7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Intersting premise, interminable execution, June 16, 2000
This review is from: Upsetting the Balance (Worldwar Series, Volume 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
Harry Turtledove's idea of an alien invasion caught offguard by the pace of technological change is solid and entertaining. As in the Great War series, he appears to be milking the idea for more than it is worth. His choice of short vignettes to keep the reader abreast of a wide variety of characters works, but after a few volumes seems to become counterproductive, and to make a variety of situations less distinctive. The book works because of Mr. Turtledove's thinking and in spite of his writing. His strong suit is thinking through "what ifs" to solid conclusions. To date, I have found following Mr. Turtledove's "what ifs" worth wading through an undisciplined multiplicity of subplots and endlessly, numbingly similar descriptions of combat. The decisions made on the use of atomic weapons in the book follow an interesting line; however, the vignette style leaves the actual detonations and aftermaths almost dull. Some specific quibbles with this volume: 1. The Lizards use 1990's USA technology. Judging from the descriptions in the book, Mr. Turtledove has visualized the aliens using the U.S. Army TO&E. Their air transport loads the same way as a C5, their tanks are identical, and their artillery counterbattery and submunitions capabilities were taken straight out the the U.S. Artillery field manuals. Perhaps I'm missing some subtle satire on Mr. Turtledove's part (and I concede the possibility), but equipping the Lizards with modern (read Earth) technology makes the book read like a schoolboy's fantasy of going back and rampaging through the Panzers with a good old M1 tank. That's been done before (Nimitz? Pearl Harbor?). This has the effect of taking the one or two efforts Mr. Turtledove has made to make the Lizards come alive in their own right (the implications of different sexual patterns, for example) and makes them seem contrived and tacked on. 2. No self-respecting science fiction author should ever, EVER, describe his characters as being clever because they read science fiction. Such references come across as smug and sycophantic (Hey! I'm reading science fiction! I must be smarter than the average bear, too!). No writer who reaches out from his pages and slaps the reader around with such self-referential nonsense can expect a continuing willing suspension of disbelief. In spite of all that, it's not a bad book. It's just not enough for four books. I read through to the end willingly enough; the basic premise alone was interesting enough to ensure that. The Lizards can't just leave because their women and children are committed to coming along behind; but they can't win, either. That is enough to take this book above the usual all-or-nothing space opera. It's not enough, though, to entice me to finish the series.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Most Realistic of the Series, July 2, 2007
This review is from: Upsetting the Balance (Worldwar Series, Volume 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
As Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance opens, the Race isn't yet sure if the Soviets have another atomic bomb. But among the ramifications of the attack are an attempt led by Straha, third in command of the Race's fleet, to depose Fleetlord Atvar. When the vote fails, Straha defects to the United States and tries to persuade the Race's soldiers to give up the fight, broadcasting his rhetoric by radio.
Meanwhile, Teerts, a Race pilot held prisoner by the Japanese, escapes during an attack. Back with his own people, he reveals the details of the Japanese nuclear program, headquartered in Tokyo. In response, the Race drops its own nuclear bomb on the Japanese capital. While this cripples the Japanese effort, both the Americans and Germans are almost at the point where they can produce enough plutonium on their own to make a steady supply of atomic weapons.
The Race decides it needs to take the British out of the war, and so they invade England. In response, Churchill issues a demand that they leave or face a new weapon. The Race thinks Churchill is bluffing, only to be surprised by something they're completely unprepared for -- mustard gas. Not only do they lack the weapon themselves, they have no gas masks. And once the British start using chemical weapons, the Germans decide to deploy an even more deadly nerve gas. Until now, the Race has faced only inferior weaponry of types similar to its own. Now the war has entered a new stage.
While the war seemed rather static in the second book, major events fill Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance from the first scene. Turtledove still follows all of his major characters, depicting the war from many perspectives. But now the personal struggles are more often entwined with higher concerns, giving this volume more depth as well as more suspense.
Turtledove also returns to some humorous social commentary, something prevalent in the first book but strangely absent from the second. One sequence details the horrors experienced by one of the Race's psychologists who, as an experiment, is trying to raise a human baby. At another point, the Race's reaction to the concept of science fiction concisely illustrates the Race's views regarding the human ability to innovate.
Throughout the novel, the frustration of the Race's soldiers builds as the humans find new ways to fight them -- actually beating them in many cases. Turtledove is especially effective in portraying the reasons why the Race is reluctant to use nuclear weapons on a large scale and simply exterminate the humans. Overall, this is by far the strongest of the four novels in the series, and a victorious defense, which once seemed impossible, now seems inevitable.
I wonder now whether the whole series could have been greatly strengthened by cutting much of the second volume.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
annoying, December 19, 1996
By A Customer
This review is from: Upsetting the Balance (Worldwar Series, Volume 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
After enjoying the first two books in this series
I found this one very annoying. Constant narrative
reminders of character shaping events from
the previous books totally overwhelmed any new
information. I found myself skimming through the
reiterations looking for something new.
I *forced* myself to finish the book, and was annoyed
to realize it was not the end of the series.
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