Aftershocks

Starred review from February 1, 1999
In high fashion, the master of alternative SF launches a sequel series to his acclaimed Worldwar tetralogy (Striking the Balance, etc.). It is 1963, and Earth is divided among five independent powers (the U.S., the Soviet Union, the Third Reich, Britain, Japan) and the invading alien Lizards. Human adaptations of Lizard technology (including space flight) and the Lizard leaders' painful experience of fighting humans have led to an armed truce among all the parties. Now, however, the Lizard colony fleet, with 40 million sleep-frozen colonists, arrives to settle what they expect to be a completely subdued world. That the Tosevites (humans) are still holding out is only the first of several surprises to greet them. The nastiest is probably that ginger, merely addictive to Lizard males, brings Lizard females violently into heat--arousing an irresistible mating urge in the males. The Third Reich, meanwhile, under the leadership of Himmler, continues its odious ways; Jews maintain an uneasy peace with the Lizards, who saved them from the Holocaust; the Soviet Union (under Molotov) survives; and the U.S. is building a huge space station. Characters who have become old friends to readers of the earlier tetralogy abound, and new ones both human and Lizard appear by the double handful. Turtledove handles sexual themes with good taste and appropriate humor. With his fertile imagination running on overdrive, he develops an exciting, often surprising, story that will not only delight his fans but will probably send newcomers back to the Worldwar saga to fill in the backstory.

October 1, 2000
In this continuation of Turtledove's "Worldwar" series, the world is dominated by the United States, Russia, Nazi Germany--and aliens.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2000
Colonel Sam Yeager has a terrible secret that he can share with only one person--and no humans. The former shiplord Straha, a lizard now exiled to L.A, , is willing to keep the army officer's secret as a protective measure for Yeager and his family. But when Yeager goes missing, and Straha decides to take his secret to the colonization fleetlord, the outcome shocks everyone, from the crew of the American spaceship "Lewis and Clark" to the ginger dealers in Marseille. Turtledove concludes his highly entertaining Worldwar alternate-history saga with a series of deadly nuclear confrontations and happier, more intimate encounters between lizards and humans. Characters once mired in the struggles between the doomed Reich and the Race are now free to travel, and Cockney Jew David Goldfarb finds himself in Edmonton, inventing a caller ID system, while Rance Auerbach moves from South Africa to the south of France. Mao and Molotov remain in power, but new humans and lizards are climbing the ranks to challenge the old guard. Turtledove explores ethics, vengeance, and the duties of familial love versus those of friendship with his trademark wry humor--for instance, the Warren Commission turns out to be a loose gathering of lizards intent on understanding the death of President Earl Warren. If only there were another five books in the series to look forward to! \plain\f2\fs17 (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

Starred review from January 1, 2001
Hugo winner Turtledove lives up to his billing as the grand master of alternative history in the concluding volume of his trilogy (after 2000's Colonization: Down to Earth), set in the same universe as his Worldwar series, about a close encounter between the reptilian "Race" (or Lizards) and their human hosts/enemies/subjects (pick any or all) on "Tosev 3" (aka Earth) in the 1960s. Here he develops the previous volumes' theme of an emerging common culture, as revealed in the vivid saga of the Yeager family and the Lizard-raised Japanese-American woman, Kassquit, who gets a belated introduction to human sexuality. The author shows he can be just as deft with relationships as with action. Having already discovered politics, change, intrigue, treason and cold weather, the invading race is now learning about bribery and monogamy. The humans have cheerfully looted their conquerors' technology to the point where the United States is fitting small asteroids with large rocket engines to use as bombardment weapons. In Europe, the ongoing complexities of human society show up in the much-diminished German Reich, where Jewish leader Mordecai Anielwicz and Luftwaffe astronaut Johannes Drucker join forces to find their missing families and prevent Jewish desperadoes from wreaking havoc with a stolen A-bomb. This novel is altogether excellent of its type, even if the end will leave readers wondering hopefully about possible sequels.

February 15, 2001
In the aftermath of World War II and the invasion by the alien Lizards, decades of struggle have led to an uneasy attempt by the aliens to maintain a colony on Earth. Collaboration, rebellion, and attempts at understanding each other bring humans and Lizards to the brink of new hostilities, threatening the destruction of the world but holding out hope for its renewal. This conclusion to Turtledove's multivolume alternate history features the author's close attention to detail and his ability to paint broad, panoramic pictures without sacrificing the personal stories of his characters. A good addition to most sf collections, particularly in libraries that own previous series titles. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/00.]

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.