On 8/18/2021 3:54 PM, a425couple wrote:
> Thoughts on Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series #1 "In the Balance",
> #2 & #3.
>
> I quite enjoyed this book, and the 2nd got better, and
> IMHO, The 3rd even better!  I have not gotten to #4 yet.
> It starts in Spring 1942 with WWII in quite full force.
> The aliens have around what we might consider 1995
> military capability.  Turtledove offers the perspective of
> about 60 individuals, with sections from 3 to 12 pages long.
> So, if bored or unhappy with a section, it will soon change!
>
> "In the Balance (Worldwar #1)"
> by Harry Turtledove
>
> https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101527.In_the_Balance?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=QOUy0ilbL8&rank=3
>
>
> https://www.amazon.com/Balance-Worldwar-Book-One-ebook/dp/B000FBFOQY
> In the Balance (Worldwar, Book One) (Worldwar Series 1)
> by Harry Turtledove
>
> "Suppose Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, Hitler, and Hirohito had
> united to conquer an even greater foe?
> No one could top their power—not the Germans, not the Japanese,
> not the Russians, not the United States.
> From Pearl Harbor to panzers rolling through Paris to the Siege
> of Leningrad and the Battle of Midway, war seethed across the
> planet as flames of destruction rose higher and hotter.
>
> And then, suddenly, the real enemy came.
> The invaders seemed unstoppable, their technology far beyond
> human reach. And never before had men been more divided. For
> Jew to unite with Nazi, American with Japanese, and Russian
> with German was unthinkable.
> But the alternative was even worse.
> As the fate of the world hung in the balance, slowly,
> painfully, humankind took up the shocking challenge. . . ."
>
> "Editorial Reviews
> From Publishers Weekly
> This intelligent speculative novel depicts an alternate history
> in which, at the height of World War II, Earth is attacked by
> alien beings with weapons far more destructive than any possessed
> by the Allied or Axis forces. Turtledove ( The Guns of the South )
> gives a surprisingly convincing flavor to the time-worn story of
> warring nations uniting to repel extraterrestrials; his human
> characters, both actual and invented, ring true as they struggle
> to trust each other after years of enmity, and although the alien
> threat has a B-movie feel, he makes an effort to portray the
> invaders sympathetically as well. The first in a projected series,
> the book ends where it began: in and around a battle. The smooth
> writing is marred only by slightly overdone dialogue for real-life
> figures like General Patton. The historical details, especially
> those concerning the weapons and methods available in the 1940s
> to defend Earth, are accurate and well rendered."
>
> and also
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBFOQE?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_1&storeType=ebooks
>
> Tilting the Balance (Worldwar, Book Two)
>
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G5KGNUU?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_2&storeType=ebooks
>
> Upsetting the Balance (Worldwar, Book Three)
>
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBFOR8?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_3&storeType=ebooks
>
> Striking the Balance (Worldwar, Book Four)

This, plus the direct sequel series Colonization and the standalone
sequel to THAT Homeward Bound, are really a single massive series.

They're also the last Turtledove where I willingly sought out even the
final books, because of the diabolus ex machina that he needed to drop
on the Confederacy in "The Great War" to properly set up HOW evil it
would get as "Settling Accounts" ramped up.

I'm sorry, but there is no way that the Central Freaking Powers have the
advantage, to the point that they can basically destroy the British
Empire, just because the rump US sided with them rather than the
Entente. Yes, the Confederacy is probably still just a gilded lily.

But Canada should offset that rather than rapidly falling into US hands
the way that Turtledove made it out to. An alt-Great War with both a US
and an expanded Confederacy involved almost certainly ends in something
a LOT closer to status quo ante--

--in just the way the Entente was terrified that the actual OTL war
would, should the Germans not manage to antagonise the American
Expeditionary Forces into existing.

--
Chrysi Cat
1/2 anthrocat, nearly 1/2 anthrofox, all magical
Transgoddess, quick to anger
Call me Chrysi or call me Kat, I'll respond to either!