Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Del Rey (1995), 608 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:NO ONE COULD STOP THEM-- NOT STALIN, NOT TOGO, NOT CHURCHILL, NOT ROOSEVELT . . . The invaders had cut the United States virtually in half at the Mississippi, vaporized Washington, D.C., devastated much of Europe, and held large parts of the Soviet Union under their thumb. But humanity would not give up so easily. The new world allies were ruthless at finding their foe's weaknesses and exploiting them. Whether delivering supplies in tiny biplanes to partisans across the vast steppes of Russia, working furiously to understand the enemy's captured radar in England, or battling house to house on the streets of Chicago, humankind would never give up. Yet no one could say when the hellish inferno of death would stop being a war of conquest and turn into a war of survival--the very survival of the planet . . . From the Paperback edition..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member John5918
The second in a series where aliens invade earth during World War II and the major combatants join together to resist them. Interesting to speculate how much earlier the atomic bomb could have been deployed if the big powers had cooperated.
LibraryThing member robsack
Book 2 of the Turtledove's Worldwar series is an excellent follow-up to book 1, "In the Balance." At this stage (having read only the first two books of the series), it seems fair to say that Turtledove has conceived this series as one large story, splitting them into separate novels only for
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marketing purposes. If you're going to tackle this series, hit them in order. Show Less
LibraryThing member john257hopper
The epic alternate WWII saga continues. All the different storylines have their points of interest, though the ones that interest me most are those set in the Soviet Union and those involving the Polish Jews who initally sided with the invading Lizards as they at least saved them from the Nazis.
LibraryThing member SonicQuack
Turtledove's second instalment of his invasion saga continues to track the wartime heroics of a diverse set of characters spread across the globe. The narrative easily slips the reader back in to the action, with short chapters to re-introduce the myriad of characters. 'Tilting' is definitely a
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middle chapter, with plenty of character development and skirmishes that push the frontlines backwards or forwards. There are a few surprises in there, however, for the main 'Tilting' is laying foundations for the forthcoming material. Overall, it's too wordy, with too much redundant narrative. There's enough to keep you going; not enough to make this a notable book in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member DocWalt10
Interesting concept, showing how a common enemy, can unite the worse of allies
LibraryThing member dswaddell
An excellent deeply engrossing book.
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
The second volume in the initial trilogy of the Worldwar Series does do more character development, and does a decent job of exploring the ramifications of the complexity of the world crisis at the time. So I am pleasantly pleased at the level of suspense pacing demonstrated by HT in this volume.
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Sadly, the book retains its European and North American focus, but one plays to one's strengths, I guess. Show Less
LibraryThing member webbard
I read through Turtledove's Southern Victory series during the 00s. The paperbacks ended with a preview of the World War series. I was always intrigued, but ended up never picking them up.
Earlier this year I saw the first 4 books at a thrift store and decided to give them a try. The first book was
Turtledove has a really bad tendency of repeating himself. Repeating descriptions every single time he switches the POV character. But that's not even the worst of it. The paperback is nearly 600 pages. The first 3 books of Southern Victory were about 300-400 and hit a really good sweet spot in length. The 600 pages wouldn't be an issue, except it feels like almost nothing happens for the whole book.
The book also struggles with the whole idea of a "World War", as Turtledove is constantly shuffling around characters in order to have events happen around them. The only characters that feel like they stand on their own are all characters who stay in the same general area. Sam Yeager, a former American baseball player who is a liaison with lizard POWs on the American Nuclear project, Ludmila Gorbunova a female Russian pilot whose antiquated plane manages to annoy the Aliens, and Mutt Daniels, Sam Yeager's former coach, a WW1 vet and a front line fighter on the American front and Liu Han, a Chinese peasant who is abducted by the aliens and then put in a POW camp.
Even with this going on, the book still struggles to tell a coherent story about the War. Which isn't all that surprising, while Turtledove's vision of a WW1 between the Union and Confederacy managed to be very immersive, the WW2 between both sides sputtered considerably. It was as though he had an overall image of the story he wanted to tell, but struggled to fill in the details in both cases. This despite the books ballooning in size.
I might continue the series just to get through the WorldWar section of these books, but even then they are definitely getting put on the backburner after I struggled so hard to make my way through this book.
Earlier this year I saw the first 4 books at a thrift store and decided to give them a try. The first book was
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good enough to peek my interest, but this second book is already reminding me of all the aspects of Southern Victory that I got burnt out on.Turtledove has a really bad tendency of repeating himself. Repeating descriptions every single time he switches the POV character. But that's not even the worst of it. The paperback is nearly 600 pages. The first 3 books of Southern Victory were about 300-400 and hit a really good sweet spot in length. The 600 pages wouldn't be an issue, except it feels like almost nothing happens for the whole book.
The book also struggles with the whole idea of a "World War", as Turtledove is constantly shuffling around characters in order to have events happen around them. The only characters that feel like they stand on their own are all characters who stay in the same general area. Sam Yeager, a former American baseball player who is a liaison with lizard POWs on the American Nuclear project, Ludmila Gorbunova a female Russian pilot whose antiquated plane manages to annoy the Aliens, and Mutt Daniels, Sam Yeager's former coach, a WW1 vet and a front line fighter on the American front and Liu Han, a Chinese peasant who is abducted by the aliens and then put in a POW camp.
Even with this going on, the book still struggles to tell a coherent story about the War. Which isn't all that surprising, while Turtledove's vision of a WW1 between the Union and Confederacy managed to be very immersive, the WW2 between both sides sputtered considerably. It was as though he had an overall image of the story he wanted to tell, but struggled to fill in the details in both cases. This despite the books ballooning in size.
I might continue the series just to get through the WorldWar section of these books, but even then they are definitely getting put on the backburner after I struggled so hard to make my way through this book.
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LibraryThing member GridCube
much better than the first one
LibraryThing member kslade
Good second novel in the series. Fun to see how adaptable humans often foil the consistent aliens. Interesting to see how history could have been different in this alternate history series.
Subjects
Awards
Sidewise Award (Finalist — 1996)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1995-02-21
Physical description
608 p.; 4.22 inches
ISBN
0345389980 / 9780345389985