Marching Through Peachtree
First edition | |
Author | Harry Turtledove |
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Illustrator | David Mattingly |
Language | English |
Series | War Between the Provinces |
Genre | Fantasy |
Publisher | Baen Books |
Publication date | November 1, 2001 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Preceded by | Sentry Peak |
Followed by | Advance and Retreat |
Marching Through Peachtree is the second novel in The War Between the Provinces series, a fantasy version of the American Civil War by Harry Turtledove.[1]
Plot
A civil war is tearing apart the kingdom of Detina. When Avram became the new King of Detina, he announced his intent to abolish serfdom for the blond serfs upon which the northern provinces depended, Detina was torn in two, and the rebellious north took Avram's cousin, Grand Duke Geoffrey, as their king.
Neither side could expect an easy victory. While the south was larger and wealthier, the north had better soldiers and more powerful wizards. Led by officers riding unicorns, supplied by flying carpets, both sides clash for three years when Count Thraxton, a conceited wizard-general whose opinions of his spell-casting ability far outstripped the reality, bungled a spell which backfired disastrously against his own side, giving the Unionists a decisive victory.
But the war was far from over: Thraxton is relieved of his command; which means that the south faces a far more competent general: Joseph the Gamecock. And Joseph and his troops were determined to hold Peachtree Province against the loyalist troops. They had occupied Rockface Rise, which offered only two narrow places where the Unionists could come at them, and had further fortified it with trenches and catapults. When the southern army attacked, they would face formidable obstacles both natural and manmade, as well as the repeating crossbows of the troops and the deadly sorcerous storm and lightning wielded by the northern wizards.
Reception
CNN considered the novel to have "very little in the way of new insights about the War Between the States", "prose [that] is functional at best [and] logy at worst", and "four hundred pages of puns", concluding that although Turtledove "probably had a blast" writing the novel, it is not "fun to read".[2] James Nicoll called it "dismal".[3]
Steven H Silver found that the puns and wordplay "enlivened" what was otherwise "a pretty straight-forward retelling of a major campaign in the Civil War", and observed that it "suffers from following history a little too closely" and does not sufficiently explore the effects of the presence of magic; ultimately, Silver concluded that although the book is an improvement over Sentry Peak (to which it is a sequel), and has "quality" writing, it nonetheless "fails to live up to its potential."[4]
References
- ^ "Baen.com Marching Through Peachtree". www.baen.com.
- ^ Review: Turtledove's 'Peachtree' a bad joke, by L.D. Meagher, at CNN.com; published January 24, 2002; retrieved April 22, 2022
- ^ Back to Bilalistan, by James Nicoll, at JamesDavisNicoll.com; published March 3, 2016; retrieved April 22, 2022
- ^ MARCHING THROUGH PEACHTREE by Harry Turtledove , reviewed by Steven H Silver, at StevenHSilver.com; published October 2001; retrieved April 22, 2022
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Videssos cycle |
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The Tale of Krispos |
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Time of Troubles |
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Worldwar
Worldwar |
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Colonization |
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a.k.a. Timeline-191
Second Mexican War | |
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Great War |
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American Empire |
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Settling Accounts |
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- Into the Darkness
- Darkness Descending
- Through the Darkness
- Rulers of the Darkness
- Jaws of Darkness
- Out of the Darkness
- Sentry Peak
- Marching Through Peachtree
- Advance and Retreat
- Gunpowder Empire
- Curious Notions
- In High Places
- The Disunited States of America
- The Gladiator
- The Valley-Westside War
- The Bastard King
- The Chernagor Pirates
- The Scepter's Return
- Beyond the Gap
- The Breath of God
- The Golden Shrine
- Hitler's War
- West and East
- The Big Switch
- Coup d'Etat
- Two Fronts
- Last Orders
- Eruption
- All Fall Down
- Supervolcano
- Maelstrom
- Bombs Away
- Fallout
- Armistice
and Three Men and...Stories
- "Visitor from the East"
- "Peace is Better"
- "Typecasting"
- "Something Fishy"
- "Always Something New"
- "Tie a Yellow Ribbon"
- "Three Men and a Vampire"
- "Three Men and a Werewolf"
- "Three Men and a Sasquatch"
- A Different Flesh
- A World of Difference
- Agent of Byzantium
- Alpha and Omega
- And the Last Trump Shall Sound
- Between the Rivers
- The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
- Conan of Venarium
- Down in the Bottomlands
- Every Inch a King
- Fort Pillow
- Give Me Back My Legions!
- The Guns of the South
- Hail! Hail!
- Household Gods
- The House of Daniel
- In the Presence of Mine Enemies
- Joe Steele
- Justinian
- The Man with the Iron Heart
- Noninterference
- Or Even Eagle Flew
- Ruled Britannia
- Thessalonica
- The Two Georges
- Through Darkest Europe
- "A Massachusetts Yankee in King Arthur's Court"
- "Election Day"
- "Getting Real"
- "The House That George Built"
- "Joe Steele"
- "Lee at the Alamo"
- "Liberating Alaska"
- "The Last Article"
- "Powerless"
- "The Road Not Taken"
- "Topanga and the Chatsworth Lancers"
- "Uncle Alf"
- "Vilcabamba"
- "Zigeuner"
- Atlantis and Other Places
- Counting Up, Counting Down
- Departures
- Earthgrip
- Kaleidoscope
- Reincarnations
- The Best of Harry Turtledove
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