Harry Turtledav: books, biography

Harry Turtledaw is a famous American science fiction writer. For his works, Tertldav was awarded the Sidewise Awards, Prometheus Awards and even the Hugo Prize. Do you want to know more about the life and work of this writer? Then this article is for you.

Birth and education

The future writer was born in 1949. Harry grew up in a Jewish family with Romanian roots. When Tertldav grew up, he entered the California Institute of Technology as an electrical engineer. However, soon the humanitarian inclinations took their toll. As a result, Harry Tertildav graduated from the University of California (Los Angeles) in 1977 and became an expert in ancient history. Later the science fiction writer defended his thesis on the history of Byzantium and received a Ph.D. The personal life of our hero also developed: together with his wife, writer Laura Francos, they brought up three children.

The beginning of literary activity

Being a high-class historian, Harry Turtledav turned to literature at a more mature age. His first novel was published only in 1979. The book was published under the pseudonym Eric G. Iverson. After all, the publishing house believed that the author with the name Tertddav (from English translates as "turtledove", which means the species of birds) simply will not be taken seriously. Since 1985, Harry has been published under the real name. At this time, the science fiction writer writes works of small form, which will later be included in the collection "Kaleidoscope."

Features of creativity

One of the most popular science fiction writers of our time is Harry Turtldav. Reading his works is very interesting. Do you want to know more about the creative features of this writer?

Tertoldava's works are very easy to distinguish from the work of other authors. After all, the author has an incredibly expressive style. Because of this, his books are highly appreciated by both ordinary readers and professional critics. The theme of creativity is also quite diverse. In his works Harry Turtddav does not touch light and jaded topics.

As for the genre orientation, at the beginning of his creative career, Harry wrote novels. The most popular of them are0 "Invasion fleet", "After the storm" and "Road home". However, his novels in the genre of alternative history brought a wide fame among readers to Tertldav. Thanks to the fact that the author is a professional historian, the books show in great detail the life of different epochs and their alternative variations. Because of this, everything you write is really believing. For this he received the nickname "master of alternative history" Harry Turtleddav.

Books that brought glory

Magnum opus Tertldava - a cycle of historical fantasy novels called "The Lost Legion". It includes three books. All events take place in the alternative universe in the Weeds empire.

The first book in the series, created by Harry Turtdav, is "Troubled Time." In it the reader is told about the Mukuran kingdom, which actively opposes the Weeds empire. All the events of the book occur 150 years before the birth of Crispus, who is the protagonist of the cycle.

The second book in the series is "Tales of Krisp." The book tells of the son of an ordinary peasant and former slave Krishpa. Despite the origin, the protagonist managed to make a successful career and become an Autocrat. Crisp broke out of the mud into princes and gained power. But will he be able to protect it? The answer to this question can be found by reading "The Tales of Krisp."

The last book in the cycle, created by Harry Turtddav, "The Lost Legion" - completes the story begun in the book "The Time of Troubles." The actions of the work take place 500 years after the events of the "Tales of Krisp." The world, traced by the author, during this time has changed a lot. However, the struggle for power is not even going to subside. Wars, intrigues and coups ... Who will rule the Empire?

Other works

Among other things, Harry Turtleddav is responsible for the appearance of a cycle called "Military Alternative". In it, the writer for public viewing presents his alternative versions of the development of the events of World War II. All this is flavored with fantasy. For example, a series of books called "The Second World: New Balance" tells about the landing of reasonable lizard-like aliens from the planet Tau-Kit to the Earth. The extraterrestrial guests visited the blue planet in the midst of World War II and decided to take over humanity.

The second part of the series under the name "Colonization" tells about the arrival of the Colonization fleet of aliens. The Earth is already almost conquered by Tau-Kittans. However, mankind continues to struggle. People are starting a war of liberation against the invaders and eventually destroy the planet of the Lizardmen in 1991.

Also an amusing story occurred with the publication of this military cycle in Russia. The rights to publish the books "The Second World: New Balance" and "Colonization" were acquired by "Exmo" in the late 90s. However, only the first part of the cycle was translated and published. Why? It is not known for certain why "Exmo" refused to print "Colonization". Nevertheless, there are rumors that the book was never published for ideological reasons. After all, in the "Colonization" the Soviet Union is not shown in the most favorable light. For example, the author compares the disintegration of the USSR with the fall of the Nazi regime in Germany.