I received a digital advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Massive thanks to Tor Books! One day, one of my professors asked us to tell him something he didn’t know about us. I said that I’m writing an alternate history book so he suggested that I read Harry Turtledove’s books. While browsing NetGalley, I saw that I can request his latest book from Tor. Because this blog is fairly small, I was surprised to see my request accepted. At that moment, it felt like fate drove me to read this book. I would just like to get this out of the way first: I am a Catholic and I do practice my faith. My review may be a bit influenced by my faith but my enjoyment was not hampered because of my religion. As such, I will try to keep my biases to a minimum, although please note that what I will share are my opinions. I do not claim my opinions to be fact. This is an enjoyable book which I liked in spite of my religion. I would recommend it to anyone no matter their faith (or lack thereof) as it may perhaps shed some light into how we view those whose opinions and way of life are opposite to ours. Through Darkest Europe made me uncomfortable at points and those moments opened my eyes to my own biases and prejudices. In some ways, this is a world that mirrors our own, despite being the opposite of it. Through Darkest Europe imagines a world where St. Thomas Aquinas and the Muslim philosopher al-Ghazali held opposite views regarding God and science. What if al-Ghazali reconciled God and Aristotle while St. Thomas Aquinas didn’t? I will admit that the author’s notion that the two were irreconcilable (“St. Thomas Aquinas was right of course…”) was disconcerting. Just a disclaimer, I don’t believe the two to be irreconcilable. As such, this assertion only got more tedious as it gets hammered into the reader. I just rolled my eyes and moved on. In this world, the Islamic world flourished (which historically, it did before the Renaissance) while the Christian world languished. This is a world where the Renaissance didn’t happen, where Christian Europe became the backwater of the world. The implications of this can be clearly seen in the world. The Ottoman empire still exists for one, as well as Persia. The Americas were also called the Sunset Lands here (I believe it was the Americas). The wordbuilding was certainly very good and I love how it touches upon dress, cuisine, and even customs. I love how it showed both the broader implications as well as the smaller ones. Unfortunately, while the worldbuilding was interesting, the characters failed to live up to it. Through Darkest Europe’s greatest fault lies in how it in it insists upon hammering into the readers’ heads certain concepts such as how backwards Europe is compared to Islamic countries, how their culture is inferior, etc. It is novel at first, but it gets tedious fast. However, I do appreciate the fact that at the same time, it also got me to think about how I think of the Middle East (or West Asia) in real life. In a lot of ways, the protagonists here mirror the way we think of Muslims living in Middle Eastern countries. The plot is a thriller involving the Grand Duke/s of Italy and the Pope. It was interesting to see the political machinations at work here, however little, along with the prejudices that hamper efficient bureaucracy. The characters were interesting at first, until I realized that I am yet to see significant character development. Khalid and Dawud remained as contemptuous of Italy when they left as when they arrived. I don’t know if they were meant to be caricatures of the stereotypical westerner in Islamic countries but if they were, then the author succeeded. The story may be meant to be some form of social commentary but there are times where it felt sloppily executed and didn’t quite leave a strong enough impact. While the worldbuilding was interesting and promising, the characters were less so. Most of them felt one-note and only the story and plot itself kept me going. I didn’t feel attached to any of them but I did find the ending satisfying. There’s even a bit at the end that made me interested in a sort-of sequel taking place in the same world. Despite that, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the book. I did. It was fairly easy to get through and the story was also easy enough to digest. I also did enjoy how the book made me think of the world today and my own prejudices. In that regard, I’d call it an eye-opener. While I'd say I did not enjoy the characters, I realized that treating them as mirrors made the book more enjoyable for me. They are in a way, reflections of ourselves. In the end, I’d call Through Darkest Europe a solid read. It may not quite what I expected, but it also made me interested in going through the author’s previous works. I would still recommend it if the premise interests you. I don’t think I’ve seen a premise like this one anywhere yet. This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer