Final Impact

October 16, 2006
The eagerly awaited conclusion to Birmingham's popular Axis of Time trilogy (after Designated Targets
and Weapons of Choice
) deftly explores how a temporally displaced 21st-century naval battle group changes the outcome of WWII, both militarily and socially. In 1944, the Germans and the Japanese may be close to developing an atom bomb, while the swift Russian advance in the east threatens to engulf all of Europe. Admiral Kolhammer and his future warriors, veterans of 20 or so years of the war on terror, can be just as ruthless as the Axis. How the social changes inspired by Southern California's multicultural "zone" will fare in the face of opposition from the followers of the outed (and self-slain) J. Edgar Hoover remains an open question. Since the western Allies are left facing a Soviet Union that refuses to accept the judgment of history, it's clear that the author has the makings for a sequel. Alternate history fans can only hope Kolhammer and crew will soon be back.

December 1, 2006
As the German and Japanese governments race to develop an atomic bomb, the newly strengthened Soviet Union poses its own threat to a world at war. Adm. Philip Kohlhammer, who "Transitioned" from the future into 1942, must somehow ensure an Allied victory to preserve the world's future intact. Like fellow author Harry Turtledove, Birmingham applies his talent for alternate history to the events of World War II. Part historical sf, part technothriller, this well-researched tale of warriors transported in time belongs, with its series predecessors ("Weapons of Choice; Designated Targets"), in most libraries.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.