Harry Turtledove

Harry Turtledove is a very prolific writer, putting out everything from fantasy to science fiction to historical fiction. His background in history (He has a PHD in Byzantine history.) has been a very fertile source of inspiration for his writings. Some people say it has been a bit too fertile a source.

Harry is best known for his alternative history, first coming to my attention in that area with his short stories about a Byzantine empire that was rebuilt by Justinian and St. Mahoumet never founded Islam. I enjoyed these, mostly because I am a sucker for alternative history, so when I found some novels by him, I picked them up also.

This led me to the world of Videssos, a fantasy series based firmly on Byzantine history. I did not realize to what extent it was based on history at first, but finding out did not spoil the books for me. Since then, I have followed Harry through worlds of fantasy, where analogues of the Civil War and World War II were fought with magic, to alternate history, with the CSA winning the Civil War, and science fiction, with aliens invading the Earth during World War II.

I have to admit, his writing is somewhat uneven. When he writes long series of novels, he has a tendency to repeat things, especially character describtions, that can be annoying. (Yes, we know that Sam Carsten looks like a lobster in the tropics. Or even in a temperate zone. How annoying did that get? I did not need to look it up.)  But when he writes a stand alone, like Ruled Brittania or In The Presence of Mine Enemies, his characters and writing style work much better. But I keep reading him, even the long series, because the ideas and the ways he handles them really works.

• Stand Alone Novels
• World of Videssos
• Worldwar & Colonization
• World of Southern Victory
• Crosstime Traffic