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Peter Tillman's Reviews > Weapons of Choice
Weapons of Choice (Axis of Time, #1)
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Peter Tillman's review
bookshelves: science-fiction, hist-fiction, reread-list
Oct 03, 2020
bookshelves: science-fiction, hist-fiction, reread-list
Read 2 times. Last read September 25, 2024 to October 14, 2024.
"Axis of Time" trilogy, by John Birmingham
Weapons of Choice (2004), Axis of Time #1
Designated Targets (2005), Axis of Time #2
Final Impact (2007), Axis of Time #3
This review is for the initial three books of the series, which amount to one long novel , so don't start at #3! I warmly recommend the books to mil-SF and alternate-history fans. To reprise, a naval task force from 2021 is diverted to 1942 by a DARPA teleportation experiment gone spectacularly wrong. In the confusion of the transition, the moderns sink most of Admiral Spruance's fleet, enroute to the Battle of Midway. Oops....
The three books go on to re-fight WW2, and show once again that the oldest cliche' can look fresh in the hands of a good writer with a new approach. Birmingham's innovation here is that the world of 1942 suddenly knows how the next eighty years would play out, if nothing changes. So the Big Losers -- Hitler, Tojo and Stalin -- are frantically trying to rewrite history to keep from going down in flames "again". And the winners must guard their "historic" victory... It's a riveting, twisty, violent story, and man, do those pages turn.
The Axis of Time is a good reminder of just how bad the mid-20th century was, and just how monstrous Hitler and Stalin were. And how warfare brings out the best -- and worst -- in "good" people (and bad). Some of the expedients the "good guys" resort to, to win, are appalling. Which isn't to say, not necessary....
Birmingham's near-future is a rather grim place, and the interactions of 2021 with 1942 are very nicely done. The past is a different country, and the multi-racial men and women-warriors from the 21st century make the folk of 1942 *very* uncomfortable. And vice-versa.
And, of course, Birminghams's fictional version of a "future" 2021 is about to become an alternate past itself. The perils of writing novels set in a near-future!
Birmingham, a well-known Australian humorist, made his first venture into SF here. He's done his homework, and he's an exceptionally good storyteller. The Axis of Time books are thoughtful page-turners. His writing style and pacing are still a little rough, and there's a huge plot-logic flaw
in the first book. The books still rock. Start with the first, Weapons of Choice, and you'll soon know if the series suits your taste. I'm thinking it might be time for a re-read.
[Review written 2007]
Weapons of Choice (2004), Axis of Time #1
Designated Targets (2005), Axis of Time #2
Final Impact (2007), Axis of Time #3
This review is for the initial three books of the series, which amount to one long novel , so don't start at #3! I warmly recommend the books to mil-SF and alternate-history fans. To reprise, a naval task force from 2021 is diverted to 1942 by a DARPA teleportation experiment gone spectacularly wrong. In the confusion of the transition, the moderns sink most of Admiral Spruance's fleet, enroute to the Battle of Midway. Oops....
The three books go on to re-fight WW2, and show once again that the oldest cliche' can look fresh in the hands of a good writer with a new approach. Birmingham's innovation here is that the world of 1942 suddenly knows how the next eighty years would play out, if nothing changes. So the Big Losers -- Hitler, Tojo and Stalin -- are frantically trying to rewrite history to keep from going down in flames "again". And the winners must guard their "historic" victory... It's a riveting, twisty, violent story, and man, do those pages turn.
The Axis of Time is a good reminder of just how bad the mid-20th century was, and just how monstrous Hitler and Stalin were. And how warfare brings out the best -- and worst -- in "good" people (and bad). Some of the expedients the "good guys" resort to, to win, are appalling. Which isn't to say, not necessary....
Birmingham's near-future is a rather grim place, and the interactions of 2021 with 1942 are very nicely done. The past is a different country, and the multi-racial men and women-warriors from the 21st century make the folk of 1942 *very* uncomfortable. And vice-versa.
And, of course, Birminghams's fictional version of a "future" 2021 is about to become an alternate past itself. The perils of writing novels set in a near-future!
Birmingham, a well-known Australian humorist, made his first venture into SF here. He's done his homework, and he's an exceptionally good storyteller. The Axis of Time books are thoughtful page-turners. His writing style and pacing are still a little rough, and there's a huge plot-logic flaw
in the first book. The books still rock. Start with the first, Weapons of Choice, and you'll soon know if the series suits your taste. I'm thinking it might be time for a re-read.
[Review written 2007]
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
June, 2007
–
Finished Reading
October 3, 2020
– Shelved
October 3, 2020
– Shelved as:
science-fiction
October 3, 2020
– Shelved as:
hist-fiction
October 3, 2020
– Shelved as:
reread-list
September 25, 2024
–
Started Reading
October 14, 2024
–
Finished Reading
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Peter
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rated it 4 stars
Oct 03, 2020 02:51PM
Huge logical flaw in the denouement of vol. 1, which needs spoiler-protection: (view spoiler)[ Islamic jihadists hijack an 'old' 21st frigate, try to ram the supercarrier. Which finds its guns won't depress far enough to blow same out of the water. After 20+ years of fighting suicide jihadis, the Navy hasn't figured out an effective close-range defense? Worse, they have one ('MetalStorm'), but Birmingham ignores it to make a cute plot-twist: the "Hillary Clinton" is saved by a 1942 fighter! (hide spoiler)]
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To reprise, a naval task force from 2021 is diverted to 1942 by a DARPA teleportation experiment gone spectacularly wrong.I should think so.
I read the first one, and it was pretty good, but for some reason I never carried on. I may do some day, I still remember it well, which is a sign of something.
I tried rereading #1 in Sept.-Oct. 2024. Didn't go well at all. DNF the reread. Might have just been me. But I'm thinking it may have passed its prime, for me. Gah.
...This review is for the initial three books of the series, which amount to one long novel , so don't start at #3! I warmly recommend the books to mil-SF and alternate-history fans. ...I'm that kind of fan.
"I didn’t have time to write a shortHowever, I have literary commitment issues.letterbook, so I wrote a long one instead." -- Mark Twain
I take a jaundiced view of authors writing six (6), 500+ page novels of Serial Fiction over 12 years. This is especially true when you have to read the first 1500+ pages to 'soft land' within the series.
A better read for me would be one (1) <500 page book vs. three (3) 500+ page books. Maybe three (3) <500 page books over three (3) years vs. six (6) over 12, if they'd done a good job with the first?
BTW, is the series still running after Stalin's Hammer: Paris?
Birmingham is 60-years old, do you think he'll live to write the series' The Judgment at Nuremburg, 1946 (Uncovered Editions)?
