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Atlantis #3
Liberating Atlantis
Frederick, a descendent of the family that founded Atlantis's first settlement, must work as a slave when he is unable to prove his lineage, and becomes the leader of a revolutionary army of freedom fighters.
452 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
16 people are currently reading
542 people want to read
About the author
Harry Turtledove
561 books1,939 followersDr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 21, 2020
I read somewhere that, much like the preceding book was a retelling of the American Revolution in the Atlantis setting, this was a retelling of the American Civil War...and whosoever suggested that was not completely correct.
Yes, there is a running tension between an abolitionist North and a slave-owning South, and yes there is some mention here or there that secession could happen. But, this is more the tale of a slave rebellion, led by the grandson of the protagonist from the last book no less, which ultimately proves successful, defeats an Atlantean army, and wrestles freedom for all through legislation...almost like a happy ending Spartacus.
Yet again, we also have a format change. We now have three main characters; the slave rebellion's leader, and the two Consuls of Atlantis. This book is divided into four "internal books" which divide the transition between them...until books 3 and 4 where their stories more or less intertwine. I'm not sure why Mr. Turtledove played around with style and perspective from book to book.
Yes, there is a running tension between an abolitionist North and a slave-owning South, and yes there is some mention here or there that secession could happen. But, this is more the tale of a slave rebellion, led by the grandson of the protagonist from the last book no less, which ultimately proves successful, defeats an Atlantean army, and wrestles freedom for all through legislation...almost like a happy ending Spartacus.
Yet again, we also have a format change. We now have three main characters; the slave rebellion's leader, and the two Consuls of Atlantis. This book is divided into four "internal books" which divide the transition between them...until books 3 and 4 where their stories more or less intertwine. I'm not sure why Mr. Turtledove played around with style and perspective from book to book.
January 3, 2010
One of Turtledove's silliest books. The series (now at #3) has become a total mess. In this one, we are supposed to imagine that an ad hoc servile insurrection changes entire folkways after one battle. What is worse is the endless talking by uninteresting characters. I hope he end this series.
April 21, 2015
I only wish I could give this thing negative stars. It is bad - laughably bad. Or cry-ably bad. For starters, everyone in the novel is an idiot, and I mean that as sincerely as possible. The entire cast has about half a cup of intelligence between them, though Harry Turtledove seems to think they're all sharp as tacks. He repeatedly tells us how clever and wry his characters are, even as they spout their idiotic nonsense ineffectually masquerading as wit.
Turtledove seems to have only enough imagination for about five different types of scenes in the whole book. One of them, which he returns to over and over, is the "clever [not] characters plotting their ingenious [not] next move" scene. He makes full use of this particular scene, using it over and over throughout the book from the POV of both the idiotic slaves who are rebelling and the idiotic masters who are trying to put them back down. Here's the typical dialogue - it applies to each of these scenes equally, since in essence they're the same:
Idiot One: Now we're in a tight spot. I wish we weren't, but we are.
Idiot Two: We need to -----, that's what we need to do!
One: Well, you won't here me say this often, but you're right.
Two: Damned right I'm right!
One: Only trouble is, that's easier to say than it is to do.
Two: Oh. I hadn't thought of that.
One: Only question is, how do we go about doing it?
I kid you not, this is the average quality of the book. The rest of the dialogue follows the same pattern, no matter what the subject matter, speakers, or situation: a bunch of dipwads proudly displaying their stupidity in the mistaken belief that it is what's known as "wit." It's like an old Laurel and Hardy episode, only far less entertaining.
Besides the dialogue, which I have already ranted about enough, the plot is equally horrible. You'd think that a disciple of history such as Turtledove would know enough about the past to have some vague inkling of how an alternate one might play out - after all, his main writing genre is alternate history. But, although in other books he might display more prowess in this line, 'Liberating Atlantis' was not his finest hour as a historical theorist. The course history takes in the novel would only make sense if every single person in the world had the brains of a pygmy shrew. Of course, in this novel every single person DOES have the sense of a shrew, but this does not make the story any more believable.
Here's the basic course the story takes: slaves rebel after years of mistreatment (so far so good). The slave army grows larger as more slaves throw down their hoes and pick up rifles. Unfortunately, the government of Atlantis consists of two asswipes who never learned how to play nicely together. Say what you will about politicians, I find it hard to believe that a pair of clowns such as Stafford and Newton could ever be elected into an office higher than Assistant Regional Under Secretary's Helper. Anyway, the two consuls (as they're known) bicker and fight their way down into southern Atlantis, where the uprising is. They proceed to bicker and fight like two little girls for the next half of the book, while their general spouts words of European strategical "wisdom" he picked up on earlier campaigns. And, by the way, all of this is what Turtledove calls a "war." So THAT'S what war is.
Anyway, I won't give away any more of the book than that, in case any of my readers are not fully persuaded by this scathing review and must pick up the book to see for themselves if it could possibly be as bad as I say. Suffice it to say that the ending is no better than the beginning, and the middle is worse than both.
Turtledove seems to have only enough imagination for about five different types of scenes in the whole book. One of them, which he returns to over and over, is the "clever [not] characters plotting their ingenious [not] next move" scene. He makes full use of this particular scene, using it over and over throughout the book from the POV of both the idiotic slaves who are rebelling and the idiotic masters who are trying to put them back down. Here's the typical dialogue - it applies to each of these scenes equally, since in essence they're the same:
Idiot One: Now we're in a tight spot. I wish we weren't, but we are.
Idiot Two: We need to -----, that's what we need to do!
One: Well, you won't here me say this often, but you're right.
Two: Damned right I'm right!
One: Only trouble is, that's easier to say than it is to do.
Two: Oh. I hadn't thought of that.
One: Only question is, how do we go about doing it?
I kid you not, this is the average quality of the book. The rest of the dialogue follows the same pattern, no matter what the subject matter, speakers, or situation: a bunch of dipwads proudly displaying their stupidity in the mistaken belief that it is what's known as "wit." It's like an old Laurel and Hardy episode, only far less entertaining.
Besides the dialogue, which I have already ranted about enough, the plot is equally horrible. You'd think that a disciple of history such as Turtledove would know enough about the past to have some vague inkling of how an alternate one might play out - after all, his main writing genre is alternate history. But, although in other books he might display more prowess in this line, 'Liberating Atlantis' was not his finest hour as a historical theorist. The course history takes in the novel would only make sense if every single person in the world had the brains of a pygmy shrew. Of course, in this novel every single person DOES have the sense of a shrew, but this does not make the story any more believable.
Here's the basic course the story takes: slaves rebel after years of mistreatment (so far so good). The slave army grows larger as more slaves throw down their hoes and pick up rifles. Unfortunately, the government of Atlantis consists of two asswipes who never learned how to play nicely together. Say what you will about politicians, I find it hard to believe that a pair of clowns such as Stafford and Newton could ever be elected into an office higher than Assistant Regional Under Secretary's Helper. Anyway, the two consuls (as they're known) bicker and fight their way down into southern Atlantis, where the uprising is. They proceed to bicker and fight like two little girls for the next half of the book, while their general spouts words of European strategical "wisdom" he picked up on earlier campaigns. And, by the way, all of this is what Turtledove calls a "war." So THAT'S what war is.
Anyway, I won't give away any more of the book than that, in case any of my readers are not fully persuaded by this scathing review and must pick up the book to see for themselves if it could possibly be as bad as I say. Suffice it to say that the ending is no better than the beginning, and the middle is worse than both.
August 2, 2011
It was a good alternative history of the Civil War, the slaves forming an army instead of the North fighting the South, but there wasn't much that made it distinctively "Atlantian" besides the addition of a Radcliff.
I wouldn't mind if he wrote more in this series, maybe have more interactions with "Terranova". But overall I liked the series and the idea behind it.
I wouldn't mind if he wrote more in this series, maybe have more interactions with "Terranova". But overall I liked the series and the idea behind it.
April 10, 2011
Plodding, repetitive, points are sledgehammered home. Clumsy and trite. Interesting idea for a book /series, badly executed.
November 19, 2012
A good story about people fighting for their freedom.
October 25, 2022
Due to the oddities of library weeding and cooperative systems, I read this book *before* The United States of Atlantis--and one sign of a good series is that you can do that without too much grief. (And the other book will be up soon.) No spoilers here.
Atlantis is now a free nation--for whites and for all in the northern states. The southern states, originally settled by Spaniards and French/Bretons, are slave states--and given the odd nature of the national government, that's not likely to change. Until a Black slave (grandson of the nation's founder, since you know how slaveowners are) and, a bit later, a "copperhead" (think Native American) lead a successful slave uprising.
I read some of the one-star reviews. To each their own. While it's true that the characters aren't deep, I found it well worth reading. The alternate history is internally plausible, and it kept moving.
Atlantis is now a free nation--for whites and for all in the northern states. The southern states, originally settled by Spaniards and French/Bretons, are slave states--and given the odd nature of the national government, that's not likely to change. Until a Black slave (grandson of the nation's founder, since you know how slaveowners are) and, a bit later, a "copperhead" (think Native American) lead a successful slave uprising.
I read some of the one-star reviews. To each their own. While it's true that the characters aren't deep, I found it well worth reading. The alternate history is internally plausible, and it kept moving.
June 6, 2017
Reading this book was like plowing a field with a teaspoon. Pretty much a tedious labor.
Read
October 17, 2019Enjoyable. Good alternate history.
November 16, 2021
Alternate story of slave uprising in 1800s south.
January 2, 2010
In the third volume to this series, which is set in a world where everything west of the Mississippi River was separate from the American mainland. This separate continent has allowed history to form differently. In the first two books, Atlantis was settle by the English, French and Spanish before a Rebellion took place. Now, two generations after the previous volume, the USA (that is the United States of Atlantis) is heading into a major confrontation over the issue of slavery.
The north made slavery illegal many years previous, but the south's plantation-based economy is dependent on the use of the slaves. Africans and natives taken from Terra Nova, the American mainland, are the two populations used as slaves. While debate is strong in the Atlantean Congress, things are really brought to the fore through a slave revolt.
Frederick Radcliff, the illegitimate grandson of the hero of the Rebellion from the previous novel, is a house slave. He has recently gotten in trouble for tripping and spilling soup at his mistress' big party. As a result, he is being demoted to a field hand and will be given a number of lashes. His "wife," who really isn't his wife because Negroes can't marry, is joining him in his demotion.
As he settles into life as a farm hand, he finds himself less and less able to handle the inequalities he faces just because of the color of his skin. While being scolded by the plantation overseer, Frederick loses his temper and kills him with a shovel. This starts a revolt that will spread across much of the South with Frederick as the leader of the newly "freed" slaves.
While the story is primarily told from Frederick's perspectives, two other men come to the fore to add their view. In Atlantis, the executive branch takes on the form of a pair of Consuls with one representing the North and the other the South. They are in effect a shared prime ministerialship. Jeremiah Stafford of the South and Leland Newton of the North have been ordered south by the Congress to crush the spreading revolt before it tears Atlantis apart.
The two greatly disagree in how to approach the revolt because of their personal views of slavery, but they are both surprised by the capabilities of the slave army under the command of Frederick Radcliff and his "copperskin" marshall, Lorenzo. The two find themselves questioning their low estimations of slave capabilities and white superiority as they are continuously pushed back by the slave army. This is even more surprising as they are joined by the head of the Atlantean army, Colonel Balthasar Sinapis of Greece.
As usual, Turtledove has done a masterful job of creating a realistic tale. While this is likely meant to parallel the American Civil War, it contains its own twists and turns, which are largely due to the unique nature of Atlantis. The Radcliffs/Radcliffes are still a highly influential family. Not only did they help colonize the continent, but they have played crucial roles in its history since the arrival of Europeans there. Even as Frederick is not part of an accepted branch of the family, he definitely lives up to his name with the events.
One of the things I have always liked about Turtledove's books is that he masterfully creates realistic characters. The reader is presented the events of the alternate history through their eyes. Usually, this is done to offer very different perspectives, giving the reader a full gamut of the pros and cons of events and why people might do some terribly, horrible things.
Turtledove also tends to offer a great deal of detail about what is happening and the causes and consequences of events. I am not sure that I could say it all comes down to research because it really is in relation to what could have been rather than the details of what did happen. Either way, he is rich and complete in his storytelling. This is another great addition to the series and to his body of work as a whole.
The north made slavery illegal many years previous, but the south's plantation-based economy is dependent on the use of the slaves. Africans and natives taken from Terra Nova, the American mainland, are the two populations used as slaves. While debate is strong in the Atlantean Congress, things are really brought to the fore through a slave revolt.
Frederick Radcliff, the illegitimate grandson of the hero of the Rebellion from the previous novel, is a house slave. He has recently gotten in trouble for tripping and spilling soup at his mistress' big party. As a result, he is being demoted to a field hand and will be given a number of lashes. His "wife," who really isn't his wife because Negroes can't marry, is joining him in his demotion.
As he settles into life as a farm hand, he finds himself less and less able to handle the inequalities he faces just because of the color of his skin. While being scolded by the plantation overseer, Frederick loses his temper and kills him with a shovel. This starts a revolt that will spread across much of the South with Frederick as the leader of the newly "freed" slaves.
While the story is primarily told from Frederick's perspectives, two other men come to the fore to add their view. In Atlantis, the executive branch takes on the form of a pair of Consuls with one representing the North and the other the South. They are in effect a shared prime ministerialship. Jeremiah Stafford of the South and Leland Newton of the North have been ordered south by the Congress to crush the spreading revolt before it tears Atlantis apart.
The two greatly disagree in how to approach the revolt because of their personal views of slavery, but they are both surprised by the capabilities of the slave army under the command of Frederick Radcliff and his "copperskin" marshall, Lorenzo. The two find themselves questioning their low estimations of slave capabilities and white superiority as they are continuously pushed back by the slave army. This is even more surprising as they are joined by the head of the Atlantean army, Colonel Balthasar Sinapis of Greece.
As usual, Turtledove has done a masterful job of creating a realistic tale. While this is likely meant to parallel the American Civil War, it contains its own twists and turns, which are largely due to the unique nature of Atlantis. The Radcliffs/Radcliffes are still a highly influential family. Not only did they help colonize the continent, but they have played crucial roles in its history since the arrival of Europeans there. Even as Frederick is not part of an accepted branch of the family, he definitely lives up to his name with the events.
One of the things I have always liked about Turtledove's books is that he masterfully creates realistic characters. The reader is presented the events of the alternate history through their eyes. Usually, this is done to offer very different perspectives, giving the reader a full gamut of the pros and cons of events and why people might do some terribly, horrible things.
Turtledove also tends to offer a great deal of detail about what is happening and the causes and consequences of events. I am not sure that I could say it all comes down to research because it really is in relation to what could have been rather than the details of what did happen. Either way, he is rich and complete in his storytelling. This is another great addition to the series and to his body of work as a whole.
August 2, 2020
Mindblowing. The first two books of the series were what I expect of HT, but this one, with its reflection of the US debate over slavery, is one to remember. Along with "In the Presence of Mine Enemies," to me, it really made me think.
October 19, 2023
Book 3 of the trilogy, mailed to me through a "books for soldiers" program when I was in Djibouti 2011–2012. Very enjoyable alternate history, but a slower read than the other Turtledove books that I had read previously. (See my earlier books, which I will eventually enter.) I have nothing negative to say about the series except that for some reason I was slower to get through this series than others. I'm saving the four- and five-star rating for weightier material.
April 26, 2010
Not up the the standard established by Turtledove in his body of work, nor with the previous two books in this series.
I was pretty disappointed, because I've been so happy with his work over the years.
One of the focal characters was Frederick Radcliff, a "house slave" - not exactly a butler, who was the grandson of the "George Washington" character on this timeline, Victor Radcliff. Frederick tripped while serving a fancy luncheon, and his master had him whipped 5 lashes and put to work in the fields. In almost no time, this character had killed his overseer, led the other slaves up to the house where they killed the master, grabbed a shipment of government muskets, and started a slave uprising.
The dysfunctional government was headed by two "consuls" who have to have consensus to do anything. One was pro-slavery and one was from a free state. It felt like 2/3 of the book was devoted to their arguments and thoughts, and I started skipping over them early and eventually just looked for actions and skipped the dialogue.
Meanwhile, the rebels are growing in number. The government sends out the army, and the slaves catch them in a kind of Little Big Horn (they call it "another Cannae"). I find it hard to believe that the government doesn't have a huge strategic advantage, and that they can only send out one brigade-sized group to deal with the insurrection.
In fairness, perhaps Turtledove is trying to write the internal thoughts of an uneducated character. This is not a new literary device, but it makes the plot unbelievable for me. In what might be less than a year, this guy is transformed from uneducated house servant to wise and wily freedom fighter. Admittedly, I wouldn't have read 15 or 20 years of this stuff, so doing it quickly is preferable, but it made the transformation unbelievable.
While I rooted for the slaves to be freed and justice for all and peace in the land, I couldn't imagine that the government wasn't capable of putting down the rebellion and then talking about what happens next.
But that's not all that bugged me.
The army entered the conflict to serve as a neutral zone between the slaves and the militias, to create peace. In the span of a couple of discussions, they suddenly became the weapon of the slave owners, and began to fight with the militia. At no point did the argument between the two consuls deal with this issue. I expected that lives could be saved, and peace restored, sooner if the original mission was followed, to create an armistice, or truce of some sort, than for a slave uprising to catch the army in a sack.
I really liked the first two Atlantis books, and the disappointment of this one makes me wonder where to go next with Mr Turtledove. All of the story lines I've followed with him have ended - the aliens that came during world war II, the alternate civil war, the alternate pearl harbor, and even the one where Shakespeare was a spy. I enjoyed them as much as any other sci-fi, and liked the epic characters and families in them.
This book is not up to that standard, and I'm not sure why it's out there.
I was pretty disappointed, because I've been so happy with his work over the years.
One of the focal characters was Frederick Radcliff, a "house slave" - not exactly a butler, who was the grandson of the "George Washington" character on this timeline, Victor Radcliff. Frederick tripped while serving a fancy luncheon, and his master had him whipped 5 lashes and put to work in the fields. In almost no time, this character had killed his overseer, led the other slaves up to the house where they killed the master, grabbed a shipment of government muskets, and started a slave uprising.
The dysfunctional government was headed by two "consuls" who have to have consensus to do anything. One was pro-slavery and one was from a free state. It felt like 2/3 of the book was devoted to their arguments and thoughts, and I started skipping over them early and eventually just looked for actions and skipped the dialogue.
Meanwhile, the rebels are growing in number. The government sends out the army, and the slaves catch them in a kind of Little Big Horn (they call it "another Cannae"). I find it hard to believe that the government doesn't have a huge strategic advantage, and that they can only send out one brigade-sized group to deal with the insurrection.
In fairness, perhaps Turtledove is trying to write the internal thoughts of an uneducated character. This is not a new literary device, but it makes the plot unbelievable for me. In what might be less than a year, this guy is transformed from uneducated house servant to wise and wily freedom fighter. Admittedly, I wouldn't have read 15 or 20 years of this stuff, so doing it quickly is preferable, but it made the transformation unbelievable.
While I rooted for the slaves to be freed and justice for all and peace in the land, I couldn't imagine that the government wasn't capable of putting down the rebellion and then talking about what happens next.
But that's not all that bugged me.
The army entered the conflict to serve as a neutral zone between the slaves and the militias, to create peace. In the span of a couple of discussions, they suddenly became the weapon of the slave owners, and began to fight with the militia. At no point did the argument between the two consuls deal with this issue. I expected that lives could be saved, and peace restored, sooner if the original mission was followed, to create an armistice, or truce of some sort, than for a slave uprising to catch the army in a sack.
I really liked the first two Atlantis books, and the disappointment of this one makes me wonder where to go next with Mr Turtledove. All of the story lines I've followed with him have ended - the aliens that came during world war II, the alternate civil war, the alternate pearl harbor, and even the one where Shakespeare was a spy. I enjoyed them as much as any other sci-fi, and liked the epic characters and families in them.
This book is not up to that standard, and I'm not sure why it's out there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2014
Turtledove takes the continent of Atlantis into a uniquely different type of civil war. It's 2 generations after the war of independence from England, and the slaves of southern Atlantis can't take more of the suffering they endure. When Frederick Radcliff, the descendant of the famous Victor Radcliff from the war against England finds himself suddenly a field hand slave rather than a house slave, it's more than he can take. Opportunity gives him a chance to do something about it, and he finds himself leading a slave insurrection and rebellion.
This Atlantis book returns to Turtledove's typical multiple point of view characters, and shows not only Frederick's challenges in forming an army that can stand up to the United States of Atlantis from freed slaves, but also both sides of the political viewpoint as the co-councils of the USA wrangle politically and militarily when they jointly command the army sent to put down the rebellion.
It's fascinating to read about a civil war that never was, and how it could have been different if the slaves themselves took it upon themselves to start it, rather than the North and the South fighting it over political differences. Lots of different types of challenges stand in Frederick's way - from how to supply his army, and fight against a trained force, to how he can change the conversation from one of military prowess to one of a political future that allows freedom for the former slaves.
Like many of Turtledove's books, the story doesn't stop when the fighting does, there's roughly 100 pages for the final act, which is just as interesting and tense of a read as the first parts of the book.
This Atlantis book returns to Turtledove's typical multiple point of view characters, and shows not only Frederick's challenges in forming an army that can stand up to the United States of Atlantis from freed slaves, but also both sides of the political viewpoint as the co-councils of the USA wrangle politically and militarily when they jointly command the army sent to put down the rebellion.
It's fascinating to read about a civil war that never was, and how it could have been different if the slaves themselves took it upon themselves to start it, rather than the North and the South fighting it over political differences. Lots of different types of challenges stand in Frederick's way - from how to supply his army, and fight against a trained force, to how he can change the conversation from one of military prowess to one of a political future that allows freedom for the former slaves.
Like many of Turtledove's books, the story doesn't stop when the fighting does, there's roughly 100 pages for the final act, which is just as interesting and tense of a read as the first parts of the book.
March 20, 2010
Like I said with the previous book in this series, Harry Turtledove does not write great characters or scintillating prose, but his alternate histories are great thought experiments. The first book was the discovery of Atlantis (the east coast of the States as an island in the middle of the Atlantic), the second book was the Revolutionary war, and this one is the war to free the slaves. The interesting twist was that instead of a war between the northern and southern states, it was an uprising of the slaves in the south that forces the acceptance of freeing the slaves (both black and indian, or 'copperskins').
All in all, it was a fun read, but not exactly great literature. I think that finishes the series, though, since it looks like he's going to have a new series coming from the same publisher later this fall.
All in all, it was a fun read, but not exactly great literature. I think that finishes the series, though, since it looks like he's going to have a new series coming from the same publisher later this fall.
January 26, 2015
Third of the Atlantis books, brings us to the anticipated racial conflict set up in the second. I was afraid Turtledove was going to rehash the Civil War again, complete with analogues of famous historical characters. Afraid not because it would have been bad, but because it's been done before, even by Harry himself. But fortunately he didn't do that, choosing instead to give us a slave revolt on an unprecedented scale. I think Harry understates the difficulty of raising and controlling such a large revolt, but it makes for an interesting tale nonetheless.
July 15, 2011
I think this was the best book of the series. An interesting alternate treatment to how slavery was ended. What would have happened if John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry had been successful? What would have happened if the southern stated hadn't of suceded? No war of succession. An interesting federal government with two heads each ruling on alternate days. Don't know how practical that is. Again, Turtledove hits home when talking about human rights, bigotry and gender inequality.
December 1, 2011
Turtledove is getting kind of boring, actually. How many different ways can he rehash the various wars of our history? I would be interested in reading more about Atlantis if it were more than simply a stand-in for colonial America.
January 21, 2012
Continuing the Atlantis saga - - we have a full blown slave revolt with a hint of Spartacus and don't forget Hannibal's battle plan - while the ending is a little too neat for me, Turtledove did leave open lots of questions. Really liked the character development.
November 11, 2013
I liked the entire series. Turtledove is a master at taking something that could possibly have been and then spinning a great series of stories out of it. He does a great job with his combat scenes.
December 19, 2009
It's by Turtledove, what more do I need to say? Fantastic insight in to people as always.
January 31, 2010
The third in Turtledove's Atlantis series. This novel explores race, and freedom using a slave rebellion as a backdrop. Slow in places, but well worth reading
February 14, 2010
Outstanding view of our own nations history.
February 15, 2010
Continuing Turtledove's exploration of Atlantis, this time the slave question.
February 17, 2010
excellent book. Gives a view of the terror the slaves were kept in to keep them under control and the terror the masters had of the revolt.
April 8, 2010
Rather good continuation of Atlantis series. A little slow at times, but still an enjoyable read.
December 28, 2010
A good read, starting off strong and finishing well. One of the better books in this this good series...
January 15, 2011
Time wasting alternative history nonsense. Yet I keep reading them.
December 10, 2011
This was the third book of the trilogy. I liked the prior two a lot more. This book was an OK read but not great. Far from his best. Hence only 3 stars out of 5 from me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews