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defcons_treklitA good and interesting novel.
”The Last World War” was one of my first steps into the world of non media tie-in Science Fiction Literature and at least it doesn’t scared me away from trying other stuff. ;) Getting seriously, I was positively surprised by the story. The premise of an alien invasion on earth isn’t really new or innovative, but Dayton Ward made good use of it and created an appealing story out of it.
There are two things I would have liked to see (more), though : a more global picture would have been nice. Of course there are chapters about missions in different countries around the globe, but there isn’t really much about the political landscape in reaction to the Grays’ attacks. The second thing I would have liked to see, would be some differing reactions to the Blues and Grays. Maybe some people trying to ally themselves with the Grays against the Blues and America/Europe/Russia etc. Maybe I’m too cynical, but I’m doubtful that humanity would be able to fight as united as fast as they do in the novel. Of course there is no direct alliance between America and for example China or North Korea in the novel, but they still all fight against the same group. One other detail I found hard to believe was how fast the marines trusted Max and his friends in the beginning. Not that I’m saying they should have arrested him or something like that, but they aren’t questioning the information he gave them at all. For me that appeared to be a little bit naïve at such an early stage.
But that’s all negative I can say about the novel, so lets come to the positive things : I like the fact, that Dayton Ward hasn’t created an enemy, who is the “pure evil”, but instead has created a situation were both alien parties have to share the burden of responsibility for what has happened in their war and now on earth. And although the Grays are humanity’s “enemy” in the story, he shows that people from their side, even in leading roles, can sympathize with mankind and feel sorry for what’s happening on earth. The human characters are well worked out, believable, down to earth people and the aliens are neither brainless fighting machines, nor highly superior powerful beings, but a believable counterpart to mankind which has more in common with us, than both sides are believing in the beginning. The open end with the partial victory for the Blue/Earth – Alliance, but the threat of more to come, is a perfect starting point for the follow-up novel Dayton Ward is working on and I’ll definitely will take a look on “Counterstrike” when it comes out.
Overall I liked “The Last World War” and would recommend it (not only) to Science Fiction-Fans.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : **** of *****
Characterization / character development : **** of *****
Originality : *** of *****
Writing style : **** of *****
Cover : **** of *****
Overall : 82 %
”The Last World War” was one of my first steps into the world of non media tie-in Science Fiction Literature and at least it doesn’t scared me away from trying other stuff. ;) Getting seriously, I was positively surprised by the story. The premise of an alien invasion on earth isn’t really new or innovative, but Dayton Ward made good use of it and created an appealing story out of it.
There are two things I would have liked to see (more), though : a more global picture would have been nice. Of course there are chapters about missions in different countries around the globe, but there isn’t really much about the political landscape in reaction to the Grays’ attacks. The second thing I would have liked to see, would be some differing reactions to the Blues and Grays. Maybe some people trying to ally themselves with the Grays against the Blues and America/Europe/Russia etc. Maybe I’m too cynical, but I’m doubtful that humanity would be able to fight as united as fast as they do in the novel. Of course there is no direct alliance between America and for example China or North Korea in the novel, but they still all fight against the same group. One other detail I found hard to believe was how fast the marines trusted Max and his friends in the beginning. Not that I’m saying they should have arrested him or something like that, but they aren’t questioning the information he gave them at all. For me that appeared to be a little bit naïve at such an early stage.
But that’s all negative I can say about the novel, so lets come to the positive things : I like the fact, that Dayton Ward hasn’t created an enemy, who is the “pure evil”, but instead has created a situation were both alien parties have to share the burden of responsibility for what has happened in their war and now on earth. And although the Grays are humanity’s “enemy” in the story, he shows that people from their side, even in leading roles, can sympathize with mankind and feel sorry for what’s happening on earth. The human characters are well worked out, believable, down to earth people and the aliens are neither brainless fighting machines, nor highly superior powerful beings, but a believable counterpart to mankind which has more in common with us, than both sides are believing in the beginning. The open end with the partial victory for the Blue/Earth – Alliance, but the threat of more to come, is a perfect starting point for the follow-up novel Dayton Ward is working on and I’ll definitely will take a look on “Counterstrike” when it comes out.
Overall I liked “The Last World War” and would recommend it (not only) to Science Fiction-Fans.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : **** of *****
Characterization / character development : **** of *****
Originality : *** of *****
Writing style : **** of *****
Cover : **** of *****
Overall : 82 %
From Dayton: Thanks!
Date: 2005-04-15 10:38 pm (UTC)Thanks again!
-- Dayton
Re: From Dayton: Thanks!
Date: 2005-04-22 12:06 pm (UTC)You're welcome. Nice to hear that we will see some more differing reactions to the aliens when Book Two comes out. I'll hope it's not to long until you find a publisher. :)