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jmartindf's review against another edition
4.0
I've long been a sucker for alternate history stories. The sheer "what if" factor in a good story is fascinating. If certain events hadn't happened—or had happened—how would the course of lives and nations have changed?
I'd never heard of this story, until Singularity & Co published it as part of their Save the SciFi project. I'm so glad they did. It's a gem of a book and well worth saving.
The story opens as Elleander Morning, an American woman, enters a café in Vienna and shoots an indigent artist named Adolf Hitler. Elleander is quickly arrested and tried for her crime, receiving a swift convicting. Years later, in the 1980s, her granddaughter, Lesley Morning, begins to learn about her mysterious grandmother. And what of these books—the two-volume [b:WW II: Time-Life Books History of the Second World War|21140|WW II Time-Life Books History of the Second World War|Time-Life-Books|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1289188479s/21140.jpg|22324]? There never was a World War II and, yet, the books look so realistic.
The novel explores Elleander's very personal reasons for assassinating Adolf Hitler and the consequences through the next 70 years. There are interstitial quotes, after each chapter. Through them, we learn of Vice President Eleanor Roosevelt and Supreme Court Justice Joseph McCarthy. We hear Winston Churchill's dying words. "It is a matter of pride, and I must add, of comfort to me, that I will go to my reward with the knowledge that the sun will continue to find it impossible to set on the British Empire." It's a world in which Russia is a weak nation, the Cold War never happened, and German is the leading European nation with Europe's highest standard of living.
The historical details feel accurate too. Having just read [b:The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany|767171|The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A History of Nazi Germany|William L. Shirer|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331223772s/767171.jpg|1437584], Yulsman's descriptions of Vienna put me right into the same world that Shirer had just put me in. Later, as Lesley's story moved to German, the details about Germany put me right back into the world of the Third Reich. That, in turn, made the alternate history world feel very real.
I like that the novel starts with the assassination of Hitler and then move towards questioning why and whether that would be sufficient to stop World War II. Was it just the actions of one man? Or was it the general attitude of an entire nation? Asked through this story, it's an important question.
I'd never heard of this story, until Singularity & Co published it as part of their Save the SciFi project. I'm so glad they did. It's a gem of a book and well worth saving.
The story opens as Elleander Morning, an American woman, enters a café in Vienna and shoots an indigent artist named Adolf Hitler. Elleander is quickly arrested and tried for her crime, receiving a swift convicting. Years later, in the 1980s, her granddaughter, Lesley Morning, begins to learn about her mysterious grandmother. And what of these books—the two-volume [b:WW II: Time-Life Books History of the Second World War|21140|WW II Time-Life Books History of the Second World War|Time-Life-Books|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1289188479s/21140.jpg|22324]? There never was a World War II and, yet, the books look so realistic.
The novel explores Elleander's very personal reasons for assassinating Adolf Hitler and the consequences through the next 70 years. There are interstitial quotes, after each chapter. Through them, we learn of Vice President Eleanor Roosevelt and Supreme Court Justice Joseph McCarthy. We hear Winston Churchill's dying words. "It is a matter of pride, and I must add, of comfort to me, that I will go to my reward with the knowledge that the sun will continue to find it impossible to set on the British Empire." It's a world in which Russia is a weak nation, the Cold War never happened, and German is the leading European nation with Europe's highest standard of living.
The historical details feel accurate too. Having just read [b:The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany|767171|The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A History of Nazi Germany|William L. Shirer|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331223772s/767171.jpg|1437584], Yulsman's descriptions of Vienna put me right into the same world that Shirer had just put me in. Later, as Lesley's story moved to German, the details about Germany put me right back into the world of the Third Reich. That, in turn, made the alternate history world feel very real.
I like that the novel starts with the assassination of Hitler and then move towards questioning why and whether that would be sufficient to stop World War II. Was it just the actions of one man? Or was it the general attitude of an entire nation? Asked through this story, it's an important question.
wordshaker12's review
5.0
A new addition to my favourites list! I loved Elleander Morning the character, I could hardly put the book down, and it was so interesting, clever and thought provoking. Very interesting to see the implications of WWII's absence, H.G. Wells as a character, a complex woman being the one to change history...
Not quite without its issues - I didn't care so much for Lesley Morning and the romance/sex - but the pros outweigh the cons for me.
Not quite without its issues - I didn't care so much for Lesley Morning and the romance/sex - but the pros outweigh the cons for me.
djwudi's review
4.0
The best of the Save the Sci Fi selections I've read so far, and one of the first truly interesting variations on the "killing Hitler" idea that I've read.
aldadelicado's review against another edition
5.0
Um livro provocador e que não perdeu nada da sua actualidade (foi escrito em 1984). Uma mulher volta a 1913 e mata Hitler. A história evoluiu de forma completamente diferente mas a história sempre se repete... Gostei mesmo muito.
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