[Gautama]

I need another book to read. I generally enjoy fantasy, I liked LOTR and the Eragon series, I also like action/adventure books, I liked The Da Vinci Code, Sniper, Angels & Demons, Point of Impact, and most of Clive Cussler's stuff.

So I'm looking for a WWII Historical Fiction book, told from the Nazi side. Something that isn't so bogged down with history that it bores me

 

[blessingx]

Nazi view-point historical fiction not bogged down by history? Hmmm, that's an err interesting request

You don't have any pets by chance?

Well as you wait for Iron Sky to come to the theaters, why don't you read Death Dealer, the memoir of Rudolf Höss (SS Kommandant at Auschwitz written between conviction and execution). Not unfortunately fiction, but that should give you your Nazi fill. William Styron called in one of the ten must reads in literary history. On that note, check out Sophie's Choice too.

 

[tiggers]

There are a couple of fictional books authored by fiction and history writters that include some "What if?" scenarios including WW II. I cannot seem to bring the books up at the moment, but I ran across this link that might offer some leads of interest to you:

Edit: here is another what if, but more of a tactical book than fiction

 

[tiggers]

Found what I was first thinking of:

Here you go:

1
2
3

 

[Gautama]

Thanks, both of you.

 

[UglyJoe]

While not from a Nazi point of view, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. Simply one of the best books written in the last decade.

There is quite a bit of story from the Japanese point of view, but most of it moves back and forth between codebreakers in WWII and modern day information geeks.

It's absolutely brilliant.

 

[Coop47]

Jeff Shaara has written a number of books on various American wars that are fairly accurate but read like novels. He's in the process of a series (I think a trilogy, but I'm not sure) covering WWII and he uses letters and personal accounts to reconstruct the narration from several points of view on all sides of a conflict. Good stuff.

 

[scompton]

I just finished reading Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Both really good books. Winds of War is the lead up to World War II. War and Remembrance, is the US involvement in World War II. Both are very good books.

The main character is a Navy captain who also spends time in Berlin, Moscow and London (kind of Forrest Gump like), so a lot of the story is from the Navy point of view. It also follows a Jewish woman who marries into the family, but gets interred.

Another good book is Catch-22, although it's absurdest.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just finished reading Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Both really good books. Winds of War is the lead up to World War II. War and Remembrance, is the US involvement in World War II. Both are very good books.

Since the original poster mentioned that he wanted a novel told from the Nazi side, I'll add that Wouk's books make use of extensive excerpts from the memoirs of a character named Armand Roon, a fictional general on Hitler's staff who analyzes, from the German perspective, Hitler's military strategies.

 

[Gautama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since the original poster mentioned that he wanted a novel told from the Nazi side, I'll add that Wouk's books make use of extensive excerpts from the memoirs of a character named Armand Roon, a fictional general on Hitler's staff who analyzes, from the German perspective, Hitler's military strategies.

Oooo, interesting.

 

[Moocher]

Not from the Nazi point of view, but W.E.B. Griffin has written LOTS of war fiction, with six different series. His books are readily available even at small town libraries. Highly recommended. I also strongly suggest that you start with the first book in a series and read them in order. That should keep you busy all summer.

Mooch

 

[necropimp]

why historical fiction... plenty of first hand accounts out there unless you're specifically interested in what ifs and sci-fi type stuff

and do you want from the nazi viewpoint or the viewpoint of a german soldier?

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since the original poster mentioned that he wanted a novel told from the Nazi side, I'll add that Wouk's books make use of extensive excerpts from the memoirs of a character named Armand Roon, a fictional general on Hitler's staff who analyzes, from the German perspective, Hitler's military strategies.

I don't know how I missed the German perspective requirement. The main character in Winds of War is the Naval Attachee in Berlin. This includes 39 and 40 when the war was already going on. There's also a little in War and Remembrance that is first person from the point of view of the Commandant of Auschwitz.

Although it's WWI instead of WWII, All Quiet on the Western Front gives an excellent view of the German foot soldier's view in the trenches.

 

[Gautama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by necropimp /img/forum/go_quote.gif why historical fiction... plenty of first hand accounts out there unless you're specifically interested in what ifs and sci-fi type stuff and do you want from the nazi viewpoint or the viewpoint of a german soldier?

German soldier. I figured fiction would give me more of a storyline, whereas nonfiction would focus on being informative about the war.

 

[Fallen]

Try "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick.

Not EXACTLY what you're looking for, but you may like it. According to Wikipedia:

quote:

The Man in the High Castle is a 1962 alternate history novel by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The novel is set in the former United States, in 1962, fifteen years after the Axis Powers defeated the Allies in World War II and the U.S. surrendered to Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan.

While not the first piece of alternate history fiction, the novel helped to define this type of story as a serious literary genre. It won the prestigious Hugo Award and helped make Dick well-known in science fiction circles. It is one of Dick's most tightly-structured and character-focused novels— he spent most of his life writing to pay bills, and so wrote quickly. This was the only novel for which he had the luxury of writing several drafts.

end quote.

I read this as a teenager, and it really stuck with me.