Customer Reviews

Weapons of Choice: World War 2.1 (Axis of Time Trilogy 1)

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

'Weapons of Choice' is a good book, but like all books that are intended to be series, one gets the feeling that while the Author could've wrapped up the whole thing, they left a lot of threads dangling just to lead you into the next book.

That's the case here - a 21st Century Naval Fleet winds up in WWII, and while they could've eviscerated the Japanese Navy "midway" through the book (heh, heh) they don't. Yeah, there are story reasons why they didn't but the main reason seems to be so that the Japanese navy will be around in books 2 and 3.

When all 3 books are published, the series itself will probably rate 4 or 5 stars. However, ya gotta rate the book as a standalone entity.

Good things in the book:
- Nice forward looking history. The fleet is from 2021 and an ongoing war against Terrorism and Militant Islam has shaped its men and women
- Nice treatment of the mismatch between 1940/2021 mindsets
- Great techno warfare stuff, especially how body armor/advanced ammo changes the land battle paradigm
- Recognition that the characters from 2021 would hold certain 1940s characters in awe - Spruance for one, others you'll have to find out about - and how the 1940s characters react to this
- Great overall update on the "Final Countdown" scenario
- Subtle nods throughout the book at other alt history characters and scenarios. You'll know 'em when you see 'em.

Things which hacked down the star rating
- The scene in which the fleets first meet is just ~too~ drawn out in some places and too short on description in others.
- A few times in which suspension of disbelief extends all the way to enabling seasoned warriors to make decisions that result in expension of precious advanced ammo. The reasons for doing so are given in the book, but they're not believable....
- The 2021'ers are generally paragons of behavior and professionalis- not a black sheep in the family, which any military vet will tell you just isn't realistic.
- A slight lack of depth. Too many of the characters are all surface, and in some cases (the female reporter) they're all surface even at their inner core. The forties characters are generally given a two-dimensional treatment, which is unfair to them and their time.
- Constant use of the term "Jap". I'm not big on PC and never understood why that term wasn't as acceptable as "Yank" or "Brit" or "Aussie", but anyway, its used A LOT in this book, by characters from both times. For all the multicultalism of the modern characters, no one objects to the use of the term. The author is Austrailian - perhaps the term isn't pejorative down under?

Overall, this review comes out a bit harsher than I'd like. I read the whole thing in a day, and I'll read the whole series. I'm glad I bought it.

Even so, there are a lot of things in this book that are "4 and 5 Star" but the book itself just doesn't quite make it to that level.

I will not add yet another summary of this book, as there are plenty of reviews already posted that serve this purpose. (My only gripe: the first meeting of the Multinational fleet from the future and the '42 fleet was a bit drawn out.) I shared this book with my father, who served on the USS New Orleans from 1943 until 1946 (she was stuck on China Service clearing mines for a full year after the Nipponese surrender). Keeping in mind some of the comments posted here (that the 1942 contemporaries - or Temps - were a bit two-dimensional), and the fact that the New Orleans is sunk at the beginning of the book, I was curious what he thought. Well, he loved it from start to finish. He thought the concept was great, and the writing was sound. In fact, he was practically giddy reading it!

We discussed the whole aspect of the racism/ignorance of the Temps. He did not deny it was rampant, especially since many sailors did not know better. And what's more, he was certain they would not have been receptive to wartime "sensitivity training"; since fatalism was rampant. Why pay attention to it, when a sudden torpedo or kamikaze could end it all? Besides, there was a war to win. This "lack of sensitivity" carries over to Spruance and Halsey's discussion (in the book) as to whether a POW rescue is a wise use of resources.

My dad's only gripe, the name of the futuristic supercarrier, and the fact it wasn't sunk at the onset. But I think he is willing to forgive!

"Weapons of Choice" uses the same basic idea as Eric Flint's "1632" series and S. M. Stirling's "Island in the Sea of Time," but John Birmingham has given it a Tom Clancy-esque twist, having a naval task force from 2021 wind up in the middle of Admiral Spruance's fleet headed for Midway in June, 1942.

The technological projection of 15 years in to the future is plausible and avoids dating itself too badly (the technical lingo--"data slate," "flexipad," etc.--sound like words some one would use). And the actual story is told well, even if it is a little unoriginal. The visual description of settings, battles, and characters is vivid and displays a strong grasp of the subject matter--whether it be geography or military history--and no small amount research.

Which makes the books problems all the more pronounced. Mr. Birmingham displays his political biases a bit openly and falls too easily in to stereotypes, often allowing his characters to become two-dimensional. The characters from of 2021 are all enlightened, tolerant, professional, polished, and displaying a unrealistic lack of character flaws; whether brawling in a bar in Hawaii with troops from '42 (where a small group of 2021 marines--via martial arts training--is able to clean the floor with a crowd '42 marines and navy men) or having a conversation with '42 charaters, they come out on top. The characters of 1942 (with the exception of peraps two non-major historical characters)--civilian and military--are uncouth, undisciplined, bigoted/racist (sometimes to the extreme), rough, and sloppy.

Now, having grandparents from that generation, one of whom won a purple heart on Iwo, I find this inaccurate and even insulting (my grandfather on my father's side, a Nebraska farm boy who grew up living near an Indian reservation, couldn't be less racist). Racial attitudes could very dramatically from region to region and from person to person. As an example, take a look at the men in the famous flag raising picture taken on Iwo Jima. Ethnic minorities include marine Michael Strank, who was born in a small village in Slovakia and Ira Hayes, a Native American who became a national hero after the picture was taken. Further, the picture was taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, a jew. Three years earlier, colonel David "Mickey" Marcus, also a jew, was named commandant of the Army's new Ranger school, and would go on to lay the groundwork for Israel's armed forces in 1948. And all of this happened whilte hundreds of thousands of Issei and Nisei Japanese along the West coast were interned in detention camps, yet the all-Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion would become the most decorated unit in US military history. Mr. Birmingham, by succumbing to these biases, has failed to portray the complexity of racial attitudes; the clash of racial prejudice and common decency in the American character, which would have been an interesting conflict on the pages of Weapons of Choice.

Lastly, his biases lead him to project certain ideas on US politics and military culture, in particular an openly gay female captain of the USS Leyte Gulf and Hillary Clinton as "the most uncompromising wartime president in the history of the United States." However, this is far more a matter of opinion, so yours may be different.

All this aside, it is a good yarn, and if you have a hunger for a good war novel and some alternate history then I recommend it.

I am not writing about the mainly one-dimensional main characters the book is abundant with. My main problem with the book was the glaring lack of technical knowledge from the author - one would not want to meet such inconsistencies in a military/naval timetravel fiction.

Get the surface vessels of a modern (2009) USN carrier battlegroup and transport it in the middle of its WWII counterpart. Such an engagement would be one-sided - the modern battlegroup would be reduced to wrecks in a short notice. Modern ships just lack the weapons for a short-range fight, while WWII ships were just built for it (check the second battle of Guadalcanal and all the night fighting of the Solomons campaign). Close-in defense weapons would not have much effect on 8" armor piercing shells - like 3" wall thickness with only a small amount of explosives. And carriers are not armored against such an obsolete threat - were not armored even in WWII to the required extent. The anti-surface armament of a modern carrier group is carried by the planes (i.e. useless in the scenario), a limited number of Harpoon rockets (not really useful against armored targets like a heavy cruiser), the secondary anti-ship capability of the Standard anti-air missiles of the AEGIS system and the one or two 5" guns for each modern destroyer/cruiser.

So the author invents a fantasy weapon that has no OTL/RL counterpart to trash the old guys, called 'mace'. The main problem with it is that such a weapon does not exist on the drawing boards, which would be necessary to see them on a ship laid down in the late 2010s. Which has a dual-purpose ('high explosive' and armor-piercing) warhead apparently has the equivalent damage potential of a sub-kiloton nuke against ground targets without any fissile materials. The author then babbles something about 'fusion' that has nothing in common with what we know - mainly that it is anything but suitable for the miniaturization in the game. Replace 'fusion' with 'nuclear' and it might work, but won't be politically correct.

The Raptor is not a carrier-capable aircraft, nor does the USN has any plans navalizing it. It is a USAF plane, plain and simple. A 2021 carrier would have 40-60 F-18E/Fs and F-35Bs on board, plus a number of UCAVs (combat drones) - the latter two do not get any mention.

An USN CVBG would not sail without any USN escorts. A handful of destroyers and one nuclear submarine the minimum. It won't be sent naked, relying on a multinational medley for protection.

Strategy and logistics
The author displays an ignorance on historical Japanese politics - and it is supposed to be one of the main themes of the book.
Japan's strategical objective (#1) in the 1920-30s was to secure China. The attack on Malaya/Sulawesi (objective #2) was necessary to secure resources (oil, rubber and copper) that the US was not selling, to cut China off from foreign help and secure Japanese Hegemony. The attack on Pearl Harbor was necessary, because the Philippines were in the middle of the Japanese line of communications to South East Asia (objective #3), thus the USN must be neutralized so they could not intervene (objective #4).
So the author assumes that the Japanese throw out their 40-years of involvement in mainland Asia to focus on objectives of tertiary and lower priority like invading Hawaii and Australia on the urging of Yamamoto. Who, as the commander of the Combined Fleet, had about zero influence on political decisions. Not Navy Chief of Staff of Naval Minister. But this sensationalism is apparently necessary to get Australia mentioned enough times.
Nevermind that they would not be able to support either of these with their available transport assets - the Japanese expansion was more or less stopped by the limits of logistical capabilities (and the lack of naval assault forces against any opposed landing) not military opposition.

Its a sad commentary when Turtledove is less biased in his PC commentary than this book is. This book is misnamed it should be called "Politically Correct Super People VS The Dead White Males of The Past."
The book is so pc it reads like a joke the people from the future are all paragons of virtue. While the people from the past are all racist smelly homophobes. Trashing the generation that made it possible for you to write this book in order to preach pc rhetoric just doesnt cut it for me.

Let's face it - one of the great pleasures in life is reading a good book. No one else around, no children/spouse/co-workers/pets bothering you - just peace, quiet and a good book, something to take you away from life's everyday trials and tribulations. The "alt-history" genre in particular can be very interesting. You know, the kind of books that are about things like, "what would the U.S. be like today if the South had won the Civil War." Pages turned out by the hands of a superior writer can lead to some really creative ideas and interesting reads.

Then there are books like "Weapons of Choice", by John Birmingham, which are so dreadful that they bring the real world mercifully crashing back around us. What's worse, I will reveal to you at the end of this review that the main idea of the book isn't even original!

Our heroes are a multi-national naval force from the year 2021. Thrown together are mostly Americans, some Brits, some Japanese, some Indonesians, and some Australian ships, all (predictably) under a U.S. commander. Through a scientific experiment (predictably) gone terribly wrong, most of the fleet gets sent back in time to June 2, 1942, two days before the Japanese were about to attack Midway Island, a battle which in real life was a decisive U.S. victory and pretty much turned the tide of the War in the Pacific gainst the Japanese. Because we all know that time travel backwards makes one physically ill (unless one is a Terminator), all of the future force characters (predictably) find themselves in various states of incapacitation upon arrival in 1942 and, thus unable to man their respective stations or defend themselves.

This is important because the future force people materialize in the middle of U.S. Pacific Fleet Task Force 16 under Admiral Spruance, which is on its way to spring a trap on the Japanese at Midway Island and essentially put Japan on the defensive for the rest of WWII (as happened in real life). While the WWII force gets a good, long look at all of the weird ships that have suddenly showed up in their midst, the future force people are kind of flipping around on their decks like beached fish. By the time the future force people recover, the WWII force has decided to open fire with everything they have (especially at the one Japanese ship that is part of the future force) and cause some pretty heavy damage before the future fleet and its dazzling array of computer intelligence-guided weaponry and laughably superior fire power take control of the situation.

***** WARNING: SPOILER FOLLOWS *****

It is fortunate for the book characters that cooler heads ultimately prevail before the future force annihilates the WWII force, which surely would have happened had the future force come out of the time warp without the time travel sickness. Indeed, we could suspect that the future force would have wiped out the WWII force at the first sign of trouble, had they been able to do so.

It is unfortunate for the reader, however, that that did not happen, because now the book has to continue. And oh, what a cast of thousands of stock characters we have. Basically, I learned that WWII Americans were stupid, bigoted, and sexist, but courageous and patriotic. I learned that WWII Japanese were all devious, prone to outbursts of anger (a shamelful loss of self-control), and blindly devoted to their superiors. I learned that WWII Germans were suavely decadent, sometimes irrational, but basically good robot soldiers with a firm belief in their human superiority. In short, I learned everything about every stereotype I have ever seen in every bad old war movie ever made.

What about the modern force? Let's see; the modern Americans are (for the most part) the antithesis of the WWII people. They are much, much smarter, much, much more tolerant, too dependent on technology, can't cope with roughing it, are macho in a much less threatening way, unless they are special forces, in which they get to out-Ninja even Japanese folks. The modern Brits are summed up by the RN Captain who is a super-hot eurasian woman who is super-efficient and has that uppercrust accent and the sense of entitlement that goes with it. In a nutshell, the future force are mostly materialistic wimps, except for the truly nasty bada****. In short, I learned everything about every stereotype I have ever seen in every bad new war movie ever made.

Last, but not least, we have the bitter and none-too-bright Indonesians. As the representative Muslims of the future force who feel that they are being slighted by their christian friends in the future, they (predictably) end up betraying the future force to the WWII Japanese, thus mucking up the future as it should have happened. That they think that they know what they are doing is of no moment because CNN has taught us that all Muslims will eventually sell out the rest of the world, right? Again, more stereotypes.

The plot, of course, is the effect that the future force may have on the future. Should they participate in WWII or not? How will technology captured by the WWII Japanese change history? Will the future Japanese go and fight for the WWII Japanese. The characters in this book are stereotypes who do and say exactly what you think that a stereotypical character would do or say in the same situation. They never progress beyond cartoonish proportions. I could go on and give examples, but I've already written enough.

What was really funny, though, is that I could have sworn that I read this story before. After much searching, I realized that what I was thinking of was a fairly bad TV movie about the same thing. Well, just looked it up and I was right. In 1980, when YT was only 12 years old, the movie "The Final Countdown" was on, starring Martin Sheen. Here is the description of the movie from IMDB: "The USS Nimitz, a modern-day nuclear aircraft carrier, is drawn through a time warp from 1980 to a couple days before the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor, and the crew must decide whether to launch a preemptive strike against the incoming Japanese carrier fleet with their more advanced air wing, or allow history to take its course, which might not happen since they had rescued Senator Chapman, who disappeared shortly before the attack, from his death."

Hmmmm...sounds awfully familiar! However, if given the choice, I'm going cheesey 1980 made-for-TV-movie over this book any day of the week!

One of the most basic and glaring errors in historical research is to evaluate past individuals and their beliefs and actions by today's standards, rather than to try to understand these past people's attitudes and actions by understanding them as the products of the times they lived in--their history up until that time, and their intellectual, cultural, economic, political, religious, and moral environment.

Birmingham commits this cardinal sin, gaining a cheap victory by presenting WWII era characters as just knuckle-dragging racists, and 21st century characters--no matter how "messed-up"--as paragons of virtue, neglecting to take into account the vast differences between the times and environments that produced each group. The people from WWII represent that era's mind-sets, beliefs and actions; the 21st century crowd represents theirs, but fundamental human nature does not change and certainly not in a couple of generations. Birmingham mistakes changes in technology, clothes, slang and convention for fundamental change and writes from a perspective that just assumes that the "more advanced," more "Liberal" 21st century crowd is right on all issues, but are they?

I also agree with another reviewer who felt that the author had just strung together technical sounding terms to come up with a "cool," but unconvincing set of military technologies; much too large a quotient of "handwavium."

Not the exploration of the clash of values and beliefs that it could have been, had Birmingham been willing to write more that just an exercise in moral preening, and a reflexively PC book, but, instead, had tried to more evenhandedly, deeply and sympathetically explore not only the technical and historical, but also the many ethical, moral and practical issues that would be raised by such an event.

I was looking for a nice fast-paced action-adventure read for an airline flight and picked this up. What a disappointment.

I didn't like it for two reasons. First was the excessive and overbearing political correctness. In the future portrayed in this novel, the characters are hyperconscious of race and gender issues. I'd hope by 2021 that race and gender would be non-issues. And the supercarrier USS Hillary Clinton? Please. I was expecting the USS Al Sharpton to come sailing over the horizon and neutralize the enemy with a tactical hairspray weapon.

The other reason I didn't enjoy it was the inauthenticity with which the technology was presented. A lot of it just sounds fake, as if the author is just stringing together numerous technical-sounding words to make something seem complicated. Some of the best authors of the action/adventure genre have either served in the military or have spent a great deal of time researching what they write: it appears this author did neither.

Ultimately, this book was a disappointment and the reason are the characters. Or, more accurately, the collection of stereotypes. When you have people from different eras meet it makes sense that there should be culture shock and some serious misunderstandings. 1632 played this dynamic well. Here, it's sloppy, ham fisted and repetitive.
Almost every 1942 character is either racist, sexist, a pig headed moron or a criminal. Yes, 1942 America embraced stereotypes and racist laws we'd find appalling but these stereotypes are no more accurate than the racial stereotypes 1942 embraced nor do they make for good fiction. They're just annoying.
On the other end, the 2020's Americans are just as thin and obnoxious. They are uniformly great soldiers, smarter, stronger and better in every way. Many of them talk on and on about sex, to the point of being irritating. The female journalist is probably the most shallow of the bunch.
Ultimately, I couldn't stand or care about the majority of these characters, which is sad given the strong points. The action, historical accuracy and the plot being set up for the next books is great. With characters like this though, I won't read any of them.

I read 1.5 books in the trilogy.

I don't want to repeat all the justified criticisms concerning historical accuracy and incorrect military policy. What finally ended my reading was the endless repetitive 1,000+/1 battle losses of the axis forces vs. allied forces.

In any confrontation I came to realize there was no suspense involved. At some point in the battle a 21st century weapon would be brought to bear or sabotage would result in an allied victory with minimal losses.

No suspense, preordained outcome, repetitive gory details.

I cannot recommend this series.