The Novels of "V"
 
"Path to Conquest"
 

Publishing Information
Author:  Howard Weinstein
Publisher:  Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., 49 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10010
ISBN:  0-812-55725-5
Canadian ISBN:  0-812-55726-3
Copyright:  1987, Warner Bros., Inc.
 

Comments
A sequel of sorts to Weinstein and A.C. Crispin's novel, "East Coast Crisis".  This book finds the Resistance
members from that work carrying on their fight against Visitor domination.  The novel takes place during the
Second Invasion, and once again some of our familiar L.A. Resistance members (this time Juliet and Elizabeth)
make a brief appearance.  The "weather pattern" plot doesn't really work, but the oil plot works a little better.
A certain character's duplicity is rather obvious from the get-go.
 

Major Plot Points

 

Memorable Moments
pp. 17-18  Presidential advisors discuss the influx of refugees to New York
But the faces of refugees never seemed to change from war to war, earthquake to earthquake, famine to famine.  African, European, Asian, or American, it didn't matter.  Draper had seen photos of earlier times and witnessed similar human suffering in person in various parts of the world.  Never before had war forced Americans to flee their homes, and it shook him to find that citizens of the most powerful nation in the history of the planet could be reduced to this, faces shadowed by grief and fear.
We're not immune, he thought.
"Where do they all go?" Stuart Hart asked, serious now.
Cynthia flexed her leg.  "The lucky ones have relatives or friends in the area and stay with them."
"What about the unlucky ones?"
"Haven't you seen the billboards and TV commercials?  'Take in a friend - then make room for a stranger'?"
... "I'm from New York," Cynthia boasted, "and we're pretty good at coming through when the chips are
down."

p.108  Hannah reassures the Resistance members
"But Diana is a scientist," Neville pointed out.
"With a rather military frame of mind," Hannah countered.
"What makes you so sure?" asked Peter.
"Because they've been so busy conducting a military war they haven't taken the time to properly explore this planet.  What they know about Earth they've picked up on the run, a litter here and there as they've needed it.  If we could sneak a peak at their Encyclopaedia Terra, we'd probably find so many gaping holes in basic
knowledge we'd fall down laughing."

pp. 142-143  The L.A. and New York Resistance make a trade
"Oh, there's something else."  Julie reached into her shirt pocket.  "Here - these are the latest medical codes the Visitors are using."
"From your friendly fifth columnist?" asked Pete.
"Yeah.  He's a medical student.  Nice kid.  Name's Howie.  Well, thanks for the supplies."
"Our pleasure," Lauren said.  "It must be tough being in a war-zone area.  Sometimes, back in the relative safety of New York, we forget what you must be going through."
Pete snapped his fingers.  "Oh, yeah.  We threw in a little surprise."
Julie's eyebrows arched.  "Oh?"
Lauren smirked.  "I figured a freedom fighter doesn't have the time to sit around getting fat - looks like you two don't have to worry about that - so we dug up some chocolate for you."
"Hallelujah!" Julie crowed, arms uplifted.  "Do you know how long it's been since I tasted chocolate?"
"That's what we figured," Lauren laughed.  "Indulge."
 

The Back of the Book . . .

The Earth's Last Hope is Freezing Over...

The invading aliens - under the leadership of their evil commander, Diana - undertake a two-pronged plan to
smash the resistance and force the surrender of Earth.  The first prong is Project Icewind, a scheme to alter the
world's weather and bring an early, crushing winter.  The second is the destruction of the world's oil - lifeblood
of the war effort and a freezing planet's very survival.

But ex-baseball star Dr. Pete Forsythe and diplomat Lauren Stewart are on to the alien plot - and with the
help of two top scientists an answer may be, must be, found.

The race is on - from the icy North Atlantic to the streets of New York to the parched sands of the Middle
East . . . the brave fighters of the resistance are all that stand in the way of Visitor victory!
 

Ordering Information
All of the "V" novels are currently out of print.  However, you can often find used copies at reasonable prices at
the Advanced Book Exchange.
 

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