Rating: 
Summary: Great book, but too much filler material.
Review: As I expected, Second Contact was a great book. Harry Turtledove is an absolutly amazing alternate history writer, and I've never read a book of his I didn't like. Second Contact, unfortunatly, didn't quite reach the level the World War series did. I can see the reason for describing characters again for new readers, but it happens throughout the book. About half way through the book I started getting the feeling all this was to fill pages, not to add description to the book. But I did enjoy the book very much and look forward to reading the next book next year.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad: a bit repetitious
Review: Good read, and most interesting to those who read the first three. This book drags more because there is less action, less happenings, more dialog and "inner thoughts" spelled out on the page. The same thoughts keeping cropping up (OK, we know the Big Uglies are different, but just in case we forget, it is repeated every third page). The are a few books I buy in hardback as soon as they are published. Turtledove just moved himself off that list. The paperback version would be a fair exchange of price and value received.
Rating: 
Summary: Fix...fix...I need my Big Ugly Lizard fix.....
Review: Read the "...Balance Books" Just finshed them. And just as I began to get the sweats and shakes from withdrawal I discover THEIR BAAAACCCCKKKKK! Where's my Visa.... I need a FIX!
Rating:
Summary: Decent Book, but....
Review: Turtledove's alternate history/science fiction books are always a good read, but this series is getting too played out. The incorporation of new and old characters is good, but the plot is almost transparent with few surprises. Maybe they will come in later novels.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but been there, done that, got the t-shirt
Review: I'll be blunt, I mightily disliked the first series, mostly because of the really shoddy treatment one of the characters received at the hands of his own family. So here we are, 17 years later, and the Lizard females have arrived to stir the pot. Turtledove handles the development of a partially alien-occupied earth well, and the characters and situations are believable. Not a bad read, but I *wish* Turtledove would stop re-fighting the two ugliest wars history has ever seen and go on to something new.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and entertaining sequel.
Review: I was perfectly satisfied with the somewhat bittersweet ending of the four-volume WorldWar series and didn't think it required a sequel. Nevertheless, I'm glad this one is here. I won't rehash the plot, its covered much better in the Kirkus Review, above.My two cents : the strongest aspect - apart from his fine historical research - is the new perspective you gain on the Race. Unlike the first four books, Second Contact offered members of the alien bad-guys as individuals - something hard to do in science fiction. Too often, authors get a good alien frame, but then stamp 'em out like so many sugar cookies. I sort of was hoping for a bit more flash-back of some of the colonists to give me a view of Home. Perhaps he's saving that for later.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: If I could I would give it four and a half stars. A good continuation of the world war series. So Turtledove wants to make money by writing sequels. Fine if they are as good as this one. I applaud him for having a map this time. If you liked the worldwar series you should like these too. As a historian, like Turtledove, I appreciated his views on historical figures under unusual (alien occupation) conditions. My only criticism is about the U.S. space station. Way too predictable, its true purpose is evident early on to people with half a brain. But overall engaging and worth it, even in hardcover.
Rating:
Summary: Super Book!!
Review: This book was outstanding! I can't wait for the next one
Rating:
Summary: By the Emperor, this book's a Five!
Review: Past souls of the Emperors rejoice! The Big Ugly Turtledove has finally written another book detailing the inevitable conquest of Tosev 3 by the Race! Any Big Ugly who does not purchase this book should have been addled in their egg, and risk having an explosive metal bomb dropped on their living quarters. The only Big Ugly of worth is the esteemed Tosevite, King Jonathan Dalecki, of the not-empire Delaware! Now, somebody give me my ginger! Krizak, shiplord of the 14th emperor Zzarkas
Rating:
Summary: Strong, if overly familiar story
Review: COLONIZATION develops some strong, new storylines as it moves into the '60s -- the world's superpowers have gotten into space much more quickly than in our real timeline; Germany, frighteningly, is still Nazi and a girl raised by aliens is beginning to discover her human side. The book suffers, however, by carrying over too many characters from the WORLDWAR series. We get a few new humans and lizards, but most of COLONIZATION is driven by the ones who were left standing at the end of the World War II invasion -- in this regard, it feels much more like Book 5 of 7 than Book 1 of 3. Like its predecessors, COLONIZATION also suffers from a wearisome structure -- chapters of almost exactly the same length, broken into 5 or 6 sections, each of which follows a set of characters through a single "scene." Nevertheless, by the end of the novel Turtledove has set up quite a few interesting plot strings for Books 6 and 7. It may sound trite, but it's true: If you liked WORLDWAR, you're likely to find COLONIZATION a page-turner, too. It would be interesting to hear the story behind the cover art, however, which depicts Himmler, the Ayatollah Khomeini and Martin Luther King, Jr. OK on the first two -- Himmler's running Germany, Khomeini appears to be leading terrorist attacks against the Lizards. But King isn't even MENTIONED, nor is there any allusion to the civil-rights movement in the U.S. I was also hoping to see president Earl Warren fleshed out a bit more -- he could be named Joe Smith here and it wouldn't make much difference.
|
