The Tenth Planet: Final Assault

by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Book Overview

2018: COUNTDOWN TO APOCALYPSE Two worlds are locked in mortal conflict. The aliens of the Tenth Planet must harvest Earth's vast resources soon--before their world's elliptical orbit hurls them back... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345421426
• ISBN13: 9780345421425
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Worth your time

This is the third book and follows Tenth Planet and Tenth Planet Oblivion. I gave this one four stars instead of the five I gave the first two books because I was led to believe that this story was a trilogy not an open ended series. Don't get me wrong, I like long stories, but I wasn't expecting it here. I was expecting a satisfying conclusion to the Tenth Planet trilogy, but instead I got an exciting ending to book three and an open invitation for a sequel.So, where is book four? It doesn't seem to have been written and I want it! Anyone know if Smith will/has written book four?Mark E. CooperWarrior Within (ISBN:0-9545122-0-0)

An easy and fun read

The third and final book in the Tenth Planet series. Somebody earlier said it was pure escapism and they were correct. I read this strictly for fun and I enjoyed it.

Fast-paced adventure novel

In the third and final book of the series, Smith describes Earth and Malmuria (our solar system's tenth planet) locked again in mortal struggle. Both worlds have gained experience from their previous encounter six months before and are now prepared to confront each other with new resources and knowledge. The war is a fierce one, for only one species can win.This is the type of book that would make a perfect movie. Much action, many dialogues, places which are described but would much better be seen on screen, planes, spaceships which would make the special effects people happy. This is how you must think of this book: an adventure/SF movie. You should not look for philosophy or character development, monologues, any "serios literature" stuff. This book does not intend to do that.It is easy-reading, but pleasant nevertheless, the action is fast-paced, it keeps you on your toes all the time, the suspense is mastered beautifully.The book gets a minus (hence 4/5 stars) because of the human characters. The book pictures the entire human race as prejudiced. The aliens are more human than the humans. The aliens explain the reasons for their actions all the time and are considerate towards the human race - before the war had started, every time they had "harvested" the Earth they had tried to do minimal damage to the population. Their violence, which shocks so much Earth's people, is never unjustified, it is dictated only by their will to survive - and we all can understand that.On the other hand, humans always refer to the aliens as "those bastards", they only want to "blast them off", think only of killing them. Never once did they try to find a way to solve the conflict other than by completely exterminating the Malmuria. Kind of like Will Smith in "Independence Day": "Take that, you bastard". If that sums up the human attitude towards an alien species, I'm disappointed.And another thing: I had expected the nano-stuff Portia designed to be more used. All that work... for nothing. This was quite a let-down.Still, a pleasant reading. And I appreciated the quite unexpected ending... read it to see what I mean.

The whole novel is one climax

I must admit after the second novel of this trilogy I was slightly disappointed because it did not have an ending and it was too obvious that the editors wanted to make money because they knew readers had been hooked by the story so far. I still think that books two and three should be one book really. But the editors do not get stars (they would not get any star for their lousy selling policy!) But what a recompense! This book is one of the most exciting reads of science fiction I have ever read. It is breathtaking, full of nerveracking suspense, and you do not lay it down once you have started reading. The characters are well chosen, their motivations and actions very credible. Even the aliens do no longer appear as technically superior but a little stupid nevertheless. The authors give them a soul and more "humanity". In this way a kind of tragedy can develop. The two races will never be able to be on friendly terms with each other, for technical reasons and because of their conflicting struggles for survival. So the ending is not the common and triumphant "We have won!", but "What will be?" with a reflective sadness. A perfect book!One piece of advice: If you want to read this book, make sure you read it after the two first ones. You will lose a lot if you do not read them in their numeric order.