Reviews
Though I’m aware that this is NOT the longest book I’ve ever read cover-to-cover, it FEELS like it is. Obviously, it took me a very very long time to finish it. But I think the pacing and language were largely to blame for this. Switching between characters as the book so frequently does (with a frequently unfortunate lack of formatting in the e-book) is disorienting and at times jarring. There were definitely characters and storylines I cared a whole hell of a lot more about than others. Featured points of view and my rating for my interest in their stories as well as their contributions to the plot: Abraham Lincoln (5/5) — not ESSENTIAL to the plot but the proposition of his role in the USA if we’d lost the war and he hadn’t had a second term AND hadn’t been assassinated was EXCELLENT. Plus, the author’s note points out that the majority of his speechifying was pulled directly or adapted from Lincoln’s own words. Excellent. Stonewall Jackson (3/5) — the battle of Louisville was... agonizing. And I’m sure that was at least partly on purpose. When not on the battlefield, he’s an interesting character. Obviously important to the plot. Frederick Douglass (5/5) — though he’s not often particularly important to the plot, he’s essential to making this book interesting and readable. The fact that the author included the viewpoint of African Americans (especially such a prominent advocate of the times) meant this was far more difficult to interpret as a fantasy for southerners wishing they’d won the “War of Northern Aggression” (a phrase not used once in this book). His resignation towards the end of the book is heartbreaking and inspiring and rational and disappointing all at once. Samuel Clemens (3/5) — I had no idea that Mark Twain had been a newspaperman until I started this book (and in Buffalo, too!) but this imagined life for him, while interesting and a welcomed lighter tone than much of the military engagement stuff through most of the book, didn’t seem to serve much purpose to me. The potential issues of his having been briefly in the confederate army two decades earlier WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE INTERESTING IF THEY HADNT BEEN SO EASILY SOLVED. But I’m not the author. I honestly did not care about his home life at all. George Custer (3/5) — I understand why he was the focus character here, but his brother Tom was far more interesting. The Utah subplot was... a distraction. It didn’t feel like it lead anywhere, didn’t pose any real threat, etc. If the Mormons has blockaded the rails to slow the movement of the troops, if they’d joined forces with the socialists, if a lot of things... he was ABSOLUTELY important to the plot, but I found him a rather boring character generally. His personality was rather... bleh. Jeb Stuart (4/5) — One of the few main characters I wasn’t really familiar with when starting the book, Stuart’s story through Senora was almost always interesting (especially any parts that included Geronimo). His ending was disappointing to say the least. The book does both an excellent and terrible job of painting Native Americans as untrustworthy and violent. So... that’s a thing. Teddy Roosevelt (5/5) — Well, Teddy was a treat start to finish. Turtledove’s writing style for Teddy was delightful and definitely brought to mind Roosevelt’s manner of speaking. Everything about his story was interesting. I loved the idea of him meeting Lincoln. It’s almost universally true that you’re surprised to the point of being flabbergasted when you realize who lived at the same time (obviously, Lincoln was shot in 1865, but had he not been, he could have easily lived to meet a 20-something Theodore Roosevelt). He and Lincoln are pretty much the only things giving me any inclination to read the next book in the series as I’m not as interested in what WILL happen to the rest of the rabble. Alfred von Schlieffen (4/5) — Another main character I was unfamiliar with before reading this book. He’s entirely enjoyable to read though since he spends a lot of time talking to insufferably stupid nincompoops like Rosencrans, he CANNOT get a 5/5. That’s all. SO, overall I enjoyed the book. I think it could have easily been cut to about 400 pages without really losing much. Absolutely, the puttering post-ceasefire was exhausting. It came about 75% of the way through the book, meaning we had to spend a quarter of the book in limbo. Not a particularly recommended way to end a novel. Leaves one unsettled.
