End of the Beginning (Pacific War Series #2)

by Harry Turtledove

Overview

Six weeks ago, Imperial Japanese military forces conquered and occupied the Hawaiian Islands. A puppet king sits on Hawaii’s throne, his strings controlled by the general of the invasion force. American POWs, malnourished and weak, are enslaved as hard laborers until death takes them. Civilians fare little better, struggling to survive on dwindling resources. And families of Japanese origin find their loyalties divided.

Meanwhile, across the United States, from Pensacola, Florida, to San Diego, California, the military is marshaling its forces. Steel factories and fuel refineries are operating around the clock. New recruits are enlisting, undergoing rigorous training exercises. All for the opportunity to strike back and drive the enemy from American soil…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101212660
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/01/2005
Series:	Pearl Harbor , #2
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	352,312
File size:	527 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Harry Turtledove—the New York Times bestselling author of numerous alternate history novels, including The Guns of the South, How Few Remain, and the Worldwar quartet—has a Ph.D. in Byzantine history. Nominated numerous times for the Nebula Award, he has won the Hugo, Sidewise, and John Esthen Cook Awards. He lives with his wife and children in California.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Chilling.... A plethora of characters, each with his or her own point of view, provides experiences in miniature that combine to paint a broad canvas of the titanic struggle." —-Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

The human price of war, regardless of nationality, is the relentless focus of this chilling sequel to Turtledove's alternative history Days of Infamy (2004), in which the Japanese conquer Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Times are hard for Americans under the occupation. Scarce food and resources result in privation and a thriving black market. Japanese soldiers work POWs to death with heavy labor on insufficient rations. Women are forced into prostitution as comfort women. But the U.S. armed forces have a few tricks up their sleeve, notably a new kind of aircraft that can hold its own against the Zero. Both the Japanese and American militaries scheme, plan and train, while surfer bums, POWs and fishermen just try to get by. A plethora of characters, each with his or her own point of view, provide experiences in miniature that combine to paint a broad canvas of the titanic struggle, if at the cost of a fragmented narrative. Agent, Russell Galen. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The Japanese are regretting their occupation of Hawaii after all. In this sequel to Days of Infamy (2004), Turtledove chronicles what happened in the aftermath of Imperial Japan's conquest of Hawaii after Pearl Harbor. A quick American counterattack hadn't worked, and, when the book opens, American POWs and Hawaiian civilians-including Japanese-Americans, Hawaiian natives and the Anglos they pejoratively refer to as "haloes"-are settling under the thumb of Japanese oppression. A Japanese immigrant, Jiro Takahashi (who, along with many like him, was a victim of American discrimination) is only too happy to collaborate with his countrymen, while his Hawaii-raised sons are desperately hoping for the U.S. to return. The King and Queen of Hawaii have been restored to their (symbolic) throne. Back on the mainland, the American industrial machine is gearing up for the next assault, the proximity of enemies to the West Coast having put beating the Nazis on the back burner. There's little attempt to subdue the racial nastiness that marked the period (references to "Japs," "Nips" and "slanty-eyed bastards" abounding). While much of the second half is composed of roaring Pacific Campaign combat, Turtledove avoids aside the padding found in so much of his work. This is a leaner and meaner, thrilling and thought-provoking in a way that not nearly enough alternative history is. Supremely satisfying speculative combat fiction.

Kirkus Reviews

Chilling....A plethora of characters, each with his or her own point of view, provides experiences in miniature that combine to paint a broad canvas of the titanic struggle.”—Publishers Weekly

“A good mix of a war story and the tales of everyday people....Turtledove paints an excellent, if bleak, portrait of a Hawaii invaded by the Japanese.”—SF Site

From the Publisher