Camouflage

By: Joe Haldeman

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The artifact is found seven miles below the surface of the sea and beneath 40 more feet of sand. The Navy's efforts to raise a wrecked submarine uncover it - and set in motion a scientific race to retrieve it, to discover just what it is and where it came from.

Denser than any substance known to man, it has broken every drill bit they've tried on it and will not budge an inch. It resists every effort to breach it - or communicate with it. So the government turns to marine biologist Russell Sutton for help.

Meanwhile, unknown to any of them, two creatures have wandered the earth for generations. The aliens have no knowledge of each other, but possess a residual memory of the artifact - and an affinity for deep water. One, which calls itself the changeling, has survived by adaptation, by taking on many different forms: man, woman, snake, shark. The other, which calls itself the chameleon, has survived solely by destroying anything or anyone that threatens it.

Now, finally brought up from the bottom of the sea, the artifact calls to them both...to come home. For all these generations there have been two invincible creatures on Earth. But the chameleon has decided there's only room for one.

A novel of human and inhuman nature, Camouflage will take you to the depths of the sea, to the limit of man's imagination - and beyond.

©2005 Joe Haldeman (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2005

"Haldeman trips through history wearing alien goggles but his message is all about human nature." (Entertainment Weekly)
An extremely intelligent thriller." (Washington Post)

Fast paced...intriguing story

I tried this book as an "audible recommends" suggestion. What a pleasant surprise. I like the way the author was able to comment on the last century of history using the aliens as his impartial observers. I'm eager to listen to more from this author.

I never really got into the story.

This is a decent book, worth listening to but seems contrived and a little too unrealistic For me there was too much "real people wouldn't do that" and "things don't happen that way". I never really got into the story.

Loved it!

This is one that I picked up on a whim as frankly I had a ton of credits and none of my norms was grabbing my interest.

This is very well written and narrated and simply a lot of fun to listen to. From the beginning to a little more than halfway into the book they jump back and forth in time from chapter to chapter which really adds a lot of fun to this booth.

First chapter will be about them finding the object at the bottom of the Ocean in 2019 and setting the plot for the current time line of the book. Next chapter is about the Changeling out of the Ocean in 1932 and becoming human. It jumps back and forth like that giving you a glimpse of what 'made' the Changeling what it is 'today' and also introducing the protagonist the Chameleon in this manner as well. Makes for some fun listening.

Take a chance like I did, I think you'll very much enjoy it.

PUT AN EGG IN YOUR SHOE AND BEAT IT

This is enjoyable in parts, it is not great and not one of Hadleman's best. I felt it could have been better had it not been so disjointed. Joe has some good concepts about aliens and how they may differ from us and why. The lack of flow and the parts of the story that go off on weird boring tangents, keeps me form recommending the book. It is also one of those books where a week after you read it, you will have trouble remembering it.

Another Joe Haldeman winner

This was a great listen that I saved until I was making a long car trip. Kept bouncing back between the past and the present, which was a bit offputting at first, until both stories converge in a great climax. I won't give anything away, but if you have enjoyed other books by this author like Forever War, this is for you. There is no war in this one, however. Get it!

Fun idea, good performance

This book is one of those where you will have to suspend your beliefs to enjoy it. The idea of two immortals that end up on earth a very long time ago and as humanity evolves decides to partake in society (one brutal, one less so) and how the two entities find each other....an engaging story. Its sort of disturbing that you know that the humans can do nothing about the situation - only the two entities. It leaves you feeling a bit helpless.

But I liked the story. It is a quick read will keep you entertained.

A view from the outside

The story is simple: An alien shapeshifter encounters humanity and learns what it means to be fully human. Haldeman's story moves along at a nice clip keeping the reader engaged and occasionally deconstructing sexuality and gender along the way. Ultimately the story is comes down to love which may not be original but it is timeless. The excellent narration boosts and otherwise average experience to good one.

Interesting story - narrator needs a Samoan lesson

What did you love best about Camouflage?

I love sci-fi, especially stories about aliens among us. This book did not disappoint on that front.

What did you like best about this story?

The main character was well developed, and I was intrigued by its progression through different 20th century situations.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator had a pleasant voice, but clearly needed a Samoan language lesson. I've spent time in both Samoas, and am sorry to say almost every word and phrase was mispronounced. It became annoying to the point of distraction.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, no extreme reactions to the book. In places, the writing seemed forced and some scenes were predictable. There were also some racy scenes that I just couldn't engage with.

Any additional comments?

The story took some very interesting turns, but overall fell kind of flat. My guess, without looking at the details, is that this is an early book for a new author - it has that rough-around-the-edges feeling.

Good book but...

This was a good story although I wasn't sure if I was reading an erotic novel or a sci-fi book at times. This book isn't for the young readers it deals with some adult situations that wasn't mentioned. But in the end the story was very good I highly recommend.

Good premise ruined by ending

Would you try another book from Joe Haldeman and/or Eric Michael Summerer?

This isn't my first Haldeman; if it had been I probably would not do another. However, his Forever War is amazing and I hope that this book is just an outlier.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The love story toward the end was entirely unconvincing. I don't think it fit, but if Haldeman really wanted to have it he should have spent more time showing an evolution to make it possible and more time giving it grounding in true emotion.

Any additional comments?

Haldeman starts with an intriguing premise and, for a large portion of the book, delivers on it. The idea is that there are two extraterrestrials on the planet, though we spend a lot more time with one called "The Changeling" than we do with the other, called "The Chameleon." As a third line of plot, meant to take place in the near future just as the two alien storylines are followed in flashback to the past, we have humans discovering an artifact buried in the ocean. The artifact quickly reveals itself to be a technological feat outside of current human understanding.

From this premise, we get brief vignettes from each alien as they move through time, as well as a near future storyline as scientists try to divine the nature of the artifact. The Changeling spends millenia in the sea as various sea creatures before discovering humans and taking human form. The Chameleon appears to have always been some form of human, but capable of changing appearnce in an instance. The book is most interesting when it follows the Changeling and lets us see humanity through its eyes. The book remains engaging when it shows the Chameleon, clearly an apex predator with what humans would identify as psychopathy, maneuvering through human wars and atrocities, drawn to them for their violence. The book is least interesting in the near future storyline, but still passable. However, the book jumps the shark (a pun I most definitely intend, given that the Changeling used that form for thousands of years) toward the end and takes a promising SF tale of first contact and human nature seen from another perspective and turns it into a lackluster love story. The love story feels alien (pun also intended) and Haldeman makes this worse by not giving the reader any reason to believe in it - it is rushed and pat and unconvincing. The eventual climactic scene feels sudden and the final resolution cliched. In the end, I found the book disappointing, its promise consumed by a tacked on and out of place ending.