In his acclaimed novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has scrutinized the twisted soul of the twentieth century, from the forces that set World War I in motion to the rise of fascism in the decades that followed. Now, this masterly storyteller turns his eyes to the aftermath of World War II and asks: In an era of nuclear posturing, what if the Cold War had suddenly turned hot? Bombs …
Bombs Away begins with President Harry Truman in desperate consultation with General Douglas MacArthur, whose control of the ground war in Korea has slipped disastrously away. MacArthur recognizes a stark reality: The U.S. military has been cut to the bone after victory over the Nazis—while China and the USSR have built up their forces. The only way to stop the Communist surge into the Korean Peninsula and save thousands of American lives is through a nuclear attack. MacArthur advocates a strike on Chinese targets in Manchuria. In actual history, Truman rejected his general’s advice; here, he does not. The miscalculation turns into a disaster when Truman fails to foresee Russia’s reaction.
Almost instantly, Stalin strikes U.S. allies in Europe and Great Britain. As the shock waves settle, the two superpowers are caught in a horrifying face-off. Will they attack each other directly with nuclear weapons? What countries will be caught in between?
The fateful global drama plays out through the experiences of ordinary people—from a British barmaid to a Ukrainian war veteran to a desperate American soldier alone behind enemy lines in Korea. For them, as well as Truman, Mao, and Stalin, the whole world has become a battleground. Strategic strikes lead to massive movements of ground troops. Cities are destroyed, economies ravaged. And on a planet under siege, the sounds and sights of nuclear bombs become a grim harbinger of a new reality: the struggle to survive man’s greatest madness.
Praise for Bombs Away
“A fascinating and compelling story of real people caught in forces beyond their control . . . [Harry Turtledove is] the unrivaled monarch of alternate history.”—Analog
“Turtledove is an undisputed centerpiece of the alternate-history genre, and now, to his already grand display, he’s adding the ambitious tale of a WWIII that could have happened.”—Booklist
“This is Turtledove at his best.”—SFRevu
“Alternate-world warrior extraordinaire Turtledove delivers the opening barrage of a new speculative conflict.”—Kirkus Reviews
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Things might turn out this way if w are lucky. If not, it all ends at the singularity.
Try as I might, I cannot like any of Turtledove’s books. The themes are interesting but the writing leaves me cold. I have started four or five but never finished any of them – very unusual for me.
as usual turtledove makes you think with his what if novels
I only wish that was only one book and not a series.
Always enjoy Turtledove.
Mass produced drivel.
Well written alt history
Very good story, as are all of Harry Turtledove’s works. However, it was severely lacking in the editing department; the presentation of the story suggested a middle school student’s overly simplistic, matter-of-fact writing style.
Typical Turtledove story line. Like how he weaves the story along the lines of Cornelius Ryan.
Character development was weak and seemed to wander around.
The usual tired Turtledove alternate history ‘thriller’. Far too many characters. Far too few characters that have any bearing on events. I don’t want to read about housewives and cab drivers! The same tired descriptive phrases. The same tired plot structure. I stayed away from Turtledove for a few years because of all these problems but figured I’d try him one last time. No more. A grudging two stars because it IS a cool idea for a book.
Turtledove writes two types of alternate history books: one type changes one major event and then extrapolates from that to build a very plausible alternative world; the other is based on some sort of fantastically implausible change (alien invasion, the invention of a time machine, etc.) to bring about a drastically different alternative world. I like the former and dislike the latter. “Bombs Away” and its successor, “Fallout”, fit into the first, plausible, category and are very well done indeed. In this series, the Korean War is the starting point, and the the major changing event is the US inability to make progress after the Chinese entered the conflict. Truman decides, on the basis of MacArthur’s recommendation, to drop atomic bombs on supply centers inside of China, and the catastrophic results flow very convincingly from that. As in other Turtledove novels, the story is told from the perspective of more than a dozen different characters in very different settings. He even has a very well-drawn Harry Truman as one of his characters. Occasionally some of his vignettes seem to be pointless and tedious, but then he surprises you on the next page with major life-changing and world-changing events. If you liked the “Settling Accounts” series, based on the Confederacy winning the Civil War, then you’ll like this series. I did and I do. A third novel in the Korean War series is due out soon.
Turtledove’s narrative abilities are deficient–at least in this book.
I was very disappointed. Certain points were repeated so often that it was aggregating. Simply not very well written.
I think Turtledove is just not my cup of tea. I found character development underwhelming. At the same time, from the strategic plot point of view, I doubt that nobody [i.e., the rest of the world] would try to get the two powers to stop destroying the planet.
A typical Turtledove However, I refuse to spend $15 on the sequel. Bait and switch is alive and well here.