With everything related to shooting (ammo, parts, guns, etc.) out of stock or doubled in price here in early 2021 my shooting has essentially dropped off a cliff. Luckily, thanks to my Audible subscription, audiobooks never go out of stock. So I’m going to occasionally post reviews of books that were particularly entertaining or informative.
For a bit of background, I am a massive fan of Alternate History stories, the first one I ever read was “Great War: American Front” by Harry Turtledove. That book introduced me to the genre and since then I have read a lot of Alternate History fiction. Some of it has been excellent and some has been flat out bad. Fatherland definitely falls into the former category.
Setting
Fatherland is set in Berlin in 1964. The big difference is that in the world of Fatherland Nazi Germany won World War 2 and controls most of Europe. Throughout the book there are several glimpses given to how this happened, from the Germans succeeding in capturing the Caucasus Mountains and starving the Soviet Union of fuel, to a renewed U-boat campaign in 1944 starving Britain to the point the British are forced negotiate a peace. Robert Harris does an excellent job of creating a world that feels sufficiently bleak, yet very real. The backstories given to characters, places, events, and even policies in the novel make it feel very believable.
Plot
The story of Fatherland centers around Xavier March, a detective in the Berlin Kriminal Polizei (Kripo). March was a U-boat captain during the war and became a police officer after Germany’s victory. March is assigned to a murder case in the days leading up to Germany’s first diplomatic summit with American President Joseph Kennedy. The case almost immediately takes on a political angle as March tries to remain neutral and simply solve the murder. March’s pursuit of the case does an excellent job of showcasing both how detailed and realistic Robert Harris’ world building is, as well as how terrifying life in Nazi Germany must have been. Obviously, I don’t want to give away too much in terms of spoilers, suffice it to say I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, and the ending was very rewarding as well.
Execution
I once recommended this book to a friend of mine as “one of the greatest noir detective novels I’ve ever read, it just happens to set in 1964 Nazi Germany.” Seriously, even those who aren’t massive history nerds like me should enjoy this book. It takes a pretty scary premise and brings it to life with exquisite detail. Xavier March as a character is a little archetypal, the flawed detective with a failed marriage and no social life, but in the context of the story it works very well. Robert Harris’ method of occasionally dropping tidbits of information about the world of Fatherland is one of my favorite techniques in Alternate History Novels. Mentioning “the fall of Moscow in 1941” or “Hitler’s parade through London in 1944” without dwelling on them or spending too much time on them makes them feel like they are common knowledge to the characters, which makes them seem that much more real for the reader. Fatherland is on my short list of books to mention anytime someone says they need something to read. Rating: 10/10
Pro-Gun Millennial 