 First edition | |
| Author | Harry Turtledove |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Kazuhiko Sano |
| Language | English |
| Series | Crosstime Traffic |
| Genre | Alternate history |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | December 5, 2003 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 0-7653-0693-X |
| OCLC | 52459857 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3570.U76 G85 2003 |
| Followed by | Curious Notions |
Gunpowder Empire is a 2003 alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the first part of the Crosstime Traffic series. [1]
In the novel, Jeremy and Amanda Solter are two teenagers living in the late 21st century. Their parents work for Crosstime Traffic, a trading company using time travel to go back and forth from parallel versions of Earth to trade for resources to help sustain their version of Earth. One summer, the children work with their parents, going to Polisso – in our timeline a village in Romania with the ancient Porolissum ruins nearby, in the alternate timeline a major city of a Roman Empire that never collapsed.
In the intervening centuries, the Romans advanced to the extent of inventing gunpowder – hence the title of the book – putting their armies on about 17th Century level. By 2100, they had not, however, gone through an Industrial Revolution and many of their social institutions, in particular slavery, remain much as they were in earlier Roman times. North of the Roman Empire, a rival Lietuvan Empire has grown up similar to a still surviving Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with occasional wars breaking out between the two. It is said that most of these wars would end in an exchange of border provinces. Romans consider the Lietuvans as "barbarians", though in fact the two have much the same level of technology and culture.
An important aspect of the book is that Christianity never became the Roman Empire's dominant religion, but remained one of the Empire's many religions. Persecution of Christians ceased due to a pragmatic compromise whereby Christians are obliged to burn incense "for the Emperor's health" but are not required to worship "pagan" gods. Christians are subdivided between "Imperial Christians" - mainly the richer ones - who perform this ceremony in order to advance their business interests, and more principled Christians who refuse to perform it and accept the resulting social disabilities. The rival Lietuvan Empire, dedicated to the worship of Perkunas, is actively intolerant and Christians who attempt missionary activity there face martyrdom.
When the youngsters' mother becomes sick, their father takes her back to their home time for treatment, expecting to come back in a few days – but the cross-time travel equipment suffers a break in link, stranding Jeremy and Amanda in Polisso just as the Lietuvan Army crosses the border, placing Polisso under siege. At the same time, the Roman authorities begin to grow suspicious of their trade mission and the origin of such items as watches and Swiss army knives which they offer for sale and which no artisan in the Empire can match.
Roland J. Green, reviewing for Booklist , said, "Seemingly a series opener intended to introduce the concept of parallel worlds and Turtledove's take on it, the book succeeds as an homage to parallelworlds pioneer Piper and a well-told, engaging tale." [2] Peter Cannon, reviewing for Publishers Weekly , said, "Turtledove presents his teenaged heroes with a series of moral choices and dilemmas that will particularly resonate with younger fans. This is a rousing story that reminds us that "adventure" really is someone else in deep trouble a long way off." [3] Don D'Ammassa, in his review for the Journal Chronicle, praised the novel, saying, "I really enjoyed this one, which had lively characters and events, and whose setting seemed much more interesting and better realized than that in the author's other recent novels." [4]
The novel's name is derived from the concept of Gunpowder empires, referring to historical Muslim empires which remained stable over centuries due to their possession of gunpowder and artillery; in the novel, the surviving Roman Empire develops along similar lines.
Alternate history is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As conjecture based upon historical fact, alternate history stories propose What if? scenarios about crucial events in human history, and present outcomes very different from the historical record. Some alternate histories are considered a subgenre of science fiction, or historical fiction.
A Calculus of Angels is an alternate history and fantasy novel by American writer Gregory Keyes, the second book in The Age of Unreason series. It was initially published by Del Rey on March 30, 1999. A follow-up to Newton's Cannon, the book is set in 1722 and continues the alternate history where Isaac Newton discovers that alchemy works, and a powerful science is built upon it.
Newton's Cannon (1998) is a science fantasy novel by American writer Gregory Keyes, the first book in his The Age of Unreason series. The protagonist for the novel is Benjamin Franklin; other key characters to the novel are James Franklin – Ben's brother, John Collins – Ben's friend, as well as Adrienne and King Louis XIV – the Sun King.
Agent of Byzantium is a 1987 collection of short stories by Harry Turtledove, centered on the exploits of Basil Argyros, a Byzantine secret agent. The stories are set in an alternate 14th century, where Islam never existed and the great ancient empires of Byzantium and Sassanid Persia survive.
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1633 is an alternate history novel co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2002, and sequel to 1632 in the 1632 series. 1633 is the second major novel in the series and together with the anthology Ring of Fire, the two sequels begin the series hallmarks of being a shared universe with collaborative writing being very common, as well as one that, far more unusually, mixes many canonical anthologies with its works of novel length. That is because Flint wrote 1632 as a stand-alone novel, though with enough "story hooks" for an eventual sequel, and because Flint feels "history is messy" and the books reflect that real life is not a smooth, polished linear narrative flow from the pen of some historian but is instead clumps of semi-related or unrelated happenings that somehow sum up how different people act in their own self-interests.
1634: The Galileo Affair is the fourth book and third novel published in the 1632 series. It is co-written by American authors Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis and was published in 2004. It follows the activities of an embassy party sent from the United States of Europe (Grantville) to Venice, Italy, where the three young Stone brothers become involved with the local Committees of Correspondence and the Inquisition's trial of Galileo Galilei.
1635: The Cannon Law is the sixth book and fifth novel published in the 1632 series by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. It is the second novel in the French-Italian plot thread, which began with 1634: The Galileo Affair and was published by Baen Books in 2006. The book explores the reactions of the Roman Catholic hardliners to Pope Urban VIII's actions in tolerating the new freedom of religion taking root in Central Europe during the climax of The Galileo Affair.
American Empire: The Victorious Opposition is the third and final book in the American Empire alternate history series by Harry Turtledove, and the seventh in the Southern Victory series of books.
Crosstime Traffic is a series of books by Harry Turtledove.
Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant: The Final Victory is the conclusion of an alternate history trilogy by former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen, and Albert S. Hanser. It was published in 2005 by Thomas Dunne Books. The other two books are Grant Comes East and Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War. The novel is illustrated with actual photographs of the Civil War, taken somewhat out of context.
The Gladiator is a novel for young adults by American writer Harry Turtledove, published in 2007. Part of the loose Crosstime Traffic family of books, it is set in a world in an alternate history in which the Soviet Union has won the Cold War. It tied with Jo Walton's Ha'penny for the 2008 Prometheus Award.
The Disunited States of America is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is a part of the Crosstime Traffic series, and takes place in an alternate world where the U.S. was never able to agree on a constitution and continued to govern under the Articles of Confederation. By the early 1800s, the nation dissolved with each state as a separate country. The states trade with each other, engage in diplomacy, and even go to war with each other. Other states exist which do not in our world, such as Boone.
The Valley-Westside War is a 2008 American young adult alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the sixth and final book in the Crosstime Traffic series.
In High Places is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is a part of the Crosstime Traffic series, and takes place in an alternate world where the Black Death was much more virulent, killing 80 percent of the European population, with the continent subsequently repopulated by Muslims.
Curious Notions is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is a part of the Crosstime Traffic series. In Curious Notions, the Central Powers won World War I prior to the United States entering the war. Subsequently, the German Empire invaded and conquered the United States in the 1950s. The story is set 150 years later, in German-occupied San Francisco. The main plot deals with time travelers from our universe establishing an electronics shop in San Francisco, coming under the suspicion of both the German authorities and the Tongs while preventing the Germans from duplicating the time travel technology.
Counting Up, Counting Down is a collection of short stories by Harry Turtledove, most of which were first published in various fiction magazines in the 1990s. It is named after two of the stories appearing in the book, one called "Forty, Counting Down" and the other named "Twenty-One, Counting Up", which are united by the character of Justin Kloster. The story genres represented include alternate history, time travel, fantasy, straight historical fiction, and more. Two stories, "The Decoy Duck" and "The Seventh Chapter," are set in the Videssos Universe, with the former story being set before any of the other stories and books in that universe. The book was originally published by Del Rey as a trade paperback in January 2002. In the same month, it was brought out as a leatherbound limited edition by Easton Press.
Conan of Venarium is a fantasy novel by American writer Harry Turtledove, edited by Teresa Nielsen Hayden, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in hardcover by Tor Books in July 2003; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in July 2004.
