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Author: Harry Turtledove
Publisher: Del Rey
Year: 2000
ISBN: 0345430220
Description: 598 pages; 18 cm.
In the previous series (a must read by the way), aliens have invaded the earth, during the height of World War 2. While their technology is far above that of the humans at first, the armies of the individual countries manage to strike the aliens hard. By the end of the 4th book in the WorldWar series, mankind has managed to generate a stalemate between human forces and the alien Race, in a scene reminiscent of the Cold War's Mutual Assured Destruction.
Second Contact finds us in the early 60's. The uneasy truce is still holding, with the Race controlling Australia, China, Poland, most of Africa, Latin and South America. So is the uneasy truce between the Soviets, the US & Britain and the Greater German Reich, who still control France, Italy, Spain and Austria. Rudimentary space travel has already started for the humans, pushed on by the need to, as best as possible, control the "high ground" of space. Computers are also becoming somewhat commonplace -- some of the technology having been stolen from equipment that belonged to the aliens. However, the truce is about to become precarious, as the long-awaited colonization fleet arrives.
Someone orders an orbital missile platform to shoot down several of the colony ships. This enrages the Race's hierarchy, but retribution is averted when there was no evidence as to which of the nuclear powers committed the act. Instead, in a face-saving policy brokered by the president of the United States, three human bases -- one each in the US, Germany and the USSR -- are attacked instead. However, as the colonists start landing and setting up their settlements in Race-held territory, terrorism and subterfuge reach new heights (or depths) against the aliens and against the three human factions. It seems certain that, before long, tensions and violence will get out of hand, and the stalemate that has existed will collapse in an nuclear exchange.
Score: 89 out of 100.
Colonization: Second Contact is one of the better volumes in Turtledove's WorldWar alternate history series. It sets the stage for the next level of action and intrigue between the warring human powers and with the alien Race. An excellent read. Though it isn't necessary, I would recommend that you read the books in the WorldWar series before reading Colonization: Second Contact.
