I have read the first book in this omnibus and am looking forward to the rest! Review below:

If nothing else, Jo Walton gets props for how incredibly different each of her series are from each other; the breadth of her ideas is fascinating to see.

That can mean her works are hit or miss for me, but this is one of the ones I've enjoyed the most so far. The alt-history set up is intriguing, and I appreciated the way Walton doled out hints of what happened as the story progressed, revealing not just the murder mystery but more details about the world. Farthing also works well as a cautionary tale - it's all too easy to see aspects of Lucy's world being replicated within today's politics - without ever feeling like it was designed solely for that purpose.

I would have liked more of a resolution to the murder mystery plotline, especially since Ha'penny doesn't appear to be a direct sequel, but otherwise a very thought provoking read.

I very much appreciate being gifted this copy of Small Change, and the opportunity to read & review it. Thanks to the publisher. I've read several books by Jo Walton and truly loved them, and it was wonderful to read some of her older works.

Tor Essentials is bringing Jo Walton's brilliant Small Change trilogy to new readers with the re-release of all three books in one delightful package. We begin in the 1940s, where the UK has made peace with Hitler, the Americans have never entered the war, and continental Europe has been taken over by the Third Reich. Civil liberties are eroding in the UK, but the elite aren't worried. Sound familiar? The frog is in the boiling water.

Farthing, the first book, introduces us to Inspector Carmichael, a closeted gay, who is in charge of the murder investigation of one of the Farthing set, a man who helped broker the UK-Reich peace. His investigation alternates with the story of Lucy, daughter of one of the Farthing set, who had the temerity to marry a Jewish man. The contrast between polite society expectations versus personal morals bolsters the mystery and the social satire.

The events of Ha'penny begin soon after the conclusion of Farthing, as more of the Farthing set's children become entwined in a plot to assassinate Hitler at a performance of a gender-swapped Hamlet. Carmichael again investigates, and the alternate narrator is Viola Lark, actress. The story examines the consequences of every choice made in a totalitarian society and how we can choose to be complacent or activist, while also examining the loyalties of family and friendship.

The trilogy concludes with Half a Crown, set in the early 1960s. Carmichael's ward, Elvira, is caught up in a political rally and arrested. Carmichael, by now head of the Watch, must free her from the system, as his political rivals and enemies play a cat and mouse game in the machinations of the now-fascist regime. The alternation of Carmichael and Elvira's narratives show how easily it is to go from the favored to the non-favored side in such a regime.

This alternate history world is stunningly realistic. Jo Walton is a master of poignant commentary slipped into three mystery thrillers. Brava!

"Farthing" starts the trilogy with a gripping scenario set in an alternate 1949 Britain, where World War II ended differently. The story revolves around a murder mystery at a country estate, Farthing, where a group of influential people who brokered peace with Hitler gather. The narrative is split between Lucy, the daughter of a powerful political family, and Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard. Walton masterfully blends the cozy English country house mystery with a chilling portrayal of an England sliding into fascism. The book's strength lies in its detailed world-building and the subtle horror of its plausible alternate history. The characters, particularly Lucy and Carmichael, are well-developed, offering insights into the complexities of living in a society where personal and political morals are in constant conflict.

In "Ha'penny," Walton continues to explore the ramifications of a Nazi-appeased Britain. Set shortly after the events of "Farthing," the novel introduces Viola Lark, a famous actress drawn into a plot to assassinate Hitler and the British Prime Minister. Inspector Carmichael returns, grappling with the moral compromises he's made to survive in this altered Britain. The novel shifts gears from a murder mystery to a more intense political thriller, examining the cost of resistance and the ease of complacency in a totalitarian society. Walton's portrayal of a society on the brink of tyranny is both compelling and disturbing, making "Ha'penny" a standout in the trilogy. The book is successful in weaving a complex narrative that combines personal drama with broader political stakes.

The Small Change trilogy concludes with "Half a Crown," set in a Britain where the fascist regime has solidified its power. The story focuses on Elvira Royston, a young woman who becomes entangled in political intrigue. Inspector Carmichael, now a high-ranking official in the regime, faces his own moral dilemmas as he tries to protect Elvira and others from the government's oppressive policies. Walton brings the series to a powerful close, skillfully tying together the threads of the previous books. The novel excels in its depiction of a society where the abnormal has become normal, and the cost of dissent is higher than ever. Half a Crown is memorable for its intense narrative and the emotional depth of its characters, offering a satisfying conclusion to a thought-provoking and chillingly plausible alternate history.

Overall, Jo Walton's "Small Change" trilogy is a remarkable work of speculative fiction, offering a haunting look at how history could have unfolded. The series is intricately plotted, there's rich character development, and it provoked deep reflection on themes of power, resistance, and morality.

Small Change includes a historical fantasy trilogy: Farthing, Ha'Penny and Half a Crown. The action occurs in an alternate England where, after the start of WW II, an upper-crust set took control from Churchill and came to terms with Hitler.

This deal with the devil leads England down a slippery slope, deeper and deeper into fascism. Different individuals fight back in the 3 stories.

This trilogy is a must read for fantasy fans and anyone concerned with civil liberties today.

Ahoy there mateys! I have only read one other book by this author but I want to read her entire catalogue.  This is an omnibus of the three books in the Small Change series.  Published by Tor Essentials, this imprint "presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure."  This series is an alternate history of World War II where the war ended in 1941 with the  Farthing Peace between England and Germany.  This trilogy is excellently written and was extremely hard to read.  This was because it was written too well.  The hatred for the Jews and other undesirables rolled right off the pages.  Each novel is told mostly through a different woman's perspective but has a plot through-line via chapters interspersed with the viewpoint of Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard.  This is a political mystery, a social commentary, and a warning about prejudice and hatred today even if the first book was written in 2006.  It made me heart heart.  It made my head hurt.  I didn't enjoy the entire read and I don't think I was supposed to.  There isn't a happy ending and it is not satisfying.  That said, I have been thinking about it ever since I finished.  It is powerful.  I have no regrets about the book but many about how our society continues to function.  Arrr!

What sneakily begins like a book of British manners, narrated from the view point of the privileged, notes things that didn't occur as they're told. The battle of Dunkirk, yes, but Winston Churchill losing power in a coup? Small Change: The Complete Trilogy is the collected edition of Jo Walton's alternate history series, where everything was the same up to 1941, then this world diverged from ours. Here, Nazi Germany reached a peace settlement with Great Britain, called the Farthing Peace, leaving Germany the dominant power on the European continent. Where British "undesirables" are shipped to meet their fates. Across these three books, we follow the career of Peter Carmichael, narrating half of the chapters, from the 1940s through the 1960s. The other half of each book is narrated by the key person for that volume. In series order they are: Lucy Kahn, Viola Lark and Elvira Royston.

Alternate time period aside, these books are straightforward historical fiction mysteries. In each work Carmichael, first as a detective for Scotland Yard, is assigned to resolve an investigation or issue. He does this in typical police procedures fashion, balancing the political meddling of his superiors with the interviews and tracing of clues that informs the true series of events.

What adds a further layer of difficulty to Carmichael's work, is the growing power of British Fascists who use are using the events of the first book to their own end. The antisemitism of the British upper class is no secret of history, and informs relations here too. Walton describes herself as an optimist, but that the series was written to show "how people do bad things — how we do bad things, and allow them to be done in our name."*

In this latter point, which has been the focus of much scholarship about Nazi Germany, the book truly makes it point. Carmichael's personal life complicates his ability to be a free agent, and blackmail or the threat of it is just as useful to those in power as having the muscle to carry out their orders.

The Small Change series asks the hard questions of what price are you willing to pay for your ideals? What constitutes doing good in a country (or world) driven by the selfish quest for power and control? We may think of the Third Reich as monstrous, but there was a steady process of choice and decision that lead to their crimes against humanity. Walton shows this gradation, but with some optimism about the eventual triumph of courage and bravery.

*"The Small Change Series." Jo Walton Accessed September 7, 2023.

Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC of this title

I've been picking at this one for a while since I got the galley - it's an omnibus of all three of Jo Walton's trilogy, and each book is densely packed with world-building in a delightful way. What starts on the surface as a standard post-WWII murder mystery managed to pull the rug out from under me when the details of post-war England reveal that this is also an alternate history where England made a truce with Germany and everything is slowly sliding into fascism.

It's all brilliantly done, and I like the way we stick with the detective character from the first book to dive into the consequences of all this across the other two books. This was a rich world to spend time with.

'Small Change' is a collection of three novels set in an alternate history world where the Nazis won the war; originally published from 2006 to 2008 and republished in one book here. The premise and the books as a whole are quite good, especially towards the end of the third book where things start to resolve.

The lead character Carmichael is well developed over the course of the three books and his struggles, both internal and external, are understandable. I found most of the other characters to be somewhat underdeveloped however and I couldn't relate to them much, especially the women.

The first two books start out as mysteries which are solved at the end, but the third book is less structured. The world-building is pretty much the UK with Hitler and the writing is simple and straightforward. I did appreciate the exploration of homophobia and anti-semitism issues in the alternate historical time period.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The rating is Two and a half stars, rounded up to Three stars for the resolution of the whole collection.

[Half a star for the premise and the whole book; Half a star for the characters; Half a star for the writing; Half a star for the story; Half a star for the world-building - Two and a half stars in total.]

In 2009, I read Jo Walton's WW2 alternative history/mystery trilogy known as the Small Change series. It imagines an England in which Churchill was overthrown in 1941 in favor of appeasers who made peace with Germany. The individual titles in the series are FARTHING, HA'PENNY and HALF A CROWN. Years ago, author Jo Walton said that the inspiration for this series was her concern about the US and UK deciding to invade Iraq with no UN Security Council backing and, as we now know, a false basis. Today, with right-wing authoritarianism and antisemitism on the rise, it seems like a good time to reissue the series in one volume, as Tor has done here. As the introduction states, the theme of the series is people’s reactions to the country descending into fascism. Do they resist, just try to get along, or embrace the new landscape?

The through-line of the series is police inspector Peter Carmichael, who keeps quiet about his more liberal viewpoints, and the fact that he is gay, as he does his job. Each book in the series features a different female voice narrating, with Carmichael coming into the story to investigate the crime of that particular book. In the first book, Farthing, set in 1949, that female voice is Lucy Eversley Khan, daughter of the Eversleys of Farthing, a highly placed and politically influential family. They, especially Lucy’s mother, were none too happy when Lucy married David Khan, a Jew. Carmichael’s world and Lucy’s come together when a guest is murdered at Farthing and his corpse marked in a way intended to cast suspicion on David Khan. This novel is a little like an Agatha Christie whodunnit with a heavy helping of political danger.

Ha’Penny, which begins immediately after the close of Farthing, involves a plot to murder both Adolf Hitler and Prime Minister Mark Normanby, a member of the so-called “Farthing Set,” the political rightist group that the Eversleys belong to. The female voice here is actress Viola Lark, whose background is reminiscent of the often notorious real-life Mitford girls. (For Mitford fans: While Walton writes that there are six sisters, and her description of them is similar to the real-life Mitford sisters, there are enough differences that we can’t pinpoint Viola as being the equivalent to any particular Mitford.) This second book in the series is more of a thriller than a Christie.

In Half a Crown, set 11 years later, in 1960, fascism has become established in Britain. Jews and political opponents are frequently arrested and imprisoned; even sent to work camps in Germany where they are worked to death. The plot envisions an upcoming summit meeting in London in which Germany and Japan parley to divide the world into each country’s sphere of influence/control, now that the USSR has finally been defeated. The far-right nativist British Power group plots to replace both the PM and dethrone the Queen in favor of the extremist Duke of Windsor. The female voice here is Carmichael’s ward Elvira, a teenager newly arrived home from a Swiss boarding school and about to go up to Oxford University—but not before making her debut and be presented to the Queen.

I’ve always been interested in WW2-era alternative history, and this is a very good series for anyone sharing that interest. It’s chilling to read about how readily most people just focus on their own lives, not caring about the increasingly cruel treatment of others, especially Jews. Viola Lark and Elvira, in particular, are unapologetic about doubting the stories about what happens to Jews and other minorities in Germany and its conquered territories. All three female leads are examples of people who just want to ignore politics—not matter how extreme and harmful to others—and get on with their own privileged lives. In each book, the young woman is forced out of her complacency by events. While the female characters’ lack of concern for others makes them unsympathetic characters, at least early on, it’s a realistic choice by the author to depict them this way. (I didn’t find it a realistic choice, though, for the author to have Viola be overwhelmingly attracted to a man who threatens her life. That’s one element of these books that I didn’t like at all.) This is good reading not just for those who enjoy WW2-related novels, but anyone concerned about the increasing antisemitism and authoritarianism in the US and many other places around the world.

NB: First published by Tor Books as separate hardcovers in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

A small house party in the county. A body found dead in his bed. All the making of a nice Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers. But this is Jo Walton so couldn't be anything as simple as a British murder mystery or police procedural. The murder has political overtones, and not any kind of political we are familiar with. This is a Britain that didn't resist the invasion, but made peace with Hitler. Allowed him his death cames and hatred. Who meekly followed along without much resistance.

It is a frightening world, and Carmichael is an interesting character trying to navigate his way through murder, dissension, and choices that compromise everything he believes in and holds dear. Perhaps mostly his own integrity.

A series definitely worth reading as it is very thought-provoking.

Jo Walton's books are creative, thought provoking, and all entirely different. I first read the Farthing trilogy several years ago and I am pleased to see it getting a new omnibus release, especially since the issues that it deals with are sadly more and more topical.

This trilogy starts off with the premise that World War II ended in a peace treaty between Hitler and the British. The Nazi party still rules in Germany, and although England is now no longer at war, we are left instead with an insidious slide into fascism. The first book deals with a murder at a country home, where a set of England's political and societal upper class have gathered. While at first it seems like a typical British murder mystery, the brilliance of the writing becomes more and more clear as we are exposed to the dark side of this new "peaceful" Britain. The following two volumes delve deeper into the post-war period, using a Scotland Yard detective as the main character.

Anyone who is interested in alternate WWII history and the societal implications of appeasing fascists should take a look at this trilogy. When I first read the books they were frightening but somewhat distant. These days they feel all too relevant. If you haven't tried Jo Walton before this is a thoughtful and compelling introduction to her work.

Jo Walton's Small Change books are classic speculative fiction. In a world where Britain made peace with Nazi Germany, Walton shows how fascism creeps into everyday life, how governments that cater to the rich fail everyone else, and how the work of individuals can make a difference in fighting against inequality, racial and religious hatred, and the loss of rights. I thought these books were brilliant when I first read them a number of years ago, but they are even more important now as Britain and the US are in danger of very real homegrown fascism.

Small Change pulls together Jo Walton’s entire trilogy of an alternate history where Britain and Germany declare a truce. I hadn’t known they were mysteries as well, which actually helped a lot in me being able to enjoy these more. Where each narrator is different, Inspector Carmichael remains the same as he investigates the crimes in each story. My personal favorite was the middle of the trilogy, Ha’penny. This is a great collection for fans of alternate histories and mystery stories.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

I love Jo Walton! Well, I only met her once at a book signing, and she was perfectly delightful, but I mean to say is that I love her books.

I first encountered her in 2013, when I checked Among Others out from the library - I knew it had won the Hugo and the Nebula Awards and I I wanted to check it out. I was in love with this book. I loved the protagonist and I loved the magic. I remember reading through the section on how the narrator thought she had used magic to conjure up the book club at the library and then I turn the page and found a bookmark that some previous reader had left in this library book I was reading. The bookmark turned out to be a torn our page from her day calendar. The day of the calendar page was the day of my first child’s birth. This made the book feel even more magical.

So when My Real Children came out, I borrowed it from the library and I also loved it. And then I found out about her Thessaly books. As a lapsed classicist who loves robots, time travel, and Greek mythology, this seemed like the perfect book for me. And it was! I devoured the series and was thrilled to be able to meet Ms. Walton at a bookstore in Brooklyn for her book tour of the third volume, during which I got her to sign all three books in the series.


So I was thrilled beyond belief when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC of her Small Change series from the Tor Essentials line.

This volume contains the complete series, comprising the novels Farthing, Ha’penny, Half a Crown, and the short story “Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction”.

If you haven’t read them before then woo! are you in for a treat! These may be the absolute best alternate history books I have ever read, even better that the Lady Astronaut series (which I love!). The books are set in a world where Hitler and England signed a truce. Jews in England are second class citizens at best, and fascism has crept in so slowly that people have barely realized it. These books read even more strongly now in the 2020s than they did when they were written, with the rise of fascism at home so much clearer, now that so many are willing to say the quiet part out loud.

But they are also mystery novels! Each book alternates between one point of view character and Inspector Carmichael, who is investigating the mystery.

I don’t want to spoil the plot but I will say that I regret having read these books only because I cannot read them again for the first time. Truly fantastic.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.