Camouflage - Joe Haldeman Book Review

Enter a review
of your own!

Other books by
author Joe Haldeman

"Camouflage"
Message Board

Joe Haldeman Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR: Kevin Dole

SCHOLARS: Gavin J. Carr Kelly Affannato

Would you like to be a scholar and make five dollars per review? Click here to submit a review!

Click here for free online dating advice!

Review Summary

Ace, Aug 2004, 23.95, 304 pp.
ISBN: 0441011616

In 2019 Baja, California, Russell Sutton owns Poseidon Projects, a relatively small marine biological research firm. Russell targets two to three projects a year, but none involving the American military having worked in the government back at the turn of the century. Thus, his highly regarded staff (six PhDs) is stunned when Russell accepts US Navy Admiral Jack Halliburton deep-water salvage proposal. Lying on the bottom of an oceanic trench, seven miles form the surface, sits a metallic object that Jack wants raised.

Russell succeeds in lifting the small object out of the sea. In Samoa, they investigate the find, but the object is impregnable to their probes. While the scientific team continually fails in its query, two aliens roam the planet. The Changeling lived in the sea for millenniums before arriving on land nearly a century ago and dons any identity including an inanimate; the Chameleon has become the world's richest person. He also will kill without feeling any remorse. News surfaces about the object; along with the usual whackos in and out of the media and some intrigued scientists, the Changeling and the Chameleon have personal interests as both know that this is the key to their finally going home.

Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Camouflage

Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
New movie search (click here) New book search (click here)

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying - method of transportation
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
magical powers: - shapechanger (scifi)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - champion of justice
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male Alien
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Genius (really!)
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Earth setting: - current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript

Most similar books to Camouflage
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
Eye of Cat by Roger Zelazny
Beholder's Eye by Julie E. Czerneda
Buying Time by Joe Haldeman
Ariel by Alexander Beliaev

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

Try our new Star Wars & Star Trek puzzle pictures! Click here

Advertise with us
Feedback
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith plot spoilers
Hobbits
The politics game
The lawyer game

3 Book search options!
1) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
2) Detailed book search
(click here) or

3) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot below!

Animal Story

Clones

Coming of age

Cultural problems, alien culture

Explore/1st contact/ enviro story

Family relations

GIANT monster(s)

Horror story?

Inner Struggle

Lifeform altered?

Mental/magical powers focus

Parody

Political power play

Religious overtones?

Repressive society story

Robots, Computers, VR

Romance

Spying & Investigations

Tech./$$$/Info hunt

Time Travel story?

Training/Apprent.

War or Invasion

Games:
Trivia Masters!

Rescue your favorite
scifi characters from
slavery!

Talk to your favorite
scifi characters!

Eating New Yorkers
Computer Game

Pomeranians

Most recent TV & Movie discussions:

A Boy and His Dog: A Boy and His Dog 7/17/2008 5:17:27 PM

Blade Runner: Blade Runner 7/16/2008 3:22:19 PM

Charmed: If Piper Halliwell gets pregnant, can Leo give her an abortion? 7/11/2008 11:16:14 AM

Charmed: What's wrong with Rose McGowan's chin? 7/8/2008 9:56:13 PM

Battlestar Galactica: What's with the ladders in Cylon base ships? 7/8/2008 5:43:06 PM

Star Wars: Why AT-AT's are retarded 7/8/2008 2:58:31 PM

Charmed: Is Piper really a Halliwell? 7/5/2008 11:48:59 AM

Doctor Who: Who was the best Doctor? 7/5/2008 4:23:13 AM

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 7/5/2008 2:40:59 AM

Doctor Who: Who was the best companion? 6/30/2008 7:37:52 AM

Newest slaves:
Willow (Alyson Hannigan) 2:29:58 AM
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) 2:25:55 AM
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) 2:08:17 AM
Hillary Rodham Clinton 1:56:07 AM
Luke Skywalker 1:51:55 AM
Heather Graham 1:48:55 AM
Michael Samuelle 1:47:10 AM
Nikita (Peta Wilson) 1:43:47 AM
Major Samantha Carter (Butchie) 1:39:08 AM
Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty) 1:36:26 AM
All slaves
(click here)

Celebrity interviews:
President George W. Bush 6:32:00 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent 2:16:51 PM
Captain Kathryn Janeway 3:47:46 PM
Jack ONeill (Richard Dean Anderson) 1:39:22 PM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 5:01:07 PM
All celebrities
(click here)