Publishing information: Hardback; 356 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; 01 May 2010
ISBN 10: 0765321505
ISBN 13: 9780765321503
Book 1 in the Milkweed Triptych
Copy: Out of pocket
Inside of the Book: "Raybould Marsh is a British secret agent in the early days of the Second World War, haunted by something strange he saw on a mission during the Spanish Civil War: a German woman with wires going into her head who looked at him as if she knew him. When the Nazis start running missions with people who have unnatural abilities - a woman who can turn invisible, a man who can walk through walls, and the woman Marsh saw in Spain who can use her knowledge of the future to twist the present - Marsh is the man who has to face them. He rallies the secret warlocks of Britain to hold the impending invasion at bay. But magic always exacts a price. Eventually, the sacrifice necessary to defeat the enemy will be as terrible as outright loss would be."
The premise of Bitter Seeds is simple, the Nazi's of World War II have devised a way to create supermen (and women) through the use of science and innovation. Each individual has a unique ability or power. Some are powerful juggernauts, some walk through walls, and one special woman can see the future and its outcomes. the British on the other hand, must rely on ancient means to protect themselves from the Nazi incursion. They turn to a small secret sect of warlocks who can call upon a powerful race that gifts them with power for a price, sometimes it is meager, other times it is a too much to consider. Either way it is always paid in blood.
The setting of Bitter Seeds mainly focuses in England and Germany, but our secret agent goes all around Europe to gain bits of information and so we see parts of Spain and France as well. Tregillis does a great job of transporting the reader to the various battlefronts and locations and gives you a clear picture of what it could have been like had you actually been there. In one scene I read, I could see and feel the bitter cold as the two forces clashed. Tregillis has excellent prose and a way with words which made the book all that more enjoyable.
The characters in Bitter Seeds are also top notch. Our hero, Marsh, does a fairly decent job of juggling his family life and the demands of his job as he attempts to catch up the the German war machine and find a way to negate the new soldiers in Hitler's army. The Supermen (and women) also have a great deal of personality and at times you can't help but feel for the way they have been treated and the cost they have paid for their powers. It takes a special kind of author to find a way to sway you emotionally to want to see a Nazi win their freedom and move away from the High Command's plans. Along the way every character grows and some experience personal pains that makes their character more than just the stereotypical two dimensional hero or villain.
The plot and pacing are excellent. I can not recall a single moment in Bitter Seeds where you are allowed to take a breather, even when the characters are at home and away from their various assignments there is tension and the feel of urgency in their actions. I really enjoyed the idea that even though both sides have found a great power that can turn the tide of war or stave off a brutal attack, there is a cost and the cost may be far worse than the actual engagement between the two military powers.
By the end of Bitter Seeds we have a cliff hanger and the good news is that Tregillis plans to release the next book in the series, The Coldest War, later this year so, we do not have to wait long to see what happens next. This is one of my favorite reads of the year. If you like flawed characters attempting to do all they can to do what is right and you have a need for alternate history with some magic thrown in for good measure then Bitter Seeds will fill your niche. An impressive release for 2010 that everyone should read.
Plot 9
Characters 8.5
Style 9
Overall 9.5/10
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