“This aptly titled book, the third installment in Harry Turtledove's 'The War That Came Early Series', is a game changer in terms of plot and the overall series. The last two installments seemed to drift, not really advancing events. Here, however, Turtledove lets his imagination go wild and allows Rudolph Hess's 'peace' mission to England to succeed, thanks largely to the fact that Chamberlain is still Prime Minister. In a shocking turn of events, the only vocal critic of an Anglo-German alliance--Winston Churchill--suffers an unfortunate 'accident' and soon thereafter Hitler's greatest diplomatic dream is realized--the Western powers ie, England and France agree to end their war against Germany and aid her in her war against the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Japan, having seized Vladivostok, ends their war with the Soviet Union and prepares to engage the United States. While the Japanese do attack Pearl Harbor (sinking an aircraft carrier in the process), it is the Philippines where the hammer blow strikes hardest, and in the end there can be no doubt that the sleeping giant has finally been awakened. But the Japanese are preparing to unleash an insidious weapon against the US, a weapon developed by a special research unit based in Manchukuo called Unit 731. As with the previous two titles, Turtledove tells his story through a large cast of characters, even managing to expand his cast by elevating a few secondary ones to POV characters. And while no major POV characters are killed in this book, those familiar with Turtledove will know that not all of them will make through the series (I could even hazard a guess as to who the potential cannon fodder will be). In any event, this is a superb book in a series that just keeps getting better and better. It will be interesting to see how events further diverge from history but have no doubt that we are witnessing the vision of a true master. Highly recommended!!! ”
DOC-209 wrote this review Monday, February 6, 2012.
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