Published by Del Ray, 1996.
paperback, $6.99, ISBN: 0-345-40240-5
530 pages.

Upsetting the Balance, the third in the WorldWar series by Harry Turtledove, combines science fiction with World War II into an alternative history fraught with cunning characters, gripping action, perhaps a little too much coincidence, and solid prose. It is a fast and easy read worthy of the resultant sleep deprivation, as Turtledove continues to hone his "Perils of Pauline" style.

Be warned: do not read this third book, or even the second book, Tilting the Balance, unless you read the first book in the series, In the Balance. Like any good soap opera, or in this case, space opera, the characters' actions build upon past activities, and to plunge into the middle of this series without the requisite background is to derail much of the storyline. If you ignore this admonition, know that Turtledove spends hardly any words explaining such previous actions and you are at risk of missing motivations.

During WWII, a fleet of aliens intent upon conquering earth appears in orbit and starts landing troops, tanks, and other weapons of war over the face of the globe. The first two books explain the surprise of "the Race" upon discovering that the medieval warrior images sent back by its probe have turned into carbon-burning tanks, airplanes, and ships. Nevertheless, the invasion proceeds with commendable efficiency, thanks in large part to a technological gap between a starfaring race and a planet-bound one. Still, us "Tosevites" prove remarkably adaptable, resilient, and tenacious in creating an uneasy peace among humans to go fight the aliens.

This alternative history comes at a price--for the actions to occur as written, you have to accept the basic assumptions. After three books, coincidence proves a bit too convenient at times.

• The arrogance of "the Race" makes them unable, for all their technology, to differentiate between humans (or "big uglies" as the diminutive lizards like to call humans).
• The military geniuses up in the spaceships ignore all water-borne transport, even as they shoot up every railroad engine, truck convoy, and aircraft in radar range.
• And how about the idea that the Nazis hate the Russian communists, the Chinese communists hate the Japanese, the French hate the Nazis, the Nazis hate the Jews, but everybody hates the lizards (although South America and Africa seem curiously absent of malice)?