- Hardcover: 525 pages
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd; 1st edition (5 Dec 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340684909
- ISBN-13: 978-0340684900
- Product Dimensions: 25.1 x 15.7 x 4.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 319,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Worldwar: Striking the Balance
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Product Description
Product Description
When alien beings invaded earth, bent on global conquest, allied and axis powers were forced to cease their own conflict, the Second World War, and unite against this deadly new enemy. The crucial question was whether it was going to be necessary to destroy earth in order to save it.
About the Author
Harry Turtledove has lived in Southern California all his life He has a Ph.D. in history from the University of California at Los Angeles and has taught at UCLA, California State Fullerton and California State University, Los Angeles. He has written many works of speculative fiction and fantasy. He is married to the novelist Laura Frankos and they have three daughters.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Funny thing with Harry Turtledove is that you think him dull at first, but he grows on you. Maybe this is because he isn't glib or necessarily eloquent, but he has a memory the size of L.A. - the sheer volume of information & research he crams in, as well as the evolutionary characterizations make for an addictive combination.
This ending volume has lost the interesting characters in the form of Jens Larssen & Teerts, but still the others bring home the bacon. There are several new threads which lead the story in new ways. As an example, there is the Lodz storyline, which culminates in an action which could only have come about in this timeline - a German, a Jew & a Russian united against a common enemy.
There is also the story of Ussmak - the rebellious Lizard, who ends up facing the dilemmas of Soviet Justice, and there is also Atvar, who becomes astute at Realpolitik, in a way that seemed impossible before.
I would tell you more yarns from the book - e.g. those of Molotov, Liu Han & the British - but I don't want you knowing all his secrets! All that needs saying is that Turtledove is the master of alternate history, and takes the plot in realistic yet surprising directions.
And the best thing? This series can be started from any stage, which may make the beginning slow, but means this book can be approached by anyone (as long as you are OK with sexual content...)
This ending volume has lost the interesting characters in the form of Jens Larssen & Teerts, but still the others bring home the bacon. There are several new threads which lead the story in new ways. As an example, there is the Lodz storyline, which culminates in an action which could only have come about in this timeline - a German, a Jew & a Russian united against a common enemy.
There is also the story of Ussmak - the rebellious Lizard, who ends up facing the dilemmas of Soviet Justice, and there is also Atvar, who becomes astute at Realpolitik, in a way that seemed impossible before.
I would tell you more yarns from the book - e.g. those of Molotov, Liu Han & the British - but I don't want you knowing all his secrets! All that needs saying is that Turtledove is the master of alternate history, and takes the plot in realistic yet surprising directions.
And the best thing? This series can be started from any stage, which may make the beginning slow, but means this book can be approached by anyone (as long as you are OK with sexual content...)
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This story would have made an excellent short story. But Turteldove overstretches the plot over thousands of pages. Nothing new occurs after the first book, where everything is set. I know, I've read the four books. The same characters again and again, the same structure. The last two books are really a waste of time.
Format:Paperback
This is the final, 4th book. The Worldwar saga keeps going downhill. Boring characters are getting even more book space for their irrelevant activities. Non-English names are getting sloppier (we now have Poles named Casimir and Wladeslaw). What's worse, the events are no longer credible. The "good guys" are getting too lucky too many times, and the aliens are getting too stupid.
By now, I am no longer surprised at men blushing and women laughing at sexual talk. Guess we just have to accept Mr. Turtledove the way he is. But his repetitive whining about the Russian winter and the strength of liquor is really annoying. I'm slowly getting the feeling that Mr. Turtledove would get a frostbite at 0C and die instantly if he had to drink anything stronger than port. And one of the biggest horrors of war, of which Mr. Turtledove won't fail to remind us every now and then, is that people sometimes have to eat black bread.
By the time I was reading this 4th volume in the series, it occurred to me that Mr. Turtledove's aliens are lacking a very obvious weapon, one that you can see space aliens use in almost every science fiction movie. Such a failing from a race that has mastered the art of interstellar flight is actually quite implausible. However, if they had that weapon, much of Mr. Turtledove's story would fall flat, so I can understand that he left that out and I don't consider it a serious flaw. It's just something you might find yourself surprised about.
One slightly more serious flaw which began to disturb me in this volume, though, concerns East Europeans. In the real world, East Europeans usually don't speak so vaguely, understating everything and beating around the bush like West Europeans do. They are usually much more direct. When they think an idea is stupid, they say so, instead of "I am not quite convinced that this is the best possible course of action under these particular circumstances". They can be ironical and understating and everything when it's appropriate, but in this book, I began to notice how Mr. Turtledove makes, for instance, Russians talk cautiously like Englishmen most of the time. That sounds unnatural.
The worst part of this book, as well as the series, was that absurd, pathetic, disgusting sob scene on page 120. I just can't believe that grown-up men would really act like that, even in the USA.
On page 467, I suddenly realised that the book was almost over, while the story wasn't. How can he solve all this mess so quickly, I wondered. Is there going to be a Hollywood-like big bang? No, there wasn't. But there hardly was a solution either. It only made me wish the series would continue - only please let someone else write it. I'm really fed up with Harry Turtledove's attitude, with his linguistic incompetence, and, most of all, I absolutely don't want to hear anything about most of his characters.
You will probably not take this advice, but my recommendation is to give this book a miss. I can understand that you may be dying to find out how it'll all end, but I think you'll be much less excited after you've seen the "solution" that is at the end of this book.
By now, I am no longer surprised at men blushing and women laughing at sexual talk. Guess we just have to accept Mr. Turtledove the way he is. But his repetitive whining about the Russian winter and the strength of liquor is really annoying. I'm slowly getting the feeling that Mr. Turtledove would get a frostbite at 0C and die instantly if he had to drink anything stronger than port. And one of the biggest horrors of war, of which Mr. Turtledove won't fail to remind us every now and then, is that people sometimes have to eat black bread.
By the time I was reading this 4th volume in the series, it occurred to me that Mr. Turtledove's aliens are lacking a very obvious weapon, one that you can see space aliens use in almost every science fiction movie. Such a failing from a race that has mastered the art of interstellar flight is actually quite implausible. However, if they had that weapon, much of Mr. Turtledove's story would fall flat, so I can understand that he left that out and I don't consider it a serious flaw. It's just something you might find yourself surprised about.
One slightly more serious flaw which began to disturb me in this volume, though, concerns East Europeans. In the real world, East Europeans usually don't speak so vaguely, understating everything and beating around the bush like West Europeans do. They are usually much more direct. When they think an idea is stupid, they say so, instead of "I am not quite convinced that this is the best possible course of action under these particular circumstances". They can be ironical and understating and everything when it's appropriate, but in this book, I began to notice how Mr. Turtledove makes, for instance, Russians talk cautiously like Englishmen most of the time. That sounds unnatural.
The worst part of this book, as well as the series, was that absurd, pathetic, disgusting sob scene on page 120. I just can't believe that grown-up men would really act like that, even in the USA.
On page 467, I suddenly realised that the book was almost over, while the story wasn't. How can he solve all this mess so quickly, I wondered. Is there going to be a Hollywood-like big bang? No, there wasn't. But there hardly was a solution either. It only made me wish the series would continue - only please let someone else write it. I'm really fed up with Harry Turtledove's attitude, with his linguistic incompetence, and, most of all, I absolutely don't want to hear anything about most of his characters.
You will probably not take this advice, but my recommendation is to give this book a miss. I can understand that you may be dying to find out how it'll all end, but I think you'll be much less excited after you've seen the "solution" that is at the end of this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Laborious
Striking the Balance, the conclusion to this alternate history series, should have offered so much more. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. G. Battle
Great conclusion to the series
Concluding novel in the tetralogy, and this ties up the main strands of action quite well, setting the scene in the longer term for the follow up Colonisation trilogy. Read more
Published 24 months ago by John Hopper
More of the same? Yes please!
Don't read this book unless you have the next one in the series to hand, 'cos it ends in the middle of knowhere. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2002 by dazzawhite@hotmail.com
more please more
an excellent series of books,are there any sequels to this story,please tell me.
Published on 15 Oct 1999
A good book - but inconclusive
Apart from some really horrendous typos - this book was fine reading. I wish that it had a slightly more global feel to it - but I suppose that half a dozen concurrent story lines... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 1999
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