The absorbing, character-centered fifth volume (after 2002's Rulers of the Darkness) in Turtledove's fantasy saga paralleling WWII ranks as the strongest yet in the series. WWII buffs will of course enjoy watching the equivalents of the Manhattan Project, D-Day, the great Russian offensives of 1944, the appearance of German secret weapons and the withdrawal of Romania from the Axis. And the author continues to handle the action, both magical and martial, as deftly as ever.
Harry Turtledove continues to mirror World War II in the third installment of his Derlavai series, Through the Darkness. While many of the countries, people and events in the series have analogs in the real world, there are enough differences to maintain tension. Turtledove’s military scenes clearly show the difference between strategy and tactics as almost all of his grunts view themselves as being on the receiving end of a major defeat, even when they intellectually ...
Despite the title, Darkness Descending, the second novel in Harry Turtledove’s massive Derlavai saga, is far less pessimistic in tone than the introductory volume, Into the Darkness. Although the wars effects continue to be felt across the continent of Derlavai, and beyond, the actual battle sequences are generally limited to the Algarvian invasion of Unkerlant, told through only a few viewpoint characters.
Harry Turtledove is known for his alternate histories; from The Guns of the South to The Great War: American Front, he's practiced at imagining the ways society would have changed if various things had been different in history. Sometimes it's a key figure surviving (or dying); other times it's a strange new variable, like aliens landing during World War II. With Into the Darkness, Turtledove investigates a new wrinkle in this successful field: What if a world war were fought using magic?
