Devolution

In our very tech focused and hyper-integrated world, it can be hard to imagine just how brutal and unforgiving nature can be. Try to picture then, a quaint and cute little haven away from the hustle and bustle of the technological world, surrounded in an oasis of natural phenomenon. This is the small planned community of Greenloop, situated in the Pacific Northwest and in the shadow of the magnificent Mount Rainier. Still hyperconnected to the comforts of the modern world though, wifi, great cell reception, drone deliveries, and biofueled houses which you can adjust at your leisure. 

Truly a small piece of paradise.

Until the mountain erupts. In a flash of fire and fury, the modern world is swept away, leaving the people lounging here stranded. All one once the inhabitants of Greenloop are cut off from the outside world, their access gone, drone deliveries, gone, and they're stranded in an unforgiving environment at the onset of winter. But it's just a matter of time until they're rescued right? Perhaps, but what if the eruption of Mount Rainier has driven something more dangerous, something more deadly, something more primal towards them? What happens when these modern people, who have never known the terror of primal nature, its mercilessness and its hardship, come face to face with their potential primitive past? You get a severe case of Devolution.

Max Brooks new novel sets out to tell an engaging scary story, one quite appropriate for the modern world.

The story is told in the familiar scrapbook style, revolving around the nameless journalists' interviews with those familiar with the incident, excerpts from news pieces, and the main meat of the story, the diary of Kate Holland. Her story is one told with an interesting twist as she writes a diary to deal with her stress from the overwhelming nature of everyday life, to keep her therapist abreast of how she's feeling, and chronicle her own state of mind to see her progress and express herself.

Her trip has, with her husband Dan, been undertaken to improve their marriage, give them some piece of mind, and help them get back on track. 

They meet the colorful cast of other eccentrics coming from the Pacific Northwest to relax and unwind in this isolated, but technologically connected community. Run by the stunningly beautiful and technologically savvy team of Tony and Yvette Durant, the community looks amazing with its individual houses and common house. 

The other members of the community, the overweight and arrogant philosopher Reinhardt, the power couple of Carmen and Euphemia with their adopted daughter Palomino, husband and wife Bobbie and Vincent, and the reclusive but powerful presence of the elderly and diminutive Bosnian artist, Mostar. This little group, thrown together from diverse backgrounds, will suddenly have to survive their own little apocalypse.

It tells an interesting story of city dwellers who are expecting nature to revolve around their needs. They feel that, with technology, their little group can tame nature. That they've all only lived in the city, never interacted with untamed nature, and have no survival skills that don't revolve around technology, doesn't really occur to them. It puts human need for technology and community front and center, and shows how the hyper-individualistic and society of instant connection can be sorely tested by extreme situations. They also learn the hard way that nature is not nice.

All of the issues of being cut off from greater society, planning for long term survival, and otherwise pulling together, might have been overcome if it were not for the sudden intrusion of another group of equally desperate primates. The Sasquatch. This throws everything into turmoil as these new critters are desperate and hungry, and the humans of Greenloop, while smart and intuitive, are not exactly equipped to fight them off. Whether from sheer lack of preparedness, a semi-naïve philosophy of harmony with nature, or simple inability to understand their new neighbors, the people of Greenloop are very much unprepared for the danger they face.

Like most of Brooks works prepping does feature, to a greater or lesser degree, into the overall story. He tries to outline practical examples of disaster preparedness, reminders about the fragility of high technology in emergencies, and that most people don't really know how to survive in the wilderness. It's an honest, not really preachy, way of putting forward the idea of keeping yourself ready for even a mild natural disaster which, I can say from experience, can really throw you for a loop. It also takes a few potshots at tech gurus, thinking nature is calm and pleasant, or that humans can be effortlessly on top of the food chain. Though most of all, reminding us that nature is full of wild animals and not tame petting zoo critters.

We have a great slow build to the story, with the gradual encroaching disaster, a slow creep of the monsters, and a build up to a tense, unknown situation with a brutally climactic ending. One of the true triumphs of the book is so comprehensively dealing with the modern problem of instant communications in horror, by using the destruction from the Rainer eruption to so totally cut off the characters. It gives you a real feeling of isolation and horrible solitude that is hard in our modern world, and I think that every time this is pulled off well for an author it should be applauded.

I definitely think it's great to have Max Brooks back in the game of horror. He writes phenomenally well, establishes a diverse, exceptional, and unique cast of characters, and uses them in an unexpected and interesting way. They really do jump off the page, through the biased views of the narrator, and with the "after action report" of the various interviewees. A great read for 2020 and anyone who loves the horror genre! 

Mexican Gothic

 A recent release which I picked up because goodreads kept recommending it to me, I was very happily surprised as I found myself suddenly immersed in the world of Mexican Gothic. 

Set in 1950's Mexico, it follows debutante Noemi Taboada, as she answers a seemingly madness filled letter from her cousin Catalina, who has married into the obscure Doyle family. In the letter, Catalina accuses her husband Virgil Doyle of trying to poison her. Catalina's father, wary of scandal, sends his daughter to check on events in the remote province of Hidalgo at the Doyle home of High Place. As Catalina arrives, she realizes things are not quite as they seem.

This is the most recent novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This is a Canadian author who I had not read before, and I am pleasantly surprised by what I have found! Having explored more of her work upon completion of this novel, I am happy I started with this one and will certainly be checking out more of what she does!

Mexican Gothic has everything you could hope for in a good tale of Gothic horror. There's a creepy house, a mysterious family, and dark, twisted secrets. Instead though, they are transplanted to the highlands of Mexico and set against the backdrop of Mexican society and expectations. The very foreign people are almost part of the horror as their entire setting is alien and unsettling, with its many references to both the Mexican Revolution and foreign exploitation of the Mexican people.

Noemi is a fantastic narrator. She is a sassy socialite who likes to bend the rules and frustrate her opposition. That she comes from a world of parties, learning, and language, makes it very difficult for her to adjust to the dark, dreary, rigid ways of the Doyle family of High Place. She's like a beacon of light there, but one which almost instantly strikes friction with those inhabiting the place. She clashes immediately with the family head Virgil, instantly dislikes the patriarch Howard, and the 'mother' of the house Florence has an instant distaste for her smoking habit. The only person she doesn't seem to bring out revulsion in is the black sheep of the family, the shy and nervous Francis.

She isn't one to play a damsel in distress either, and is always thinking to try and get one over on the Doyle's and save her cousin, who seems to be slowly losing her mind. Though Noemi finds herself questioning her own sanity the longer she stays in High Place.

What I really enjoyed was how my initial assumptions were twisted and turned on me, until I came to a stunning and shocking conclusion. In the first few pages I rather foolishly assumed I knew how things would end up, but man did the twist really show me wrong! Very well done and very, very scary! Highly recommend this wonderful new book!

World War Z

 A few years ago I had the misfortune to see the Bradd Pitt film, World War Z which was extremely loosely based on Max Brooks phenomenal 2006 novel of the same name. The book though, as is often the case, is undoubtedly better. Rather than the swift running, barely discernable from their victims, monstrosities we saw in the film, here we have the classic Romero zombies which have slouched their way into my nightmares since I was a child. The world is stumbling towards its demise and consequently it becomes engulfed in the great Zombie War.

Welcome to the real World War Z

This book is, in essence, set in a similar world to the authors first novel, The Zombie Survival Guide which details the zombies seen in this story. I picked up the Zombie Survival Guide in high school, having had a recurring series of sleepless nights and nightmares regarding the undead thanks to games like Resident Evil (and its attendant film) and Dawn of the Dead. This semi-serious and slightly comedic guide to dealing with the undead really helped me overcome a semi-childish fear of being eaten alive by the undead. When I learned that there was a novel coming out set in a world besieged by the undead, it was a no brainer I was going to get it!

I also, unsurprisingly, agree with Max Brooks on why zombies are scary: "They scare me more than any other fictional creature out there because they break all the rules. Werewolves and vampires and mummies and giant sharks, you have to go look for them. My attitude is if you go looking for them, no sympathy. But zombies come to you. Zombies don't act like a predator; they act like a virus, and that is the core of my terror. A predator is intelligent by nature and knows not to overhunt its feeding ground. A virus will just continue to spread, infect and consume, no matter what happens. It's the mindlessness behind it"

With that in mind, Brooks sets out to write this fear very well. From the first bite, to the expanding hordes, we see the zombies grow in threat and menace. In a world too similar to our own!

At the time this was written, it was set in an undetermined time some twenty minutes into the future. With 2020 upon us, it becomes a bit of fun alternate history really. But the novel itself is probably the single definitive work on the zombie apocalypse. It takes us through the eyes of people all over the world from all walks of life and deals with how they struggled to survive the Zombie War.

The novel has a very American oriented focus, which simply makes sense. However, it delves into events the world over from China, India, Japan, France and even outer space! It provides a smorgasbord of fascinating little looks into how different countries fought the zombie menace or dealt with the little quirks of fighting zombies. Whether in the infamous catacombs under Paris, the constant de-thawing ghouls of Russia, or dealing with those that roam the sea floor in a terrible form of eternal damnation.

When I first read this book, and when the zombie craze was reaching it's zenith around 2012 when the film was in production, there were numerous discussions on the internet of how plausible the whole set up was. I remember how many people scoffed at how 'no one could be that stupid' or 'governments would not ignore the dead walking' and such other arguments. With others pointing out that accepting the walking dead as a fact of life would be far too difficult for some. Well, I personally think that 2020 has really put paid to the idea that people will react rationally in the face of zombies. The book's "Great Panic" is horrifically realistic.

This Great Panic was, for me, one of the high points of the book. It showed that the zombie problem had become accepted, understood, and out of control. People fleeing with no destination, outbreaks too large for the government to control, and a terrible attempt at a "shock and awe" battle at Yonkers to try and restore faith in the government. The Battle of Yonkers might be the most unrealistic moment, but it was a great piece of writing.

After this we see a series of implementations of the Redeker Plan, where governments retreat behind safe zones, hoping to ride out the wave of the undead so that they rot away. Of course, that eventually changes! And we get to see a new way of fighting the undead, and the genuine fear of the swarms in their hundreds and millions!

With later stories taking place (including one which is essentially The Hunt for Red October meets Dawn of the Dead) above and around the world, you get a wonderful feeling of this being a global war. I did enjoy how this played out in the end, and I loved feeling like humanity was not just curling up behind its walls. The post-war world might have been fleshed out a little better, and one of my personal criticisms is that the 'wrapping up' section was way to American oriented. Some vagueness and a sense of mystery is necessary of course, but for some parts I felt the novel was almost too short!

Overall though, this one is absolutely a standard read for anyone that loves the zombie genre. It's a fast read, full of unique and clever zombie action and thinking, and deserves your time this Halloween!

Origin to Exile

Two years ago I reviewed Day By Day Armageddon and commented on how it is one of my favorites in the whole genre of zombie literature. Here I present the sequel, Origin to Exile (or Beyond Exile) and would like to simply add on why I believe this novel is an amazing sequel to an already powerful first installment.

In the first novel we established that the dead now walk the land. Anyone who dies, for any reason, reanimates as a corpse hungry for the flesh of the living. Following a failed government campaign to eliminate the bulk of the walking dead, we now have to contend with radioactive zombies who not only spread deadly contagion wherever they walk, but also are more intelligent, agile, and deadly than their regular brethren. 

Now we put on our boots, load our guns, and follow our protagonist as he works his way across the horrific wasteland that is the former United States where the casualty rate is 99%. The dead surely outnumber the living, and we see a road to exile.

Spoilers for Origin to Exile follow.

The Trouble With Peace

Having once again fallen into chaos, the Circle of the World returns to the Age of Madness as though the wars have been won for now, Joe Abercrombie shows us that an absence of conflict can be as much of a problem itself. This is indeed The Trouble With Peace.

Picking up almost directly after the end of A Little Hatred we once again join our new cast of characters in the world of the First Law. Leo dan Brock is basking in the victories he has achieved in the last novel, Savine dan Glokta is alternating between her life collapsing around her and making something of herself, Prince Orso is finding terrifying new responsibilities while feeling stuck in a moribund power structure, Rikke struggles with the Long Eye, Broad doesn't know whether he is a man of peace or war, Vick struggles with her role in the Union, and Clover is trying to stay alive beneath the capricious and violent shadow of Stour Nightfall. 

From goodreads.com

I admit to not quite knowing what to think going into this book. It raised the stakes in a way I hadn't seen used by Abercrombie before. He wasn't giving us any indication of an imminent war at the end of the last book, the status quo seemed to be god. Of course, by the end of the first third of the book that's all been thrown out the window as men's ambitions are never satiated!

This book was, compared to much of Abercrombie's other work, a sort of slow burn. The machinations of our protagonists built over time, and the results definitely took time to get to the payoff. The final act of this book though, was spectacular, but more on that in a moment.

Savine dan Glokta, Leo dan Brock, and Prince Orso arguably took center stage for this piece. They had the most view point issues by far, and over all, managed to drive the plot almost in spite of the presence of other characters. I do think that this series has, overall, shaped up to almost be about the main characters of Savine, Leo, Orso, and Rikke, with the others being more of a supporting cast to these four characters machinations.

That said, this book was the most political and bathed in conspiracy and backstabbing since arguably Last Argument of Kings and Best Served Cold, and it had many call outs to Best Served Cold which absolutely endeared it to me. Those two books contained some of Abercrombie's best pushes towards political backstabbing and personal vengeance, as well as amazing battle scenes. Though The Trouble With Peace is a lot less bloody than those two, it doesn't disappoint when it comes to battles or treachery. The slow burn plot does an excellent job of giving us reasons to root for both sides of the emerging battle lines, and it makes it quite impressive as the two factions end up coalescing around various characters, and the lengths each character is willing to go to because each character believes so firmly in their cause.

I believe that this book works well because A Little Hatred built up these characters so that we could care about them. That they now have competing ambitions in a time of peace makes it so much more tense as you get led along through conspiracy, webs of lies, and competing ideas and ambitions which pits these men directly against one another. It means that the stakes are very real, and as the book comes blazing towards its conclusion you get a number of shocks and feel real tension for our main characters as they come up against obstacles both on and off the field of battle. I won't spoil where that battle takes place, but boy does it take everything Abercrombie has built on since the last few installments and really make it shine.

The finale honestly blew me away. It combined some of Abercrombie's best work in writing well plotted violence, the tension he can create for both combatants and non-combatants, and the sheer pull of characters. He shows the push and pull of a battlefield in ways that, quite honestly, many people who write military fiction often fail to do. The ground pounders view to the commanders view lets you see the chaos, the violence, and the blood and mud. I loved that about his writing and anyone who loved his standalone The Heroes won't be disappointed by what he manages to craft here. Then the aftermath of the battle, and the actions of the victors, just adds an entirely new layer of excellence.

Personally, I don't feel this will become my favorite book of his. It takes much of what he does well and combines it, but I do think that some of the pacing felt off. The characters and their flawed actions were all very well executed, but I don't think it had the same stakes as say, Best Served Cold or Before They Are Hanged. While it is an excellent middle book, which reintroduces us to some of our favorite characters from the previous series, I did honestly think something was missing overall. Perhaps it was that the main four I highlighted felt like they received more attention so that the secondary characters all felt like a supporting cast where in A Little Hatred they played more central roles and had more agency. It also might be that I felt that a few of the revelations were not as well foreshadowed as they might have been.

All that being said, I sincerely enjoyed this book and roared right through it in a couple days. Fast paced and it never once drags and gives you a bit of everything you enjoy about Abercrombie. Characters are maimed, people claim the ashes of victory, and many new and scary revelations are brought to the forefront. It is just more proof that Abercrombie remains an excellent writer.

The Way of Kings

Way back in 2012 I picked up The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I saw the cover and, on a whim, I snatched it up. I had no idea then that I would leap down into the world of Roshar with both feet and not once look back as I rode the storms into the greater world of Brandon Sanderson's cosmere.

Now for full disclosure, I actually had to put this book down the first time I started reading it. Brandon Sanderson does an amazing job at capturing a character who is burnt out, facing depression, and on the verge of a total breakdown. It was so well done that I, who was at the time facing one of my own, was unable to read about a character who had similar problems. Boy am I glad that I picked it up again though because that put me in a much better mood. I've re-read the book three times now, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it each time. I firmly feel that, to date, Way of Kings is the best book he has yet written.

A copy which owes me nothing

The Way of Kings is the opening to Brandon's epic series, The Stormlight Archive. It is projected to be a ten book long undertaking with two distinct arcs of five books each. I say these things in advance just so people know why I'm going to be gushing about the cosmere for, oh, say the next decade or so.

But what is this story? Way of Kings is set on the world of Roshar, far unlike anything you've ever seen before. The single continent is perpetually lashed by highstorms, hurricane like storms which come randomly sweeping east to west, scouring the land and creating a landscape and creatures we would find wholly unnatural. Grass lives in tiny holes in the ground that it retreats into when the winds rise. Trees will hug in their branches to stay alive, and animals have shells and other methods of hiding and surviving which will spare them the worst of that damage.

Humans too have to adapt to survive this world. They build in the shelter of natural concentrations of rocks, lees and valleys which hide their homes from the worst of the winds. It's a world very different from our own.

Far in the past, humanity was cast from the Tranquiline Halls by the Voidbringers, demons who hated humanity. Humanity had the Ten Heralds who led them against Desolations where the Voidbringers would invade and ravage Roshar. Protected by the Knights Radiant, the Heralds and Humanity banished the Voidbringers and the Heralds left the world to bring the fight to the enemy in the afterlife. However, the Knights Radiant later betrayed humanity, and so left behind their great weapons, shardplate and shardblades. 

In the present day, four thousand years after Aharietiam, the Last Desolation, the nation of Alethkar is at war. Their king has been assassinated by the mysterious Parshendi people, and so they have sworn the Vengeance Pact to bring the assassins to justice. It is a brutal war which has lasted for six years.

Roshar

We follow three characters, the disgraced warrior Kaladin, the warlord Dalinar, and the scholar to be, Shallan. Each of these three characters begin in disparate stories, separated by geography, motivation and class. One is a slave, one an impoverished noble daughter, and the other head of an Alethi princedom, and seen as the power behind the throne.

Kaladin's story was, to me, a very poignant and personal one, but one that was not without hope. His start as an amazing fighter who eventually falls as low as one can in that society, and the resultant hopelessness he feels hit very close to home. I enjoyed Kaladin, and the family he found in Bridge Four, where he is cast out and left to be used as cannon fodder. This story of rediscovering humanity and friendship spoke to me. I definitely enjoyed Kaladin and his growth into a leader, that he gets an amazing spren companion in Syl, just added to the fun.

Shallan was actually my favorite character in this book. Her journey to find the famous heretic princess, scholar Jasnah, a formidable character in her own right, was one I sympathized with. Jasnah's artistic talent being unappreciated by her mentor, and her growth in the love of finding knowledge. Her quick wit, and determination to move forward was another thing I found inspiring.

Dalinar Kholin, the Blackthorn, unifier of Alethkar, and brother to a murdered king, is probably an fan and series favorite. I admit, he is on my list to be the best character in the series. I can never decide who I enjoy more as a main character. However, his story is one of the burdens of leadership, and the possibility that he is going insane. During every highstorm he receives visions and a voice commands him to "unite them" and this has caused him to try and live by increasingly strict Alethi codes, and the philosophy of the book The Way of Kings. It puts him at odds with his former friend and ally, Torol Sadeas, who doesn't share his vision. Putting the two most powerful highprinces at odds, Dalinar battles his visions, his son who questions his sanity, and his own doubts. If he fails, he may doom his entire kingdom.

As a set up for an epic fantasy series, I don't think this book can be beat. It is a detailed piece of worldbuilding, story driven adventure, and revelation of an ongoing mystery. You can very easily begin to question all the assumptions you have about the world presented to you, as everything is not necessarily as it seems. In what could be the defining feature of all of Brandon's books, there's always another secret. Clever, witty, and it will not fail to constantly exceed your expectations.

Way of Kings straddles the line between being an expositionary tale for building the world and lore of Roshar and beginning the whole saga of the Stormlight Archive very well. It separates each part of the book through interludes which are clever little vignettes which flesh out the world of Roshar, some of the side characters, and even give us more information on the cosmere as a whole. People who have been digging for the deeper mysteries in the whole of the cosmere will be happy with what they find, but usefully, those who don't want to read the whole of the cosmere don't have to understand these hints to enjoy the story.

As per usual, there is a very strong emphasis on the magic of the world of Roshar. This time, even for Brandon Sanderson, it is complex. It is used rationally, and very much is apart of the world itself. We have three distinct magic systems, all revolving around complex bonds and the use of various implements. Surges and Soulcasting are the mainstay, explored differently by each story arc. Then there's the shards and shardplate, something we still don't fully understand how it was created. Attached to that is fabrials, devices which harness the magical energy of spren and use them for mundane things like telling time or heating. It adds some great depth and flavor to the world, and of course, it shows off Brandon's impressive ability to create and utilize his magic in very plot important ways.

The action with this one is almost as powerful and visceral as that in the Mistborn series. It uses the magic so well, and is very cleverly written. The shardblades and shardplate make for some amazing scenes, and they are basically power armor that you would normally see in science fiction. The sheer power put forth in these ancient artifacts of destruction is amazing to see on the page. Coupled with Brandon's skill at raising the stakes as the story progresses, I promise you that you won't be disappointed with what you see!

Having now re-read this book three times, I can say it still stands tall as one of my all time favorites, especially in the fantasy genre. As I said in my Mistborn review, while that trilogy remains his perfect trilogy so far, Way of Kings remains his most perfect book to date. 

What If The Central Powers Won WWI

There's a pretty healthy market for works on alternate history regarding WWII or a Nazi Victory and I've read a lot of it, but there seems to be something of a dearth speculating on what might have happened if the Axis had never risen at all. What if, instead, Germany stood ascendant in Europe, the Entente were humbled, and the Central Powers had stood triumphant in the Great War?

So there's two options for a Central Powers victory, the 'quick' victory of knocking out France in 1914 and then turning around and bruising Russia until it asks for an armistice in 1915-16 or the long painful drawn out peace of exhaustion circa 1918. I'll cover both in these coming articles.

Option 1) The Short War

The Imperial German Military, prior to 1914, had won a series of stunning victories over it's European opponents from 1864-1870, whether the Danes, the Austrians, or the French, they had shown an incredible ability to take the fight to the enemy and overwhelm them forcing peace on them. With how wars had gone afterwards, the Russo-Turkish War, the Second Boer War, and even the Russo-Japanese War, European military planners had every expectation that any war they fought would be relatively swift and decisive. A multi-year slugging match was not envisioned by almost anyone at the time.

That was the basis around which the Schlieffen Plan was made. The quick knockout blow to France, and then turning around to bring the fight to Russia. In brief summation, a quick knockout blow to invade France through Belgium, swing around and sucker punch the French, and occupy Paris and force the French nation to the negotiating table. 

Was this a feasible plan in real life? Would the French have simply surrendered? Eh, very hard to say, but probably not. It was a flawed plan with many holes, and was absolutely dependent on the French doing as the Germans wanted, which as we saw in our own timeline, wasn't going to happen. It was inflexible, inaccurate, and didn't allocate nearly enough men before it began getting messed around with during the historic Battle of the Frontiers. Then the logistics are another story of flawed improvisation. The Great War channel does an excellent video on the plan and why it failed historically.

From wikimediacommons

For the purposes of this discussion, we're going to assume that the Germans do manage to swing around the French and occupy Paris, forcing the British and French armies towards the Channel and the south of France. The French, demoralized and looking for an easy peace, decide that they will accept negotiations with the German Empire, but no armistice is signed right away, and the BEF is allowed to slip away.

Now, important to note here is that until a peace treaty is signed, the Germans cannot send all of their strength to the Eastern front with Russia. They have to keep enough troops to occupy the portions of France they have, and occupy Belgium to prevent the British from trying to sneak their way back into the Continent. Instead, negotiations probably muddle through to the beginning of 1915, and the Germans take some land, annexing a strip of the coast at Dunkirk to vassal state Belgium, and then the regions around Briey which control much of French iron production.

However, it should be noted that the Germans will want to negotiate a quick treaty, so they probably will not be able to be as harsh as they like. The French will not have been decisively defeated, French armies are still in the field, they still have British money and ships backing their own not inconsiderable armed forces and economy. They may forgo most land claims entirely save Briey, and the Dunkirk strip in exchange for a larger indemnity to keep the French out. 

Assuming then, that the French fold for a quick armistice for a large indemnity, a minor loss of territory, and no change in their colonial empire (something which the Germans would have been pretty powerless to effect) then it could be speculated this would be a success for the Germans. Now they can afford to turn more men to the East and go beat up Russia.

This doesn't mean they're done fighting though. The British will be rearing to go fighting on the seas, they will most likely send troops to fight in Russia instead of France, while diverting more effort to messing up the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. However, there would be fewer neutral powers, like Italy and Romania, willing to join this war on the side of the Entente with the Central Powers so clearly triumphant.

How much of a difference British forces in Russia makes is hard to quantify. Their ships will certainly still help strangle the German economy, even though they'll be stretched thinner. British troops in the Baltics would probably prevent the Germans from so completely overrunning them and act as an important shield to St. Petersburg. However, with the Russians themselves not having much more luck than OTL against getting battered, and possible strains between British and Russian commanders, it is unlikely they can really hold off the Germans into 1917 without both sides deciding to sue for peace. The Germans would have the worry of French deciding to break their treaty, as they are merely humbled but not broken, and the British and Russians would be bearing the brunt of the fighting.

Peace in this scenario will probably mean similar annexations from the Russians (an independent Poland, Ukraine and Belarus) but probably the Baltics will stay in Russian hands. The Russians too will be forced to pay an indemnity. Something similar enough to Brest-Litovsk, but not exactly it, changing with the face of the war.

Now, with Britain probably having been forced to withdraw from the Continent with both of her allies bowing out of the war, she could choose to fight on. However, with only her navy and smaller army, there are few places they could actually menace the Germans. They can keep beating up the Ottoman's, but what would that serve? They could keep the blockade going, but that is a costly and long term solution which may not bear fruit with the recent German conquests. The Germans themselves, facing the problem of Napoleon, would probably try more indirect attacks on Britain, as they couldn't hope to invade the little island.

Instead, the two sides will probably find themselves each making an unhappy peace with one another, the Germans settling in to an uneasy control over much of the Continent, and the British, unbowed, unbent, unbroken, looking to the future when they can unseat Germany. The Great War ends, late 1916.

It's important to note that despite the Germans laying out their strategic hopes in the historic Septemberprogramm, there is practically no way they will get everything they want from their victories. Changing circumstances in the war, the need to garrison new conquests, and the simple need to keep certain players out will mean that the Germans can't just take what they want. Even the Entente Powers in 1918/19 at Versailles simply couldn't dictate terms to the defeated Central Powers as they fell apart. They had to make many sacrifices, and they had overwhelming military power. The Germans here, will not. I think there is far too much speculation around a Central Powers victory giving them everything they desire, when the historic Entente victory came with so many pitfalls of its own.

So what happens to the other Central Powers in this scenario?

Though Germany took the blame for starting the war at Versailles the country which arguably bore the guilt for feeding the conflict into a larger war was that doddering institution known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Though a Serb assassinating Franz-Ferdinand started the conflict, Austria-Hungary's increasingly strident and almost insane demands forced Russia's hand which triggered an avalanche of military mobilizations and interlocking alliances that would leave millions dead. Historically, the empire was battered into submission and the death of Emperor Franz Joseph and the succession of his great-nephew Karl, meant that there was no truly stable force to keep the empire alive and the Fourteen Points of Wilson, coupled with increasing nationalistic unrest and defeat, splintered the Empire permanently.

Here though, if the treaties can be concluded in 1916, you have an Emperor who has lived through a successful war and when he dies it may well be in a nation at peace. The new Emperor Karl, who appeared to support a more federated empire, may be able to bring stability to the various realms which comprise this great chunk of Europe. With some minor concessions from Serbia and Russia in territory, the Empire may very well thrive and be able to rebuild. A victorious Germany next door will be a very good way to keep a lid on things, and the need to mind Germany's new vassal states in Eastern Europe will probably cinch cooperation between the two. The empire will probably be stable, for a time at least.

The Ottoman Empire on the other hand, the one power which Britain would probably concentrated a lot of its energy on, would still be badly beaten up. The British would have done their best to kick off regional revolts like they did in our timeline, the Armenian genocide would still have taken place, and the Ottoman's would most likely still have suffered at the hands of Russia in the Caucuses. It would be the now very sick man of Europe, and even with help from its other Central Powers benefactors would probably not be long for the world.

Nationalistic revolts, angry Arabs, Kurds, and Armenians, all probably see the Ottomans descending into nasty civil wars and revolts in the 1930s perhaps as the army will eventually get fed up and overthrow the Sultan. Expect it to break up before too long I think.

The last member of the Central Powers, mighty little Bulgaria, will also be quite pleased with what it accomplishes. Having been badly beaten in the Second Balkan War, the Bulgarians nursed hearty grudges against all their neighbors, and historically the ascendancy of the Central Powers in 1915 brought them in on their side. Here, that obviously still happens, and so they help crush Serbia, and then go on to menace Greece and Romania into neutrality while sending men to help bludgeon the Russians. Historically the were promised the portions of Serbia in Vardar and east of the Morava River. They may even be able to use the victory to level concessions from Romania for the portion of Dobruja they had so wanted historically. Either way, Bulgaria will be the big winner from this war. 

In the rest of the world, a white peace with Britain may see the Germans take control of the Belgian Congo, as a stepping stone for a greater German empire in Africa as they can't force Britain's hand in Africa, nor that of France. They may be forced to relinquish their Pacific holdings, but with the Congo in their hands, no great loss. The British Empire remains untouched, the Japanese Empire has made some minor gains at the Germans expense, and so are probably on Germany's hit list for the future.

Hypothetical Europe/Africa circa 1918

What about the neutrals though? Those who didn't join the war?

The obvious elephant in the room is the United States. Having sat the war out they haven't yet had to build up their military strength, and having only partially fallen menace to Germany's submarine warfare campaign, they will maybe only see naval expansion as a necessity. Without having mobilized a large wartime army, no Zimmerman Telegram to make them feel threatened at home, it is unlikely they will truly develop the military muscle and nationalistic pride they had in our timeline. Instead, I think it likely that the ethnic nationalism (first language newspapers, purely German speaking communities among others) persists to a great degree in the 20th Century, possibly until well past the midpoint. The US is more concerned about the chaos in Mexico on it's southern border and collecting the debts the Entente owes them.

Italy meanwhile, is sulky because Austria still controls territory it considers Italian, they have competing ambitions in the Adriatic, and Italy still wants to expand its African empire. They are probably side eyeing the Central Powers whom they screwed over by staying neutral, and the Germans and Austrians are doing the same to them. Romania, for her part, is simply feeling lucky it sat out the war. There's an uneasy peace in Europe.

By 1920 the world is in an uneasy new status quo. France, Britain, and Russia will all be hopping mad, and looking for revanche, while Germany is busy policing a new colonial empire in Africa and Eastern Europe, neither of which may take kindly to being occupied. How long this can last is open to debate, but with a well armed and still wealthy Britain to back Germany's enemies, I think it's only reasonable to conclude both sides would be looking for Round 2, and with a short decisive war being the norm, why not?

Since if I continue this piece to cover the war of exhaustion we're going to run over four to six thousand words, I'm going to split this into two for a part two, Peace of Exhaustion! Stay Tuned!