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Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14 1949), is a historian and prolific novelist who has written historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction works. He is probably the best-known and most popular author of the genre of alternate history.

Life of Harry Turtledove

Turtledove was born in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family. After flunking out of his freshman year at Caltech, he attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977. His dissertation was on The Immediate Successors of Justinian: A Study of the Persian Problem and of Continuity and Change in Internal Secular Affairs in the Later Roman Empire During the Reigns of Justin II and Tiberius II Constantine (AD 565–582).

In 1979, Turtledove published his first two novels, Wereblood and Werenight, under the pseudonym "Eric G. Iverson." Turtledove later explained that his editor at Belmont Tower did not think people would believe the author's real name was "Turtledove" and came up with something more Nordic. He continued to use the "Iverson" name until 1985, when he published his "Herbig-Haro" and "And So to Bed" under his real name. Another early pseudonym was "Mark Gordian." Turtledove has recently begun publishing historical novels under the pseudonym "H.N. Turteltaub" (taube means dove in German). He published three books as Dan Chernenko.

Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Turtledove worked as a technical writer for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. In 1991, he left the LACOE and turned to writing full time. From 1986–1987, he served as the Treasurer for the Science Fiction Writers of America.

He is married to mystery and SF writer Laura Frankos. His brother-in-law is fantasy author Steven Frankos. Turtledove won the Homer Award for Short Story in 1990 for "Designated Hitter," the John Esten Cook Award for Southern Fiction in 1993 for The Guns of the South, the Hugo Award for Novella in 1994 for "Down in the Bottomlands." "Must and Shall" was nominated for the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The Two Georges also received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The Worldwar series received a Sidewise Award for Alternate History Honorable Mention in 1996. In 1998, the novel How Few Remain won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. He won his second Sidewise Award in 2003 for the novel Ruled Britannia. On August 1, 1998, Turtledove was named honorary Kentucky Colonel while Guest of Honor at Rivercon XXIII in Louisville, Kentucky.

Turtledove served as the toastmaster for Chicon 2000, the 58th World Science Fiction Convention.

He has three daughters: Alison, Rachel and Rebecca.

"The Master of Alternative History"

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternative History". Within that genre he is known both for creating original alternative history scenarios such as survival of the Byzantine Empire or an alien invasion in the middle of the Second World War and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by many others, such as the victory of South in the American Civil War and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

A recurring theme in Turtledove's fiction is the realistic description of war from the point of view of ordinary soldiers. Turtledove's soldiers are usually depicted sympathetically, though far from uncritically - with the same character who perpetrated acts of appalling cruelty in one episode shown under different circumstances to be capable of compassion and generosity. The above is true also for soldiers fighting for the side which is the clear villain of the piece, such as Nazi Germany and its numerous alternative history and Fantasy analogues in Turtledove's fiction. His depiction of war always includes civilians whose life is impacted as well as soldiers on the battlefield itself.

Even manifest arch-villains, such as people involved in genocide, are hardly ever cardboard villains in Turtledove's books. In some series the reader can follow, step by step from book to book, the slippery slope by which an originally decent character gets to the point of committing mass murder.

In a passage of the "Darkness" series a character, going in disguise into the camp of his arch-enemies which he had hitherto known only as cruel oppressors, is surprised to see that among themseleves they behave much as he and his friends behave, and observes that "no one is a villain in his own story" (which does not stop him from continuing to fight and kill them). This clearly seems to reflect Turtledove's own attitude.

Turtledove's books are almost invariably written in the third person, and the omniscient author is always present to a degree more characteristic in 19th century literature than at most other contemporary works. Turtledove often goes to the trouble of explaining to the reader details of a historical, linguistic or technological theme which are relevant to the scene but are clearly either unknown to the viewpoint characters in the situation described or taken by them for granted.

Tutrledove is also in the frequent habit of mildly criticizing his characters for exhibiting a prejudice and/or being taken in by propaganda, such criticism typically prefaced by the words "It did not cross his her mind that...".

Much of Turtledove's work consists of long series with multiple point of view characters, all going through the same major experience (mostly a big war), and whose parallel experiences and occasional meetings and clashes with each other serve to draw a wide canvas. A greater realism is achieved by Turtledove's habit of occasionally killing off a viewpoint character - sometimes a sympathetic one which the reader has gotten attached to, and sometimes in a meaningless accident or trivial skirmish (which often happens in a real war and in real life in general, but much less often in literature).

A similar technique was used by John Brunner in Stand on Zanzibar and outside the field of science fiction, by Herman Wouk in the trilogies The Winds of War and War and Remembrance and even earlier in John Dos Passos's U.S.A. Trilogy - considered the major work of that author.

List of Books and Series

Elabon

The Videssos Books

Fantasy series about a world that is analogous to the Byzantine Empire.
  • The Legion Series
    • The Misplaced Legion: One of Julius Caeser's legions is transported to a world with magic. (1987)
    • An Emperor for the Legion (1987)
    • The Legion of Videssos (1987)
    • The Swords of the Legion (1987)
  • The Tale of Krispos Series
    • Krispos Rising (1991)
    • Krispos of Videssos (1991)
    • Krispos the Emperor (1994)
  • The Time of Troubles Series
    • The Stolen Throne (1995)
    • Hammer and Anvil (1996)
    • The Thousand Cities (1997)
    • Videssos Besieged (1998)
  • The Bridge of the Separator (2005)

Worldwar & Colonization Series

Sci-Fi/Alternate History — Aliens invade in the middle of World War II

The Southern Victory or Timeline-191 Series

Alternate History — The South have won the American Civil War, what would then happen over the next century. (The series consists of several smaller series and has no official title)

Darkness Series

A fantasy series about a world war between nations using magic as weapons. Many of the plot elements are analogous to elements of World War II, with countries and technologies that are comparable to the events of the real world, while the writing style is similar to his Southern Victory.

  • Into the Darkness (1999)
  • Darkness Descending (2000)
  • Through the Darkness (2001)
  • Rulers of the Darkness (2002)
  • Jaws of the Darkness (2003)
  • Out of the Darkness (2004)

War Between the Provinces Series

A reversed fantasy version of the US civil war. The industrial south is fighting the rural north over the blond serfs.

  • Sentry Peak (2000)
  • Marching Through Peachtree (2001)
  • Advance and Retreat (2002)

Sostrates & Menedemos Series

A historical fiction series about two cousins who are traveling merchants in the fourth century BC Mediterranean. The novels were written under the H.N. Turteltaub pseudonym.
  • Over the Wine-Dark Sea (2001)
  • The Gryphon's Skull (2002)
  • The Sacred Land (2003)
  • Owls to Athens (2004)

Crosstime Traffic Series

This series is based on the premise that travel between parallel universes is possible. However, the traffic is usually only undertaken by travelling in groups(families or close friends) to diminish the possibility of discovery. This is a series for young adults.
  • Gunpowder Empire (2003)
  • Curious Notions (2004)
  • In High Places (2006)
  • The Disunited States (2007)

Pacific War Series

Alternate History — The Japanese have gained the initiative in the Pacific War by invading and occupying Hawaii.

Stand-alone Books

  • Agent of Byzantium (1987) - Imperial Byzantine special agent Basil Argyros is sent on various missions in an alternate universe where the Byzantine Empire never collapsed
  • A Different Flesh (1988) - a related set of short stories spanning the 17th to 20th centuries set in a universe where the ancestors of the Native Americans never crossed into the New World, only Homo erectus.
  • Noninterference (1988)
  • Kaleidoscope (1990) - short story collection
  • A World Of Difference (1990) - In this alternative history story, the 4th planet of our solar system is larger and named Minerva instead of Mars. The Viking space probe of the 1970's sends back one picture- that of an alien creature swinging a stick- before losing contact. A joint US/USSR mission is sent to explore the planet.
  • Earthgrip (1991)
  • The Guns of the South (1992) Sci-Fi/Alternate History — The Confederate Army is supplied with AK-47's by early-21st century white supremacist South African time-travelers. Considered by many historians as providing an arguably highly-balanced analysis of just what the War Between The States was truly fought over.
  • The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump (1993) - EPA agent David Fisher battles displaced magical powers in a very creative sorcerous equivalent to late-20th-century Los Angeles. He follows the evidence to a toxic spell dump, where dangerous remnants of industrial sorcery are stored.
  • Departures (1993) - short story collection
  • Down in the Bottomlands (1993) - At the end of the Miocene period, the Mediterranean Sea stays dry to the present day. The dry sea basin is a large canyon containing a national park, and the hero must race to stop villains from letting in the Atlantic and flooding the area.
  • The Two Georges (1995) Alternate History/Mystery, co-authored with Richard Dreyfuss — Set in the year 1996 of an alternate timeline where the American Revolution was peacefully avoided. The painting that symbolizes the union between North America and Britain is stolen by terrorists, and officers of the Royal North American Mounted Police must find it before it is destroyed.
  • Thessalonica (1997) - Early Christians in the Greek city of Thessalonica deal with barbarian invaders on both a physical and metaphysical level.
  • Between the Rivers (1998) - Taking place in an equivalent to ancient Mesopotamia, city-states ruled by different gods fight for dominance.
  • Justinian (1998) - using H.N. Turteltaub pseudonym
  • Household Gods (1999) - co-written with Judith Tarr Sci-Fi/Alternate History — A modern female lawyer finds herself in the Roman Empire of Marcus Aurelius.
  • Counting Up, Counting Down (2002) - short story collection
  • Ruled Britannia (2002) Alternate History — The Spanish Armada conquers England and forces Shakespeare to write a play about Philip II. At the same time he is secretly writing a play for the English underground resistance about Boudica's rebellion, with Boudica meant to be analogous to the imprisoned Elizabeth I.
  • Conan of Venarium (2003) a Conan the Barbarian pastiche suffering from the fact that Turtledove chose to place it at a very early and, in some respects, key point in Conan's career, and then proceeded to make his yarn incompatible with the Howardian canon.
  • In the Presence of Mine Enemies (2003) Alternate History — Follows the struggles of a family of secret Jews in Berlin two or three generations after a Nazi victory in World War II.
  • Every Inch a King ISFiC Press (2005) An acrobat becomes king of a small country.

External links

1949 births | Alternate history writers | Historical novelists | American fantasy writers | American science fiction writers | California writers | Hugo Award winning authors | Jewish American writers | Sidewise Award winning authors | Living people

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