Colonisation: Down to Earth, by Harry Turtledove (Hodder and Stoughton, £17.99)

NAZIS and characters known as the Big Uglies make this an eyebrow-raising, if not hair-raising, piece of fiction.

It's difficult to believe that anyone really is called Harry Turtledove, but he's produced a weighty tome nonetheless.

Colonisation is set in the 1960s and the story has a period flavour.

There's more than a hint of Brian Aldiss and Arthur C Clarke about the Californian's writing style.

And the aliens are on day release from the B-movies of yesteryear - they are reptilians aiming to take over the Earth.

Turtledove manages to create a decent product from what are slightly stale ingredients by throwing a bit of "alternate history" to the mix.

The Nazis' Third Reich is alive and well. Jews across Europe are forced to choose between the bug-eyed invaders or their jackbooted nemesis, while the Americans are busy cruising beyond the Solar System.

But Hodder and Stoughton probably made a mistake by issuing it in expensive hardback form, although readers get nearly 500 pages for their money.

There are better ways of spending £18 than on this.

And it's no surprise to discover a cop-out ending - if it can be called that - to Colonisation that paves the way for a line of sequels. Overlong and overpriced, if truth be told.

Paul Stammers