Colonization (4)

“In the WorldWar and Colonization series, an ancient, highly advanced alien species found itself locked in a bitter struggle with a distant, rebellious planet—Earth. For those defending the Earth, this all-out war for survival supercharged human technology, made friends of foes, and turned allies into bitter enemies.” “For the aliens known as the Race, the conflict has yielded dire consequences. Mankind has developed nuclear technology years ahead of schedule, forcing the invaders to accept an uneasy truce with nations that possess the technology to defend themselves. But it is the Americans, with their primitive inventiveness, who discover a way to launch themselves through distant space - and reach the Race's home planet itself.” Now—in the twenty-first century—a few daring men and women embark upon a journey no human has made before. Warriors, diplomats, traitors, and exiles—the humans who arrive in the place called Home find themselves genuine strangers on a strange world, and at the center of a flash point with terrifying potential. For their arrival on the alien home world may drive the enemy to make the ultimate decision—to annihilate an entire planet, rather than allow the human contagion to spread. It may be that nothing can deter them from this course.

Set in the same universe as the Worldwar series, Colonization: Aftershocks brings us to Earth in the 1960s, where four superpowers rule: the United States, Russia, Nazi Germany, and the aliens of the Race.

The arrival of the aliens shot Earth technology forward at a dizzying rate—the world of 1960 includes routine space shuttle traffic, computers on every desk, and other high tech advancements. Aftershocks reveals that it was the United States that launched the nuclear offensive against the aliens, and when the aliens learn the truth, Indianapolis disappears in nuclear fire. In alien-held China, a full-fledged rebellion is launched, and in Poland, a nuclear bomb goes missing—held by Jewish forces who seek to use it against the Nazis.

The nations of Earth begin to realize that their only hope in holding back the aliens will be to work together. Because separately, they may face extinction.

In 1942 Hitler led the world's most savage military machine. Stalin ruled Russia while America was just beginning to show its strength in World War II. Then, in Harry Turtledove's brilliantly imagined Worldwar saga, an alien assault changed everything. Nuclear destruction engulfed major cities, and the invaders claimed half the planet before an uneasy peace could be achieved.

A spectacular tale of tyranny and freedom, destruction and hope, Colonization takes us into the tumultuous 1960s, as the reptilian Race ponders its uneasy future. But now a new, even deadlier war threatens. Though the clamoring tribes of Earth play dangerous games of diplomacy, the ultimate power broker will be the Race itself. For the colonists have one option no human can ignore. With a vast, ancient empire already in place, the Race has the power to annihilate every living being on planet Earth…

In the Worldwar tetralogy, set against the explosive backdrop of World War II, master of alternate history Harry Turtledove wove a saga of world powers locked in conflict against a deadly enemy from the stars. Now, with Colonization: Second Contact, Turtledove expands his magnificent epic into the volatile 1960s - when humanity must face its greatest challenge: alien colonization of planet Earth. During the Worldwar, Washington, D.C., Tokyo, and dozens of other cities perished in the radioactive holocaust of nuclear battle. Twenty years later, a fitful peace reigned over the continents. Though Himmler controlled Germany and France, Molotov ruled Russia, and President Earl Warren tenuously governed the United States, the invaders lorded over most of the world—coexisting in an uneasy balance with humans. As both the alien and human races experience the rampant social turmoil of the sixties, they are fatefully influenced by the tremendous upheavals - and by each other. Then amidst this strife comes a new phase of the alien invasion… the arrival of the colonization fleet - an enemy that seeks to sweep humankind aside on a global scale. The fleet's terrible goal is to colonize and seize control of every man, woman, and child on Earth. Yet as governments feverishly develop weaponry, a terrible truth emerges: This war will be fought not only on the the ground but in the vacuum of space. The United States must summon all its technological genius - or face destruction.