Harry Turtledove

*io9's New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books You Need to Put On Your Radar This FallFrom the modern master of alternate history and New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove, Through Darkest Europe envisions a world dominated by a prosperous and democratic Middle East--and under threat from the world's worst trouble spot. Senior investigator Khalid al-Zarzisi is a modern man, a product of the unsurpassed educational systems of North Africa and the Middle East. Liberal, tolerant, and above all rich, the countries and cultures of North Africa and the Middle East have dominated the globe for centuries, from the Far East to the young nations of the Sunset Lands. But one region has festered for decades: Europe, whose despots and monarchs can barely contain the simmering anger of their people. From Ireland to Scandinavia, Italy to Spain, European fundamentalists have carried out assassinations, hijackings, and bombings on their own soil and elsewhere. Extremist fundamentalist leaders have begun calling for a crusade, an obscure term from the mists of European history. Now Khalid has been sent to Rome, ground zero of backwater discontent. He and his partner Dawud have been tasked with figuring out how to protect the tinpot Grand Duke, the impoverished Pope, and the overall status quo, before European instability starts overflowing into the First World. Then the bombs start to go off.

From the New York Times–bestselling “standard-bearer for alternate history”: A spy takes on the enemies of the Byzantine Empire (USA Today). In another, very different timeline—one in which Mohammed embraced Christianity and Islam never came to be—the Byzantine Empire still flourishes in the fourteenth century, and wondrous technologies are emerging earlier than they did in our own. Having lost his family to the ravages of smallpox, Basil Argyros has decided to dedicate his life to Byzantium. A stalwart soldier and able secret agent, Basil serves his emperor courageously, going undercover to unearth Persia’s dastardly plots and disrupting the dark machinations of his beautiful archenemy, the Persian spy Mirrane, while defusing dire threats emerging from the Western realm of the Franco-Saxons. But the world Basil so staunchly defends is changing rapidly, and he must remain ever vigilant, for in this great game of empires, the player who controls the most advanced tools and weaponry—tools like gunpowder, printing, vaccines, and telescopes—must certainly emerge victorious. A collection of interlocking stories that showcase the courage, ingenuity, and breathtaking derring-do of superspy Basil Argyros, Agent of Byzantium presents the great Harry Turtledove at his alternate-world-building best. At once intricate, exciting, witty, and wildly inventive, this is a many-faceted gem from a master of the genre.

In the final book of the blistering trilogy The Hot War, old hatreds and new chances for revenge are unleashed on an already devastated world--as the Cold War becomes a roaring inferno. In 1952 American cities lie in ruins. President Harry Truman, in office since 1945, presides over a makeshift government in Philadelphia, suffering his own personal loss and fearing for the future of democracy. In the wake of Hitler's reign, Germany and America have become allies, and Stalin's vise hold on power in the USSR persists. Unwilling to trust the Soviet tyrant, Truman launches a long-planned nuclear strike on the city of Omsk--killing Stalin and plunging the Red Army into leaderless, destructive anarchy. Meanwhile, the Baltic states careen toward rebellion, and Poland is seized by rebels bred on war. In a world awash with victims turned victors, refugees, and killers, has Truman struck a blow for peace or fueled more chaos? As these staggering events unfold, the lives of men and women across battle lines, ethnicities, and religions play out around the globe. In Los Angeles, an extended Jewish family builds a future, while the foul smell of a refugee camp in Santa Monica blows in on the ocean breeze. In Korea, a U. S. fighter struggles to bring his Korean interpreter stateside as a full American. In Siberia, two German women fight for their survival in a gulag--and begin a strange, harrowing journey home. From the terrifying global chess match between superpowers to the strength of individual human conscience, Armistice captures a world that's been split to its core by the violence only mankind can create. Through the thunder of battle, the clashes of armies, and the whispers of lovers, how humanity will be rebuilt, and who will do it, are the questions that resound in this marvelous work of imagination and history. Praise for Armistice "The story's focus remains on ordinary characters and how they cope with their particular circumstances. . . . Readers who savor the patient accumulation of detail around each scenario will by now be thoroughly addicted."--Kirkus Reviews "The series is entertaining and explores life on the razor's edge."--SFRevu

This novel by the New York Times–bestselling “master of alternate history” explores an America reshaped by a twist in prehistoric evolution (Publishers Weekly). What if mankind’s “missing link,” the apelike Homo erectus, had survived to dominate a North American continent where woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers still prowled, while the more advanced Homo sapiens built their civilizations elsewhere? Now imagine that the Europeans arriving in the New World had chanced on these primitive creatures and seized the opportunity to establish a hierarchy in which the sapiens were masters and the “sims” were their slaves. This is the premise that drives the incomparable Harry Turtledove’s A Different Flesh. The acclaimed Hugo Award winner creates an alternate America that spans three hundred years of invented history. From the Jamestown colonists’ desperate hunt for a human infant kidnapped by a local sim tribe, to a late-eighteenth-century contest between a newfangled steam-engine train and the popular hairy-elephant-pulled model, to the sim-rights activists’ daring 1988 rescue of an unfortunate biped named Matt who’s being used for animal experimentation, Turtledove turns our world inside out in a remarkable science fiction masterwork that explores what it truly means to be human.

Since the Big Bubble popped in 1929, life in the United States hasn't been the same. Hotshot wizards will tell you nothing's really changed, but then again, hotshot wizards aren't looking for honest work in Enid, Oklahoma. No paying jobs at the mill, because zombies will work for nothing. The diner on Main Street is seeing hard times as well, because a lot fewer folks can afford to fly carpets in from miles away. Jack Spivey's just another down-and-out trying to stay alive, doing a little of this and a little of that. Sometimes that means making a few bucks playing ball with the Enid Eagles, against teams from as many as two counties away. And sometimes it means roughing up rival thugs for Big Stu, the guy who calls the shots in Enid. But one day Jack knocks on the door of the person he's supposed to 'deal with' - and realises that he's not going to do any such thing to the young lady who answers. This means he needs to get out of the reach of Big Stu, who didn't get to where he is by letting defiance go unpunished. Then the House of Daniel comes to town - a brash band of barnstormers who'll take on any team, and whose antics never fail to entertain. Against the odds Jack secures a berth with them. Now they're off to tour an America that's as shot through with magic as it is dead broke. Jack will never be the same - nor will baseball.

"Turtledove is the standard-bearer for alternate history."--USA Today The novels of Harry Turtledove show history balancing on single moments: One act of folly. One poor decision. One moment of rage. In this astounding new series, the unthinkable has come to pass. The Cold War turns hot--and the United States and the Soviet Union unleash their nuclear arsenals upon each other. Millions die. Millions more are displaced. Germans battle side by side with Americans, Polish freedom fighters next to Russian fascists. The genie is out of the bottle. And there's no telling what fresh hell will come next. At the heart of Fallout are Harry Truman and Josef Stalin. Even as Joe McCarthy rises in power, the U. S. president is focused elsewhere, planning to cut off the head of the Soviet threat by taking out Stalin. It's a daring gambit, but the Soviets have one of their own. Meanwhile, Europe's weak sisters, France and Italy, seem poised to choose the winning side, while China threatens to overrun Korea. With Great Britain ravaged and swaths of America in ruins, leaders are running out of options. When the United States drops another series of bombs to slow the Russian advance in Europe, Stalin strikes back--with horrifying results. These staggering events unfold through the eyes of a sprawling cast of characters: a Holocaust survivor in a displaced persons camp in Washington; the wife of a bomber pilot and her five-year-old daughter starting a new existence; a savage Soviet fighter waging war by his own rules; a British pub owner falling in love with an American pilot. In the masterly hands of Harry Turtledove, this epic chronicle of war becomes a story of human struggle. As the armies of the world implode, the next chapter will be written by the survivors--those willing to rise up for an uncertain future. Praise for Fallout "Turtledove proves, yet again, that he is the best when it comes to rewriting history "--Suspense Magazine "Turtledove, the master of alternate history, has done well again."--Shelf Awareness "No one writes alternate-history novels quite like Turtledove. . . . Expect epic political stakes as well as personal and heartfelt stories of war."--BookTrib

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 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

History is changed by one small act. In an extraordinary saga of nations locked in war, master storyteller Harry Turtledove examines a very different World War II--one which erupts eleven months earlier, and over Czechoslovakia rather than Poland. Now comes the final installment in this landmark series. Hitler's Plan A was to win in a hurry, striking hard and deep into France. There was no Plan B. Now the war grinds on. Countries have been forced into strange alliances. The Nazis fortify thin lines with Hungarian and Romanian troops. England, finding its footing after the suspicious death of Winston Churchill and a coup d' tat, fights back in Europe and on the seas of the North Atlantic. Jews fight on both sides of the war--in secret in German uniform, openly in Spain, France, and Russia. Into the standoff come new killing tools, from tanks to bazookas. In the Pacific, Japan prepares bombs filled with macabre biological concoctions to be dropped on Hawaii. For the U. S., the only enemy is Japan, as there has been no casus belli for America in Europe. Then Hitler becomes desperate and declares war on the United States. But is it too late? His own people are rising up in revolt. The German military may have to put down the violence, even perhaps bomb its own cities. In this epic drama, real men and women are shaped by the carnage, and their individual acts in turn shape history. Drawing on the gritty, personal reality of war and on a cast of unforgettable characters, Harry Turtledove has written an alternate history that intrigues, fascinates, and astounds. Praise for Last Orders "From our perspective seventy years later, we're accustomed to thinking of WWII's outcome as being inevitable. Not so, says Harry] Turtledove. . . . Disdaining broad brush strokes, Turtledove's focus on the characters serves to fill out the big picture with patient, nitty-gritty detail. It's all quite plausible. . . . Armchair warriors will have much to ponder."--Kirkus Reviews Praise for Harry Turtledove "If you like alternate histories, you're going to like this series a lot."--The San Diego Union-Tribune "Turtledove is the standard-bearer for alternate history."--USA Today Coup d'Etat "This is what alternative history is all about."--Historical Novel Society The Big Switch "The Hugo Award winner continues to delight in exploring the world of 'what if'"--Library Journal West and East "There's plenty to satisfy fans of military strategy, tactics, and armaments."--Publishers WeeklyHitler's War "Turtledove is always good, but this return to World War II . . . is genuinely brilliant. . . . The characterizations in particular bring the book to extraordinary life."--Booklist

"Owls to Athens demonstrates Turteltaub's excellent research skills ... an entertaining and intelligent story"-SF Site "Scholar and bestselling author Turteltaub], encapsulates his vision of the ancient world through the eyes of these two engaging me

"Another solid entry in an entertaining series." -Booklist "Good pacing, a light touch, and a genuine feel for the period."-Kirkus Reviews Menedemos, the young dashing sea captain, and his helper (and cousin) the schola

New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove brings his post-apocalyptic disaster trilogy to a startling conclusion... An explosion of incalculable magnitude in Yellowstone Park propelled lava and ash across the landscape and into the atmosphere, forever altering the climate of the entire continent. Nothing grows from the tainted soil. Stalled and stilled machines function only as statuary. People have been scraping by on the excess food and goods produced before the eruption. But supplies are running low. Natural resources are dwindling. And former police officer Colin Ferguson knows that time is running out for his family--and for humanity...

In 1942, two nations switch sides--and World War II takes a horrifying new course. In the real world, England and France allowed Adolf Hitler to gobble up the Sudetenland in 1938. Once Hitler finished dismembering Czechoslovakia, he was ready to go to war over Poland a year later. But Hitler had always been eager to seize Czechoslovakia, no matter the consequences. So what if England and France had stood up to the Nazis from the start, and not eleven months later? That is the question behind the" War That Came Early "series. Four years later, the civil war in Spain drags on, even after General Franco's death. The United States, still neutral in Europe, fights the Japanese in the Pacific. Russia and Germany go toe-to-toe in Eastern Europe--yet while Hitler stares east, not everything behind him is going as well as he would like. But nothing feeds ingenuity like the fear of losing. The Germans wheel out new tanks and planes, Japan deploys weapons of a very different sort against China, and the United States, England, and France do what they can to strengthen themselves against imminent danger. Seen through the eyes of ordinary citizens caught in the maelstrom, this is a you-are-there chronicle of battle on land and sea and in the air. Here are terrifying bombing raids that shatter homes, businesses, and the rule of law. Here are commanders issuing orders that, once given, cannot be taken back. And here are the seeds of rebellion sown in blood-soaked soil. In a war in which sides are switched and allies trust one another only slightly more than they trust their mortal enemies, Nazi Germany has yet to send its Jews to death camps, and dangerous new nationalist powers arise in Eastern Europe. From thrilling submarine battles to the horror of men fighting men and machines all through Europe, "Two Fronts" captures every aspect of a brilliantly reimagined conflict: the strategic, the political, and the personal force of leaders bending nations to their wills. Praise for "Two Fronts"" "" Harry] Turtledove has another major twist in store for the readers and his alternative world."--"SF Site" "Turtledove's new variation on the theme of WWII is departing more and more from the original, sometimes in subtle ways and sometimes in less subtle ones. . . . What's next is anybody's guess, except that it will almost certainly be more surprises."--"Booklist" "Turtledove is the standard-bearer for alternate history."--"USA Today" Praise for Harry Turtledove "If you like alternate histories, you're going to like this series a lot.""--The San Diego Union-Tribune"" " "Turtledove is the standard-bearer for alternate history."--"USA Today" "From the Hardcover edition."

Menedemos, the young dashing sea captain, and his helper (and cousin), the scholarly Sostratos, are back in a new adventure. xxx Soon after their successful return to Rhodes the two cousins find that Greece is a dangerous place after the death of Alexande

In the aftermath of the supervolcano's eruption in Yellowstone Park, North America is covered in ash. Farmlands cannot produce food. Machinery has been rendered useless. Cities are no longer habitable. And the climate across the globe grows colder every day. As the continent becomes a barren wasteland, former police officer Colin Ferguson's family finds themselves scattered across a desolate landscape, fighting for survival in a world where civilization is hanging on by a thread. With gripping suspense and vivid storytelling, Turtledove delves into the relentless struggle to reclaim humanity's foothold in a post-apocalyptic world, weaving a pulse-pounding tale of resilience, survival, and the unbreakable human spirit.

Menedemos, the young dashing sea captain, and his helper, the scholarly Sostratos, are sea-traders from the Greek island of Rhodes. Fearless sailors, they will travel any distance to make a profit or to search for rich treasures. *** While they trade in f