Turtledove on Teutoburger Wald

[EBosman]

Hello,

Harry Turtledove offers his take on the events surrounding the battle of the Teutoberger Wald in “Give Me Back My Legions”, a new book due out on April 14, 2009. Per the blurb from Amazon.com:

Product Description
Bestselling author Turtledove turns his attention to an epic battle that pits three Roman legions against Teutonic barbarians in a thrilling novel of Ancient Rome
Publius Quinctilius Varus, a Roman politician, is summoned by the Emperor, Augustus Caesar. Given three legions and sent to the Roman frontier east of the Rhine, his mission is to subdue the barbarous German tribes where others have failed, and bring their land fully under Rome’s control. Arminius, a prince of the Cherusci, is playing a deadly game. He serves in the Roman army, gaining Roman citizenship and officer’s rank, and learning the arts of war and policy as practiced by the Romans. What he learns is essential for the survival of Germany, for he must unite his people against Rome before they become enslaved by the Empire and lose their way of life forever. An epic battle is brewing, and these two men stand on opposite sides of what will forever be known as The Battle of the Teutoberg Forest—a ferocious, bloody clash that will change the course of history.


About the Author
HARRY TURTLEDOVE is a bestselling author and one of the top writers of alternate history and historical fiction. He holds a Ph.D. in history from UCLA. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (April 14, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312371063
ISBN-13: 978-0312371067

Best

Emil Bosman

[ParthianBow]

Good timing, eh! I loved his sci-fi Roman books as a kid. Another one for the 'Must Buy List'.

[EBosman]

I also enjoyed the Videssos cycle series and the US Civil War based "Guns for the South". Based on the description, it seems to me that this newest venture is along the lines of historic fiction rather than a sci-fi story. Several years ago he wrote "Fort Pillow" as a historic fiction novel and I thought it quite good.

As you say, another one to add to the list. Speaking of which, I'm reading your "The Forgotten Legion". I've just reached the part where three of the four main characters have met for the first time. It is a really great read and I've enjoyed it enough to have already pre-ordered the forthcoming sequel.

Best

Emil Bosman

[ParthianBow]

Thanks Emil! I love hearing that readers like yourself are enjoying The Forgotten Legion. It's particularly good to get your message this morning as I'm engaged in reading the copy-edited manuscript of The Silver Eagle, which is leaving me cross-eyed. I hope that The Forgotten Legion continues to satisfy as you read on...and ditto The Silver Eagle!
Best wishes

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Is it really.....how did I miss this, and why isn't it in the stores.... :?:
The name rings a bell but somehow I have missed it. :o The Forgotten Legion, tha tis.

The other book sounds interesting, I will have to keep an eye out for it.

[ParthianBow]

It was probably easy enough for you to have missed it in the bookshops, as many shops, especially smaller ones, didn't seem to stock it; the reason for this I don't know (probably just because it was my first book). I think that's what happens to a lot of books too. Anyway, The Forgotten Legion happily sold really really well overall in 2008, and as a result, the paperback, which is coming out on the 16th of April in the UK, will be featured front of store in all Waterstone's as an offer of the week. WH Smith and Waterstone's are also taking a lot of copies of it as a first order, which is fantastic. The Silver Eagle will be featured front of store too in all Waterstone's for the whole of June. Sorry for the self-publicity, but I like to think that the members of romanarmy.net will be people who might like the books. As I put on another post, I've put a thank you note in my notes at the back to everyone on here, because of all the great help I get whenever I ask a question.
By the way, you can still get the hardback on Amazon.co.uk!
Best wishes

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I'l be looking for it! roll:

[barcid]

Great i have enjoyed all his books so far ,particularly the Lizards World war series :wink:

[Wander]

Well, it looks like Turtledove's Teutoburger Wald story is available now: http://www.amazon.com/Give-Me-Back-My-L ... _as_txt_5/

Sounds like a promising departure from his usual alternate histories! Has anyone read this yet?

[Quintius Clavus]

I just received my copy this week and so far it is an interesting read. He generally writes a good story. I'm not sure how much of it will deal with the battle itself. It starts with Varus' appointment by Augustus as governor of Germania, and Arminius with the Roman forces trying to subdue the rebellious Pannonians.
He's pulled some of his character names from Cassius Dio's account and from Florus' account of the events. So far, he has assumed most of the Roman soldiers, at least of Centurion rank and below, to be wearing mail.

[EBosman]

Hello,

I recently finished “Give Me Back My Legions!” and I’m sorry to report that I was quite disappointed. I found the characters to be flat and the dialog to be stiff. The scenes, situations, and portrayal of the characters’ thoughts were repetitive. The story is 306 pages long with only 25-30 pages covering the one day battle. Using the word “stiff” in an earlier sentence reminded that we read in this work that Arminius had an erection under his cloak during the battle unlike any he had experienced before. Turtledove also adds that Thusnelda gave birth to a son near the time of the battle, but who died soon after of the flux. I found such pointless asides and historical deviations to be distracting. In short, the book was dull and I couldn’t wait to be finished with it. I can’t recommend it to anyone, but should one choose to read it, I do recommend they borrow it from library.

My apologies for having introduced the book to the forum. :oops:

Best

Emil

[ParthianBow]

Hmmm. It's got very mixed reviews on Amazon too. I've only got about 10 pages into it so far, and I can't say that I'm hooked.

[Quintius Clavus]

It definitely showed signs of being written in haste - to come out in 2009. There were "typos" throughout and the ranks of various Romans were unclear/inconsistent-those being two of my complaints. You only know Caldus Caelius is a centurion definitely due to one remark by a tribune during a march through the woods. Otherwise, only because he seems to be commanding troops can one make that assumption. Turtledove squandered an opportunity to write a GOOD novel in ENGLISH about the battle.
Now, the question is: with so much being published now in Germany due to the 2000 year anniversary - how do those stand up in quality? Particularly any newly published fiction? For example: Iris Kammerer's new title, Varus? An earlier title of hers, Der Tribun was recommended by Adrian Murdoch. I wish some of those would get translated into English, but I suppose interest is not that great outside of Germany (except for obsessed folks like me that is :lol: )

[Wander]

I guess we could all polish up our German. Mine exists, but it's primitive and slow.

Makes me envy our European compatriots, who move so fluently from one language to another. Maybe we should all be speaking and writing in Latin...

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

Hello,

I recently finished “Give Me Back My Legions!” and I’m sorry to report that I was quite disappointed. I found the characters to be flat and the dialog to be stiff. The scenes, situations, and portrayal of the characters’ thoughts were repetitive. The story is 306 pages long with only 25-30 pages covering the one day battle. Using the word “stiff” in an earlier sentence reminded that we read in this work that Arminius had an erection under his cloak during the battle unlike any he had experienced before. Turtledove also adds that Thusnelda gave birth to a son near the time of the battle, but who died soon after of the flux. I found such pointless asides and historical deviations to be distracting. In short, the book was dull and I couldn’t wait to be finished with it. I can’t recommend it to anyone, but should one choose to read it, I do recommend they borrow it from library.

My apologies for having introduced the book to the forum. :oops:

Best

Emil

I was under the impression the battle occurred over something like 3 days in various skirmishes.