Backlist Bonanza: 5 Underrated Books Set During WWII - Reactor

(William Morrow, 1987) If you look up the word “prolific” in the dictionary, the definition will just be a picture of Diana Wynne Jones. Out of all of her excellent middle grade and young adult novels, A Tale of Time City is up there as one of my favorites. Similar to the Narnia books, World War II takes place in the background yet underlines the tension. While evacuating London to avoid the bombings, Vivian is nabbed by two boys Jonathan and Sam, who mistake Vivian for the “Time Lady,” a woman a key figure in the founding of Time City, an important part in its future, and who also may be responsible for things in the timeline getting out of whack. There’s a mystery, a question, and some fun if stressful timeline chaos. It’s a little bit Doctor Who and a little bit Time Variance Authority but for the younger set.

(Milkweed Triptych #1 — Tor Books, 2010) The Milkweed Triptych does World War II, then the Cold War, then back to World War II, all with an alternate fantasy spin. There are superhumans, time travel, parallel universes, and eldritch horrors. Raybould Marsh, a British secret agent, uncovers a plot by a nazi scientist to create supersoldiers using dark magic. With the help of his black sheep lordling friend Will (who also happens to be a reluctant warlock), he tries to stop these new weapons from being unleashed. Two of those weapons, Klaus and Gretel, have plans of their own. The second book, The Coldest War, gets all alt history on the Cold War, while the third, Necessary Evil, dips back into World War II as an alternate alternate history.

(Philomel Books, 2021) A group of queer and racially diverse teens wandering around Germany punching nazis is just as cathartic as you imagine. Liam, a queer physicist, figures out how to tap into dark energy from another universe. Of course, it being World War II, the baddies we all love to hate want to gain that power for themselves and use it to further their terrible agenda. The only thing standing in the way are Liam and his new friends: a pair of Jewish sibling assassins looking for revenge for the atrocities at the Łódź ghetto, a Black US army encryption specialist and tech expert, and an Algerian French Muslim bodyguard. Action and adventure in a young adult historical fantasy. I’ve seen this described as an alt history Stranger Things, and yeah, I can see that.

(Tor Books, 2020) Set right around the time the US finally gets around to joining the rest of the world in the war that had already been raging for two years, this novel is Alaya Dawn Johnson doing what she does best. Phyllis has “saints’ hands,” powerful magic that drives her to kill. As a light-skinned Black woman doing wet work for a white gangster, her life is more complicated than not. Throughout the novel we follow her encounters friends, lovers, and enemies, including Dev, a mixed race Indian detective she can’t quit and Tamara, a Black dancer and card reader who can see the future. This is a world where racism is as powerful and dangerous as magic. Fans of mysteries, romance, and historical fantasy should find plenty to enjoy here. 

(G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2022) Despite being an American citizen with a husband fighting in the war, Meiko and her daughter Aiko are locked up in Minidoka, Idaho, a US-government sponsored concentration camp for people of Japanese descent. The women are trapped there along with the other 13,000 people of issei (Japanese immigrants) and nisei (second generation). That’s when the deaths start. One by one, people start falling into violent, hallucinogenic rages. Things get worse when the American scientists get involved. Fans of contagion horror, yōkai, historical fiction, and stories that dismantle the myth of American exceptionalism should definitely check this out. In a way, it reminds me of the second season of the television show The Terror, “Infamy,” which also takes place at a Japanese Concentration Camp.