Customer Reviews

The Children's War: A Novel

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In "The Children's War", J. N. Stroyar has written a novel of immense creativity, startling realism and remarkable emotion. While it functions brilliantly as an example of the "alternate-history" genre it is also much more. By imagining a Third Reich that existed into the 21st century, Stroyar provides herself with the perfect backdrop to explore the central themes of this novel: humanity, hope, compassion, revenge...I could go on, there are so many.

At its core, "The Children's War" is the story of Peter Halifax a victim of unspeakable Nazi brutality. After years of humiliation, servitude and beatings, he escapes to the Polish Underground; however, his hopes of a more simple, free, life are shattered as he faces the judgement of people who barely even understand what they are fighting for. That's where the novel gets its name, the resistance is fighting for something completely intangible, they are children who have never known freedom, or Poland, or justice, as anything other than a concept. In their quest for survival they have had to make so many compromises their resistance has become almost ritualized. Furthermore, their necessary isolation has calcified many of their views to the point where they are almost as prejudiced, although not as brutal, as the Nazis.

Therein lies the central dichotomy of the novel. Peter is appalled at the accommodations that the Poles have made with the Nazis in order to guarantee their survival. At the same, the Poles judge Peter for having done what he needed to do to survive, without having ever been in a similar position; always safe in their "Ivory Bunker". Ultimately, they are both right and both wrong; in a world of constant warfare, everything is shades of gray. The characters come to realize that humanity is something that you carry in your heart and your mind, not necessarily in your actions.

In terms of the narrative writing and characterizations, I was blown away. The writing was among the best I have ever encountered, which is all the more remarkable since the author is a first time novelist. In particular, Stroyar avoided the pitfall that many authors fall into when writing alternate history: to much information. All to often the authors feel the need to explain in painstaking detail how they arrived at the time the are writing about. Not so Stroyar, who clearly understands that a well drawn present with sufficient, but not overt, background information is more important than the reverse. Furthermore, Stroyar has a superb grasp of politics, both international and domestic. She understands perfectly the stasis that totalitarian regimes must inevitably fall in to, and the introverted inertia that so plagues democracies at peace.

The characters are brutally real, they exhibit an incredible range of emotion, and while not always sympathetic, they are always human. There were actually times when I had to stop reading this novel because it was just too gut wrenching. Of course I couldn't stay away for more than 15 minutes, but I have never been affected by a novel that way.

At this point it's fairly obvious that I loved this novel. "The Children's War" is a great alternate history, it is a great spy-thriller, but mostly it's just great literature. It is a work of tremendous depth and is profoundly moving. Not only does it entertain, but it makes the reader think; both about the world today, and about what might have been.. In the end, I can't say anything more than, "READ THIS NOVEL!" you won't regret it.

Wow, how do I start this?
First off: do not be deterred by the length of this book. Yes, 1149 pages can be a lot to work your way through but I promise, you won't even notice that this is a particularly long book. You'll get so absorbed in the story that you will only curse the fact that the book is so heavy and thus does not lend itself to being carried on the subway etc.

Stroyar describes a world in which the Nazis have won the Second World War. I would not call this a simple history (or more appropriately alternative history) book though. Rather, Stroyar's book is heavily character-driven. We meet a handful of characters and are allowed the privilege to view a horrifying world through their eyes. Stroyar does a fantastic job of fleshing out the characters in her book. Even relatively minor players come fully to live in the hands of this truly gifted author. By the time you've read the first couple of chapters, you can visualize what the characters see to the point that you can almost smell or hear what they smell or hear. Their pain and struggles become yours.

I should warn prospective readers that Stroyar introduces the reader to a tremendous amount of violence. This, however, should not deter anyone. The world she describes is full of gruesome acts of injustice and torture. Stroyar describes scenes of murder and torture not for any sensationalistic purpose but because they are integral parts of the German Reich she writes about.

The book is divided into three separate parts. I personally very much enjoyed the first part that focuses on Peter, an English fugitive who becomes a slave laborer in the household of a sadistic Nazi officer. The second and third parts deal with an Underground movement and its desparate fight against the existing regime. I was pleased to read in another review that somebody else preferred these latter parts of the book over the first one because this means that any reader is bound to love one or the other parts of the book.

Stroyar does not attempt to give us clear-cut answers. Nothing in this book is black and white. Just like in real life, even the hero (Peter) is not perfect. He is simply human. He reacts in ways we would, ways that are not always perfect and sometimes not even understandable. The Underground soldiers are not portrayed as simple knights in shining armour. They lead a highly complex fight and thus face highly complex choices and dilemmas. And the Nazis? Well, they are described as evil and typically not very smart. This was my only tiny problem with the book. It seemed implausible that the Third Reich survived the last 50 years with mostly incompetent officers leading and running it. Then again, this book could not possibly be about everything. I simply resigned myself to the fact that Stroyar had to concentrate on certain themes (Peter, the Underground movement, the foreign opposition, etc.) and, as a result, her treatment of the Nazis fell a little short, tending to slide into a black and white picture. It never bothered me while reading the book, I only realize this now...

One more thought: some reviewers have commented that they were a bit disappointed in the ending of the book. I read these reviews before I myself had finished the book and prepared myself for a major let-down. I must say though: I do not agree at all with this view. The book is a true epic and it had to end somehow. I did not feel cheated by the ending. It was not a neat and fast wrap-up of all unresolved issues and it was not a dramatic cliffhanger either. Rather, it was an ending that is certainly true to life. Without giving away too much: It did not portray the complete collapse of the Third Reich (that would have been ludicrous and unrealistic). Like the book in its entirety, it concentrated on the characters and described an ending to their stories. An ending that leaves much room for the reader's imagination (could we dare hope for a sequel???). An ending that is satisfying and troubling at the same time.

I truly recommend this book to everyone. I guarantee you will enjoy it and, like me, it will leave you wanting for more from this wonderful first-time author. How she will possibly be able to live up to her debut is a mystery to me. But I can hardly wait to find out...

Alternate history novels have become quite popular these days and, indeed, they make a fun and interesting genre. Many of them fall into one of two categories: the "what if the Nazis had won the war?" and all the rest. In this first category are some brilliant novels such as Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle and Robert Harris's Fatherland. Though perhaps not quite as good as these, The Children's War can be added to that list.

First off, at well over 1100 pages, this is not a novel for the weak-willed. It is divided into three sections, however, so it really reads like three novels of about 400 pages each. The reader should also be warned that the first section is the weakest part of the novel. Once the second section begins, things really start to get interesting and remain at a good pitch throughout the rest of the book. That's not to say that the first part doesn't have value but it mostly just introduces you to this modern world of a Nazi-conquered Europe: a cruel master race, subjugated populations (some enslaved and some "ethnically cleansed"), poverty and rebellion. Okay, but pretty standard stuff.

In the second section, however, things start to cook. Enough of the characters have been killed off so that there is a manageable cast and the Nazis become secondary. In fact, the story narrows pretty much to a group of Polish rebels who take in a former English slave named Peter. Peter is the character who, for the most part, drives the novel. What makes these later parts more interesting is, first, the examination of what it is like to be a slave under totalitarianism. Peter escapes at the end of part one and it is not until he is in (relative) freedom that we can see the deeper effects of slavery.

More interesting, however, is the examination of the rebels. Most of them are young and have grown up knowing nothing but war and oppression. What does this do to them? Will they be capable of creating a reasonable society even if they do manage a victory over the Nazis? Are they justified in the atrocities they commit to achieve their ends? Much of this is brought out in a love story between Peter and a rebel named Zosia. It is this examination of the psyches of these characters that make this novel better than the run-of-the-mill. (If you can get past some of the amazing coincidences that allow major characters to interact in some unexpected ways.)

But it is difficult to describe such an involved novel in a few lines. There are many interesting characters here both major (Richard, the Vogels) and minor (Tadek, Barbara). There is a fascinating visit to America mid-novel that gives the chance for some sly commentary on our culture. Ultimately, this is a book that is well worth the effort.

As a fan of alternate history, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. This is not the first novel to focus on the potential of a victorious Germany. It is the first I have seen, however, that focuses not on the geo-politics but on the lives of ordinary people determined to be less than fully human. The world depicted here imagines a Europe completely subjugated by the Nazis, even England. The 1200 page novel initially follows several different stories. First is, Peter Halifax, captured British underground member, who becomes a slave to a haughty German family and whose treatment is harrowing. The book also follows the lives of a group of Polish patriots who live free underground and hold off Nazi attack through the threat of retaliation. The novel also follows the life of a high level official in the Nazi government as he navigates his way through Nazi incompetence and viciousness. Ultimately these characters all come together in a series of complex and unlikely happenings.

The novel is well written but very dense. The characters are uniformly not nice people, understandable given their circumstances. It is not easy to like them as they are not particularly heroic. Peter, in particularly is damaged by his disastrous childhood and his systematic brutalization and degradation in his slave years. This is described in brutal detail. Ultimately the plot, which I am intentionally not revealing, is rather simple. The strength of the novel is the portrait of blighted characters in a horror world that it reveals. As the book is read the author reveals a bleak world without much hope of redemption in which simple survival is far from guaranteed. The 1999 of the "Children's War" is a world most of us could not imagine in our worst nightmares. This book was not easy or pleasant reading. When I was finished I had a bad taste in my mouth. (and my head) Whether Germany could have ever won the war and whether a German Europe fifty years later could have resembled this nightmare is far from clear. One thing that is clear is that after you read this novel, you will be glad you live in the real world, not the world of J.N. Stroyar's imagination.

In part this is the story of a young man who has escaped and been caught up in a world that he did not create nor want to participate in. A world of war where there are no winners and very many losers. The young man Peter, has no life and is made a slave in Germany. The story is in part a search for himself and a search for the meaning in the world he finds himself him. The story is also of a group of Polish Resistance to the Germany that should never have been. It is a story of a little girl and the love she sees in Peter. It is also a not so subtle reminder of the world in which we live. 21st century slavery is reality in this work of fiction that overlaps with reality in so many places it makes you uncomfortable at times....The premise is that Hitler won. The German's have control of most of Europe and very little resistance from an ignorant America. Every assumption you have about slavery and servants, war and peace, love and hatred, values and beliefs will be challenged.

As you read the book, you begin to thank god that Hitler didn't win but then you have this haunting suspicion that there is still slavery and politically endorsed murder and genocide happening as you read (Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Africa, etc.)Your mind wanders to Milosevec and you realize this book is all too real. The lessons the author reveals are enormous.

JN Stroyar is a passionate writer. Having spent time in Poland meeting real people as she has, I can attest to the spirit and the intensity with which she imbues her characters. This is truly a masterpiece. Children's War comes in at about 300,000 words and will take you about 40 hours to read. It may be the best time you have invested in reading in a long, long time. This book meets every expectation you could have in a dramatic sense.

If it were required reading in high school...it just might change the world.

Kevin Hogan, ...

This is a very ambitious alternative history novel set in a world in which Nazi Germany was not defeated in WWII. The key turning point appears to have been a decision not to invade the Soviet Union, leaving Nazi Germany dominated Europe facing the Soviet Union and the North American Union, an amalgamation of the USA and Canada. This long (>1100 pages) book centers on the brutal experiences of a Nazi slave and a resistance movement centered on a residual Polish state. The complex plot and many characters are handled well. The depiction of the slave's life is unsparing and convincing. The author does a good job of showing a corrupt totalitarian state gradually decaying. There is also pointed social commentary, inspired by American contemporary indifference to genocide in other nations, of the failure of American democracy to deal well with these moral catastrophes. Overall, this is good performance by the author. A problem with the book is that the central premise is implausible. Its hard to imagine Hitler and the Nazi state not going to war against the Soviet Union. The desire for eastern lebensraum and hatred of communism was just as deeply embedded in the Nazi psyche as their bizarre racial ideology, indeed, the two were intertwined. Similarly, its hard to imagine a Nazi state giving the necessary space to a resistance movement of the type presented in this book.

J. N. Stroyar's "The Children's War" is one of the most impressive debuts in fiction that I've come across in recent years. Not only is her work replete with excellent research, but more importantly, the characters in her novel are vivid, fully realized figures who think and act credibly in response to their dire surroundings. Although the tale is primarily the saga of Peter Halifax, a young Englishman enslaved by the Third Reich, it is also a moving, emotionally gripping tale of the Polish resistance's struggle against the Nazis. This the finest alternative history of 20th Century Europe I've come across. Stoyar's thoughtful, at times, lyrical, descriptions of Nazi society are quite compelling to read. Although the book is over 1100 pages in length, it easily swept me up in its realistic depiction of a Nazi-occupied Europe at the dawn of the 21st Century. Without a doubt, it's one of the finest novels I've read on Nazi Germany, even with its alternate history premise.

I have to admit, I was a little daunted by the sheer volume of this book. (Over 1000 pages) But I'm also the kind of reader who feels let down when a novel I've been reading ends. Kind of like losing a new friend?

You never know what you will get when you read a new author. I was pleasantly surprised by the character development and flow of this novel. Every time I had a spare moment, I would find myself reaching for this book, compelled to learn more about the story and the characters. I became totally engrossed in the story, my emotions being played to the utmost. Maybe because since this story is told based on historical events, I was forced to face my emotions. At any rate, I would recommend this book to anyone...from the history buff to the casual reader, this novel will be well worth your time. Awesome!

This is a very, very depressing book. It shows the world under the heel of a victorious Nazi Germany. More depressing,the other half of the Eastern Hemisphere is ruled by a Russian tyranny. Perhaps the worst thought is that one realizes that all the hate and bullying and utter disregard for humanity presented here is replicated in scores of countries today - constant fear, secret police, informers, torture chambers, relentless efforts by the State to force agreement even when all know it's a lie....

What was most convincing was not the cruelty or slavery or even the total thought control but the utter greyness, drabness and shabbiness. That kind of rundown degredation seemed so awful yet so real. I would've liked a 4 1/2 star rating. The missing half point was for two reasons: (1) The geopolitical aspects were scant. What about Japan, the USSR, India, etc? (2)The idea that despite their victory, every German would behave like a guard at a concentration camp is unrealistic - especially in light of widespread disattisfaction with living conditions. Few parents would let their children witness them degrading, beating and torturing someone, even in Naziland. Germany, like all such regimes, knew that kind of behaviour was uncivilized and sought desperately to hide it from the world.

The best part was the tale of the underground, a daring and very realistic group of (mainly) Polish restistance fighters. How the two separate plots - the British slave and the underground - merge is a wonderful piece of plotting. The good guys are not squeaky clean; they are determined and realistic. The sci-fi aspect introduced at the end seemed almost perfect.

This is a great read for a cold winter night

This is one of the best books I have ever read!! It portrays , with deep historical psychological , social and political insight, the terrible world that might have been created had Germany won WW II.
There are no more Jews in Europe. England , France and the rest of Euriope are parts of the New Reich, Race theories rule Europe, and the Reich;s economy is based on Zawngsarbeiter - Slave laborers, which are owned and tortured by the Masre race.

Across the ocean , an isolationist America is quitely cutting deals with the new Fuehrer, who is secretly plotting his final victory.

In this dark world, there is a glimmer of hope for a better future.

But don't get me wrong. This is not an "alternative history" book. It is the immensely captivating story of a man, Peter Halifax. The complex character of Peter, a man who is weak and strong, symbol of freedom and a slave, kind and loving who does not hestitate to kill in cold blood, an atheist who is more religous than most of us.

1152 pages, every one of them is worth reading.

But I want to warn you: this book contains one of the most horryfing scenes you will ever encounter - taken directly from the darkest chapters of the Holocaust. If you are sensitive to scenes of torture and racist brutality, don't read this book.