Author name: Ed Frey

Missive #306 Published 8 July 2024

Alternate Generals (1998) is a collection of short alternate history stories, edited by Harry Turtledove, Roland J. Green and Martin H. Greenberg. It includes Turtledove's own short story, The Phantom Tolbukhin.

Many of the stories deal with key battles of various ancient and modern wars going differently than in OTL [original timeline] because a general took a different decision, or because a different person was in the specific position. In several of the stories, various generals (and admirals) are depicted as fighting on the opposite side to that on which they fought in OTL, or in a context completely different to that in OTL. A common theme in the stories of different writers is of generals trusting their instinct, taking risky initiatives to the displeasure of their superiors - and achieving major victories.

Another theme common to several stories is of generals turned statesmen reviewing their respective lives at an old age and (in some stories) being given a chance to go back and correct mistakes.

Missive #303 Published 3 July 2024

As the promo says this book is a good reference. It also gave the author a stump where he could criticize the 'West'. I have the feeling that he believed in the communist ideology and has found a home in China.

Missive #300 Published 25 June 2024

I don't want to write this because I'm a fan of McCarthy's work, and Suttree is technically a good book. The prose is superb, the characters are complex, and the situations that arise are often creative and interesting. So whats the issue? The issue is that the books has basically no plot and Suttree is an utterly unlikable protagonist. The book is literally watching a person waste away their life doing nothing for 500 or so pages.

Suttree spends most of the novel getting drunk, and whining about how awful his life is while being totally aware that it's his choice. He is deliberately making his life terrible and then bemoans his situation. Self loathing at its finest.

The one shining light in the novel is his friend Harrogate's numerous misadventures. These are some great distractions that populate an otherwise bleak portrait. In the end, Harrogate's character never realizes his full potential. Like the rest of the novel, he too just becomes another piece of Suttree's miserable existence. — Customer Reveiew @ goodreads.com

Missive #297 Published 18 June 2024

“Fraser’s rousing historical novel tracks the rise and fall of the real-life boxer Tom Molineaux, a Virginia slave who fought his way to freedom and then to celebrity in England in the early 1800s.”–New York Times Book Review Bringing historical fact spiritedly to life, Fraser tells the rollicking tale of how “the Black Ajax” became as famous a figure in England as Napoleon — and just as much a threat to its establishment — before he passed into boxing legend and created a precedent for modern black prizefighters. — Book promo @ Da Capo Press