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Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance
Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance
Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance
Audiobook25 hours

Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance

Written by Harry Turtledove

Narrated by Todd McLaren

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

Communist China, Japan, Nazi Germany, the United States: they began World War II as mortal enemies. But suddenly their only hope for survival-never mind victory-was to unite to stop a mighty foe: one whose frightening technology appeared invincible.

Far worse beings than the Nazis were loose. From Warsaw to Moscow to China's enemy-occupied Forbidden City, the nations of the world had been forced into an uneasy alliance since humanity began its struggle against overwhelming odds. In Britain and Germany, where the banshee wail of hostile jets screamed across the land, caches of once-forbidden weapons were unearthed, and unthinkable tactics were employed against the enemy. Brilliantly innovative military strategists confronted challenges unprecedented in the history of warfare.

Even as lack of fuel forced people back to horse and carriage, physicists worked feverishly to create the first atomic bombs-with horrifying results. City after city joined the radioactive pyre as the planet erupted in fiery ruins. Yet the crisis continued-on land, sea, and in the air-as humanity writhed in global combat. The tactics of daredevil guerrillas everywhere became increasingly ingenious against a superior foe whose desperate retaliation would grow ever more fearsome.

No one had ever put the United States, or the world, in such deadly danger. But if the carnage and annihilation ever stopped, would there be any pieces to pick up?
LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 24, 2010
ISBN9781400183968
Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance
Author

Harry Turtledove

Harry Turtledove is an American novelist of science fiction, historical fiction, and fantasy. Publishers Weekly has called him the “master of alternate history,” and he is best known for his work in that genre. Some of his most popular titles include The Guns of the South, the novels of the Worldwar series, and the books in the Great War trilogy. In addition to many other honors and nominations, Turtledove has received the Hugo Award, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, and the Prometheus Award. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a PhD in Byzantine history. Turtledove is married to mystery writer Laura Frankos, and together they have three daughters. The family lives in Southern California.

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Reviews for Worldwar

Rating: 3.634955745575221 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

226 ratings10 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Odd. Usually I really like Harry Turtledove's books, but this one didn't impress me so much. Rather than read the other three books in the series, I contented myself with reading the synopses on Wikipedia. Anyhoo, this is an alternate history/science fiction hybrid speculating on what would happen if aliens invaded Earth in the middle of World War II. Mr. Turtledove tells the tale from a variety of perspectives--a technique I fell in love with when I read the first book of his The Great War series. My biggest complaint is that this "global" perspective is actually limited to the northern hemisphere. Logically, there would be a lot of invasion activity in Africa and South America, but that all takes place behind the scenes.--J.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fascinating scenario where aliens invade during World War II, leading to a fragile alliance between all the major combatants to resist the new common enemy.This is by far the most readable of the series so far. With the first two I struggled a bit - at times they were slow-moving and turgid. I found this one very fast-moving and could hardly put it down.This one has more action in Britain. Generally the books seem to be very well researched, but there are a few small errors which grate a bit. Turtledove introduces a Royal Air Force "Flight Officer", whereas unless I'm mistaken the RAF rank is "Flying Officer". He has a BBC newsreader use the word "momentarily" in the US way, meaning "very soon", whereas in British usage momentarily means "for an instant or moment" or "for a very short time" - the BBC in that era were sticklers for correct grammar and pronunciation. These are small things in themselves, but they niggle precisely because so much else is correct. I wonder whether Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Polish and Russian readers would also find similar things? Turtledove enters a minefield when he starts using British regional accents, but seems to have got away with it.There's a nice little dig at Pope Pius X11 right near the end, quite insightful really considering a lot of recent speculation about the extent of his collaboration with the Nazis in the real war.All in all, a very good book, by far the best of the series so far.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was hoping for more, but this book is the first book of Turtledove's that I read, and I enjoyed it. I wasn't sure how I would like an alternate history book, but add in an alien invasion during world war II and it was a very interesting read. A classic example is how would a less technical race (Human kind) fare in a battle against a more technologically advanced race that is bent on taking over their planet and subjugating them.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was looking for a new series to start and I had read reviews of the books in LT. The Martha Canfield Library had the first book of this series in the stacks so I check it out. I found the book to be well written and the premise of the story interesting. In many science fiction books only one or two characters are not two dimensional, this tale has many and I find this fascinating. Can't wait to read the nex book in the series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Another good vol. in this series. Very readable.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    the third book in the Worldwar series is better than the second, IMO and character development, not a HTD highpoint, is a great deal better than his other casts. By now we've had a chance to live with this group. The research is of a high standard, and the widening war is well portrayed.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The sagga continues as the earth forces strive to block the lizards from taking over the earth. A good enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Turtledove's alternate-history-by-numbers continues with the third of the WorldWar series. This chunky tome continues to follow the diverse set of people across the Superpowers as they defend themselves from oppression. The aliens too are struggling to find the resources necessary to fight a prolonged war, light years from home. The story's perspective sways from alien to human throughout the novel, each chapter detailing the horrors of war on our planet. There's no conclusion here, as expected in a middle chapter, however very few of the characters achieve much throughout this book, which ultimately makes it hard going. The final quarter holds some unexpected turns which ensure readers will see it through and return for more.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I thought the first half of this was starting to pall and lacked the excitement of the first two books. There were too many set piece battles, not enough plot. I got a bit irritated by the endless repetition - banging on over and over again about the Race's conservatism and slow adaptations to technology compared to that of humans, and the way ginger distorts their judgement but leaves then thinking it enhances it. The plot did pick up though and the tit for tat atomic bomb blasts quite chilling. The twist at the end bodes well for a more interesting fourth volume.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fascinating scenario where aliens invade during World War II, leading to a fragile alliance between all the major combatants to resist the new common enemy.This is by far the most readable of the series so far. With the first two I struggled a bit - at times they were slow-moving and turgid. I found this one very fast-moving and could hardly put it down.This one has more action in Britain. Generally the books seem to be very well researched, but there are a few small errors which grate a bit. Turtledove introduces a Royal Air Force "Flight Officer", whereas unless I'm mistaken the RAF rank is "Flying Officer". He has a BBC newsreader use the word "momentarily" in the US way, meaning "very soon", whereas in British usage momentarily means "for an instant or moment" or "for a very short time" - the BBC in that era were sticklers for correct grammar and pronunciation. These are small things in themselves, but they niggle precisely because so much else is correct. I wonder whether Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Polish and Russian readers would also find similar things? Turtledove enters a minefield when he starts using British regional accents, but seems to have got away with it.There's a nice little dig at Pope Pius X11 right near the end, quite insightful really considering a lot of recent speculation about the extent of his collaboration with the Nazis in the real war.All in all, a very good book, by far the best of the series so far.