"The Children's War" and "The Separation"

I don't think these books have been mentioned before on this forum. Has anyone read them? If so what did you think?

If you haven't read them, I would strongly recommend you get hold of a copy of "The Children's War". It won the Sidewise Award 2002 and IMO is the best AH book ever written. It is really three books, totalling over a thousand pages. The POD is that Hitler does not attack the Soviet Union and consequently defeats Britain. In the present day, the Third Reich and the USSR are allies in a cold war against the USA. It is set in England, Germany, America and Poland (the author is an American of Polish descent living in Germany) and is impressively realistic and well written - it makes you feel "this is what it would be like to live in a victorious Third Reich". It is on a completely different level to "Fatherland"! The only thing that disappointed me about it is that we learn nothing about the world outside of Europe and North America. I haven't yet read "A Change of Regime", the sequel, but I am definitely going to.

"The Separation" is not as good, but it is still well worth reading. The POD is that Britain makes peace with Germany in 1941, shortly before Germany attacks the Soviet Union (which Britain has foreknowledge of). The USA, after finishing off Japan (without the aid of Atomic weapons) turns on the Chinese Communists and then allies with Germany to destroy the Soviets. In the present day, Germany and America have both bankrupted themselves with massive military spending due to a cold war with each other, and continual resistance to their separate occupations from the peoples of the former Soviet Union. The neutral British Empire has emerged as the 21st Century's sole superpower (the author is British).

We don't learn a lot about the AH, because the bulk of the story is about two brothers and what they did during the War. I have to say, I found it too confusing for me to really work out what was going on at times, although I think it is meant to be confusing. It was also quite thought provoking, as was "The Children's War". Actually, the main characters in "The Separation" are a bit boring - far more entertaining are Rudolf Hess and Winston Churchill who both play a big part in the plot. Churchill is so convincingly written that I could almost believe he could have made peace with the Third Reich.
 

Diamond

Banned
I read 'The Children's War' a while back, and I really enjoyed it... although in some parts it was quite repititious, and was a bit longer than it probably needed to be. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a 1000 page novel if the length is needed to tell the story, but I hate it when authors pad their books just for the sake of doing it (are you listening, Turtledove?).

Anyway, I liked the book well enough to buy the sequel; I just need to order it now!

Haven't read 'The Separation' yet; can't find a copy anywhere except for some ungodly amount of $ on Amazon.
 
Believe the first book mentioned is a sequel to ANOTHER book.Is this one available on B&N or Borders.Diamond?
 
Diamond and others.I HAVE the Children's war.Forgot I buried it somewhere.It's the SEQUEL I need.B&N doesnt have it nor borders.Do Not think Amazon.com has it.
 
The Separation

I also read "The Separation" and even though it may not be as good as "The Children's War", it is well worth reading. Indeed, the authir uses some plto twists and plot devices that might be confusing at first (i.e. the two brothers switch places getting into each other's timelienes!) but gradually the things become clear.

The writing and the characterisation are both extremely good! Much better than Fatherland, if we have to use it as a unit.

The info about the ATL is scattered, at best. Much of it is in the introduction, written by a fictional writer from the ATL.

If you cannot find it locally, try amazon.co.uk
 
The Childrens' War and The Separation

I've read both The Childrens' War and its sequel, A Change of Regime . In my opinion, the two books should have been re-formatted and released as a triliogy.
I didn't think the books were repetitive at all - some of the relationships were highly intertwined, and required examination from different angles.
As for The Separation this was also a bit tangled, but it was easy enough to keep the two brothers' stories straight; while one lives, the other dies.
 
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