In the Balance - Worldwar 1 - Harry Turtledove Book Review

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"In the Balance - Worldwar 1"
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Review Summaries

"A race of lizardlike aliens invades the earth at a key point in our history: World War II. Never was mankind more divided. Never were we more technoligically advanced. The aliens had sent a probe to Earth 800 years ago. Because they took millienia to make a single advance in technology, they've had 1990's level technology for centuries. They arrive in 1942 expecting things to change very little, but find us battling them with tanks, airplanes, and even working to create our first nuclear bombs. As they puzzle over how we could have advanced in technology so quickly, Jews in Poland greet them as liberators.

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. "
Wayne S. Urben, Resident Harry Turtledove Scholar

"This book (and it's three direct sequels) tells an alternate history story with a very unusual point of divergence: World War II is interupted by an alien invasion. The result is a very interesting war in which superior (1990s-level) alien technology is matched up against superior human tactics. The many viewpoint characters, some human, some alien, give a detailed look at the society and politics of both races.

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. "
Jeffrey "Jeph" Gord, Resident Harry Turtledove Scholar

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Overall Review

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

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

Tone of book - very upbeat - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - alternate history
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - spying/espionage in enemy territorry
If an invasion, from Earth/human POV: - fighting overt invasion (attacking aliens)
War or Invasion Yes
Major kinds of combat: - guns - air battles
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Culture clash- - one culture tries to impose its culture on another group
Escaping from behind enemy lines? Yes
Intense exploration of society's culture? Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - performer
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an entire race
Age: - long-lived adults
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Setting
Terrain - Jungle - Desert - Water - Mountains - Forests
Earth setting: - 20th century
Spaceship setting: - alien spaceship
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Takes place in spaceship? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths - explicit references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation - a lot of techical jargon
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - descript of touching personal anatomy - actual description of sex - description of breasts - descript. of private male anat. - descript. of non-breast female anat.
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Colonization: Down To Earth by Harry Turtledove
Tilting the Balance - Worldwar 2 by Harry Turtledove
Upsetting the Balance - Worldwar 3 by Harry Turtledove
The Guns of the South: a Novel of the Civil War by Harry Turtledove
Settling Accounts: The Grapple by Harry Turtledove

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

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