World War II screeched to a halt as great military powers scrambled to meet an even deadlier foe, armed with formidable technology that made victory seem inevitable. The menace worsens in this, the second novel in the four-book alternate-history saga that Booklist called "possibly the most ambitious in the subgenre's history and definitely the work of one of alternate history's authentic modern masters."


From Publishers Weekly
The second volume of Turtledove's Worldwar series (after Worldwar: In the Balance), an alternate-history saga in which lizard-like aliens invade Earth during WWII, quickly bogs down. As the plot moves among the huge cast of characters, including many historical figures (Ribbentrop, Roosevelt, Zhukov), and as Turtledove meticulously describes various tanks, planes and guns, readers will realize that they, too, must suffer for the author's research. And none of that homework has bred any subtlety: good people have good sex, while corrupt people suffer appropriate retribution. National and ethnic stereotypes abound, too: the British are more capable than they seem; the Germans are keen mechanics; most Americans, of course, are paragons. There are exceptions, of course-a few interesting lizards and a peace-talking Chinese woman-but it isn't hard to figure out which world leader will "tilt the balance" by using the first human-made atomic bomb. With so much attention paid to the machinery of war and the machinery of history, Turtledove rarely engages the subtleties of character, resulting in a novel that, despite offering its share of mind candy, never makes its many intrigues sufficiently gripping. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Following Earth's invasion by an extraterrestrial race of lizardlike beings, World War II veers drastically off its intended course as Axis and Allied powers relucantly engage in cooperative efforts to resist conquest by a technologically superior common enemy. Revolving around the race to achieve nuclear parity with the aliens, the second volume in Turtledove's latest alternate history series focuses on efforts in the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany to unlock the secrets of the atom-regardless of cost or consequence. Historic and fictional characters blend seamlessly in this superbly crafted, compelling venture into speculative history. This sequel to Worldwar: In the Balance (LJ 11/15/93) belongs in most sf collections.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The second volume in Turtledove's splendid alternative history saga about an alien invasion in the middle of World War II is as satisfying as World War: In the Balance (1993). The invading Lizards are making some progress but are handicapped by human tenacity, terran weather, and widespread addiction to ginger. Among the continuing characters, the German Col. Heinrich Jaeger and the Russian pilot Ludmilla Gorbunova have become lovers only just before being packed off in opposite directions to renew fighting the invaders. The American nuclear program is lurching forward, as is Sam Yeager's relationship with Barbara Larssen, whom he marries just before they discover that her husband Jens is still alive. Moishe Russie's flight from the Lizards requires the help of his British cousin, David Goldfarb; and so on through Turtledove's large cast of well-drawn figures both fictional and historical. And besides those well-realized characters, there is Turtledove's thorough command of storytelling and historiography to assure us that this is an irresistibly readable book. Roland Green


Book Description
NO ONE COULD STOP THEM--
NOT STALIN, NOT TOGO, NOT CHURCHILL, NOT ROOSEVELT . . .
The invaders had cut the United States virtually in half at the Mississippi, vaporized Washington, D.C., devastated much of Europe, and held large parts of the Soviet Union under their thumb.
But humanity would not give up so easily. The new world allies were ruthless at finding their foe's weaknesses and exploiting them.
Whether delivering supplies in tiny biplanes to partisans across the vast steppes of Russia, working furiously to understand the enemy's captured radar in England, or battling house to house on the streets of Chicago, humankind would never give up.
Yet no one could say when the hellish inferno of death would stop being a war of conquest and turn into a war of survival--the very survival of the planet . . .



From the Publisher
What got me about the Worldwar series wasn't the aliens. It wasn't the warfare (though Harry's really good at it--I especially love the tanks). It wasn't even the fact that he'd turned history on its ear in a big way. No, it was the people.

If they were historical figures, like Josef Stalin, or Adolf Hitler, or Omar Bradley, he really brought them back to life. But even they took a back seat to Harry's original characters--the soldiers, the civilians, the resistance members, the spies. Whether they were American or Russian or British or Chinese, he made me care about them, about their lives and their loves. And he made me care a lot about their deaths--the kind of deaths that happen in war.

He made the most out of cultural juxtaposition, when a Polish Jew had to fight alongside a Nazi, or a British officer found himself in a tumultuous affair with a female Russian pilot (and sharpshooter--whoosh). These were the real people, They took a science fiction alternate history and elevated it to a new level. The result is a terrific adventure.
                                --Steve Saffel, Senior Editor


From the Inside Flap
NO ONE COULD STOP THEM--
NOT STALIN, NOT TOGO, NOT CHURCHILL, NOT ROOSEVELT . . .
The invaders had cut the United States virtually in half at the Mississippi, vaporized Washington, D.C., devastated much of Europe, and held large parts of the Soviet Union under their thumb.
But humanity would not give up so easily. The new world allies were ruthless at finding their foe's weaknesses and exploiting them.
Whether delivering supplies in tiny biplanes to partisans across the vast steppes of Russia, working furiously to understand the enemy's captured radar in England, or battling house to house on the streets of Chicago, humankind would never give up.
Yet no one could say when the hellish inferno of death would stop being a war of conquest and turn into a war of survival--the very survival of the planet . . .

ANNOTATION

World War II takes an unexpected turn in Harry Turtledove's thrilling reworking of history. A race of lizard-like space aliens have swept down to conquer Earth--and the Allied and Axis forces must unite and race to perfect the atom bomb in order to triumph. This is Book Two of the series beginning with Worldwar: In the Balance.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

World War II screeched to a halt as the great military powers scrambled to meet an even deadlier foe. The enemy's formidable technology made their victory seem inevitable. Already Berlin and Washington, D.C., had been vaporized by atom bombs, and large parts of the Soviet Union, the United States, and Germany and its conquests lay under the invaders' thumb. Yet humanity would not give up so easily, even if the enemy's tanks, armored personnel carriers, and jet aircraft seemed unstoppable. The humans were fiendishly clever, ruthless at finding their foe's weaknesses and exploiting them. While Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Togo planned strategy, the real war continued. In Warsaw, Jews welcomed the invaders as liberators, only to be cruelly disillusioned. In China, the Communist guerrillas used every trick they knew, even getting an American baseball player to lob grenades at the enemy. Though the invaders had cut the United States practically in half at the Mississippi River and devastated much of Europe, they could not shut down America's mighty industrial power or the ferocious counterattacks of her allies. Whether delivering supplies in tiny biplanes to partisans across the vast steppes of Russia, working furiously to understand the enemy's captured radar in England, or battling house to house on the streets of Chicago, humanity would not give up. Meanwhile, an ingenious German panzer colonel had managed to steal some of the enemy's plutonium, and now the Russians, Germans, Americans, and Japanese were all laboring frantically to make their own bombs. As Turtledove's global saga of alternate history continues, humanity grows more resourceful, even as the menace worsens. No one could say when the hellish inferno of death would stop being a war of conquest and turn into a war of survival - the very survival of the planet. In this epic of civilizations in deadly combat, the end of the war could mean the end of the world as well.

SYNOPSIS

NO ONE COULD STOP THEM--
NOT STALIN, NOT TOGO, NOT CHURCHILL, NOT ROOSEVELT . . .
The invaders had cut the United States virtually in half at the Mississippi, vaporized Washington, D.C., devastated much of Europe, and held large parts of the Soviet Union under their thumb.
But humanity would not give up so easily.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly - Cahners\\Publishers_Weekly

The second volume of Turtledove's Worldwar series (after Worldwar: In the Balance), an alternate-history saga in which lizard-like aliens invade Earth during WWII, quickly bogs down. As the plot moves among the huge cast of characters, including many historical figures (Ribbentrop, Roosevelt, Zhukov), and as Turtledove meticulously describes various tanks, planes and guns, readers will realize that they, too, must suffer for the author's research. And none of that homework has bred any subtlety: good people have good sex, while corrupt people suffer appropriate retribution. National and ethnic stereotypes abound, too: the British are more capable than they seem; the Germans are keen mechanics; most Americans, of course, are paragons. There are exceptions, of course-a few interesting lizards and a peace-talking Chinese woman-but it isn't hard to figure out which world leader will "tilt the balance" by using the first human-made atomic bomb. With so much attention paid to the machinery of war and the machinery of history, Turtledove rarely engages the subtleties of character, resulting in a novel that, despite offering its share of mind candy, never makes its many intrigues sufficiently gripping.

Publishers Weekly

The second volume of Turtledove's Worldwar series (after Worldwar: In the Balance), an alternate-history saga in which lizard-like aliens invade Earth during WWII, quickly bogs down. As the plot moves among the huge cast of characters, including many historical figures (Ribbentrop, Roosevelt, Zhukov), and as Turtledove meticulously describes various tanks, planes and guns, readers will realize that they, too, must suffer for the author's research. And none of that homework has bred any subtlety: good people have good sex, while corrupt people suffer appropriate retribution. National and ethnic stereotypes abound, too: the British are more capable than they seem; the Germans are keen mechanics; most Americans, of course, are paragons. There are exceptions, of course-a few interesting lizards and a peace-talking Chinese woman-but it isn't hard to figure out which world leader will ``tilt the balance'' by using the first human-made atomic bomb. With so much attention paid to the machinery of war and the machinery of history, Turtledove rarely engages the subtleties of character, resulting in a novel that, despite offering its share of mind candy, never makes its many intrigues sufficiently gripping. (Mar.)

Library Journal

Following Earth's invasion by an extraterrestrial race of lizardlike beings, World War II veers drastically off its intended course as Axis and Allied powers relucantly engage in cooperative efforts to resist conquest by a technologically superior common enemy. Revolving around the race to achieve nuclear parity with the aliens, the second volume in Turtledove's latest alternate history series focuses on efforts in the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany to unlock the secrets of the atom-regardless of cost or consequence. Historic and fictional characters blend seamlessly in this superbly crafted, compelling venture into speculative history. This sequel to Worldwar: In the Balance (LJ 11/15/93) belongs in most sf collections.

BookList - Roland Green