INTO THE DARKNESS

The setting of alternate-history guru Turtledove’s latest doorstopper is a world where magic works but human impulses remain pretty much the same. Here, memories of the Six Years” War are still fresh; so that when the Duke of Bari dies, neighboring Algarve loses no time in reabsorbing the province—to the general approval of both Bari and Algarve. But nearby nations, traditional enemies of Algarve, have already prepared treaties against just such an eventuality, and now they jointly declare war on Algarve. Magical wars are weird analogues of technologically more familiar conflicts, as squadrons of dragons drop explosive “eggs” and strafe the ground with fire; troop carriers move swiftly and accurately, buoyed up by the energies generated by ley lines; ships navigate along the marine equivalents; and soldiers carry sticks that fire magical laser-beams. And so on. Turtledove (The Great War, 1998, etc.) provides the usual sprawling panorama studded with hundreds of incidents and populated by a cast of thousands. But, as noted before in these pages, he’s without the knack of penning lifelike characters. He isn’t noted, either, for sheer innovation, and, in the absence of historical or geographical referents that might create some resonance, it’s not at all clear why any of it should matter. Turtledove devotees will probably want to give it the once-over, but there’s little here to attract the uncommitted. (Author tour)