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A review by hirvox
Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
4.0
I initially got into this book because Charles Stross mentioned it's sequel, the Coldest War, as an inspiration to his Laundry series of books. While the Laundry series has a bit of Dilbertian British office culture mockery in it, the Milkweed Triptych is dead serious.
It's the eve of the Second World War, and the Nazis have a working super-soldier program. Incorporeal assassins, telepathic messengers, telekinetics, pyromancers, even precognition. But they barely got it working via trial and error, let alone understand what kinds of forces that they're messing with.
But the Brits cannot use ignorance as an excuse; Their warlocks know exactly what they're dealing with. But when the Nazi war machine marches from victory to victory, they get desperate and their deals get more and more expensive.
While the spy fiction, alternative history and Lovecraftian horror are all well and good, I really liked the personal touch. Desperation leads to hard decisions, and regret is inevitable. It does not matter whether it's because you didn't do more, or that you did more than you should. Either way, the decisions are final and the consequences vast. It's one thing to read about a desperate, raving madman. It's a whole another thing to sympathize with him.
It's the eve of the Second World War, and the Nazis have a working super-soldier program. Incorporeal assassins, telepathic messengers, telekinetics, pyromancers, even precognition. But they barely got it working via trial and error, let alone understand what kinds of forces that they're messing with.
But the Brits cannot use ignorance as an excuse; Their warlocks know exactly what they're dealing with. But when the Nazi war machine marches from victory to victory, they get desperate and their deals get more and more expensive.
While the spy fiction, alternative history and Lovecraftian horror are all well and good, I really liked the personal touch. Desperation leads to hard decisions, and regret is inevitable. It does not matter whether it's because you didn't do more, or that you did more than you should. Either way, the decisions are final and the consequences vast. It's one thing to read about a desperate, raving madman. It's a whole another thing to sympathize with him.