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Designated Targets | Rating | |
| A | |||
| John Birmingham | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| The Axis of Time Trilogy | Weapons of Choice, Designated Targets, Final Impact | ||
The world of 1942 has had four months to adjust to the battlegroup that has accidentally come back in time from 2021. And while ammunition constraints limit the futuristic ships' direct roles in World War Two, both sides are beginning to put the weath of information they brought with them to use. Hitler and Tojo and even Stalin have drastically altered their strategies in an effort to prevent history from literally repeating itself. Now Australia is invaded, England and Hawaii under threat, and new weapons are starting to come on line.
It seems even WWII can get nastier.
Weapons of Choice concentrated on the Transition, as it is called, and people's reactions to it. Designated Targets is much more concerned with the actual war, and how the Transition is changing it. Those changes, as one might expect, are vast. You can't just drop modern ships with all their capabilities (or even just some of those capabilities, for those ships were damed during or immediately after the Transition) and expect history to unfold as it did the first time.
But those changes are realistic. Every one of them, to my mind, makes some sense. birmingham wasn't so foolish as to have these ships just run off and win the war. Trained personell are limited. The number of modern cruise missiles, torpedoes, and other expendables is limited. And there's only so many ships, which of course can only be in one place at a time. Thus their impact is largely indirect. Sensors. Communications. Reconnaisance. Pure knowledge of what is possible, with visual aids and concrete proof in some cases. How best to apply these resources is something everyone needs to figure out.
And the advances aren't always welcomed. Despite the historical evidence the ships hold, there are still some that claim, for instance, prop fighters are good enough, or that it'll cost too much to retool and make jets. The fact that the time travelers are bringing social change with them is only making matters worse. Racial friction is growing as the minorities of 1942 see what they're capable of, if only they're allowed to do it. Hoover and the FBI is livid at the tolerance the travelers hold towards "subversive" behavior like homosexuality and racial colorblindness.
This is a two-front war the multinational force is fighting. They need to win agains tthe Axis. But they also need to win the approval of their own countries. It's a great dichotomy, and Birmingham brings off both battles well. And the book leaves off with a heck of a cliffhanger. This is a wonderful series by a great writer, and belongs on the shelf of anybody who's ever asked "what if?" about WWII.
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