Customer Reviews

Striking the Balance (Worldwar Series, Volume 4)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

So, Striking The Balance finally sums up all the lines Turtledove had started in his first book of the Worldwar series.
For those who have already read first three books, the further development is quite predictable. After over two years of fighting all around the world, with its fronts spread too wide, and its lines becoming yet thinner from day to day, with too many cities levelled down to eatrh, and several of them lying in radioactive ruins, the Race stands now before two unpleasant options: either they will have to turn all this world together with all its inhabitants into a radioactive desert unsuitable for colonization, or make peace with Major Forces of this world (USA, Third Reich and USSR) and those who were able to prevent their occupation by Race's forces (Great Britain and Japan) on conditions of status quo. And this means that all these nations with all their Tosenite's ability to pick up and introduce innovations into technologies they develop on basis of what they've stolen from Race, and with all thier aggression, will have time to prepare themselves for a new round of fighting. This very idea alone should make Atvar feel uneasy...
Historisn by profession, Turtledove has a brilliant insight to predict what would have happened if...
What will happen with the main characters of the novel? Will Ludmila Gorbunova and Heinrich Jaeger meet at last? Will Liu Han become a promimemt leader of of Chinese Red Force? Will Reich's terrorist No.1 Otto Scorzeni become "Osama BenLaden" of this alternate world, or will he fail, and only one thing can make him fail - his death? Read the book, it's worth reading.
And finally, a remark from the reader from the other side of "iron curtain", which has finally (and fortunately) fallen. The specialist on Byzantium, Turtledove came close to understanding of Russian character and mentality in the parts of the novels, which consern the events in USSR, but sometimes not close enough. His attitude reflects general attitude of an American historian to the events of WW II. Despite all the horrors of Bolshevism, despite all the insuffeciensy of Soviet system, and its neglect of a person, despite the Red Army's inflexible doctrine it really had in 1941 and in early 1942, the Russians could learn and managed to learn. But for this, they would have never finished war in Berlin. Germans were tough teachers, but Lisarzs would have become yet tougher teachers.
For all who are interested in history of Soviet preparations for WW II I advise that they read Ice-breaker by Victor Suvorov (translated to English). This book had created quite a stir in ex-USSR having divided it into two camps of those who supported it completely, and those who who rejected the very idea put in its basis.

This initial offering of Turtledove's first WWII alternative history tetrology (amazingly, there is more than one) is, regrettably, the best that will be offered. Alternatingly fascinating and draggy, the four books could easily have been condensed into two. This first installment presents intriguing premises, e.g. what if extraterrestrial invaders came to Earth expecting the late middle ages, only to find a technological global war in progress? What if they could not find a way to use their superior technology to vanquish the combined armies of Earth without ruining the environment for their upcoming colonization fleet (see next tetrology)? The reptilian invaders owe a great debt to Niven and Pournelle's pachyderms (Footfall) in their persistent inability to understand the complexities of human behavior. Unfortunately, these premises are often poorly realized and insufficient to carry even one book, let alone four.

Turtledove manages to finish this series off in a way that leaves us both satisfied and longing for more.

As with the previous novels, Turtledove shows his talent for getting inside the minds of very different characters.

If you are even consering not buying this, it is probable that you haven't read the previous 3, because they are addictive page-turners. Buy all the books in the series and enjoy.

There is a lot of repetition in these books, and by the fourth book, there is no doubt that it subtracts from the overall quality for those of us who have been following the series all along. It is almost like the oldtime Flash Gordon serials, because at the beginning of each new episode, you have to go thru a recap of the last few episodes, otherwise newcomers would be somewhat lost.

I give this fourth book in the series 3.5 stars (rounded down to 3), as there just isn't enough unique material in this fourth book.

A lot more of the main characters get bumped off in this book, and two of them happened to have been my favorites - but, this is a book about a deadly war, and if characters weren't dying off, it wouldn't be believable.

I'm now moving on to the 2nd part of this Marathon series, with COLONIZATION: SECOND CONTACT. I'm hoping to find some new favorite characters.

Turtledove continues to maintain interest in the final book of the first subseries of World War. It is a satisfactory ending, and beginning. The plotlines are neatly wrapped up, with a number of shockers. But not too neatly wrapped up- there is a lot of room to see how the two species will develop next to each other.

It is most enjoyable to see the development of history along parallel lines. After all, this is the purpose of alternative history books. We learn more about history by contemplating what might have been, and therefore learn what could be. Turtledove does this very well, showing how the major powers of WWII might have responded to an alien attack. He does this precisely and accurately, not simply using the 1940's as background to his real story, but trying to truly predict what might have been, based on what was- the facts and people on the ground. And so the ending is really very realistic- what we would expect from an advanced species attacking earth, but a species that has a much slower cultural evolution than do we.

It is a bit depressing to see so many cities destroyed by nuclear warfare- especially a good number of cities I've lived in. This detracts a little from the enjoyment of the work. But I am eager to begin reading the next subseries.

This is as far as I've gotten in the series. I admit that these books often had me immersed and rapidly turning pages, but it's really starting to get repetitive, and I'm tired of the whole setting that's been created. There were some good human and alien characters, and lots of action in spots. It's what I'd call "light reading".

There's something about the lizard technology that doesn't make sense: A species like this wouldn't have this sort of weaponry. Think about it: The other two worlds in their empire that they conquered were primitive, easily-defeated tribal societies. So why would the lizards have tanks and air-to-air missiles? Their home world has been unified since ancient times. Things like tanks are invented due to the circumstances of particular types of warfare. In WWI, there was a need to cross trenches and barbed wire, and the tank was developed in response to this. The lizards never fought a war like this, so how would they have thought of something like this? Same for fighter aircraft.

I liked the series.

The lizards are a little too Earthlike - what's the probability of such similar lifeforms on such widely separated planets - but he saved a lot of boring description by making them reptiles.

Given that alternative history requires something a sleepy reader will catch, the alien landing is a satisfactory device to force an alliance between enemies. I liked the way Turtledove depicted a consistently manaical and duplicious Hitler.

What I didn't like was Turtledove's lack of coverage of the return of the aliens.

So, How about a fifth volume?

Having come to the end of Turtledove's "Worldwar" series, I feel I must admit that I'm curious as to where he'll go in the new "Colonization" entry. Will the Tosevites ultimately prevail? Or will there merely be another book, and another, and another...? I think I'll just stop here.

I expected more from this series, my curiosity having been whetted enough with the first book that I was willing to stick with the story, despite its many lulls. Although I'm thankful that Turlteldove didn't cap it all off with an ID4-esque nukefest, I must say that the ending, if you could call it that, is a major disappointment. I realize that no author can please all readers, but couldn't he have had the good sense to separate the wheat from the chaff and recognize the good, strong story threads, as opposed to dwelling on the weak ones? My two personal favorites involved Jens Larssen and Straha, both of them fascinating characters whose personal experiences led them to switch allegiances. Book 4 was an especial chore to read, since Jens was killed off at the end of 3 (a major letdown after all that development, and because I was on his side), and Straha was basically forgotten about after his flight to earth. Turtledove was clever to structure his story in a way that ensured the deaths of some "good" guys and the victories of some "bad" guys. The knowledge that no one was safe kept me on my toes. Mostly, though, the storylines were haphazard and, in the end, unfulfilling.

Another gripe--just how many nukes can they detonate before the planet is rendered entirely uninhabitable? A few I could accept, but I found it rote after the nth nuke destroyed its nth city. I would recommend book 1 to any sci-fi fan, but be wary of #4. Leave it on the shelf unless you're sure you can stomach more of the same from a series that thrives on delivering it.

Striking the Balance is an excellent novel, a welcome change from the usual alien invasion novel where the aliens get literally blasted off the face of the Earth. The peace treaty between mankind and the alien Race, and both sides' plans to backstab the other (at the end, last few pages) are entirely plausible. Also, someone said that Turtledove portrays "all Germans as evil". This is wrong- the character Heinrich Jager is a great example of a good man under a bad system. Political intrigue and action are combined a la Tom Clancy, and even without the intrigue and double-dealing the book would still be great! The entire series is great and I can't wait to start on the next one.

first three books 'assumed' a interesting, but fell short, ending. reptile-like alien leaves a limited imagination. may purchase 4th volume at a flea market. other three volumes gets a pushed 4.5 stars (reptileform gotta go. purchase 4th book just to complete series.