6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
War Between the States--redux!, October 26, 2000
I agree with previous reviewers both about the book being of interest to Civil War buffs and about the fun in figuring out the correspondence of the made-up names to those that existed in the real world (I particularly liked "Camphorville"--it reminded me of the Garison Kielor joke about a dring made of vodka, orange juice and milk of magnesia being called a 'Phillips screwdriver'. In addition, the book is written with Dr. Turtledove's usual accomplished style. What I do not understand is why the book was written at all--that is, what intellectual itch the author was trying to scratch. Once one gets past the made-up names, the book is an almost literal retelling of part of the Chicamauga/ Chattanooga campaign in 1863 from the Confederate evacuation of Chattanooga to the battle of Missionary Ridge, such as one might find in the works of Bruce Catton or Shelby Foote. The extraneous elements, such as dragon, the use of magic and weapons such as catapults and crossbows do not enhance the story in any way. Perhaps Dr. Turtledove was just having fun, but this is a book I would check out of the library, not buy for myself.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Jine" the Unicorn Cavalry?, January 4, 2001
Turtledove remains brilliant but overly whimsical...I thought the book was a fun romp, but if you're not a Confederate War buff - then you should read Turtledove's "Guns of the South", then some non-alternate history - you'll become a Confederate War buff and be able to enjoy this book. (If that seems like too much work for a light fantasy read, then skip this book - but follow the rest of the advice for its own sake.) Best characterization: Ned of the Forrest, as the oft-maligned Reb cavalry leader who chewed out incompetent General Bragg (Thraxton, here)to his face. Largest flaw: since everything else is a one-for-one correspondance, what precisely does magic represent? "The North has better wizards" like Thraxton and the R.E. Lee character...which would mean leadership (depending on your view of Bragg) but the Thomas Edison character and the spies are presented as "wizards", too - so does it mean military intellegence or engineering instead...? Best use for this book: help someone of strongly-set prejudices (Reb or Yank) re-think the American Civil War - but Turtledove's "Guns of the South" would be better for that purpose...buy it instead.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Rising Rock Campaign, April 8, 2003
Sentry Peak (2000) is the first novel in the War Between the Provinces series, a fantastic tale of a civil war fought over the abolition of serfdom, embellished with abundant puns. King Avram wants to free the blonde serfs, but the agricultural northern provinces need plentiful labor to sow, weed, and pick the crops and don't want to pay them wages. On the other hand, the industrial southern provinces need trained workers to operate the machinery and has more ready cash to pay wages. Grand Duke Geoffrey leads a secession of the northern provinces from the kingdom and the southern provinces strike back to quell the rebellion.
The war has dragged on for four years and King Avram has continually pushed his generals for a final resolution of the conflict. Eventually his generals gain the offensive and drive Duke Edward of Arlington back into Parthenia. The eastern front has gone somewhat better, with the southern army taking Ramberton and Luxor early in the war. Now they are advancing upon Rising Rock in Northwestern Franklin.
In this novel, the southern army under General Guildenstern has forded the River and converged on Rising Rock from three directions at once. The southern forces outnumber the Army of the Franklin about eight to five, so General Thraxton the Braggart falls back to Fa Layette and waits for Earl Broadpath to bring reinforcements from the Army of Southern Parthenia. General Guildenstern selects a fine hotel in Rising Rock as his headquarters and then he waits also.
When Lieutenant General Doubting George, his second in command, insists that Thraxton should be pursued immediately, Guildenstern gives him command of half his army with orders to perform such a pursuit. After a day or two, the rest of the army will follow. As the force marches north from Rising Rock, Ned the Forest's cavalry ambushes his vanguard. When this is reported to General Guildenstern, he splits his forces into two columns paralleling George's path and they pursue Ned of the Forest to the River of Death.
As can be seen by this synopsis, the author follows the events in the Chattanooga campaign quite closely. The novel goes on through the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Since the real place names are usually based on the Indian names, these geographical features are often translated into English equivalents, but the personal names are puns of every sort. For example, Bart is the pseudonym for Ulysses Simpson Grant and Hesmucet is the pseudonym for William Tecumseh Sherman.
Even the personalities are fairly accurate, with some poetic license and a lot of puns. Characters are introduced to portray the war from the point of view of the enlisted men, noncoms, and officers at all levels; to what extent such characters are based on historic persons is known only to the author, but there is a great deal of personal information available, for more letters, diaries and other first hand accounts of this war have been archived and made available to academic researchers, and even the general public, than for any previous American war.
It helps a lot to keep a single volume history of the war on hand while reading this book. However, my one criticism of the novel has nothing to do with the various changes, for they are trivial, but the front cover has a blonde haired unicorn rider sticking a snake-like creature with what looks like a skewer -- snake-ka-bob? -- when the story quite specifically says all blondes are former serfs. All the cavalry would be brown-headed, not blonde. If this series really parallels the Civil War, blondes would not be cavalrymen until after the war. Artists!!!! Don't they ever read the book?
Like his novels based on How Few Remain, the author attacks racial stereotypes with a vengeance, pulling them out one by one and then flaying them with the facts. Nor does he spare regional prejudices and other forms of bigotry. Ned the Forest, for example, was one of the best commanders in the South, even compared to the famous Jeb Stuart, but he was not a gentleman and thus was given little respect.
In many respects, this novel is a bitter satire of the Civil War era, taking on folly wherever it might be found. Such an anachronistic approach is not very objective, and certainly not recommended in a scholarly tome, but does point out quite clearly the various flaws of our ancestors. The only men who compare favorably to modern standards are Bedford Forrest and William Sherman, for both had not a trace of romanticism in their worldview.
Recommended to Turtledove fans and anyone who thrives on word puzzles, has -- or wants to have -- some knowledge of the Civil War, and enjoys fantasy tales based on real history with a twist.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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