Customer Reviews

How Few Remain

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

There seems to have been a lot of confusion surrounding Harry Turtledove's novel, How Few Remain. Because it has an alternate Civil War as its background, many have speculated it is a sequel to his earlier Guns of the South. This speculation was fueled by an erroneous entry in Books-in-Print which listed the title of the book as Guns of the West. Similarly, How Few Remain has been linked to Turtledove's forthcoming "The Great War" series. Although it is set in the same universe as the upcoming series, it is a prelude to it and can be read, according to Turtledove, as a stand-alone novel, or in anticipation of the series.

Set in a divided North America in 1881, the Confederate States have been a separate country since Lee's victory in 1862. Unlike our world in which Lee's Special Orders 191 were lost, these orders remained secret until put into effect permitting the Confederacy to claim their independance. Much of the opening of the novel is spent explaining the details of this new world. Unfortunately, Turtledove has his characters spending way too much time going over their recent history to make their conversations seem real. Although the War of Succession was a major turning point for both countries, all the characters seem fixated on the events of the war, as if a modern person would refer to the Viet Nam war in nearly every conversation. Fortunately, this sort of dialogue mostly disappears after Turtledove defines the situation in the first fifty pages.

Although Turtledove attempts to portray the United States as a stronger country than the Confederate States, he consistently demonstrates that the Confederate States are in a stronger position. Although they may have a small population base, they have more and greater allies than the United States. The Confederate States' major weakness seems to be their continued reliance on slave labor, which may affect their relationship with allied nations England and France. Even as his characters are convinced that the United States are stronger than the Confederate States, the reader becomes convinced they are wrong.

As is typical of Turtledove's alternate history novels, How Few Remain sports a large cast of historical characters. For his viewpoint characters, Turtledove makes use of Abe Lincoln, Sam Clemens, J.E.B. Stuart, Theodore Roosevelt, George A. Custer, Alfred von Schlieffen, Frederick Douglass and Stonewall Jackson. This broad cast of characters allows Turtledove to present several different viewpoints of the situation and add depth to the world he has created without seeming to give any single individual an unreasonably open or broad mind. This method also makes it easier for Turtledove to avoid portraying his world in simplistic black and white terms, as too much speculative fiction still does.

For the most part, Turtledove handles his cast well. Samuel Clemens sounds very realistic and Mark Twain's voice keeps peeping through despite the fact that Turtledove wrote his entire part. Similarly, Turtledove's use of Abraham Lincoln's authentic speeches give the former president the sound of realism, although the politics he espouses may surprise many people.

In fact, Turtledove's portrayal of the Republican party as an whole will seem odd to anyone without some knowledge of American political party history. The 1880's, Republican Party Lincoln is a member of is more akin to the modern Democratic party than the party of Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole. Similarly, Turtledove drops hints about the Democratic Party's agenda which are not in line with what that party has become in our own world.

It has been said that generals begin each war by fighting the previous war. In How Few Remain, Turtledove allows the generals of the North and the South to fight the trench warfare of World War I, albeit in a Louisville, Kentucky (destroyed as thoroughly as Turtledove had destroyed Chicago in the "Worldwar" series) rather than on the fields of France and Belgium. By providing European observers, in the form of von Schlieffen and others, Turtledove is making sure that the Europeans have knowledge of the new warfare before enterring into their own conflict. Whether or not the Europeans (or Americans) learn from these experiences will have to wait until Turtledove's related "The Great War" series debuts in the Fall of 1998. Indications show that many military minds in Turtledove's world will remain slow to adapt to change even when they witness the benefits first-hand. In How Few Remain, Colonel George Armstrong Custer refuses to see the gatling gun as more than an interesting toy even though his regiment uses the weapons extremely effectively against Indians, Mormons and British.

The changes in the relationship between the United States and the Confederate States throughout the course of the novel are subtle and serve to set the stage for the ongoing saga which Turtledove will write in "The Great War." He has stated that Roosevelt and Custer will both play roles in the later series showing the continued growth of their relationship which began on the Montana plains in 1881. Given their ages, it is most unlikely that very many other characters will play a return engagement when the next series begins thirty-three years later.

Nevertheless, while How Few Remain can be read on its own, it leaves the reader with the feeling that there is more to come. Still, it is nice to see Turtledove tackle an alternate history in which no deus ex machina in the form of aliens or time travelers play a role. Based on the situations set forth in How Few Remain, "Return Engagement" should be a series to watch for.

How Few Remain (1997) is a science fiction novel about a timeline where the South won the Civil War. A courier lost a copy of General Robert E. Lee's Special Order 191, showing the entire disposition of his forces, in the Confederate camp in Frederick, Maryland, but a Rebel infantryman noticed his dropped message and returned it to him. The Southern forces went on to win the battle at Hagerstown and the war.

In this novel, two decades later, Colonel George Armstrong Custer is chasing Kiowas to the south of Fort Dodge, Kansas. The indians are making for the Indian Territory border, where they will be off limits to the Union forces. However, Custer decides that they are not going to stop this time, but continue to pursue the savages across the border, but encounters a Confederate cavalry squadron at the border. Custer exchanges several pleasantries with the Confederate Captain, including a few "You started it" remarks from each side, and returns to Fort Dodge.

Elsewhere, Abraham Lincoln is presenting a speech in Denver with a Marxist theme. Samuel Langhorne Clemens is writing editorials about Maximillian selling the provinces of Chihuahua and Sonora to the Confederacy for three million dollars. Theodore Roosevelt is running a ranch in Montana Territory.

The conflicts between the USA and the CSA haven't disappeared, but have only been allowed to stew awhile. Mounting frustration in the North has brought a Black Republican back into office, the first since Lincoln, and he is talking tough. War seems inevitable.

The novel hinges on a historical event that allowed McClellan to defeat Lee at Antietam. Without prior knowledge of Lee's dispositions, however, McClellan probably would not have maneuvered the Confederate forces into the pocket between Antietam creek and the Potomac. Lee had planned on passing through Hagerstown into Pennsylvania and then hitting the railroad bridge across the Susquehanna, as he actually did a year later. With the disposition of McClellan's troops at that time, and with Jeb Stuart at hand, Lee may well have defeated McClellan as he had so many times before. This time, however, the loss could have been a disaster for the North, for Lee was poised to cut off the Union troops in the field and threaten Washington, thereby forcing the Union into a cease fire and, if nothing else, a defacto truce.

This story sets the stage for the author's subsequent novels in this timeline: the Great War series and the American Empire series. While none can really determine the exact path that a timeline will follow at a divergence point, the author has used existing political trends and personalities to shape a new and different future. Such alternate histories provide a new look at the way history actually happened, separating the ephemeral trends from the fundamental movements in social affairs. This author is one of the very best at such works.

Recommended for Turtledove fans and anyone else who enjoys playing "what if" with American history.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Harry Turtledove's first Civil War alternate history, GUNS OF THE SOUTH, was more fantasy than true AH. Its premise was a time machine that only allowed one to go back in history exactly 150 years. A group of disgruntled Afrikaners went back in time to equip Robert E. Lee's troops with AK-47s. Yeah, right. In contrast, HOW FEW REMAIN is true AH-blessed with a far more plausible premise. The prologue is set in 1862, setting out the back-story: Lee's plans for the 1862 invasion of Pennsylvania do not fall into Union hands. As such, Lee is able to fight a campaign of maneuver that culminates in a major victory at New Cumberland, Pa. After which, Britain and France intervene, forcing the Union to grudgingly accept a negotiated peace.

The main story picks up in 1881. In the peace settlement, the Confederacy picked up not only their core states but also Kentucky and the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Yet, the CSA lacks access to the Pacific. To solve that problem, CSA President Longstreet has negotiated a purchase of Chihuahua and Sonora from the Empire of Mexico. The USA, which is spoiling for a rematch, decides to treat that purchase as a casus belli. HOW FEW REMAIN is the story of the war that follows-the Second War Between the States. (My American History teacher back home in Virginia would have called it the Second War of Northern Aggression.) As usual with Turtledove, there are a vast number of sub-plots to keep track of, but the book is replete with nice touches that strike me as plausible: **The CSA had absorbed Cuba, a longstanding goal of the southern states before the Civil War. **An embittered Abraham Lincoln still leads the radical wing of the Republican Party, but has begun flirting with socialism. **President Longstreet-after the Civil War Longstreet became active in Republican politics (of all things). the idea that he would become the CSA's president is thus plausible, as is his pragmatic views of race. **Longstreet decides the CSA must free its slaves so as to ensure British and French support. In the real civil war, popular abolitionist sentiment was a major factor in those power's failure to intervene (especially true of Britain). **Teddy Roosevelt raises a volunteer regiment to fight the Anglo-Canadians. Just as he raised the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American war. **The immigrant industrial proletariat of a more embittered and economically impoverished USA prove more receptive to socialism than did US workers in our time-line. **German military attache Alfred von Schlieffen sees in Lee's 1862 campaign the model for what becomes Imperial Germany's Schlieffen plan for the invasion of France...a sweeping hook around your main target to cut it off and defeat the foe's army in the field. (Norman Schwartzkopf used the same strategy in the Gulf war.)

If there are flaws with this book, they are few: (1) One sub-plot focuses on Sam Clemens as a San Francisco newspaper editor. This proves a slightly hackneyed plot contrivance designed to let Turtledove give us the big picture. Yet, the absence of such a big picture plot line is one of the major flaws of the subsequent GREAT WAR tetralogy. (2) I wish Turtledove would stop writing sex scenes-Turtledove is not a great writer in general, but his sex scenes are especially awful. Yuck!

In sum, very highly recommended. HOW FEW REMAIN is not a sequel to GUNS OF THE SOUTH-they take place in different universes. Instead, it is a prequel to the GREAT WAR tetralogy. It also is superior to both: tighter written, more tautly paced, with better characterizations.

This book is an example of alternative history at its best. To me, there are two elements to great alternative history. The first and most obvious is that the writer gets the history "right" - not accurate, of course, but believable. "Pure" alternative history is about what might have been; as such it should be reasonably plausible, with people and developments that must ring true to their times. Here Turtledove excels, demonstrating both imagination and a familiarity with the period. His sequence of events in developing a "second War Between the States" is logical, and he captures famous personalities - such as Abraham Lincoln, "Stonewall" Jackson, and Samuel Clemens - with considerable accuracy, portraying figures that are recognizably the same people that we know from our past.

Yet the people he depicts are more than just caricatures of historical reputations. This gets to the other component of first-rate works from the genre - strong character development. Within the context of a second conflict between the two halves of the former United States (over the acquisition of Mexican territory by the Confederacy), the reader sees them as they react to the circumstances of the war and how the war, in turn changes them. It is this aspect which makes the book riveting from beginning to end and essential reading for anyone interested in exploring how things might have turned out differently.

Great idea, not such a good story.

Turtledove's alternate history -- the South won the Civil War and, plausibly, the North is starting a second war -- is generally well thought of. My opinion is more negative than most, I think, so take it for whatever it may be worth.

The basic idea here is a good one, and Turtledove has the facts of the period down. To me, though, he doesn't get the feeling. I never felt transported to the times. And the characters, most of whom are historical figures, seem shallow; caricatures of the real people. The result is low drama and tension, even given that the theme was one in which I was interested already. I wanted more action and battle scenes, and more vivid characters with whom I could identify. A limited-POV soldier character would have been a godsend.

Having read GUNS OF THE SOUTH, I could not wait to read HOW FEW REMAIN when I got my hands on a copy. This work of alternative history was easier to accept since he left out time-travelers and AK-47s.

How Lincoln spent his years after 1864 is one of the most thought provoking threads in this story. Would a corporate lawyer turn "voice of socialism" and champion of the worker? Many Republicans did, especially Bob Lafollette. But not before the turn of the century. Would Baline ever have won the presidency? Maybe. But its a stretch.

I would have hoped for more attention to life in the North and South instead of complete focus on characters who have been placed in alternative locations. Also, notice of Blacks serving in the CSA military would be nice.

The main flaw is he obviously is being paid by the word. Throughout the book he writes words simply for the sake of wordiness. I realize that is the current trend, especially for biographers and historians. But this should be a tight story, not a tale stretched with pointless dialog.

This novel extends Turtledove's Civil War theme begun in The Guns of the South, but the premise here under which the Confederacy won the Civil War (The Second American Revolution) does not rely on the sci-fi gimmick of time travel that was used in the first novel. Here the South won the Battle of Camp Hill (Antietam) in 1862 thereby causing England and France to support the South. Faced with that combination, President Lincoln calls for peace to avoid further bloodshed and the Confederacy is firmly established. This novel begins in the year 1881 and focuses on a second war between the North and the South, which results from the North under President James G. Blaine attacking the South after Confederate President James Longstreet arranges to purchase two northern provinces from Emperor Maxmillian of Mexico (The South has already acquired Cuba). The acquisition of those two provinces would enable the South to build a rail connection to the Pacific (on the Gulf of Mexico), a situation which gives US President Blaine an excuse to declare War on the South in an effort to undue the results of 20 years before. Historical figures are portrayed in new roles, all stemming from the premise that the South won its independence early. Lincoln, who is blamed for losing the States from the Union has been defeated in the 1964 election and is now an itinerant socialist advocating the protection of the rights of the working man. Samuel Clemens appears as an antiwar newspaper publisher in San Francisco who has to defend his editorial positions from charges of sedition. The British, aligned with the Confederacy, invade the US from Canada through Montana where they are resisted by Theodore Roosevelt and George Custer ..... they also bombard San Francisco, Boston and New York as they effectively blockade the US ports. (Longstreet had to pledge to begin the abolition of slavery as the price for British and French support.) Stonewall Jackson (the war ended early enough that he was not killed and he is now the General-in-Chief of the Confederate States) repells the Union Attack on Louisville. JEB Stuart, the Confederate Cavalry Commander, based in El Paso, leads his troops - including a Cavalry Unit mounted on camels - - into the provinces acquired from Mexico and has to face the US forces based in New Mexico. Stuart makes an alliance with Geronimo, which creates problems for the US - and then for the CSA. It is a well written "what if" novel with familiar people from history popping up in new and different roles.