Customer Reviews

Different Flesh

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Intrigued with the alternate history scene and learning that Harry Turtledove is the "grandmaster" of it, I read "A Different Flesh" with high hopes of inspiration & imagination. Boy, was I let down.

The idea of the book is great. Instead of finding the Indians, the early explorers find "sims"...a shorter way of saying Neanderthal caveman. The book goes through several short stories with very likeable characters and intriguing plot lines.

However, the plot goes from the 1600s to the 1800s at a good pace and then all of a sudden jumps to 1988 and then that's the end. I feel that Turtledove only had to write x amount of words for the publisher and that's exactly where he stopped.

What about all the years between the 1800s and 1988?

Why not explore future years past 1988? I realize that would have been predicting for the author, but that is the fun of science fiction.

The ending of the book did not wrap anything up...the sims go to either medical research or reservations. And?!? Then what?!? Turtledove could have easily turned this into a 400-500 page epic novel and connected many loose ends while stabbing at greater philosophical, political, religious and social issues.

Overall, a let down at the end after a promising start.

I was intrigued with the premise of the book long before I located a copy. Reading it, I was disappointed to find that there wasn't much more to it than that. It's written as a series of vignettes, starting with early American colonists encountering the Sims, and continuing forward through time to the present day, with Sims being used as medical test-subjects. I liked that approach at first, but now I'm wondering if a novel would have worked better. None of the characters are very well fleshed out (excuse the pun), and the alternate-reality world of the sims seems disappointingly similar to our own. I'd love to see a different writer work from the same starting point - the results could be fascinating.

"A Different Flesh" shows an extremely likely outcome of the world's history if one simple factor in history had changed; namely, the arrival of modern man via the Alaskan land bridge. In this carefully written book, he explores several periods of Americal history where the Native American has been replaced by Homo Erectus, and the resulting theological, historical, judicial, moral, practical, and political changes worldwide. He uses his Ph.D in history and the resources of the universities we works at to carefully extrapolate the future from a different past, and his writing experience to create colorful, realistic, and deep characters

Having read many Harry Turtledove books I found this one to be a different style than many of his other books. While alternate history, it is not focused as much on characters through a time continuum. It is a series of short stories where America is still inhabited by creatures that are no longer in our world - Homo Ergaster, sabre tooth tigers, mastadons, etc. There are hints of other differences but generally works on the behavior, social interaction, historical, and ethical considerations of these creatures (many on Homo Ergaster) and the world as it develops. Particular stories about slavery, animal testing, and the industrial revolution cause you to think about our relationship with the world. This book appeals to many genres - cryptozoology, science fiction, alternative history, and historical fiction. A very fun read.

I am a Turtledove fan and bought this book to replace an old soft cover copy. Being a priss about my library I had no regrets other than that it took me so long to find a hard cover version is such good shape.

Turtledove grabs us by the throat with an interesting premise then drops us and leaves the room, never to return. That's how I felt after reading this. The only alt history this so called "Grand Master of Alternate History" has ever written worth it's salt is "Guns of the South" Shine this one on.

This early Turtledove work is a great piece of work, posing -- and sometimes answering -- sensitive questions relative to our debates on animal rights, race, ethnicity, and more. And it's a great story! REPUBLISH IT!