Designated Targets - Axis of Time, Bk 2 Author:John Birmingham The storm of events from "Weapons of Choice," the first novel in this explosive alternate-history series, leads to an alliance between Hitler and Stalin, a Japanese assault on Australia, and an all-out Nazi invasion of England. — In Birmingham's worthy sequel to Weapons of Choice (2004), the world of the 1940s continues to struggle ... more »with the ramifications of the Transition: the intrusion into the middle of WWII by a 21st-century naval task force fighting the global war on terror. While the lion's share of the technological windfall falls into the laps of the U.S. and Great Britain, the Axis acquires enough to increase its deadliness exponentially. Furthermore, Hitler and Stalin make an uneasy peace as they unite to prevent both of their respective systems from being consigned to the ash heap of history, freeing German forces for a renewed invasion of England. The time-displaced warriors from 2021 find that their most implacable foe is not Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny but J. Edgar Hoover, furious at being "outed." The author doesn't make the mistake of pitting his protagonists against morons, and he rightly shows how improvements in command and control trump bigger and better guns. Entertaining cameos by Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy will delight the geek in all of us.« less
Really enjoyed this series. Very good military knowledge and some excellent characters. He takes the new technology and shows how it might be used. Our recent ancestors are almost barbarians and know it. The whole war is changed and new alliances are made. Well thought out.
Bobbie H. (BobbieH) reviewed Designated Targets (Axis of Time, Bk 2) on
The second book in the Axis of Time Trilogy. The Emergence is no longer secret, and the historical events that would have unfolded are no longer facts as both sides know the supposed outcomes. The Multinational Task Force has been scattered amongst Allied resources in an attempt to halt a renewed Axis push, and a new kind of arms race has begun.
I am amazed at how much I enjoyed this book. Typically, intensely militaristic SF isn't my thing, but this series just gets better and better. There have been major changes to history, and the author doesn't shy away from characters realizing that and reacting to it. The sudden introduction of a mass of people who believe in and live by civil liberties that haven't even been conceived of, would be a huge shock to a culture. And on a personal level, knowing whom you would have married, and when and how you may have died had events taken a different path? These are the kinds of things that are usually ignored in a book with such a vast cast of characters and battle focus, but I'm pleased to say that here it is not ignored. Again, the action is fast and furious, with scenes that are detailed and graphic. The plotting is great, assuming a logical path of "what would X do with this knowledge?". In my opinion, this is shaping up to be one of the best alternate history series offerings yet!
Stumbled across John Birmingham and the first book in this series and became captivated by this alternate history. The characters are deeply developed, the technology and detail is highlighted but not overwhelming (like I find some Clancy novels to be in moments).
These books are not what I would call an easy read but they have held my attention and I can't wait to read the last of the series.