Jul. 17th, 2012

amagnum: (Default)
...He did not believe that the death of single man could change the world so much. There must have been other reasons. But on the first pages of history books, written by the victors, only this one got mention. Oliver Cromwell, who never became Lord Protector, was killed by a stray bullet during the first days of the Revolution. The Parliamentary Party was left without a strong leader, and the Civil War turned into one big bloody mess, much worse and longer than The Anarchy and War of the Roses combined.

The United Kingdom has died unborn. Ireland regained its independence; Scotland remained free; and even Wales fell away from London. And as a last insult to the fallen Bretwalda - Islands of Scilly declared itself an independent republic.

Dutch interveners, under the leadership of William of Orange - the real Conqueror, not the Norman bastard - who visited Britain in the midst of events, only secured this state of affairs. And then out of the ashes of civil wars arose megalomaniac dictator who isolated England from the outside world. It will take years before England return to the family of civilized nations, but the place under the Sun was already taken. No, not the Sun - but the little yellow star called Zon.

A good quarter of this Brave New World received orders from Den Haag, another quarter - from the Nieuw-Amsterdam; and the third one - from Batavia. And last quarter, inhabited by lower races and inferior peoples like the French, the Spanish, the Russians, the Finns and the Mongols could only grind his teeth in impotent rage. Because over the last three hundred years they have learned to fear the Furor Batavicus. The only danger on the land could be France, but the Stadhouder of the Republic had behind him a full stock of first class Teutonic cannon fodder, tamed and loyal to the cause.

The Dutch colonies in the New World were secure and prosperous; nothing more threatening Boer settlements in and around the Cape; without British support Portugal lost Palmares and Brazil in favor of the victorious Dutch; valiant general Koxinga, last defender of Ming, fell under the volley of Oostindische Compagnie muskets, and Formosa also remained Dutch. And even the Japanese warlords of the Far East bowed their knees before the might of the heirs of Siegfried.

His homeworld was dominated by Anglo-Saxons, but this dimension was belonged to Dutch-speakers, in all their dialects, from the song-like elegant Limburgic and up to the crude, war-crying Amerikaans. Tricoloured Princevlag proudly waved over all the continents of the Earth - in their tongue, it is Aarde. This planet belongs to the Dutch, but now the whole world was not enough.

No wonder that bloody Dingo Dogs have found in this world good and faithful allies.

The gates were opened, the bridges were burned, and the mirrors were broken. And now they were here - hungry for power, hungry for death and going for the kill.
amagnum: (DEI)


Незаслуженно забытый ныне альтернативно-исторический роман, классика жанра. В том числе и мной. Иногда жалею, что в свое время прочитал - вот уж действительно, "я не ограничиваю круг своего чтения трамвайными билетами"(С). Все сюжетные линии откладываются в подсознании, и... Но не будем о грустном.

Не могу не повторить слова одного из рецензентов, сказавшего примерно следующее: "Учитесь, как надо писать фантастический роман про Вторую Мировую и/или мир, где нет ненавистных США, но без тупых попаданцев в кабинете Сталина и прочего бреда".

Да, США в книге нет. То есть вообще.



Вот только автором двигала любовь к искусству, а не лютая НЕНАВИСТЬ, поэтому читать интересно и приятно. Конечно, лучше в оригинале (например, здесь), или в хорошем переводе.

Особый интерес представляют главные злодеи - перкунцы. Черт побери, как я мог про них забыть! 
____________________________

...Perkunisha, the Baltic-speaking nation, consisted of Earth 1’s Germany, Holland, Denmark, Poland... 

The Perkunishans seemed to be the Germans of Earth 2 as far as their industry, science, philosophy, and aggressiveness were concerned. Thirty years ago they had begun this planet’s first World War I. They had seemed on their way to the complete conquest of Europe and North Africa when a plague (the Black Plague?) had decimated Europe. Now, their armies powerful with a new generation and a militarily superior technology and a superman ideology, the Perkunishans were trying again. This time, it looked as if they might succeed
.

Given time, he might have made a satisfactory adjustment. But this nation seemed destined to go down into defeat under the overwhelming might of Perkunisha. If it did, it would give him no home. It would be a hell. The official policy of Perkunisha towards conquered nations was the absolute destruction of all non-Perkunishan traits. First, genocide on a scale that not even the Germany of his world had been bold enough to proclaim publicly. Then colonization by Perkunishans and other Europeans thought sufficiently Nordic to be given Perkunishan citizenship

Перкуниша, страна балтов, включала территории Германии, Голландии, Дании, Польши...

Перкунишане явно походили на немцев как в отношении техники, культуры, науки и философии, так и в отношении агрессивности. Тридцать лет назад они развязали Первую мировую этой Земли и готовились к полному завоеванию всей Европы и северной Африки, когда континент опустошила чума ("Черная Смерть?" -- подумал
Два Сокола). Теперь, вооруженные техникой нового поколения и идеологией сверхчеловека, перкунишане готовы были повторить попытку. И в этот раз она могла увенчаться успехом. 

Со временем при желании он, может, и прижился бы. Но это государство было обречено на поражение перед превосходящей мощью Перкуниши. И тогда новый дом превратится в ад. Официальной политикой Перкуниши по отношению к покоренным народам была полная ассимиляция, уничтожение всего чужеродного. Вначале -- геноцид в масштабах, которые заставили бы покраснеть от стыда даже нацистов его мира, затем -- заселение перкунишанами и другими европейцами, которых завоеватели считали достаточно близкими по крови. 
___________________________________________


Сдается мне, Фармер как истинный гений зрил в корень. Место что ли проклятое... 

И еще, похоже, перкунцы - это единственная раса, способная одолеть дрейканцев в открытом бою!

___________________

The arctic winds howled down from the north; the temperature dropped to 30 below. Two Hawks shivered and dressed in polar bear furs. Yet this was only the beginning. Before winter was finished with its icy rage, the thermometer would be the equivalent of minus 40 degrees fahrenheit.

He thought that surely the fighting would stop now. Nobody could carry on efficiently—if at all—in this frozen hell. But the invaded and invader alike were used to the severity. They fought on, and where armored cars and trucks bogged down, men on skis or snowshoes pulled toboggans of supplies. Men fell and were buried in the snow. Mile by bloody mile, the Perkunishans claimed Blodlandish territory, and near winter’s end were holding the white lands which corresponded to the Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire of Earth 1’s England.

_____________________


Заманят их в котел где-то в Северной Гренландии и привет...

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