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Colonization #1
Second Contact
In the extraordinary Worldwar tetralogy, set against the backdrop of the World War II, Harry Turtledove, the "Hugo-winning master of alternate SF" (Publishers Weekly), wove an explosive saga of world powers locked in conflict against an enemy from the stars. Now he expands his magnificent epic into the volatile 1960s, when the space race is in its infancy and humanity must face its greatest challenge: alien colonization of planet Earth.
Yet even in the shadow of this inexorable foe, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany are unable to relinquish their hostilities and unite against a massive new wave of extraterrestrials. For all the countries of the world, this is the greatest threat of all. This time, the terrible price of defeat will be the conquest of our world, and perhaps the extinction of the human race itself.
Yet even in the shadow of this inexorable foe, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany are unable to relinquish their hostilities and unite against a massive new wave of extraterrestrials. For all the countries of the world, this is the greatest threat of all. This time, the terrible price of defeat will be the conquest of our world, and perhaps the extinction of the human race itself.
598 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 9, 1999
125 people are currently reading
1149 people want to read
About the author
Harry Turtledove
564 books1,963 followersDr 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
July 7, 2015
This novel is the first in the Colonization Trilogy. Set in the 1960's, twenty years after the Second World War was interrupted by an alien invasion. There are still enormous enmities between the three super-powers; the United States, the German Reich, and the Soviet Union. But somehow the humans had fought off the extra-terrestrials in some regions, come to a stalemate in others, and had lost their territory in yet other regions.
The extra-terrestrials, who call themselves "the race", are lizard-like creatures. They have not totally subdued the humans, but in some regards are more humane than humans. They do not kill for sport or for irrational prejudices. They are generally less aggressive and are not as calculating or vindictive as humans. They assumed that since their earlier probes of a couple thousand years ago showed that humans were primitive hunters and agriculturists, they would still be primitive in 1940. They were totally caught off-guard by the rate at which humans had advanced in technology. Prepared for a quick lop-sided battle, they were flummoxed by the advanced weaponry of the humans. While humans were still behind the race in technology, they learned fast and were wily opponents.
The novel follows the everyday lives of humans in each civilization, and of aliens in the 1960's. Conversations are a bit stilted at times. Alien gestures are narrated in a very stilted manner. But the humanity comes through in each main character, and even in the aliens. The book tends to be a bit repetitious at times, but the fascinating scenario kept my interest throughout.
I did not read this book--I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Patrick Lawlor. The reading is creditable, but not the best. Some of the German accents are rendered with a Russian-like accent, and the narrator's voice is not always a pleasure to listen to.
The extra-terrestrials, who call themselves "the race", are lizard-like creatures. They have not totally subdued the humans, but in some regards are more humane than humans. They do not kill for sport or for irrational prejudices. They are generally less aggressive and are not as calculating or vindictive as humans. They assumed that since their earlier probes of a couple thousand years ago showed that humans were primitive hunters and agriculturists, they would still be primitive in 1940. They were totally caught off-guard by the rate at which humans had advanced in technology. Prepared for a quick lop-sided battle, they were flummoxed by the advanced weaponry of the humans. While humans were still behind the race in technology, they learned fast and were wily opponents.
The novel follows the everyday lives of humans in each civilization, and of aliens in the 1960's. Conversations are a bit stilted at times. Alien gestures are narrated in a very stilted manner. But the humanity comes through in each main character, and even in the aliens. The book tends to be a bit repetitious at times, but the fascinating scenario kept my interest throughout.
I did not read this book--I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Patrick Lawlor. The reading is creditable, but not the best. Some of the German accents are rendered with a Russian-like accent, and the narrator's voice is not always a pleasure to listen to.
November 2, 2021
I am rating all four books, “Second Contact, Down to Earth, Aftershock and Homeward Bound” all at once as the whole was, to me, one single long, long, long story.
First off, there is so much wrong with this series such as writing style, perpetual useless repetition (you'd think it was written as an exercise from some sort of amnesiac therapy), deplorable stereotyping and simplistic world building (our own world in this case reduced to something I could hardly recognize.
That said, the premise is a wonderful idea. In spite of the said problems, I was completely in. I especially loved the “Race/Lizard” characters and some of the plot lines here and there. I was very happy that in the final instalment the story was located on “Home”the planet of the Race.
It was an ambitious undertaking but unfortunately, for the most part, much of the writing was needless and certain opportunities were sorely missed. This is surprising to me as Harry Turtledove, though I have not read much of his work admittedly, is a prolific writer and I had hoped more would have been done with this in quality over quantity.
First off, there is so much wrong with this series such as writing style, perpetual useless repetition (you'd think it was written as an exercise from some sort of amnesiac therapy), deplorable stereotyping and simplistic world building (our own world in this case reduced to something I could hardly recognize.
That said, the premise is a wonderful idea. In spite of the said problems, I was completely in. I especially loved the “Race/Lizard” characters and some of the plot lines here and there. I was very happy that in the final instalment the story was located on “Home”the planet of the Race.
It was an ambitious undertaking but unfortunately, for the most part, much of the writing was needless and certain opportunities were sorely missed. This is surprising to me as Harry Turtledove, though I have not read much of his work admittedly, is a prolific writer and I had hoped more would have been done with this in quality over quantity.
May 27, 2015
The book can certainly be a third of its size. Suggested cuts : lengthy commentary on how bad nazis are (we don't need alien invasion to know that), lengthy recital of life of Jewish people under Nazis, how ruthless Soviets are and how great American people are. In other words, real history only with aliens thrown in for suckers like me.
Good concept art the end, but boring narrative.
Good concept art the end, but boring narrative.
January 12, 2015
Una storia bellissima, con personaggi reali e inventati uno più affascinante dell'altro.
Ma scritto male male male.
Occorre una forza di volontà enorme per non scagliare il libro dalla finestra.
Ma scritto male male male.
Occorre una forza di volontà enorme per non scagliare il libro dalla finestra.
August 23, 2019
Alien Lizard Gangbangs.
Now that I have your attention, alien lizard gangbangs are THE MAJOR PLOT ELEMENT of this book. Turtldove's followup to his WorldWar tetralogy centers on the alien Race's colonization fleet finally arriving to Earth (20 years after the end of the previous series) and the uneasy peace / Cold War that has existed during that interval between the Lizards and the various human "not-empires" (including a Nazi Germany that was never defeated).
While the invasion fleet was uniformly male, the colonization fleet includes female lizards. As the first series showed how the lizards could become addicted to the spice ginger (much to their military detriment), when females ingest the spice....interesting things happen.
Specifically, when female lizards taste spice, it sends them into heat. And I mean HEAT. So much so that male lizards can't help themselves but to drop everything and mate with the females. Repeatedly. What follows is SEVERAL hilarious (intentional or otherwise) scenes of lizard gangbangs in the streets. This presents a slight problem from the perspective of military readiness.
When I say this is the central plot element, I am not exaggerating. There are subplots about the humans building a secret space station, how a figure like Ayatollah Khomeini would respond to alien invaders, and a further look into a Nazi Germany that neither won nor lost the war.
But ultimately, this book is about Alien Lizard Gangbangs. And that's all you need to know.
Now that I have your attention, alien lizard gangbangs are THE MAJOR PLOT ELEMENT of this book. Turtldove's followup to his WorldWar tetralogy centers on the alien Race's colonization fleet finally arriving to Earth (20 years after the end of the previous series) and the uneasy peace / Cold War that has existed during that interval between the Lizards and the various human "not-empires" (including a Nazi Germany that was never defeated).
While the invasion fleet was uniformly male, the colonization fleet includes female lizards. As the first series showed how the lizards could become addicted to the spice ginger (much to their military detriment), when females ingest the spice....interesting things happen.
Specifically, when female lizards taste spice, it sends them into heat. And I mean HEAT. So much so that male lizards can't help themselves but to drop everything and mate with the females. Repeatedly. What follows is SEVERAL hilarious (intentional or otherwise) scenes of lizard gangbangs in the streets. This presents a slight problem from the perspective of military readiness.
When I say this is the central plot element, I am not exaggerating. There are subplots about the humans building a secret space station, how a figure like Ayatollah Khomeini would respond to alien invaders, and a further look into a Nazi Germany that neither won nor lost the war.
But ultimately, this book is about Alien Lizard Gangbangs. And that's all you need to know.
June 26, 2020
Colonization is the first of a sequel series to Turtledove's previous Worldwar quartet, building upon the idea of an alien invasion during World War 2 by examining not only the uneasy peace struck between the alien Race and humanity, but also how our historical timeline would diverge from reality. We get to see the Race continue to be baffled by how illogical humans act as the first of their colonization fleet arrives to begin settling what they had thought would be an easily conquered world. Seeing the civilian side of how these lizard folk operate made for an interesting change of pace from the previous series, although I felt that a storyline focusing on a lower level civilian rather than administration and government officials would have been a good call. We get a bit of that when the soldier in Basra goes on leave, but more would have been welcome.
On the alternate history side of things, a good what if involving the Nazis always makes for a good time. I liked that their continued existence seemingly has a black hole effect on the surrounding independent countries like Britain by negatively affecting the political and domestic situation of said countries. Seeing certain major events like the Communist Revolution in China pushed back to the 60's was also interesting, especially in the changed political landscape of a partially conquered Earth.
Overall this was highly enjoyable, if a bit long winded at points, and I look forward to continuing the series.
On the alternate history side of things, a good what if involving the Nazis always makes for a good time. I liked that their continued existence seemingly has a black hole effect on the surrounding independent countries like Britain by negatively affecting the political and domestic situation of said countries. Seeing certain major events like the Communist Revolution in China pushed back to the 60's was also interesting, especially in the changed political landscape of a partially conquered Earth.
Overall this was highly enjoyable, if a bit long winded at points, and I look forward to continuing the series.
July 13, 2017
Second Contact resumes the conflict between lizards and humans some 18 years after the first clash of races (the Worldwar series). The same characters are followed, with some new ones, as the lizards engage in a Cold War of sorts upon the arrival of the Colonisation Fleet. There is very little action in this tome and with the myriad of characters it can be tough going to keep up. Whereas the original series was fresh and original, Second Contact creates a few new ideas and pulls them in to a drawn out first novel, with most of the content feeling rehashed. It misses the mark of the original series in terms of engagement, character development and entertainment. There is still the epic scale and although the conflict is almost glacial, the sci-fi elements are just enough to pull the reader through. Worth a look for fans of the original - just.
January 2, 2018
Very much in line with the rest of the saga. Interesting ideas, interesting characters, ridiculously slow pace.
Worldbuilding and analysis of the political minds in this new world situation is minimal and over the whole book you probably have 4/5 meaningful events.
It sports 600 pages, it could have been 200 under a decent editor
Worldbuilding and analysis of the political minds in this new world situation is minimal and over the whole book you probably have 4/5 meaningful events.
It sports 600 pages, it could have been 200 under a decent editor
January 31, 2013
A new Cold War? Find out in this alternate timeline.
May 15, 2015
I have found the entire World War Series interesting and entertaining. I do find that Turtledove tends to repeat information in his books to often, its not like his readers can't remember information from one book to another!
Also Turtledove should stop writing sex dialog. Sorry buddy, you are just not very good at that.
What Turtledove is great at is presenting history from an alturnate reality. I find the books captivating and wanting more. Could stand a little less of hearing (And I Great You Superior Sr) but hey its just the way Turtledove writes.
Overall a great series that will keep you coming back for more.
Also Turtledove should stop writing sex dialog. Sorry buddy, you are just not very good at that.
What Turtledove is great at is presenting history from an alturnate reality. I find the books captivating and wanting more. Could stand a little less of hearing (And I Great You Superior Sr) but hey its just the way Turtledove writes.
Overall a great series that will keep you coming back for more.
May 11, 2020
A fantastic start to the send trilogy in this series. The aliens have been here for 20 years and now they are not only a normal part of the generations life, but they are emulating them... teenage humans painting their bodies like the aliens. The US- Russia and Germany are the role powers because they bombed the aliens in the past but having Germany a world power is strange and honestly very off putting , but we never finished World War 2 in this world so it is what happened. I liked that he kept a lot of the same characters from the original series. A good story with some surprises and a good cliff hanger.
May 23, 2018
Did not find the story interesting. The plot was slow and there was no closure of anything at the end. This is a series but I will not be reading any more of these books. Lizards could be interesting aliens but apparently not these lizards!
May 4, 2019
Sometimes you can determine, after the first paragraph, that you're not going to like the next 27 hours of the book. You give up and go on to something that you will enjoy. That's what I did with this book and the other 28 hour books of the series.
July 5, 2020
A very nice start to the next series, picking up when the alien colonization fleet arrives.
Picks up with some familiar characters.
This first book seems to be doing a lot of the setup; so plenty of smaller interactions with fewer of the "big deal" situations going on. but quite entertaining.
Picks up with some familiar characters.
This first book seems to be doing a lot of the setup; so plenty of smaller interactions with fewer of the "big deal" situations going on. but quite entertaining.
May 21, 2017
Fascinating plot, marred by plodding and repetitive execution
January 2, 2016
Thoughts while reading:
This book is taking a while to read. I realize it is setting the scenario up for the next two books in the series, but it still seems to be moving slow in parts. It is definitely a book I have not had any problem putting down to do something else at times.
We do not need a constant rehash of how evil the Nazis were in World War II. We already know how evil they were, and it was covered extensively in the first book.
Not to discount what the Jews [and other 'undesirables'] experienced under the Nazis, but it got real old, real quick, constantly having the Jews referencing their experiences under the Nazis. On the one hand, that is probably pretty accurate thinking in terms of the ways Jews [may] think today [or how it comes across and how they are presented], but it still got old in this story.
So the Race discovers rape and sexual immorality! On the one hand, I appreciate how tasting ginger causes different effects in the female members of the Race, but, on the other hand, holy, cow! Bad enough with all of the copulating going on in the first four books! Now we get to read graphic descriptions of Lizards copulating! I guess this is the Race's version of having a sexual revolution. On the other 'other' hand, though, it was interesting to read about a race of beings attempting to grasp previously unheard of behavior amongst is members. There were several discussions . Part of me says the amount of Race-mating in the book is unnecessary, but at the same time I get it and understand why it is in the book
I laughed hilariously . Well, maybe not hilariously; probably more of a chuckle, but it was funny.
It is interesting how some 'minor' characters in the final novel of the first series are 'major' characters in this series. It was 'good' [nice ?] to read about them; not everybody has lived 'a wonderful life' in the twenty years since the Lizards came to town.
For some reason, I thought Turtledove was better about 'time' in this novel/series than he was in the previous 'Worldwar' series. I think that is one of the 'weakest' areas of the books - the reader is never really told how much time is passing in each story, let alone between each chapter. At one point, a character references several weeks having passed in between events, yet it only feels like 'yesterday' in terms of the flow of the story. So there apparently are gaps of time missing throughout the course of the story. We are given the idea that time is passing , but even then, it is poorly done. If he were to re-edit these books, I think it would help if he would include some kind of time frame for the reader.
-------------------------------------
~Whew!~ This one took a while to read. Parts of it were kind of fast; a lot of it was kind of slow. It takes place twenty years after the Second World War ended, during the tumultuous 1960s. It seems like it is more about the Lizards having their own personal 'sexual revolution' than it is about humanity. Obviously, the Russians and Germans are scheming and plotting, and the Chinese are hatching their own plots. The Japanese are mentioned as afterthoughts in this novel, which is somewhat interesting. The British have a part to play, but that is more because their population base is shifting to the Germanic view point and how they use ginger to strike back at the Lizards wherever they can.
The Lizards do not do anything by half-measures; the colonization fleet has several hundred million colonists on board. That is crazy! If half of them are truly female, and each female lays two eggs after becoming pregnant per 'season' [which would probably be twice a Tosevite year] [and there are 'only' one hundred fifty million female colonists out of three hundred million colonists], then that means six hundred million 'native born' Lizards per Tosevite calendar year! Holy cow! I cannot remember the 'exact number' of colonists, but I know it was at least one hundred million [it seemed like it was three hundred million]. It is kuh- Ray -zeeeee!
It was a decent effort at continuing the original series. Not everybody who survived the alien invasion is living 'happily ever after.' Some survivors are living day-to-day, while others have not only survived but thrived.
Instead of heading the United States Supreme Court, Earl Warren is the President of the United States. It took me a while to figure that one out. hahahah I kept trying to figure out why his name was so familiar to me.
General Curtis LeMay is in the novel as well - he is not somebody you want to cross or mess with! One gets the impression he will be more than happy to 'take care of the problem' and bury the body himself to make sure the job is done right. [I cannot remember if he was a Lieutenant General or a Brigadier General in the novel; I just remember he was a General of some sort.]
The Chinese continue to rebel, wanting to be big players on the world stage when they are nothing more than pawns to be used by the world powers. It will be interesting to [re]discover if they remain nothing more than pawns or are able to drive the Lizards out of China.
It was an okay book. I will leave it as three stars. There were definitely elements I neither liked nor cared for, but overall the book entertained me and held my attention throughout most of the book. I do not know when I will read it again; I think this was my second or third time reading it. It has been several years since I last read it.
This book is taking a while to read. I realize it is setting the scenario up for the next two books in the series, but it still seems to be moving slow in parts. It is definitely a book I have not had any problem putting down to do something else at times.
We do not need a constant rehash of how evil the Nazis were in World War II. We already know how evil they were, and it was covered extensively in the first book.
Not to discount what the Jews [and other 'undesirables'] experienced under the Nazis, but it got real old, real quick, constantly having the Jews referencing their experiences under the Nazis. On the one hand, that is probably pretty accurate thinking in terms of the ways Jews [may] think today [or how it comes across and how they are presented], but it still got old in this story.
So the Race discovers rape and sexual immorality! On the one hand, I appreciate how tasting ginger causes different effects in the female members of the Race, but, on the other hand, holy, cow! Bad enough with all of the copulating going on in the first four books! Now we get to read graphic descriptions of Lizards copulating! I guess this is the Race's version of having a sexual revolution. On the other 'other' hand, though, it was interesting to read about a race of beings attempting to grasp previously unheard of behavior amongst is members. There were several discussions . Part of me says the amount of Race-mating in the book is unnecessary, but at the same time I get it and understand why it is in the book
I laughed hilariously . Well, maybe not hilariously; probably more of a chuckle, but it was funny.
It is interesting how some 'minor' characters in the final novel of the first series are 'major' characters in this series. It was 'good' [nice ?] to read about them; not everybody has lived 'a wonderful life' in the twenty years since the Lizards came to town.
For some reason, I thought Turtledove was better about 'time' in this novel/series than he was in the previous 'Worldwar' series. I think that is one of the 'weakest' areas of the books - the reader is never really told how much time is passing in each story, let alone between each chapter. At one point, a character references several weeks having passed in between events, yet it only feels like 'yesterday' in terms of the flow of the story. So there apparently are gaps of time missing throughout the course of the story. We are given the idea that time is passing , but even then, it is poorly done. If he were to re-edit these books, I think it would help if he would include some kind of time frame for the reader.
-------------------------------------
~Whew!~ This one took a while to read. Parts of it were kind of fast; a lot of it was kind of slow. It takes place twenty years after the Second World War ended, during the tumultuous 1960s. It seems like it is more about the Lizards having their own personal 'sexual revolution' than it is about humanity. Obviously, the Russians and Germans are scheming and plotting, and the Chinese are hatching their own plots. The Japanese are mentioned as afterthoughts in this novel, which is somewhat interesting. The British have a part to play, but that is more because their population base is shifting to the Germanic view point and how they use ginger to strike back at the Lizards wherever they can.
The Lizards do not do anything by half-measures; the colonization fleet has several hundred million colonists on board. That is crazy! If half of them are truly female, and each female lays two eggs after becoming pregnant per 'season' [which would probably be twice a Tosevite year] [and there are 'only' one hundred fifty million female colonists out of three hundred million colonists], then that means six hundred million 'native born' Lizards per Tosevite calendar year! Holy cow! I cannot remember the 'exact number' of colonists, but I know it was at least one hundred million [it seemed like it was three hundred million]. It is kuh- Ray -zeeeee!
It was a decent effort at continuing the original series. Not everybody who survived the alien invasion is living 'happily ever after.' Some survivors are living day-to-day, while others have not only survived but thrived.
Instead of heading the United States Supreme Court, Earl Warren is the President of the United States. It took me a while to figure that one out. hahahah I kept trying to figure out why his name was so familiar to me.
General Curtis LeMay is in the novel as well - he is not somebody you want to cross or mess with! One gets the impression he will be more than happy to 'take care of the problem' and bury the body himself to make sure the job is done right. [I cannot remember if he was a Lieutenant General or a Brigadier General in the novel; I just remember he was a General of some sort.]
The Chinese continue to rebel, wanting to be big players on the world stage when they are nothing more than pawns to be used by the world powers. It will be interesting to [re]discover if they remain nothing more than pawns or are able to drive the Lizards out of China.
It was an okay book. I will leave it as three stars. There were definitely elements I neither liked nor cared for, but overall the book entertained me and held my attention throughout most of the book. I do not know when I will read it again; I think this was my second or third time reading it. It has been several years since I last read it.
May 19, 2022
I've seen reviews refer to Turtledover as 'a very good author,' or 'the master of alternative history,' Some people claim Turtledove's books are 'so twisty' and keep them on 'the edge of their seats. Those last two descriptions really, really come off as fake. I"ve seen a lot of fake reviews lately. It looks like people are using templates and just substituting speficic names, dates, and other general information to suit the book they're supposedly reviewing. That looks suspicious enough on its own, but some reviewers don't replace all the details or just throw words in without bothering about silly things like grammar, sentence structure, or a review that makes a bit of sense.
I mentioned fake reviews because I can not figure out how Turtledove has so many glowing reviews. I"m not sayhing they're all fake. I"m sure he has lots of fans, and I"ve also seen plenty of very negative reviews too. I rarely touch this author's work because I've started numerous series and stopped after the first book. I didn't even get to the end on this one.
If Turtledove writes excellent books worthy of the phrase 'very good writer,' I'd really like to find those ones. I haven't enjoyed a single Turtledove book. The characters in each series are copies of each other, the plots are always simplistic and obvious, and Turtledove's idea of dialogue contains entirely too much sarcasm, repetitive quirks, and detailed (and miserably dull) body language. I really can't stand his novels. This has to be it. I'm not trying another one regardless of how interesting the premise seems to be.
I mentioned fake reviews because I can not figure out how Turtledove has so many glowing reviews. I"m not sayhing they're all fake. I"m sure he has lots of fans, and I"ve also seen plenty of very negative reviews too. I rarely touch this author's work because I've started numerous series and stopped after the first book. I didn't even get to the end on this one.
If Turtledove writes excellent books worthy of the phrase 'very good writer,' I'd really like to find those ones. I haven't enjoyed a single Turtledove book. The characters in each series are copies of each other, the plots are always simplistic and obvious, and Turtledove's idea of dialogue contains entirely too much sarcasm, repetitive quirks, and detailed (and miserably dull) body language. I really can't stand his novels. This has to be it. I'm not trying another one regardless of how interesting the premise seems to be.
January 22, 2020
I read Turtledove's "world war" tetralogy about 7-8 years ago and have finally decided to pick up the follow up trilogy "colonization". I have a working memory of what happened in the original, and thankfully that is enough to be able to pick up on what is going on here.
If you pick this book up and think "wow, they are talking so much about how humans have sex, it feels weird? Every interaction with humans involves sex or thinking about sex; and every storyline with the aliens is about how the aliens think humans are so weird for liking sex all the time, and how crazy that makes them?" You are right! This is really clumsy foreshadowing of what happens when the female aliens taste ginger - they go into heat, and there are alien orgies everywhere. I'm not prudish, and I do think this is an interesting storyline to include, but it became a main focus and the reader is clobbered with it at every.single.turn.
The far more interesting intrigue - what are the Americans up to in space - doesn't really arrive until the final third of the book, and that question will not be answered until later in the series.
If you pick this book up and think "wow, they are talking so much about how humans have sex, it feels weird? Every interaction with humans involves sex or thinking about sex; and every storyline with the aliens is about how the aliens think humans are so weird for liking sex all the time, and how crazy that makes them?" You are right! This is really clumsy foreshadowing of what happens when the female aliens taste ginger - they go into heat, and there are alien orgies everywhere. I'm not prudish, and I do think this is an interesting storyline to include, but it became a main focus and the reader is clobbered with it at every.single.turn.
The far more interesting intrigue - what are the Americans up to in space - doesn't really arrive until the final third of the book, and that question will not be answered until later in the series.
December 26, 2018
VOTO INTERO CICLO DELLA COLONIZZAZIONE: 3
Decisamente meno riuscito del ciclo precedente, del quale costituisce il naturale prosieguo, soprattutto a causa del quarto libro, che è senza dubbio un tentativo molto mal riuscito di allungare inutilmente il brodo, andando a costituire un infelice concentrato di noia mortale. Assolutamente da evitare, dunque, a differenza dei primi due, che senza dubbio meriterebbero un voto migliore, se non fosse che la media generale viene abbassata drasticamente da una valutazione assolutamente negativa che attribuisco al capitolo conclusivo.
Interessanti alcune scelte narrative e la descrizione dello sviluppo sociologico degli alieni invasori, i quali vengono inevitabilmente influenzati dalla mentalità terreste,soprattutto di quei paesi indipendenti che sono riusciti a resistere all'invasione e a mantenere inviolati i propri confini.
Peccato per l'ultimo libro, conclusione maldestra e infelice di un ciclo senza il quale meriterebbe almeno di essere equiparato al precedente.
Decisamente meno riuscito del ciclo precedente, del quale costituisce il naturale prosieguo, soprattutto a causa del quarto libro, che è senza dubbio un tentativo molto mal riuscito di allungare inutilmente il brodo, andando a costituire un infelice concentrato di noia mortale. Assolutamente da evitare, dunque, a differenza dei primi due, che senza dubbio meriterebbero un voto migliore, se non fosse che la media generale viene abbassata drasticamente da una valutazione assolutamente negativa che attribuisco al capitolo conclusivo.
Interessanti alcune scelte narrative e la descrizione dello sviluppo sociologico degli alieni invasori, i quali vengono inevitabilmente influenzati dalla mentalità terreste,soprattutto di quei paesi indipendenti che sono riusciti a resistere all'invasione e a mantenere inviolati i propri confini.
Peccato per l'ultimo libro, conclusione maldestra e infelice di un ciclo senza il quale meriterebbe almeno di essere equiparato al precedente.
September 17, 2019
Turtledove, Harry. Second Contact. Colonization No. 1. Del Rey, 1999.
Harry Turtledove is by far the most prolific and accomplished writer of alternative history novels. But the colonization series leaves known history for an alien invasion story. The premise is that some dinosaur-like aliens invade and conquer most of the Earth in 1942, thereby disrupting the course of world history. By 1963, an uneasy peace is in place, with a lot of spying by all parties. There are rumors that Polish Jews have acquired a nuclear weapon. France is still occupied. Earl Warren is the U.S. president, and Hitler and Stalin have been replaced with equally bad leaders. The aliens have taken Africa, Australia, and most of China. Everyone is stealing alien technology. Russia, Germany, China, and the United states have rushed to create a presence in space, along with the alien fleet. When the aliens begin to land females to continue their colonization program, we discover their weakness—ginger is a very addictive aphrodisiac for them. So now the plot can start. Enjoy.
Harry Turtledove is by far the most prolific and accomplished writer of alternative history novels. But the colonization series leaves known history for an alien invasion story. The premise is that some dinosaur-like aliens invade and conquer most of the Earth in 1942, thereby disrupting the course of world history. By 1963, an uneasy peace is in place, with a lot of spying by all parties. There are rumors that Polish Jews have acquired a nuclear weapon. France is still occupied. Earl Warren is the U.S. president, and Hitler and Stalin have been replaced with equally bad leaders. The aliens have taken Africa, Australia, and most of China. Everyone is stealing alien technology. Russia, Germany, China, and the United states have rushed to create a presence in space, along with the alien fleet. When the aliens begin to land females to continue their colonization program, we discover their weakness—ginger is a very addictive aphrodisiac for them. So now the plot can start. Enjoy.
May 20, 2022
Colonization: Second Contact is the first sequel to Turtledove’s Worldwar series. In that series, Turtledove put forth the situation that in the summer of 1942 – just as World War II is going full blast – and alien race decides to invade Earth.
If you haven’t read the Worldwar series, you can still enjoy Colonization: Second Contact. Though Turtledove continues the story of many of the characters he created and followed during the Worldwar series, he does so in such a way that he reintroduces them as well as talking about what has happened to them in the twenty or so years in between the end of the Worldwar series and this novel.
That is also the one difficulty in reading the novel; each character is followed in a series of vignettes. This can be confusing at times and it makes the book definitely not an easy one to read and follow along with.
To read my full review, please go to: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
If you haven’t read the Worldwar series, you can still enjoy Colonization: Second Contact. Though Turtledove continues the story of many of the characters he created and followed during the Worldwar series, he does so in such a way that he reintroduces them as well as talking about what has happened to them in the twenty or so years in between the end of the Worldwar series and this novel.
That is also the one difficulty in reading the novel; each character is followed in a series of vignettes. This can be confusing at times and it makes the book definitely not an easy one to read and follow along with.
To read my full review, please go to: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
March 1, 2023
Another part of an epic Turtledove universe completed. Fascinating in the way to not describe a somewhat typical alien invasion with only one goal - wipe out humanity. With the occupation plan by The Race to conquer Earth and make humanity a part of their commonwealth (together with two other conquered planets) as a backdrop, Turtledove describes a world were humanity and The Race live side-by-side and colonization is underway. The attention to both the long view of the story (spanning almost 200 hours of audiobooks), the smallest details and at the same time managing the main cast shows great talent.
As a book from the late 90s it's not without problems when viewed with glasses of today. The cast is 95% male (of both The Race and humanity) and 85% military for example. The language used is also likely to cause trigger moments.
As a book from the late 90s it's not without problems when viewed with glasses of today. The cast is 95% male (of both The Race and humanity) and 85% military for example. The language used is also likely to cause trigger moments.
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October 23, 2025In the extraordinary Worldwar tetralogy, set against the backdrop of the World War II, Harry Turtledove, the "Hugo-winning master of alternate SF" (Publishers Weekly), wove an explosive saga of world powers locked in conflict against an enemy from the stars. Now he expands his magnificent epic into the volatile 1960s, when the space race is in its infancy and humanity must face its greatest challenge: alien colonization of planet Earth.Yet even in the shadow of this inexorable foe, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany are unable to relinquish their hostilities and unite against a massive new wave of extraterrestrials. For all the countries of the world, this is the greatest threat of all. This time, the terrible price of defeat will be the conquest of our world, and perhaps the extinction of the human race itself.
June 23, 2022
I think this is a series of diminishing returns as the books seem to get more tiresome with every installment. Although this is set almost 20 years after the previous book not a great deal has actually changed apart from the Colonists fleet arrive and the humans now have interstellar flight. Apart from that humanity hasnt learned a lot and neither have the aliens.
Very little happens in this book in my opinion and I found I could skip big chunks without it affecting the story. It also really got on my nerves that the author keeps calling things eye turrets or really long winded descriptions for things we've heard 1000 times before, we get their aliens but calling them eye turrets every time is really galling.
Very little happens in this book in my opinion and I found I could skip big chunks without it affecting the story. It also really got on my nerves that the author keeps calling things eye turrets or really long winded descriptions for things we've heard 1000 times before, we get their aliens but calling them eye turrets every time is really galling.
February 6, 2023
A sequel to the Worldwar series. It is the early 1960s, twenty years after a reptilian race tried to conquer Earth. The alien colonization fleet arrives. This brings native flora and fauna and the females of the Race. A truce enforced by nuclear weapons have been established. The main world powers are the United States, the Soviet Union, and the Greater German Reich (which still occupies Western Europe). The aliens occupy most of southern hemisphere dealing with insurrections in the Middle East and China. In this world technology is more advanced due to alien influence. There are plots and counter plot everywhere as human and aliens deal with situation. An engaging read.
January 19, 2025
I think I like the series better now that it's out of military history fiction and firmly into the realm of sci-fi. The lizards' society and troubles are fun and interesting, as is human society's reaction to them. As is often the case with Harry Turtledove, an editor could've taken a hacksaw to this draft and knocked off a few hundred sentences of pointless repetition. I occasionally feel that this was written for someone with the memory of a goldfish, since many things are unnecessarily explained not just once or twice, but over and over again every time they come up. Other than that, it's a good story.
June 30, 2020
A sequel to Turtledove’s Worldwar series. It’s now set in an alternate 1960s, so the author gets to do a lot of fun world building in a Cold War scenario where it’s human vs lizards rather than capitalism vs communism. The book’s long and takes a while to get going, and the “channel surfing” structure, while it lets the reader to get acquainted with new characters and allows for cameos from former major characters now relegated to background players, still leaves this volume feeling like an overlong season premiere.
July 22, 2022
I finally gave up on Harry's overwritten, overextended and repetitive prose. This was by far the most boring of his series, which I had to keep skimming to avoid the boring stuff, and boy there was a lot. This book again had great potential in dealing with Earth meeting the colonization fleet. But devolved into worthless redundant trite. I gave up after 10%. I then checked the plot of the next book and based on how little happens in that book I decided to not even bother. So I'm jumping to the final book, Homeward Bound, but I am not very optimistic.
September 14, 2025
I didn’t intend to read this so soon but it was being removed from Audible so I decided to listen to it. Really this is just a continuation of what I already liked from the Worldwar series, it feels like we get even more Lizard-POV sections which is honestly my favorite part of the series, I love The Race and how they interact with other powers. Obviously this isn’t quite as strong as the previous series because, as of yet, the Race has not resumed war with the human nations. It’s interesting to see the Germans remain a superpower, and how awful that is after a generation of ruling places like France. The Middle East also gives the Race a lot of trouble which is funny, and I enjoy the absolutely insane fact that ginger is like super-opium for them and makes them mate out of season which undermines their whole society. All around I’m always down for more of this world, and Turtledove continues to deliver a really fun scenario.
February 2, 2018
20 Earth years after the end of the Worldwar series (book 4, Striking The Balance) the colonization fleet has arrived. Now The Races civilians are introduced to the challenge of dealing with Earth's natives.
Turtledove picks up the continuing story using many of the characters that survived the arrival of the aliens and introducing new characters.
I am pretty much dedicated to finishing this series and the stand alone follow on volume.
A good read.
Turtledove picks up the continuing story using many of the characters that survived the arrival of the aliens and introducing new characters.
I am pretty much dedicated to finishing this series and the stand alone follow on volume.
A good read.
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