Customer Reviews

The Domination

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you've ever looked at an alternate history wep site or discussion group, you've no doubt noticed numerous references to the Draka books. Some say they're great works of alternate history, some say they're unrealistic garbage. Either way, these books seem to inspire a great deal of emotion. So what's the buzz about? Find out in this volume, which contains all of the original Draka trilogy (Marching through Georgia, Under the Yoke, and the Stone Dogs).

This series has a somewhat unusual point of divergence. It came in the 1770s, when Britain conquered South Africa. After the American Revolution, many of the defeated British loyalists moved to this fledgling colony, where they went about building a new nation, which eventually came to be called the Draka Domination. This energetic, militaristic slave-holding society rapidly spread across the continent of Africa, becoming a power in its own right. At this point, the timeline gets somewhat improbable. Despite the presence of this large, powerful, economically influential political entity, the rest of the world develops much as it did in real life (although the USA successfully conquers Canada, Mexico, and central America during the course of the 19th century). It seems that the Draka should have a much bigger impact on history.

Dispite the problem of plausibility, however, this volume makes for a very compelling read. The Draka are in the unique position of being both fascinating protagonists and terrifying villains. Throughout the course of the (one-volume) trilogy, most of the viewpoint characters are Draka. We are given an in-depth look at their society, which places great emphasis on both military prowess and artistic talent. However, we also see the dark side of this society. The Draka oversee huge masses of slaves, who are brutally exploited and violently (often fatally) punished for the smallest offense. They have no respect for the laws of war, for all captured enemies join the ranks of these slaves. The Draka, who take this nightmarish system for granted, are a truly chilling creation.

The stories themselves are exciting and well-written. Each book in the trilogy is very different from the others in tone and setting, but all are very effective.

Marching through Georgia is a straight war novel, set in the early 1940s. The Draka Domination has gone to war against Hitler's Third Reich, and the two nations are heading towards a showdown in the Caucasus. The protagonist leads a small but highly trained and well equipped force of Draka paratroopers against the Waffen SS in a series of violent, graphic, blood-drenced battles. There is a stronger emphasis on bullets than on brains, but it's a very enjoyable military adventure.

Under the Yoke is set several years later, during this world's Cold War. The Draka have overrun all of continental Europe and most of Asia. They are opposed by a US-led coalition of free nations (the Alliance for Democracy) containing all of the Americas plus Britain, Japan, India, and Indochina, and Australia. Part of the plot follows a US secret agent who is slipped into Northern Europe, while the other part deals with recently-enslaved Europeans, who must learn to live in a world without freedom, hope, or diginity. The two plotlines converge as the Alliance for Democracy struggles, with the help of European resistance fighters, to maintain its lead in nuclear technology. A satisying, if unusually gory, espionage thriller.

The Stone Dogs continues this alternate Cold War as both the Alliance and the Domination continue to build their strength. The Draka perfect genetic engineering, while the free nations make great leaps in the physical and computer sciences, and both blocs establish their presence throughout the solar system. This book is bigger in scope and therefore a little less focused than the other two, ranging from espionage in France to military action in India to various intrigues throughout the Solar System. Still, it provides an enthralling picture of a far more intense Cold War against an utterly implacable foe.

Good reads throughout, but not for people with weak stomaches. There is a huge amount of unusually graphic violence, unusually nasty executions, and unusually sadistic torture. There is also a great deal of sex, much of it lesbian (the Draka seem to be universally bisexual). For those who can handle this sort of thing, however, this is a very worthwhile AH/SF tale.

This review comes well after the publication of The Domination and the primary purpose is to address some of the negative reviews that might otherwise disuade a potential reader. Most of the criticism is grounded on what the critics assert is an implausibly high level of technology in the Draka time line. Two points: First, if the negative reviewers had been afforded the original novels with their extremely detailed appendices, they would be fully up to speed on why technology advanced quicker in Stirling's alternative world than it did in our own. Second, no one can credibly claim that, given different historical stimuli, our technological level could not be more or less advanced depending on circumstances that, as Stirling did, can only be imagined.

The point is, the first time reader should really read the original novels, then read Drakon AND then read The Domination. And, actually, the only reason to read The Domination is the teasers about the post-Drakon world that, with any luck at all, we will see in book form in the not to distant future.

On the general subject of Alternate History, Stirling and Turtledove are both masters of detail and authenticity, and thus the leaders of this genre. I give Stirling the slight edge for one simple reason: he links, or at least gives himself the option to link, his books even beyond what his fans might first perceive.

Consider this: His two most widely read and discussed solo series, the Draka series and Nantucket series, have a cross-time event as the central plot device. The similarities between the the cross-time mechanisms in these two seemingly unrelated series are not accidental, in my opinion. As a big fan, my hope is that we might someday be treated to a connection between these two series.

If you are reading this review and have not read the referenced series, or Turtledove's alternate World War I series, all are really first rate reads. In this genre, they just don't get any better. Pay no attention to those who demand perfection--it doesn't exist anyway. Finally, these two authors like to have fun and they are very likely good friends. As one example, one of Stirling's principle characters in the the Nantucket series is almost certainly based on Turtledove.

Hm, the reviewers below seem kind of nitpicky. They may not realize this, but in history, even a small twist of fate can have huge impact on the timeline.

Sure, the Draka have more advanced technology, but why is this so improbable? If you had gone back 5-600 years and told someone that western Europe would significantly outstrip China in technology and power in couple of hundred years, you would have been laughed at. Or if you had told someone a hundred years ago that China will vastly outsrip the U.S. in technology and power in couple of hundred years, you would have been laughed at again. Yet this is what happened, and almost certainly will happen.

Technical progress is a direct function of social environment and chance. Nothing Stirling writes is implausible as our own timeline.

By the way, let's not be so chauvanistic about the Revolution and the Civil War. Loyalists lost because there weren't as many of them, and the South lost because they had less industry. It had nothing to do with the people's character.

Finally, that Janissaries fought well is not farfetched. Didn't Indians and African Americans show great courage in WWII, even though they were so severely oppressed? Didn't Rome have many former enemies and second class citizens not fight well for them?

This is a great book, written by a man who is incredibly perceptive and well informed. This is not a book for an intellectual lightweight or a those with a closed mind. It is a very intellectually honest book, and I would say, perhap the greatest science fiction I have ever read.

Most Alternate History afficianados (myself included) are minutia fixated wonks. Because of this we sometimes dont see the forest for the trees. I recently read Stirling's explanation about what he was tying to do with the Draka Universe. I became a believer.

Stirling is not necessarily trying to make a technically plausible AH here. his main goal was to take the worst of Western Civilization (chattel slavery, single minded quests for power, misuse of technology, etc) and let it condense and fester. He does that by having British Colonial Loyalists evacuate America after the Revolution and set up shop in whats now South Africa.

That said, there are technical issues that are troubling. The Draka seem to develop in a vaccuum. While I can understand outside forces not making much of a dent on the Draka slavers, I cant see the rest of the world essentially ignoring the Draka military tech advances. Also, I just cant see other powerful nations sitting back and doing nothing while the Draka gobble up everything in sight.

To truly appreciate the Draka series, you must view them much the same way you would a comic book. If you look too deep, youll spoil the fun. So, take it for what it is and enjoy the ride!

Below you'll find a bunch of reviews saying how this "could never happen."... Everyone thinks that Hitler and Stalin and all the other evil people fell because they're evil. Stirling takes that silly notion that evil must inevitably implode and shows how plausibly false it is.

Make no mistake, this is not a book for those of you who like the Hollywood ending. This is not light reading. This book is one of those types that you put down and you thank God, fate, or whomever that something like this never happened to us.

Basically, the Loyalists from the American Revolution go to South Africa and create a neo-Spartan society (complete with pseudo citizen classes like Metic). This society speeds up the technological curve by about 50-100 years (depending on the book). The story starts in World War II and the Draka have technology about 50 years ahead. By the end of the 20th century, the world is approximately a century ahead of us.

The skeptics say this is implausible. They obviously are not students of history. Science and technology is not like hopscotch, where everyone progresses down the same path in an ordered pattern. Societies build, innovate, and advance based on how much they wish to do so. A working model for a steam engine was produced in Ptolemaic Egypt in the 2nd century BC. The society of the time had no use for it, so it lay forgotten. China had gun powder for centuries before the West, why didn't they build firearms? The answer; because they did not need firearms. The speed of innovation is directly proportional to its demand and the Draka found themselves as refugees surrounded by a hostile Africa.

The Draka also make use of slave soldiers called Janissaries. Skeptics say these people would rise up against their owners. Sure, if they had the hope of succeeding. They key is to convince the slave populous that they would fail and that there is no hope. Convince a population that this is the way life is and there isn't a chance to change it and they won't try. Stirling even admits that, early on, rebellions were common. Still don't think it is possible? Study history. Athens had a very large and yet docile slave population. They even had slaves fighting in their ships. Feudal servitude lasted a millennia, ending only because the lords abused the power, something the Draka rarely do. The underground railroad in the U.S. only took off after the Abolitionists provided the slaves with hope of freedom.

The only point I grant to the naysayers is the fact that the two World Wars unfolded just like in our time. Obviously, Mr. Stirling believes that minor changes in history don't affect the integrity of the timeline. However, by putting us in a setting we understand with actors in which we're familiar (World War II, Stalin, Hitler), it allows him to focus entirely on the Draka as opposed to explaining a massively divergent setting.

Read this book. My only regret is that I could not read some of the originals with the maps and appendices. The Draka are a more chilling evil than either brand you get in 1984 or Brave New World, mainly because they're real. The don't sit around plotting how to be diabolical, raising their glasses at dinner and saying "gentlemen, to evil." They're a cultural that is so anti-ethical to us that they seem evil, but if you're truly open minded, then you can see how the Draka see their way as THE way. Stirling does such a good job that you can't help but empathize with the Draka characters. I suggest you let yourself empathize with them. Try being a Draka. You'll never look at this world in the same way.

The Domination is a relentlessly logical, pitiless exploration of an exceedingly dismal alternative history. The Draka are a bizarre combination of what present society would view as both radical and conservative. They are cruel, live only for power, its exercise, and breaking the will of all others, lack any discernible sense of honor, compassion, justice, or fairness (except as to one another), and appear in all aspects worth mentioning inhuman, arrogant, and generally loathsome. Stirling's battle descriptions are superior; some of his social observations about the Draka are repetitive, a bit pat and National Inquirer-like; and he is very good at what I think of as traditional sci-fi techno-babble. He is at his best in drawing evil female characters (he finds good people, and good, or more properly partially-redeeming qualities in bad people uninteresting, or writes as though he does.) In a peculiar way, what makes the book good is what makes it difficult to read: it offers a cynical, downbeat, well-nigh hopeless alternative history, that will make you wince when you hear a Southern accent, see a couple of lesbians walking hand-in-hand down the street, or pass by a beauty salon, for that matter. Deeply disturbing, but horribly fascinating, and compellingly difficult to put down because of it.

A tale of alternate history told from the "other" side.

Imagine a world where the defeated and expelled Loyalists of the American Revoluntionary War didn't melt back into American society or go to Canada but instead formed a country in what we know as South Africa. Imagine that they were later joined by expelled Southern aristrocrats from the American Civil War and the upper crust of European society. Imagine that this country is named "Draka" and that the Drakans are [rather upset], and you've got S.M. Stirling's "The Domination."

Draka, as one might imagine, is far different then the good ole US of A. First, the whole society is based on slavery. And not just some aspects of the economy, but the country as a whole is completely rooted in the slave culture. Slaves are an integral part of every aspect of Drakan life, including sex and pro-creation, culture and economy. Most importantly, slavery isn't just about captured/transported blacks folks : much of the Drakan labour force comes from people taken from their conquered countries. "Seeing" the Drakans turn people from every part of the globe into Drakan-speaking, sub-citizens is chilling indeed.

Secondly, the Drakans live under a different set of values as well: slaves are never seen as anything more then property. While they may be treated well by their Drakan overlords, slaves are, at best, favored pets. Women, on the other hand, are considered equals to men, and play an active role in every part of Drakan society: government, culture, and the military. Familys play an important role and homosexuality is accepted - even encouraged - in Drakan society.

For all of that, the major difference between the Drakans and everyone else is the mlitary aspect. While white Drakas play hard, they fight even harder. Every Drakan citizen is expected to serve the military, and almost from birth every Drakan citizen is training him or herself to absolute peak physical condition. They are lethal fighting machines, highly trained and each worth a handful of their enemy on the battlefield. Drakans never ask, nor give, quarter, don't believe in Prisoners of War (they either kill or enslave those they capture) and sneer at the American-lead alliance, believing it to be filled with fat and soft peoples. Drakan society and government is driven by the fundamental belief that Draka must expand and conquer everything it can, lest it be the victim itself.

In general, I very much enjoyed this book. Unlike some other alternate fiction that I've read, the digression from the "true" time line isn't immediate and massive. Instead, Stirling makes the split steady and logical. The first major, "world-changing" fissures come around the time of World War 2: the Draka enter the war, but allied with neither side. The result? A three way battle for... well, pretty much everything. From there, things chug along. There's plenty of action, with everything from spy games and hand-to-hand combat to nicely-detailed space battles. But there's also politics and intrigue, and the main characters were "good enough" for purposes of this book. Stirling even spends a fair amount of time showing us how the Draka convert the people of countries they've taken over - it's a fascinating process that helps us better understand how the Draka think.

There were a few small things that prevented me from giving this novel/collection 5 stars. The lack of maps, glossary, or a chronology was quite annoying. And Stirling's writing often portrayed the American-alliance in very contradictory ways: on one hand we're supposed to believe they have a slight lead in technology but on the other are far inferior (and soft) fighters who ignore the reality of what the Draka are.

In general though, those who enjoy alternate-history fiction will find this a surprisingly good read.

I bought this after my copy of Marching through Georgia disappeared on a PCS back here to the World. I missed the timeframe/explainations in the back of the previous editions quite a few times....

Many of the previous reviewers thought it all plausable but like several others I must disagree on some points. Why would the Icelanders vacate all the way to Southern Africa when Canada and the US were closer?(minor point admittedly) Over 10% of Southern bitterenders willingly leave the land they know for an unsure future in Africa?(with their slaves?) That would sure be alot of shipping for a nonmaritime nation to muster. The early adaptation of breechloaders makes sense but not in the absense of all other nations not doing so within a roughly similiar time frame. Look at how fast most warlike inventions were almost univerisally adapted once their value was shown(Maxims/Gatlings) Confederate armor? Where was it made? Shipped in? Have you ever checked out those shallow draft blockade runners, they carried high value small items for the most part. Heavy equipment would have been beyond almost all of their capabilities unless the Union fleet just didn't exist. Janissaries being so constantly effective is wishful thinking also, in the Ottoman Empire these troops got rewarded VERY highly for their service. Becoming the Grand Vizier himself was a possibility. The Draka offer NOTHING but more of the same nonpaid service for their troops. Roman auxilaries got citizenship after service and land grants--becoming the equal of their citizen fellow legionaries. Greek slaves could and often did win their freedom. There were relatively passive slave cultures but that generally depended on how they were treated, the Draka appartently did not treat their serfs very kindly as a rule...

The Draka not having to deal with an interferring Empire also reflects wishful thinking, the Brits were fighting slavery long before we got around to it remember? The Boers started trekking very early because of that.

My biggest complaint is that we only see the elite of the Draka, not the average types. Slaves were seen being generally treated quite well, of course we only ever really see the estate slaves of the rich "nice" Draka(kind of like "Gone With The Wind). Other reviewers say we can be empathic towards them quite easily, after all we don't see much of the evil side do we? The terror used is seldom touched on often and then generally quite fleetingly.

Overall it is inself a fair read but the opponents seem so much out of balance. The Draka seem to so all powerful that I wondered why it took 3 books for the Alliance to finally lose...

Finally!!! The Stirling classic trilogy of the "Draka", has finally been reissued. Those who read this daring trilogy, will find themselves and their sense of morals challenged to the extreme. This trilogy is one of the most believable in the genre of alternative history novels. Anyone reading "The Domination" will be astonished by the detail and the complexity of S.M. Stirling's writing. His research and detailed depiction of this fascinating and terrifying society, cannot help but enthrall the reader. One's own sense of morality is provoked and challenged, while at the same time, evoking an uncomfortable identification with the super race called "The Draka". The most horrifying aspect of this collected novel, is that it is believable, had circumstances allowed. I was disappointed that the informative maps and chapter prologs, were omitted. This work has been out of print for some time now. It would have been very helpful to those first-time readers to have been able to read and veiw such deleted material. However if you're looking for a good read, you will not be disappointed. I find that many stories that challenge one's own sense of humanity, are afforded a higher sense of morality and introspection in relating to one's place in our world today. And how it could have been. One cannot help but imagine themselves in such a reality, and contemplate their own existence in it. The ultimate question put to us, "How would we all face such a Holocaust?" I especially appreciated how the characters grew in this expansive plot. And how the events of the storyline impacted them, and ultimately us. One cannot help but imagine who would betray the title characters of this novel, should directors be brave enough make a film production of it. I highly recommend this novel for those who are not afraid to have their own sensibilities challenged and provoked. Hopefully, we will hear more from "The Domination".

Of all the books I've read - and this number is nearing 1,000 - Stirling's Domination trilogy is perhaps the best-researched, best-written, in-your-face, no-sugar-pills story of the world dominated by the force compared to which the Nazis are just a bunch of choir boys. Aside from the masterful narrative, the author has produced a keen insight on the nature of the human spirit and personality and on how easily they adjust to the existing social surroundings. The concepts and values of the Draka-dominated world are mind-bogglingly terrifying, and what makes it scary beyond sanity is the fact that this world is so incredibly believable. After a protracted contact with the Draka reality, the mind of what we would consider a 'normal' person reaches the snapping point because it cannot successfully evaluate what it experiences using the set of 'normal' moral and ethical values. In fact, this is exactly what happens to an American spy sent into the Domination on an extended assignment. I highly recommend this book not only because it is a great read, but because of its tremendous shock value. Anyone who reads this book to the end will doubly appreciate the world we live in.