War of the Worlds: Retaliation

By: John J Rust, Mark Gardner

Narrated by: Samuel E. Hoke III

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

1898: Martian tripods lay waste to Earth's cities. The world's armies are unable to stem the tide of destruction. When all hope appears lost, common bacteria kills the alien invaders. From the ashes, the human race uses the technology left behind by the Martians to build new, advanced weapons.

1924: Armed with their own spaceships, tripods, and jet fighters, the nations of the world are ready to take the fight to Mars. George Patton, Erwin Rommel, Charles de Gaulle, and Georgy Zhukov lead their troops in battle across the red planet to end the alien menace once and for all. But the Martians have one last, desperate plan to try, and if successful, it could mean the end for all humanity.

©2012, 2017 John J. Rust and Mark Gardner (P)2017 Article94

Critic reviews

"Rust and Gardner's sequel to the HG Wells' novel of a Martian invasion, War of the Worlds: Retaliation, does the original story full justice, while bringing their own skills to bear as the writing pair take the battle to Mars, bringing along a bevy of historical figures from World War Two. It's an exciting rollercoaster of a ride, with sudden twists and heart-stopping drops-and one I wouldn't mind riding again." ( New York Times number-one best-selling author James Rollins)

1920s War Lords take it to Mars

Starting in 1898 with the final throws of the Martian invasion, humanity is at a breaking point. However, the human bacteria prove deadly to the Martians and on mass, they die, leaving their advanced technology for the humans to scavenge. Skipping ahead to 1924, the world leaders have decided it’s time to take the fight to Mars and a massive invasion is launched.

I’m a fan of HG Wells’s works, including the original War of the Worlds. So of course I was thrilled to dive into a novel that told a story of what humans did afterwards. How does a failed Martian invasion change the course of humanity’s history? Gardner and Rust give a decent answer to that question.

I think this book would have extra interest to those who have studied WWI. There’s plenty of European and North American names to recognize in this novel such as Charles de Gaulle, Rommel, George Patton, and so on. You don’t have to be particularly knowledgeable about any of these historical figures to enjoy their characters in this tale. I was a bit surprised that the Asian countries weren’t represented at all. Also, since it was a world wide Martian invasion in 1898, I was initially hopeful to see how that great leap in tech affected many of the countries in Africa and South America. Alas, those continents are barely mentioned.

There’s plenty of great tech in this tale. First, I really enjoyed that some tested and true war machines of WWI were in this book, like the Fokker airplanes. There’s also some brand new vehicles made especially for the Martian invasion. However, I did notice that the physics of Mars was skimmed over when it came to actual battles.

Now, let me get out my little polished soap box. There is exactly 1 female character (Nurse Hill) in this entire book and she doesn’t appear until the last hour of the story and she isn’t plot relevant at all. There’s a few other ladies mentioned as wives or mothers. This pains me. Here we are in this fascinating science fiction novel that’s essentially about the survival of the species, and the women aren’t present. Sigh…

OK, so moving on. I loved that we got a look into Martian society through the Martian characters. Their society is suffering from stagnation and the inability for their leaders to admit that there’s a real threat coming from Earth. I really enjoyed watching the various Martians struggle with this.

The pacing of the story is good with strategy, reflection, and action all well intermingled. I never suffered from battle fatigue nor did I feel that the story bogged down here or there. As an aside, I liked that Hitler was receiving psychiatric help and was an exceptionally minor character in this book.

I received a free copy of this book via The Audiobook Worm.

The Narration: Samuel Hoke was a very good fit for this story. He performed several different accents as needed and was consistent with them throughout the story. Each character was distinct.

Character reveiw

So the Martins have been exterminated. Everyone is pursuing their destiny. With the exception of Zhukov. I really enjoyed some of characters. Epically Patton, Rommel and the arrogant french man Charles de Gaulle. It looks like WWI is going to between Japan and Russia.

War drama in an alternate-history

Where does War of the Worlds: Retaliation rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 100

What did you like best about this story?

Really enjoyed the Earth's revenge against the Martians

Have you listened to any of Samuel E. Hoke III’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not, Samuel E Hoke III is ideally suited to this war drama

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Hit or Miss Sci-Fi Action Novel

I picked this book up and set it down a few times before being able to get through it.  I love science fiction and don't even mind that it's a sequel -- but there was something about the way this book was written that just didn't sit well with me.  That being said, I did finish it (which I don't alway do).

What this book helped me realize is that alternate history books can be awesome when some of the research is done correctly.  Even if it's meant to be a crazy different timeline there are still things that make more sense now than they would back then. Retaliation had some of this and while other parts felt just right.

The action of this book was really well written. I can tell a lot of time went into crafting the perfect action scenes and making them flow from one to another. The ability to keep a book packed with this much action without making it feel overdone surprised me.

A slightly 'cinematic' narration -- War of the Worlds Retaliation both hit and missed marks throughout.  I don't know if it's because it's been a long time since I've read the original War of the Worlds or what, but the intro/first few chapters felt really hard to get into for me.  Sure there was action almost right away but I wasn't 100% sure why things were happening the way they were.

The narration for War of the Worlds Retaliation was done by Samuel E. Hoke III who does a really nice job.  Professionally recorded with lots of stuff going on, Hoke allows this book to flow nicely.

I received a free copy of this book. It has not affected my review of my opinion.

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great follow-up

great use of real life generals. Used their 'real' personalities perfectly. Good use of reverse-engineering of the Martian destroyed weapons. Real good job. (ps if you never read/listened to the REAL original - its much better than the movie versions)

A Solid Continuation

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an unbiased review. This book is actually a nice addition to the original War of the Worlds book. The narrator did a fine job of reading the book I really enjoyed the Earth's revenge against the Martians. If you are a fan of the original book, you'll probably like this one. It was nice to see someone take the original story and go with it.

A New Classic

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
This book was great. I am a fan of the original War of the Worlds and who doesn't want to find out what happens next. Written in the vein of classic Sci-Fi this story has such a different feel than most modern space stories. I found myself wanting to revisit some old favorites dealing with space travel and Mars.

Did Not Finish

Any additional comments?

This is my problem only, not the fault of the author or the narrator---the narrator's voice grated on my hearing to the point where it was going to be a real distraction from the story. My apologies to both!

Good premise and story, disappointing narration.

This book was voluntarily provided to me, free of cost, by the author / narrator / publisher. I'm leaving an unbiased review for the book.

I loved the premise of the book from the get go. The Independence Day 2 movie was a huge let down, so I was hoping this book would live up to the promise. And for most part, it did. The action sequences are well written and draws the listener in. The narrator's raspy and bass-heavy voice was a little distracting though. I get that they were going for army big-wig effect with that voice, but after a while it gets irritating. Nonetheless, once I got used to it, the rest of the book was alright.

Hell yes, its time for payback.

Should be a movie!!!
It was cool seeing the aliens side of the war. Great space battles down to the last minute.