I've just been reading up on this series and was wondering what people thought of it. To me transplanting WW2 onto a fantasy setting is intriguing. The Land of the Ice People sounds interesting.
Harry Turtledoves The Darkness?
- Thread starter Enigmajones
- Start date
The series is actually quite good; it recently occurred to me that the novels are most interesting when one looks at them as a challenge to the pop culture misconceptions of the Second World War, with fairy tale trappings used to highlight a deconstruction of myths associated with this era.
It’s been a while since I last read this series, but one suspects this theory is robust enough to hold water nonetheless - oh, and it also occurred to me that it might be fun to borrow elements from Mr Turtledove’s DARKNESS novels and his WAR BETWEEN THE PROVINCES series to create a version of Timeline-191 that doesn’t make serious historians catch their breath, then whisper “Well I never…”. (-;
It’s been a while since I last read this series, but one suspects this theory is robust enough to hold water nonetheless - oh, and it also occurred to me that it might be fun to borrow elements from Mr Turtledove’s DARKNESS novels and his WAR BETWEEN THE PROVINCES series to create a version of Timeline-191 that doesn’t make serious historians catch their breath, then whisper “Well I never…”. (-;
MaxGerke01
Banned
This is one HT doesnt get enough credit for also it surprises me that you dont see more about it with AH fandom.
I think I'm going to have to go back and read the first three books again before I move on to the last three but I'm sure I'll enjoy reading them again.6
The Darkness Series - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
MaxGerke01
Banned
I have only read the 1st and part of the 2nd all the way through.I do want to finish it all eventually.
Just a question, has anyone seen any flags of the novels listed anywhere online? I know that Algarve has the Italian flag, and that Forthweg's flag is blue and white (though Im unsure as to what color blue).
For Forthweg one would suggest using Prussian blue or something similar - perhaps the same colour of blue worn by Napoleonic lancers?
Concerning the flags of other kingdoms, I can only recall that Gyongyos had a star-heavy banner (though that recollection may be at fault); I do recall that Lagoas using red & gold livery on it's dragons, so one assumes it's National Flag would carry similar colours; other than that the only detail of local heraldry that I can recall is the 'Leaping Stag' of Forthweg.
Concerning the flags of other kingdoms, I can only recall that Gyongyos had a star-heavy banner (though that recollection may be at fault); I do recall that Lagoas using red & gold livery on it's dragons, so one assumes it's National Flag would carry similar colours; other than that the only detail of local heraldry that I can recall is the 'Leaping Stag' of Forthweg.
I can't remember any of those things.
Really got to go back and re-read those books again.
Ditto, I'm afraid; one recalls reading the first few novels, then picking up the last book in the series and reading that, but am not sure I ever read all the novels.
Still, it's interesting to wonder what the proper balance of "Fairy Tale Vs the hard facts of World War II" would suit this setting best!
Still, it's interesting to wonder what the proper balance of "Fairy Tale Vs the hard facts of World War II" would suit this setting best!
I wish I could draw animals, would be interesting to have pics of the many beasts of war they mention in the books, I remember dragons, killer whales and horses of course but there were others weren't there?
There were (so far) Dragons, Behemoths, Leviathans (described as a cross between a whale and a crocodile) and Unicorns are all mentioned to have a role in the fighting. There are also Mountain Apes, which are basically a Yeti/Sasquatch.
I remember the unicorn now that you've mentioned it and I remember whale/croc hybrid as more of a sea going dinosaur but that's because the cover art on one of the books.
Completely forgot about the Mountain Apes/Yeti/Sasquatch.
I tend to imagine the leviathans as very like this reconstruction of a Basilosaurus, which is (despite the name) a whale and not a sea serpent.
Inspired by this thread I’ve begun rereading the DARKNESS novels and having a good time so far, though it’s a little chilling how many of the darker details didn’t quite register with my younger self (It wouldn’t be Harry Turtledove without those little touches of grubby verisimilitude adding texture to high concept weirdness).
So far in this re-read I’ve spotted:
Bari (orange & white, a bear).
Algarve (green, red, white but in diagonal stripes)
Forthweg (blue & white, a leaping stag)
Sibiu (five crowns, although this may be a military badge rather than a feature of the national flag)
It’s also mentioned that Lagoan dragons are red & gold, not to mention than Unkerlant dragons wear rock grey.
Yeah something similar to the Basilosaurus was used on one of the covers but it had a longer crocodile like mouth.
I’m not going to lie, Corneliu’s leviathan being outright adorable is one of my major discoveries in my read-through; it’s extremely sad to see her being ordered to kill another leviathan, because that beastie is likely to be just as well-trained & loveable.
It’s acutely horrible to see dragons so abused; only the practice of murdering captives to fuel some extra blasts is more blatantly cruel (and seeing women molested by their conquerors is the only nastier sight to be seen so far).
Also, Marchioness Krasta is somehow even worse than I remember her (and I didn’t remember her fondly); 9/10 would guillotine (and I’m only with the remaining 10% because I’m a Christian; we’re supposed to believe in forgiveness, redemption and the existence of miracles).
It’s acutely horrible to see dragons so abused; only the practice of murdering captives to fuel some extra blasts is more blatantly cruel (and seeing women molested by their conquerors is the only nastier sight to be seen so far).
Also, Marchioness Krasta is somehow even worse than I remember her (and I didn’t remember her fondly); 9/10 would guillotine (and I’m only with the remaining 10% because I’m a Christian; we’re supposed to believe in forgiveness, redemption and the existence of miracles).