The Disunited States of America (Cross-time Traffic Book 4)

Other states exist which do not in our world, such as Boone. The story takes place in the s and concerns two outsiders caught up in a war between Ohio and Virginia: One of the pre-publication title candidates was The Untied States of America. Frieda Murray reviewing for Booklist said that this novel was "the best so far in this Turtledove series, with characters that you care about and action that, while grim, is plausible and engaging.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Children and Young Adult Literature portal. The disunited states of America. Works by Harry Turtledove. The Bridge of the Separator. Second Contact Down to Earth Aftershocks. American Front Walk in Hell Breakthroughs. Days of Infamy End of the Beginning. I'm not holding my breath for that, though. May 04, Bath Book Shop rated it it was ok Shelves: Well, I can't really say this book was bad, but it wasn't very good. The premise had so much promise, and then I mean, I finished it, but I wasn't particularly happy about it.

The only things I actually liked about it were 1 Justin, the main character, uses the term "stephenkinging" to describe his possibly justified paranoia about being a stranger in a small town during a war, and 2 when discussing George Herman, the best rounders player who ever lived in the "altern Well, I can't really say this book was bad, but it wasn't very good.

The only things I actually liked about it were 1 Justin, the main character, uses the term "stephenkinging" to describe his possibly justified paranoia about being a stranger in a small town during a war, and 2 when discussing George Herman, the best rounders player who ever lived in the "alternate" timeline , Justin says he must have been a "ruthless" player, and the other traveler with him who got the pun on Babe Ruth , nearly chokes to death, mystifying the people around them.

Justin spent more time worrying about what would happen if he used the wrong slang than what would happen if he got shot. Buddy, if you use the wrong slang, the guy sitting next to you will think you're weird and then move on with his life. Just like we all do, everyday. It turns out that this is actually the 4th book in a series, which I didn't know until I started writing this review, as this was indicated exactly nowhere in the story or on the book itself.

This implies to me that you don't have to read the other books in the series to understand this one, which means that there should not have been nearly as much clunky exposition as there actually was. This one gets two stars because at no point did I care enough to want to throw it across the room. Feb 23, Randal rated it it was ok Shelves: According to his author bio, Turtledove has a PhD. If he talks like he writes, I hope he hasn't actually taught. That's because this is a curiously slow-moving, preachy novel.

Turtledove constantly goes back over the same lite philosophical ground about slavery, race relations and the challenges of moving between parallel universes. As a longtime sci-fi reader, I get that some authors throw too many concepts at readers for them to grasp; this is the opposite. He repeatedly has characters go over t According to his author bio, Turtledove has a PhD. He repeatedly has characters go over the basics: The protagonists are in an alternate history where the US is in several small entities; California is different than Virginia; There is slavery and interstate warfare; The locals are suspicious types; The action takes place in a really, really small, rural town; The character Gran is an enormous pain in the ass.

Turtledove has carved out a substantial niche doing this, so there's clearly a market for it. It just doesn't happen to include me. This series posits a future world in which people have discovered the ability to travel to parallel timelines, somewhat like the TV show 'Sliders'. They have used this tech to exploit resources from other worlds and fix a few problems at home, as well as explore. It's a fun little conceit that lets Turtledove explore a variety of 'What-ifs', with commentary on various social dynamics.

The point of historical divergence in this book is some-time in the early history of the United States. The US constitution is never ratified, and the states are stuck with the Articles of Confederation. Without a stronger centralised state, disagreements between the states cause the functional dissolution of the 'United States' by some point in the early 19th century. The history of North America then is a history more similar to Europe; a collection of varying small states, some large and power, others small, competing with one another.

Technology isn't as advanced and the duplication of resources has an odd effect. Language isn't as uniform as different accents are never subsumed under a national set of standards. Without the Civil War, race relations are worse; a variety of states have 'Good' relative race relations, many more have suffered functional race-wars.

Missisipi is functionally a 'black' state after a succesful slave revolt, so shades of Haiti there. Small wars occur on a regular basis, and all in all, the States of North America are more fractured and life is 'worse'. The story of the book follows a young citizen of California as she, along with her grandmother, travel to visit some relatives.

War breaks out between Virginia and Ohio and they end up trapped. What would be, in our timeline, a relative uneventful thing, becomes potentially disastrous? She encounters a young man from the 'home' timeline who also becomes trapped because of the War. The book is interseting in its examinations of history, of the underlaying political assumptions of Americans, and some really interseting bits about the minute history of North America. With no over-riding federal state, each state becomes acountry un to itself, served by it's own sets of nationalism, pride and history.

The issue of Race relations and the observation that stronger federal authority has favoured equality is another interesting observation. Like most of his works I sometimes have quarrels with Turtledove's tendency to keep things the same that aren't central to his story.

Books like The Disunited States of America (Crosstime Traffic, #4)

How did the existance of a plurality of states effect things like the rise of Japan no Commodore Parry surely? How did the plurality of states interact with the unequal treaties of China and the conflicts that followed? How about the rise of Socialism and Communism. All interseting questions, but because they aren't athe focal pointfor Trutledove's piece tey are unanswered. Ultimately like similar works I found Turtledoves story hung well on he framework his alternate history provided.

Dec 20, Louis rated it it was ok Recommends it for: Younger young at heart readers of alternate history. I purchased the Crosstime Traffic series many years ago and am just aiming to finish them. This installment was the 4th in the series of 6 by the author. He's known for his alternate history work but in this series he aims for the young adult audience.

Let's just say, a gateway book into the addiction that is science fiction. I picked these up because I remember my days of being that age and reading the Heinlein "juveniles. I do enjoy Mr Tur I purchased the Crosstime Traffic series many years ago and am just aiming to finish them. I do enjoy Mr Turtledove's world building. A time where our world in the future can travel to alternate timelines. In this one, the states remained separate countries, so there is no "United States.

See if they are near learning the secret of this technology. Also to gather resources that the home world may not have. I find interesting the bigger story hinted at but never fully explored. Worlds where man never arose, so those worlds are mined, or used for farming on a large scale; the minor interference that will occur to nudge a world a certain direction. As these are aimed at the younger readers, it was jarring where the story would have an adult swearing or using offensive language but we the reader have it filtered as the main character thinks, an example with my wording, not quoted from the book " Otherwise this book is a fun read.

Justine gets trapped behind the lines when Ohio and Virginia go to war. With a family friend, another from his world, they need to keep their secret as they seek help to get back to their extraction point. This series is a good entry point of the sub-genre Alternate History for a young reader that may show an interest in science fiction. For an older reader, if you can handle a simple story as a way to revisit one's youthful readings, this can be a book to be finished in a day.

Instead there are several smaller countries and Justin and his mother are going to Virginia. The two need to get out of Elizabeth and back to Charleston for their own safety, though the journey itself is perilous. The idea of Crosstime Traffic is fascinating, and Turtledove does an excellent job keeping the plot moving along.

A part at the end takes a surprising dark turn that makes this book even better, and gives the reader qualms in the way of sympathizing with one protagonist. Oct 09, a JC Clinger rated it liked it. I did not enjoy the writing style and I didn't think it was a very good book. Dec 26, Donna rated it it was ok Shelves: No worries though since it read pretty much as a standalone. I'm going to take a leaping guess here and assume that book one actually explains the whole concept of crosstime traffic and why Justin's home timeline thinks they're the only ones special enough to be able to travel across time.

That whole concept just read really wrong to me. That only Justin's timeline had those capabilities and they kept altering other timelines for the "good" of that timeline, and to prevent them from traveling across time, again for the "greater good. But my bad for picking up a series at book four. The voice did little for me as it was more omniscient and a bit schizophrenic at times. Becky's voice especially, in my opinion, kept changing and she would say things, like little sayings, that just didn't seem genuine to her character.

It was kind of jarring. Justin was pretty constant in voice and development which leads me to believe that the author might have had a better time writing in either limited third or first via Justin as opposed to omniscient third. It just didn't really work out too well when he was in Becky's voice. The phrases were a little too kitschy and a lot of the times she sounded like what the author probably thought a teenage girl from California sounded like, in She was just really artificial in her structure to me. The story itself passed by in a blur and I found myself skimming a lot.

There was a lot of thinly veiled moralizing going on about inequality and "what if's" that I was kind of over it. I'm really not into fiction for morals so when I have one pressed at me I tend to zone out. The author also seemed to be really pushing the backstory of this particular timeline just as much as he was trying to push the story forward. There were a lot of info burps going on that were creating the cornerstone for this particular world and they always seemed to happen when there was a lull in the plot, which was often.

Not much really happened to the characters until the end of the story. The invasion itself didn't happen until at least two thirds of the way through and up until then it was a lot of talks in the back yard seriously, every time Justin and Becky got together it was clunky storytelling in the backyard with fizzes, aka soda and stuff happening on TV and the radio but nowhere near. And it doesn't play out like what the blurb, I think, insinuates. Or even by what the cover would intone.

Once the fecal matter smacks against the rotating device Justin and Becky's paths deviate and they get where they need to go on their own. So the package was a bit deceptive because there wasn't much of a collaborative effort on their part. All the blurbs in the book were raving about how awesome of an alt-history writer Turtledove is but what I saw was a really scattered plot, a piecemeal world and awkward writing, more often than not telling instead of showing.

I felt relatively little for any of the characters and really the only redeeming part for me was when Justin had to step into the shoes of a soldier in order to get to his destination. That was really the only instance of suspense and true action I felt in the entire book. Everything else was just yak, yak, yak and complain and coins.

I do like how it's a different take on the whole dystopian front.

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You know, instead of being an actual dystopian it's an alt-history that thus alters the present and future. It's a breath of fresh air in that regard. But outside of that I was unimpressed. Maybe if I'd started the series from the beginning I'd feel differently, with more background information on the home timeline and Justin's world but I'm really not sure how good that would do.

I seem to have the most problems with the author's writing style. A bit harder to change. It really is a good break in that regard. Just be cognizant of the writing. It's not all that phenomenal. Oct 31, Brennan Smallwood rated it really liked it. The Disunited States of America describes a world in which the Constitution was never ratified and the United States broke up into different countries. Turtledove does a good job explaining the current state of things, but doesn't go into the history very much. We are led to believe that the states were broken up by the early s, but California is still a country even though it was before the Mexican Cession.

The story, though, is very interesting. Two teenagers, one from Disunited California The Disunited States of America describes a world in which the Constitution was never ratified and the United States broke up into different countries. Two teenagers, one from Disunited California, the other from Virginia as we know it, are stuck in a rural town during a war between Ohio and Virginia. There is a disease going around, and they are trying not to catch it.

Justin, the Virginian, has to pretend that he is from Disunited Virginia. Beckie, from Disunited California, struggles with the racism in Virginia. It's a good read that can get preachy, but is satisfying in the long run.

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May 02, Magan Vernon rated it liked it Shelves: Justin and his mother work for the Crosstime Traffic Corporation and spend their time traveling to different alternate universes from the home timeline of the late 21st century. Each North American state has become like their own country and not all of the states are so friendly with each ot Justin and his mother work for the Crosstime Traffic Corporation and spend their time traveling to different alternate universes from the home timeline of the late 21st century.

Each North American state has become like their own country and not all of the states are so friendly with each other. Becky is stuck with her eccentric grandmother as they take a trip from their liberal California home to the backwoods Elizabeth, Virginia.

The two teenagers find each other as Justin travels to Elizabeth with another Crosstime traveler posing as his uncle. Both fear the senseless war and want a United States, but one of them is too afraid to admit that to the other and is hoping that they live long enough to get out of Elizabeth. Turtledove has built an alternate reality that is not only imaginative, but hauntingly realistic. April 26, Page Count: Dystopian Young Adult Similar to: Boys and Girls 12 and up Stars: He has been noted as the master of alternate realities and I can see why.

The alternate timeline highlighted by this book is so realistic that if you think about it, could actually be a plausible reality. He was able to build a world focused around what the characters were feeling.

The Disunited States of America (Crosstime Traffic, book 4) by Harry Turtledove

You could see what the scene would look like to someone from a different timeline and then what it was like to someone who actually lived in that timeline. I guess that there did have to be some world and character building to build up to that, but it was just a little harder to get through the first pages because of it.

All in all, with this being my first experience with Turtledove's alternate realities, I have to say that it was a pretty decent one. I would consider looking into his other Crosstime novels and would advise anyone that is into dystopians or speculative fiction to do the same.

They are going to Virginia and in this alternate slavery is still the norm as the Constitution was never accepted and the sates are independent countries. The boy, Justin Monroe, meets Beckie Royer who is visiting an aunt, who lives in Virginia, with her grandmother who is every granddaughter's worst nightmare.

They are from California which, in this timeline, is a powerhouse nation and like many other states has outlawed slavery. Justin and Beckie become good friends and because Justin is supposed to be from the Virginia in this timeline he has difficulties with his attitudes toward slavery being against what the people of this timeline are. Beckie notices that there is something different about Justin and that is why she likes him.

While they are there a war breaks out between Virginia and Ohio. Ohio uses a biological agent which prevents Justin and his Mom from going back to their timeline even if he can find a way back to the town he came in to. Justin does come up with a plan that gets him back to Charleston and he comes up with a plan to return that is acceptable to Crosstime.

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He leaves a hint of who he is for Beckie but she never knows for sure. Protagonist Justin Moore Antagonist The alternate timeline What I liked The timeline changes were interesting and the clue Justin leaves at the end is interesting. Granted this is the fourth book in the 'Crosstime Traffic' series - seven books have been published so far - which could account for a mediocre effort since I found the story lackluster and plain.

The main problem was the preachy nature of the slavery issue. It, not the story of Justin and Beckie was the driving force for the book. I understand the need to speak out against slavery and racial injustice, but I don't want it to dominate the novel. Turtledove is a prolific writer and he has won a Hugo for a novella some years back. He is popular and frankly is the best known alternate history writer currently, so this cannot be his best effort.

I have a few of his books on the shelf so I will have to pull one down and read it soon to compare. I hope and expect it will be better. Jun 03, Garrett rated it it was amazing. Overall, I thought that the premise of the book was interesting and the science fiction parts cool.

1. Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Mountain Lion Edition (Missing Manuals).
2. The Disunited States of America by Harry Turtledove;
3. F.A.D.E Fighting Against Demonic Entities: Where Ever I AM They Shall Not Be.
4. Tillich (Abingdon Pillars of Theology).
5. The Disunited States of America - Wikipedia!

I also got lots of ideas for stories that I want to write. But, that is about all the good I can say about this book. I found the rest pedantic and simplistic. The alternate reality thing was cool. I would have liked to explore it more, but the author didn't do much elaborating and the characters were stuck in a small town for most of the book.

Again, interesting idea; not executed wel Overall, I thought that the premise of the book was interesting and the science fiction parts cool. Again, interesting idea; not executed well. It didn't really feel tied together. There did not seem to be any overarching reason to have this story except for the cool idea.

The Disunited States of America

It also didn't meet my expectations. It starts out with Becky as viewpoint character, but the story isn't ever really about her. Sure, it was a cool, attention-getting opening, but the author didn't deliver on the promise of what the story would be about, or of the importance of the character. On other big plot hole was the gift he gives to Becky at the end. How did he get it? With how careful the company seems to be with contaminating alternates and such, there is no way he'd have access to it. Sure, it's nice that he was able to give her that, and it puts some thoughts into her head - but that just points her down the road to discovering alternates too!

How stupid was that, when he and the home timeline are so worried about it? Lots and lots of stuff going on. The author used false suspense a couple times like when the boy gets his plan about getting back to the city, but the author skips telling us , and that really threw me out of the story. The author did a pretty good job of creating characters that were somewhat complex, and creating conflicts between them.

However, they kept having the same thoughts again and again throughout the story, showing that they weren't learning anything at all. And, while the characters had conflicts, nothing was ever really resolved between them. In fact, I expected Becky to be more important to the story and the alternate reality idea, but then it is basically dropped; no relationship is created.

The author seems to be fond of including little aphorisms that supposedly come from the characters, but there are so many of them that they are rather distracting, and sometimes seem out of place. Jul 16, Aedan Lake rated it liked it. In a neat concept for a series, "Crosstime Traffic" is the story of travellers in alternate realities - a logical development for Turtledove, who has built his career around novels set in worlds removed from ours only by one small historical change or in a couple of cases, by honking great SF twists such as invading aliens or time-travelling South African white supremacists.

Most of my knowledge of Turtledove comes from his fantastic series "Worldwar" aliens invade in World War 2 and "Great W In a neat concept for a series, "Crosstime Traffic" is the story of travellers in alternate realities - a logical development for Turtledove, who has built his career around novels set in worlds removed from ours only by one small historical change or in a couple of cases, by honking great SF twists such as invading aliens or time-travelling South African white supremacists. Both are sprawling multi-book epics with loads and loads of characters from a variety of races and species.

Revisiting one of Turtledove's favourite alternate history tropes, we get to see an America in which the USA has been broken into smaller parts. The action largely stays in Virginia which is at war with Ohio and follows just two protagonists - a bewildered Californian visiting her Grandmother's relatives, and an American from our reality who must avoid revealing his true identity.

This makes for a mostly tight, slick story which restricts Turtledove's unfortunate tendency to ramble and repeat himself, apart from in a few instances notably, we are continually reminded that white oppression of blacks persists in the Southern States, except in Mississippi where it is reversed.

Considering that the plot never visits Mississippi, this becomes annoying. The worldbuilding in the Disunited States varies - much of the slightly-different slang in convincing enough, and rounders and association football being the sports of choice makes sense, but some of the hints about the outside world are a bit questionable and there's a Babe Ruth pun at one point that, while smartly set up, just frickin' hurts. All in all, I'm not in any particular hurry to check out the rest of the series but it does make for an enjoyable brisk read and I'll probably drop back in at some point.

Oct 27, Lora rated it liked it Shelves: My teen son and I read this together and liked it. It was interesting to read one of my late husband's favorite authors, but in a young adult version. The book tells us what the US future could look like - short on resources but with the ability to secretly travel to alternate timelines where resources are more plentiful. It also tells what the future could have looked like if the US had split into multiple nations in the s. The two timelines are deceptively similar, and cross-time traveller My teen son and I read this together and liked it.

The two timelines are deceptively similar, and cross-time travellers have to watch what they say to avoid using words, phrases, and facts that don't exist in the timeline they are visiting. But the hardest part is going along with the racist attitudes in the alternate timeline. Appearing to be an outsider could get you killed, or worse, it could result in the "Disunited States" discovering cross-time travel and spreading their warring and biological weapons to other timelines.

The main characters in the book are two teens called Beckie and Justin. Beckie was travelling with her grumpy old grandma the book emphasized her grumpiness a bit too much when they got stuck in a sudden war between the nations of Ohio and Virginia. Justin was travelling cross-time to the "Disunited States" and he also got stuck in the war. The book was best towards the end, which was more action-filled. There is no swearing or racist epithets in the book - the author gets around it by writing for example "he didn't really say 'people'.