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Summary: Question...
Review: NO one even says IF this series ties in with the Alternate world in which HIS Civil War, Great War and American Empire series do..THAT is what I am MOST curious about...It would be helpful to MANY fans that have JUST begun reading Turtledove...
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Summary: Space Opera rather than Alternative History
Review: The "Alternative History" branch of SF works by examining the consequences of one event changing, often a trivial event. Here it's a hulking great event - in the middle of WW2 aliens start to invade the Earth. And there's the problem, it didn't have to be set in that time - the idea of global ememies having to become allies could have been set in almost any time period - and it doesn't make use of the historical events in any depth.Yet I'll be reading the others in the series because it's a reasonable, if light, read. Just the sort of thing if you've a couple of hours to kill and don't fancy anything deeper. It's written in a lively adventure style, the plot moves along, there's enough varied characters for everyone to have someone to identify with [it's one of those where there's a cast list at the front] and each chapter is following a different plot]
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Summary: Best alternate history series I've encountered
Review: Read book one at your own risk...you'll become an addict! This was a thoroughly enjoyable work, full of vivid imagination still coupled with believability. The characterization is magnificent, as is the unique story concept. I cannot recommend this book and its sequels more highly! This is sheer, unadulterated fun!
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Summary: Let yourself be surprised
Review: After reading Guns of the South, I thought I would give the World War series a chance. I went into it intentionally ignorant (no sneeking a peek at the back cover) and was shocked to the point that I laughed out loud when I found out what the historical twist was. As in Guns of the South, the "twist" in this work of historical fiction would make many dismiss it as a big work of extra-cheese. But just like "Guns," Turtledove pulls of the impossible by making what would appear to be ridiculous at first glance into a masterwork. I don't want to spoil more, but if you are a WWII fan, or simply a history buff and have an open mind, you will be pleased. SF fans will NOT be let down.
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Summary: Where fact and fiction merge
Review: This book is a well written alternate version of WWII. The fiction is blended so well with fact that it is hard to tell the difference. The characters are developed well and there is a great amount of carry over between the books in the series of events and conversations. Set against the backdrop of WWII, the story begins as the "Lizards" show up for their conquest and colonization of earth. Unfortunately for them, their reconnaissance probe took 1000 years to transverse the distance to and from their planet and earth. In the time since, mankind has made just a few improvements to the weapons of war. What follows is a story line filled with enough plots and subplots to satisfy all of the readers' sci-fi cravings. Buy the hardback - you'll want to read it again.
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Summary: Unrealistic Space Invasion
Review: For starters, let me say that I liked this book and this series as a good epic alt-history romp. Turtledove is a meticulous historical researcher and a workmanlike (though not brilliant) writer. Sort of the Piers Anthony of alternate history. With that out of the way, I have to say that his handling of the aliens' battle against Earth, in this book and the rest of the series, was completely illogical. Turtledove's aliens are no more advanced than H.G. Wells' Martians in their invasion techniques: they plop their landers down on the surface, then completely neglect space as a combat area. It's like D-Day across a very, very wide channel. This series makes much of the use of nuclear weapons by both the human and alien sides of the conflict. Given the historical developments of the time, I can believe that the human nations would push their nuclear programs forward as a last-ditch weapon against the invaders. But why would the aliens, who want to preserve the planet as their own living space, set off even one nuclear weapon in the atmosphere? We're supposed to believe that this alien race has had space travel for MILLENNIA, and yet it has never occurred to them in all that time that if you drop big rocks from the sky, you can smash stuff on the ground. Why use fission explosions with all their radiation and fallout, when you can make the sky rain boulders? About the only sensible use of nuclear weapons in the book was when they used airbursts to knock out the humans' electrical equipment with EMP. But if you can overlook the brain-damaged aspects of the invasion, it isn't a bad alternate-war saga.
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Summary: Immense, and Immensely Entertaining!
Review: Harry Turtledove's "World War - In the Balance" series weaves a vast tapestry of unforgettable historic and fictional characters set in the backdrop of WWII. In an alternate version of history starting in 1942, an armada of alien beings invades the Earth, equipped with what we moderns will readily recognize as Space-Age weapons and technology, such as integrated circuits, smart bombs, supersonic jets, night vision, etc. Mankind, ill-equipped in comparison, fights back valiantly with tools that "The Race", as the aliens call themselves, are unfamiliar with - spontaneity, initiative, craftiness, and all-too-human lowdown treachery. This huge four-volume epic spans the entire globe as human cultures struggle to find common ground on which to oppose the ultimate foe. The pre-existing conflicts on Earth at the time, such as China's civil war, involving Chiang's Nationalist Chinese Kuomintang versus Communists versus the invading Japanese, provide for endless conflict and lively stories and substories throughout the series. Despite the sheer magnitude of the effort, Turtledove, like a master juggler, makes it look easy, and keeps all the balls in the air as the plots and subplots progress, and they never get boring. The series is such a pageturner that at the end, my only disappointment was that there was nothing left to read. It's really that good. You'll be rooting for characters both factual and fictional, human and alien, as master storyteller Turtledove gets inside the heads of all his characters, and shares their outlook with you. "World War - In the Balance" is an immensely entertaining and satisfying read, and will delight both history and science fiction readers. Very highly recommended! Be sure to read "The Guns of the South", another masterwork by this ace storyteller.
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Summary: Over rated, bad history
Review: Though many other reviewers like Mr. Turtledove's work, I have soldiered my way through this entire series and I still don't get it. The historical characters are at best two dimesional. The fictional ones are even worse, more often than not b-movie rejects sent from central casting. Even the scifi, like the aliens, are tired rehashing of older versions of the ancient and slowly evolving civilization over whelmed by human ingenuity. Please, give me a break.
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Summary: Innovative, with few problems
Review: The concept of this book (and the series to which it belongs) is, as far as I know, unique. Though Turtledove had already been known for alternate histories, throwing in an alien invasion makes automatically doubles as a sci-fi. This concept was what drew me into reading it, though I have not picked up either genre in several years. One problem that any alien invasion plot must defeat is how any civilization that is capable of travelling the stars could possibly find conquering the human race a challenge. Turtledove attempts to solve this problem by explaining how slow non-humans are to advance their own technologies. As plausible as this may seem, one still wonders how such aliens must advance at all beyond their 100,000 year head start. To further soften the alien advantages, however, Turtledove has his aliens still reliant on bullets, helicopters, and tanks. We are expected to believe, then, that an interstellar empire still hasn't discovered means of defense more elaborate than, say, 21st century technology. Such problems aside, however, one can see that Turtledove's contrivance is, nevertheless, superior to any other that has been used. Clearly, laser shooting, anti-grav using, teleporting aliens wouldn't have taken more than a week to annihilate the planet, and there would be no book to write. Keeping this in mind, one becomes more forgiving of the idea. The historical details, Turtledove holds a PhD in history, are the real gems to be found in the book (and series). The reader will become more familiar with German Panzers and T-34's and other such tanks, as well as other kinds of weapons, in a way that might not have have interested him/her before. The characters are many and varied, and each has his/her own tone that seems suited to ethnicity and gender. I hope the rest of the books are as good as this one and do not get bogged down in the mundane aspects of war. War, as many commentators have noted, contains long stretches of boredom between brief horrific acts. Novels about war should not imitate that reality too well. So far, I have not been bored.
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Summary: Lizards in space, oh my
Review: This is the beginning of a fun read on the alien invasion of Earth during WW2. Lots of characters, locations, and situations to play out. The story proceeds as a collection of point-of-view episodes between numerous characters; the style used by Stephen King and Larry Niven, which I like. The technology and history are clearly thoroughly researched - great attention to detail. The multiple characters add interest too (though several chars seem alike with their partisan-for-a-day attitudes). Good storytelling and classic post apocalyptic material keep the pages turning. A couple points to ponder, however. A little info on the alien aims would be nice, Yes, they're taking over the planet for their colonists but surely there's more strategy than that. Battles occur in random areas (any strategic goals or do the lizards simply fight wherever they land?), no word given about the resources the invaders have, etc. Also, there's a curious lack of tension throughout the book. The author clearly picked human/alien technologies for their balance so that the outcome could go any way (I suppose). So how come there's no real suspense or foreboding when reading this? Part of it is the author tells instead of shows. He tells of atomic bombs being used on cities but, as the events are simply referred to, there's none of the horror one would associate with using such weapons. Tied to this is the inept, comical actions of the lizards that other reviewers have already mentioned. One gets the feeling that the lizards don't have the stomach for this fight and the rest of the story may bog down. So why 5 stars after that bellyaching? Again - interesting storyline, good writing style, and a well researched read. Time for volume two.
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