Harry Turtledove has a fascination with World War II. To be sure, the Master of Alternate History as he has often called has wrote plenty of "what if" scenarios about other conflicts, too. But the Second World War seems to be his most popular topic of all. Harry has imagined it from all sorts of angles, including an alien invasion in the middle of the fighting, how it would be different with a German victory, what might have occurred if the Japanese actually invaded Hawaii, and how the sides would have lined up if the South had won the Civil War.
In his latest effort, The War That Came Early: West and East , Turtledove envisions how things might have been different had World War II started about a year earlier than it actually did. The novel is actually a sequel to Hitler's War, the 2009 first installment in what appears to be another Turtledove epic, the author being well known for his penchant for lengthy series.
As The War That Came Early: West and East begins, the war has bogged down in Europe, with the Germans halted just before Paris much the same as they were during the Great War. Neither side can seem to get any momentum going, and the lines of battle remain fairly static. On the Eastern front, the Germans and their Polish allies are making some headway against the Russians, convincing Hitler that more pressure should be applied there.
Of course, the Russians have other worries. The Japanese are advancing on the Manchurian front, managing to capture vast tracts of the Trans-Siberian highway and besieging the port of Vladivostok. Their hope: to cut the behemoth Soviet monster in half and, combined with the German attacks on the European front, bring Mother Russia to her knees.
Meanwhile, the Spanish civil war continues to drag on with no clear victor in sight. And back in Germany, rumblings in the Wehrmacht and among the populace are slowly turning against Hitler's ineffective conduct of the war.....
As per usual, Turtledove tells his tale through the eyes of characters drawn from all sides: Spanish revolutionaries and monarchists; German, Czech, French, English, and Japanese foot soldiers; Russian and German pilots; and a German U-Boat captain. We see the war progress through their eyes, sometimes as they're in the thick of the fighting, other times as they're a mere device listening to radio broadcasts or reading newspapers.
Turtledove's remarkable talent for detail is again readily apparent in The War That Came Early: West and East, and his knowledge of the era, its historical figures, and weaponry is impressive to behold. This helps out a great deal here, especially when the action tends to lag at times. That it does at times, as here the author seems more intent upon character development. Still, there are several gripping moments, most notably an epic sea battle and an aerial attack by the Germans.
The main complaint here is that the plot does not advance notably, and events are not much different here than they were in the first chapter. That's classic Turtledove, however, as we can see the threads of the plot being tied together for some big happenings down the line.
Overall, I enjoyed The War That Came Early: West and East, and tore through its 448 pages (light reading by Turtledove standards) in just a few sittings. While not the best effort from this author, it's recommended to fans of the author, especially those who enjoyed the first book in the series.
Three and a half stars.
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