Synopsis: Earth is Invaded. Mankind fights back. Aliens find human psychology hard to fathom, and so are slow to adapt their military-style fighting to battle against our guerrilla- partisan- terrorist-resistance – Man is winning. Aliens adapt, and the tide turns. Humans adapt, and the tide slows. Up to this point, the story is of battles and survival; psychology and weapons; guns and claymores; drones and spies; strategy, adaptation, and persuasion. All good, believable, and thought provoking situations and solutions. Then, on page 330, the author invokes a Deus ex Machina and the reader wonders if humans have hope again. Circa page 365, the nature of the ‘Deus’ is revealed, and the tale enters a second genre of science fiction.
[Click here to see Spoiler] Vampires! David Weber invokes Vampires, from Europe, to save mankind.[Click here to hide Spoiler]
The first 80% of the book was mostly enjoyable, thought provoking, and interesting. The author's ‘outsider's view’ of human psychology – and his implied comments on our strengths and weaknesses – were welcomed examinations of life. Nevertheless, his invocation of a second, disparate, SF genre, so late in the story, was not well received by this reader. Better, I feel, would have been to allow the inevitable annihilation. Even a plague, affecting the aliens, and not [nearly so badly] the humans, would have been better received than the genre-changing Deus ex Machina that was chosen.
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