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Independence Day #3
War in the Desert
It is the Fourth of July. Reeling from the enemy onslaught, a few surviving military pilots gather in the Saudi Arabian desert. Two of the best fliers, flight instructors Reg and Faisal, self-appointed leaders of the Saudi Forces, can barely contain their animosity when a message from the Americans forces them to unite. A weak point has been found in the alien "City Destroyers." The air war against them was costly--but it worked!...Or did it? Too late, Reg and Faisal discover their "victory" was an illusion--part of a secret ambush that will open the planet to unimaginable horror, unless these overmatched warriors from several Middle Eastern nations can overcome long-standing hatreds and unite against the aliens in the fiercest hand-to-hand combat of the war. Capturing the spectacular action of the blockbuster Twentieth Century Fox film, this authorized novel adds exciting new material to the ID4 story!
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 30, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 12, 2022
THIS IS ONE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE IN TO A MOVIE!!
The 3rd book on the Independence Day Series.. War in the Desert. This book was the sleeper of 3 story lines. I think this was the better story of the 3 books. While the movie only give you a 2 minute dialogue about the Americans wanted to organize a counter offensive and it was bloody time, we never got to know the story. This book covered it! I loved it, many nations, many cultures, many religions are all at war with each other, and how do you put hundreds of years of traditions within those for the sake of humanity? The soldiers realize they hated each other because that's how they were raised. Definite must read if you liked the movie! I loved how it even touched in to time of Desert Storm and how some actions then affected this war, but I won't say what it was, You will just have to read it and find out for yourself!
The 3rd book on the Independence Day Series.. War in the Desert. This book was the sleeper of 3 story lines. I think this was the better story of the 3 books. While the movie only give you a 2 minute dialogue about the Americans wanted to organize a counter offensive and it was bloody time, we never got to know the story. This book covered it! I loved it, many nations, many cultures, many religions are all at war with each other, and how do you put hundreds of years of traditions within those for the sake of humanity? The soldiers realize they hated each other because that's how they were raised. Definite must read if you liked the movie! I loved how it even touched in to time of Desert Storm and how some actions then affected this war, but I won't say what it was, You will just have to read it and find out for yourself!
April 8, 2021
I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of this book. Being a spin off from a action movie my expectations were low to say the least. The author does a good job at creating a fairly decent cast of three dimensional characters and I actually found myself caring about what happened to Reg and Fadeela. However I thought the primary human antagonist, Faisal could have done with some more depth to his character as his primary motive is the same old quest for power. Khalid was an interesting character but I feel his story arch just sort of fizzled out towards the end. The primary protagonist, Reg is a rounded character and the guilt he caries due to his actions in the Gulf War adds an interesting dimension to his character. The depiction of his world weariness is not as cliche as some authors depictions of character's with skeletons in the closet. However I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when I actually learnt what it was he had done during the Gulf War after so much buildup (and wonder how exactly he didn't get prosecuted by a military court).
The author is clearly skilled at writing action scenes, which do account for a large portion of this book (it's a spin off from Independence Day so what do you expect?). I actually felt a lot of tension the first time they explore the bowels of the crashed city destroyer. However I found the psychic confrontation with the "tall aliens" in the control tower a little too far fetched and ridiculous.
The author's attempt to delve deeper into the nature of the alien invaders is something of a mixed bag. The fleshing out of the biomechanical technology of the aliens is quite interesting, especially the method of control humans must use in order to control the alien technology (which also ties into the theme of human's working together past their differences). However I expected the aliens to have a much more diverse arsenal at their disposal. I felt the aliens lost a lot of their mystique and menace as the book went on. I was not impressed with the portrayal of the overall mentality of the aliens, that they are just a hoard that hate us. We never learn where they come from and why they do what they do, they just do it. I think this book really missed an opportunity to add more depth to the aliens.
There's is a somewhat oversimplification of the Middle East's political, cultural and social issues but I'm impressed that the book actually bothered to touch on them at all. The take on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not as one-sided as I expected it to be. As a Brit, it's quite clear that the British character's dialogue was written by an American. All the British characters are from London (because of course that's the only city in England). Saying that is was no where near as patronizing as other American's depiction's of Brits and it was nice to see the focus shift to the "rest of the world" during a global invasion after the American-centered film.
Is this the best sci-fi book I have read? No not a chance. It is however one of the better "spin-off" books I have read in recent memory.
If you liked the film or just want to read an entertaining adventure story I would certainly recommend this book.
The author is clearly skilled at writing action scenes, which do account for a large portion of this book (it's a spin off from Independence Day so what do you expect?). I actually felt a lot of tension the first time they explore the bowels of the crashed city destroyer. However I found the psychic confrontation with the "tall aliens" in the control tower a little too far fetched and ridiculous.
The author's attempt to delve deeper into the nature of the alien invaders is something of a mixed bag. The fleshing out of the biomechanical technology of the aliens is quite interesting, especially the method of control humans must use in order to control the alien technology (which also ties into the theme of human's working together past their differences). However I expected the aliens to have a much more diverse arsenal at their disposal. I felt the aliens lost a lot of their mystique and menace as the book went on. I was not impressed with the portrayal of the overall mentality of the aliens, that they are just a hoard that hate us. We never learn where they come from and why they do what they do, they just do it. I think this book really missed an opportunity to add more depth to the aliens.
There's is a somewhat oversimplification of the Middle East's political, cultural and social issues but I'm impressed that the book actually bothered to touch on them at all. The take on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not as one-sided as I expected it to be. As a Brit, it's quite clear that the British character's dialogue was written by an American. All the British characters are from London (because of course that's the only city in England). Saying that is was no where near as patronizing as other American's depiction's of Brits and it was nice to see the focus shift to the "rest of the world" during a global invasion after the American-centered film.
Is this the best sci-fi book I have read? No not a chance. It is however one of the better "spin-off" books I have read in recent memory.
If you liked the film or just want to read an entertaining adventure story I would certainly recommend this book.
January 6, 2026
After blowing through Independence Day and Silent Zone at record pace, I found War in the Desert to be a lot harder to get through. The initial pacing of the story (events which coincide with the film) were great, but unfortunately this aspect was extremely brief; the invasion takes place in the span of a day, but the characters of this story manage to sleep through a portion of that time. What follows afterwards was nothing short of a chore; I was no longer reading because I was hooked, but because I wanted to be able to put this book behind me and move on to something else.
Every single character (including all the protagonists, save for Tye) were either completely unlikeable or some cartoonishly stereotypical trope. There's a cheesiness to it all that can be smelled from a mile away (as in you'll instantly know the ending as soon as the foil and damsel-in-distress are first introduced 25% of the way in, because you just know it'll be the most unimaginative thing to do and nothing about the writing will ever lead you to ever expect anything else), and that is a letdown considering all the heavy lifting that has been done for this particular setting.
I do appreciate getting a little extra lore on the Aliens and their technology (and the latter pairs nicely with what is seen in the prior two books), but here the Aliens seem disproportionality stronger as if it needed to crank up the threat level for some reason. It becomes a little harder to reconcile these absolute bullet-sponge, telepathic powerhouses with the ones that could be knocked out with a punch or killed by a coyote in those previous stories. And the unfortunate result is that the back 2/3 of the novel is dominated by one similar desert fire fight after another, stakes that seem unnecessarily (and somehow unbelievably) escalated, all while building towards an outcome easily guessed a few hundred pages prior. Of the two ID4 side novels I originally thought I was going to enjoy this one more as an action story, but somehow found Silent Zone to offer far more excitement (while also contributing more value towards this particular universe).
Every single character (including all the protagonists, save for Tye) were either completely unlikeable or some cartoonishly stereotypical trope. There's a cheesiness to it all that can be smelled from a mile away (as in you'll instantly know the ending as soon as the foil and damsel-in-distress are first introduced 25% of the way in, because you just know it'll be the most unimaginative thing to do and nothing about the writing will ever lead you to ever expect anything else), and that is a letdown considering all the heavy lifting that has been done for this particular setting.
I do appreciate getting a little extra lore on the Aliens and their technology (and the latter pairs nicely with what is seen in the prior two books), but here the Aliens seem disproportionality stronger as if it needed to crank up the threat level for some reason. It becomes a little harder to reconcile these absolute bullet-sponge, telepathic powerhouses with the ones that could be knocked out with a punch or killed by a coyote in those previous stories. And the unfortunate result is that the back 2/3 of the novel is dominated by one similar desert fire fight after another, stakes that seem unnecessarily (and somehow unbelievably) escalated, all while building towards an outcome easily guessed a few hundred pages prior. Of the two ID4 side novels I originally thought I was going to enjoy this one more as an action story, but somehow found Silent Zone to offer far more excitement (while also contributing more value towards this particular universe).
October 26, 2024
Sloppy prose at times and clunky dialogue - one can’t help but read the English airmen speaking in the same dreadful put-on ‘British’ accents (the actors so obviously being played by Americans who’ve watched one episode of Only Fools as ‘prep’) like in the desert scenes of the film itself - but much like said blockbuster I couldn’t help but have an absolute blast throughout. Ridiculous, stupid fun which adds a nice bit of garnish to the post-victory story.
What do we want? A FILM ADAPTATION OF A NOVELISATION OF A FILM! When do we want it? IN THE NEXT 5-7 YEARS!
What do we want? A FILM ADAPTATION OF A NOVELISATION OF A FILM! When do we want it? IN THE NEXT 5-7 YEARS!
October 14, 2017
Solid ending to the trilogy. Kept me interested and added a nice element to the overall story.
October 23, 2018
It's a bit dull in the beginning. Come the second half, it becomes really good. Worth the wait to me. A tiny sequel.
October 4, 2014
I'd hunted for this final book for so many years and never did find it until recently, nearly 14 years after my search started. I'm sad to say it was not worth the wait though. The first half was exactly like reading the 1st book (or watching the movie) all over again. There was really not much going on that was unique to it. The 2nd half picked up and got more interesting, but the end felt too rushed and was a bit disappointing. For anybody else looking to read this series, the first 2 books were the best. This last one didn't feel like it was even written by the same author and wasn't worth the time it took me to find it in the end.
September 13, 2007
Independence Day 4, War in the Desert is based on the impressive 1996 movie, ID4 but centered in Saudi Arabia. On July 3, Captain Reg Cummins and other RAF pilots lead an attack on one of the many "city destroyers."
The pilots fight a ground war with the aliens that had survived the destruction of their ship, (in spite of the earlier military "sweep" of the craft.)
The aliens' psychic abilities, their vehicles and weapons are described in detail.
The personal relationship between Cummins and the Saudi king's daughter is also developed in this novel.
Good read for movie fans.
The pilots fight a ground war with the aliens that had survived the destruction of their ship, (in spite of the earlier military "sweep" of the craft.)
The aliens' psychic abilities, their vehicles and weapons are described in detail.
The personal relationship between Cummins and the Saudi king's daughter is also developed in this novel.
Good read for movie fans.
January 30, 2016
The other ID4 tie-in novel, Silent Zone, was way better. This one has a clever premise... it hinges on a two second scene from the movie in which the Saudis get a message from the Americans, and one of the guys says, "it's about bloody time, what do they intend to do?" That scene is indeed in the book, and the author really did a good job developing characters and a standalone story around them, but ultimately I found that I didn't really care what happened.
March 14, 2015
This is one of the worst....maybe THE worst novels I have ever read. I will edit this one day when I can bring myself to dig this thing back out and post some quotes so you can actually read just how bad it is without ever having to touch it.
June 6, 2016
I read some negative reviews about this book. I have to disagree with those. I liked it. I liked that it was telling what was going on at the same time the events in the movie/book were gping on. Guess it was the different perspective that I enjoyed.
March 7, 2016
It was interesting reading this novelization of the hit movie by the same name. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
October 1, 2017
Solid read. Story about aliens pretty odd. =)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews