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Jun 20, 2017isaachar rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The second book in Turtledoves atomic Cold War-turns-hot World War III trilogy. This book kicks up the action and destruction, while the political intrigue starts taking the backseat. The plot begins after the initial exchanges of atomic weapons by the US and the USSR, which has also initiated an all out ground war between the Eastern Bloc and the Western nations in Germany. Turtledove doesn't go too deep into the intricacies of the conflict, instead moving the story forward through combatants and civilians on both sides. The conflict exacerbates with each side targeting the other directly rather than their allied nations, with no serious end in site. Both sides leadership realize that their political situations require them to continue the war or face political upheaval from their governments. At the same time, they see no foreseeable end, as neither side could functionally invade and hold the other. The conflict will, or already has, broken both nations to a point of questionable recovery. While this is happening, armies from their satellite nations, being on the front lines of the ground war and having suffered the initial onslaught of atomic destruction, begin to consider shaking away from their respective superpowers. The only downside to this sequel was that the civilian chapters drug on a bit. The last book made a point to show how the civilian chapters tied into the rest of the story, but it's difficult to see where Turtledove is going with them at this point. Either way, it's a worthy sequel and an interesting read.