Customer Reviews

Don't Mess With Earth

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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.

Okay, first this is a portion of a documentary style book. There is a little stilted dialogue but mostly it reads like a high school history text book. At the end of the story you find out that to read the rest of the book you have to pay an additional 2.99 ebook or 12.99 paperback. This is basically a very boring teaser to get you to pay for the book twice.

"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.

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.

Author Cliff Ball draws on his knowledge of history, folklore and Christianity to craft a convincing retelling of humanity's time on Earth.

Told mostly from the point of view of a newly sworn-in U.S. President, we learn that Earth has existed under the shadow of secrets and lies for thousands of years. As Noah was building his wooden ark to escape the flood, a highly developed race of people called Terrans was designing starships and planning to leave the Earth entirely.

The Terrans travel to an Earth-like planet and set up a colony, naming it Terra. They explore their new system and meet many friendly cultures. They also meet the Ragnor, a race obsessed with military conquest. The Ragnor attack Terran ships relentlessly and without cause.

Soon the Terrans return to Earth to see if their human cousins have advanced. They find Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs and decide the earth humans are far too primitive to help Terra fight the Ragnor.

Some Terrans decide to interfere with human development and pose as Earth people. From the times of King Arthur to Genghis Khan, Terrans make their mark on history.

Centuries later, a spy base is set up on Mars. From Mars, the Terrans watch as the Great War explodes in Europe and later as World War Two engulfs the entire planet.

The Ragnor visit Earth in cloaked ships and begin abducting and experimenting on humans. Tales of abduction and UFOs spread around the globe. A Ragnor scout ship crashes in New Mexico in 1947. The Americans develop the Area 51 program at Roswell. The project's mandate is to use the technology from the downed alien craft to defend the United States against her enemies.

Sixty years later, a secret starship is ready, the crew trained, and the newly elected Present must address the nation and the world. He orders the ship to attack Earth's alien foe. Is one advanced ship enough to match the combined fleets of both Terra and Ragnor? Is America on the brink of its greatest military victory since D-Day? Or is it doomed to fail like no other combat mission in history?

Ball has written an intriguing new take on history. He keeps the pages turning, explaining historical events in his own unique style. Some dialogue was very weak and at times the strained narrative told the story instead of showing or describing it.

I recommend Don't Mess With Earth to Sci-Fi and alternative history fans.

Reviewed by WR Potter for Reader's Choice Reviews.