Posted on 05/04/2005 9:38:53 PM PDT by TheDon
"They're in love, and they want to tell the world about it. W is tall, in a conservative-compassionate, oh yes, but conservative-gray suit with television-blue shirt and maroon necktie. O is taller, and his turban lends him a few extra inches besides."
...
"They stop. They turn so they're face to face. They gaze into each other's eyes. Now they have both hands clasped together. Anyone can tell it's love. "We need each other," W says. Even if he doesn't talk real well, he gets the message across. "My infidel," O says fondly. "My little terrorist." W's eyes glow. You've seen couples who say the same thing at the same time? They do it here. "Without him," they both say, each pointing to the other, "I'm nothing." O strokes W's cheek. W swats O on the butt. They're grinning when they go into the judge's chambers."
...
"Do you take each other to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?" "I do." W and O answer together. Proudly. "Then by the authority vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you man and, uh, man."
...
"I love you," says W. "You made me what I am today." "And you me." O kisses W,...
Old stories, new boundaries: What-if questions are answered in different worlds
As one who has enjoyed Harry's alternate history fiction, I was sorry to see him when he let his liberal slip show.
I don't have any idea who, or what, a Mr. Harry Turtledove is, but this is a thoroughly disgusting piece.
Stick to speculative history, Harry, and leave the clever humor to those of us who know how.
yah, that's disappointing.....
Subject matter aside: holy shiite, that is a BAAAAD piece of writing.
I tried to read Turtledove's WorldWar series. The first volume piqued my interest, and I foolishly purchased the next 3 tomes thinking the quality would remain a constant (or even improve). Imagine my shock when I could barely finish Volume 2. Sam Yeager is the most repugnant character in literature. And the mindless repetition, the cut-and-paste narrative (you know what I mean), the failure to use the historical giants to full effect, the...well, I won't go on. I didn't even try to finish the series, as you can probably tell.
Why doesn't Turtledove write an alternate history of what would have happened had Gore won in 2000 (titled, the Fall of America)? Or JK in 2004 (Dhimmitude Comes to Everytown, USA)? I love the idea of the alternate history novel (have some ideas of my own that will never see the light of day), but Turtledove is, in my estimation, a poor writer (albeit a very knowledgeable historian).
Yep. If Turtledove wrote it he needs another editor. Embarrassing.
So have I, and if this is the kind of trash that swirls through his mind, I'm glad I didn't waste my time.
Wish I hadn't clicked.... sigh, well, he writes some good stuff. His alternate histories - not the ones with aliens or fantasy stuff - are really, really good. And I met him in person at a booksigning/reading and he was a great guy, very personable, talked about some of his short stories and it really enhanced things.
This is just stupid.
This probably wasn't a smart move for old Harry.
How many liberals read books where the U.S. actually wins?
Don't worry... it doesn't end... and Yeager gets worse, finally reaching the point (IIRC) where he turns traitor and tells the invaders that it was the US that nuked their ship. It may be this plot element that seems to have truncated the publishing of this continuing series...
Thanks for the update. After I realized I wouldn't finish the novels, I did some reading up on Amazon's review pages. I gave up reading even the crib notes version and didn't know that Yeager went turncoat. Ugghhh. Yeager. There's something about him that makes him with worst villain in that series (even before the perfidy)--his behavior with Barbara & Jens, the awful "friendship" and "understanding" of the Lizards...I can't put my finger on it, but he was truly a disturbing character...and Turtledove tried to paint him as a hero!
The only consistently good stuff that he's put out is the Videssos series and the Agent Of Byzantium arc. That's about it. His WorldWar series started off OK, but as you said, it went to Skotos (ack, ptui) in a handbasket in a hurry. The rest of his stuff should be consigned to the Void.
I've had some pleasant exchanges with Turtledove in a fanzine. Good guy, even when I disagree with him.
"It may be this plot element that seems to have truncated the publishing of this continuing series..."
I guess you haven't been following the series. It's now up to about 10 books, including "Homeward Bound" that just came out. It certainly hasn't been 'truncated'.
Sam Yeager found out that the Lizards were going to undertake a massive atomic retaliation against the world that would have killed hundreds of millions of people. He also did not like the fact that we launched a sneak attack against civilians. He did what he thought was right. But even later he still is conflicted about the incident and wonders if he did the right thing.
It was certainly not an easy decision for him.
I have been looking for more books in this series but none have shown up at the local Barnes and Noble. Can you provide a list of the books in the series?
Thanks.
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