Best Fictional WW2 era novels

[Revan sith]

Leon Uris's Battle Cry is good.

 

[SFSLovenought]

Harry Turtledove's WorldWar series is really good, from what I remember.

 

[FarEast]

Will read next week : Ken Follett Winter of the World. (I am nearly done with the first book)

Loved Fatherland from Harris (Although it plays later in a fictional what-if-nazis-would-have-won-the-war world)

Yes, I love it. I am just reading this book. That's nice story and including WW2 event.

 

[zinger98]

A book I wrote that is on the bookshelves about a fictional time traveler that goes back in time and alters history in the Pacific during World War II.

 

[BigBobBear]

not exactly ww2, but a series called destroyermen by Taylor Anderson is about a ship in ww2 that travels to another universe thats not exactly the same

 

[Nicolas I]

The complete serie Zero-Eight Fifteen by Hans Hellmut Kirst. This is a satire on German army life centered on Gunner Asch, a private who manages to buck the system.

The Gunner Asch series was published in English as:

The Revolt of Gunner Asch (1955)
Forward, Gunner Asch! (1956)
The Return of Gunner Asch (1957)

What Became of Gunner Asch (1964)
Party Games (1980)

 

[I Walk Aardvark]

I have to recommend "King Rat" by James Clavell. So fantastically written!

 

[MarcoRossolini]

Catch-22

'nuff said.

 

[Nicolas I]

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.

Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to, he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

 

[RJL518]

Ken Follett's The Key to Rebecca and Eye of the Needle. The best WW2 novels i have read.

 

[Romadeus]

I'm a huge fan of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. While it's not primarily a book about the war (it has a present day timeline as well, though I believe the WW2 plot takes up more than half the book), it's still one of my favorite novels of all time. If you liked The Imitation Game, it's an absolute must-read.

 

[Crush3r]

Not exactly a novel, but if you don't mind sci fi alternate history fan fiction works, there's a good Mass Effect series that has a Quarian intervention in WWII, on the side of the Germans no less. The intervention is hurried and not well planned (and Himmler's no friend). It's called the Uplifted series and it's over 1 million words long by this point (going into the post war modern era).

 

[JerseyGiants88]

Not exactly about the war but related to it: Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. I'm normally not an alternate history fan (in books or movies, though I am of course a huge Paradox games fan) but I really liked this one. It's told from a perspective of a little Jewish kid growing up in Newark, New Jersey when FDR loses the 1940 election to Charles Lindbergh who then makes a non-aggression pact with Hitler and keeps the US out of the war. Very interesting alternate political take on the war.

 

[Zupanicarr]

Anyone know any fiction from the perspective of Canadian, East Indian, or Japanese soldiers and/or just average folk? They're fascinating topics but it's so hard to find ones that cover those topics on a personal "average Joe" level.

 

[hammercat]

Anyone know any fiction from the perspective of Canadian, East Indian, or Japanese soldiers and/or just average folk? They're fascinating topics but it's so hard to find ones that cover those topics on a personal "average Joe" level.

I know several good non-fiction titles that deal with those topics but not any fiction titles. For non-fiction you could start with Farley Mowatt's "The Regiment". Mark Zuehlke has written a series of very good non-fiction books on the topic of Canadian's in WWII.

I suspect some exist but I don't remember any off the the top of my head. Maybe it is time for someone to write one.

 

[Zupanicarr]

I know several good non-fiction titles that deal with those topics but not any fiction titles. For non-fiction you could start with Farley Mowatt's "The Regiment". Mark Zuehlke has written a series of very good non-fiction books on the topic of Canadian's in WWII.

I suspect some exist but I don't remember any off the the top of my head. Maybe it is time for someone to write one.

Thanks, I'll check those out.

 

[Dawnstorme]

Going to give some of these a try sounds interesting indeed...

 

[zinger98]

Look up "Deja Vu Chronicles - Book 1 Singing Pumpkins".

 

[Gamengervi]

I liked Ivan's War by Catherine Merridale.

 

[Scutatus]

Does Das Boot count? It's historical fiction based on the experiences of a real German war reporter.

...On a German U-boat. You missed out the important part. Das Boot is gripping stuff with a brutal real ending. Highly recommended - as is the tv mini series it inspired.