3.5 stars. This is Book 1 of Harry Turtledove’s massive alternate history WW2 epic and I will say at the outset that I definitely enjoyed this enough to go on to the next book. I was really torn between 3 and 4 stars on this one as I loved the premise and the set up but there were some slow parts that were less than compelling. I decided it was either going to be a very strong 3 or a weak 4. I ended up going with a strong 3 since the first book in the series and I wanted to give the next book room to improve. As for the plot, my lead in picture really says it all. The premise is simple and spectacular. In late 1941, after World War II has raged for over 2 years and armies form almost every nation are fighting all across the globe, the Earth is suddenly invaded by an alien army called The Race. Here are the basics:1. Expectations: The aliens sent probes to Earth in preparation for the invasion but the latest information they had was from over 800 years ago (around 1100 A.D.). Since The Race is hundreds of thousands of years old and has hardly advanced technologically for millennia, they did not expect any change in the Earth’s level of technology in only 8 centuries. When they see how far Earth has advanced they are more than a little pissed. 2. Technology: Despite their faulty intelligence on Earth’s level of technology, the aliens are still vastly superior to man in that department. I would describe them as similar to what the United States is today. They have the equivalent of modern jet fighters, modern tanks, automatic weapons….PLUS ATOMIC BOMBS. However, they were expecting to be up against horse-riding knights in armor and so things are not as comfortable for them as they had hoped. Basically, we have more guns and bullets but theirs are MUCH BIGGER and we have much better ability to adapt and improvise.3. Alliances: The most interesting element of the story is the alliances that form once the invasion begins. At the time of the invasion, you have Hitler and Stalin go at it in the east, the Japanese have just bombed pearl harbor and London is in flames. Now all of a sudden, you have Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, Yamamoto, Mussolini and their senior personnel having to work together. It makes for some wonderful tension to the story. At the same time, you have the some groups like the Polish Jews in Warsaw and the Chinese from Manchuria who first see the aliens as liberators against the Nazis and Imperial Japan. All of this creates such a wonderful dynamic and the author does a very credible job of investing the stories with real life. I am only really scratching the surface here but I think the above is enough to give you the gist of the plot and the kind of story that the author was trying to write. This is an attempt at a credible, historically realistic “what if” that tries to make the fantastic element (alien invasion) appear plausible. I think the author took an incredibly difficult premise and succeeded, for the most part, in telling a very compelling story. This leads me to my final comment about expectations going into the story. I think you will enjoy the story more if you are coming to it as a World War II historical fiction story that happens to include aliens added on for spice. Alternatively, if you approach this as a typical SF alien invaders story with World War II added as backdrop, you may be disappointed by the level of historical detail and the pace of the plot. This is a massive World War II story that will cover 4 volumes of which this is only the first book. All told, the 4 installments will span some 2500+ pages so be prepared for detail and well developed plot lines. RECOMMENDED!!
Książka z maksymalnie niewykorzystanym potencjałem, którego założenia mogą wydawać się nieco banalne - Ziemia roku 1945 w obliczu ataku "jaszczurów" z kosmosu - jakkolwiek dają one spore pole do popisu. Niestety, autor strasznie rozmienia się na drobne - zamiast skupić się na głębszym zarysowaniu historycznych implikacji ataku obcych w gorącym okresie Drugiej Wojny Światowej - już na samym wstępie wprowadzając do historii masę mało interesujących, jednowymiarowych, odstręczających wręcz swoją nijakością, postaci. Wszystko to zrobione na zasadzie, po jednym "przeciętniaku" z każdego, zaangażowanego w międzynarodowy konflikt, narodu. Choć i tu brak konsekwencji - choć wątek polski odgrywa całkiem istotną rolę, to kompletnym zaskoczeniem było dla mnie to, że Turtledove konstruuje go w sposób zupełnie nieprzekonujący, mianowicie skupiając się na samej tylko Warszawie, co grosza, w roli przedstawicieli naszego regionu umieszczający Żydów z getta. Dobrze, ma to swego rodzaju uzasadnienie, ale nie zmienia to faktu, że Polacy, jako naród, zostali w tej historii niemal kompletnie pominięci.Ogólnie jednak autor nie wychodzi poza utarte, można by było powiedzieć, że wręcz podręcznikowe schematy, a jego wizja alternatywna w najmniejszym nawet stopniu nie zaskakuje. Owszem, pojawia się kilka smaczków - jak choćby wzmianka o skażonym, bynajmniej nie w wyniku wybuchu elektrowni, Czernobylu - ale, jak na powieść z nurtu historii alternatywnych jest tu za mało zaskakujących koncepcji.Na plus - kosmici nie są przedstawieni, jako bezmyślne, pałające rządzą zniszczenia potwory. Mają swoją hierarchię, wierzenia, różnią się między sobą charakterami i zachowaniem. Zaryzykowałbym stwierdzenie, że w tej powieści o wiele ciekawsi są właśnie przedstawiciele, tak zwanej Rasy, niż ich ludzcy adwersarze.Poza tym książka prezentuje raczej poziom wysokobudżetowych, filmowych blockbusterów - spod szyldu takich panów, jak Michael Bay i Roland Emmerich - ze wszystkimi filmów owych wadami i zaletami. Razi, nadto, rozbuchany patos, brak interesującego plotu i zerowy poziom dramaturgii. Ot, ciekawostka ahistoryczna.Tym bardziej nie żal faktu, że pozostałe części trylogii nie doczekały się wydania w naszym kraju.
What do You think about In The Balance (1996)?
L'idea sarebbe stata grandiosa. Gli alieni invadono la Terra nel bel mezzo della II Guerra Mondiale! Riusciranno i belligeranti a unirsi contro il nuovo nemico, superando quelle enormi differenze che li dividono e che avevano dato origine al conflitto? Ma dopo poche pagine la domanda diventa: riuscirà l'autore a scrivere un libro decente, superando quelle enormi incapacità letterarie che appaiono ben evidenti? E la risposta, purtroppo, è negativa. Intreccio debole e scrittura piattissima, e tutto ingabbiato in un descrittivismo povero, prolisso, estanuante e totalmente privo di qualunque guizzo d'originalità. La caratterizzazione dei personaggi? Ah, certo! Dunque: i sovietici ragionano unicamente in termini di dialettica storica e materialismo, i nazisti sono tutti inquadrati, gli americani sono dei ragazzoni alla buona e spicci di maniere, gli Orientali... be', gli Orientali non possono che parlare tramite squisite metafore poetiche, frutto della loro millenaria tradizione! Penoso. Turdledove riesce a dimostrare (involontariamente) una sola cosa: che per scrivere un buon libro (non dico un libro strepitoso: un buon libro) non basta compulsare e/o imparare a memoria i manuali di Storia ed essersi nutrito unicamente e autisticamente sulla fantascienza dei pulp magazines. Magari serve anche altro. Ovviamente i due volumi successivi (perché questa è una trilogia, altra tipica e discutibile mania della letteratura di un certo genere...) non migliorano d'un millimetro... e me li sono persino letti...
—Yupa
I was a bit weary of reading In the Balance.I imagined that when the warring nations of WWII united against a common enemy, the Jews would be throne under the buss.Well that's not exactly what happens.In the Balance is my 14 year old WWII fantasy, with aliens coming in to save the day.The aliens themselves are Imperialist bastards so the fantasy goes on with Humans fighting to preserve their freedom against superior technology.As with Niven's Footfall, the aliens have to be a bit dumb for humanity to have a chance at all.Alternate history is a difficult genre for me, as a history buff and especially a military history buff I tend to have my own ideas as to how things would change if events took a different direction.however Turtuledove did a very good job and I have very few complaints.My only real issue is his lack of imagination. The aliens simply have late 1980s tech with space travel tacked on to it.The question here is more: how would the armies of WWII have handled themselves against the US forces of the first Gulf War. Rather than how they would fair against the forces of an interstellar civilization.
—Zivan
I've read alternate history series before, where the point of divergence is something like Lee winning the Battle of Gettysburg, or JFK not being assassinated. Here, the point of divergence is what would have happened if alien lizards invade during World War Two. ....okay then. Granting that premise, this is an interesting opener to an interesting series. The catch is that the alien lizards expected humankind to evolve and develop as slowly as they did, and the last time they checked on humanity was in the 12th century, when we had bows and arrows and knights on horseback. So they come back with their jet engines and bullets, and they expect to still be fighting knights on horseback, because how much could a civilization change in a mere eight hundred years? Oops. Needless to say, the Lizards are in much for a harder fight than they expected. An interesting premise, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
—Michael Atkinson
