Customer Reviews

When Heaven Fell

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read six or seven of Barton's novels, and all are very good, this one is no exception. It is based in a world in which a Master Race has subdued Earth and also controls most of our galaxy. Mercenaries are hired by the Master Race, aliens and humans alike, Athol Morrison being one of them. The book centers around Athol and his adventures and personal life. I found this book simply fascinating, a rare page turner. William Barton writes with adult content and themes, so beware if you are easily offended, however, I find this writing style very refreshing and honest, in regards to true human nature and instincts that few if any other SF writers ever touch. I understand this novel is out of print, but it would be worth it to locate a used copy somewhere.

WHF is one of the few SF novels to consider what would happen if hostile aliens *really* invaded Earth, which is to say it would be like 16th century Aztec warriors vs. the 21st century US Army. Not much doubt about the outcome -- although Barton has humans inflict 600,000 casualties on the invaders, who killed 8 billion humans. So a better comparison would be Zulus vs. British, or Apaches vs. the USA: no hope of victory for 'our' side, but we're strong enough to inflict casualties and win skirmishes. After conquest, it got nastier than any of these examples -- the Congo under King Leopold comes to mind. This is not a cheerful book.

It turns out that the invaders, the Kkhruhhuft, sentient velociraptors (+/-), are mercenaries, janissaries really, conquered long ago by the Master Race. The Masters appear to be some sort of emergent AI's -- their hosts/companions/creators(?) are a group-mind made up of carnivorous, UV-loving, blue froggy 'poppits'. The Masters' taste for galactic conquest is inexplicable, but they're very good at it. Evil Overlords, yes, but inscrutable, *alien* EO's. Perhaps conquering planets is how they keep score.

Rigorously-selected humans can join the Masters' janissary armies. Since Earth's civilization has been smashed, volunteers aren't hard to find. The viewpont character is a successful merc officer, coming home on leave for the first time since his enlistment

These are pretty pampered mercs. Between mass-killing campaigns, they live in comfortable bases on nice planets. The officers have personal servants, cooks, sexual consorts -- Athy has three burdar bedservants, a cook and a batman. The burdars enlist for a fixed term, are payed well and get a sizeable bonus for completing their enlistment -- they will return home rich, by local standards. There's a queasy fascination to this, and to the whole setup. The mercs try to maintain good training and discipline, but are under no illusions as to their role, which is brutal conquest and enforcement of Master rule. This usually involves smashing the local civilization, and killing 99% of the planet's population.

The book is matter-of-fact throughout, and is less depressing than it sounds. Life does go on, through the most awful circumstances, and people cope as best they can (or die). There's even a thread of hope that the Evil Overlords will someday get their comeuppance. The bad news is, the conquered races are likely to be exterminated too...

The bottom line: The first & second time I read WHF, I thought it was terrific. I didn't like it as much this time, but it's still a good, and unusual, book. Recommended, but not for the squeamish.

Note: Google Groups for a parallel review (by James Nicoll) and a discussion.


Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

"Surviving the slaughter of the human race by the cybernetic Master Race, mercenary Athol Morrison and a group of desperate resistors return to an alien-occupied America in a daring attempt to overthrow the dark rulers of the universe."

Yeah, right.

Barton is one of the few (and perhaps the only) SF writer who has the nerve to write realistic and truly _adult_ SF. _When Heaven Fell_ is not happy wish-fulfillment stuff--it is a starkly realistic depiction of coping in a world without hope.

You won't like this book the first time you read it. But I guarantee you will read it more than once.

This was a fresh, yet harrowing first-person perspective of what life might be like if the plant Earth were to be conquered by an alien civilization. The fresh aspect of the story is that it is told 20 or so years after the battles are over. The conquest of Earth itself is described in passing terms only. The person doing the telling, Athol Morrison, is in the willing employ of the "Master Race" as a soldier, and is now involved in the conquest of other races at his master's bidding.

The other fresh aspect of this story is that our protagonist himself is rather dislikable. The story is compelling however, in a way that is like looking at something that is horrible but that you can't tear your eyes from. Athol accepts the status quo (resistance is futile), and treats the humans trying to survive on his devastated planet with contempt. In a sense, the reader is presented with the question of survival vs. slavery. The Master Race is so far ahead of us in every technology that we have no chance of ever defeating them ourselves (in fact, because they consist of machines & software, with backups, it isn't even possible to really kill them). Is it not better then to do your best to survive, even if that means working diligently for the civilization that has enslaved your people?

I had the sense that the story was set up in some way for a sequel, but it's been a few years and nothing yet. Be warned that this book is very dark in tone, with a fair amount of (degrading) sex and violence. Barton readers of course will be used to the degrading sex...

Read carefully and savored, works like this one by Barton should be more than sufficient to persuade the skeptic that contemporary science-fiction is not just a fringe genre for pimply-faced geeks. This is a truly masterful sketch of humanity and all that the term signifies. There are profound layers of complexity here which ought to delight and amaze any thoughtful reader of fine literature. Obviously, it is easy to become distracted by the seemingly gratuitous scenes of graphic brutality and sexuality, but that would be to miss the forest for the trees, and to confuse Barton's style of poetic yet purposeful delivery with some voyeuristic indulgence is to commit an even graver error of judgment.

I hesitate to give anything more substantive away, and plot summaries/spoiler already abound. So, if you have not yet read this book, do yourself a favor and read it... carefully.

All that said, this is most certainly a "grown-up" novel (implicitly intended for mature adults with some familiarity with philosophy, geography, psychology, and a bit of history--i.e. to fully appreciate the subtle, symbolic parallels with particular modern military conflicts--and also a certain level of comfort with various expressions of human sexuality); and thus I would not necessarily recommend it to just anyone/everyone.

I look forward to reading more works by this spectacular author.

Although getting glowing reviews (the phrase "best novel of alien invasion ever" was what prompted me to read this book) When Heaven Fell starts out strong but gets mired in irrelevant meandering and stalling. Most glaringly, this character has more sex scenes lovingly described than anything outside of Xavier Hollander. OK, the first time he hooks up with his ex-girlfriend, fine. But every other page? And then on and on describing intimate moments with his four or five burdars, fellow soldiers, etc.? I get it, let's move on to the action already! And what character recites Latin names for body parts while all hot and heavy? Mons, vulva, iliac - it's all there, you'll want Grey's Anatomy alongside to keep track.

Sadly there isn't much action for a novel about galactic war, only isolated scenes. The entire campaign against the Xu, their fiercest enemy yet, is dispensed with in about 5 pages. There's a number of incongruities. Quite a few humans are living in his old hometown and even the town bar remained open, yet in 28 years no one has restarted electric service? We're told that the Master Race's new hand weapons are closely accounted for, yet in the next paragraph the conspirators are giving a spare one out to our hero (what he's expected to do with it is not clear).

You never find out a whole lot about the Master Race or how the brainless poppits created them in the first place. The narrator's frustrating lack of detail (except in the endlessly redundant sex scenes) reminded me of the Handmaid's Tale, where the main character holds back too many details about the world of the novel from the audience.

I'm a big fan of military scifi, but this novel is more than that. I've never read any scifi novel that laid out so clearly the harshness of alien occupation of Earth, and the responses of humans to their plight. The clever, the brutal, and the opportunistic survive, but the 'hero' is aware of the many ironies of his situation as a rising officer in the multi-species mercenary force used by the AI Master Race. The designs of the dominant aliens are never made clear, and this is a good thing about the book. Beings as superior to humans and as power as the Master Race are not stock villains--their aims are inscrutable, but their rule is draconian. Of course there's a revolutionary conspiracy afoot, but Barton handles the involvement of his hero in this struggle with more irony--I won't spoil this vital part of the plot. There are battles and aliens galore, but this is military scifi for adults, and nice guys finish last, perhaps.

This is one of the best books I have ever read.

Im off to order everything else I can find from this author.

Barton takes a common theme, alien invasion, and reworks it with the grace of a master. Very much a book for the future of science fiction, the reader is left with the idea that what humanity suffers at the hands of alien invaders in some ways reminds them of their humanity. Top notch stuff.

Barton has managed one of the most difficult tasks in science fiction: Finding an original approach to one of the basic plot themes, Alien Invasion. The humans in this story are a bit reminiscent of those in William Tenn's "The Men in the Walls", where the Master Race is so far above that the humans that they are almost insignificant. A good mind stretch. Recommended