtledove focuses on the duel between Bell (i.e., Hood) and Doubting George (i.e., Union general George Thomas), though Ned of the Forrest (Nathan Bedford Forrest) and John the Lister (John Schofield) are also prominent. After the duel's high points--the battles of Poor Richard (Franklin, Tennessee) and Ramblerton (Nashville)--both analogous and completely invented characters lose luster as blue-clad Northerners (the rebels in Turtledove's alternate history) slide to defeat, like the gray-clad Southerners of our history. The book captures the fearful grimness of the two great battles; Rollant, the ex-serf, continues to offer insights on the path from slavery to freedom; and Turtledove has no compunctions about naming the counterpart of the famous Willard Hotel in Washington the House of the Rat. Light but not lite Turtledove, full of intellectual calories for his faithful followers. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Harry Turtledove is the award-winning author of the alternate-history works The Man with the Iron Heart; The Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Worldwar saga: In the Balance, Tilting the Balance, Upsetting the Balance, and Striking the Balance; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the American Empire novels: Blood & Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and the Settling Accounts series: Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, and In at the Death. Turtledove is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rambling On Down to Ramblerton,
By
This review is from: Advance and Retreat (Hardcover)
Advance and Retreat (2002) is the third novel in the War Between the Provinces fantasy series, following Marching Through Peachtree. This series closely reflects the events of the American War Between the States, but uses dramatic license to create thoughts and words for the characters. Moreover, it uses punny names for persons and places and reverses most everything from directions to uniform colors.This volume covers the period after the fall of Atlanta to Sherman through the destruction of the Army of Tennessee as an effective force. It portrays the generals on both sides as human beings with both strengths and weaknesses. While the characterizations are frequently based on the remaining documents of that period, nobody now or then knows for sure what went on in the privacy of these minds. Some traits are fairly well established from documentary evidence, but others are more like SWAGs. Read some of the many published histories and biographies covering this period and make your own guess. Certain characters are treated more sympathetically in this novel -- i.e., George Thomas and Bedford Forrest -- than they were by their own professional peers; both displayed a competency that was not acknowledged by their ultimate commanders. On the other hand, Hood was totally belittled by his superiors, yet regained his reputation by blowing his own horn in his memoirs and speeches. This novel is fun, but can be frustrating if you aren't a Civil War buff. Some of the punny names are really obscure. Nevertheless, I still wish Harry Turtledove would write nonfictional history books. Maybe a study guide for this series? Recommended for Turtledove fans and all alternate history buffs who also like fantasy. -Arthur W. Jordin
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Last book in a weaker series,
By
This review is from: Advance and Retreat (Hardcover)
Harry Turtledove is an excellent writer of alternative history. That genre deals with a divergence from our own history, by changing one or more events, and then surmising what would follow. His recent "Ruled Brittania" concerns what England would be like after the success (instead of the failure) of the Spanish Armada, and eventual invasion of England by the Spaniards.This book is not alternative history. Advance and Retreat, the third book in the "Detina" series, is Altered History. Turtledove takes real US Civil War history, maps it into a new fantasy world, and retells the story with magic instead of technology and monarchy replacing democracy. In Detina, South is our North, East is our West, and both people and places have names that are excuses for punnery. Thus, the Cumbersome River (instead of Cumberland) or Summer Mountain (which is really Spring Hill). Some of the names are easy to figure out (Peachtree = Georgia), some require knowledge of Latin, Greek or Hebrew (Parthenia = Virginia, King Avram = Abraham Lincoln), some are cutesy (Peterpaulandia = Maryland), others are completely baffling (New Eborac = New York, Dothan = Alabama). Turtledove does some things well in this book. The story is engaging, the battle scenes are riveting, and the characters are fascinating (for the most part). Even knowing how the events will turn out, since it corresponds with the US Civil War in 1865, I never lost interest. Even when Turtledove tells us sixty times that Doubting George isn't ready to invade, or Bell used to be a mighty warrior before he lost an arm and a leg, I kept going. But some things are done poorly. Turtledove loved the punning more than keeping his world consistent, and many of the names simply rang false. Some walked out of Masterpiece Theatre, like Duke Edward of Arlington and Ned of the Forest, others arrived from mysterious lands with odd tongues (Generals Hesmucet and Peegeetee), yet no mention was ever made of this linguistic clash. At least in Turtledove's "Darkness" series, which is a similar fantasy remapping of World War II, each of the countries has consistant people and place names within their own borders. While deciphering the puns and anagrams can be fun, they should not get in the way of the story. Yet the names do clash, a continual reminder that this novel is simply a retelling of a different land, far away. And one of the important parts of the story does not map correctly, for Turtledove has created swarthy "Detinans" from across the Western Ocean, who have defeated and enslaved native "blonds." More blonds remain, on on the other side of the Great River (Mississippi) -- ah, you see the problem! He's amalgamated Africans and Native Americans into one people! This off-note jars in an otherwise faithful (though upside-down) retelling of American history. Recommended for Turtledove fans and Civil War buffs. Others take your chances.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Author but merely a Very Good Book,
By
This review is from: Advance and Retreat (Hardcover)
This is the sequel to Marching Through Peachtree and it is a serviceable addition to Harry Turtledoves repertoire of alternate history or thinly veiled historical fantasy novels. This book and its predecessor are very good in the sense that any of Harry's full-length novels are a love it or hate it relationship. Either you love a historical perspective with a high degree of descriptive writing or you hate it. This being said I think this particular series of Mr. Turtledoves is turning out to be my least favorite of his many ongoing series. Maybe it is because it is a basic retelling of the American Civil War through the eyes of its Generals and in a few cases common soldiers. The Civil War has been rehashed perhaps more then any other time in alternative fiction and this time since Harry did not change the order of events there was little to surprise us. A little magic was thrown in and generals had last names like Heated Ham and other silly names. A good book but one without any true innovation. The South was the North in the book and the North the South. The swarthy invaders play the part of Caucasians in our world and "blonds" reprise the role of African slaves in our world. An interesting book but one that does not quite measure up to his other works. What this book lacked is what Harry does so well. That is to take a chain of historical events and twist them and show us the outcome. This is more like reading a retired generals memoirs in our world and changing the names. I bought it and don't regret it and would gladly pay hardcover prices again but I look forward to his other works more.
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