Worldwar: Tilting the Balance
| Worldwar: Tilting the Balance | |
|---|---|
| author | Harry Turtledove |
| language | English |
| genre | Science fiction / alternate world history |
| Original title | Tilting the balance |
| publishing company | Del Rey |
| Release Date | 1995 |
| Media type | Hardcover , paperback |
Tilting the Balance is the second novel in the Worldwar tetralogy by the author Harry Turtledove . After reptilian aliens appeared over the earth in 1941 and began a religiously motivated campaign of conquest, the course of history changed dramatically.
The book is followed by Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance .
content
In 1943, the reptilian members of the race continued to besiege the earth. They have succeeded in drastically reducing the production and processing of oil, and their control over Africa and South America has also been intensified.
Furthermore, the Iberian Peninsula, like Italy, is being taken by the ground troops of the race, who want to finally destroy the Third Reich . Colonel Heinrich Jäger, who had distinguished himself in In the Balance by stealing plutonium, is given command of a tank company near Belfort , which is supposed to stop the advancing troops of the race.
Before he could fall in battle, however, he was unexpectedly assigned to Wittelsbach , where the Third Reich's nuclear program was based. One of the reactors there goes completely out of control and a nuclear chain reaction destroys the entire city, but Jäger manages to escape.
At that time, the Japanese tortured the alien pilot Teerts almost to death in order to get information about the nuclear fission from him. Minister Molotov also has his own scientists tortured in a secret facility in Moscow in order to force them to conduct more intensive research.
After Heinrich Jäger has supervised the recovery of nuclear material from the melted reactor in Wittelsbach, he travels to Split with Otto Skorzeny , where, together with Croatian soldiers, armed with FG42 rifles, they slaughter hundreds of members of the race who had tried Croatia to be released from the Axis powers.
Shortly before the novel ends, the first man-made atomic bomb, which was deposited as the Kaluga land mine, detonates, revealing to the members of the race that their campaign of conquest will be long and full of privation.
Dramatis personæ
- Otto Skorzeny
- Heinrich Jäger: German tank commander
- Jens Larssen: Physicist involved in the Manhattan project
- Sam Yeager: Decatur Commodores baseball player
- Fleetlord Atvar: Supreme Commander of the alien invasion fleet
Reviews
In Publishers Weekly , the novel is accused of paying (too) much attention to the war machine and too seldom delving into the intricacies of the actor.
Edition and issues
US, Del Rey ISBN 0-345-38997-2 , published February 21, 1995 US, Del Rey ISBN 0-345-38998-0 , published 1996, paperback