22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Turtledove can write straight sf, also, March 19, 1998
This review is from: A World of Difference (Mass Market Paperback)
"Mars is boring. Turns out it's too damn small. But what if it weren't. . . " That is speculation which begins Harry Turtledove's novel A World of Difference. Turtledove, therefore replaces Mars with Minerva, a planet similar to Mars except for the existence of water, atmosphere and life. Upon arriving on Minerva, the Viking lander transmits tantalizing pictures back to earth, ending abruptly after sending the image of an alien's limb. A joint American-Soviet manned mission is launched to explore the strange world.
Of course, everything goes wrong when the American and the Soviet spaceships land on opposite sides of a deep trench. Physically cut off from each other, each team makes contact with a difference group of Minervans. The Minervans are radially symmetrical on an hexagonal model and are perhaps Turtledove's most successful attempt at alien construction. Unlike humans, Minervans have little sense of the individual. Minervans discovery of the individual forms a major plot point of the novel.
An important aspect of Minervan physiognomy is that female Minervans always die of blood loss when giving birth. Naturally, this fact affects their society in very basic ways. The ruler of the Minervans befriended by the Americans, Reatur, has recently impregnated his favorite wife and looks to his American friends to help find a way to save his wife.
A World of Difference is much more than a story of the discovery of a new race. In addition to seeing both Americans and Soviets deal with the Minervans, Turtledove also shows, in detail, the two political enemies working together and against each other throughout the novel as political and environmental changes occur. Despite basic ideological differences, the joint mission to Minerva began as a collaborative effort and the two crews make attempts to cooperate even as their instincts tell them not to.
Turtledove also treats the reader to a guided tour of Minerva, which is strikingly Mars-like. However, because he has created a new planet, Turtledove can make alterations to Mars so the planet suits his and his characters' purposes better than the planet which so many authors have described.
In many ways, A World of Difference feels like an extended Analog story. The characters are well drawen, but not particularly realistic. They are, generally likable and interact well with each other and with the Minervans. Turtledove gives them obstacles, political, environmental and racial, to overcome and they deal with those obstacles in a very Campbellian way.
Although Turtledove slips in a few alternate historical moments in the novel, alternate history, for which Turtledove is justifiably well known, is a minor part of the novel. Human history has gone on nearly the same path as it did in our Minerva-less solar system. A World of Difference serves as a reminder that Turtledove has written a lot of non-alternate history works and has proven himself adept in straight science fiction.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sci-fi like only Harry can do, September 8, 2000
This review is from: A World of Difference (Mass Market Paperback)
I absoluetly loved this book. So very realistic and compelling. The characters, both human and minervan, are engaging and well devloped. The story could very easily be considered both alternate history or straight sci-fi. This book has been overlooked by many sci-fi fans by Turtledove's more well-known books. That to me is a shame. I would love to see a sequel to this book to see how Earth and Minerva grow together and how each affects the other's societies.
Read this book once and then read it again. You will enjoy it from cover to cover. This book is proof that Harry Trutledoveis one of the masters of Sci-fi/Alternate History.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Turtledove's Alternate History of a "Mars" with life, March 17, 1998
This review is from: A World of Difference (Mass Market Paperback)
While Harry Turtledove is far better known for his fantasy novels (eg. The Videssos novels) and his alternate histories (see the WorldWar books), included in his canon is this what-if with a subtler premise--what if Mars had, when it was formed, coalesced into a larger planet--called Minerva in this history, and supported life, including intelligent life. Add in rival Soviet and American missions to the large fourth planet, not to mention the interesting biology of the aliens themselves, and you have A World of Difference. Even though the Soviet-American "cold-war" relations may seem dated in this era of Yeltsin, the premise still holds up rather well. Even better are the aliens themselves...technologically inferior to their visitors, their attempts to manipulate their new friends into sharing their power and technology (most especially weapons) are all too reminiscent of the history of third world peoples on our own planet who tried the same to their European visitors.
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