A prequel to Terminator Salvation, but not directly related, more tangentially.   Starts off with a Russian submarine taking part in Judgement Day, in 2003. Then the alternate story, about Resistance Fighters in Alaska in 2018, takes place.   I thoroughly enjoyed the Russian 2003 story. They're confused, horribly shaken up and then they find the machines, but they don't believe it themselves and nobody  believes them. This storyline wraps up with them joining Ashdown and the Resistance.   Then we get the Alaskan story. I didn't like it. Bunch of people survive and end up fighting Sky-Net any way they can. This was a story that was supposed to be dramatic and moving, but ended up coming across as petty and amateurish.   The 2 storylines mesh with an attack on a trainline supplying Skynet with uranium. I really wish Cox had focused exclusively on the Russians and their fight. Oh well.     crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.wordpress.blogspot.com " ( )

"Connor?" Ivanov interrupted. "Do we know this Connor?"
The name meant nothing to Losenko. He raised a finger to his lips...
"With respect, Captain, why are we wasting time with such nonsense?" He snorted derisively. "Skynet? Terminators? This isn't even good propaganda. It's science fiction." He shook his head. "Do they take us for fools?"

Terminator Salvation: Cold War is aptly named. Taking place before the events in the film, it shows an American and Russian military that are once again at odds. Safe under the water in their submarine, Losenko and his crew only know that, without provocation, America launched the nukes that slaughtered their families in Mother Russia. Through their radio they hear that an American, General Ashdown, has invited the remaining armed forces of the world to a summit. He wants to discuss the new global threat - the machines. But can these soldiers put aside their old grievances, pool their resources and, instead of fighting each other, fight together before they're all obliterated from the face of the earth?

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when the cold war between the USA and the USSR was fodder for so many books, tv shows and movies that I still enjoy it as a plot device. Even though I've read quite a bit of Terminator fiction, nearly all of it has been focused solely in the USA. It was nice to broaden the spectrum a little. It's not a page-turner and it's highly forgettable but it was my entertainment for a few evenings anyway. ( )