Worldwar: In the Balance

By: Harry Turtledove

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 26 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

War seethed across the planet. Machines soared through the air, churned through the seas, crawled across the surface, pushing ever forward, carrying death. Earth was engaged in titanic struggle. Germany, Russia, France, China, Japan: the maps were changing day by day. The hostilities spread in ever-widening ripples of destruction: Britain, Italy, Africa...the fate of the world hung in the balance. Then the real enemy came. Out of the dark of night, out of the soft glow of dawn, out of the clear blue sky came an invasion force the likes of which Earth had never known---and worldwar was truly joined.

The invaders were inhuman and they were unstoppable. Their technology was far beyond our reach, and their goal was simple: Fleetlord Atvar had arrived to claim Earth for the Empire. Never before had Earth's people been more divided. Never had the need for unity been greater. And grudgingly, inexpertly, humanity took up the challenge.

In this epic novel of alternate history, Harry Turtledove takes us around the globe. We roll with German panzers, watch the coast of Britain with the RAF, and welcome alien-liberators to the Warsaw ghetto. In tiny planes we skim the vast Russian steppe, and we push the envelope of technology in secret labs at the University of Chicago. Turtledove's saga covers all the Earth, and beyond, as mankind---in all its folly and glory---faces the ultimate threat; and a turning point in history shows us a past that never was and a future that could yet come to be.

©2009 Harry Turtledove (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Turtledove excels in alternate history, and this panoramic exploration of a world at war...showcases his fertile imagination. A feast for history buffs as well as sf fans.” ( Library Journal)

Far from what it could have been

For a war novel, it's rather disappointingly light on the military action, and needlessly heavy on the "romance"
Infidelity is icky subject matter even in the best of circumstances, and this book makes little effort to make it palatable.
Characters go nowhere and the exploration of the alien aspect doesn't go quite as deep as it could have, despite it being painfully clear the author had put alot of thought into them.

Overall it's a great concept undermined by dime store romance writing.

Concept was intriguing, narration was terrible

The concept of aliens invading earth in the middle of WWII was fascinating and the development and weaving of the historical and fictional characters (even the alien ones) was well done. The narration though was awful. When a scene changed, the narrator hardly took a breath between sentences, never mind a brief pause or change of inflection to indicate a change in what what taking place. Several sentences would pass, before I realized, we were in a different place with a different set of characters. This made listening to it difficult and disappointing. If I continue the series, I’ll read them.

Interesting alternative history

I find this a very interesting view of an alternative history, with Earth invaded right in the middle of WW II.
The switching POV's take a little getting used to.
The one irritation is the narrator. He kept pronouncing Cairo IL the same as the Egyptian Capital. All of the POW's he represented in the town pronounced it the same way even though they were all Illinois residents and at least one was a life-long Cairo resident.. The problem is that NOBODY in Illinois pronounces it that way. All Illinoisans pronounce it KAY-ROW.
Just as there was a Romeo and Juliet in the 1830's but when Juliet was renamed Joliet to honor Louis Jolliet in 1845, Romeo acknowledged the busted romance by renaming itself Romeoville instead.
Could you imagine the Blues Brothers with a "Juliet Jake" instead of "Joliet Jake"?

But beyond that so far after 10 hours into the book that is the major irritant by the narrator.
Another minor gaff by the Narrator is his representation of Enrico Fermi. He seemed to become confused since there was a Swedish scientist in their meeting at the University of Chicago and he seemed to overlap the Swedish accent into Fermi's supposed Italian accent. It sounded kind of funny having a half Swedish and half Italian accent for Fermi.

Enjoyed it.

Narrator did an excellent job, even through Turtledoves awkward sex scenes. I wish these things could have some visual accompaniment when they describe territorial holding.

Great start.

First Harry TurtleDove and first WorldWar book I've listened to. No regrets. The narrator did a great job and the book went into great detail without going overboard. The author also kept a decent pace without going too fast or slow. Ready to start the 2nd novel.

Well done except for the accents.

Apparently Italians are supposed to sound Scandinavian, and British are supposed to sound Australian - who knew.

Still love it

I first read this series in 1994 and enjoyed it immensely! I’ve been talking about these books and the author to anyone who’ll listen for the last 28 years! I love all of Harry Turtledove’s alternate history stories.

great story

When I first read this book it had a different title and author. It was 1943 by Newt Gingrich. I have compared the two books side by side they are identical. But be that as it may, the story is interesting but a little farfetched. The technology of the Lizards is too primitive; they have starships capable of launching an interstellar invasion but only have 1990’s weapons systems (jets, tanks, artillery etc). But I still enjoy the story and would recommend it to others

I a good book not for everyone

if you find the idea of Aliens invading during WWII a little bit interesting you'll probably love this book if that line didn't peak your interest I would recommend something else

Alright

The reading is excellent, but while a fan of Turtledove's early work, I found this (like most of his even newer stuff is predictable.

Strangely, it shows lack of imagination in both prose and plot; HOWEVER, it was still an entertaining "read." So if the concept intrigues you, and you can be entertained by more pulpy type sci-fi it is worth your time and, maybe, money!