Earth Fall: Invasion : (Book One)

Where to start? I don’t know. I guess I could start by asking people who gave this book a 5 star rating if they actually have read any good sci-fi lately. As for my rating, I can only fantasize about a rating system that would permit me to render a negative review. Folks, this was a painful book. Had I not paid $3 for the book, I would have put it down at the end of the first chapter. Had it been free...Essentially the book was a series of cardboard cutouts moving through a worn out plot. Giant lizards invade earth. Mass destruction follows. Plucky humans fight back with technology they gleaned from the magically wonderful Jelnoid race...who themselves had been wiped out by the antagonists (Trellixians). Earth forces defeating a vastly superior race with the help of technology from a race that were defeated by that very same race. Sigh.I got bored with the endless description of skirmish lines (or was it scrimmage lines...the author confuses the two). I rolled my eyes at the repetitive use of the terms ‘special captains’ and ‘special equipment.’ And when the author needed to solve a conundrum...out pops that good old Jelnoid technology that solves everything. He didn’t even bother with the ‘Rule of Cool’ for the tech, just slapped the ‘Jelnoid’ monicker to and and called it good. Sigh.I guess this best word that describes the entire book is ‘cardboard’. Cardboard characters abound. No real emotions. No angst. No emotions beyond anger or fear. No internal conflicts. Absolutely no internal dialogue or conflict between human characters (when does THAT never happen?), and all apparently exactly like each other...even the alien protagonists. I ended the story knowing none of the characters. Not one.I dunno folks, the 5 star ratings confuse me. One star...if that.

Although I want say mostly positive things about this novel, I first have to complain about an awful habit the author has of repeating himself. It's as if he's not sure we got it the first five times. We did. We got it. So, at least, say it in different ways. It's funny that the aliens discussed their hover tank and then the humans discussed the hover tank. Wouldn't they have called it different things based on their perspective? And, then just to make sure we understand, all the different groups in the story line then see and discuss the hover tank. Hover tank hover tank!Ok, the good stuff. I like the over all story. It's mostly a blow by blow account of a military battle between humans and aliens. The author acknowledges that the idea isn't original by paying homage to recent popular films based on similar premises. But, this story follows a different line that is interesting.Also, the characters are built well enough that we recognize them throughout the story and helps maintain enough reality to make us care about them without detracting from the action in the story.I've already bought the other book in this series and look forward to reading it.

Raymond Weil is one of my favorite authors. This book is good, but in my opinion it took too long before the Earth fought back against the invaders. The good guys seemed to be indifferent to the lives being lost, all over the world, in releasing their new weapons.That said, I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the hopes for a lot more action.

Truly enjoyed Book One of the series and looking ahead to the follow up issues (s ). Would like to see a "little more" character development, of the protagonists, along with a broader explanation as to why virtually all important war decisions are referred to the the "high" command when almost everyone knows that combat decisions are best made by commanders, in the field, who have "eyes on" actual combat. Would also like a better explanation as to why life is of such little value to the Trillexians.

I was enthralled with how Weil managed to integrate history into the plot. Heretofore I have often been left with the impression that governments were totally clueless, even though they are. Independence Day did integrate Area 51 into the idea of how to defeat the aliens, but it was nothing more than a plot device to allow "our heroes" to destroy the mother ship.But, logic has a strong role in EFI. It sets up a premise that Area 51 was not "just" a secret of aliens actually arriving, but it is the basis for mankind to start getting ready for the arrival of the invaders.In ID I kept thinking, as one character pointed out, they knew all about this and this is the best they could do? Why no reverse engineering, why no weapons development, why were they so freaking clueless?But Weil shows that the government and other governments can get their acts together if and when they need to do so. And he tells his story from the perspective of several different "players." Scientists, soldiers and "regular" people. And yes, there are people I just wanted to bi tch slap for being so clueless, especially a soccer mom or two.Bad guys are coming. The governments have known about this for 80 years. They all get their posteriors in gear and begin preparing NOT just planning, but preparing for a war. Building, creating new weapons, creating new tech, establishing fool proof communications, establishing underground bases and underground sanctuaries, and, most importantly, realizing that they are all in this together. Weil does not spend any time in other countries, except in England, with regard to the actual invasion. But that small scenario is very strong and proves to the aliens that they are in the fight for their lives and that this planet will not be a "pushover."I had hoped, as Ringo did in Battle Hymn, that Weil would include how other countries and people would act. But, unfortunately, no he only concentrates on the US.Will I read this again? Yes. And I cannot wait for the sequel.There are two things that I wish Weil had done and one of those is to describe the aliens. The only thing I know about them is that they are reptilian. I would have liked a word picture of them. Second, I wish this book had been longer.And, Weil illustrates what Stalin said about deaths. One person's death is a tragedy. Millions of deaths are just a statistic.

The story flows, so the book has that going for it. The writing is pretty mediocre, however. There is zero characterisation whatsoever - none - names come and go on the page but they are just that, names. No character has a background story nor idiosyncrasies nor anything relatable at all - they are just vehicles to push the plot forward. The antagonist, a cardboard cutout alien in some ship hovering above the earth pops up now and then with a page and half of utter rubbish ending in some inane phrase like, "This time he would defeat the pesky humans" or, "It wouldn't be long before these annoying humans were wiped off the planet." It's like watching old Scooby-Doo reruns.Nobody seems that bothered they've just lost their entire family and everyone they ever knew and no character shows any emotion other than hurrying to get one job done or another.I hate-read the last half of the book and am none the wiser as to who any of the characters really are, who is where on the map, why I wasted a couple of nights finishing it and needing a stiff drink to get over the whole experience.It's a shame as Raymond can obviously write a well-paced book but this one is the end of the line for me.

Another great read from Raymond Weil. Earth Fall is a classis Science Fiction with a mix of earth technology and the future. A well thought out story that has the potential to be another great series like the Slaver Wars. The main characters are developed early in the plot but their final part in the book is not determined until well into the book. It was a great read and I had to keep on reading once I had started. I look forward to the second book and have made a note in my Diary to start looking early in March.

It's ok if you are a scifi/alien invasion junkie but for me the basic writing style and shallow character development made it a 'scan' read. Nothing new or original and overall it's a pretty typical example of e published work. Hats off to anyone who can write at even at this level (I wish I could) but the whole thing is mediocre at best and simply a rehashing of b movie themes. That said, I did actually finish the book which is more than I can say for most kindle scifi. The problem with alien invasion books is that we (usually the U.S.) tend to win in the end, which wouldn't and couldn't actually happen. If the author took a plunge into what the reality might actually be, a darker but deeper book might emerge.

Two stars for the idea. The rest is utter rubbish. Eg {“How’s the research going on the pulse rifle?” Pierre Fournier looked at some notes he had brought to the meeting. Pierre was from France and was a major research scientist working on the Hadron Collider".}Is the age of the target audience between 8 & 12?The constant repition of the rank of the characters often on the same page is quite frankly, childish.The first sci-fi book I did not complete. It was tedious to say the least.

I quite enjoyed the book, its an interesting concept of how an earth invasion would happen. My biggest bug bear was the authors endless repetition, such as the number of times that Balforr thought how he couldn't wait to eradicate the humans move on. He would routinely repeat the same phrase or sentence later in the same paragraph or next paragraph. Also the need for them to be reptilian, (or cats at a later date) was a bit frustrating, but otherwise on the whole i enjoyed it. My biggest bug bear was the authors endless repetition ;-)