The Disunited States of America by Harry Turtledove

Earlier this month I started reading the six-volume Crosstime Traffic series by Harry Turtledove. The first novel that I read I enjoyed, while the second one not so much. Fortunately, this story was more like the former than the latter.

Like all of the Crosstime Traffic books this tale takes place in an alternate earth with a different historical timeline. In this case, the story is set in a North America that is divided into numerous autonomous states, in which the United States never came to be. The book opens with Beckie Royer, a teenager from the independent territory of California, travelling to the country of Virginia with her grandmother who is visiting relatives. During their visit, a war breaks out between Virginia and Ohio, both of which are separate nations, and which sees Ohio use biological weapons by spreading a virus that was created in a laboratory.

The other main protagonist is Justin Monroe, a teenage boy and employee of Crosstime Traffic, the company in the "home" earth that has discovered the ability to travel between alternate worlds. As part of his assignment, he travels to Virginia where he meets Beckie, and then is stranded due to the Virginia-Ohio war. The resulting narrative is a captivating story that is pretty good.

This book is meant for young adults, and as such much of it's language is written in PG form. In the hands of a weak writer this could be a big problem. Fortunately, Turtledove is able to convey the idea of swearing without actually using the F-word or other cuss-terms. The result is a funny literary style that is fairly witty. However, while the language is PG, much of the content is not. Covering such themes as racism, oppression, the horror of war and the political history of the United States, this novel allows teenage readers to think about some fairly heavy subjects.

Out of the three books that I have read so far in this series this is the best. In total I have enjoyed two and given the thumbs-down to one. Hopefully the others will be as good as this one.

3 1/2 stars out of 5

Curious Notions by Harry Turtledove

This novel is the second book in the six-volume Crosstime Traffic science-fiction series for young adults. The premise of the series is quite interesting: Set in the 2090s, a company called Crosstime Traffic has discovered technology that allows company employees to travel to other earth-like worlds that have alternate histories.  Each book tells the story of a different set of characters, so the only overlapping element among each of the books is the common premise.

Earlier this month, I read The Gladiator, which is the fifth volume in the series. While that book was not spectacular, I enjoyed it enough to pick up another book in the collection. Unfortunately, Curious Notions is a pretty weaker novel. Set in San Francisco in a world in which Germany wins the First World War and then conquers the United States after bombing it with nuclear weapons, the story revolves around Paul and Lawrence Gomes, a father-and-son duo who run a store called Curious Notions. As employees of Crosstime Traffic, they sell gadgets from the "real" earth in order to buy produce from local farmers in order to meet agricultural shortages in the home timeline.

When the German authorities start to wonder where these strange gadgets come from, they shut down the store and arrest Paul's father. While trying to rescue his dad, Paul teams up with Lucy Woo, a teenage girl who works in a shoe factory. As the novel progresses, the mysterious Chinese Triads who operate in San Francisco's Chinatown put pressure on Lucy to find out who Paul is and where he really comes from.

In most contexts, this plot would produce a very good novel. In what is a big disappointment, however, this interesting storyline is converted into Disney-like mush. In order to make the tone appropriate for "young" adults – a big emphasis on the word young – the dialogue, content and plot twists are reduced into pretty bland stuff. It is one thing to write a book for teenagers, it's quite another to treat them like children. In too many parts of the book the narrative flow sounds like a children's film from Disney, rather than an interesting science fiction story for teens.

Now that I have read two books in the series I will like finish all six volumes. My hope, however, is that the other books are more like The Gladiator and less like Curious Notions.

2 out of 5 stars

The Gladiator by Harry Turtledove

Crosstime traffic is a six-volume series for young adults by science fiction writer Harry Turtledove. Set in the late 21st century, the premise revolves around a company called Crosstime Traffic, which has developed a technology that allows people to travel to different earth-like worlds that have alternate histories.

In The Gladiator, we are introduced to a place in which the Soviet Union has won the cold war, and communism has become the dominant global ideology. The title of the book refers to a game shop of the same name, in which capitalist-inspired board games from the "real" earth are sold. The aim of the shop is to subtly subvert the totalitarian control of the Marxist governments that rule the different countries in this alternate world.

Set in Milan, Italy, the story revolves around two teenagers called Gianfranco and Annarita whose family share the same apartment. Gianfranco is a regular at The Gladiator shop where he regularly plays a board game called Rails across Europe. However, when the authorities become suspicious of the game shop, they decided to shut it down, and in the process radicalize the two teenagers. Their desire for freedom becomes especially acute when they discover that there is another world in which capitalism has triumphed and in which people are free.

This book was a fun read. While the politics are pretty simplistic – the struggle between capitalism and communism is presented in an almost childlike fashion – the story is enjoyable. While this novel is no masterpiece, and the writing can be pretty wooden at times, it is entertaining. If you are looking for a serious discussion on political theory, then this book is not for you. However, if you want to be entertained with a light and quick read on a grey weekend afternoon, then this story may be what you are looking for.

3 out of 5 stars

The Sea by John Banville

Picture the following scene: You are having dinner with a brilliant, erudite and cosmopolitan person. Initially, your guest mesmerizes you with stories of travelling around the world and meeting famous people. However, as time passes by, the conversation begins to drag on, and what was once magical is now slightly annoying. By the time dessert arrives, you want dinner to end and your guest  to go on his way.

For me, reading John Banville's The Sea was like having dinner with the aforementioned fictitious guest. For many people this statement is likely outrageous, especially given that this novel won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. Banville is without a doubt a magnificent writer, and to say otherwise is bound to create criticism. However, if I were to be completely honest, I must confess that this book slowly started to wear on me. It's true that in the opening sections I was captivated by the writing. However, with each passing page, I become increasingly (dare I say it?) bored. The intriguing ending saved the novel for me, but not enough to make me rave about this book. Yes, I could write numerous English PhD theses on the book's different themes, while making varied commentaries about art, death and longing. Yet, to be perfectly frank, I have to say that I found some of the commentary on this book to be a tad pretentious.

This story tells the tale of Max Morden, a middle-aged Irishman who returns to the seaside town where he spent his holidays as a child. Dealing with the recent death of his wife, he recalls his time with the Grace's, a wealthy family in which he experienced love and death for the first time. On the surface this is an interesting premise, and I really enjoyed parts of the book. Nevertheless, by roughly the middle part of the story, I couldn't help but want the novel to end. I am glad that I read this book, and I do plan to read other literary works by Banville. That being said, I did not fall in love with this story.

3 out of 5 stars