As an author and novelist myself I rarely have time (regretably)to read other people's works, let alone write reviews. I do not personally know Harry Turtledove, nor do I owe him anything but my heartfelt appreciation for giving us superb, first-rate, entertaining escapism. I was introduced to his work when I read his Civil War alternate history,"Guns of the South" to pass the time on a long plane ride. I was hooked. When I discovered this talented writer had an alternate history series about World War II, I couldn't resist. I've written four nonfiction books on World War II and two novels dealing with the war, and I am impressed (and jealously entertained) by Turtledove's talented and knowledgeable work in this area. He has an agile, organized mind that spins out wonderfully told tales in impressive historical detail. Turtledove has raised the bar for intelligent alternate history escapism to a level few others ever have. This guy is one of the truly great story tellers on our lifetime and has that unique gift of making the reader ache for more as each novel comes to a conclusion. To fully appreciate any of his 3 books in the Colonization series, readers are strongly urged to begin this joyful journey with the first of the 4 books in the original World War II series (In The Balance). All of the books in these two back-to-back series are really one, continuing story. Unfortunately, with Colonization: Aftershocks, this epic body of work comes to an end. Harry, if you read this, please find a way to add another wonderful book. Maybe take a page from George Lucas and give us a tale to cover the missing years between the WorldWar series and the Colonization books.