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ET2SN · 01-25-23, 03:59 AM

So, a couple of books showed up today in a Prime delivery van.

The first is BLACK TUESDAY OVER NAMSI written by Earl J. McGill. This is the story of B-29's flying out of Japan and meeting Mig-15's for the first time. Its an odd chunk of history I'm really looking forward to understanding. More about this book after I finish wading through..

The second book is the main reason for this post. Its my latest dive into "alternate history" and I'm still on the fence.

THE GREAT NUCLEAR WAR OF 1975 by William Stroock tells the story of a three day war between the US and the Soviet Union. Well, it tries to which is why I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series (Yes, its book 1 in a series).

Stroock uses the keystones of the Alternate History genre to mostly deliver a hot mess. Part of this I can understand, its a post-nuclear war world and there aren't many people to tell the story. Things are mostly confused as the new President (Nelson Rockefeller) tries to keep the government and nation running from a high school in Wyoming. Stroock makes some tactical errors, its as if he wrote down the names of famous people and events from the 1970's and 1980's on cards and threw them into a hat, to be retrieved at random. Plot lines (and there are a ton of them) pop up at random and go no where. The famous names tend to stick to their foibles from the 1980's, no one has a moment of catharsis and rises (or falls) to the new challenges.

Part of the plot involves the Battle Staff from the Looking Glass EC-135. They all survive and two of the higher rank officers are tasked with figuring out what the #### just happened. The good news is that it looks like "we won", the bad news is that we fired the first shot.

The minor characters tend to fall into one category, they may have already gotten a lethal dose of radioactivity but now they just want to get back to normal. Normal people in this book tend to be very fatalistic, I would argue they are overly fatalistic. A case in point, a woman is carrying the body of her husband out of a hospital and a stranger hands her a shovel, The stranger then offers to dig her husband's grave in exchange for all of her money. The woman gets angry but gives in. The stranger then says, "You aren't looking so good. Tell you what, I'll dig your grave as a freebie".
(Ba Dum Sha..)

Just once, I'd like to see one of the minor characters get told to do something and say "I've had a really bad day, how about if you go #### yourself?". Instead, you are presented with "I used to be a business man but I've been living in my basement for the last two weeks..". OK, then.

What happens next? Its too bad we'll never know.

To be brutally honest, this book needed an editor or two and several re-writes.

It really reads like a first draft of notes which were sent to the printer. When you see a famous name you recognize, you already know what's going to happen. So, what's the point of investing your time?

Which is a shame, this book (and, I'm guessing, the rest of the series) has a lot of potential as a concept. TGNWO'75 is, well, not recommended unless you enjoy a true challenge and have a bottle of Aspirin on the shelf. You'll need both of them.

This isn't the original novel of World War Z by Max Brooks. It isn't even close.

01-25-23, 03:59 AM	#1957
ET2SN ET2/SS Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,506 Downloads: 58 Uploads: 0	So, a couple of books showed up today in a Prime delivery van. The first is BLACK TUESDAY OVER NAMSI written by Earl J. McGill. This is the story of B-29's flying out of Japan and meeting Mig-15's for the first time. Its an odd chunk of history I'm really looking forward to understanding. More about this book after I finish wading through.. The second book is the main reason for this post. Its my latest dive into "alternate history" and I'm still on the fence. THE GREAT NUCLEAR WAR OF 1975 by William Stroock tells the story of a three day war between the US and the Soviet Union. Well, it tries to which is why I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series (Yes, its book 1 in a series). Stroock uses the keystones of the Alternate History genre to mostly deliver a hot mess. Part of this I can understand, its a post-nuclear war world and there aren't many people to tell the story. Things are mostly confused as the new President (Nelson Rockefeller) tries to keep the government and nation running from a high school in Wyoming. Stroock makes some tactical errors, its as if he wrote down the names of famous people and events from the 1970's and 1980's on cards and threw them into a hat, to be retrieved at random. Plot lines (and there are a ton of them) pop up at random and go no where. The famous names tend to stick to their foibles from the 1980's, no one has a moment of catharsis and rises (or falls) to the new challenges. Part of the plot involves the Battle Staff from the Looking Glass EC-135. They all survive and two of the higher rank officers are tasked with figuring out what the #### just happened. The good news is that it looks like "we won", the bad news is that we fired the first shot. The minor characters tend to fall into one category, they may have already gotten a lethal dose of radioactivity but now they just want to get back to normal. Normal people in this book tend to be very fatalistic, I would argue they are overly fatalistic. A case in point, a woman is carrying the body of her husband out of a hospital and a stranger hands her a shovel, The stranger then offers to dig her husband's grave in exchange for all of her money. The woman gets angry but gives in. The stranger then says, "You aren't looking so good. Tell you what, I'll dig your grave as a freebie". (Ba Dum Sha..) Just once, I'd like to see one of the minor characters get told to do something and say "I've had a really bad day, how about if you go #### yourself?". Instead, you are presented with "I used to be a business man but I've been living in my basement for the last two weeks..". OK, then. What happens next? Its too bad we'll never know. To be brutally honest, this book needed an editor or two and several re-writes. It really reads like a first draft of notes which were sent to the printer. When you see a famous name you recognize, you already know what's going to happen. So, what's the point of investing your time? Which is a shame, this book (and, I'm guessing, the rest of the series) has a lot of potential as a concept. TGNWO'75 is, well, not recommended unless you enjoy a true challenge and have a bottle of Aspirin on the shelf. You'll need both of them. This isn't the original novel of World War Z by Max Brooks. It isn't even close.