I really hope that one day, the first sentence of this article is something like "Peggy Druce was one of the most storied and accomplished American spies of World War II." TR 17:35, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
- Well . . . We can hope.
- We know she gets out of Germany in the next book and that she somehow wins over Hitler himself, so she's going to do something more than she has. And I kind of like her, too, so I have faith in her ability to carry a story if Turtledove would give her one. Turtle Fan 17:53, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
You know, writing the articles on the HW POVs really isn't so bad. And with W&E on the horizon, we really should get it taken care of or we'll be stuck with a huge backlog. This guy who's putting up non-formatted notes is providing us with valuable motivation. If it weren't for those we'd still be putting this crap off. Turtle Fan 20:22, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
The first W&E scene for the woman we've tapped as the novel's breakout character? She gets stopped by a cop and spends the entire scene recounting her experiences from the last book. Actually, in terms of formula, it reminded me of Ruth's chat with Mencken. Except that taught us new information, and was much more interesting besides.
I haven't read everyone's reintroduction yet, but no one else so far has had a recap of the last book, though Fightin' Joe Lemp had about half of one. And they're two of the easiest to keep straight. I'd have appreciated a reminder of which of the near-identical Western Front scenes belonged to Walsh, Harcourt, Jezek, Rudel, Dernen, and Hossbach (or rather his predecessor), respectively. At least it would have let us de-stub some of their articles. Turtle Fan 06:12, July 29, 2010 (UTC)
Hey Lady, Learn to Read a Map![]
Looking at a world map in my classroom this morning, I noticed that Tajikistan borders Pakistan. In 1939 the former was Soviet and the latter British. The Soviets have offered her a visa. (Just how willing they'd be to expedite her travels once she's in their territory is a good question, but not one that she raised.) Most of her escape plans involve England, so I'd assume she'd have no trouble getting clearance to enter British dominions. Crossing this particular would be perilous for other reasons: Neither of those -stans was what you'd anachronistically call Developed, and that's the Hindu Kush she'd be traveling through. Once inside the Raj, however, her troubles would be over: With the Japanese going balls to the wall in Manchuria and Siberia, she'd be able to travel through Southeast Asia unmolested, assuming that she manages to offend neither the Thais nor the French nor the Dutch. So she works her way east to the Philippines and she's in US territory. A ship will sail for home from there sooner or later.
Another option would be to cross into Turkey from the Caucacus and work her way to West Africa; she'll be able to get something to Britain or France from there. We've had no indication that the Germans are supporting Rashid Ali's anti-British uprising in Iraq, nor that he's even planning one at all, let alone requesting Axis support for it.
Now maybe she'll try one of these and the war will reach that region unexpectedly, as it did in Denmark. Maybe she'll even somehow find herself in Shanghai (She'd be going the wrong direction, but poetic license is poetic license) when the Japanese attack, and McGill has to protect her or liberate her after she's captured and interred. Two characters who've each done little or nothing to advance the story on their own combine forces to narrate a major subplot. (Druce introduced the Scandinavian campaign in W&E; McGill is less monotonous in Shanghai than he was in Beijing, but no less superfluous.) I like that idea.
Anyway, the fact remains that she's missed a trick. It's not impossible to get from Central Europe to America without crossing an active front, if you're willing to go the long way around. Turtle Fan 23:30, September 22, 2010 (UTC)