The Company of the Dead

Dec 16, 2011 David marked it as unread · review of another edition

Recommended to David by: Caris

Shelves: irrelevant-reviews

Warning: This is a non-review review. If you are one of those priggish scolds who demands actual review reviews, pass this one by. I'm just not in the mood right now for one of those 'How dare you review a book without reading it!' lectures. It's a free galaxy, so go ahead and buzz off. (Who am I kidding? Nobody will notice the irrelevance of this review because nobody will notice this book.)

I am David Kowalski. No, not that David Kowalski—the world-renowned Australian gynecologist who writes al...more

36 likes · like · see review

Apr 24, 2012 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads

It is the maiden voyage of the Titanic and one man aboard knows exactly what is about to happen. As he hands the man on watch a pair of unusual binoculars he tells him to keep a close eye out for anything. As the warning whistles blow the ship avoids a collision with an iceberg … only to hit another one three hours later. Three hours which were enough time to change the list of survivors and thereby change the course of history.

I really, really wanted to like this book. The premise of the story...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 27, 2013 Matt Mitrovich rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just because something is improbable does not mean it is impossible. That is a common phrase you will find in David Kowalski's The Company of the Dead. Originally published in Australia, this award-winning novel is Kowalski first work to be published in the United States and a lot of hype has come with it, including praise from John Birmingham and S. M. Stirling. So does the novel deserve the attention it has been getting?

The story begins when a time traveler from OTL goes back in time to preven...more Just because something is improbable does not mean it is impossible. That is a common phrase you will find in David Kowalski's The Company of the Dead. Originally published in Australia, this award-winning novel is Kowalski first work to be published in the United States and a lot of hype has come with it, including praise from John Birmingham and S. M. Stirling. So does the novel deserve the attention it has been getting?

The story begins when a time traveler from OTL goes back in time to prevent the sinking of the Titanic. The result of his efforts is a world where the United States does not enter World War I leading to a German victory. An increasingly troubled United States eventually splits between a reborn Confederacy centered around Texas and the Deep South, while the rest of country reorganizes itself into the Northern Union. The Union is later defeated and occupied by Japan, which along with Germany, is one of the world's two superpowers. By the present day, the two empires have conducted a long cold war with actually fighting played among their proxies. Meanwhile, culture and technology has stagnated. Decolonization, women's suffrage and civil rights all failed. There was never a space race (but this world does have giant airships called stratolites that act as airship carriers in the upper atmosphere) and nuclear weapons are a recent discovery.

The setting is the weakest part of the novel. Despite its ASB point of divergence, the events blossoming out from the changes wrought by the time traveler are not always logical. The idea that the Germans could be victorious in WWI simply because the United States stayed out of the war ignores the effect of British tanks on the fighting on the Western Front and Germany's own internal problems. Japan being able to defeat and occupy half of the OTL USA is also given way to much credit to the Japanese Empire, even this alternate one. On a related note, the book's jacket and promotional material appear to misquote the setting of the novel. America is described as being split by the two superpowers, with Japan holding the West Coast and Germany holding the East Coast. In reality Japan occupies the West Coast and New York, with the entire Northern Union being a client state. The Confederacy, however, is independent and a nominal ally of Germany. Not sure why that mistake was not caught before publication.

Despite the implausible history of the novel, The Company of the Dead is still a good book. The meat of the story follows Confederate spy Joseph Kennedy as his plan to restore history to its rightful order unfolds. By linking the plot with Roswell, Area 51, the sinking of the Titanic and the assassination of JFK; Kowalski managed to write an intriguing spy-thriller with mysteries abound. More importantly, Kowalski presented an important message that all alternate historians should take to heart: changing the past does not always mean a better future. This is especially true if your intention is to avoid an historical tragedy. For example, what if you went back in time and killed Hitler before his rise to power? Would that lead to a better world? As bad as the Holocaust was, without it we probably never would have had world nations embrace human rights. Or something worse could have happened, such as the Soviets invading Europe or someone competent taking charge of Germany. Do you remember what the road to hell is paved with?

Kowalski's debut American novel is a good story with an important message for fans of the genre, as long as you are not bothered to much by plausibility issues. You only have to remember that just because something is improbable, does not mean it is impossible.(less)

like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Alan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: World-savers

Recommended to Alan by: Chance

This squat, massive trade paperback has room enough on the spine to print the quote that drew me in... "A magnificent alternate history, set against the backdrop of one of the greatest maritime disasters" (Library Journal). Well, no. Magnificent, it's not. But... The Company of the Dead is well-timed, coming as it does upon the centennial of the Titanic's sinking, and it is for the most part suspenseful and compelling.

Time traveler Jonathan Wells keeps the Titanic from colliding with the iceberg...more

1 like · like · see review

May 27, 2012 Joanne rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-finish, fiction

I like playing with the idea of alternative histories, like Fatherland. In this case, the query is: what would have happened if the Titanic hadn't gone down? Or if it had gone down and different people had survived? That's the way the book opens, and it's fairly good (though the main character uses the F-word so much that one of the contemporary passengers asks why he's being so crude), but then the book cuts to the present, where the Confederacy is still around, and the Japanese occupy New York...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 22, 2012 Marleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I actually rated this book 4.5 stars but decided to round it up since it is a fascinating read.

It is April 1912 and Jonathan Wells is travelling on the Titanic towards New York. Armed with knowledge that he shouldn’t be able to have he is on a mission to save the ship from the Iceberg that would make the ships maiden-voyage also her last. His action will have shocking results for the world, results Wells couldn’t have foreseen and doesn’t live to experience.
In April 2012 a newly build copy of th...more I actually rated this book 4.5 stars but decided to round it up since it is a fascinating read.

It is April 1912 and Jonathan Wells is travelling on the Titanic towards New York. Armed with knowledge that he shouldn’t be able to have he is on a mission to save the ship from the Iceberg that would make the ships maiden-voyage also her last. His action will have shocking results for the world, results Wells couldn’t have foreseen and doesn’t live to experience.
In April 2012 a newly build copy of the Titanic is finishing its anniversary voyage to New York under captain Lightholler, a descendant of two passengers on the original ship. His ship is sailing through a world in which America never entered World War I and is split along a newly established Mason-Dickson line and the whole world is divided up between two empires ruled by Japan from the east and Germany from the west.
In this version of America Joseph Kennedy, grand-nephew to John F. Kennedy is on a mission to restore history to what it should have been. Armed with Wells’ journal and the same means of travelling through time, Kennedy is determined to save the world from the faith that awaits it as a result of Wells’ well meant but disastrous intervention.
While Kennedy is assembling the team he needs to accomplish his goal he is being pursuit by his military superiors, represented by Agent Patricia Malcolm, a woman he has a history with.
With the world on the brink of a massive conflict and nuclear weapons being available to the armies for the first time, Kennedy and his team have to stay alive and ahead of their pursuers for long enough to be able to get back to the Titanic and save the world from certain destruction in a quest that may well end up killing Kennedy, if not all of them.

This is an ambitious and fascinating book. David Kowalski has gone all out in creating an alternative world for us and created a place that we can still recognise yet different enough from our reality to make you wonder what if. What if America really hadn’t entered World War I, what if Hitler had never come to power, what if America had not remained the United States, what if…. There are too many what-ifs to list them all here, and all of them are plausible enough to make you shudder.
It takes a while before the reader has a real idea of what is going on in the story. Kowalski takes his time introducing the characters and even longer revealing their motivation and with a few characters I still wasn’t sure exactly what they were up to by the time the book had ended.
This is a book that is hard to categorize. A lot of different genres are integrated into one narrative whole. This is an alternative history story with elements that are pure science-fiction. We find ourselves in the middle of a strategic war story, as well as a fast paced thriller with conspiracies thrown in and some romance for good measure.
The reader is taken from the Titanic to Roswell and back to the Titanic in a story that opens their eyes to the fragility of history. The big question in this book is whether history develops according to a certain path or whether it is all a matter of chance, a question I will be pondering for a while yet.

For me there were one or two downsides to this novel. The military strategizing was way over my head and I found I couldn’t quite visualise the battle scenes. I’m convinced though that this is probably a result of my mind-set rather than any failing on the author’s part.
There was one story-line that I still couldn’t make complete sense of even after I finished the book, one character whose motivation and ultimate goal never became completely clear to me.
I also feel that Kowalski’s emphasis on action came at the cost of good characterisation. Although I did get some feeling for the various personalities in this book there wasn’t a whole lot of depth to them.

Overall though, I have to conclude that this is an original, fascinating and almost impossible to put down book. While I thoroughly enjoyed this reading experience I think anybody who loves science fiction and/or time-travel and/or alternative histories will adore this book.
(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 03, 2012 Rachael Rodgers rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the best book I’ve read in a long, long time…

The premise behind this book lies in the theory of chaos. This theory describes how a seemingly inconsequential event can change the way subsequent events evolve. In regards to the weather, it describes how the flapping of a single butterfly’s wing produces a tiny change to the state the atmosphere, causing the atmosphere to diverge from what it would have done otherwise. The net effect being that markedly different weather conditions can even...more

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 11, 2013 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

The saying goes that the optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears that this is true. When you combine alternate history and time travel, you go adventuring with the pessimists.

This story opens with a temporally-displaced individual who's gotten it into his head that the big thing he should do, with his time travel adventure, is to prevent the sinking of the Titanic. He gives the lookout binoculars, which he settles on as the least intrusive way of doi...more The saying goes that the optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears that this is true. When you combine alternate history and time travel, you go adventuring with the pessimists.

This story opens with a temporally-displaced individual who's gotten it into his head that the big thing he should do, with his time travel adventure, is to prevent the sinking of the Titanic. He gives the lookout binoculars, which he settles on as the least intrusive way of doing this - having otherwise tried to limit his interactions to people he knows, because he's from the future, die in the sinking of the ship. They hit another iceberg hours later and the boat sinks anyway. Different people live, including one John Jacob Astor, who cements American isolationism, keeps the US out of the Great War, and so on.

A hundred years later, one Joseph Kennedy of the Second Confederacy (yes, those Kennedys) has discovered the time machine, which, naturally, appeared at Roswell. Kennedy's small bunch of trusted associates, who have been roped into the scheme over the years, must contend with a complicated geopolitical scheme that sees the Germans launch a surprise invasion of the Japanese Prefecture of New York (like I said, complicated) as he tries to get to his machine and do something to correct history.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I guess I say that a lot. The story isn't bad, and you know I'm always a sucker for a time travel story, so time travel plus alternate history is fun. It's just that the alternate history is a mile wide and an inch deep. It is a thin veneer on the surface that you can scrape away and then it doesn't have much more to it than that. Here's an example: the president of the Second Confederacy is Thomas Clancy. This has to be some kind of grand joke on the Jack Ryan books written in our world by Tom Clancy - and it's basically just a throwaway joke. The alternate history doesn't really withstand scrutiny, which is sort of, but not really, touched upon in the narrative. The problem is you can't touch deeply on anything when the majority of the chapters in the book are 2-3 pages. That's not really making any attempt to have more than one-dimensional characters, and you just have to drive along with the plot and not think about it all too much.

That kind of book can be fun too, but I can't help but turn my mind to other books like it that were similar in nature, only better. For instance, King's 11/22/63 hits on the time travel/alternate history from a different angle, with the bulk of the story being the protagonist's long journey (about five years) to try to stop the JFK assassination, rather than taking place in the alternate, grim future that came about from mucking around. Dick's The Man in the High Castle puts you in a German/Japanese-occupied US where a select few people feel the wrongness of that version of history. Heck, it makes me think of different episodes of Star Trek - Yesterday's Enterprise, and particularly that one early on in Voyager where like only Harry Kim and the baby come over from the doomed clone of Voyager. Why do I remember this stuff? I don't know. The author says he started the book in 1997, so I'm sure it isn't derivative; he might have been rather put out that King came in and did the same general idea better. I know I would have been.

Recently I've found some guilty pleasure fun with the alternate history of Harry Turtledove, and this is more or less the same of that, with the added time travel aspect to make it a little more fun. So that's not bad.(less)

like · see review

Oct 31, 2012 Girl with her Head in a Book rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, titanic, alternate-history, long-long-long, adventure, 2012-challenge, hire-an-editor, historical-fiction, brothers-in-arms

This book was long. To be honest, this book was the kind of long that makes me think that this book did not want to be a book. Possibly it wanted to be a film, but really I think Kowalski wanted it to be a TV series - like an HBO mini series or perhaps something slightly more long running. Kowalski is an obstetrician in his spare time and he spent ten years on this thing and it shows. I always respect effort and whatever the faults of this book, you can't say that Kowalski slipped up on the deta...more

like · see review

Jul 17, 2012 Sheri rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book needs to be a movie. A dumb, action packed, James Cameron (maybe that's just because he did Titanic) movie. If this thing only took 2 hours and was all Hollywood and action packed, I probably would have liked it. I wouldn't have loved it, but I might have at least liked it.

Instead, it is a 750 page monstrosity with little to redeem it except the moral of "don't do time travel, it fucks things up." I'm pretty sure (given the all knowing ghost dancers) that Kowalski would also want me t...more This book needs to be a movie. A dumb, action packed, James Cameron (maybe that's just because he did Titanic) movie. If this thing only took 2 hours and was all Hollywood and action packed, I probably would have liked it. I wouldn't have loved it, but I might have at least liked it.

Instead, it is a 750 page monstrosity with little to redeem it except the moral of "don't do time travel, it fucks things up." I'm pretty sure (given the all knowing ghost dancers) that Kowalski would also want me to take it a step further and say that we shouldn't interfere with GOD'S PLAN. If nothing else in this novel made me want to scream and throw something, the idea of divine method would have been enough.

The writing was clear and mostly okay. At times, it was a too expository (especially when first introducing NY in 2012 and trying to get the reader caught up in the new world order), and frequently it was over-the-top dramatic ("It's veil of lies would be torn away, leaving Kennedy's true agenda exposed.") with cliches and embellishments that should have been cut by an editor.

The plot was well thought out (altho I did know that Lightholler was Roswell in 1947 as soon as they left him in the carapace to die and I saw Marie as Patricia a mile away) and attempts to deal with the question that usually bothers me with time travel....that is, how do we ever move forward and get out of a never ending loop? Unfortunately, Kowalski moves his characters around awfully conveniently in trying to solve his loop, creating other issues.

I hated that we were in an almost parallel universe. Kowalski wanted the reader to have familiar names/events and so there are lots of similarities...Anne Frank the novelist, Hitler the artist, JFK killed (with his wife Norma Jean) in Dallas 11/22/63...all of these are to show us that the world is just slightly off. BUT THE JAPANESE CONTROL THE UNION AND USA DOES NOT EXIST. Hitler was a shitty artist (part of the angst that drove his mania) and second, if the world is this different what are the chances that the same people we recognize would be famous? They may not even exist (he touches on this a bit with Kennedy having been not born in our world, but what about all the people that wouldn't have been born in their world?) and if they did, it is possible that they are just nobodies.

Second, the fact that Webster was eagerly helping Kennedy along MADE NO SENSE. Beside the complete impossibility that Reid (after having been held captured for several days) was able to transverse the desert (which was under attack) and reach a phone to call Webster and then convince him that it was worth dealing with Kennedy and then Webster was able to hijack the Patton and arrive (in the middle of a battle) at the cavern when 5 minutes previously they had figured that Kennedy would not make it back in time (and then Kennedy goes back out in battle and has to be rescued just minutes before his death?), why would Webster help him? Even if I bought the ridiculousness of the whole above, I still was not convinced that Webster would do anything other than hijack the carapace. Yes, he didn't have very many agents on the ground..but he controls a huge atomic wielding balloon. And he now knows where the carapace is located. And he eagerly leaves them about their business and blows himself up? WTF?

Third, the convenience of the trip to NY instead of the desert for the second staging made me want to scream. I could see Kowalski grinning and rubbing his hands and thinking "gotcha" when Lightholler's hero turns out to be himself and Kennedy does use his own gun to kill Cooper in the street. But, really? There was no reason they needed to go to NY. Doc could have made them go back 9 days and land in the desert. There was no battle then, they wouldn't have had to worry about the war and they could have re-assured their earlier selves that they did get off the ground soon enough. It just doesn't make sense to send them to NY except to have this great "revealing" so Kowalski can feel all schnazzy.

Finally, the mystic-shimmery quality of the carapace, Stead's influence, and the religious beliefs of the ghost dancers just made me want to vomit. This is supposed to be a sci-fi book; Kowalski takes great pains to establish the credibility of some political and technological outcomes, but ultimately the whole thing hinges on the word of a mystic? Patricia is able to influence the cycle because Tecumseh and Stead make their mark? It just was too "fate will return things to the right path" for me.

Overall not worth the energy. It has potential, but the ultimate product was crap.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 11, 2013 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I skipped nearly the whole middle section of this book. I got so bored reading about the war games and intrigue and specs of the planes and tanks. SO BORING. Especially considering I already knew the conclusion of this war AND I knew it was happening in an alternate future that was thematically inevitably going to be averted by the main characters. The bits staged on the Titanic were quite good reads, it would have made a good novella I think, with the first bits and the last bits joined up.
Also...more

like · see review

Mar 30, 2012 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

I'm hovering somewhere between 3 and 4 stars on this, so I guess it's a solid 3.5. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it had some definite pacing/editing issues. It could easily have been at least 200 pages shorter, and would have been a better novel for it. You figure out fairly early on where everything is headed, but it takes 500+ pages of meandering to get there. Instead of a tense climax and big payoff once you do get there, the pacing slows way down and stalls out for another 50+ pages. Someone so...more I'm hovering somewhere between 3 and 4 stars on this, so I guess it's a solid 3.5. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it had some definite pacing/editing issues. It could easily have been at least 200 pages shorter, and would have been a better novel for it. You figure out fairly early on where everything is headed, but it takes 500+ pages of meandering to get there. Instead of a tense climax and big payoff once you do get there, the pacing slows way down and stalls out for another 50+ pages. Someone somewhere along the line needed to help him fix that.

There were also significant problems with clarity. When creating 100 years of alternate history, it needs to be explained clearly, especially because it informs so much of the "present." In a novel 750 pages in length, there's really no excuse for having things be that ambiguous. Frankly, even creating a timeline for an appendix section a reader could refer to would have helped out a lot. I'm honestly still not exactly sure what actually happened in that timeline or when the events I do have a grasp on occured.

I could see people having a problem being connected to and caring about the characters. I liked most of them, but I only had an attachment to a few. Patricia Malcolm seemed totally pointless for most of the book, and a lot of things surrounding her felt forced. I think maybe if there hadn't been quite so many characters, they could have been better developed and made more of an impact, instead of most of them getting lost in the crowd. Even Kennedy, who would probably be considered the "hero" of the story, wasn't incredibly well developed and only occupied a fraction of the overall screen-time.

All that aside, I did like the book. It was a really interesting premise and I think he executed it fairly well, problems aside. I loved the first 65 pages, but I feel like the rest of the book failed to live up to them (though I did basically like how the whole thing was resolved). The author does have some really interesting ideas and I'd read something else by him, with the hope that as he continues he's able to fix some of the issues that take away from his work.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Apr 16, 2012 Stuart Nager rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

750 pages, and my mind is exhausted by the twists and turns...and in the end, I am so very glad I found this book! It is not for anyone who must have a clear, linear read: time travel and time paradoxes do not allow that type of story, imo. It brings together this scifi trope with historical fiction and future dystopian society.

This was the author's first novel. The depth of research that went into the book (The Titanic; world history; etc) is astounding; the varying character POVs were never c...more

like · see review

Oct 30, 2012 Nicole rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-like-it

This ... book ... was ... so ... long. I finished it, but man. It was a really long slog. The storyline is unclear, and the synopsis on the back makes the story sound much more interesting than it really is. I thought it was a historical thriller sci-fi sorta thing, but it was more of a war novel with tiny sci-fi tweaks.

I think Kowalski gets confused at times about whether he's writing poetry or prose. He gets flowery and freely employs metaphor without making sure that his readers understand w...more

like · see review

Nov 09, 2012 Bennett Gavrish rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Grade: D-

L/C Ratio: 20/80
(This means I estimate the author devoted 20% of his effort to creating a literary work of art and 80% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.)

Thematic Breakdown:
35% - Alternate history
25% - Spy thriller
15% - Military strategy
15% - Politics
10% - Time travel

The first 50 pages of The Company of the Dead are very good – perhaps even great. But that becomes a minor accomplishment once you realize that the book is well over 700 pages long (13,000+ Kindle locations)...more

like · see review

Apr 27, 2012 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, alternate-history, time-travel

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Mostly fast-paced and action-packed with fun characters. The book is long - and it does lag a bit in some parts - but I zipped right through it. I really enjoyed the book, which was a little surprising to me. I was looking for fiction set on the Titanic, and was a little dismayed to find the action shifted from the ship fairly quickly (interestingly, the Titanic parts seemed very well-researched). However, I was immediately intrigued by the alternate world the author created. The characters drew...more

like · see review

Aug 18, 2012 Dawn Betts-Green rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: alternate-history

Okay, I love alternate history novels; they are, in fact, my current favorite thing. I also love huge sprawling stories and am a sucker for time travel. So this book caught my attention...BUT not too far in, Kowalski goes from awesome alt history to spy-vs-spy shoot/blow-'em-ups. I'm currently about halfway in and seriously questioning whether I will be finishing this book. I keep going in the hope that somewhere in here he will find that alt history/time travel thread he lost in that first mess...more

like · see review

Mar 08, 2012 Nathaniel Gritsman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book to bits. It's scope is truly huge.
As an historical fiction it's both fascinating in its exploration of an alternative (and fascinating) 20th century as well as presenting the most realized world I've yet to explore.
From there it segways seamlessly into an amazing thriller, with wild action sequences and an exploration of paradox which you'll never see coming. (at least I didn't!)
The book is excellently written, brilliantly plotted, and I read a blog somewhere that stated the alt...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2012 Daniel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

THE COMPANY OF THE DEAD is an alternate-history novel that centers around the sinking of the Titanic. At the start, a time traveler named Wells attempts to stop the well-known disaster from occurring. He doesn't succeed, but he does delay the event by three hours. This small change creates massive ramifications that drastically alter the future. America is no longer United, Hitler is a famous artist, and most of the globe is under the rule of either the Japanese or German empires. A young man na...more THE COMPANY OF THE DEAD is an alternate-history novel that centers around the sinking of the Titanic. At the start, a time traveler named Wells attempts to stop the well-known disaster from occurring. He doesn't succeed, but he does delay the event by three hours. This small change creates massive ramifications that drastically alter the future. America is no longer United, Hitler is a famous artist, and most of the globe is under the rule of either the Japanese or German empires. A young man named Joseph Kennedy (ancestor of our famous, assassinated president), having glimpsed the even greater horrors that await this refurbished timeline, goes on a quest back in time to fix the rift in history and bring the world back to normal.

According to the acknowledgments, it took first-time author Kowalski nearly fifteen years to write this novel, and it shows. The alternate history he constructed is so intricate that it was astonishing. I started the novel with giddy amazement, ever more impressed as I turned the pages. I couldn't begin to imagine the detail, the thought, the mind-bending effort it must have taken not just to plot the book, but also to establish it firmly in a completely new and believable world. I tip my hat to Mr. Kowalski.

So why the two stars?

I read this book on my Kindle, and I didn't bother reading any reviews before I bought it. The product description alone was enough for me. Because Kindles don't list page numbers exactly, I didn't know that this book was -- in its printed form -- 751 pages long. That doesn't really matter to me; if a book is good enough, I'll read a thousand pages and gladly. Unfortunately, the middle five hundred pages or so are a convoluted mess that serve only to delay the entire story. Almost nothing important or meaningful occurs in this section. Instead, Kowalski sets up pointless obstacle after pointless obstacle, dragging the plot out until I was tearing my hair out in frustration. The cast list also grew more and more bloated for no good reason. One character -- a gruff-n-grumpy man named Hardas (I assume the name, with its missing 's,' is meant to be cheekily symbolic) actually questioned his own involvement in the adventure. When Hardas argued that he brought nothing helpful to the group's quest (he was right), Kennedy instead assured him that "every group needs its malcontent."

What? No, it doesn't. Pacing and plotting are critical in a book where characters say things like, "I need to know what you did with the time machine!" Plotting this book has in spades, but the pacing is perhaps some of the worst I've ever read. Every time I thought the story was finally going to go somewhere, whoops! here's another complication to slow the plot wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay down. "Great!" I thought at one point with relief. "They're finally at the time machine. NOW it gets good!" Nope. Let's have another hundred pages where they try to fix the darn thing, or fight off sinister outside forces, or simply bicker about the rightness of what they're doing.

I wanted SO MUCH to love this book as it had wowed me so incredibly right out of the gate. Kowalski obviously spent an amazing amount of time, energy, and thought into the research and writing of this story, and I respect that deeply. But by the time the characters managed to actually do what they'd spent five hundred pages talking about doing, I was sick of it all. My guess is that Kowalski, having spent fifteen years on the book, was loathe to chop out even one scene to shorten it down to a semi-reasonable length. To that, I quote Faulker: kill your darlings. If it's not important, if it doesn't move the story along, then get rid of it. No matter how beautiful your writing is -- and Kowalski's prose is pretty good, if not a little overwritten (ahem) -- if you use that writing to meticulously describe a falling row of dominoes that's a hundred miles long, you're going to lose a whole lot of readers.

You lost me this time, Kowalski, but based on the talent I saw glimmering underneath that massively constructed iceberg of words, I'll still give your next book a try.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 14, 2012 Mike Gottert rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What if it wasn’t a flying saucer that crashed in the desert in Roswell, New Mexico back in 1947? What if it was actually a time machine? That’s the idea behind The Company of the Dead. In 2012, Dr, Jonathan Wells accidentally learns about the time machine while treating a patient at Area 51 and in order to save his life gets transported back to 1911. Once in 1911 with nothing to do, Wells decides to change history and make the world a better place. First on the list, save the Titanic, but as we...more What if it wasn’t a flying saucer that crashed in the desert in Roswell, New Mexico back in 1947? What if it was actually a time machine? That’s the idea behind The Company of the Dead. In 2012, Dr, Jonathan Wells accidentally learns about the time machine while treating a patient at Area 51 and in order to save his life gets transported back to 1911. Once in 1911 with nothing to do, Wells decides to change history and make the world a better place. First on the list, save the Titanic, but as we soon discover, that’s easier said then done. Rather then save the Titanic, Wells merely postpones the inevitable for a few hours. This small change allows some passengers to live that would have died and causes some to die that would have lived. And so the butterfly flaps its wings. If you have any intention of reading this book, I would recommend you stop reading this review as there be spoilers ahead. Make sure you come back and finish this review once you have read the book, I’ll be waiting.

In 2012 2.0, the world is a vastly different place with Greater Germany and Imperial Japan as the two leading superpowers with the United States divided and partly occupied. A small group led by Confederate Bureau of Intelligence agent Joseph Kennedy have learned about the time machine and Wells’ changing of history. They’ve decided they like the original version better and set out to prevent Wells from changing the past. Here’s where the story gets a little murky. Apparently there is some type of time loop in which Kennedy continually tries to stop Wells and continually fails in one way or another, this is his last chance. I found this to be unnecessary and somewhat bothersome; the story gets all mystical for awhile. One other small issue was the explanation of how the time loop started. Rather then address the paradox in any meaningful way, it got one or two throw away lines. Otherwise I found this to be a quite enjoyable book. At 832 pages it was a bit long and there were some areas that probably could have been trimmed down a bit. This might not be the book to bring on a cruise.

I received this book as an ARC from Titan Books.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 JodiP rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think I just don't care for alternative history. In this book, the South succeded in seceding in the early 1920s, Japan has a protectorate in the East Coast, and Britain rules parts of the northern U.S. I think. It's all rather confusing, and then there's some time travel designed to prevent the sinking of the Titanic. The Confederate Bureau of Intelligence tries to recruit the descendent of the Titanic's captain for....something. Except that the team in charge of this is being recalled becaus...more

like · see review

Jul 10, 2012 Stephen Holak rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Without a doubt, the best book I have read in the past year, and one of the best time-travel / alternate history works ever. From plot, to prose, to tone and intersection with actual historical events, this book is masterful.

I give it five stars; however, I do have one small critique: the main protagonist, Joe Kennedy, could have used a bit more character development, perhaps in the form of internal monologue or emotional reaction to events. We do get a decent sense of the man, but I closed the...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 27, 2012 Kim McGee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This huge novel covers a lot of ground with the alternative history of the world and all the new power alignments due to the simple shift of the Titanic not sinking and taking with it many of the United States most powerful and wealthy leaders such as John Astor. One man traveled to the past and helped save the Titanic thereby shifting future events - the United States doesn't help Europe in World War 1, John Astor becomes President, Japan and Russia become the super powers of the world. One of...more

like · see review

May 02, 2012 Tamara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The premise of this book is fantastic! A time machine allows a person to return to the Titanic (pre-Iceberg) with a good, modern pair of binoculars. It follows the logic of the butterfly effect and A Sound of Thunder (by Bradbury). I don't want to spoil it so I won't say more about the plot. Except that there were some fun twists.

Sadly, I could have LOVED this book. But I found the writing choppy and it felt like pieces were missing. Too many characters who were referred to by first, last, and n...more

like · see review

May 05, 2012 Patrick Nichol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow! What an epic adventure.
This is a truly satisfying read by first-time novelist David Kowalski, a rich alternate-history/time-travel tapestry sandwiched between a bloody war story.
One man from the future ends up on the Titanic on April 14, 1912 the night of her disastrous sinking. This man (named Wells in a literary in-joke)hands Lookout Frederick Fleet a pair of 21st Century binoculars to aid his watch.
These help Fleet sight an iceberg, warn the bridge, and help avoid disaster. But Titanic h...more

like · see review

Mar 26, 2012 May rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an ambitous book about alternate timeline... It tells the story of what happens when a man saves the Titantic and how it changes the entire chain of events in history. History nuts will love this book. I am not a history nut but I enjoy this book.... Reminds me a bit of the movie The Butterfly Effect except the book is better of course. :) I would recommend this book to any readers who are interested in history or who are interested in alternate timeline books...

I got this book as a give...more

like · see review

Mar 24, 2012 C.S. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, alternate-history

What an interesting concept. A crazy time travel story which takes place in the present and the it e of the Titanic. A marvelous What if. I loved the begining of the story, my problem came in the middle where the book really dragged. After awhile I just didn't care about the alternate history timeline. The story in the past crackled though. I would have cut a few pages out if this book. I think it would have been a tighter, faster read. I still enjoyed it but be warned if long books are not your...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 15, 2013 Kerry Hennigan rated it 2 of 5 stars

What if all the millionaires who perished on the Titanic didn’t perish? What if some survived – what sort of future would they have wrought, and would we be any better off.

In The Company of the Dead author David Kowalski has amassed a cast of illustrious descendants of some of those people and sends them back in time to correct a past that was, itself, altered to the detriment of their own timeline.

There are some familiar names inhabiting past and present – Kennedy, Lightholler, Morgan and Wells...more

like · see review

Jun 23, 2012 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Masterful storytelling, even though it did drag a bit in the middle. As has been stated by most reviewers, there was a point about a fourth of the way through the book that really bogs down the story as a whole and lasts just a little bit too long. It could be argued that the point of alternate-history fiction is to see how the change of history affects the future, but that being said, I feel the middle section lost track of the overall theme of the story. The author got so caught up in playing...more

like · see review

Oct 09, 2012 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well I wanted to give this book five stars but the fact it is very weighted with long drawn out chapters on military and fighting lost it one star for me. This book was a little confusing at times if you know your history and the Titanic well its hard to stop your brain telling you the real facts as we know them.

Its a first novel and I would read Mr Kowalski's next one to see whether he has learnt any lessons from this one.

It did have me wanting to read more but a large chunk of the mid section...more

like · see review

title link	preview: The Company of the Dead
avg rating	preview: The Company of the Dead Goodreads rating: 3.21 (310 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3249988-the-company-of-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1209422123l/3249988.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3249988-the-company-of-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski[/url]

The Company of the Dead

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Company of th...

The Company of the Dead

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (3)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Company of th...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)