22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant once it gets going, September 16, 2005
This review is from: How Few Remain (Mass Market Paperback)
Harry Turtledove's "How Few Remain" is the first novel in his ongoing timeline dealing with an independent Confederacy winning the American Civil War in 1862. It is also, totally aside from the significance that it begins this timeline, a cracking read.
The novel begins with a brief prologue in which Robert E Lee's orders during the invasion of Virginia are not found by Union soldiers, thus allowing Lee to defeat the Union and achieve independence. We then move forward roughly twenty years, to a world which is sufficiently like the real 1880s not to be confusing, but it is still profoundly different.
This is a world in which an independent and unfriendly power lies immediately to the south of Washington DC and draws much of its strength from friendly relations with British Canada. It is a world in which Abraham Lincoln, still alive and only ever a one-term President, travels the country talking about capitalism and the proletariat. It is a world in which Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens is a newspaperman in San Francisco.
Most importantly for the plot, it is a world in which the Confederacy has decided to purchase two large provinces from Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. The USA - under President James G Blaine - is unhappy about this.
The novel then unfolds with a series of different stories, from Clemens on the west coast to Theodore Roosevelt's adventures in Montana and Lincoln's speechmaking through to the observations of Alfred von Schlieffen in his capacity as German military attache to the USA. These stories sometimes converge, but tend to be self-contained and represent different aspects of the same events.
As previously stated, this is a fine example of alternate history and also of fiction writing. The characters are engaging and the plot is well constructed.
Where "How Few Remain" tends to fall down a little is the early pace. Turtledove needs to communicate some tricky political history quite early in order to set the scene for what happens next and this seems - every now and then - to be a bit artificial. The dialogue between George Custer and the Confederate border patrol, for example, is a little too rehearsed-sounding.
Another slight problem the novel suffers from is the appearance of characters from history. In the main, these are figures whom a nonspecialist in Civil War history (as I am) can identify - Clemens, Custer, Roosevelt, Stonewall Jackson, Lincoln and the like. Certain figures, though, such as Pete Longstreet and General Rosecrans, are not characters I am familiar with in my very minor attempts at reading American history. James Blaine, too, falls into this category.
While this is by no means a terminal disability, as the characters are just as consistent when taken as fictional constructs, it would have been nice to have a list of "dramatis personae" and what they went on to do in real life handy - possibly at the back of the book.
That said, "How Few Remain" is a wonderful introduction to alternate history. Turtledove is a consummate author of this genre, and this novel clearly demonstrates why. Heartily recommended.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
solid, dependable alternative history, November 5, 2001
This review is from: How Few Remain (Mass Market Paperback)
This is among the best alternative history novels written. Unlike Turtledove's earlier Civil War alternative history, "Guns of the South," this does not turn on a deus ex machina. There's no real science fiction gimmick in this novel, just an honest to God what-if, and a good one. What if Lee's attack on Washington DC HAD succeeded. Lee's battle plans being discovered wrapped around cigars after being dropped by a courier has always seemed like a bad plot device anyway. "Correcting" that error makes for a solid novel.
Turtledove portrays the South honestly and effectively. He is clearly against slavery, but he also understands that much of the South was fighting for what they saw as honorable intentions. He also makes some solid points about "wage-slavery" in the North. Turtledove's continued use of the Mormon uprisings in Utah works as a bit of a plot device, but it's also historically accurate.
As an English teacher with both English and history degrees, I find this sort of mind-play fascinating. The follow-up series based on a completely different World War I coming out of the consequences of this book also gets my highest recommendation.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
TRAILED OFF AT THE END, August 5, 2000
This review is from: How Few Remain (Mass Market Paperback)
For the first 400 or so pages, "How Few Remain" flowed well -- a little difficult to follow all the different story lines, but still an entertaining and informative look at how different historical characters might have lived 20 years after the South won the the Civil War. But the last 100 pages left me feeling like I'd wasted my time, because Turtledove added them for reasons other than telling a good story.
Turtledove's greatest strength lies in the accurate historical details he presents, and this novel is no exception. It rests on the points-of-view of several famous historical people, and each is obviously well-researched, realistic and interesting. Samuel Clemens' biting sarcasm comes out in his editorials and numerous banterings with fellow newsmen; Abraham Lincoln's Socialist rhetoric is extrapolated from his real speeches and writings; George Armstrong shows the same brashness that got he and his regiment killed in our history at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
However, as the book plows on, the story loses much of its freshness and begins repeating many small details. For example, Frederick Douglass' bristling over white men's disrespect in addressing him depicted something of his character and the attitudes of the time the first few times it happened. When I was reminded for the third time that "Uncle" is less than disrespectful but well below "sir", I became annoyed.
I also question some of Turtledove's conclusions. I'll buy his means for giving the South the Civil War, but I'm uncertain how the North deteriorated so rapidly in 20 years. The North could not even manage a single victory in this second war, despite having greater manpower and more manufacturing capabilities. Does bad leadership really equate to such a lopsided victory? The U.S. had inferior leadership in the real Civil War, and it still slugged out a victory after four years.
Had I reviewed this book shortly after I began it, it would have gotten five stars, and superlatives such as "Outstanding!" and "Terrific!". But because I slugged through the whole thing, it left a bad taste in my mouth at the end.
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