Has anybody read "Household Gods" by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove?

[StellaBlue]

I am reading it now, and though it's really a beach read, and, outside of the historical fascination, totally predictable, and the heroine is rather annoying, I am totally immersed in it. I will probably finish it tonight. Wondering if anyone else is familiar with either of these authors...?

It's about a woman in contemporary Los Angeles who unwittingly asks some ancient Roman gods to transport her back in time, and she ends up in Roman Austria during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.

[Solon]

1. Harry Turtledove does Counterfactuals...

As in Alternate history, here I'll give an example, the Book "How Few Remain" is about the Second war between the states. Though I also enjoy another book of his, "Guns of the South" where some white supremicists from South Africa, around modern day(a few decades in the future), go back in time and change history by introducing a new weapon into the Confederacy's arsenal, the AK-47.

He obviously doesn't just do Civil War based alternate history, another favorite is more sci-fi, an Alien invasion during WWII, that is interesting, called the "World War" series of four books.

In fact, he has two "worlds" right now that he is still writing books for, the "How Few Remain" world, which the US lost the Civil War, its up to around 1940s now, and also the Alien invasion scenario, which is now set in the early to mid 2000s.

[BreweryYardRat]

3. And we got to watch a concentration camp guard's suicide from his POV...

Best. Thing. Ever.

"Oh my God, what have I done?!"
(sticks submachine gun in mouth, blows out the back of his head)

[Solon]

4. Yes, definately...

That is ONE thing about his books is that he will tell the story from like 20 different perspectives, not all good, and not all evil either. It can be somewhat jarring, but once you get into it, some of his characters really seem to come alive. The Driver family from Kentucky come to mind(moved to Iowa I believe, to escape the Confederacy). Actually Cincinattus Driver is still stuck in the Confederacy the last time I read his book. First "Settling Accounts" book.

[BreweryYardRat]

2. I read it a few years back.

Not bad.

[rug]

5. I've been avoiding ginger since I read Turtledove.

[Arkham House]

6. This is a pretty good book, I think...

...but then I love this sort of time-travel fiction...have you read Diane Gabaldoni's series, of a British woman in 1945 who's transported back to the 18th century? They're great...and if you're into Roman era fantasies, the original--and still the best--is "Lest Darkness Fall", by L Sprague de Camp. Might be a bit of an effort to find it now, but it's worth it...and I love Turtledove's books, especially his US-Confederate WW II saga...just finished "The Grapple"...and it's going to be very satisfying to see the final comeuppance of the Bad Guys in the next installment...