The company of the dead

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Title:

The company of the dead

Author:

Kowalski, David J.

ISBN:

9780857686664

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

London : Titan Books, 2012.

Physical Description:

752 p. : map ; 21 cm.

Corporate Subject:

Confederate States of America. Army -- Officers -- Fiction.

Titanic (Steamship) -- Fiction.

Subject Term:

Time travel -- Fiction.

Genre:

Science fiction.

Alternative histories (Fiction)

Summary:

A mysterious man appears aboard the "Titanic" on its doomed voyage to save the ship. In April 2012, Joseph Kennedy--nephew of John F. Kennedy--lives in an America occupied in the East by Greater Germany and on the West Coast by Imperial Japan. He is one of six people who can restore history to its rightful order -- even though it would mean his death, and the deaths of everyone he loves.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	FICTION KOW	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	FICTION KOW	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Can one man save the Titanic?

March 1912. A mysterious man appears aboard the Titanic on its doomed voyage. His mission? To save the ship.

The result? A world where the United States never entered World War I, thus launching the secret history of the 20th Century.

April 2012. Joseph Kennedy - grand-nephew of John F. Kennedy - lives in an America occupied in the East by Greater Germany and on the West Coast by Imperial Japan. He is one of six people who can restore history to its rightful order -- even though it may mean his own death.

"A magnificent alternate history, set against the backdrop of one of the the greatest maritime disasters." Library Journal

"Imaginative, monolithic, action-packed... The reader will not be disappointed." -- Bookseller and Publisher

"Time travel, airships, the Titanic, Roswell ... Kowalski builds a decidedly original creature that blends military science fiction, conspiracy theory, alternate history, and even a dash of romance." Publishers Weekly

"Kowalski effortlessly smashes together high art and grand adventure in this alt-history juggernaut." John Birmingham, acclaimed author of Weapons of Choice

"Exciting action, twisty and ingenious characterisation, and complicated time-travel plotting, deftly handled." S.M. Stirling, NYT bestselling author of The Tears of the Sun

"A non-stop chase that takes place across two thousand miles ... and one hundred years of perdurant time." Walter Jon Williams, NYT bestselling author of Deep State

Author Notes

David Kowalski is an obstetrician and gynecologist living in Sydney, Australia. Although he has written for many professional journals, The Company of the Dead is his first work of fiction and the winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Novel and Best Science Fiction Novel.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Time travel, airships, the Titanic, Roswell: from these well-worn bones, Kowalski builds a decidedly original creature that blends military science fiction, conspiracy theory, alternate history, and even a dash of romance. In a very different 2012, Joseph Kennedy, a major in the Confederate army, must play the German and Japanese empires off against each other, as well as the Union and Confederate governments, to save the world from meddling time travelers who could bring about humanity's extinction. The weary, gritty mood of men pushing themselves beyond endurance lends an emotionally compelling touch to even the woolliest aspects of the plot, such as where the time machine came from, how it works, and why it gives people strange visions. Unfortunately, the female characters are mostly offstage and passive; Kowalski is best at exploring the much more complex relationships among male allies, enemies, and rivals. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Its daunting length notwithstanding, Kowalski's first novel (originally published in Australia in 2004, where it won two prestigious sf awards) is a tightly plotted, action-packed tale that will satisfy speculative-history buffs and lovers of political thrillers alike. Titanic enthusiast Jonathan Wells, having discovered a means of time travel, stages a well-intentioned but ill-considered attempt to avert the sinking of the doomed liner on April 15, 1912. The attempt proves fruitless but changes that night's events just enough to keep the United States out of World War I. By the 21st century, unchecked German and Japanese aggression has reduced America to a third-rate power, its streets occupied by Japanese soldiers and fragmented by a second Southern secession. Enter Joseph Kennedy, Confederate intelligence operative and fictional scion of the iconic American clan, who comes across Wells's diary, recovered from the Titanic's wreckage. Convinced that an unaltered history, even one containing the horrors of the 20th century that we know, is preferable to the present with its looming prospect of a civilization-ending war, he decides to try to change history back. VERDICT Despite some overlong expository passages in its early chapters, this is an enthralling read, populated with sympathetic characters and believable science.-John Harvey, Irving P.L., TX (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

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