Review Schedule, August 2011
Hi there, guys. New month, new things to review.
I'll start with fellow author William Peter Grasso's East Wind Returns. I hope to have read it by the end of the week, but writing a review may take longer since I'm taking the weekend off from blogging to go to a festival. Having said that, I've just taken the first few looks at it and it promises to be a good mix of alternate history, war fiction, and adventure.
About William P. Grasso:
History is a parade of chance outcomes, influenced by any number of natural forces and human whims. As a lifelong student of history and lover of alternative historical fiction, William Peter Grasso's novels explore the concept "change one thing...and watch what happens." In this fast-paced debut novel, East Wind Returns, the atomic hegemony in the summer of 1945 is turned on its head. Retired from the aircraft maintenance industry, William Peter Grasso is a veteran of the US Army and served in Operation Desert Storm as a flight crew member with the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). These days, he confines his aviation activities to building and flying radio-controlled model aircraft.
Following that, I'll first dig into Guy Saville's The Afrika Reich. It has received rather favorable reviews by The Times and The Economist, which doesn't have to mean anything. But I'll keep an open mind and will judge it on its own merits. Here's the product description:
1952. It is more than a decade since the Dunkirk fiasco marked the end of Britain's war and an uneasy peace with Hitler. In Africa, the swastika flies from the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. Gleaming autobahns bisect the jungle and jet fighters patrol the skies. Britain and the Nazis have divided the continent but now the demonic plans of Walter Hochburg - architect of Nazi Africa - threaten Britain's ailing colonies. In England, ex-mercenary Burton Cole is offered one last contract. Burton grabs the chance to settle an old score with Hochburg, despite his own misgivings and the protests of the woman he loves. If Burton fails, unimaginable horrors will be unleashed in Africa. No one - black or white - will be spared. But when his mission turns to disaster, Burton is forced to flee for his life. His flight takes him from the unholy killing ground of Kongo to SS slave camps and on to war-torn Angola, finally reaching its thrilling climax in a conspiracy that leads to the dark heart of the Reich itself.
And last but not least I'll take a look at Andy Johnson's Seelöwe Nord. The product description isn't exactly exhaustive, but despite the outcry I can hear across the AH community, this one might not be as bad as on might expect:
Late summer 1940, and Britain stands on the brink of complete and utter defeat. Thrown out of mainland Europe by the unstoppable Nazi war machine, the British stand alone against the might of Hitler's Third Reich. Poised for imminent invasion, cut off by U-Boats and bombarded daily from the air, the British strive to re-equip their shattered army. They don't know when, and they don't know where, but one thing is certain... The Germans are coming!
The author, Andy Johnson, is a retired former soldiers who left the forces in the rank of regimental Seargent-Major. He's consulted with several histoians to write this book and has used contemporary sources like the War Diaries of Field Marshal Lord Alan Brooke to recreate the relationsships and mannerism of the historical actors to the best of his knowledge and abilities.
Call me an optimist (well, that would be a first), but I'm tentatively positive that August might become a month with books that - although not guaranteed to be good - may at least all be entertaining and maybe even insightful.
I'll start with fellow author William Peter Grasso's East Wind Returns. I hope to have read it by the end of the week, but writing a review may take longer since I'm taking the weekend off from blogging to go to a festival. Having said that, I've just taken the first few looks at it and it promises to be a good mix of alternate history, war fiction, and adventure.About William P. Grasso:
History is a parade of chance outcomes, influenced by any number of natural forces and human whims. As a lifelong student of history and lover of alternative historical fiction, William Peter Grasso's novels explore the concept "change one thing...and watch what happens." In this fast-paced debut novel, East Wind Returns, the atomic hegemony in the summer of 1945 is turned on its head. Retired from the aircraft maintenance industry, William Peter Grasso is a veteran of the US Army and served in Operation Desert Storm as a flight crew member with the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). These days, he confines his aviation activities to building and flying radio-controlled model aircraft.
Following that, I'll first dig into Guy Saville's The Afrika Reich. It has received rather favorable reviews by The Times and The Economist, which doesn't have to mean anything. But I'll keep an open mind and will judge it on its own merits. Here's the product description:
1952. It is more than a decade since the Dunkirk fiasco marked the end of Britain's war and an uneasy peace with Hitler. In Africa, the swastika flies from the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. Gleaming autobahns bisect the jungle and jet fighters patrol the skies. Britain and the Nazis have divided the continent but now the demonic plans of Walter Hochburg - architect of Nazi Africa - threaten Britain's ailing colonies. In England, ex-mercenary Burton Cole is offered one last contract. Burton grabs the chance to settle an old score with Hochburg, despite his own misgivings and the protests of the woman he loves. If Burton fails, unimaginable horrors will be unleashed in Africa. No one - black or white - will be spared. But when his mission turns to disaster, Burton is forced to flee for his life. His flight takes him from the unholy killing ground of Kongo to SS slave camps and on to war-torn Angola, finally reaching its thrilling climax in a conspiracy that leads to the dark heart of the Reich itself.
And last but not least I'll take a look at Andy Johnson's Seelöwe Nord. The product description isn't exactly exhaustive, but despite the outcry I can hear across the AH community, this one might not be as bad as on might expect:
Late summer 1940, and Britain stands on the brink of complete and utter defeat. Thrown out of mainland Europe by the unstoppable Nazi war machine, the British stand alone against the might of Hitler's Third Reich. Poised for imminent invasion, cut off by U-Boats and bombarded daily from the air, the British strive to re-equip their shattered army. They don't know when, and they don't know where, but one thing is certain... The Germans are coming!
The author, Andy Johnson, is a retired former soldiers who left the forces in the rank of regimental Seargent-Major. He's consulted with several histoians to write this book and has used contemporary sources like the War Diaries of Field Marshal Lord Alan Brooke to recreate the relationsships and mannerism of the historical actors to the best of his knowledge and abilities.
Call me an optimist (well, that would be a first), but I'm tentatively positive that August might become a month with books that - although not guaranteed to be good - may at least all be entertaining and maybe even insightful.
No comments have been added yet.
