The Worldwar series is the fan name given to a series of eight

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novels by

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed ...

. Its premise is an

alien invasion The alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade the Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under an intense state, harvest people ...

of Earth during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and includes Turtledove's ''Worldwar''

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

, as well as the ''

Colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

'' trilogy, and the novel ''

Homeward Bound Homeward may refer to: * ''Homeward'' (film), a 2019 film * "Homeward" (song), a song by The Sundays from their 1997 album ''Static and Silence'' * "Homeward" (''TNG'' episode), a ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode from the seventh seaso ...

''. The series' time span ranges from 1942 to 2031. The early series was nominated for a

Sidewise Award for Alternate History The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in wh ...

in 1996.

Series premise

''Worldwar'' deals with a military invasion that begins on or around May 30, 1942 by a force of

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

that calls itself The Race, a reptilian species. It had reached Earth orbit in December 1941 but delayed the attack for various reasons. Although the Race has the advantage of superior technology, its information on

humanity Humanity most commonly refers to: * Humankind the total population of humans * Humanity (virtue) Humanity may also refer to: Literature * Humanity (journal), ''Humanity'' (journal), an academic journal that focuses on human rights * ''Humanity: A ...

had been collected by a

robotic Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...

probe during the 12th century AD. The invaders are surprised to find that humanity progressed far more rapidly than any other species that they had previously studied and conquered. Contrary to its expectations, at the time of invasion, the Race's technology is only marginally more advanced than 20th-century Earth technology. The commander hesitates, and considers turning back without revealing The Race's presence to the humans but finally decides to avoid the disgrace of that course of action. The narrative follows the intersecting fortunes of a large number of human and alien characters. Notably, the series depicts how the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

and Allied powers must cooperate to fight the alien menace. As is gradually revealed, the Race unified its home planet into a single state with a military technology at a level similar to our history's late 20th century. It then had tens of thousands of years of further history, but for most of the time, it fought no wars and so had no incentive or need to develop more advanced weapons. Indeed, for most of the time, it maintained no army at all. Only the discovery of other planets with intelligent beings made the Emperor proclaim a "Soldier's Time" and build up an army, and the weapons developed at the last wars when the home planet was unified were quite enough to conquer the other planets. With Earth, it turned out differently since the various human nations were faced with arms some decades ahead of theirs but were soon able to close the gap.

Literary theme

Turtledove approaches the novels' science fiction scenario by focusing less on the technological and fantasy elements that are typically associated with the genre. Instead, he shows more concern for the role of more mundane affairs, such as the political repercussions of an alliance between the Allied and the Axis powers, the impact the presence of alien creatures has on human society, and the ways in which warfare is paradoxically a hindrance to civilization and simultaneously a catalyst for the progress of civilization. Particular attention is given to the deep dilemma facing the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

in both

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. The invaders, by landing in 1942, stop the ongoing

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

and close down

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

for which the Jews are understandably grateful, but collaborating with the reptile invaders would brand the Jews as traitors to humanity.

First series

The first series is made up of four volumes: * '' Worldwar: In the Balance'' (1994) * '' Worldwar: Tilting the Balance'' (1995) * '' Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance'' (1996) * '' Worldwar: Striking the Balance'' (1996) It ends with neither humanity nor the aliens triumphing. Instead, each side fights to the point that facing mutually-assured destruction, they settle into an uneasy ceasefire. The aliens want to colonize Earth and have nuclear weapons but want to use them only sparingly. They cannot colonize a radioactive wasteland after a full-scale nuclear exchange. The invasion ultimately ends with all of the major Allied and Axis powers manage to develop their own nuclear weapons, which results in a stalemate. The Race is left in control of roughly half the planet, primarily colonial possessions in the Southern Hemisphere:

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and most of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

aside from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and a few Japanese coastal holdings.

Uneasy peace

The second series of novels, set in the 1960s, deals with the interaction between surviving humans and the Race. Opening with the arrival of the colonization fleet, the series ends with the defeat of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the establishment of a permanently-occupied US

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...

in the asteroid belt. Part of the series focuses on the Reich-Race War of the mid-1960s, when the Greater German Reich and the Race fight a nuclear war. The Germans lose and are forced to allow France to become an independent nation again under a new Fourth Republic. Nonetheless, it is a costly victory for the Race since fighting Germany on its own after 20 years of human technological advancement proved to be much more difficult than fighting all free human nations earlier. It is left obvious to both sides that the long-term trends are in humanity's favor. The Race is also faced with ongoing guerilla wars in much of the territory that they conquered, especially by Communists in China and by Islamists in the Arab World. The Race, confirmed conservative monarchists who never developed any concept of republic and whose only religion is veneration of their Divine Emperor and the ghosts of past emperors, find it difficult to understand either Communism or Islam, but they are forced to admit that both are highly-effective ideologies in motivating humans to fight and to cause considerable difficulties to their occupiers. Another major issue turns out to be

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, an innocent flavoring in human cuisine but a powerful

narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

for the Race's metabolism. It creates problems of

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

and helps create new criminal networks involving both humans and rogue members of the Race. Moreover, inhaling ginger causes females of the Race to become sexually active outside of their normal mating season. That creates new problems, as the Race has no concept whatsoever of sexual activity being private, and when sexually aroused, it tends to engage in indiscriminate orgies to the scandal of the humans who happen to watch. For their part, members of the Race find it difficult to understand humans' insistence on sex being a private act, and the humans' great annoyance when reptiles walk in on them while engaged in it. *''

'' Trilogy **''

Second Contact The first season of the American animated television series '' Star Trek: Lower Decks'' follows the various missions and adventures of the "lower deckers" (low-ranking officers with menial jobs) on the USS ''Cerritos'', one of Starfleet's least ...

'' (1999) **'' Down to Earth'' (2000) **''

Aftershocks In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

'' (2001)

Interstellar

The final novel in the saga deals with humanity reaching the Race's homeworld, "Home" ( Tau Ceti II). *''

'' (2004)

List of characters

The following is a list of some of the major characters from the series.

Humans

* Mordechai Anielewicz (''historical''): Anielewicz, together with other Polish Jews, is liberated from Nazi occupation by the Race. In the wake of salvation, Anielewicz is faced with the agonizing dilemma between siding with the Race against Nazi Germany or fighting against the Race, an act that would make them allies of the Nazis. *

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

George Bagnall: A flight engineer in the Royal Air Force. *David Goldfarb: A radar operator in the Royal Air Force. *Lieutenant Ludmila Gorbunova: One of many female pilots in the

's Red Air Force. *Colonel Leslie Groves (''historical''): The head of America's atomic bomb development. *Colonel Heinrich Jäger: A tank commander in the German Sixth Army who is advancing on

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

when the alien invasion begins. He is depicted as a good and somewhat charismatic officer. *Jens Larssen: A physicist at the University of Chicago. He is sent on a cross-country trip to alert the US government of the importance of the atomic bomb project. * Vyacheslav Molotov (''historical''): The head of the Soviet Union's Foreign Ministry. He is among the first humans to orbit the Earth and is instrumental in negotiating the Peace of Cairo with the Race. *Moishe Russie: A student of medicine in Poland when the Germans invaded in 1939. * Otto Skorzeny (''historical''): The Waffen-SS Hauptsturmführer, he is known for his unconventional thinking. The commando becomes a particularly feared human to the Race. *Sam Yeager: A minor-league ball player with the Decatur Commodores when the invasion takes place. Like many young men, he tried to enlist in the army in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941 but was rejected for a medical issue. *Liu Han: A

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

housewife whose innocuous village was raided by the Race and Japanese forces almost simultaneously. Kidnapped by the Race to be a part of their experiments, she becomes connected with the communist guerrillas in China, eventually joins the party, and rises through the ranks to become a leader in the revolutionary movement.

The Race

*Fleetlord Atvar: The commander of the Race's Conquest Fleet. *Flight Leader Teerts: A killercraft pilot from the Conquest Fleet. He is among the jet fighters that rapidly neutralize human air power in the opening days of the invasion. *Straha: A Shiplord (ship captain) who vocally opposes Atvar's strategies. *Ussmak: A driver for the crew of a landcruiser in the Conquest Fleet. He is one of the Lizard "Everyman" viewpoint characters.

Historical characters

Numerous historical characters also appear, some having brief '' cameos'' and others having significant parts in the plot: ;In the Balance * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski: General in the Polish Home Army. In reality, he became commander of the Home Army in the second half of 1943, after the previous commander,

Stefan Grot-Rowecki Stefan Paweł Rowecki (pseudonym: ''Grot'', "Spearhead", hence the alternate name, Stefan Grot-Rowecki; 25 December 1895 – 2 August 1944) was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo i ...

, was arrested by the Gestapo. *

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom * Adolf Hitler: German Führer *

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ...

: US Secretary of State * George Marshall: US Army Chief of Staff *

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

: US Army Major General *

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...

: German foreign minister * Leó Szilárd: Nuclear physicist,

University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory The Metallurgical Laboratory (or Met Lab) was a scientific laboratory at the University of Chicago that was established in February 1942 to study and use the newly discovered chemical element plutonium. It researched plutonium's chemistry and m ...

Hans Thomsen Hans Thomsen (14 September 1891 – 31 October 1968) was a German diplomat in the United States. Career Thomsen was a son of the Norwegian-born banker Carlo Z. Thomsen. Hans Thomsen held the dr. juris degree, and entered the foreign service in ...

: German ambassador to the United States * Shigenori Tōgō: Japanese foreign minister *

Walter Henry Zinn Walter Henry Zinn (December 10, 1906 – February 14, 2000) was an American nuclear physicist who was the first director of the Argonne National Laboratory from 1946 to 1956. He worked at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory during W ...

: Nuclear physicist,

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

: Italian nuclear physicist,

;Tilting the Balance *

Eric Blair Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...

: BBC talks producer, Indian Section, London. Better known by his pen name, George Orwell. *

Kurt Chill Kurt Chill (1 May 1895 – 5 July 1976) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LV. Armeekorps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron ...

: Wehrmacht general and interpreter in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

Arthur Compton Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 for his 1923 discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radia ...

: Nuclear physicist with the Metallurgical Laboratory *

Kurt Diebner Kurt Diebner (13 May 1905 – 13 July 1964) was a German nuclear physicist who is well known for directing and administrating the German nuclear energy project, a secretive program aiming to build nuclear weapons for Nazi Germany during World War ...

: Nuclear physicist,

Hechingen Hechingen ( Swabian: ''Hächenga'') is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border. Geography The town lies at the foot of the ...

, Germany *

: Nuclear physicist with the Metallurgical Laboratory *

Laura Fermi Laura Capon Fermi (Rome, 16 June 1907 – Chicago, 26 December 1977) was an Italian and naturalized-American writer and political activist. She was the wife of Nobel Prize physicist Enrico Fermi. Biography Laura Capon was born in Rome in 1907 ...

: Enrico Fermi's wife * Georgy Flyorov: Soviet nuclear physicist *

: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom * Werner Heisenberg: Nuclear physicist,

, Germany *

: US secretary of state * Ivan Konev: Red Army general * Igor Kurchatov: Soviet nuclear physicist * Edward R. Murrow: Radio news broadcaster * Yoshio Nishina: Japanese nuclear physicist *

: German foreign minister * Franklin D. Roosevelt: President of the United States * Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski: Eldest of the Jews in the Łódź ghetto * Joseph Stalin: General Secretary of the Communist Party of the

* Leó Szilárd: Nuclear physicist with the Metallurgical Laboratory * Shigenori Tōgō: Japanese foreign minister * Georgy Zhukov: Marshal of the

;Upsetting the Balance * Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook: British Minister of Supply *

: Wehrmacht Lieutenant General *

: Nuclear physicist, Tübingen, Germany * Albert Einstein: Physicist, Couch, Missouri * Dwight D. Eisenhower: U.S. Army general, Couch, Missouri *

: Nuclear physicist, Denver, Colorado * Robert H. Goddard: Rocket expert, Couch, Missouri * Lord Halifax: British ambassador to the United States *

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

: Il Duce (Italian Dictator) *

: German foreign minister * Joseph Stalin: General Secretary, Communist Party of the Soviet Union * Leó Szilárd: Nuclear physicist, Denver, Colorado ;Striking the Balance *

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

: Jewish guerrilla, Haifa,

* Omar Bradley: US Army lieutenant general, outside Denver *

Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt __NOTOC__ Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt (13 July 1887 – 9 May 1943) was a German general ( General of the Infantry) during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt became il ...

: Wehrmacht lieutenant general,

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

: Wehrmacht lieutenant general,

, Soviet Union * William Joseph Donovan: US Army major general, Hot Springs, Arkansas *

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

: British foreign secretary * Robert H. Goddard: Rocket scientist, Hot Springs, Arkansas *

: President of the United States following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt * Igor Kurchatov: Nuclear physicist, north of Moscow * Mao Zedong: Communist Party leader, Peking * George Marshall: US Secretary of State *

: German foreign minister * Joseph Stalin:

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

* Shigenori Tōgō: Japanese foreign minister

References

External links

''Worldwar Series''
Official website {{Harry Turtledove * Alternate history book series Alien invasions in novels Science fiction book series Novels about alien visitations Novels set in fictional wars