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)

This is I think one of the greatest series ever

This is one of the greatest series ever written. I have read all the books and listened twice on Audible both to the WorldWar series and the Colonization series books. It is worth the credits. Auidible20

Ridiculous (or what) but what a ride!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Why not explore other possibilities of alternate scenario. It is so utterly satisfactory to see the Nazis stopped in their killing spree, forced to collaborate again with the Soviets and others. Even the Jews see the Germans as the better of two evil....eventually.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Worldwar: In the Balance?

Many, like swarms of German fighter planes battling the invaders, among them ME-262.

What does Todd McLaren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He reads well enough and I enjoyed listening. I'm not native english speaking so it doesn't bother me if some accents are not perfectly correct.

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

It is really exciting and so great to make alternative history out of WW2 and be able to put all those situations and characters in the story to help the listener to relate. Put some Lizards on top of it and it mixes ridiculously well together. I admit it takes time to accept some reptiles invading the earth but you get there.

Any additional comments?

Book 2 in the series next up.

more funny that I'd thought

The Lizard race trying to figure out humans I find more funny than I should

decent book but

The book is for the most part great but the soldier and wife being together while her husband is trying hard to find and get back to her made it a little hard to want to continue.

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.