Rating: 
Summary: The Gingerbread Man
Review: The first book was great, the various sequels are pretty much standardized chapters plugged into a semblance of order by some auto-writing computer program. If you want to find out what happens to those happy-go-lucky guys with ginger on their finger, buy this book and the rest of the series. I classify it as good airplane travel reading. Professor Turtledove writes well and I like his ideas, but some of these books are obviously written only as a sequel. The sex is ok but needs to drip and throb a little bit more. Carnage is pretty standard, maybe some more burning acrid flesh needs to be plugged in. None the less, its a good read so buy it and read it and, hey! keep out of those ginger snap cookies we're sending those to the Admiral of the Overlord Fleet.
Rating:
Summary: The Gingerbread Man
Review: The first book was great, the various sequels are pretty much standardized chapters plugged into a semblance of order by some auto-writing computer program. If you want to find out what happens to those happy-go-lucky guys with ginger on their finger, buy this book and the rest of the series. I classify it as good airplane travel reading. Professor Turtledove writes well and I like his ideas, but some of these books are obviously written only as a sequel. The sex is ok but needs to drip and throb a little bit more. Carnage is pretty standard, maybe some more burning acrid flesh needs to be plugged in. None the less, its a good read so buy it and read it and, hey! keep out of those ginger snap cookies we're sending those to the Admiral of the Overlord Fleet.
Rating: 
Summary: A case of the author being paid by the word.
Review: The original concept of this series was intriguing, and the first volume was worthwhile. However, the author just didn't have enough story to fill FOUR volumes. Aliens with essentially late 20th Century earth technology invading the Earth at the height of World War II sounds a little pedestrian, but the author brings in the aliens' glacial concept of time to the mix. It starts off well, but then Turtledove drags us on and on, with no thought to constructing a real story, just rambling, with his characters' inane dialogue sounding virtually indistinguishable whether the speaker is a German tank commander, British pilot, American scientist or Alien commander. He even manages to make sex boring! With a little skill and some input from a competent editor, this series could have been a knock-out book of 600 to 800 pages instead of a prolongued agony of 2,400 or so pages. (I should be fair and note that I barely made it through this second volume and couldn't stomach an attempt on the other two, even though I had purchased them. That's what used book stores are for.) A relatively minor point is that he doesn't give us any sense of perspective for the size of the alien invasion force. They make a big deal of losing four or five of their modern tanks, which plausibly concerns them since the earthlings aren't supposed to be able even to scratch them, but do they have 100 more, 1000, or a bazillion?
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Bumpy but Still a Good Sequel
Review: The series got a little bogged down in my opinion here, but the story is still good. My favorite characters still strive on despite drastic changes in their lives. Sam Yeager, the ex-ballplayer and sci-fi junkie, continues his role as guard of the Lizard prisoners. He even finds time to develop a relationship to Barbara Larssen. Liu Han and Bobby Fiore get transferred to a prison camp on Earth after she becomes pregnant. There they develop a relationship with Chinese Communists. Some old friends die, but then what would you expect, this is war. What Turtledove does with the remaining characters is enough to keep me interested in the outcome of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Although a Flawed Diamond, It's Still a Diamond
Review: The study of history today is a perilous profession. Considering the fact that so many "alternative" histories have sprung up in the past decade, it is quite refreshing to see a book like Harry Turtledove's "Tilting the Balance". In it, Turtledove does what he does best; blend fact and fiction to create a true alternate history- one which never occured, but certainly would have been more interesting than what did transpire in that fiery time of World War Two. The premise is simple: "What if aliens invaded Earth during the Second World War?" The book has adventure, humor and a numer of historical in-jokes, for those that might catch them. My largest complaint about the book is that it tends to simplify things a bit. The actual facts are a bit more entangled than what Turtledove lays forth- yet he brilliantly covers such lacking details up by the simple arrival of his alien Race. The facts don't matter anymore, after that point. Even so, it is plainly obvious that a great deal of research went into writing this novel. Perhaps not as much as Willis' "Doomsday Book", but still a fair amount. Despite its slight distortion of history, this is a book that's just plain fun. You can enjoy reading it. In science fiction, that quality is essential; too often the writer gets stuck in the mechanics of the universe or the overly complex characters. But in SF, characters can play second fiddle. In conclusion, I give "Worldwar: Tilting the Balance" by Harry Turtledove an 8; great effort and great talent have gone into writing this work, and it would be a shame if I dissuaded some innocent young browser from ordering the book. Whatever is amiss in the book, let us forgive and forget.
Rating:
Summary: Good backdrop, so-so writing.
Review: This book is the 2nd in a series of four. The backdrop is excellent, but there is a real shortage of action in this installment and some of the dialogue gets downright corny. The character development also stopped at some point, because 950 pages into this series, the baseball player characters are still referencing everything they do back to their baseball careers. It does read quickly and a couple of the story lines are intriguing, so not a complete waste, I just expected better with the hype.
Rating:
Summary: The problem of Jens/Sam/Barbara
Review: This was a quick read, the story moves tolerably quickly, but the premise and plotline is pretty weak. As other reviewers have pointed out, the technology employed by the lizards seems primitive for spacefaring aliens from many light years away. However, as a number of other reviewers have pointed out, there is something fundementally wrong with the "love triangle" that involves three of the characters. What I cannot decide is if the rather unbelievable development of the scientist's wife falling for the failed baseball player Science Fiction buff (very droll that)is compelling or revolting. I certainly could not read the book for several days as I realized that this was the way the the author was about to manipulate his characters. The deliberate manipulation of Jens to destroy the integrity of the character in the eyes of the reader is painful. The promotion of the Sam character with the near fawning of a supposedly intelligent female character is blatent and demeaning. In the end I finished the book, because I had to find out - but I strongly dislike this level of manipulation. Given the response of many other reviewers so did they. Overall I will probably have to read the rest of the series just to satisfy my curiosity, but I am not inspired by the books either on an emotional or intellectual level. I would strongly caution anyone about reading the series for the same reason. You are likely to feel compelled but will you really enjoy the compulsion ? I think I will stick to Stephen Baxter
Rating:
Summary: The problem of Jens/Sam/Barbara
Review: This was a quick read, the story moves tolerably quickly, but the premise and plotline is pretty weak. As other reviewers have pointed out, the technology employed by the lizards seems primitive for spacefaring aliens from many light years away. However, as a number of other reviewers have pointed out, there is something fundementally wrong with the "love triangle" that involves three of the characters. What I cannot decide is if the rather unbelievable development of the scientist's wife falling for the failed baseball player Science Fiction buff (very droll that)is compelling or revolting. I certainly could not read the book for several days as I realized that this was the way the the author was about to manipulate his characters. The deliberate manipulation of Jens to destroy the integrity of the character in the eyes of the reader is painful. The promotion of the Sam character with the near fawning of a supposedly intelligent female character is blatent and demeaning. In the end I finished the book, because I had to find out - but I strongly dislike this level of manipulation. Given the response of many other reviewers so did they. Overall I will probably have to read the rest of the series just to satisfy my curiosity, but I am not inspired by the books either on an emotional or intellectual level. I would strongly caution anyone about reading the series for the same reason. You are likely to feel compelled but will you really enjoy the compulsion ? I think I will stick to Stephen Baxter
Rating: 
Summary: Really Excellently Written
Review: Turtledove doesn't always write well. Sometimes he can get bogged down in the minutiae of all his knowledge, I think, and the story drags. Not so in the World War series. I am learning more about WWII, and enjoying it as well. The characters are excellently portrayed, and Turtledove really gets into their minds. He can balance out a multiplicity of characters, keeping them all separate and easily understandable, unlike say Robert Jordan in his fantasy series. And Turtledove really sees it from the perspective of each of his characters! Male or Female, Chinese or Russian, Human or mythical lizard, he's done his research, and projects himself in a believable way into the mind of each character, so we see the characters come to life and act true to life.
This story continues the fight of the ware to end all wars. Turtledove uses the standard of this genre of multiple stories progressing at once, switching between them soap opera style. There are times when the story does bog down a little, but there are so many stories going on at the same time that one can breeze through that section to move on to the next more exciting part. And this isn't just one subject, as some alternative history gets into. There is military conquest, love and romance, cultural anthropology- there are a number of different themes progressing concurrently through the text, to satisfy any reader's whim. So far, I would definitely recommend the series.
Rating:
Summary: Fading a little.
Review: Turtledove has a great concept here but I wish he'd move things along faster, the book drags at times. But I'm fascinated by WWII, and compare the WorldWar series to THE TRIUMPH AND THE GLORY series about the Cold War. THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH was terrific, if Turtledove could continue the WorldWar series with the style and pace he delivered there it would be better for all concerned.
|
