Subject: THE FANTASTIC WORLD WAR II: The War That Wasn't

From: [email-masked] (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Date: 3 Jun 90 16:13:34 GMT

THE FANTASTIC WORLD WAR II: The War That Wasn't
			edited by Frank McSherry, Jr.
		    Baen, 1990, ISBN 0-671-69881-8, $3.50.
		      A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
		       Copyright 1990 Evelyn C. Leeper

     Though this book is credited as being edited solely by Frank McSherry,
the copyright is listed in the names of Frank McSherry, Martin Greenberg,
and Charles Waugh, so those of you who thought that somehow an anthology got
released that Greenberg *hadn't* worked on were fooled.  In addition to those
three, and of course the authors of the stories themselves, There is also
S. M. Stirling, who wrote the introductions to the stories.  It seems that
everyone got into the act somehow.

     The title and description of this book might lead one to think it was a
collection of alternate history stories about World War II.  [In fact, in
article <1WcynK#8lgdB79XfdLV4Whxxk9kzRc3=[email-masked]> [email-masked]
(Eric S. Raymond) wrote: "Well, it was a passable idea -- an anthology of
alternate-history short stories centered on World War II."]  Well, it led me to
think that, also.  This is only partially true.  There are some alternate
history stories, yes, but there are also fantasy stories and straight science
fiction stories as well.

     The lead story is Charles Beaumont's "The Howling Man" (1959), probably
the best-known of all the stories due to its translation into an episode of
the old "Twilight Zone" television series.  This is a horror story which
provides an alternate explanation for World War II (or perhaps it's just
another layer deeper explanation).

     Next are three fantasy pieces.  "Take My Drum to England" (1941) by
Nelson S. Bond, set during the evacuation of Dunkerque, is reminiscent of
Kim Stanley Robinson's "Black Air" (or is it that "Black Air" is reminiscent
of "Take My Drum to England"?).  Malcolm Jameson's "Vengeance in Her Bones"
(1942) is about a ship with a personality--and a grudge.  And "Red Moon on
the Flores Sea" (1942) by H. Bedford-Jones is a ghost story set in Malaya
(now called Malaysia).

     Manley Wade Wellman delivers another horror story with "The Devil Is
Not Mocked" (1943), albeit distressingly predictable.  The contemporary
stories are rounded out by A. E. Van Vogt's "Secret Unattainable" (1942), a
typically Van-Vogtian idea of a machine that is affected by the thoughts and
attitudes of those who are running it, and "My Name Is Legion" by Lester Del
Rey, a well-done time travel story with a twist.  Well, I suppose that is
redundant--part of what makes a time travel story IS the twist.  But in this
case, I found myself surprised by the denouement while at the same time
saying that of course it was perfectly obvious.

     Edward Wellen's "Barbarossa" (1973) is set in a Nazi submarine twenty
years after V-E Day; setting up a parallel to the legend of the 12th Century
German hero Barbarossa (a.k.a. Frederick I) is not enough to sustain the
story.

     The last two stories are alternate histories.  "Two Dooms" (1958) by
C. M. Kornbluth is a classic in the field.  Its depiction of the world years
after the Axis has won World War II is suitably chilling, and seems to have
inspired any number of lesser imitators (only Sarban's SOUND OF HIS HORN
comes to mind as its equal--and no, I have not forgotten Philip K. Dick's
MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE).  And once again, we find Harry Turtledove's "The
Last Article" (1988), which is an acceptable story, but runs a real risk of
being over-anthologized.  (As far as alternate histories go, the definitive
anthology in this area may already have been done: Gregory Benford and
Martin H. Greenberg's HITLER VICTORIOUS (Garland, 1986), eleven "what if
Germany had won the war?" stories.  The Kornbluth story, not surprisingly,
was included in that anthology as well.)

     On the whole, I was disappointed by this anthology.  Maybe I was just
expecting something different.  None of the stories was actively bad (well,
maybe the Van Vogt), but I got the impression that the book was put together
more because someone thought this would be a sellable theme than because
someone had a lot of good stories to anthologize.

Evelyn C. Leeper   |   +1 201-957-2070   |   att!mtgzy!ecl or [email-masked]