Publishers Weekly
01/12/2015
Tidhar (Osama) introduces people with supernatural powers into the wars of the 20th century in this disappointing alt-historical. A machine created in the late 1930s by the German scientist Vomacht sent a wave of changes across the entire world, granting random people unusual abilities. Henry Fogg, who can control foggy weather and is recruited by British intelligence services, witnesses crucial parts of WWII up close, until his own loyalties are tested for the sake of a beautiful and superpowered woman. Fogg and the rest of those changed turn out to be immortal, but WWII casts a long shadow over the next 60-odd years, and Fogg takes a long time to come to terms with his secrets. Tidhar’s well-researched book never becomes more than the sum of its sources. His characters are too flat and his plot too derivative to bear the emotional weight of the real-world horrors that form the bulk of the narrative, and his attempts to manipulate superhero archetypes never quite gel. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
An NPR Best Book of 2019
“The Violent Century is a very sophisticated blend of fantasy and real life. Of flawed superheroes engaging with key events in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Lavie Tidhar is a veteran of seamlessly weaving an intriguing blend of fiction into world changing historical events.”
—Strange Alliances
“The Violent Centuryis a wonderfully constructed, crafted work that bears a great emotional weight even as it raises more intellectual questions. It’s the kind of work that lingers in the mind long after the reading.”
—Fantasy Literature
“A brilliantly etched phantasmagoric reconfiguring of that most sizzling of eras—the twilight 20th . . . a torrid tour de force.”
—James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential and Blood’s a Rover
“A brilliant novel of ideas.”
— B&N Book Blog
“The Violent Century is admirably plotted and well paced, with an atmosphere of menace throughout, I’m puzzled as to why this wasn’t on any award shortlist for its year.”
—Jack Deighton, author of A Son of the Rock
“Like Watchmen on crack.”
—io9
“If Nietzche had written an X-Men storyline whilst high on mescaline, it might have read something like The Violent Century.”
—Adam Roberts, author of Jack Glass
“Pack your bags and go home; the superhero genre is now completed . . . if John le Carre wrote a superhero novel about the Cold War, it might be this good.”
—Charles Stross, author of Neptune’s Brood: A Space Opera
“The Violent Century is a brilliant story of superheroes and spies and secret histories. It stands with Alan Moore’s Watchmen as an examination of the myths that we made in the 20th Century and the ways they still haunt us now. it’s as dramatic and vital as the best comic books and as beautifully written and evocative as any literary novel today. Read it. You’ll see.”
— Christopher Farnsworth, author of Blood Oath and Flashmob
“An alternative history tour-de-force. Epic, intense and authentic. Lavie Tidhar reboots the 20th century with spies and superheroes battling for mastery—and the results are electric.”
—Tom Harper, author of The Lost Temple
“A stunning masterpiece.”
—The Independent
“Tidhar synthesises the geeky and the political in a vision of world events that breaks new superhero ground.”
—The Guardian
“It’s hard, but not impossible as Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey and others have shown, to create a morally complex, artistically ambitious story based on characters whose origins are not that far removed from the simplicity of Superman, Spiderman, and their ilk. Tidhar has succeeded brilliantly in this task.”
—LA Review of Books
“A sophisticated, moving and gripping take on 20th century conflicts and our capacity for love and hate, honour and betrayal.”
—The Daily Mail
“A love story and meditation on heroism, this is an elegiac espionage adventure that demands a second reading.”
—Metro
“Could keep anyone, regardless of the types of stories they regularly enjoy, interested and engaged. Tidhar has created a book that oozes excellence in both characterisation and storytelling.”
—The Huffington Post
[STARRED REVIEW] “This study in heroism, love, revenge, and violence will be in demand by lovers of complex, intelligent sf and alternative history. Anyone who enjoys stories of people with supernatural abilities will thrive reading Tidhar’s world.”
—Library Journal
“A terrifically told tale of heroism and enduring friendship that captures our imaginations from the very first page.”
—Booklist
“If you love Philip K. Dick, Lavie Tidhar should be your new favorite writer . . . an unforgettable read.”
—The Jewish Standard
“He’s dealing with the grandest schemes on the largest of backdrops in time and place, and this level of awe-inspiring craft places him firmly within the highest tier of writers working today, no longer an emerging writer, but a master.”
—British Fantasy Society
“Intense and evocative.”
—SFX
“Gripping, imaginative and moving.”
—Sci Fi Now
“The sort of thing Quentin Tarantino did as bloody wish-fulfillment in Inglourious Basterds, multiplied by several orders of magnitude.”
—Locus
“This is a novel that can break your heart and then, ever so subtly, include a cameo by Stan Lee. Tidhar clearly knows as much about supermen of all kinds as he does about the circumstances that produce them.”
—Strange Horizons
“The Violent Century is an excellent novel that demonstrates, once again, the impressive versatility of its author.”
—Interzone
“A masterful example of alternate universe science fiction and can only add to its author’s rapidly growing reputation.”
—The Los Angeles Review of Books
“An original, engrossing fusion of noir-ish super-heroes and gritty espionage thriller . . . a fantastic novel”
—Civilian Reader
“Lavie Tidhar is no longer a rising star in the genre, but one burning bright.”
—Staffer’s Book Review
“Heart, a sly sense of humour, great action set-pieces and a range of fascinating supporting players.”
—Newtown Review of Books
“Who should read this? Anyone interested in Superheroes beyond the cliché that Hollywood is frequently guilty of exploiting; anyone with an interest in what exposure to conflict does to people, and anyone who enjoys a well-crafted, complex story set in our rather violent history!”
—Sci-Fi Fantasy Network
Praise for the Campbell Award and Neukom Literary-winning novel Central Station
An NPR Best Book of 2016
An Amazon Featured Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book
A Tor.com Best Book of 2016
A Guardian Best SF and Fantasy Book of 2016
A Publishers Weekly Staff Pick
A Kirkus Best Science Fiction and Fantasy pick
British Science Fiction Award, shortlist
Arthur C. Clarke Award, shortlist
"It is just this side of a masterpiece—short, restrained, lush—and the truest joy of it is in the way Tidhar scatters brilliant ideas like pennies on the sidewalk.”
—NPR Books
[STARRED REVIEW] “Readers of all persuasions will be entranced.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A sprawling hymn to the glory and mess of cultural diversity.”
—Guardian
“Quietly enthralling and subtly ingenious.”
—Asimov's Science Fiction
“Beautiful, original, a shimmering tapestry of connections and images—I can't think of another SF novel quite like it. Lavie Tidhar is one of the most distinctive voices to enter the field in many years.”
—Alastair Reynolds, author of the Revelation Space series
“A dazzling tale of complicated politics and even more complicated souls. Beautiful.”
—Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie
Praise for Unholy Land
“Lavie Tidhar does it again. A jewelled little box of miracles. Magnificent.”
—Warren Ellis, author of Gun Machine
“[STARRED REVIEW] Readers of all kinds, and particularly fans of detective stories and puzzles, will enjoy grappling with the numerous questions raised by this stellar work.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A genius, dreamlike fantasy for those who slip across might-have-been worlds.”
—Saad Z. Hossain, author of Escape from Baghdad!
“Unholy Land is a stunning achievement.”
—The Speculative Shelf
“Lavie Tidhar has given us a mystically charged, morally complex vision of Theodor Herzl’s famous Jewish state that might have been.”
—James Morrow, author of The Last Witchfinder and Shambling Towards Hiroshima
“Lavie Tidhar’s daring Unholy Land brilliantly showcases one of the foremost science fiction authors of our generation.”
— Silvia Moreno-Garcia, World Fantasy Award-winning editor and author of Mexican Gothic
“Heart, a sly sense of humour, great action set-pieces and a range of fascinating supporting players.” —Newtown Review of Books
Library Journal
★ 02/15/2015
World Fantasy Award winner Tidhar (Osama) presents a new masterpiece that could be compared to Marvel's X-Men. His protagonists, Fogg and Oblivion, are men with very special abilities (they can manipulate weather) who have worked for the British government since the 1930s and into the present day. The novel moves backward and forward through time, recounting how they came to possess these special powers and their role in the events of the 20th century. Initially the experimental prose style—dialog is written with no regard for grammar or punctuation—is a stumbling block, but the patient reader who can clear that hurdle will be rewarded with a tremendous, unforgettable read. VERDICT This study in heroism, love, revenge, and violence will be in demand by lovers of complex, intelligent sf and alternative history. Anyone who enjoys stories of people with supernatural abilities will thrive reading Tidhar's world.—Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll., Elkhorn Lib., WI
