American Empire: The Victorious Opposition (American Empire Series #3)

Great

Very good continuation of the series

Great book

Another wonderful and essential book to the series.

Awesome book

I highly recommend it. This book was one where the titleandcover really stand out too. It was great.

Loved the series

Great book. And this is one of the titles and covers that moved me. Highly recommended.

History with a twist

This book is an interesting look at what history could have been. A good book for history buffs. Great for the nookcolor too because it is easy to look up actual events and compare to the authors story.

An Epic Sci-Fiction Series

Started readying this series and I have to say I enjoy it very much. The book is an easy read and has a lot of good character development and subplots. I would definitely advice to read the previous books from the series before reading this book. The pace of the book is slower and less exciting from the previous books but what do yo expect, the war is over! for now. Overall I would recommend this book.

I was afraid...

I was worried that he wouldn't write another one but, thankfully he did.

Very good book

Good writing! You hate Jake Featherson's Guts!

Very Good

Turtledove maintains and sustains his great writing style and I love his books.

Very compelling "What if......"

1st part of a second trilogy in an American Alternate History series. This book continues a strange and fascinating "what if..." scenario where the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America have just finished a grueling and bloody war during the time period of World War I.

It continues to flesh out existing characters from the original series as it moves into the 1920's and the beginnings of the Great Depressions.

movies????

has it occured to anyone in hollywood to turn these books into films? i mean with the shape hollywood is in right now, maybe this could be a great turn of the tide. these books are very well written and the characters are pretty well written also. im only half way through the victorious opposition and i' am very pleased with it so far. MAKE THESE BOOKS INTO MOVIES!!!!!!

Excellent Reading !!!

I have had the priviledge of reading all of Harry Turtledove's books on the alternate histoy of a now existing CSA.From 'How Few Remain' to 'The Victorious Opposition' Plus the alternate history novel 'Guns of the South.' Every one of these books are,in my view and opinion, most excellent reading.I would recomend them to anyone, especially anyone interested in alternate history reading.Keep up the good work Mr.Turtledove, I hope you continue with these books right up to the present day, it would be most interesting to see how you weave an alternate history of today, where the Confederacy still exists.

Watching a slow-motion train wreak

Reading Harry Turtledove's latest chapter in his 'The South Won the Civil War' epic is like watching a slow-motion train wreak you are powerless to stop. True, it is a necessary final bridge between the inter-war period and the resolution that readers anticipate will follow the WWII of his alternate reality. But at the same time it is a frustrating experience as conditions go from bad to worse and the reader knows that no good will come of any of it. Not only has the author long since telegraphed his overall intentions and themes, but he has even begun telegraphing the minor subplot twists. In the last book of the WWI portion of the saga, and the first covering the interwar period, he set events on a path parallel to the actual history familiar to readers. Thus, there were few surprises in 'Victorious Opposition.' We know, for example, that the CSA president, the Hitler parallel, will strong-arm opponents, create a police state, launch a brutal suppression of blacks, ignore international treaties and promises, and generally look to start WWII. These events were clearly telegraphed in the previous book. This being so, the only surprise in this book is the way previously unrelated characters occasionally cross one another's paths, and how familiar characters die off...not always by 'natural causes.' Turtledove also has an odd habit of repeating himself in exposition when returning to a character after 30 or so pages of other action. He seems to think that the readers have forgotten the character's personality and motivations. Thus, we read and reread, for example, the twisted lust for revenge that motivates Mary Pomeroy. This is really unnecessary, especially for readers who have long since become familiar with the characters. This book was a necessary step to link the previous chapter to the one that begins the story of WWII. But it is not enjoyable, it holds little (if any) suspense, and has the reader eager to just get it over with so the final act of the overall saga can begin. In and of itself, it is NOT a bad book, and it certainly lives up to Turtledove's reputation as a master of believable alternate history. However, I am glad it is behind me, and look forward to the next few installments so I can see how Turtledove's post WWII world turns out. 'Victorious Opposition' was a train wreak I could not avoid seeing, but nonetheless was one I wish I did not have to witness in quite such unpleasant detail.

Excellent!

An excellent entry into the series! Mr. Turtledove seems to have paid heed to some of the criticism of the preceeding novel, 'The Center Cannot Hold'. He has caused the demise of several peripheral characters who no longer added to the story, thus allowing the story to flow more freely. He has also done a little more towards adding real characters from history (for instance, a young Congressman Barry Goldwater)- which is one of the reasons some of us enjoy this genre. The idea that, given a different set of historical outcomes, how would people we know have acted - better? Worse? The same? It all makes for a more enjoyable and fascinating read - and the end result is that I can't wait for the next novel! Let me also throw in a suggestion or two - I would love to see President Al Smith make a deal with the Empire of Mexico, that if they attack the CSA from the south, they will receive the CSA States of Chihuahua and Sonora as 'spoils of war' - and then let Mexico try to 'administer' Texas! This way the USA could avoid the disastrous experience it suffered trying to occupy the state of 'Houston'. Also - I understand that the CSA 'owns' Cuba in this reality = that it is a state? Yet, we never have heard anything regarding it? I find it difficult to believe that ther native Cubans would be altogether happy with this? Let's see what can be stirred up there! Anyway - BRAVO, Mr. Turtledove! Thanks for a wonderful read - can't wait for the next!

Good book, a must for fans of alternate history

Another seven years are covered in this epic saga of the two Americas - USA vs. CSA. To really enjoy it you should read all preceding novels. The book starts right after the CSA got their new ultra right-wing president - parallels to 'real' history's rise of the Nazis is definitely intended. Staying with the concept of concentrating on one of the dozen or so characters for every 3-4 pages throughout the whole book, you finally arrive in the year 1940, and... well, get the book and see for yourself.

Great Book, but slow

I have loved the Turtledove books ever since I picked up the first one, How Few Remain, last year. I flew threw the Great War Saga and read the American Empire series. I was eagerly awaiting this book, but I was slightly disappointed. Some of the characters in the book, like Scipio, Sylvia Enos, Mary 'McGregor' Pomeroy, and Sam Carsten seemed repetitive. Although, there is the occasional plot twist that changed the character, it was rather repeative. I greatly look forward to where some of the characters are going, such as Jefferson Pinkard, Jake Featherston, Flora Blackford, and Clarence Potter are going. I eagerly a wait where Mr. Turtledove will take all of our beloved characters next. As someone who greatly enjoys history, I can't say enough for this book and all of the rest of Mr. Turtledove's books. I love looking at what happened just because one thing changed in one battle of the Civil War. I look at this book, and I see all the little things that really happened in say Germany after World War Two, and I see some of those things happen to the Confederate States of America. From the Olympics in Richmond, to rounding up Blacks and putting them in camps, to riots against blacks much like riots against Jews in Germany, I can't say enough about how some events run along side of events in Nazi Germany in our real life.

strong alternative history

In a world that never was but could haven been, the Confederacy won the War of Succession and the United States had to recognize them as a sovereign nation. As the victors, they imposed certain restrictions on the way the United States governed itself. When the Great War broke out, the United States was the winner, wrestling territory away from the Confederacy and bringing it into the union. To prevent Britain from ever being a threat in the USA again, the army marched into Canada and made it a territory of America. Canada is no longer a recognized country and all laws and military rules come from the American Army of Occupation. Texas is part of the CSA but during the Great War, the US annexed part of the state naming it Houston and bringing it into the Union. Sequoyah is a part of the USA but like Houston and Kentucky (which was also forcibly brought back into the USA) they want to rejoin the CSA.

There are very few blacks in the USA and most of them live in Kentucky. Former slaves trying to leave the CSA are turned back at the US border. When the world plunges into a Depression, the fascist Freedom party elects Jake Featherston president. He uses strong-arm tactics against his enemies, takes control of the radio and newspapers and sets up internment camps for political prisoners and Red Negroes. He begins building tractors and farm equipment at a fast rate so that the Black sharecroppers become redundant. Many resort to fighting a guerrilla war while others go begging for take menial jobs in the cities.

Under the terms of the 1917 Armistice, the CSA military is sharply curtailed but Featherston finds ways of getting around the restrictions. He is slowly building up the military strength of the CSA to the level it was in 1863. His freedom party goons are agitating in Sequoyah, Houston and Kentucky for a plebiscite and the socialist president of the USA finally allows the people of those states to vote on whether they want to stay in the USA or leave and rejoin the CSA. Many people in both countries believe that another war between the USA and CSA is inevitable.

Harry Turtledove is the recognized grand master of alternative history and in AMERICAN EMPIRE: THE VICTORIOUS OPPOSITION; he shows his talent grows with each book he writes. The Freedom Party can be compared with the rise of the Nazi Party in our universe and just like the SS troopers; the high-ranking members in the party use the same strong-arm tactics to cow the populace. Instead of Jews being discriminated against, the Blacks are the scapegoats. France and Russia sided with the confederacy and when they lost the war, they had to obey the terms of the armistice but they are unhappy and ready to go to war again to regain their freedoms. France especially wants to regain Alsace-Lorraine from Germany but are wary of fighting the Germans a third time.

The characters in this novel are real people representing all walks of life so that the reader has a very visual picture of what life is like in this altered universe that seems similar but is so very different from our own. The CSA president is not a likable man and freedom lovers will despise him but the audience will understand that many of his constituents want him in office so that he can turn their country around and make it a world power.

Harriet Klausner

The best of this series

Let me just say that I am a big fan of Mr. Turtledove. I feel that this book is the best installment of this alternate timeline to date. In some of the earlier books I got the impression that he was being paid by the word, and it showed (sentences and even whole paragraphs repeated over and over again without advancing the plot or expanding the story at all). I thought that this book moved along at a very nice pace, and not once did I get the feeling that what I was reading was being recycled. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

Another Great One

You must read the first 5 or so books of this series to understand this. I read this book in just a few short days cause I couldn't put it down. The next series should be even better.

An Excellent Read

This is a well written and entertaining read. It's great for historians to see how the "what if" question might have played out and to see all the slight and not-so-slight changes. For those readers who are not interested in history, it's a good story. I'm looking forward to the next installment in this great series.