(Spoiler Free)Now, I haven't read many Alt-History books, only about a dozen or so, and haven't reviewed any book like this before, so do call me out on things. And I'm also not the best reader of things. So I might have missed some details.Now, this book isn't bad. It's a good read, in fact, and I'd recommend it. It's a good length, not too long, the characters are probably the best part of the book, and the overall writing is actually quite good, for a book written by someone who hasn't published anything before.So yeah, I'd recommend it. However... if you're looking for an alt-history book... that's another story.Now, the main premise of this book is that World War 2 never happened, the Nazi's took over Europe, and the Atlantropa Project was built and completed.Now, I have no main problem with the main setting of the story, but the time the story is set is my main issue with the book.It's never explicitly stated how far ahead in the future the book is set, but it's implied through dialogue that it's set somewhere between 1 and 2 thousand years in the future, and that's where my problems with this setting are.Due to the extreme leap forward in time, and due to the Nazis taking over Europe, everything is pretty much changed beyond recognition, so much so that it doesn't really feel like we're on Earth anymore. Throughout the entire story, there are repeated mentions of both Hitler and My Struggle (because, you know, German). But besides those two, other places are name dropped like, France and Italy, but besides that not much else of the outside world is really explained or told about.It also doesn't really feel like it's set thousands of years in the future. All the tech and stuff wouldn't seem out of place in a Dieselpunk setting, and yet it's supposed to be Sci-Fi. But that's sorta just a gripe and doesn't bother me as much as my first point.However... removing references to Hitler, Nazis, and the like would sort of ruin the story, which has led me to have conflicting emotions about this book. I honestly think that changing the book to remove all historical/real world references and making it pure fantasy/sci-fi would actually do wonders to the story. Setting it on a completely new planet and such and adding a ton of new worldbuilding and lore would make people more invested in the world and setting. Plus, these genres have more mass-market appeal, leading to better sales.What do you guys think? My thoughts on this book have been in my head for a while, so it feels good to finally get it all down.
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