[T2 03] • The Future War

Return to the blockbuster Terminator universe, with the untold adventures of Sarah and John Connor!

The future war is now. Hiding out in Alaska, Sarah and John Connor, along with ex-counter-terrorist agent Dieter von Rossbach, are playing a waiting game--trying to live their lives, but ever watchful of Cyberdyne and Skynet. Believing that John′s love Wendy sacrificed herself to successfully stop Skynet from becoming sentient, they think humanity may finally have a chance.

Until the US government announces that they will put all military forces under the command of a brand-new, extremely powerful Artificial Intelligence named Skynet. Racing desperately to alert their allies and prepare, the Connors discover that Wendy′s sacrifice was in vain. Skynet is sentient, and is ready to terminate the human nuisance once and for all. As the nuclear fallout begins, a brave band of resistance fighters, led by John Connor, starts the long fight against Skynet. The rise of the machines is here, and this time, there is no preventing Judgment Day.

From Publishers WeeklyJust because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you, as shown in this above-average movie tie-in, the conclusion to Stirling's T2 trilogy (after Rising Storm and Infiltrator). Judgment Day, when the sentient computer Skynet begins using its control of the U.S. military to exterminate the human race, comes at last. In an effort to save humanity, Sarah Connor and her son and savior-in-training, John, alert their allies among the world's militaries, intelligence agencies and general populace. Serving Skynet are eco-terrorists called Luddites, who round up survivors, confine them in concentration camps and expose them to biological weapons. As the first Terminator movie foretells, the humans gain the upper hand, prompting Skynet to resort to time travel to try to kill Sarah and establish its own existence. Faithful to his source material, Stirling (Conquistador; The Peshawar Lancers) gives the book a cinematic feel and structure, with quick jumps between action scenes and large skips in time and space, not to mention robots with Austrian accents. Unfortunately, the logical gaps in the film premise continue to dog his work, and the character development and relationships are obviously predetermined. Readers who enjoyed the movies will like the added material. Newcomers had best start with the films before tackling the books.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From BooklistStirling's third essay into the Terminator universe isn't as tightly constructed as its predecessors, but then, it covers much more territory, from immediately after the conclusion of T2: Infiltrator (2001) to the moment when John Connor sends his father back in time to defeat the original Terminator and beget him! In between these moments, enough years pass for Skynet to take over every computer in sight and cause not one but two nuclear wars as well as unleashing Luddite militias, death camps, and increasingly sophisticated weaponry on humanity. The resistance holds its own, with help from Sarah and John Connor and Dieter von Rossbach, not to mention John's grandparents, Captain Dennis Reese and nurse Mary Shea, and Stirling proves as adept as ever with action scenes. And those are scenes in a grim battle for survival, and they give this book a substantially darker tone than those of its predecessors. Not that that will turn away any readers, especially during this summer of the third Terminator movie. Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved