Why I don't read Alternate History anymore

 

The regular reader of this blog, and the millions of spam accounts which follow me. 

Will perhaps have noticed that I do not post or read as much Alternate History as I once did 

Is this sour grapes? My novel did not take off. I won't dismiss that idea completely. 

https://smstirling.com/samples/to-turn-the-tide-chapter-nine/

This is one of the stalwarts of AH's  latest novel - ``To turn the tide''

I don't think the idea is bad at all  A group of  Americans  flee the end of the world  in time machine and are stuck forever in the past. They have  a chance to save the Roman Empire. This is why I read the preview chapters. I thought this idea was intriguing. 

 There is a very well done opening scene when the protagonists via there mobile phones, see the World end about them. It is both an economical and chilling piece of writing. The reader is left with the impact of millions dead via automated notification and buzzes

I think SMS composes  a fine pencolour of the ancient world. I do feel immersed. I have often thought of him  as the finest background artist in the world. 

The plot needs a lot of exposition This is a problem as I get older. I cannot unsee it. The author  tells you things about say the legionary standard bearers being the bankers for their unit. Except he does it for no reason. Oh in the book, it is perhaps a stray thought from a time lost academic

Also to make this novel somewhat plausible  Then SMS must  stack the deck.  Otherwise 4 Americans, starve or get sold into brothels briefly in the 2nd century To be fair to Stirling has actually found a way around the problem- The adventurers were tricked into joining a larger scheme. Which we later learn is part of an unseen global conflict. 

What grates is two things. 

I am not young. I do work with them. The graduates students have a character scene where they are discussing one of the POV characters sexuality- She is a lesbian. More on that later. I reread this twice and I became a little more sympathetic when I realized these are generally progressive people. It just 

The dialogue just feels and reads clumsy.  Hello fellow young people ( I am 44)  I think this is set up for a clash between several of the POV characters. It also is a roundabout way of getting to understand that one side character looks like 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/95/a8/26/95a8264de097328d5cc99a16ff677038.jpg

I also note that the lesbian character has to have a relationship with the free barbarian women. While the male nerd is having sex with slaves. Actually two particular slaves who he has given gifts too . Yeah subtle.  I would be willing to wager, that despite the time travelers being in situ for a while the Nerd will not knock up either of the two slaves. Why because he might bond. He won't be evlll

I find this tiresome. We have the world End. We see the proto Nazis bayoneting babes. We cannot accept that the dynamics of men and women are asymetical. Or we can't see what happens when someone has access to the bodies of pretty young things for once/

Jus give them black hats and have them kick a puppy 

Better just to read the site reports 



Comments

Gerard Cunningham said…
You should take a shot at another book. what you learn first time round can make the second one better.
7:40:00 PM
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