Striking the Balance

Worldwar #4

by Harry Turtledove

At the bloody height of World War II, the deadliest enemies in all of human history were forced to put aside their hatreds and unite against an even fiercer foe: a seemingly invincible power bent on world domination.

With awesome technology, the aggressors swept across the planet, sowing destruction as Tokyo, Berlin, and Washington, D.C., were A-bombed into submission. Russia, Nazi Germany, Japan and the U.S. were not easily cowed, however. With cunning and incredible daring, they pressed every advantage against the invader's superior strength, and, led by Stalin, began to detonate their own atom bombs in retaliation.

City after city explodes in radioactive firestorms, and fears grow as the worldwide resources disappear; will there be any world left for the invaders to conquer, or for the uneasy allies to defend?

While Mao Tse-tung wages a desperate guerrilla war and Hitler drives his country toward self-destruction, United States forces frantically try to stop the enemy's push from coast to coast. Yet in this battle to stave off world domination, unless the once-great military powers take the risk of annihilating the human race, they'll risk losing the war.

The fatal, final deadline arrives in Harry Turtledove's grand, smashing finale to the Worldwar series, as uneasy allies desperately seek a way out of a no-win, no-survival situation: a way to live free in a world that may soon be bombed into atomic oblivion.

Genres: Alternate History, Science Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, War, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

547 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 5, 1996

About the author

Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.

Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Striking the Balance kicks off with the war between the Lizards and the Big Uglies reaching new dramatic heights of destruction with both sides taking the nuclear option as the default option which in turn leaves both sides open to more reprisals! :D

Striking the Balance is extremely visceral as we get to see many of the characters returning from the previous books and we get to see the machinations in the most senior leaderships and from the perspectives of the 'grunts' in the trenches! :D This gives a great overall viewpoint on multiple angles of the conflict from the ground up! :D This serves to dramatically heighten the odds as we get to see the decisions almost casually given the will have many dramatic implications for our characters on the ground! :D Their reactions to these decisions also gives the novel a somewhat insightful quality as they themselves debate what could be going through the minds of the people running the operation! :D This gives Striking the Balance a very insightful quality showing the world as a collections of people as opposed to somewhat insane governments! D

The alternate timeline is handled brilliantly with the differences and the responses of various nations to the war ringing extremely true! :D You can almost see the wheels starting to fly off the wheels of the Soviet under Stalin and German wheels while the British and America strive to stick to their values! :D Even though parts of the book seem to be regard the British both as good and slightly morally dubious depending on where in the world you are! :D This all adds to the realistic differences in the timeline though! :D

All the characters come across three-dimensionally though through to the British Bomber crew of Bagnall etc trying to make it back to Britain to Jäger and Ludmila trying to save millions of lives at Lodz and then through to Rance and guest appearances by various famous characters such as Patton and Churchill really help to show that this is different Earth but still very similar but really give the book a big inventiveness and keep you guessing the whole way! :D

The characters all come off as either hero's or villains though with some characters dripping grease and others inspite of their background comes of as great people with you really cheering for the'goodies' as they pull off yet another completely whacked stunt! :D The books tendency to follow POV's during the actions scenes as well as keeping the reader informed of what is happening overall really contributes to the books dramatic and free flowing visceral tone with the bullets and dramatic gestures flowing all over the place making for a situation where you will lose sleep to find out what is going to happen! :D

The peace that is signed is obviously only a temporary one but has the feeling of a breath being held as many of the plot lines are left hanging especially as the book makes no secrets of the aliens intentions or that they are the first part of the colonisation effort with a colonist ship coming which again adds to the nature of the book but also leaves the inevitable restart of the conflict in the offing! :D

Striking the Balance is a brilliant, clever, roller coaster ride that you do not know who is going to win and where you do not know where the pieces are going to fall that will keep you guessing and booing at the 'baddies' and cheering all along for the goodies and sums up the 'period' it is set in brillaintly! :D Brilliant and highly recommended! :D

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since World War: Striking the Balance is the fourth book in a tetralogy of alternate history, anyone reading this review probably doesn’t need anything about the set-up explained to them. Just in case, the entire WorldWar series is a mash-up of World War II meets an invasion by technologically superior aliens. Of course, if I hadn’t seen the titles of these novels in advance, I probably would have been surprised at the conclusion of this series. Don’t get me wrong, I really think it’s a very realistic conclusion to a very unrealistic premise. And I really liked it!

Here are some of my favorite lines and scenes from this novel. There is a very uncomfortable (because it has too often be so) conversation between the infamous Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (the Soviet Union’s foreign affairs expert) and Iosef Vissarionovich (“Uncle Joe”) Stalin where the former says, “It is in the Americans’ short-term interest to help us defeat the Lizards, and when, Iosef Vissarionovich, did you ever know the capitalists to consider their long-term interest?” (p. 105)

At another point, there was some fascinating use of propaganda on the Soviet side that was worthy of some of Goebbel’s misdirection in our real history. In the novel, Stalin stated, “The only reason the Soviet Union occupied the eastern half of Poland was that the Polish state was internally bankrupt, the government had disintegrated, and the Ukrainians and Belorussians in Poland, cousins to their Soviet kindred, were left to the mercy of fate.” (p. 169)

I loved the response of a Soviet partisan to her Jewish guide when he said that it wasn’t going to be easy to get where they were going. “’One thing I’ve learned,’ Ludmila said, ‘is that it’s never easy, getting where you’re going.’” (p. 171)

Immiscible – never heard of this word for not being able to blend something together before (p. 215) In the novel’s context, it was used to suggest that the tradition so valued by the aliens and the circumstances they found on an ever-changing world were immiscible. Later, the fleetlord explained to one of his subordinates. “When we meet change, we feel like it is inflicted on us. The Tosevites [Earthlings] reach out and seize it with both hands, as if it were a sexual partner for which they have developed the monomaniacal passion they term love.” (p. 300)

In the midst of a possible peace negotiation between the major world civilizations and the aliens, a wise human responds to a question from the “Exalted Fleetlord” Atvar by saying, “Sometimes war does lead to war. The last great war we fought , thirty years ago now it started, sowed the seeds for this one. But a different peace might have kept the new war from happening.” (p. 348) I don’t know whether the fictional character is right or wrong, but I do know that the Treaty of Versailles didn’t help to prevent WWII. Frankly, Turtledove gets it right. He understands human history perfectly, even when he is standing it on its ear.

[Lisabet Sarai · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes a great story to keep me reading through four books of a series. Harry Turtledove and George R.R. Martin both managed to accomplish this.

Striking the Balance brings Turtledove's saga of World War II interrupted by an alien invasion to a satisfying close. My favorite characters remain prominent to the end -- this includes a few of the aliens (the "Lizards"), whom Turtledove paints with a great deal of sympathy. Indeed, the aliens turn out to be far more honorable and sensible than most humans.

I did feel there was some stereotyping going on. The Germans are portrayed as arrogant, cruel, and truly evil -- the Russians as arrogant and clueless -- the Americans and the Brits as sensible, inventive, progressive, daring... But one doesn't read a series like this for the politics.

I liked the fact that the ending leaves room for new developments. The balance has been struck, but it could easily be upset once more.

[Geoff Battle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Striking the Balance, the conclusion to this alternate history series, should have offered so much more. The first two hundred pages are a drawn out series of chapters which serve as a catch-up for the plethora of characters which the book follows. This half of the novel offers no real entertainment and although the action heats up in the middle of the novel, by then there's a good chance you'll be disinterested. The book wraps up rather anticlimactically too and although the end of the series is a disappointment there is enough closure to wrap it up, with enough strands to ensure readers consider the 'Colonization' series.

[Roberto Selbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this series is interesting and overall I liked reading it.

That said, although I enjoyed the story, the writing is terrible. It is terribly repetitive. I mean, how many times do we have to read about minor league baseball stadiums? I get it! The guy used to play baseball, but enough already.

Add to that some very unrealistic dialog. Every Russian character keeps going on and on about the dialectic. Sheesh.

It was a hard read. I really had to work through these books but I did it because I wanted to see where the story was going. In the end, not really worth it. The last book closes threads very abruptly and arbitrarily. Not worth it.

[Carol Storm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish! Did not finish! Did not finish this stupid mother****ing book!

I refuse to read about lizards invading the earth and saving Europe's Jews from the gas chambers in World War II. Especially four foot tall lizards who snort ginger and get high. This book was stupid, tasteless, and boring as hell. I have read so many suck-ass Harry Turtledove books and it stops here.

It must stop here!

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat disappointing conclusion to this epic series. Most of the book is about people trapped in enemy areas as either unwanted visitors or POWs. It deals with people eyes being opened that their view of the world isn't necessarily the only nor correct one. For the world being at war, very little of the book concerns itself with the battles of the Lizards. Also the book is anti-climatical since the last 2 or 3 chapters are mainly setting up for the next series.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this last book in the series, Turtledove has a way of continuing the alternate history with the same characters but moving forward through circumstance and time.

[M. Tenenbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt a sense of accomplishment in concluding this quad-ology (is that a word) of the World War series. It had been a while since I read #3 but I still could follow the several stories. I would like to say that Turtledove ties everything up with a bow but he does note here. And in fact, as I researched, 4 years later he jumps ahead in history to the fictional 60s when our alien friends come to colonize, as mentioned many times in the World War Series.

I like to read Turtledove as a diversion to what I normally read so "Striking the Balance" served this purpose. It might be some time, however, until I read my next book in the Turtledove series.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The conclusion to Turtledove's alt-history "Worldwar" series ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. While the alien invaders ("The Race") use their own atomic weapons several times over against various human cities, the human forces struggle to keep up and maintain their defenses lest they be overwhelmed.

Despite this being a finale and a novel of war--there's not much of either. There's a LOT of uneasy alliances between Germans, Russians, Chinese, Americans,and Jews and various combinations thereof but it never feels like a real coherent resistance or struggle. This is in part because there's a LOT of talk about low-level guerilla groups and spies but rarely anything approaching grand strategy.

The adaptive nature of humanity frequently frustrates the alien invaders, who like such innovative minds, so while it's "fun" to watch the humans "outsmart" the aliens, it's equally enjoyable to watch the aliens slowly begin to adapt themselves.

Turtledove generally avoids using major historical figures as POV characters in his alt-history books, preferring to focus on archetypal characters that exist near major events. That's fine to a point, but once you're talking about grand-level strategy to win a world-war, the reader needs a glimpse into that perspective. It's lacking here, so the narrative feels very disjointed as we jump from theater to theater.

The ending is unsatisfying insofar as it's not really an ending, but merely a telegraphed pause in hostilities as we learn that the alien colonization fleet is coming in 20 years anyway...setting up the next series of novels. Sneaky sneaky Mr. Turtledove.

[Andrew Leon · Rating 1 out of 5]

The quick review is that the book was too redundant to be enjoyable. Turtledove spent as much time in the book reminding us about events from the first three books as he did carrying the story forward. It made it a real chore to read, and I dreaded picking this one up. Also, no real resolution to the story.

[Emanuele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dont know if it is because I started while on holiday at very fast pace or because it was actually better written/edited/paced, but i liked it more than the last couple instalments.

It still has very little happening throughout, but it sets the pace for the next steps, I guess

The diplomatic/political side could have been described more precisely i think

[eric quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stalemate?

Interesting, the detail is amazing. Turtledove doesn't disappoint. His vision of interstellar war, is quite unique he gives a certain honor to this new foe, but is that honor a weakness?

[Tex-49 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sempre di buon livello, come i primi tre; la narrazione sembra finita…ma continua con il cicllo della colonizzazione.

[Quinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the series. I thought that of the 2-4 books, each was better than the last. By all means my favorite character was Liu Han.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

VOTO INTERO CICLO DELL'INVASIONE: 4
Il Ciclo dell'Invasione è composto da 4 volumi basati sul racconto di un'improvvisa invasione aliena che avviene nel pieno dello svolgimento della seconda guerra mondiale: da qui si dipana la narrazione di una vera e propria storia alternativa che vede le nazioni in guerra far fronte comune per cercare di colmare la schiacciante superiorità tecnologica e bellica dell'alieno invasore, al fine di contenerne le mire espansionistiche.
Nel complesso è un buon ciclo, ricchissimo di vicende e personaggi appartenenti alle più disparate fazioni coinvolte nel conflitto mondiale, dei quali se ne seguono le azioni e i destini, più o meno coinvolgenti per il lettore, anche se ritengo che il punto di forza della saga si basi sulle caratteristiche sociali e sui profili psicologici degli invasori alieni, il che non mancherà di suscitare anche momenti di ilarità.
Le pecche più evidenti si riscontrano nella talvolta superflua prolissità dell'autore nel descrivere i dettagli di ciò che racconta e sulle ripetizioni di vicende ed avvenimenti che non mancheranno di annoiare, soprattutto se il ciclo viene letto un libro dopo l'altro.
Nel complesso consigliato agli amanti del genere ucronico.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thots while reading:
Despite all of the talking in the book, it is moving faster than the third book. It is kind of amusing. I do find myself enjoying this book [for the most part] more than the third book [so far].

Finally! The stupid Race FINALLY drops a nuke on a Russian 'city' in retaliation for another Russian nuke going off in Race-controlled territory. They should have nuked Russia before this.

The author actually reveals potentially why no nukes had been dropped prior to this point; they see the vast land expanse of Russia as being desirable and necessary for the Race's survival, whereas the land mass of North America is less desirable and more 'worthy' of being nuked. So that was interesting to learn, and kind-of helps explain why Russia was not punished for setting off the first man-made atomic bomb. Too bad it came across as an 'afterthought' in the narrative.

Apparently the author has grown tired of attempting to describe copulation between humans. Now he feels the need to attempt to somewhat-graphically describe an attempted rape. It is bad enough Liu Han was regularly violated by men against her will in one of the Race's orbiting starships [for 'scientific research'] [fortunately most of the rapes occur 'off-page', as it were, so the reader is spared having to read about each violation]; the author feels the need to have her lover's friend/assistant attempt to violently rape her. I suppose it is the author's attempt to show how strong Liu Han has become, since she was able to fight off her attacker and gain control over him while defending herself, but it really was not necessary for the overall narrative. He could have shown Liu Han rising to dominance without having to have a man attempt to cow her into submission via rape. Ridiculous.
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The last 1/3rd [some 150 pages] of the books is nothing but exposition! People talking! [Well, nearly the last third of the book; it's mostly talk with a hint of a smidgen of token action.]

I don't know what to say about this book. It did manage to hold my interest all the way through until the end, but it was horribly anticlimactic. The first time I read it, I did not realize it set up the next three books about the arrival of the Colonization Fleet and how they tried to acclimate to the new environment on Tosev 3. I still enjoyed reading it, but still feel like the ending was a major disappointment. I will leave it as a three-star, though, despite my disappointment with the ending.

I did like elements of it. Such as how Tatiana followed the British soldiers out of Pskow and helped protect/guide them through Estonia/Lithuania until they reached a port and could return to England. Tatiana was awesome, in her own bigoted, backwards way.

I liked how a German Colonel, Russian pilot, and Jewish partisan worked together to save Lodz and the Jews living there. I was sorry to see Skorzeny die, though. I had read a bio about him back in high school, and he never came across like the arrogant jerk he was in this book. I could not quite decide if the author hated him for some reason, or if the biography I read was severely watered down in terms of his behavior and attitude.

I did like that Jaeger and Ludmilla were reunited in the end.

A part of me has always been sad that Rachel never survived, but I always was glad that Penny came out of her shell. Rance never had it better!

It was good to learn that General Patton survived the war. He disappeared after the first book.

It was weird that the author had President Roosevelt die in the book. I realize he did die during the War, but as this was an 'alternate history' book he could very well have let the man live. I say it was odd, because other than a brief paragraph about some men in a whorehouse sobbing with the news of his death, nothing else happened. There were no repercussions due to his death. Atvar thought he could take advantage of the resulting chaos from Roosevelt's death; nothing happened. There was no chaos. The failure to take any advantage from Roosevelt's death was never mentioned again. Ever. By any Lizard. Considering how much they kept beating into the ground how frustrated the Lizards were over how much humanity had advanced and how unpredictable humans were, one would think they would have lamented not being able to utilize Roosevelt's death, somehow.

I found myself wondering how Rommel would have fared against the Lizards and wishing he had been included in the narrative. Even if it were in passing. I also wondered how Guderian would have managed against the Lizards.

It was humorous to me that the Russians proposed a cease-fire first and that they invited the other major powers to join them in the cease-fire. I suppose they felt they had the most to lose? It seemed like the Communists were presented in a far better light than any of the other major powers, despite their mistreatment of prisoners and willingness to use murder and violence and lies to get their way.

The Chinese Communists were worse than the Russian Communists. They gladly butchered innocents to see their aims were met. They were more than willing to use murder and violence without any concern as to innocent people who were injured or killed by their actions. It was easy to despise them, and to be glad they remained under Lizard rule, as despicable as they were.

The author's attempts at irony grew old by the end of the novel.

He could have focused more on 'geopolitical stuff' instead of the fluff upon which he did focus. I realize he was trying to focus more on the 'human element,' but it did not always work. I did enjoy the byplay between the parties during the peace talks, although that could have also been developed further.

Ah, well. Overall, I am glad I read the book [again].

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worldwar: Striking the Balance is the conclusion of a 4-part series by Harry Turtledove. The genre here is known as Alternate History which means the author takes a historical event – or series of historical events – and says “what if this happened instead?”

In this case, Turtledove poses the question “What if at the beginning of World War II – in the summer of 1942 – an alien race decided to invade Earth?”

If it sounds too science-fiction-like, or something out of a bad B-movie, that was my initial impression as well. I hesitated on starting this series of novels because of that.

For my full review, see: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...

[Craig MacKinnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to the series, but allow me to elaborate. I was expecting a big blowout. Instead, it kind of petered out, as if it ran out of steam. However, it is more realistic this way - a lot of wars peter out when the combatants are tired of fighting. And it served as a useful setup for the Colonisation series.
The major gripe is the same as I've had with the other books in the series - too repetitive! I guess this is useful if you had to wait a year between installments, but surely if you've read all the 3 previous books, you realise by now that the Race has a long history, that they can't mate without female scent pheremones, that Earth is colder than Home, etc. Still, an entertaining end to an entertaining series.

[Anton Hammarstedt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setting presentation, design and originality (how cool is the setting?): 4
Setting verisimillitude and detail (how much sense does the setting make?): 3
Plot design, presentation and originality (How well-crafted was the plot, in the dramaturgic sense?): 3
Plot and character verisimillitude (How much sense did the plot and motivations make? Did events follow from motivations?): 4
Characterization and character development: 4
Character sympatheticness: 4
Prose: 3
Page turner factor: 4
Mind blown factor: 2

Final (weighted) score: 3.5

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst in the series so far.

Pros: Harry Turtledove weaves an intricate alt-history novel that dives deep into character development. The problem is, in my opinion, that he dives too deep. It makes for a very long read - a problem made worse by the author's style of telegraphing his intentions.

Cons: the lizards grow stupid in this book and the humans gain incredible, unrealistic luck.

This will be the last I read in the Tosev series (https://www.goodreads.com/series/5293...). I can't be bothered with the remaining four novels.

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

First read – 21 June 2008 - **. Finished the series. Finally, some historical development. But I am not going on with the next set of books in the series.

1 Worldwar; In The Balance (1994)
2 Worldwar; Tilting the Balance (1995)
3 Worldwar; Upsetting the Balance (1996)
4 Worldwar; Striking the Balance (1996)
5 Colonization: Second Contact (1999)
6 Colonization: Down to Earth (2000)
7 Colonization: Aftershocks (2001)
8 Homeward Bound (2004)

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel ends this 4 volume series at a place that can be called the "end of the beginning".
The end of several story lines and parking of others brings this phase of the invasion to a more or less satisfactory state, but you're going to want to continue with the "Colonization" series which launches 20 years later with the arrival of the follow on fleet.
This is a good read.

[Patrik Sahlstrøm · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have soldiered through the first three books in this series, you can safely skip this one. Nothing really interesting happens, just more ginger, baseball and romance. It was pretty obvious by book 2 how the story would end, and all suspense went down the drain by the end of book 3. The good guys win, the romantic couples live happily ever after. The end.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been listening to the World War books since early March, over 100 hours!
This has been a terrific story and my first experience w/ Mr. Turtledove's work. I am sure there will be more as the Colonization Fleet reaches Earth although for now, I need a break.
Gosh, so many characters I've come to care about both humans and members of the Race. Terrific writing.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good concluding book to Harry Turtledove's World War series. It sets the stage for the Colonization series and doesn't shy away from the temperaments of historical figures. I especially enjoyed how Otto Skorzeny was employed into the plot, a villainous Waffen-SS officer notorious for his risky missions and subterfuge in life.

[PresPetunia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've complete the first four books of the Worldwar series. It is an accurate portrayal of the types of characters running things during WWII. The abrasive language is a problem from time to time but it does remind me of how 'the big uglies' behaved during the period from the late 1940s thru the 1960s. It's hard to take at times because it is real.
Most enjoyable "what if".

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The war between the alien race and mankind petered out with a ceasefire and the book limped along for a bit afterwards. No story-line really was resolved and the book was like an old car that puttered along for a while then conked out.

[Jeff Freitag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even at nearly 600 pages, this conclusion still feels rushed, almost as if the author had grown tired of the whole thing. I did like that there’s not a happy, neat, Independence Day-style ending, though, and that things are left open for a potentially interesting sequel.

[John Cheeseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another solid installment of the series with the loss of a main character. My main problem this time was the lack of technology of the alien invaders as they've managed to cross the stars in spaceships but don't have spacesuits?