27 January 2006

Book Log 2006 #4: The End of the Beginning by Harry Turtledove

As many of you know, I have a fondness for the alternative history genre.

Yes, hi, I'm a dork. Tell me something I don't know.

The End of the Beginning is a sequel to Days of Infamy, which ponders what would happen if the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was complimented with a successful occupation of Hawaii. I thought the first book was OK, but had a hard time keeping the military characters straight. Turtledove also like to repeat certain ideas and themes, which can get annoying after a while (for example, the first book would tell us about how civilians could be mistreated if they didn't bow to Japanese troops every time the situation was presented. OK, I get it, move on).

The second book is a bit better, probably as it took less time to get up to speed with who people were. I wouldn't say it was that much better, but enough so that I don't feel like I wasted my time reading the pair.

Though I would have liked a little more finality if this was the concluding book. There are enough open ends to allow for a third book, though I'm not sure life on post-occupation Hawaii would be enough to carry a book on its own.

1 comment:

Scott Monty said...

As someone who spent his honeymoon in the Aloha State, I can corroborate that the Japanese have in fact accomplished a successful occupation of Hawaii.

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