Days of Infamy: A Novel of Alternate History |
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Days of Infamy: A Novel of Alternate History
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by Harry Turtledove
Sales Rank: 371215
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$0.18
At Amazon
on 8-6-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 448 pages
Published by: NAL Hardcover November 2, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0451213076
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0451213075
Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
Weighs: 1.4 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Alternate-history master Turtledove (Ruled Britannia) presents a starkly realistic view of what might have been had the Japanese followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor with a land invasion and occupied Hawaii. U.S. airman Fletch Armitage, held in a POW camp under horrifying conditions (the Japanese never signed the Geneva Convention), keeps hope alive even as he slowly starves. His ex-wife, Jane, keeps her head down in occupied Wahiawa, tending her assigned garden plot and hoping she will not be raped. Fisherman Jiro Takahashi, a native Japanese, welcomes the Rising Sun in Hawaii, but his sons, who consider themselves American, aren't so sure, even though the white Americans begin treating Japanese-Americans with contempt, particularly those who act as translators for the invaders, further widening the racial divide and increasing tensions. As the Japanese strengthen their hold on the islands, each side comes to grudgingly accept the courage of the other, despite the cultural chasms that separate them. The Americans vow to retake the islands, setting the scene for a final showdown that pits mastermind Commander Genda and maneuverable Zero airplanes against American strategy that includes technology the Japanese lack: radar. A less than neatly wrapped-up ending leaves room for a sequel. With an emphasis on tactics and warfare technology, this exciting, well-researched alternate history will please history buffs and SF fans alike.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Turtledove's latest twist on history has the Japanese invading Hawaii in December 1941. It recalls most closely Ruled Britannia (2002), except that this book is almost certainly the first volume of another WWII alternate history. The strategic consequences of the U.S. being backed up against its own West Coast, with most of its navy's aircraft carriers sunk, are too extensive to be dealt with in one novel, and one viewpoint character, Joe Crosetti, is training as a naval aviator for the battles to come. But as usual, Turtledove provides an extensive range of characters, civilian and military, of both sides and all ranks. Minoru Genda and Mitsuo Fuchida, both real historical Japanese officers, perform with their expected brilliance. On the other hand, Corporal Shimizu rides ashore in a landing barge and gives a grunt's-eye view of the Japanese army, whose motto is, quite understandably, "Hard work!" U.S. artillery officer Fletcher Armitage and his wife, Jane, were on the verge of divorce when the balloon went up and are now even more thoroughly separated as he labors in a POW camp, and she survives off her turnip patch. Oscar van der Klerk goes from surf bum to amateur spy, and the fishermen of the Takahashi family are divided, father Jiro favoring the Japanese occupiers, and his sons, who considered themselves Americans, disgruntled, to say the least. Demanding, irresistible, and magisterial--to say the very least. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Reader Reviews
Harry Turtledove posits another alternate history, this one, if Pearl Harbor had been more carefully planned and followed up with an invasion of Hawaii. The Japanese take advantage of the surprise to land troops and, with the help of air superiority (since most US planes were knocked out on December 7), take control of the islands. The US is not going to take this lying down, and gears up to fight back . . . As usual, carefully researched, and with the expected variety of viewpoints, from Japanese commanders to US soldiers to civilians caught in the middle. These characters are often very solid, though sometimes less so (the Japanese fisherman seems like something out of a Japanese version of "Flower Drum Song"!) Things progress through months of occupation and food shortages on the island, and conclude with a climactic sea battle, the equivalent of Midway (the first real carrier-to-carrier battle). It's Turtledove's look at how the war would have progressed if the Japanese had had Hawaii as an advance base, rather than the US. Although this book is marked as a "novel" on the front cover, and two of Turtledove's stand-alone books are reviewed on the back cover, this is clearly part 1 of at least a three (most likely four) part series. Several of the US characters (flyboy trainees, for example) never see combat. At least three Japanese characters mull over the question of how they can defeat a country so wealthy that even their trivial leavings make things easier for the occupiers. If one believes Turtledove's foreshadowings (and when he's so blatant, I'm inclined to believe him) the answer will be--they can't. To say nothing of how he dwells on Japanese habits of suicide, execution, and disgrace for those who through little or no fault of their own, are defeated or captured, as well as Japanese military infighting. While he nowhere actually says so (and therefore, I don't think I'm giving anything away) expect a Japanese implosion in future books. It's good, but it's a limited idea, and the primary purpose seems to be to refight World War II--again--with a little more brains on the Japanese side, but with a safe American victory at the end of the day. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I don't think I'm going to be.
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Days of Infamy: A Novel of Alternate History
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Updated on 8-6-2008.
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