SBR: Watching the first season of the show The Man in the High Castle got me interested in alternate history as a genre, and the book behind the show seemed like a good place to start. That’s how I picked up the book. Not surprisingly, the book’s feel is very different from the show. It isn’t as plot driven as the show, the characters are much more loosely connected, and there is no story of the East Coast at all. I liked the book, overall, but its mystic ending didn’t sit well with me.

To read or not to read: Yes, if you are interested reading alternate history, because it is a classic of sorts in the genre. For entertainment and fun, the show does a better job by changing and adding all that it has done.