Harry Turtledove
In the final installment, humans travel to Home (the alien home planet) and the political negotiations begin. In order to accomplish this, Turtledove narrows the scope of the characters and brings along only the Americans and essential Aliens. He also does a bunch of big time jumps to allow us to go from the 1970's into the mid-21st century so the technology can exist that allows this travel for humans. The story is pretty pedestrian as the humans visit the new world. They find it both more than they expected and less than they hoped for all at the same time. The continual repetition of character background is a bit more minimized here than in the previous installment, although not altogether gone (and yet still unnecessary). If you have read the first three in the series, you will want to read this if for no other reason than to finish the series off.
Broad themes and hopes having the entire series under my belt? Turtledove does something pretty courageous in the development of the Sam Yeager character. Here is a member of the American military who is inherently curious. At some point, this curiosity leads him to uncover some information that is damaging to the U.S. and puts the U.S. on the same moral ground as the Japanese and Nazi's of WWII. The courageous act is for the Yeager character to "out" the American actions to the aliens and cause damage to the U.S. based on a sense of justice. This is done while still keeping Yeager as the story protagonist and not converting him to an antagonist. He is also able to highlight the hypocrisy and blindness that a powerful nation (maybe) inevitabley shows. Imperialism, in this case by the aliens, is wrong if you are the conquered, but natural if you are the conqueror. Even when that transition happens within the lifetime of individuals, it is difficult to see how "two-forked" your tongue. It is not often that you see a commitment to decisions of justice and exposure of national hypocrisy, even in sci-fi alternate history books that involve the U.S. As such, leading into the 4th book, I had hopes Turtledove would follow through and expand on this theme. Take what you started in Yeager and a commitment to justice and expand that to include active resistance to violence in relationship and to developing a true galactic political peace (which includes the Americans as equals). I must say, here he dropped a huge opportunity to show a true alternative history. In the end, the Americans push forward to dominance and hold the position of power and arrogance in the galaxy. Turtledove does offer commentary on this new arrogance, but does not take a stab at offering an alternative. This is just the way it is (and by implication, should be). Because of this, the book (and the series) just wilts away. There is no strong end, no moral imperative. Drift off into the sunset with no ability to see a better tomorrow. American imperialism is inevitable whether history happened as we know it or unfolded in a dramatically different way. We (and the characters) resign ourselves to this world which is not alternate at all.
What I would like to see is someone take advantage of the opportunity Turtledove started. He set up a great history, with an engaging story. Why not envision a universe where Yeager finds a way to balance the scales of power. Use subterfuge, cunning and negotiation. Bring in the Germans, Russians and Japanese and form a truly strange new world where these great powers explore the universe peacefully. Don't gloss over, saying that everyone is now best friends. But find a way to find what is common amongst the humans that leads to a tension filled agreement of non-violent interaction. Add to that the lessons learned from the human-alien interaction to fold more tension in with the alien agreement. All of this will likely include some sacrifice by the strong, some "giving-away" without holding on to that gift as its own form of power. If you are going to envision a strange new future, be bold and envision one that challenges a new way of thinking about political/personal interactions.
Broad themes and hopes having the entire series under my belt? Turtledove does something pretty courageous in the development of the Sam Yeager character. Here is a member of the American military who is inherently curious. At some point, this curiosity leads him to uncover some information that is damaging to the U.S. and puts the U.S. on the same moral ground as the Japanese and Nazi's of WWII. The courageous act is for the Yeager character to "out" the American actions to the aliens and cause damage to the U.S. based on a sense of justice. This is done while still keeping Yeager as the story protagonist and not converting him to an antagonist. He is also able to highlight the hypocrisy and blindness that a powerful nation (maybe) inevitabley shows. Imperialism, in this case by the aliens, is wrong if you are the conquered, but natural if you are the conqueror. Even when that transition happens within the lifetime of individuals, it is difficult to see how "two-forked" your tongue. It is not often that you see a commitment to decisions of justice and exposure of national hypocrisy, even in sci-fi alternate history books that involve the U.S. As such, leading into the 4th book, I had hopes Turtledove would follow through and expand on this theme. Take what you started in Yeager and a commitment to justice and expand that to include active resistance to violence in relationship and to developing a true galactic political peace (which includes the Americans as equals). I must say, here he dropped a huge opportunity to show a true alternative history. In the end, the Americans push forward to dominance and hold the position of power and arrogance in the galaxy. Turtledove does offer commentary on this new arrogance, but does not take a stab at offering an alternative. This is just the way it is (and by implication, should be). Because of this, the book (and the series) just wilts away. There is no strong end, no moral imperative. Drift off into the sunset with no ability to see a better tomorrow. American imperialism is inevitable whether history happened as we know it or unfolded in a dramatically different way. We (and the characters) resign ourselves to this world which is not alternate at all.
What I would like to see is someone take advantage of the opportunity Turtledove started. He set up a great history, with an engaging story. Why not envision a universe where Yeager finds a way to balance the scales of power. Use subterfuge, cunning and negotiation. Bring in the Germans, Russians and Japanese and form a truly strange new world where these great powers explore the universe peacefully. Don't gloss over, saying that everyone is now best friends. But find a way to find what is common amongst the humans that leads to a tension filled agreement of non-violent interaction. Add to that the lessons learned from the human-alien interaction to fold more tension in with the alien agreement. All of this will likely include some sacrifice by the strong, some "giving-away" without holding on to that gift as its own form of power. If you are going to envision a strange new future, be bold and envision one that challenges a new way of thinking about political/personal interactions.
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