Death Day

by William C. Dietz

Book Overview

On Black Friday, the aliens attacked. The human race was enslaved. But soon, everything will change.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441008577
• ISBN13: 9780441008575
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Great Series

From the first sentence, Mr. Dietz books draw the reader into another world which is not so dissimilar to our own. All of the characters have character. Even minor bio bod characters, cyborgs and even computers, become my friends. These characters (both male and female and human and alien) are amazing role models or great villains but never caricatures. Every politician and voter should read the series, Earth Rise and Death Day, to see what it really means to be an American we might have to face aliens!

A New Spin On A Time-Honored Genre

Alien invasion stories have been done to death since H.G. Wells gave us The War Of The Worlds so it is extraordinarily difficult to come with a new slant to this time-honored genre. Well, William C. Dietz pulls it off with Death Day and the concluding volume Earth Rise. What sets Death Day apart from most of the invasion tradition is, first of all, the invading force being made up of different races. This makes an interesting dynamic and gives the enemy character as their squabbles, in-fighting and fight for freedom (some are slaves to others) make for something new, different and engaging. Also, using racism amonst the aliens as well as the surviving human population rings a true, and tragic, note. The surviving pockets of humanity withdraw within themselves, close off their borders and horde resources. The aliens favor people of color and place them as overseers as human slaves are forced to work building alien temples on Earth. And, sadly, collaborators work with the invading force to control the humans. But the seeds of rebellion have been planted. Humans and enslaved aliens are fighting back and this first book sets up an alliance between the enslaved races. All this is interesting stuff and makes for a fresh approach. I enjoyed this book and recommend it highly. Dietz is the best SF writer working today when it comes to letting character drive the story no matter the setting.

Attack of the eight-legged freaks.

Deathday takes place in 2020 where a racist alien race called Saurons come to Earth and destroy about 3 billion people in about 12 hours and enslave the remainder of the human race. Saurons are insect like creatures that have created a caste system based on the color of their chitin. The three groups consist of the Zin, which are the ruling caste with black chitin, the Fon, which are the middle class that oversee the tasks of slaves and have white chitin, and the Kan, which are the warriors of the race and have a chitin that changes colors according to their surroundings. Their leader, a Zin named Hak-Bin, decided to develop a sort of puppet "government" for the slave population to believe that they had at least some hope to hold onto. The Saurons selected a governor, Governor Alexander Franklin, to be their puppet president. They then forced the slaves to build an enormous citadel in preparation of Deathday. Like most insects on Earth the Saurons produce asexually but when they reproduce the original parent dies and only one nymph comes out of the creature. In other words, on Deathday the entire Sauron race will die and a new group of them will be born and kill all of the humans. The Saurons kept this a secret from the slaves but it was discovered by another race the Saurons had enslaved, the Ra-Na race. The Ra-Na then told Franklin of the plot. Franklin decided to stop being a puppet, escaped the Saurons, and joined the resistance movements into one organized movement. The only problem is that the resistance has just found that there is a second citadel that if not found and destroyed would allow the aliens to produce up to three new nymphs each. Enough to repopulate the race even if they manage to destroy the first citadel the enemy will still grow. Now the clock is ticking and the humans are losing valuable time. Can the humans find the citadel and if they do will they be able to destroy the Saurons for good? I thought that this book was excellent. It showed great details throughout the story. I have read many sci-fi books in the past and this is by far the best I have read. The detail in which the author describes the different characters and their personalities is unbelievable and the way that he captures the strength of the human race and it's will to survive even against unimaginable odds is nothing short of astounding. None of the other stories have even come close to this one in terms of detail. The story line was unique all in it's self. The idea of such creatures and their attitude and culture is remarkable. I would recommend this story to all who enjoy a good science fiction novel with plenty of twists. Though probably unsuitable for some small children, I believe that most everyone will have a blast with this story.

I Loved This Series

I loved Deathday and the rest of the series. The characters were very well developed. I have read hundreds of Scifi novels and I hope you are not put off by all of the negative reviews! The series is a terrific read!

great sf

In 2020 in what seemed like a blink of an eye, New York City, Moscow, and Beijing were easily destroyed. Not much more than a weekend past and the invaders conquered the earth. More than three billion humans died starting on what became known as Black Friday as the alien Sauron race, using superior weaponry, easily win the war. Any human who survived the weekend of terror has a struggle ahead as slaves of the mighty Sauren race. UN Security Officer Jack Manning ends his vacation once he learns that the nations of the world lost to the brutally efficient Saurons. The leadership Zin faction of the conquerors have no mercy immediately directing their Kon soldiers to kill any opposition no matter how slight. In that environment, a captured Jack labors in the mines of his enemy before being reassigned to a massive temple building construction project. He patiently waits to escape, but the opportunity never seems to surface. DEATHDAY, the first tale of William Deitz's alien invasion series, is an exciting non-stop action thriller though most of the book occurs after the Saurons win. The fast-paced story line is exciting and the insight into the Sauron caste system is cleverly intermingled into the plot so readers begin to understand the conquerors. This is what makes this a must read for sub-genre fans. William C Dietz provides more than just an opening gamut of a military science fiction thriller along the lines of V. He provides a deep social and psychological study of humanity and the Saurons that make the invasion seem devastatingly real and leave breathless readers waiting for EARTHRISE.Harriet Klausner