Hello everyone!
I recently finished re-reading the Atlantis Trilogy that Turtledove released between 2007-2009. I always found the concept interesting, and though I have some critiques having gone through it for the first time in over a decade, it still is, IMO, a fairly solid work. Would love to hear what others think, and discuss/speculate about the wider world outside Atlantis, and also ways that the world overall might be improved upon.
On Opening Atlantis - probably my overall favorite, as I really enjoy the multiple viewpoints across the centuries through the original settlers and then their descendants. The initial discovery and settlement stories were fun, as was the second section with the Pirates of Avalon Bay - it also sets up for great future lore for Atlanteans down the road, as well as exploring how wide the Radcliff/Radcliffe clan becomes in English-speaking Atlantis. Part three, with the parallel war with French Atlantis mirroring the OTL French & Indian War was okay and different enough to be unique (and also understandable since HT has to look at getting the books sold, and one of his schticks has been to have thing feel similar enough to be familiar to those less initiated in AH).
On The United States of Atlantis - definitely my least favorite. Some of this is just personal taste - I'm not a big military history guy so stories that are almost entirely military in their scope are a drag for me. I also disliked just HOW similar the war for Atlantean independence paralleled the OTL American war. I know it wasn't a carbon copy, and I realize why HT goes in for parallelism, but it was still a slog for me.
On Liberating Atlantis - This was also really a fun story. For one, I like how, although there is a vague bit of parallelism with the slavery issue leading to violence around the time of the OTL American Civil War, having it be a slave uprising and the slaves liberating themselves (no "white savior," Lincoln-breaking-the-chains narrative afterward here) really makes the story unique. In addition, I enjoyed seeing the way in which Atlantis's government operates with the two Co-Consul system, with all the unforeseen complications playing out as well.
Overall, I find that the continent of Atlantis itself was well thought out, with the different flora and fauna (honkers!) a big plus. I did feel like I was left wanting when it came to developments in the wider world. You didn't even need that much detail, just the odd line or paragraph mentioned in passing about events elsewhere - especially Terra Nova. We know that English settlements rose up there for a second time in 1809, but I don't think the outcome was ever disclosed, to say nothing of what other colonial powers had settlements, or where.
There were a few things that did annoy me:
- It felt like Turtledove used a strong butterfly net for events that happened outside Atlantis, especially when it came to Europe - having the same monarch on the throne in Britain at the time of the Atlantean revolution seemed somewhat far-fetched. Ditto events in France and having Lafayette be involved (though having him actually commanding a French army in the field was cool). Also, while I loved the place names that HT did for the cities in Atlantis, I found it almost infuriating that he just decided that all of the Atlantean states would just be named after the major cities in each state. Incredibly lazy. The ONLY original founding state in the OTL USA that shares a name with its principal city is New York, and the only other state to do so is my home state of Oklahoma, and even there, the name of the city came after the name of the territory. And yes, other states have cities named after their state, but the state name came first AND those cities are usually minor cities.
What do you all think?
I recently finished re-reading the Atlantis Trilogy that Turtledove released between 2007-2009. I always found the concept interesting, and though I have some critiques having gone through it for the first time in over a decade, it still is, IMO, a fairly solid work. Would love to hear what others think, and discuss/speculate about the wider world outside Atlantis, and also ways that the world overall might be improved upon.
On Opening Atlantis - probably my overall favorite, as I really enjoy the multiple viewpoints across the centuries through the original settlers and then their descendants. The initial discovery and settlement stories were fun, as was the second section with the Pirates of Avalon Bay - it also sets up for great future lore for Atlanteans down the road, as well as exploring how wide the Radcliff/Radcliffe clan becomes in English-speaking Atlantis. Part three, with the parallel war with French Atlantis mirroring the OTL French & Indian War was okay and different enough to be unique (and also understandable since HT has to look at getting the books sold, and one of his schticks has been to have thing feel similar enough to be familiar to those less initiated in AH).
On The United States of Atlantis - definitely my least favorite. Some of this is just personal taste - I'm not a big military history guy so stories that are almost entirely military in their scope are a drag for me. I also disliked just HOW similar the war for Atlantean independence paralleled the OTL American war. I know it wasn't a carbon copy, and I realize why HT goes in for parallelism, but it was still a slog for me.
On Liberating Atlantis - This was also really a fun story. For one, I like how, although there is a vague bit of parallelism with the slavery issue leading to violence around the time of the OTL American Civil War, having it be a slave uprising and the slaves liberating themselves (no "white savior," Lincoln-breaking-the-chains narrative afterward here) really makes the story unique. In addition, I enjoyed seeing the way in which Atlantis's government operates with the two Co-Consul system, with all the unforeseen complications playing out as well.
Overall, I find that the continent of Atlantis itself was well thought out, with the different flora and fauna (honkers!) a big plus. I did feel like I was left wanting when it came to developments in the wider world. You didn't even need that much detail, just the odd line or paragraph mentioned in passing about events elsewhere - especially Terra Nova. We know that English settlements rose up there for a second time in 1809, but I don't think the outcome was ever disclosed, to say nothing of what other colonial powers had settlements, or where.
There were a few things that did annoy me:
- It felt like Turtledove used a strong butterfly net for events that happened outside Atlantis, especially when it came to Europe - having the same monarch on the throne in Britain at the time of the Atlantean revolution seemed somewhat far-fetched. Ditto events in France and having Lafayette be involved (though having him actually commanding a French army in the field was cool). Also, while I loved the place names that HT did for the cities in Atlantis, I found it almost infuriating that he just decided that all of the Atlantean states would just be named after the major cities in each state. Incredibly lazy. The ONLY original founding state in the OTL USA that shares a name with its principal city is New York, and the only other state to do so is my home state of Oklahoma, and even there, the name of the city came after the name of the territory. And yes, other states have cities named after their state, but the state name came first AND those cities are usually minor cities.
What do you all think?