On the eve of America’s greatest victory in the Pacific,
a catastrophic event disrupts the course of World War II, forever changing... read full description
a catastrophic event disrupts the course of World War II, forever changing... read full description
reviews
Feb 02, 2012
Konstantinos
rated it: 
In the book a modern battle fleet travels back in time to WWII and starts to change history. This a definitely interesting read and the author raises some interesting problems that would arise not just because of the technological but also the cultural differences between the time travelers and the people of 1940s. He is also quite competent in giving the different viewpoints (axis/allies, future/past).
So why is it just ok for me (two stars)? First of all although he could just as easi More...
So why is it just ok for me (two stars)? First of all although he could just as easi More...
Jan 28, 2012
Shaft
rated it: 
What happens when a near future naval armada is sent back to the beginning of World War II. This is the question posed by Weapons of Choice. This book is an alternate history of sorts and covers a wide range of characters and setting including the visitors from the future, the contemporary American society and military as well as the Japanese Military and their ongoing efforts.
This is a book that swallows you whole after the first few pages making you feel that you are right there alon More...
This is a book that swallows you whole after the first few pages making you feel that you are right there alon More...
Jan 12, 2011
Lis
rated it: 
It’s January 2021, and an international task force headed up by the USS Hillary Clinton (a George Bush class supercarrier), is off Indonesia, responding to a political crisis caused by the overthrow of the legitimate government and its replacement by the extremist Caliphate. Because of the haste with which the task force was thrown together, they’ve got with them a research ship that had to come along with its protective escort—no time and no spare forces available to send it off to a safer dist
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 02, 2010
Nicci
rated it:
I love the concept of the future meeting the past and seeing how the writer will effect changes in history as a result.
An American led Multi-National armada from year 2021 is transported to WW2, right in the middle of the US Task Force heading to Midway for a major battle with the Japanese. The disruption by the time travelers, the resulting destruction of the 1942 Task Force ships changed history. The Japaneses capturing one ship from the future sort of balance the status-quo. The A More...
An American led Multi-National armada from year 2021 is transported to WW2, right in the middle of the US Task Force heading to Midway for a major battle with the Japanese. The disruption by the time travelers, the resulting destruction of the 1942 Task Force ships changed history. The Japaneses capturing one ship from the future sort of balance the status-quo. The A More...
Mar 15, 2011
Shelley
rated it:
An American led Multi-National armada from year 2021 is transported to WW2, right in the middle of the US Task Force heading to Midway for a major battle with the Japanese. The disruption by the time travelers, the resulting destruction of the 1942 Task Force ships changed history. The Japaneses capturing one ship from the future sort of balance the status-quo. The Americans and Allied cannot have all the fun. Embedded in technological structures of the ships, are historical archives of the past
More...
Jan 27, 2010
Randy
rated it:
I was recommended this book by a fellow military history buff, but it took me several years to get around to starting it. Once I did, however, it took little time to finish it. It was a very engaging read, one that I had trouble putting down.
The premise given for how and why a battlegroup in the year 2021 is thrown back to 1942 is no more or less fantastical than any other sci-fi time-travel offering. What makes this a good story, though, is that rather than just focusing on the " More...
The premise given for how and why a battlegroup in the year 2021 is thrown back to 1942 is no more or less fantastical than any other sci-fi time-travel offering. What makes this a good story, though, is that rather than just focusing on the " More...
Dec 28, 2010
Simeonberesford
rated it:
A future international naval task force. From a world that seem to have avoided global warming. comprised mostly of the US and a few Allies. gets swept back in time to the second world war.[return]Not particularily original. I could name plenty of similar works. time travel to the second world war is old hat. in scope it probably most resembles Harry Turtledove's works. Something implicitly acknowledged by the author. on the two occasions that someone remarks that this is about as likely as l
More...
Jul 28, 2011
I was intrigued at first by the 2021 conflict, that of an international force attempting to interdict an Indonesia that has become a Caliphate. However, once the 21st century battle group goes back in time to 1942, it was slow going for me -- not through any fault of the plot, but because I know a bit too well how my Indonesian and Filipino relatives of the time fared in the 1940's, during WW II and then Indonesia's War for Independence. I like the contrasts in the mindsets of the people from 20
More...
Jun 09, 2011
Miamijules
rated it:
I have to say upfront that I am not a fan of sci-fi, unless we're talking about giant bugs or sea creatures, but the premise of this book hit upon the intriguing (and scary) world of "what-if." What if the intel regarding Pearl Harbor was actually passed along? What if the original President Bush wasn't rescued in the nick of time by a submarine? (Yes, that really happened) What if the government made the needed changes and additions to the levee system in New Orleans years ago?
More...
More...
May 25, 2011
Leons1701
rated it:
I'd heard a lot about this series over the last couple of years, mostly good. Gotta say, it wasn't quite what I'd expected. The decision to go with an armada from our future (2021 to be exact) just feels odd, and I'm very skeptical of the degree of military advancement depicted from 2005 to 2021. The biggie to me is the fusion powered aircraft carrier. Not a chance. Maybe if we'd had viable fusion plants in 2005 a 15 year development cycle for such a major vessel might almost be long enough
More...
Apr 19, 2009
Karen
rated it:
This is definitely a 3 1/2 stars for me. The concept of a group of future military ships going back in time to 1942 sounded mildly intriguing, but as Birmingham started exploring the culture clashes and the really interesting complexity of how it would changes things to know what is "supposed" to happen, I found myself completely fascinated. On the other hand, while there are some good characters and scenes, there are way too many characters to try to keep straight and the first 100 pa
More...
Nov 19, 2009
Stefan
rated it:
Weapons of Choice was an well-written novel of alternative history. The premise (for why a futuristic naval battle group was sent back to 1942) failed to ring true. However, the rough relationship between the twenty-first century, multinational force and their World War Two counterparts was fascinating to read about. The fluid action scenes, authentic dialogue, and detailed settings were all top-notch. I enjoyed how Birmingham vividly described the era’s many interesting personalities (Roosevelt
More...
Dec 02, 2010
Tyler
rated it:
If tom clancy wrote Sci-Fi, this would be it. Perhaps the most interesting feature of this book is Birmingham's visualization of the social conflicts between twenty first century sailors and the troops from 1942. He does an excellent job making these encounters realistic and vivid, and one could picture them occurring the way he describes them. The story features many characters, so it can be hard to follow at times, and some readers (certainly not me!) may tire of his descriptions of future tec
More...
Aug 13, 2011
Bob
rated it:
This Sci Fi book is a fun read for those with the gut for it.
If you remember the 1980 movie, The Final Countdown with Kirk Douglas, where the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is transported back in time to WWII, this is like that movie, only on super steriods.
In this book an entire group of futuristic ships are transported back to WWII and the technology is amazing, even to us today, much less to the 1940s characters. They explore the combat and the personal aspects of such a More...
If you remember the 1980 movie, The Final Countdown with Kirk Douglas, where the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is transported back in time to WWII, this is like that movie, only on super steriods.
In this book an entire group of futuristic ships are transported back to WWII and the technology is amazing, even to us today, much less to the 1940s characters. They explore the combat and the personal aspects of such a More...
Apr 28, 2011
Joy
rated it:
The premise of the book is very simple - what happens if a multinational military fleet from 2022 ends up in 1942, just before the battle of Midway? The execution of this premise fills the book, with just a few short chapters setting up the event that causes the time-travel to occur, followed by the initial arrival of the time travelers into the Pacific WWII theater and the events they precipitate. There are a lot of details about the differences between the two groups of soldiers, some fascin
More...
Jun 16, 2010
Michelle
rated it: 
John Birmingham has lived the kind of life shared by many drop-kicks in Australia, and I am proudly one of them, although being female, have not shared some of his bawdy sexual frolics. This author now takes us into another territory altogether, demonstrating his vast talent as a great story teller. Mixing a bit of sci-fi with a war thriller, John has created a very different outcome for WW2 in the future, great strong characters who evoke their different cultures with accuracy and at times gr
More...
Jan 08, 2008
Nocheevo
rated it:
As part of the post New Year recovery time to read a less taxing tale. The Axis of time triology is essentially an alternate history tale in which a future joint nations navel task force travels back in time to just before the Battle of Midway in 1942.
The writing isn't challenging and generally rips along with some interesting treatments such as ships being fused as a result of the time travel and how crew members handle time travel. Sure the 1942 guys are the ying to the future PC c More...
The writing isn't challenging and generally rips along with some interesting treatments such as ships being fused as a result of the time travel and how crew members handle time travel. Sure the 1942 guys are the ying to the future PC c More...
Jul 28, 2007
R. A.
rated it:
On a recommendation from a friend of mine who likes to read alternate histories as much as I do, I picked up the first of John Birmingham’s Axis of Time trilogy, Weapons of Choice.
John Birmingham’s strengths lie in his ability to put you in the middle of the action. His understanding of the military from all angles is pretty impressive, as well as his explanations of the advances in technology from the modern era to the era he’s created to call into contrast of the 1942-era of milita More...
John Birmingham’s strengths lie in his ability to put you in the middle of the action. His understanding of the military from all angles is pretty impressive, as well as his explanations of the advances in technology from the modern era to the era he’s created to call into contrast of the 1942-era of milita More...
Sep 09, 2010
Michael
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 07, 2011
Debbie
rated it:
The premise of this book is simple: What if a contingent of 21st century naval ships get sucked through time and land back in the middle of World War 2? If that makes you intrigued, you should read this book.
Once I got past the first hundred pages of the 21st century folks and the 20th century folks mindlessly killing each other, I enjoyed the story. There are a lot of characters thrown at you, both fictional and historical, and it's hard to keep them straight. But Birmingham focuses More...
Once I got past the first hundred pages of the 21st century folks and the 20th century folks mindlessly killing each other, I enjoyed the story. There are a lot of characters thrown at you, both fictional and historical, and it's hard to keep them straight. But Birmingham focuses More...
Jan 12, 2011
Weylin
rated it:
I love this premise. The book started off great and I couldnt put it down for the first 200ish pages. Then things got clunky. The author seemingly attempted to throw a murder mystery into this (without resolution) and just sort of forgot a majority of the main charecters in order to set up yet another thread in the story. It wasnt bad, just....clunky. In the last 100 pages or so, the story found its groove again and I couldnt put the book down. Lots of fun but not very polished.
Jan 30, 2008
Richard
rated it:
Start of the "Axis of Time" trilogy. It's 2021 and an international battle group, led by the super carrier the USS Hillary Clinton, is moving toward Indonesia to assist the government there against a fundamentalist Moslem insurgency. Part of the battle group is a research vessel working on developing a micro wormhole. Unfortunately, due to a mistake in data input, the wormhole is half-a-kilometer in radius and drops most of the battle group into the middle of Spruance's Midway defense
More...
Aug 14, 2010
Robin
rated it: 
I just feel like warning anyone who reads this book that it isn't really an alternate history, or much of a book at all. It's much more a look into just how racist and sexist the 1940s were. Birmingham threw in so many instances that had nothing to do with anything save for showcasing racism and sexism (a character who is introduced, uses negative racial terms, and then dies all within three pages. Detective who is both racist and sexist is introduced solely to be racist and sexist, and matte
More...
Mar 13, 2009
David
rated it:
I love alt history and time travel so thought this would be great. But there is much I had problems with. The "tech" for starters gave me a tiny bit of issue to deal with but what really bothered me and made it harder to get through the book was the constant fighting between the people from the past and the future. Sure the people in the past looked down on the minorities of the time but the people from the future weren't any better as most were ungodly rude, obnoxious and had no re
More...
Jul 28, 2011
John
rated it:
The first book in a time travel, alternate history of world war 2. Great concept, well developed. Suffers from the usual problem of world war 2 alternate histories, too large a cast of characters ( including the obligatory appearance of Otto Skorzeny) but the depiction of the culture clash between the natives of 1942 and those of 2021 is excellent and I'm looking forward to reading the other 2 books.
Jan 13, 2008
James
rated it:
A page-turning read that left me impatient to read the sequel - it's based on a similar premise to the old movie The Final Countdown, in which a modern American aircraft carrier was mysteriously transported through time back to just before Pearl Harbor. In this story's case it's a whole task force from a generation in our future going back to mid-WW2. It deals as much with the sociological shock waves this causes as with the military action - for example, how the men of the all-male all-white-
More...
Aug 09, 2011
Not reading a lot of fiction these days and got this as a free intro for my Kindle to this 3 book series. Pretty good read and kept me wanting to turn the next page. I found some scenes were treated with more depth than necessary but overall I found it to be an enjoyable read. So much so that I now have to continue the series to see how it all ends up :-)
Dec 28, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
Excellent take on the alternate history genre. The story here is what happens if a UN carrier group from 2021 gets transported back in time to the eve of the Battle of Midway in 1942. It starts slow, but by the ending I found it incredibly hard to put down. The author sometimes tends to go over the top on the views of rascism and feminism between modern views and those of the 1940s, but I still highly recommend. This is the first book in a trilogy, already picked up the second.
Jul 01, 2010
Stephen
rated it:
5.0 stars (this one may make it on to the 6 star book list). I did not have big expectations about this book when I first started reading it. Being a history buff and a SF reader, I was just hoping for a fun read. What I got was something superbly plotted, very well written and unique. Not unique in so far as the concept of people from the future going back in time (specifically World War II), which has been done many, many times before. Rather, what was unique, and made this book so intriguing
More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Jan 01, 2011
Garland Coulson
rated it:
A concept I had seen done before in a movie, but this time this author has a whole naval battle group from the future sent back in time to World War II.
Great work dealing with the 1940s Americans reactions to women and black captain, officers and marines.
Makes me want to pick up the next one and read it soon.
Great work dealing with the 1940s Americans reactions to women and black captain, officers and marines.
Makes me want to pick up the next one and read it soon.
