In the Balance (Worldwar Series, Volume 1) [Hardcover]

Harry Turtledove (Author)

Book Description

Series: Worldwar Series | Publication Date: January 3, 1994

War on earth erupted in every corner of the globe. Then the real enemy came. Inhuman invaders who were unstoppable, their technology far beyond our reach, their simple goal to claim Earth for the Empire. Here is a saga that covers all the Earth, and beyond, as mankind--in all its folly and glory--faces the ultimate threat; a turning point in history shows us a past that never was and a future that could yet come to be....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This intelligent speculative novel depicts an alternate history in which, at the height of World War II, Earth is attacked by alien beings with weapons far more destructive than any possessed by the Allied or Axis forces. Turtledove ( The Guns of the South ) gives a surprisingly convincing flavor to the time-worn story of warring nations uniting to repel extraterrestrials; his human characters, both actual and invented, ring true as they struggle to trust each other after years of enmity, and although the alien threat has a B-movie feel, he makes an effort to portray the invaders sympathetically as well. The first in a projected series, the book ends where it began: in and around a battle. The smooth writing is marred only by slightly overdone dialogue for real-life figures like General Patton. The historical details, especially those concerning the weapons and methods available in the 1940s to defend Earth, are accurate and well rendered.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The year is 1942. In Russia, Hitler's panzers are fighting a losing battle; in China, Japanese invaders ravage the countryside; in England, the RAF watches the skies for enemy bombers; in Chicago, scientists frantically try to unlock the secrets of the atom--and in the skies overhead, an alien army launches its forces to conquer the Earth. Turtledove ( The Guns of the South , LJ 9/1/92) excels in alternate history, and this panoramic exploration of a world at war with itself and with invaders from beyond the galaxy showcases his fertile imagination. A feast for history buffs as well as sf fans, this title belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (January 3, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345382412
• ISBN-13: 978-0345382412
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #542,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harry Turtledove is the award-winning author of the alternate-history works The Man with the Iron Heart; The Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Worldwar saga: In the Balance, Tilting the Balance, Upsetting the Balance, and Striking the Balance; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the American Empire novels: Blood & Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and the Settling Accounts series: Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, and In at the Death. Turtledove is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good "what if?", June 24, 2000

By 

Stephen M. St Onge "Stephen M. St. Onge" (Mpls, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Balance: An Alternate History of the Second World War (Worldwar, Volume 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Harry Turtledove trained as a historian, and 'alternate history' novels are one of his specialties. This is the first book in a series that I liked a lot, but many didn't. If you're not prepared to take this series on its own terms, don't bother.

The premise is that in May, 1942, just as the human race is getting ready for some serious mutual bloodletting, invaders from another star show up. These are the Race, known to humans as 'the Lizards', a species that has developed VERY slowly and patiently, and has conquered two other inhabited worlds. Both the alien races the Lizards have previously encountered were much like them. Humans aren't.

The Lizards have only sublight travel, and last surveyed Earth during the Crusades. They expect humanity to have advanced as much in 800 years as they or the other conquered races would have -- that is, barely at all. So they deploy their supersonic fighters and tanks, ready to roll over knights on horseback, and run smack into armies that are outclassed in some respects, and fully competitive in others.

A big factor determining if you'll like this series is whether you're willing to buy into the premise. You could say that these books are highly artificial -- let the Race arrive in 1932 and they'd walk over humans, let them show up in 1952 and they'd be nuked before they got a foothold. Or you can say 'the Race' is carefully contructed. Turtledove obviously started with the idea of an invasion during WWII that would be neither a pushover nor doomed, and the Lizards' characteristics follow logically from that plot requirement. As it is, humanity and the Race are "In the Balance," just matched to each other. This delighted me, but it clearly annoyed some of the reviewers.

The other big factor in deciding whether you'd like this series is pace and scope. The story develops a bit slowly, and not everyone will like following dozens of characters scattered over the globe as they make their separate decisions to fight or cooperate with the invaders, and try to stay alive in a world turned upside down. Also, things won't be resolved quickly, any more than the real WWII was over in a few months. Again, this annoyed some, but left me with lots to look forward to.

The "World War" series develops over four books, till the humans and the Race reach temporary balance, and continues in the "Colonization" series, when the aliens main settlement fleet finally arrives. If you want everything settled in one novel, this is definitely not for you. If, like me, you enjoy following dozens of characters spread through years and continents, you'll probably like this series.

Turtledove's characters are mostly well drawn, and the plotting fairly tight. His knowledge of history shows, and I mostly believed his assessments of how Hitler, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt would have reacted to these events. There are some things I would have insisted on changing if I was his editor, but overall I liked all four of the "Worldwar" series, and eagerly await the third volume in the "Colonization" series.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just One Change, August 3, 2004

By 

Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (Fes, Morocco) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Balance: An Alternate History of the Second World War (Worldwar, Volume 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I don't always like Turtledove- he can be long-winded at times. But this one I did enjoy. I believe science fiction is best when it only minimally changes reality- you get one or two allowances for impossible things, and then work from there. This is what Turtledove does- assume WWII, and assume alien invaders at that time. Both are possible- it just didn't happen. And the neat addition- the alien invaders aren't really that advanced. In fact, if they were to have arrived when we humans were another 50 years advanced, they'd be technologically inferior.

But they don't, and thus the conflict of the story. Turtledove writes the characters quite well, and I remained interested in all of them. You feel the real emotions of these characters; you want to see what they will do next; you understand why they respond to these problems because part of you would respond the same way. Sometimes you see a long list of characters at the beginning of a novel (such as War and Peace or the never-ending Wheel of Time series), and you think, "Oh, no- I'll never be able to keep them all straight!" In this case, each character is clear, distinct, and easily remembered. Thus Turtledove pulls us from the Russian steppes to Nazi Germany to alien space craft to the radar detectors of Britian and the battlefields of Chicago- and we eagerly follow along to see how next the world can stem off invasion. Or participate with it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent alternative history series about aliens & WWII., July 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Balance: An Alternate History of the Second World War (Worldwar, Volume 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Turtledove's first Worldwar book introduces us to the Lizards, an alien race bent on conquring the planet during World War II. An interesting read in alternative history sci-fi, to say the least, one that WW II military buffs will be especially pleased with. Turtledove's narrative takes us from the US to the German front to China to Russia, and how humans attempt to resist conquest. Especially good are the "talks" amongst world figures Molotov, Ribbentrop,Hull et al, and each regime's reaction to the invasion. Ultimately, Turtledove asks us: What would happen if, during the period of tense alliances and fierce battles of WW II, an even greater enemy bent on conquering the entire planet appeared? A solid series, and an especially solid start.