by Harry Turtledove
Lately I’ve been subjected to a heavy schedule of ‘hurry up and wait’ appointments with the wait components far outweighing the hurry up activities. Accordingly I’ve exercised my library cards much more than usual, raiding the stacks for time-killing light reading material. Looking for a slight change of pace from a large assortment of recommended mysteries, I saw the above novel in the “new books” rack. The title was intriguing, as was the author’s name, and with a science fiction label affixed, I thought I’d give it a read.
I suppose “speculative fiction” would be a more apt designation for this book. I’m not ordinarily fond of the “alternative history” or “what if?” genre, but the presenting premise of the novel caught my attention.
In summary, in the mid 1400’s a Breton fisherman leads an English fishing boat to a cache of huge cod much farther to the west in the Atlantic than was the traditional limit of travel. A bit farther than the rich fishing grounds they come upon a new and uninhabited land, actually a continent which, of course, they label “Atlantis”. An especially eye-catching feature is the map depicted on the book’s cover; from the shape of Atlantis, the reader immediately realizes that, in our universe, it is the eastern one-fourth of North America (from New Brunswick, dividing the Great Lakes, through the Mississippi delta, and having the Florida peninsula as its southern tip). The idea, of course, is that it separated, much as did South America and Africa, during the continent forming era.
Turtledove’s description of the geography, terrain, climate, and flora and fauna is fascinating, as are some of his cultural and anthropological notions. There is a central mountain ridge (certainly our Appalachians), a magnificent harbor on the west coast (our Lake Erie?), “barrel trees”, man-attacking birds of prey, other larger flightless birds (“honkers”), and, later on, the discovery of an even greater continent farther west (“Terranova”) from which native inhabitants (“copperskins”) are imported as slaves for the large farms in the near-tropical southland.
The narrative takes us through some three hundred years of the history of Atlantis, centering on the settlement activities of the fishermen-discoverers and the lives of their descendents. Primarily, though, this history recounts the conflict events of three specific periods, and, to a large extent, becomes a war novel depicting the strategies, tactics, and technology of ethnic and nationalistic struggles during the 15th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Frankly, I found this a bit tedious – Cornwell does it better in my opinion, and we don’t need an imaginary locale to accomplish it.
I was also disappointed that the history stopped in the 1700’s. I was hoping we could reach more modern times in Atlantis. A sequel maybe?
If so, I’d read it, but only if it’s a freebie from the library.
Review by Ken West
I suppose “speculative fiction” would be a more apt designation for this book. I’m not ordinarily fond of the “alternative history” or “what if?” genre, but the presenting premise of the novel caught my attention.
In summary, in the mid 1400’s a Breton fisherman leads an English fishing boat to a cache of huge cod much farther to the west in the Atlantic than was the traditional limit of travel. A bit farther than the rich fishing grounds they come upon a new and uninhabited land, actually a continent which, of course, they label “Atlantis”. An especially eye-catching feature is the map depicted on the book’s cover; from the shape of Atlantis, the reader immediately realizes that, in our universe, it is the eastern one-fourth of North America (from New Brunswick, dividing the Great Lakes, through the Mississippi delta, and having the Florida peninsula as its southern tip). The idea, of course, is that it separated, much as did South America and Africa, during the continent forming era.
Turtledove’s description of the geography, terrain, climate, and flora and fauna is fascinating, as are some of his cultural and anthropological notions. There is a central mountain ridge (certainly our Appalachians), a magnificent harbor on the west coast (our Lake Erie?), “barrel trees”, man-attacking birds of prey, other larger flightless birds (“honkers”), and, later on, the discovery of an even greater continent farther west (“Terranova”) from which native inhabitants (“copperskins”) are imported as slaves for the large farms in the near-tropical southland.
The narrative takes us through some three hundred years of the history of Atlantis, centering on the settlement activities of the fishermen-discoverers and the lives of their descendents. Primarily, though, this history recounts the conflict events of three specific periods, and, to a large extent, becomes a war novel depicting the strategies, tactics, and technology of ethnic and nationalistic struggles during the 15th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Frankly, I found this a bit tedious – Cornwell does it better in my opinion, and we don’t need an imaginary locale to accomplish it.
I was also disappointed that the history stopped in the 1700’s. I was hoping we could reach more modern times in Atlantis. A sequel maybe?
If so, I’d read it, but only if it’s a freebie from the library.
Review by Ken West
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