Well... that was... underwhelming

It's an OK book but hardly counts as an ending for the series.

:/ ( )

Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.
Ambrose Bierce

The American temptation is to believe that foreign policy is a subdivision of psychiatry.
Henry Kissinger



The alien Lizards have conquered about half of Earth, while much of it -- particularly the countries with nuclear weapons -- have stayed independent from the aliens. Lizard colonists have settled on an Earth they expected to be subjugated, but the rate of technological progress among 20th century, World-War II-era humans, has astounded them. At the end of the previous, and seventh, book, humanity was gaining a foothold in space, with the hope of visiting the Lizards' homeworld soon.

If the previous paragraph made little or no sense to you, you haven't been reading Harry Turtledove's Worldwar Saga, in which World War II is interrupted by alien invasion. He followed that with the Colonization series, and now with the standalone Homeward Bound, where the protagonist, Sam Yeager, is Humanity's ambassador to The Race.

While the book shares the faults of its predecessors -- too long, too many characters, and far too many recaps -- the characters are excellently drawn, the history (what there is that hasn't been sundered by this point) is impeccably researched. Many of the characters from previous books play key roles: Atvar, Fleetlord of the invasion fleet and now reluctant Ambassador to Humanity; Kasquit, a human raised as a Lizard in a disturbing "experiment" by Race scientist Ttomals.

But the biggest "character" is the populace of Home, the Lizards' planet. They are at once uncaring, enlightened, bigoted, imperial, self-centered, and fearfully intelligent. One can almost overlook that they are not all that alien.

The Race is really a plot device, bound by routine beyond all reason, considering their obvious intelligence, and far too weak for a force that can cross light-years to invade a planet.

However, Mr. Turtledove has a gift for making straw men seem like flesh and blood, and he succeeds here. And the historical -- and non-historical characters are a joy to read, even the minor characters such as pilots Flynn and Johnson, confined to zero-gravity for the rest of their lives, and the 37th Emperor Risson, the Emperor of the Race, is a thoughtful, intelligent being I wouldn't mind meeting. Even the Emperor's protocol flunky is a wonderful character, and only mostly a parody.

There are surprises at the end of he book, and I was looking for more pages to read when I finished the last. This is also the closest to a standalone novel in the entire series. Recommended. ( )

One reviewer said: "If you haven’t read the proceeding seven books in the Worldwar/Colonization series, there’s no point in reading this one." Since I put down Turtledove's series at book 1, I won't bother with this one.

Interesting storyline you wouldn't want to put down; each chapter drew you into the next. Characters were a little bit wooden and I would have loved if Kassquit had not been flat; she could've been a key character in a fascinating predicament and it was interesting when we got to see her think through things, but instead she was mostly a problem for Sam/Jonathan/Ttomalss/Atvar to mull over. Dialogue, phrases, etc. were repetitious. Foreshadowing was a bit heavyhanded in places but not too bad. ( )

Tedious and slow but it does put finis on a good series. ( )