Good to find another fan.Finally someone agrees with me that they are good reads!
The worst What If Book(s) you have read
- Thread starter whatisinaname
- Start date
I'm with you...sure he has his good and,well,not as good stuff, but I never pass on anything he puts out.
Has anyone heard of Kim Kyungjin's novel Def-Con?
One of the great pests of the Usenet groups described it in detail, and by the time he was done everyone else was learning the true and terrible meaning of ROTFL, "Rolling On The Floor Laughing", if not ROFTLMAO.
It involved a reunited Korea declaring war on the US, and then sending an expeditionary force to invade the US from Mexico. And then it got even less credible.
In fact, some of us wondered if the pest had made the book up!
One of the great pests of the Usenet groups described it in detail, and by the time he was done everyone else was learning the true and terrible meaning of ROTFL, "Rolling On The Floor Laughing", if not ROFTLMAO.
It involved a reunited Korea declaring war on the US, and then sending an expeditionary force to invade the US from Mexico. And then it got even less credible.
In fact, some of us wondered if the pest had made the book up!
I`ve never heard of it and i just searched amazon that has no record of it either.
Look in the Google Groups archive. Try not to collapse, torn asunder by hysterical laughter, while reading the description of it.
The scenes where four Korean commandos destroy entire factories, for example.
Or the Korean army capturing American tanks and throwing them into victorious battle . . .
Holy hell...
http://groups.google.com/group/soc....Korea+book&qt_g=1&searchnow=Search+this+group
I think this SERIES wins the thread, hands-down.
- Murders Straha, Fargo woodchipper style -
I'm allowed to like whatever I want. Just like you are. But for trying to change me, you should be shot, it'd be doing this whole site a favor.
Constantinople
Banned
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I happen to be able to read Korean (which I call the Peninsular, like
my ancestors in the Chinese mainland did so for generations and
generations)and one of the books I spotted at a lending-library was
called "Def-con".
It is written by a guy named Kim Kyungjin, who began his writting
career at a techno-simulation BBS. His early books were first appeared
at the Web BBS (in Peninsularese, of course), and later expanded into
book forms.
He became quite famous, and became a sort of Peninsulare Tom Clancy. At
this series, Def-Con, he enlisted the help of three other collaborators
(all Peninsulares, of course), one of whom was educated primarily in
the good old U.S.A.
Basically, the premise is similar to the Second Punic Wars, with
Koreans cast as the Romans. It is a four-volume series, but the last
volume was scheduled to be released in late February.
The plot goes like this:
North Korea collapses, and South Korea had invaded there to help the
coup leaders. Due to an earlier dispute, US troops in the peninsular
had left there.
The President of US doesn't like that, but the Peninsulares are
defiant. North Korea has now collapsed and was united.
Following a showdown between US and Peninsulare subs, US declares war
against the Peninsular.
Somewhat like Yugoslavia, the Peninsular, both North and South, are
bombed relentlessly. China, Japan and Russia decide to sit down and
watch who would win. (Kim and his collaborators once worked with
another series in which the Peninsular beats China and Japan.)
The Peninsulare navy is almost destroyed, but the Americans overlooked
one crucial factor:
While the US had the best navy and air force in the world, the unified
Peninsular had the best army in the world.
(North Korea has about 1,050,000 men in its army; South, about 600,000.
While China and Russia has bigger armies numerically, the Peninsulare
army is much better trained and has better equipments.)
United States only had ten divisions in total; out of them, the 2nd
Armored, the 2nd Infantry (which used to be stationed in the
Peninsular), the 1st Marine, the 82th airborne, the 101th heliborne,
plus two other divisions arrived there. (The other four were stationed
in Europe.)
United States had no army in its own soil.
Meanwhile, a group of young hothead officers organized a coup, and
executed all US sympathizers in the Peninsulare govt; many others had
fled to Los Angeles as soon as they could.
The Peninsulare president ordered Maj. Gen. Cha Youngjin to fly to
Mexico before a general US air offensive began.
Soon, about 20,000 Peninsulare (both North and South) soldiers left the
peninsular, as tourists. After taking a roundabout route around Europe
and Africa, the Peninsulare soldiers all ended up at Mexico City.
At the time of this matter, Mexico was once again in turmoil and the
20,000 strong Peninsulares could obtain weapons at will from the
guerillas.
Making their way into Matamoros, Gen Cha and his US-educated advisor Oh
Songyun, plus about 15,000 strong troops (the others were commandos and
air force personnel), made preparations.
By then, Americans had landed at the Peninsular. Retracing the paths of
the first Korean war, they took the SE Korean cities of Pusan and
Taegu, against dogged Peninsulare resistance.
However, something far more serious happened at the south of Rio
Grande. Cha's armies crossed the Rio, and entered Texas.
For the first time in the history of US since 1815, US mainland was
invaded by a foreign power.
Peninsulare commandos had secured several key air bases in Southern
Texas, and Cha's troops quickly took Brownsville, TX.
Within three days, the balance of power in Texas completely shifted.
The Hispanics in that state quickly rose up against the United States,
and the Texas National Guard was defeated by the Korean Expedition
Force (the KEF) brutally.
Peninsulare commandos took control of key junctions leading to Texas,
greatly making transport difficult.
Peninsulares had little trouble finding oil; Texas had a lot of gas
stations. Plus, the Hispanics worked as the fifth column.
San Antonio and Corpus Cristi had fallen, and the Hispanic mayor of San
Antonio pledged allegiance to the KEF.
Riots were held around the major cities, and the Dow collapsed. The
President of US ordered to kick out the invaders, but the main problem
was that the cream of US forces were in the Peninsular, and the KEF had
control of Southern Texan airspace.
US was completely embrassed.
Seven days after the invasion, the Peninsulares had taken Austin, the
capital of Texas. Cha decided Houston and Dallas were too large to be
taken, so he decided to bide his time.
Meanwhile, about 1,000 Peninsulare special forces, who had followed
Cha, and a crack force of about 50 mixed-breeds (offspring of US
soldiers and Korean women) who were driving them around had assembled
secretly near Richmond, Virginia, having made their way across the
South. They would invade Washington DC, while the best of national
security forces would be dispatched to Texas.
US planes in the mainland were second rate, and their pilots were not
equal to the Peninsulare pilots. The only way to recover Southern Texas
was to cancel the invasion of Korea, and return the air forces to
eliminate the KEF.
The President of US was in a hopeless dilemma. If he cancelled the
invasion of Korea, he would be out of a job. But, if he didn't kick out
the KEF from US soil, he might face impeachment.
Already, the Hispanic gangs around the US had made their way
into "Korea-in-Texas", with capital at San Antonio, and Gen. Cha now
had about 100,000 troops. El Paso was now taken by Hispanic rebels.
Plus, the Koreans had opened all border openings at Rio Grande, so
Mexicans were flooding into Korea-in-Texas like gate-crushers in a
sellout rock concerts. If the Koreans were not removed, soon every
downtrodden around theworld would enter the United States through
Mexico and Korea-in-Texas.
I have not seen the last volume, but it does sound very serious indeed.
I happen to be able to read Korean (which I call the Peninsular, like
my ancestors in the Chinese mainland did so for generations and
generations)and one of the books I spotted at a lending-library was
called "Def-con".
It is written by a guy named Kim Kyungjin, who began his writting
career at a techno-simulation BBS. His early books were first appeared
at the Web BBS (in Peninsularese, of course), and later expanded into
book forms.
He became quite famous, and became a sort of Peninsulare Tom Clancy. At
this series, Def-Con, he enlisted the help of three other collaborators
(all Peninsulares, of course), one of whom was educated primarily in
the good old U.S.A.
Basically, the premise is similar to the Second Punic Wars, with
Koreans cast as the Romans. It is a four-volume series, but the last
volume was scheduled to be released in late February.
The plot goes like this:
North Korea collapses, and South Korea had invaded there to help the
coup leaders. Due to an earlier dispute, US troops in the peninsular
had left there.
The President of US doesn't like that, but the Peninsulares are
defiant. North Korea has now collapsed and was united.
Following a showdown between US and Peninsulare subs, US declares war
against the Peninsular.
Somewhat like Yugoslavia, the Peninsular, both North and South, are
bombed relentlessly. China, Japan and Russia decide to sit down and
watch who would win. (Kim and his collaborators once worked with
another series in which the Peninsular beats China and Japan.)
The Peninsulare navy is almost destroyed, but the Americans overlooked
one crucial factor:
While the US had the best navy and air force in the world, the unified
Peninsular had the best army in the world.
(North Korea has about 1,050,000 men in its army; South, about 600,000.
While China and Russia has bigger armies numerically, the Peninsulare
army is much better trained and has better equipments.)
United States only had ten divisions in total; out of them, the 2nd
Armored, the 2nd Infantry (which used to be stationed in the
Peninsular), the 1st Marine, the 82th airborne, the 101th heliborne,
plus two other divisions arrived there. (The other four were stationed
in Europe.)
United States had no army in its own soil.
Meanwhile, a group of young hothead officers organized a coup, and
executed all US sympathizers in the Peninsulare govt; many others had
fled to Los Angeles as soon as they could.
The Peninsulare president ordered Maj. Gen. Cha Youngjin to fly to
Mexico before a general US air offensive began.
Soon, about 20,000 Peninsulare (both North and South) soldiers left the
peninsular, as tourists. After taking a roundabout route around Europe
and Africa, the Peninsulare soldiers all ended up at Mexico City.
At the time of this matter, Mexico was once again in turmoil and the
20,000 strong Peninsulares could obtain weapons at will from the
guerillas.
Making their way into Matamoros, Gen Cha and his US-educated advisor Oh
Songyun, plus about 15,000 strong troops (the others were commandos and
air force personnel), made preparations.
By then, Americans had landed at the Peninsular. Retracing the paths of
the first Korean war, they took the SE Korean cities of Pusan and
Taegu, against dogged Peninsulare resistance.
However, something far more serious happened at the south of Rio
Grande. Cha's armies crossed the Rio, and entered Texas.
For the first time in the history of US since 1815, US mainland was
invaded by a foreign power.
Peninsulare commandos had secured several key air bases in Southern
Texas, and Cha's troops quickly took Brownsville, TX.
Within three days, the balance of power in Texas completely shifted.
The Hispanics in that state quickly rose up against the United States,
and the Texas National Guard was defeated by the Korean Expedition
Force (the KEF) brutally.
Peninsulare commandos took control of key junctions leading to Texas,
greatly making transport difficult.
Peninsulares had little trouble finding oil; Texas had a lot of gas
stations. Plus, the Hispanics worked as the fifth column.
San Antonio and Corpus Cristi had fallen, and the Hispanic mayor of San
Antonio pledged allegiance to the KEF.
Riots were held around the major cities, and the Dow collapsed. The
President of US ordered to kick out the invaders, but the main problem
was that the cream of US forces were in the Peninsular, and the KEF had
control of Southern Texan airspace.
US was completely embrassed.
Seven days after the invasion, the Peninsulares had taken Austin, the
capital of Texas. Cha decided Houston and Dallas were too large to be
taken, so he decided to bide his time.
Meanwhile, about 1,000 Peninsulare special forces, who had followed
Cha, and a crack force of about 50 mixed-breeds (offspring of US
soldiers and Korean women) who were driving them around had assembled
secretly near Richmond, Virginia, having made their way across the
South. They would invade Washington DC, while the best of national
security forces would be dispatched to Texas.
US planes in the mainland were second rate, and their pilots were not
equal to the Peninsulare pilots. The only way to recover Southern Texas
was to cancel the invasion of Korea, and return the air forces to
eliminate the KEF.
The President of US was in a hopeless dilemma. If he cancelled the
invasion of Korea, he would be out of a job. But, if he didn't kick out
the KEF from US soil, he might face impeachment.
Already, the Hispanic gangs around the US had made their way
into "Korea-in-Texas", with capital at San Antonio, and Gen. Cha now
had about 100,000 troops. El Paso was now taken by Hispanic rebels.
Plus, the Koreans had opened all border openings at Rio Grande, so
Mexicans were flooding into Korea-in-Texas like gate-crushers in a
sellout rock concerts. If the Koreans were not removed, soon every
downtrodden around theworld would enter the United States through
Mexico and Korea-in-Texas.
I have not seen the last volume, but it does sound very serious indeed.
First, I have to say that I have not read several AH books which got overall bad ratings (did not want to purchase them at regular price in that case, and did not yet find them on ebay). Still, I did read quite a lot of AH.
Based on that, I think that Stars and Stripes is the absolute academy award winner for the worst AH of all times (though it is at least written in a nice language ).
I also consider Plot Against America to be a bad novel, mainly due to the end, and it does not match Roth's usual standards.
Then there is "1901", also bad rating because of the end and because of several research mistakes ...
PS: Short stories have not been included here.
Based on that, I think that Stars and Stripes is the absolute academy award winner for the worst AH of all times (though it is at least written in a nice language
).I also consider Plot Against America to be a bad novel, mainly due to the end, and it does not match Roth's usual standards.
Then there is "1901", also bad rating because of the end and because of several research mistakes ...
PS: Short stories have not been included here.
HelloLegend
Banned
What where the research mistakes in 1901? I almost bought the book a few weeks ago. thanks.
Holy crap you weren`t kidding that whole plot for the book is completely stupid.
Irioth
Banned
Out of curiosity, why did you rate Blumetti's work so terrible ? Truly, the guy seems not to know the meaning of the word "proofread", and his pro-fascist sympathies strongly bias his work when outright fascists or nazis are around in the timeline. But I found he can write quite interesting WWI and 1800s ATLs. Stuff like the Anglo-Greater Germany alliance timeline, the Allies victory in 1916 and the Russia First German strategic option seems good to me. The Lion is humbled is farcical if you ask for plausibility, given the sci-fi premise, but it's good if it you take it for what it truly is: a big novelization ASB resume of all possible PODs for an Hitler victory in 1939-40.
Irioth
Banned
I have to disagree with your harsh judgement. True, the dialogue is wooden, and the author seems not to know how to proofread effectively (a recurring problem with some AH authors), but the premise is very good, and the author does its job at developing it thoroughly in surprising yet plausible ways. As for the weapons coming from the bllue, well, it's apparent that the author's purpose is to surprise the reader as much as the TTL Allies are, wit the sudden revealtion of the wonder weapon. The effect would have been totally spolied if the author had spent the first hundred page to describe their development.
IMO, the one really sloppy unexcusable mistake, is when the author shows it did not bother with doing basic research about US law. The 25th Amendment wasn't around in 1944, so there was no provision to fill a vacant Vicepresident slot. If the author wanted Kennedy Sr. to be next in the Presidential Line of Succession, he should have him named Secretary of State, according to the Presidential Succession Act of 1886.