This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Author | Harry Turtledove |
---|---|
Cover artist | Tim O'Brien |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Colonization |
Genre | Alternate history/Science fiction |
Publisher | Del Rey Books |
Publication date | February 9, 1999 |
Pages | 496 |
ISBN | 0-345-43019-0 |
OCLC | 39728086 |
813/.54 21 | |
LC Class | PS3570.U76 C65 1999 |
Preceded by | Worldwar: Striking the Balance |
Followed by | Colonization: Down to Earth |
Colonization: Second Contact is an alternate history novel by American writer Harry Turtledove. [1] It is the first novel of the Colonization series and the fifth installment in the Worldwar series.
The novel is set in 1963, twenty-one years following the end of the alternate World War II and nineteen years after the Race Invasion of Tosev 3. Earl Warren is President of the United States, Vyacheslav Molotov is the Premier of the Soviet Union, and Heinrich Himmler leads Nazi Germany. Smaller countries remain independent, such as the Republic of Ireland and Imperial Japan, which still controls portions of its World War II-era empire. A few isolated areas such as French Polynesia are still held by Charles de Gaulle's Free France, and in German-occupied France the French Resistance remains active. The Northern Hemisphere remains relatively free of Race occupation, but the hotter regions of the planet, such as Central and South America, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Africa, China, the Middle East, and Australia, are all under Race control. The Race also occupies Poland, with the territory acting as a buffer state, keeping Germany and the Soviet Union from having a mutual land border and an easy way to restart the war between them.
At the start of the novel, the colonization fleet of the Race enters the Solar System, bringing with them 80-100 million colonists for settling on Earth. As the fleet enters Earth orbit, a human satellite unleashes a nuclear attack that kills millions. As Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States each have large-scale space capability, any of the three nations may have been responsible for the attack. All three deny it when furious Race leaders, headed by Fleetlord Atvar, the commander of all Race forces sent to Earth, demand answers, but two of the three human nations are really as much unaware of the attacker's identity as the Race. In addition, while there is an uneasy peace between the independent human nations and the Race, Mao Zedong and Ruhollah Khomeini continue to lead popular resistance to the invaders in China and the Middle East, respectively. Race efforts to wage a counterinsurgency war in those regions are frustrated by their lack of familiarity with such warfare and a nearly-total lack of support from the human population. The Race also becomes aware of subtle support of the resistance movements by Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union, but as the Race is unable to prove it, nothing can be done to stop them.
Meanwhile, the Race's colonists, who expected to encounter an Earth that was already conquered with the natives still at medieval levels of advancement, must deal with the consequences of the cold war with the humans. The fleet brings with it not only the first civilians but also the first Race females, both of which cause tension among the male soldiers who formed the invasion force. To the Race males, ginger is a euphoric drug; to the females, it causes them to go into estrus, throwing Race forces on Earth into social chaos. Worse still for Fleetlord Atvar is a sharp upswing in armed revolts in the Middle East and in China; at the novel's end, Khomeini's guerrillas have staged several successful ambushes against Race patrols, and resistance forces under Mao storm the Forbidden City.
Colonization is a process of establishing control over foreign territories or peoples for the purpose of exploitation and possibly settlement, setting up coloniality and often colonies, commonly pursued and maintained by colonialism.
The Domination of the Draka is a dystopian science fiction alternate history series by American author S. M. Stirling.
Colonization is a trilogy of alternate history books by American writer Harry Turtledove. It is a series continuation of the situation set up in the Worldwar tetralogy, projecting the situation between humanity and The Race nearly twenty years afterward, in the mid-1960s.
Homeward Bound (2004) is a science fiction and alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the eighth and final work in his Worldwar series fictional universe. It follows the events of the Colonization trilogy and gives some closure to the storylines.
The Worldwar series is the fan name given to a series of eight alternate history science fiction novels by Harry Turtledove. Its premise is an alien invasion of Earth during World War II, and includes Turtledove's Worldwar tetralogy, as well as the Colonization trilogy, and the novel Homeward Bound. The series' time span ranges from 1942 to 2031. The early series was nominated for a Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 1996.
"The Last Article" (1988), is an alternate history short story by Harry Turtledove.
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers. Its principal members by the end of 1941 were the "Big Four" – the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and China.
The Axis of Time trilogy is an alternative history series of novels written by Australian journalist and author John Birmingham, from Macmillan Publishing.
For Want of a Nail: If Burgoyne Had Won at Saratoga is an alternate history novel published in 1973 by the American business historian Robert Sobel. The novel depicts an alternate world where the American Revolution was unsuccessful. Although it is fiction, the novel takes the form of a work of nonfiction, specifically an undergraduate-level history of North America from 1763 to 1971. The fictional history includes a full scholarly apparatus, including a bibliography of 475 works and 860 footnotes citing imaginary books and articles; three appendices listing the leaders of the Confederation of North America, the United States of Mexico, and Kramer Associates; an index; a contemporary map of the alternate North America; and a preface thanking imaginary people for their assistance with the book. The book also includes a critique of itself by Professor Frank Dana, an imaginary Mexican historian with two books listed in the bibliography.
Worldwar: In the Balance is a 1994 alternate history novel by American writer Harry Turtledove. It is the first novel of the Worldwar tetralogy, as well as the first installment in the extended Worldwar series that includes the Colonization trilogy and the novel Homeward Bound. The plot begins in late 1941, while the Earth is torn apart by World War II. An alien fleet arrives to conquer the planet, forcing the warring nations to make uneasy alliances against the invaders. Meanwhile, the aliens, who refer to themselves as the Race, discover that their enemy is far fiercer and more technologically advanced than expected.
Worldwar: Tilting the Balance is an alternate history novel by the American writer Harry Turtledove. It is the second book in the Worldwar tetralogy and in the extended Worldwar series, which includes the Colonization trilogy and the novel Homeward Bound.
Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance is an alternate history novel by American writer Harry Turtledove. It is the third novel of the Worldwar tetralogy and the third installment in the extended Worldwar series, which includes the Colonization trilogy and the novel Homeward Bound.
Worldwar: Striking the Balance is an alternate history novel by American writer Harry Turtledove. It is the fourth and final novel of the Worldwar tetralogy and the fourth installment in the extended Worldwar series, which includes the Colonization trilogy and the novel Homeward Bound.
Crosstime Traffic is a series of books by Harry Turtledove.
Colonization: Down to Earth is an alternate history and science fiction novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the second novel of the Colonization series, as well as the sixth installment in the extended Worldwar series. British editions are entitled Colonisation: Down to Earth and are the second of the Colonisation series.
Colonization: Aftershocks is an alternate history and science fiction novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the third and final novel of the Colonization series and the seventh installment in the extended Worldwar series.
The War That Came Early is a six-novel series by Harry Turtledove depicting an alternate history of World War II. As is typical of Turtledove's alternate histories, the narrative follows a large cast of both fictional and historical characters.
Red Inferno: 1945 is a 2010 novel written by Robert Conroy, the author of other alternate history novels.
Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and nonfiction writer Harry Turtledove: