John Schettler's Blog, page 7
August 29, 2017
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Coming September 1Keyholders Saga, Volume IFIELD of GLORY
A Special Letter to Kirov Series readers concerning this book:Dear Readers,As I labored to complete the final volume of Season Four, (Prime Meridian) the story suddenly took me on a journey that was far longer than the one I had planned. I was working on a segment involving the Duke of Elvington, and the mystery of the Keyholders. It was meant to simply give that plot line a little more ink, and carry his journey forward. In truth, he has been in the back of my mind for some time since first introduced way back in season one, and many readers have written to me asking what ever happened to him, and whether we would ever get to see what he was up to with his Footman Ian Thomas.
As I wrote this segment, it began to draw me into his secret little mission again, and I also included the Meridian Project Team, who have now discovered the Duke’s name appearing suspiciously in and around variations in the history that they have been monitoring. I meant to stop there, and then continue on with my rampage through WWII, but the Waterloo battle was so compelling that I just kept going. The sound of drum and fife, the hard tramp of marching soldiers, and the distant rumble of cannon drew me inexorably to the Duke’s journey, and his strange rivalry with Fortier.
I have always held to an important principle in my writing—when the story is there, alive in your mind and emerging from your imagination, by god, write it! So I did. But Prime Meridian will be along very soon, and I will have it for you on Oct 1st. I just could not finish both volumes in 60 days, and Field of Glory was selected to prempt Prime Meridian and come out first. You should think of it as an essential part of the Kirov Series as a whole, and it will contain material vital to what happens in the series as it continues, so don't miss out. This battle was a place I have long wanted to go, and it dovetailed into several other aspects of the series as a whole: the physical time rifts created by the Tunguska Event, the mystery of the key found within the Selene Horse and then lost on HMS Rodney, and the expedition now launched by Fairchild and company to try and get to a place in the history where that key might be recovered before it was lost. In effect, the story I present to you here in this special edition is still an essential part of the Kirov Series.
Sir Roger is also in pursuit of that key, using the one he already had to try and find it in an earlier time period--hence, his journey to the year 1815. But these novels are all about military history, and how could I set Ames and Thomas ashore at Ostend on the eve of Waterloo, and then tiptoe by the thunder of the campaign that would begin a day later? I could not. The urge to go there became irresistible, and so in order to show you what Sir Roger Ames and his rival Fortier were doing, I had to give you good look at the Waterloo Campaign they were tampering with, for that was where the deadly game between Sir Roger and his Rival Jean Michel Fortier was being played out.
When Lord Nelson made an appearance in the story we learned that Fortier had been trying to bend the history towards a French victory at Trafalgar, one that would permit Bonaparte to carry out his plan to invade England. That plan was foiled, and you will learn more about Ames part in accomplishing that here. Yet that little victory did not end Fortier’s ambitions, as this tale will reveal. There are many key Nexus Points in the history where hidden Pushpoints lurk, just waiting to be found. Fortier thought he could find them at Waterloo, the campaign that seemed to be balanced on a razor’s edge, the “nearest run thing” that Wellington himself said he ever saw.
I had to decide how to best develop and present this intriguing subplot. I could string it along, dropping chapters into books throughout Season Five, but suddenly that story line just took hold, and before I knew it, I had written this long alternate history depiction Waterloo campaign! The thought of slicing that all up and stuffing parts in to four or five books next season just seemed unappealing to me. The narrative had its own drama and gravity, and I just came to think that it simply had to be concentrated in one volume.
So here it is, a special edition that has now slipped into the line of books in the series like someone sneaking into line at the movie theater. I will make it the Season Four Finale here, one of the most climatic battles in all modern history. Prime Meridian will then become the Season Five Premier, but you will not have to wait two more months for it. Since it is already more than half finished as of this writing, it will be released Oct 1. That volume has a major twist of the rope in terms of Allied strategy, is it pulls the war in a very different direction. And without my obsession with Waterloo taking up so many of its chapters, I can now focus better on that twist, and all the plot lines involving Orlov, Fedorov and Karpov.
But it is Ames we follow most closely in this volume, and with him, we will inevitably be drawn into the dramatic events of mid-June, 1815, and the great battle of Waterloo. His tale is essential to the “Keyholder’s Saga,” and it is a road that must be taken in order to carry that mystery forward. That saga may end up seeing us visit other places in the history touched by the deep web of time rifts that have opened as a consequence of Tunguska, and also one that may reveal the other Keyholders who have thus far remained hidden.
With the decision made to concentrate Sir Roger’s adventure into one volume here, I thought it best to reprise the few chapters scattered about in earlier volumes, as far back as Devil’s Garden and Armageddon. This would serve two goals: firstly, it would to concentrate the whole story here, like an army that has all of its corps present for battle. Secondly, it would make this novel capable of standing alone for any new reader interested in this history—in effect, “Keyholder’s saga, Volume I.” New readers would learn who the Duke of Elvington was, meet his Footman Thomas, and learn how they actually got to the scene of these events without having to find and read chapters here and there in three or four other Kirov Series novels. Otherwise, they would be lost.
All in all, it just made sense to present the story this way, concentrating that subplot here instead of continuing to deliver it in small bites next season. So the opening six chapters will catch us all up, and then the rest of the book is all new material. Series readers may also find that I have seeded new “clues” in this opening material that they were not aware of when they first read it, so that helps as well.
To simulate what happens in these events, I created a massive wargame map of Belgium, from Brussels to just south of Charleroi, and at 200 meters per hex. It was based on the excellent period map by Ferraris to be as accurate as possible, and I provide a link to that map so you can all use it to follow along and find the places mentioned in the narrative. As I do with all the alternate history battles in the series, this campaign was intensively researched and “gamed out” as I wrote the chapters presented here. It has long been a battle that has always been a personal obsession for me, I hope my enthusiasm for this campaign has inspired my prose.
Enjoy! - John Schettler
June 29, 2017
Kirov Saga: Nexus Deep
Book 31 in the Kirov Series
NEXUS DEEP
By John Schettler
ABOUT NEXUS DEEP
Volume 31 is right on schedule, and Nexus Deep opens with Admiral Cunningham aboard HMS Nelson as that lumbering battleship heads out to sea from Alexandria. Big things are soon to be afoot in the Mediterranean theater, but the author then makes a most unexpected transition to the famous Admiral that battleship was named for, Nelson himself aboard HMS Victory, in the year 1805. No, there was no time travel for the old WWII battlewagon, but it is a very clever opening that foreshadows a lot that happens in this book.
Old Lord Nelson becomes important for a couple reasons. The first we get an interesting look into the Admiral’s mind through his letters to the Admiralty, and orders to various ships, (one of which becomes very important.) The author presents his view of what is most strategically important about the British situation in the Med. Is it Gibraltar? Malta? Not at all. Keep that in mind, for it will bear on decisions made by other Admirals and General over 140 years later, as the Allies close in on Tunis and Bizerte with a final grand offensive in Tunisia that aims at ending the war in North Africa.
If they do win through in Tunisia, where will they go next? That was the question settled at the Casablanca conference, but the outcome will be quite different here when Marshall, Brooke and all the Generals and Admirals get together. While Sicily is the obvious next target, the words of Lord Nelson echo through the history, and one would do well to heed them. Here they come on the lips of Admiral Tovey, who weighs in with his opinion from the naval perspective, much to Montgomery’s chagrin. The Tee-totaling British General is all set to tee up his familiar plan for the invasion of Sicily, but the fact that Malta remains in German hands presents a problem that the conference must now work out.
The result of their decisions is played out here before this novel ends, but there is a lot more going on, and some of it has to do with a Deep Nexus Point that has yawned open at the very outset of this volume.Elena Fairchild is now ready to launch her mission into the deeps of St. Michael’s Cave beneath the Rock, and that little adventure suddenly presents her intrepid team with the prospect of paradox. Intelligence Chief Mack Morgan plays the Devil’s Advocate as they work through the mission planning, but the real devilry happens later when this inkling of paradox emerges once the mission has already been launched. This plot line has been foreshadowed many times, and indeed, Fairchild got the idea for the mission from one Professor Dorland, long ago at the Azores conference. There, the time sleuthing Physics Professor (a primary character in the author’s Meridian Series time travel novels) makes his cameo appearances in the Kirov Series disguised as Lieutenant Commander Wellings. Remember all that foreboding discussion about Paradox, Gordian knots and Grand Finalities? That shadow is again rising in the background as Fairchild is dead set on retrieving the key lost on Nelson’s sister ship, HMS Rodney.
These events in the Med serve as bookends for this novel, and in the center, the big battles on the Eastern Front are again taking center stage. The cover tells the story well enough for as it prominently features Field Marshal Manstein beneath a Panther Tank overlaid on a faded map of the German Kursk Offensive, Operation Zitadelle. Three plans are considered, Habicht (Hawk), Panther (an expanded version of Habicht), and the historical Zitadelle. Manstein argues strongly for the former, but as always, Hitler gets the last say.
Launched a month early in June of 1943, the German attack aims at regaining the momentum lost to the Soviets during the long defensive struggle against Operation Red Star. Manstein’s “Backhand Blow” was able to halt the enemy offensive, ending with the bitter and costly battle of Volkov Yar, but while Belgorod was recaptured, the line of the Psel river that was once anchored on Oboyan was never restored. Now Hitler wants that lost terrain back, and he chooses the operation most likely to deliver the goods, and then some. His eyes are again set on a distant political target—you guessed it—Kursk in Operation Zitadelle.
One of the most interesting elements of these novels is the detailed depiction of the decision making on either side. All the key players meet and hash out the plans which will then be presented in the action/battle sequences dead ahead. As the operations proceed, both east and west, you can just feel the palpable turning point in the war playing itself out in this novel. We saw one such event in the Season 3 novel by that same name, Turning Point, and it changed the course of the war in North Africa. This time, the Germans finally reach high tide in Russia, and the dangerous receding ebb tides of mid to late 1943 lie dead ahead. Manstein’s inner muse is heavy with the realization that something has changed. The year that began with grand offensives into the Middle East and deep into Iraq, has now transitioned into a series of desperate holding actions. Both the Soviets and Allied Western forces are now formidable opponents, and the tension in this taut mid-point of the war is apparent on every front. The outcome of the battles presented here will be decisive.
Once it seemed that Germany was invincible, and on her way to a dramatic alternate history victory in WWII. The Führer had stormed into Poland, France, and then added Spain to his new European Empire, seizing Gibraltar and then moving on into Morocco and the Canary Islands. The Soviets were driven back with heavy losses to Moscow, and watched that city burn in that exciting action from 1941 when Sergei Kirov was rescued by his intelligence master, Berzin, and fled to Leningrad. The Japanese avoided Midway, and then landed on Fiji in the Pacific, while also storming Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. Then we saw Rommel and Guderian run wild in the Middle East and Syria, taking Damascus and Baghdad. It seemed that the Axis powers were surely on the road to Victory. Hitler even had a pair of working prototypes for a ballistic missile, complete with atomic warheads! (And by God, he’s already used one on London.) But things change....
As the novel bends toward its conclusion, Part XI returns us to the Fairchild mission, and a wonderful historical vignette that deepens the mystery of the Keyholders plot line. It seems that the man responsible for the fact that the key aboard Rodney ever got there in the first place, Lord Elgin, also had a son who undertook a most curious mission. This segment Curious Marblesis most riveting, and after twisting another clue into the narrative, the author then brings us to the final segment of this offering, aptly entitled Balance of Terror. The Allies know Hitler has the bomb, and even as they lay their plans for mid-1943, the shadow of that weapon hangs heavily on them all. Churchill comes up with a plan, and uses Tovey to make a most unexpected request of our heroes aboard the mighty Kirov. While they have receded in recent volumes, they nonetheless make appearances here, stage left and stage right, because their mission to 1908 is also gathering momentum. And then… oh yes… there is Orlov. We learn just where the Chief ended up, and what he does next will make all the difference in the world... in many worlds.
Need I say more?
Kirov Saga:
Nexus Deep
By
John Schettler
Part I – Minerva’s Curse
Part II – Operation Chariot
Part III – Time is Money
Part IV – Zitadelle
Part V – Rumyantsev
Part VI – Confrontation
Part VII – One Small Step
Part VIII– The Road to Taranovka
Part IX – Twenty Divisions
Part X – Collapse
Part XI – Curious Marbles
Part XII – Balance of Terror
36 Chapters, about 106,000 words
PUBLISHER's NOTE:The initial upload of the Kindle file during publication did not have the table of contents hyperlinked, and this will be corrected by 6/30/17.
NEXUS DEEP
By John Schettler
ABOUT NEXUS DEEP
Volume 31 is right on schedule, and Nexus Deep opens with Admiral Cunningham aboard HMS Nelson as that lumbering battleship heads out to sea from Alexandria. Big things are soon to be afoot in the Mediterranean theater, but the author then makes a most unexpected transition to the famous Admiral that battleship was named for, Nelson himself aboard HMS Victory, in the year 1805. No, there was no time travel for the old WWII battlewagon, but it is a very clever opening that foreshadows a lot that happens in this book.
Old Lord Nelson becomes important for a couple reasons. The first we get an interesting look into the Admiral’s mind through his letters to the Admiralty, and orders to various ships, (one of which becomes very important.) The author presents his view of what is most strategically important about the British situation in the Med. Is it Gibraltar? Malta? Not at all. Keep that in mind, for it will bear on decisions made by other Admirals and General over 140 years later, as the Allies close in on Tunis and Bizerte with a final grand offensive in Tunisia that aims at ending the war in North Africa.
If they do win through in Tunisia, where will they go next? That was the question settled at the Casablanca conference, but the outcome will be quite different here when Marshall, Brooke and all the Generals and Admirals get together. While Sicily is the obvious next target, the words of Lord Nelson echo through the history, and one would do well to heed them. Here they come on the lips of Admiral Tovey, who weighs in with his opinion from the naval perspective, much to Montgomery’s chagrin. The Tee-totaling British General is all set to tee up his familiar plan for the invasion of Sicily, but the fact that Malta remains in German hands presents a problem that the conference must now work out.
The result of their decisions is played out here before this novel ends, but there is a lot more going on, and some of it has to do with a Deep Nexus Point that has yawned open at the very outset of this volume.Elena Fairchild is now ready to launch her mission into the deeps of St. Michael’s Cave beneath the Rock, and that little adventure suddenly presents her intrepid team with the prospect of paradox. Intelligence Chief Mack Morgan plays the Devil’s Advocate as they work through the mission planning, but the real devilry happens later when this inkling of paradox emerges once the mission has already been launched. This plot line has been foreshadowed many times, and indeed, Fairchild got the idea for the mission from one Professor Dorland, long ago at the Azores conference. There, the time sleuthing Physics Professor (a primary character in the author’s Meridian Series time travel novels) makes his cameo appearances in the Kirov Series disguised as Lieutenant Commander Wellings. Remember all that foreboding discussion about Paradox, Gordian knots and Grand Finalities? That shadow is again rising in the background as Fairchild is dead set on retrieving the key lost on Nelson’s sister ship, HMS Rodney.
These events in the Med serve as bookends for this novel, and in the center, the big battles on the Eastern Front are again taking center stage. The cover tells the story well enough for as it prominently features Field Marshal Manstein beneath a Panther Tank overlaid on a faded map of the German Kursk Offensive, Operation Zitadelle. Three plans are considered, Habicht (Hawk), Panther (an expanded version of Habicht), and the historical Zitadelle. Manstein argues strongly for the former, but as always, Hitler gets the last say.
Launched a month early in June of 1943, the German attack aims at regaining the momentum lost to the Soviets during the long defensive struggle against Operation Red Star. Manstein’s “Backhand Blow” was able to halt the enemy offensive, ending with the bitter and costly battle of Volkov Yar, but while Belgorod was recaptured, the line of the Psel river that was once anchored on Oboyan was never restored. Now Hitler wants that lost terrain back, and he chooses the operation most likely to deliver the goods, and then some. His eyes are again set on a distant political target—you guessed it—Kursk in Operation Zitadelle.
One of the most interesting elements of these novels is the detailed depiction of the decision making on either side. All the key players meet and hash out the plans which will then be presented in the action/battle sequences dead ahead. As the operations proceed, both east and west, you can just feel the palpable turning point in the war playing itself out in this novel. We saw one such event in the Season 3 novel by that same name, Turning Point, and it changed the course of the war in North Africa. This time, the Germans finally reach high tide in Russia, and the dangerous receding ebb tides of mid to late 1943 lie dead ahead. Manstein’s inner muse is heavy with the realization that something has changed. The year that began with grand offensives into the Middle East and deep into Iraq, has now transitioned into a series of desperate holding actions. Both the Soviets and Allied Western forces are now formidable opponents, and the tension in this taut mid-point of the war is apparent on every front. The outcome of the battles presented here will be decisive.
Once it seemed that Germany was invincible, and on her way to a dramatic alternate history victory in WWII. The Führer had stormed into Poland, France, and then added Spain to his new European Empire, seizing Gibraltar and then moving on into Morocco and the Canary Islands. The Soviets were driven back with heavy losses to Moscow, and watched that city burn in that exciting action from 1941 when Sergei Kirov was rescued by his intelligence master, Berzin, and fled to Leningrad. The Japanese avoided Midway, and then landed on Fiji in the Pacific, while also storming Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. Then we saw Rommel and Guderian run wild in the Middle East and Syria, taking Damascus and Baghdad. It seemed that the Axis powers were surely on the road to Victory. Hitler even had a pair of working prototypes for a ballistic missile, complete with atomic warheads! (And by God, he’s already used one on London.) But things change....
As the novel bends toward its conclusion, Part XI returns us to the Fairchild mission, and a wonderful historical vignette that deepens the mystery of the Keyholders plot line. It seems that the man responsible for the fact that the key aboard Rodney ever got there in the first place, Lord Elgin, also had a son who undertook a most curious mission. This segment Curious Marblesis most riveting, and after twisting another clue into the narrative, the author then brings us to the final segment of this offering, aptly entitled Balance of Terror. The Allies know Hitler has the bomb, and even as they lay their plans for mid-1943, the shadow of that weapon hangs heavily on them all. Churchill comes up with a plan, and uses Tovey to make a most unexpected request of our heroes aboard the mighty Kirov. While they have receded in recent volumes, they nonetheless make appearances here, stage left and stage right, because their mission to 1908 is also gathering momentum. And then… oh yes… there is Orlov. We learn just where the Chief ended up, and what he does next will make all the difference in the world... in many worlds.
Need I say more?
Kirov Saga:
Nexus Deep
By
John Schettler
Part I – Minerva’s Curse
Part II – Operation Chariot
Part III – Time is Money
Part IV – Zitadelle
Part V – Rumyantsev
Part VI – Confrontation
Part VII – One Small Step
Part VIII– The Road to Taranovka
Part IX – Twenty Divisions
Part X – Collapse
Part XI – Curious Marbles
Part XII – Balance of Terror
36 Chapters, about 106,000 words
PUBLISHER's NOTE:The initial upload of the Kindle file during publication did not have the table of contents hyperlinked, and this will be corrected by 6/30/17.
April 29, 2017
Ironfall
Kirov Series: Book 30Ironfall
The war continues in 1943, as Japan launches a bold new attack against the Fiji Islands that leads to a decisive battle off Yasawa. In Syria, Erwin Rommel unleashes a classic flanking attack towards Damascus with “Operation Eisenfall,” even as the Allies attack Kesselring in Tunisia with Eisenhower’s “Operation Hammer.”
Then, as the German 11th and 17th Armies slowly grind down the last of Soviet resistance in the Caucasus, tensions reach a breaking point when they meet Volkov’s forces dug in west of Maykop. The Führer has ordered his legions to take and occupy that place, and Ivan Volkov chooses to stand his ground. The war in the east now threatens to spiral out of control, with new fighting erupting on every frontier when General Zhukov opens his Spring offensive in a massive attack towards Kharkov that now threatens to reshape the entire front.
Meanwhile, Elena Fairchild finally learns the fate of the men she sent into the hidden passage beneath St. Michael’s Cave, and makes a discovery that will give her the means to find and retrieve the key lost on the Battleship Rodney. As she plans her mission, Fedorov and Karpov arrange a meeting with Volsky and Gromyko to discuss their new plan to shatter this altered meridian by traveling to 1908.
READ MORE ABOUT IRONFALL HERE
Buy for KINDLE: $4.99
The war continues in 1943, as Japan launches a bold new attack against the Fiji Islands that leads to a decisive battle off Yasawa. In Syria, Erwin Rommel unleashes a classic flanking attack towards Damascus with “Operation Eisenfall,” even as the Allies attack Kesselring in Tunisia with Eisenhower’s “Operation Hammer.”
Then, as the German 11th and 17th Armies slowly grind down the last of Soviet resistance in the Caucasus, tensions reach a breaking point when they meet Volkov’s forces dug in west of Maykop. The Führer has ordered his legions to take and occupy that place, and Ivan Volkov chooses to stand his ground. The war in the east now threatens to spiral out of control, with new fighting erupting on every frontier when General Zhukov opens his Spring offensive in a massive attack towards Kharkov that now threatens to reshape the entire front.
Meanwhile, Elena Fairchild finally learns the fate of the men she sent into the hidden passage beneath St. Michael’s Cave, and makes a discovery that will give her the means to find and retrieve the key lost on the Battleship Rodney. As she plans her mission, Fedorov and Karpov arrange a meeting with Volsky and Gromyko to discuss their new plan to shatter this altered meridian by traveling to 1908.
READ MORE ABOUT IRONFALL HERE
Buy for KINDLE: $4.99
February 28, 2017
Kirov Series: Stormtide Rising!
Season four continues with Stormtide Rising!
Book 29 in the Kirov Series
For Amazon Kindle: $4.99
Trade Paperback: $19.99
With the Allied forces closing on Tunisia from two sides, the Germans conceive a bold new plan that sends Rommel west to the heartland of Tunisia where he confronts the American Army under General Patton. The Axis forces launch Operation Sturmflut (Stormtide) as the famous names etched in the original history at Kasserine, Faid, Gafsa and El Guettar will again see the rising tide of war.
At the same time, Hitler presses his daring invasion of Iraq and Syria in Operation Phoenix, while launching the cream of his airborne troops against the British outpost on Crete with a much belated Operation Merkur. As Guderian pushes into the heartland of Persia, Hitler sets his eyes on the richest prize in the world—all the oil the Reich will ever need to fuel the fires of war. Yet before Guderian can drive south, he must first secure his lines of communication. That necessity leads to a dramatic battle for the ancient capital city of Baghdad, with both sides risking all they have to rule the hour. Meanwhile, Fedorov and Karpov face the grim reality of their situation and come to a decisive conclusion about how they must proceed.
Kirov Saga:
Stormtide Rising!
By
John Schettler
Part I – The Last Dance
Part II – Sturmflut
Part III – Swan Song
Part IV – Victoria Park
Part V – Steel Veins
Part VI – Quicksilver
Part VII – Baghdad
Part VIII– Bridges to Nowhere
Part IX – Sea Change
Part X – Harbinger
Part XI – Turncoat
Part XII – Quantum Karma
December 22, 2016
Just Released: Lions at Dawn
Kirov Series, Book 28
Lions at Dawn
Arriving early for Christmas this time around, Book 28 in the Kirov Series should be available on amazon by December 23rd.
The war moves back to North Africa, where Eisenhower, Montgomery, Patton and the Air Marshals plan their drive on Tunis. General Patton has ideas of his own, and they do not involve waiting for Monty to fight his way along the Algerian coast. His plan presents a major crisis for Kesselring and Von Arnim when Hitler orders the withdrawal of all Germany’s elite paratroop units. The Führer has eyes on a new prize in the Middle East, and devises a daring return to that theater in Operation Phoenix. Meanwhile, General O’Connor’s British 8th Army begins its big push to capture Tripoli, but he meets a determined and skillful defense by the Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel.
An exploration of St. Michael’s Cave at Gibraltar by Fairchild & Company leads to a hidden mystery beneath the Rock, and far to the east, the isolated atoll at Eniwetok receives some very unexpected visitors. The surprising developments set the destroyer Takami on a dangerous collision course with Vladimir Karpov and Ivan Gromyko, when the Russians set out to cleanse the timeline of all contamination, including their own! Events lead to a dramatic battle at sea that neither side ever expected.
Lions at Dawn
by John Schettler
Part I – All Hallows Eve
Part II – Operation Phoenix
Part III – The Halfback
Part IV – Chariots of Fire
Part V – Humbugged
Part VI – Speed
Part VII – Unforgiving Minutes
Part VIII– Friends & Enemies
Part IX – Saint Michael’s Cave
Part X – Stalemate
Part XI – Lions at Dawn
Part XII – The Perfect Moment
For Kindle: $4.99
Quality Trade Paperback: $19.99
MORE INFO HERE
Arriving early for Christmas this time around, Book 28 in the Kirov Series should be available on amazon by December 23rd.
The war moves back to North Africa, where Eisenhower, Montgomery, Patton and the Air Marshals plan their drive on Tunis. General Patton has ideas of his own, and they do not involve waiting for Monty to fight his way along the Algerian coast. His plan presents a major crisis for Kesselring and Von Arnim when Hitler orders the withdrawal of all Germany’s elite paratroop units. The Führer has eyes on a new prize in the Middle East, and devises a daring return to that theater in Operation Phoenix. Meanwhile, General O’Connor’s British 8th Army begins its big push to capture Tripoli, but he meets a determined and skillful defense by the Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel.
An exploration of St. Michael’s Cave at Gibraltar by Fairchild & Company leads to a hidden mystery beneath the Rock, and far to the east, the isolated atoll at Eniwetok receives some very unexpected visitors. The surprising developments set the destroyer Takami on a dangerous collision course with Vladimir Karpov and Ivan Gromyko, when the Russians set out to cleanse the timeline of all contamination, including their own! Events lead to a dramatic battle at sea that neither side ever expected.
Lions at Dawn
by John Schettler
Part I – All Hallows Eve
Part II – Operation Phoenix
Part III – The Halfback
Part IV – Chariots of Fire
Part V – Humbugged
Part VI – Speed
Part VII – Unforgiving Minutes
Part VIII– Friends & Enemies
Part IX – Saint Michael’s Cave
Part X – Stalemate
Part XI – Lions at Dawn
Part XII – The Perfect Moment
For Kindle: $4.99
Quality Trade Paperback: $19.99
MORE INFO HERE
November 1, 2016
Kirov Series #27: 1943
The War in the Pacific heats up as the U.S. goes on offensive.
Admiral Halsey returns leading three new Essex Class carriers into 1943. While the US makes a big push to defeat the Japanese on Fiji, Halsey must fend off the skillful maneuvers of King Kong Hara as Japan moves to garrison her vital holdings in the New Hebrides. The action on both land and sea heats up as the U.S. launches a series of bold new offensives to challenge the Rising Sun.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Karpov leads the battlecruiser Kirov into the warm waters of the South Pacific, intent on causing harm to his enemy. He hatches a plan to take the war right to the heart of Combined Fleet operations with a daring raid on the main Japanese naval base at Truk.
Then, after a long slow journey beneath the ice, Captain Ivan Gromyko arrives in the Pacific with a very special guest aboard the submarine Kazan. Sent by Director Kamenski he must make the difficult decision to decide the fate of Kirov, yet Vladimir Karpov has other ideas that could set the two former allies into dangerous opposition... Now he uses his devious skills to try and persuade Fedorov and Volsky to join his cause.
READ MORE HERE
BUY KINDLE VERSION: $4.99
BUY TRADE PAPERBACK: $19.99
Admiral Halsey returns leading three new Essex Class carriers into 1943. While the US makes a big push to defeat the Japanese on Fiji, Halsey must fend off the skillful maneuvers of King Kong Hara as Japan moves to garrison her vital holdings in the New Hebrides. The action on both land and sea heats up as the U.S. launches a series of bold new offensives to challenge the Rising Sun.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Karpov leads the battlecruiser Kirov into the warm waters of the South Pacific, intent on causing harm to his enemy. He hatches a plan to take the war right to the heart of Combined Fleet operations with a daring raid on the main Japanese naval base at Truk.
Then, after a long slow journey beneath the ice, Captain Ivan Gromyko arrives in the Pacific with a very special guest aboard the submarine Kazan. Sent by Director Kamenski he must make the difficult decision to decide the fate of Kirov, yet Vladimir Karpov has other ideas that could set the two former allies into dangerous opposition... Now he uses his devious skills to try and persuade Fedorov and Volsky to join his cause.
READ MORE HERE
BUY KINDLE VERSION: $4.99
BUY TRADE PAPERBACK: $19.99
October 1, 2016
Special Release
War in the Pacific, Volume II
Sea of Fire
A Kirov Series Battle Book
Sea of Fire: Volume II in the alternate history of the Pacific War presents the story of JS Takami and the battles of mid to late late 1942. When the shock of what has happened to them is finally realized, they must answer the question of who’s side they will support in the war. Meanwhile, the action in the Pacific continues with the Battle of the Coral Sea, Halsey’s raid on the Marshalls where he battles a pair of Japanese ships that never were, then Yamamoto launches Operation FS and the landings on Fiji begin, leading to the US landings at Suva Bay and the climactic Battle of the Koro Sea. Karpov’s summer offensive on Sakhalin Island is also covered, with the battle between Kirov and an unexpected challenger in the Sea of Okhotsk. Finally, Admiral Hara’s Indian Ocean Raid and the battle with Somerville’s Far East Fleet concludes this volume. The action will then immediately continue in the next regular series novel, entitled 1943, which is entirely focused on the Pacific Theater, (scheduled for Nov 1 publication.)
Sea of Fire - A Kirov Series Battle Book - More Info Hereby John Schettler
54 Chapters, 474 Pages, About 156,000 Words
KINDLE FILE: $4.99 ~ ~ ~ TRADE PAPERBACK: $19.99 ALSO AVAILABLE IN TRADE PAPERBACK BOOK FORMAT:
Foxbane Volume I of the Desert War550 Pages: $19.99
GET FOXBANE HERE
Sea of Fire: Volume II in the alternate history of the Pacific War presents the story of JS Takami and the battles of mid to late late 1942. When the shock of what has happened to them is finally realized, they must answer the question of who’s side they will support in the war. Meanwhile, the action in the Pacific continues with the Battle of the Coral Sea, Halsey’s raid on the Marshalls where he battles a pair of Japanese ships that never were, then Yamamoto launches Operation FS and the landings on Fiji begin, leading to the US landings at Suva Bay and the climactic Battle of the Koro Sea. Karpov’s summer offensive on Sakhalin Island is also covered, with the battle between Kirov and an unexpected challenger in the Sea of Okhotsk. Finally, Admiral Hara’s Indian Ocean Raid and the battle with Somerville’s Far East Fleet concludes this volume. The action will then immediately continue in the next regular series novel, entitled 1943, which is entirely focused on the Pacific Theater, (scheduled for Nov 1 publication.)
Sea of Fire - A Kirov Series Battle Book - More Info Hereby John Schettler
54 Chapters, 474 Pages, About 156,000 Words
KINDLE FILE: $4.99 ~ ~ ~ TRADE PAPERBACK: $19.99 ALSO AVAILABLE IN TRADE PAPERBACK BOOK FORMAT:
Foxbane Volume I of the Desert War550 Pages: $19.99
GET FOXBANE HERE
August 30, 2016
Available Now: Thor's Anvil
Just Released!
Book 26 in the Kirov Series
Thor's Anvil
The crew of Takami returns to the South Pacific to meet with Yamamoto, and now they must undertake a new operation. A daring raid into the Indian Ocean is planned, as the Japanese aim to capture the last British outposts on Ceylon.
Lost in time, Anton Fedorov now confronts his moment of destiny in the lonesome village of Ilanskiy, and the decision he makes will decide the fate of the world he hopes to return to.
Meanwhile, the Germans now drive to the city of Volgograd, cutting it off as their troops reach the Volga in the north. There, a vital bridge links Hitler’s legions to those of Ivan Volkov, and the Germans mass their toughest Pioneers to attempt to break through at Rynok. Steiner is determined to storm this last Soviet bastion in the south, but Chuikov and Shumilov plot the stalwart Soviet defense that made this place an anvil of doom for Germany’s fortunes in the war. As the elite German divisions strike one by one to hammer upon that anvil, General Zhukov unleashes his long awaited winter counteroffensive aimed at Kursk. Will Volgograd become the turning point in the war as it was when named Stalingrad, or will the tides of war lead fate somewhere else?
KINDLE FILE: $4.99
TRADE PAPERBACK: $19.95
MORE INFO HERE
The crew of Takami returns to the South Pacific to meet with Yamamoto, and now they must undertake a new operation. A daring raid into the Indian Ocean is planned, as the Japanese aim to capture the last British outposts on Ceylon.
Lost in time, Anton Fedorov now confronts his moment of destiny in the lonesome village of Ilanskiy, and the decision he makes will decide the fate of the world he hopes to return to.
Meanwhile, the Germans now drive to the city of Volgograd, cutting it off as their troops reach the Volga in the north. There, a vital bridge links Hitler’s legions to those of Ivan Volkov, and the Germans mass their toughest Pioneers to attempt to break through at Rynok. Steiner is determined to storm this last Soviet bastion in the south, but Chuikov and Shumilov plot the stalwart Soviet defense that made this place an anvil of doom for Germany’s fortunes in the war. As the elite German divisions strike one by one to hammer upon that anvil, General Zhukov unleashes his long awaited winter counteroffensive aimed at Kursk. Will Volgograd become the turning point in the war as it was when named Stalingrad, or will the tides of war lead fate somewhere else?
KINDLE FILE: $4.99
TRADE PAPERBACK: $19.95
MORE INFO HERE
July 31, 2016
Special Release: Kirov Series Battle Book 3
The Kirov Battle Book Series Moves to the Pacific!
Dear Readers,
We had originally hoped to present the Odyssey of the Argos Fire as the next Battle Book Series release this month, but that volume is taking more time than expected due to the addition of new material. To fill the void, we move now to the War in the Pacific, with the first of several Battle Books devoted exclusively to the that campaign, uninterrupted by any of the many other plot lines in the series. This month we present Volume I in the War in the Pacific: Roll of Thunder, available August 1, 2016 for Kindle and also as a trade paperback a few days after that.
About Roll of Thunder
This is the alternate history of the war in the Pacific, extracted from many volumes of the long Kirov Series and re-edited into one continuous narrative. There are already 90 chapters featuring action from the Pacific, far too many to assemble in just one volume, particularly if a print trade paperback version is also being produced, as is the case with this Pacific War Series. Those chapters are scattered throughout five or six volumes in the main series, but here, that history will be presented in a series of Battle Books, this being the first 45 of those 90 chapters.
In this volume, the war begins with the Japanese Pearl Harbor Operation, where the first carrier to carrier battle of the war begins to set the history off on a very different course. Then comes the story of the US “Pensacola Convoy,” and the alternate history US battle with the French Pacific Fleet in the New Hebrides. As the Japanese land on the Philippines and MacArthur is forced to flee to Australia, the war progresses with a detailed presentation of Yamashita’s Malay Campaign and the exciting Battle for Singapore.
Karpov’s initial duels with the Japanese Navy are covered, including his attack on the Kido Butai, and the opening rounds of his Plan 7 operation against Japanese occupied Kamchatka. The Japanese invasion of Timor follows to recount the fate of the Australian Sparrow Force, along with the Battle of Badung Strait, the Battle of the Java Sea, and the British effort to reinforce and hold the strategic island of Java. Even as the Japanese invasion there proceeds, this volume will conclude with the dramatic events off Java that led to the arrival of a most unexpected visitor. The material above will present 45 chapters, 400 pages; about 132,750 words.
In editing this, I have revised certain segments to eliminate information not needed for this narrative, and also included small segments of new material in places to improve the flow. I worked a bit so that a reader who is new to the series can jump right in without having to read all of season 1 and 2. So if you are a Pacific War fan, I hope you will enjoy my spin on this history, though be advised that it will be heavily influenced by the underlying premise of the series as a whole—what if a modern day ship of war suddenly found itself transported into the midst of WWII? How would it, or how could it, influence the course of events and shape the outcome of the war, and by extension, of all the history that follows.
The battlecruiser Kirov was that ship, launching a series that has become much more than I ever expected from the story, and this is but one of the many subplots presented in that series, which has covered wartime action on every key front.
Volume II for the Pacific War will then continue with the story concerning Captain Harada and his crew, the Battle of the Coral Sea, Halsey’s raid on the Marshalls, Japanese Operation FS and the landings on Fiji, the Battle of the Koro Sea, US Marine Landing at Suva Bay, Karpov’s Landings on Sakhalin Island, and finally the battle between Kirov and an unexpected challenger in the Sea of Okhotsk, (another 45 chapters in all). It will then probably take at least one more volume of this same length to cover the remainder of the Pacific War, or possibly two, all chapters I expect to write as the Kirov Series soon moves into 1943. For those many readers who have written and asked me to cover the Pacific in the next release for the Battle Book Series, here it is. Enjoy!
NOTE: And don't miss the next regular series release Thor's Anvil, which is on schedule for release Sept 1st.
- John Schettler
Dear Readers,
We had originally hoped to present the Odyssey of the Argos Fire as the next Battle Book Series release this month, but that volume is taking more time than expected due to the addition of new material. To fill the void, we move now to the War in the Pacific, with the first of several Battle Books devoted exclusively to the that campaign, uninterrupted by any of the many other plot lines in the series. This month we present Volume I in the War in the Pacific: Roll of Thunder, available August 1, 2016 for Kindle and also as a trade paperback a few days after that.
About Roll of Thunder
This is the alternate history of the war in the Pacific, extracted from many volumes of the long Kirov Series and re-edited into one continuous narrative. There are already 90 chapters featuring action from the Pacific, far too many to assemble in just one volume, particularly if a print trade paperback version is also being produced, as is the case with this Pacific War Series. Those chapters are scattered throughout five or six volumes in the main series, but here, that history will be presented in a series of Battle Books, this being the first 45 of those 90 chapters.
In this volume, the war begins with the Japanese Pearl Harbor Operation, where the first carrier to carrier battle of the war begins to set the history off on a very different course. Then comes the story of the US “Pensacola Convoy,” and the alternate history US battle with the French Pacific Fleet in the New Hebrides. As the Japanese land on the Philippines and MacArthur is forced to flee to Australia, the war progresses with a detailed presentation of Yamashita’s Malay Campaign and the exciting Battle for Singapore.
Karpov’s initial duels with the Japanese Navy are covered, including his attack on the Kido Butai, and the opening rounds of his Plan 7 operation against Japanese occupied Kamchatka. The Japanese invasion of Timor follows to recount the fate of the Australian Sparrow Force, along with the Battle of Badung Strait, the Battle of the Java Sea, and the British effort to reinforce and hold the strategic island of Java. Even as the Japanese invasion there proceeds, this volume will conclude with the dramatic events off Java that led to the arrival of a most unexpected visitor. The material above will present 45 chapters, 400 pages; about 132,750 words.
In editing this, I have revised certain segments to eliminate information not needed for this narrative, and also included small segments of new material in places to improve the flow. I worked a bit so that a reader who is new to the series can jump right in without having to read all of season 1 and 2. So if you are a Pacific War fan, I hope you will enjoy my spin on this history, though be advised that it will be heavily influenced by the underlying premise of the series as a whole—what if a modern day ship of war suddenly found itself transported into the midst of WWII? How would it, or how could it, influence the course of events and shape the outcome of the war, and by extension, of all the history that follows.
The battlecruiser Kirov was that ship, launching a series that has become much more than I ever expected from the story, and this is but one of the many subplots presented in that series, which has covered wartime action on every key front.
Volume II for the Pacific War will then continue with the story concerning Captain Harada and his crew, the Battle of the Coral Sea, Halsey’s raid on the Marshalls, Japanese Operation FS and the landings on Fiji, the Battle of the Koro Sea, US Marine Landing at Suva Bay, Karpov’s Landings on Sakhalin Island, and finally the battle between Kirov and an unexpected challenger in the Sea of Okhotsk, (another 45 chapters in all). It will then probably take at least one more volume of this same length to cover the remainder of the Pacific War, or possibly two, all chapters I expect to write as the Kirov Series soon moves into 1943. For those many readers who have written and asked me to cover the Pacific in the next release for the Battle Book Series, here it is. Enjoy!
NOTE: And don't miss the next regular series release Thor's Anvil, which is on schedule for release Sept 1st.
- John Schettler
July 1, 2016
Available Now: Tigers East!
Season 4 Premiere! Tigers EastBook 25 in the Kirov Series
Big events are underway in the Season Four Premiere of the Kirov Series, Tigers East . The title of the book was unannounced until the heads up “Coming Soon” notice posted on the Author’s web site about a week before publication, and the cover art gives us a strong indication of where this book will take us, back to the German Summer Offensive on the East Front, Operation Blue. That battle is presented in some detail, with the action on two segments of the vast Russian front. The Germans have massed their armor in 2nd and 3rd Panzer Armies, and they make a bold drive for Voronezh as they did in the real history. After failing to cross the Don, that offensive then turned southeast, following the course of the Don River as it drove towards the Volga, but in these events, Manstein has already driven deep into the Donbass region, and is already threatening Kalach on the Don by the time von Rundstedt turns Model and Hoth loose in their massive pincer operation to take Voronezh.
This is the action presented, along with the increasingly desperate Soviet attempts to stop the Germans. When Manstein drove southeast, the Soviets managed to retain several bridgeheads south of the Don at Boguchar, Veshenskaya, and Serafimovich. There, Zhukov had moved many of the armies that fought to try and save Moscow, particularly several Shock Armies formed with Siberian troops sent by Karpov. He has been holding them for a planned winter counteroffensive, but the circumstances force him to play out his cards early in two attacks. The first he calls Operation Mars, which has no association with the real operation launched under that name. Zhukov is just choosing planets to name his battles. This spoiling attack is meant to force Manstein to look over his shoulder, threatening his line of communications, but enter one Hermann Balck and the 11th Panzer Division from stage left, and the action is on.
Balck now becomes a major historical character as he sends his elite division into the battle to try and foil Zhukov’s attack. As the east front action develops, the Germans find themselves simultaneously threatening Rostov, Volgograd and Voronezh, and Zhukov must reach for any reserves he can find to stem the tide, eventually committing, with Sergei Kirov’s blessing, all the reserves he had been husbanding.
While all of this is happening, the story also takes us back to the deserts of Libya where Rommel is brooding on his Mersa Brega line. We get his reaction to the Allied landings presented in Second Front, where his already weakened Afrika Korps must now send the 10th Panzer, as well as Goring’s Brigade, west to von Arnim where the Germans are attempting to build the new 5th Panzer Army to counter the Allied advance into Algeria.
The action in the west is presented as Patton pushes for Algiers, and there is a major sea battle fought by Tovey as a prelude, where something quite significant happens. In fact, this book is loaded with sudden major happenings. Kazan arrives in 1942 early in the narrative, and that has a big impact on Fedorov’s decisions. The naval battle has a big resolution to Tovey’s longstanding feud with the Kriegsmarine, Rommel awakens from his depression at Mersa Brega when he gets some much appreciated news from Kesselring, something extremely big happens on the Allied side involving Tobruk, and it will impact the entire balance of the war in North Africa in a very dramatic way. The bulk of the novel is devoted to these land battles that develop, east and west, the story alternating between the action on two fronts. As the conclusion draws near, the last six chapters take us back to the mission Fedorov has been planning.
He and his little band of Marines have already hijacked the airship Irkutsk, but Symenko continues to gnaw on Fedorov’s ankle, telling him he will have no chance to get through to Ilanskiy. This pressure, and the sudden arrival of Kazan in 1942, throw that action in a most unexpected direction, but where it then ends up taking us is a cleverly devised twist that will not fail to please. Again we see how events and minor characters introduced many volumes ago suddenly are presented as having a major impact on the story. Everything matters in these books. Nothing is ever given ink without careful thought, and a definite purpose in the overall tale.
What happens at the end cannot be divulged here, but Tigers East will keep you turning pages, with lots of wartime action and then the inevitable intrigue that is infused into the story by Fedorov’s surprising choices. Fans of Erwin Rommel will also see their favorite General resurgent here, and determined to stop fighting the last war and return to the mobile battles that made him famous. Through it all, we get numerous appearances by Hitler, Manstein, Steiner, Rommel, Kesselring, Patton, Sergei Kirov, Zhukov, Admiral Tovey and other historical characters, with Herman Balck getting a good deal of ink after his introduction. By the time those Tigers are well east, hammering at the Soviet defense near Volgograd, it is October of 1942. The next volume then promises to take us into the most massive battle ever fought, the author’s rendition of the terrible struggle for Volgograd, where the drama is already well under way in Zhukov’s counterpunching, if premature, offensives. How that battle will finally end remains to be seen in the next book.
The Kirov Series has now reached the mid-point of the war as the tide of affairs has slowly become more even handed through the last several books, Turning Point, Steel Reign and Second Front. The British have stopped Rommel, though he now stirs to life again as a major threat. The Allies have put an end to Raeder’s dream in the Canary Islands, and knocked both Spain and Vichy France out of the war in the startling developments after the opening of their Second Front. The Japanese Operation FS has been halted on Fiji, even as their expansion met its first challenge on Guadalcanal in the real history. The Battlecruiser Kirov has settled the affair involving JS Takami, and sent Harada and Fukada south to continue their arguments somewhere else.
Here the action on the East Front takes the German summer offensive to its conclusion, as the rains and mud of autumn herald the coming of the dread winter of 1942. Can the Soviets muster the offense that will be required to turn the tide in Russia? In any case, we have reached that dangerous balance in the period late 1942 to early 1943, where the Axis has suffered its first major setbacks, but both Germany and Japan remain powerful opponents, and the outcome of the war still remains in doubt. If the Allies can continue to gain momentum and carry on the fight, we have ahead the great battles that formed the heart of the war: Volgograd, Kursk, and surely others in Russia; Overlord, Cobra, Market Garden and the Bulge in the West, assuming those actions ever occur in this history. Fans that have remained loyal to the series from its inception are now have tickets to all those rides, and Season Four starts with a bang here in Tigers East, on sale in the kindle store just in time for the fireworks this July!
KINDLE VERSION: $4.99
TRADE PAPERBACK: $19.99 (After July 4)
