Review: 1920: America's Great War

1920: America's Great War by Robert Conroy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Taking as his starting point a German victory in the Battle of the Marne that led to German hegemony over much of the world, Robert Conroy weaves a fantastic tale of alternative history. The action centers around a joint Mexican/German invasion of the southern US, specifically Texas and California.

While the primary point of view characters are all inventions of Conroy the book is peppered with real characters from our own history such as Patton, MacArthur, Pancho Villa, and others who live quite different lives in this timeline. Conroy's versions of these characters remains true to our historical understandings of their personalities though.

This is a fantastic book and is sure to please any and all lovers of alternative history!



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Review: Mars, Inc.: The Billionaire's Club

Mars, Inc.: The Billionaire's Club by Ben Bova

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The key to great science fiction is to tell a great story. In Mars, Inc., Ben Bova does just that. While the book is in one sense about the quest to launch a spaceship to Mars and the engineering, bureaucratic, financial, marketing, industrial espionage, hostile takeovers etc. work needed to make this happen; it is also a story of a man trying to do something that really matters.

Art Thrasher is rich, he does not lack for female companionship, by all modern measures he is a success. He is also a man who wants more. His father's last advice to him was to do something lasting, something that matters; and in his Mars project Art has found just that. Art also finds that he is no longer satisfied with simply female companionship and begins to build something lasting and that matters in that part of his life as well.

This is an expertly crafted novel that had my attention riveted from start to finish.



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