Marching Through Georgia

By: S. M. Stirling

Narrated by: David Colacci

The first novel of the rise and fall of the Drakan Empire, an alternative history saga.

In Marching Through Georgia, the Draka begin their conquest of the globe as they fight and best that more obvious horror, the Nazis.

©1988 S. M. Stirling (P)2020 Recorded Books

LONG March !

Very long descriptions of battle scenes, not nearly enough interpersonal dialogue . The narrator doesn’t do much for the story, either .

Clever idea … just killed by narration

Narration terrible. I couldn’t complete it so I may try it old school and read it.

Alternative dystopian WWII history

S M Stirling’s Marching through Georgia is an alternative history tale with a dystopian orientation. A totalitarian slave owning society, the Draka, is established in South Africa and gradually takes over all of Africa. At the same time, they evolve to few themselves as a master race with aspirations to enslave the entire globe. Most of the story takes during WWII where the Soviet Union has been broken by Hitler. The US, fighting in two theaters, has a tough decision to ally themselves with the Draka to de-feat Hitler who is running roughshod over Europe. The action take place in Georgia (the country) with a crack unit of the unit facing overwhelming odds against superior German forces.

Stirling intersperses the action with generous helpings of backstory both historically dealing with the origins of the Draka as well as personally, dealing with the main characters. Each chapter leads with an excerpt from post-WWII publications, mainly history texts. In addition, there are discussions concerning the philosophical underpinnings of Draka psychology that add insight.

The narration is excellent with solid character distinction. Pacing is even and brisk.

Story line is good but . . .

The storyline is interesting unfortunately, the narrator performance is stilted, to the point of being boring. Overall, this book would be superb if read by someone with a range for character development and voice. All characters sound the same.

Not Stirling’s best but worthwhile

This is a tale that starts slows and builds. The lack of chapter headings or narrative section breaks make it a bit confusing for an audiobook. Probably not an issue for the written word. Does build but I found myself saying, “Get on with it!” Needs more editing.