Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Arc Manor Press, and author Harry Turtledove for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I’ve been reading Harry Turtledove books for close to thirty years now. If you’ve read any of his, you’ll know what to expect when you pick one up. Powerless is a very different story from many of his other alternate history books, but it still has many Turtledove trademarks in it.

Alternate history is a sub-genre of science fiction where the author takes a point in history and extrapolates what life would look like if something else had happened. In the case of Powerless, Turtledove imagines a world where the Soviet Union managed to take over the world. After reading it, my guess is that this happened sometime between the First and Second World Wars. It’s not important to the main thrust of the story, and Turtledove doesn’t give readers any insight into how it happened. The United States was split up into several different countries, each with its own Premier. Events in Powerless take place in the West Coast People’s Democratic Republic, which makes up the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.

Charlie Simpkins manages a produce store for the West Coast People’s Democratic Republic. One day, he is sent a propaganda poster to display in the window of the store. Fed up with just going along, even though everyone knows it’s propaganda, he tosses the poster in the trash. This gets the attention of local members of the Communist Party. Even a small act like not displaying a poster ends up with him demoted to a warehouse job and a black mark on his record.

Charlie is married to Lucille, and they have two children. They watch what they say at all times, even in their apartment, afraid that the authorities are listening to them for any signs of subversion. Of course, he has given them a good reason at this point to think he could be subversive. His attitude soon gets him fired from the warehouse as well. With that on his record, it will be nearly impossible to find work. Unemployment means being sent to a labor camp.

There is a brighter spot on the horizon, though. Alex Eichenlode is a progressive politician in the governing Politburo. Charlie sends him a letter asking for help since he doesn’t think what happened to him was fair. In response, Charlie gets his old job back. Eichenlode soon ousts the current Premier and takes his place, experimenting with reforms for the population. Charlie and others enjoy their newfound freedoms, only wondering when it might end.

If you’ve ever questioned what living life under an authoritarian regime would be like in the United States, Powerless gives some answers. They claim to be moving towards “true Communism,” but Charlie realizes it’s all smoke and mirrors. He has to watch everything he says, worrying about who could be listening. When he is punished for refusing to display the poster, his children suffer punishment as well. There are ways to coerce people to conform, and the government knows how to do it. There’s no rhyme or reason as to what food is available from one day to the next. The further down on the list, the poorer the produce is. For a while, Charlie finds a way to get good produce, thanks to the reforms. I knew it all wouldn’t last and wondered when the boot would come down on them. There’s some mild violence, but mostly those trying to enact the reforms are sent to the West Coast version of Siberia.

Right now, it’s scary to read Powerless. I could see this happening in this country with the authoritarianism displayed by our current President and his political party. People who once said they needed to possess AR-15s in case the government ever became “tyrannical” have now bowed and scraped to a government that’s tyrannical. Authoritarianism isn’t much different whether the dictator in charge calls himself a COmmunist or a Republican. Turtledove has timed this book right, that’s for sure.

The one off-putting thing is the repetitiveness that is a hallmark of Turtledove’s writing. He does it to pound certain points home, but it grows tiresome after a while. How many times do I have to hear that Charlie’s favorite bar has lousy bourbon but he drinks it anyway? How many times do I have to be told the bus he rides to work isn’t reliable? Apparently, way too many times.

Still, I enjoyed Powerless as much as I’ve enjoyed anything Turtledove has written. It’s timely and quite frightening in a way. If you ever wondered what life was like under an authoritarian regime, this will answer those questions.