Invasion [Paperback]

The ASB must have converted to Islam...what is Arabic for Sealion?

It is a curious and long-standing tradition that people are always writing stories about the next military threat to face their countries. From The Tale of the Next Great War, 1871-1914: Fictions of Future Warfare and of Battles Still-to-Come, collecting stories from before 1914, to the more recent Invasion (different book altogether), the possible variations on future threats are explored, dissected, and either defeated or defeat the opposing force. Britain (and, to some extent, Germany) enjoyed a remarkable series of such books in the years before the Great War, from the serious Invasion of 1910, to the Swoop, or how Clarence saved England, which was a massive piss-take from one end to the other. The Germans (or enemies of choice) invaded...and were either defeated or defeat the British.

(For those interested, a short overview can be found in Norman Longmate's Island Fortress: The Defence of Great Britain, 1603-1945.)

The United States has not been short of such books itself, most notably Eric L. Harry's Invasion and dozens of others, from the semi-serious The Next War to A State of Disobedience, from outside threats to internal problems. Perhaps this is a natural outcome of having achieved superpower status; you start worrying about who's going to take it away from you. I do not know if China has books detailing the collapse of Chinese power - or if the regime would agree to allow them to be distributed if it did - but I wouldn't be at all surprised.

One thing that most of the books have in common, it should be noted, is a general trend to make the threat as overwhelming as possible. Eric L. Harry, in Invasion, creates a Chinese Empire that has overwhelmed most of East Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Cuba...and has now set its sights on America itself! Cue the starring role - in more ways than one - of the movie-star American president, his cute-as-buttons daughter who just happens to be a real combat soldier, the series of coincidences that keeps the plot charging along...and the unresolved conclusion. Let us ignore the impossibility of the plot; the story is good, right?

And now, the latest threat to global harmony and peace has been revealed - and its not George Bush! No, the real threat is the RIFs, who have somehow managed to unite Iran and Iraq - after the American occupation fell apart - and then gobbled up much of the Middle East and - apparently - North Africa and Israel as well. We shall ignore the fact that Israel would be more likely to start a nuclear war than accept a status within a super-state of Arabia...but it is one of the more jarring moments of the book. One of the more irritating aspects of the writing is that the author seems to have been updating his world as he moved along, with the net result that there are some major elements left in confusion. (Is Scotland independent? If not, why does it get to do what it does? If yes, why is it being used in the way it is?)

Anyway...America has more or less separated itself from the rest of the world, cracking down on its immigration problems and developing technology that allows it to do without oil - and not sharing it with Europe, despite the fact that that would blow Arabia's entire basis for power, oil wealth, out of the water - and has basically left the rest of the world to its own devices. Arabia, which has somehow united, despite the fact that most of the RIF factions hate each other more than they hate Israel, has finally prepared the invasion of Europe, including Britain...

If you can suspend your disbelief that far, then...it's not that bad a book. The decline in global terrorism - one imagines that AQ got the chop - has allowed the bad guys to slip thousands of covert agents into Europe. As the minutes tick away toward six pm, to use the blurb, commuters stream out of central London a truck idles by the pavement in Whitehall, its cargo bay packed with powerful explosives. A British Airways Airbus, on final approach into Heathrow, is tracked by surface-to-air missiles. In Downing Street, recently-elected Prime Minister Harry Beecham is preparing notes for a diplomatic engagement when he is summoned to an urgent meeting. He's informed by worried security officials that a large number of surveillance targets have suddenly disappeared off the grid. Something is happening, but what? Even as the meeting takes place, thousands of Islamic fighters are quietly taking up positions near military barracks, police stations, government buildings, airports, train stations and hundreds of other targets. They have already received the 'go' signal - now they wait only for the seconds to countdown and the hour to arrive.

Not all the attacks, as one might expect, succeed. They do a great deal of damage, enough to seriously disrupt the UK's military, forcing it back towards Scotland while troops land in the south, staking a claim to control. As the PM runs for his life, towards a secret command and control bunker, the Arabian forces secure their control over the south, before heading up towards Scotland for the final battle. (Europe falls rather quickly to a joint Arabian-Russian offensive; America remains aloof.) The book builds up to the final conclusion, with some genuinely heart-rending moments, ending with a bang.

The book does have strong characters, something that saves it from the classic right-wing rant. One feels sorry for Henry, the PM, and weeps with Kristy at...well, that would be telling. The story, to be fair, is never boring; the viewpoint characters seem everything, from the ranks of the enemy to those who have to suffer under Arabian domination.

Every generation, we seem to assume, gets the invasion that it deserves. Alden points out endless flaws in British society, from multiculturalism and the failure to back up the police, to our complacency over our borders and low spending on defence. The problems with the government, as often bemoaned by myself, are certainly causing a snarl-up of the democratic process; one would imagine that any sensible government would try to start again. Can all of these be used by a future invader? Perhaps, I say, but not in the way that Alden suggests.

In many ways, the Arabian Invasion is a repeat of Operation Iraqi Freedom, starring Britain as the target. It is not, however, that simple to pull off such a strike, despite the apparent (and unexplained) Arabian supremacy in electronic warfare - and indeed much military technology. The US faced an opponent who had dozens of problems, from low morale to no ability to contest the air at all, and still had problems. A strong and competent defence could have cost the US much more than the actual OIF open combat phase actually did. The Arabians, in Invasion, have much longer supply lines - they can hardly gamble on France falling as fast as it does - and the RAF should be able to hammer them, as the Arabians seem to have no carriers to support their aircraft. (A submarine is mentioned as surviving the first battles - what, only one? - and it is not put to work interdicting the supply lines. WTF?) Of course, given what a total f***-up Tony Blair's defence policy has been, there might be no RAF aircraft left by that time.

To conclude, after all that commenting, Alden doesn't seem to wear his politics on his sleeve, unlike...say, Eric L. Harry. At the same time, there is little cheery about his book, from the American withdrawal to the scenes as the shadow falls over the UK. Is this a possible outcome for the War on Terror? I don't believe so...and I hope to God I'm right.

Chris

The book's WebPage, along with some inferior samples, can be found at http://www.invasioneurope.com

I have to admit that after an odd start, this book does pick up the pace. It isn't bad writing, it's just the really silly assumptions and bad research which let it down. Where to start...OK, First, Islam isn't a unified faith - Sunni and Shi'ite hate each other more than they hate infidels. The idea of a unified Arabia is therefore ridiculous . Second, they could not have got their act together to build that superstate in such a short time....12 years? Come on! The author seemed to gloss over Israel, forget that France and the UK have nuclear weapons, and the USA is saved by extraterrestrial energy. It makes the rest of the story a bit hard to swallow. Then there is the jump from the supposedly fair and equitable Sharia based Islamic country to the divided and iniquitous society of the future without any explanation - the description of consolidation after the invasion gave no hint that this would be the result. Am I being too harsh? Possibly, it was still an exciting read. I just hand to cringe every so often!

I have just finished D C Alden's novel and loved it!

You start the ground running and don't stop - the sense of real time just keeps you racing alongside the characters. The military and geographical descriptions are clearly extensively researched and for me these were the backbone of the visual imagery.

The initial chapter sets the tone. As I read I began to realise that even though on some level throughout I was expecting the 'goodies' to win, it wasn't going to happen. But in the book's culmination with this initial scene, finally in full, we see this new society is also flawed like the British one before it. That although the Arabians had quite probably set out with good intentions - to improve a society losing its way - that the cycle is in fact self perpetuating. And so the next generation secretly seek to improve on the tyranny of the new empire - a society which once again is losing its way. The question to ask is will we ever learn from our mistakes.

The aside observations on how characters arrive at a point in time, their traits and families, their personal lives and issues, all show they are rounded and not simply one dimensional people to be killed off, which in turn makes their demise even more shocking. Even if a reader does not agree with certain aspects, there are still fundamental issues to face: inner city gangs and desecration, a fear to intervene or to question, a loss of patriotism and identity. The incorporation of what is happening around us now, set alongside the effects these events could have on society in the future, from congestion charges to out of control immigration, make this a novel to think about long after you have put it down.

I am not sure why some reviewers seem to believe work based on truth and thriller writing are mutually exclusive. Why right a thesis when a point can be made in far more exciting ways. They have clearly missed the entire point of this novel - that hints at truth are often more scary than fiction - especially triffids!
Fantastic! - How long do we have to wait for D C Alden's next novel?