A review by smithjasont01
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

The second book by Haldeman that I have read.  The story of an alien known as the changeling that can live forever and can take the shape of anything given enough time and mass.  After spending millions of years on its home world it travels to earth a million years before modern times.  After spending long years as predators in the ocean it comes up on land and takes the form of a human in 1931 US.  Only it can't remember what it is.  It spends years learning about humans and trying to find something like itself.  Unbeknownst to itself there is another creature on the earth, one who can look like any man and has mindset for war, known as the chameleon.  It isn't until the 2000s when an artifact is brought up from the bottom of the Pacific that both the alien realizes it is drawn to this thing.  The chameleon realizes it isn't alone and wants to change that.  Both make their way to the artifact and it leads to a major confrontation.

There was a twist in the book and I feel like it came to late.  If it came earlier in the story I think it would have made the whole thing more tense.  I think we see to many lives of the changeling and it is just the same over and over, make a persona go to college learn repeate.  Granted the ww2 part was interesting as it let the changeling learn how cruel humanity can be.  I also think the ending was a bit rushed, the conflict started and was over in 2 or 3 pages.  

Overall an ok first Sci fi book for the year, nothing special nothing terrible.