Don't Mess With Earth [Paperback]

Cliff Ball (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2009

An advanced group of humans leave ancient Earth, but keep an eye on their less advanced cousins. The advanced humans meet the Ragnor, an alien species that experiments on other species for no other reason but that they can.  The advanced humans begin to manipulate Earth history by posing as historical figures such as King Arthur, Galileo, Amelia Earhart, among others. The Ragnor find Earth, causing all sorts of historical anomalies such as the Salem Witch Trials and the disappearance of the Roanoke colonists. In the 1940's, one of their ships get shot down over New Mexico, by some American fighter pilots with some amazing flying and some lucky machine gunning. Once the scientists of Earth start reverse engineering the downed spacecraft, President Truman issues an executive order that will forever change Earth history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The creative storyline will keep many readers hooked. --Will Gabbett, Feathered Quill Book Reviews

I recommend Don't Mess With Earth to Sci-Fi and alternative history fans.
--WR Potter for Reader's Choice Reviews

From the Author

Remember, this novel is a very fictional account of human history and of aliens interfering in that history, so the timeline is purposely skewed and some historical characters might appear earlier or even later in the novel.  In some alternate, mirror universe somewhere, Earth could be thousands(or tens of thousands) of years old, instead of "billions and billions" as Carl Sagan used to say.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing (March 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602643415
• ISBN-13: 978-1602643413
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,535,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lives in Texas, born in Arizona. Has a BA in English & History, pursuing a Certificate in Technical Communications.

www.cliffball.net

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It would encourage a new generation of writers., August 14, 2009

By 

Jose J. Clavell (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Don't Mess With Earth (Paperback)

Because the general sentiment is going to be, "I can write better stuff than this &*$$@@". I will recommend that the author to do better research in future works as some had already mentioned on prior reviews. For my part, his portrayal of the US Military was cartoonish and insulting. There is not "Commanders" in the US Air Force as a rank. No serious attempts to contact the Terrans and discover their motivation? The "President" not getting impeached and sent to prison for ordering a genocidal attack? Russia and China attack the US and are still around to invade it? With what? Oh, please.

I developed more sympathy for the putative bad guys, the Ragnors who come across as hostile as Malvin the Martian of Bugs Bunny fame. Everyone else fell quite short.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The problem with ebooks, November 13, 2010

By 

Kendall "Novice Curmudgeon" (United States Minor Outlying Islands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Don't Mess With Earth (Kindle Edition)

"VirtualPress," the publisher of the paperback edition of "Don't Mess with Earth," is what we often refer to as "vanity press." Simply put, it means the author probably could not find a real publisher and had to pay for publishing it himself. For this book, it's a good bet such is the case. The writing is amateurish, awkward, and full of grammatical errors and it seems unlikely a real publisher would bother. If these things don't bother you and you like space operas, even inane ones, you may like it. Otherwise, spend your money on something else.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a spin., June 30, 2010

By 

Kevis Hendrickson (Miami, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Mess With Earth (Kindle Edition)

Despite its shortcomings, Don't Mess With Earth by Cliff Ball is an interesting book. It tells the tale of how mankind deals with the discovery of extraterrestrial beings who are systematically interfering with man's evolution. The style of storytelling in this book is a throwback to the old pulp style SF tales of yesteryear. Part of the intrigue is how known history is woven into this conspiratorial tale. I really enjoyed the author's clever references to historical events and figures in constructing his tale. There were a few missteps regarding the accuracy of some of the history presented in the story. But for the most part, it was consistent and nothing I couldn't overlook.

My biggest complaint with the book is that it relies too heavily on exposition. When dialogue is used, it's not very effective due to the same insipid monotone speech pattern displayed by the characters in the story. Truth be told, there is no way to differentiate one character from another, whether it's a politician, scientist, soldier, or even alien. It's also obvious that Ball has some growing to do with his prose. But overall, I found this book to be a satisfying read. I look forward to seeing this author grow as a writer and anticipate reading his future work.