Weapons of Choice
I just wanted to take a moment to rave about the book I'm reading right now: John Birmingham's Weapons of Choice.
It's an exceptionally well-written novel about a multinational fleet of combat vessels from 2021 that gets caught in a quantum physics experiment gone wrong, and is sent back to 1942.
Birmingham (you might know him from He Died With a Falafel In His Hand) bounces back and forth between a huge array of characters, ranging from the ensigns and privates from 1942 all the way through to the Admiral of the 2021 fleet, as well as non-military characters like the media-relations crew (members of the press) on the flagship vessel, the USS Hillary Clinton (named for one of the country's greatest presidents). Even Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Einstein himself make appearances!
There's all the "future shock" writing you'd expect in a story like this, as well as some gripping battle scenes, but the most interesting facet of the story is the juxtaposition of personalities and belief-systems of the people from the two time periods. For example, the 2021 fleet consists of sailors from all countries, and of both sexes (obviously), but the US fleet from 1942 consists solely of white males, except for a few black personnel who work as cooks etc. The "locals" from 1942 can't come to grips with "broads" or "dames" (as well as "negroes") being on board (and officers in some cases), and you can imagine their reaction to the Japanese and German members!
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Amazon.com: Weapons of Choice (The Axis of Time Trilogy, Book 1): Books: John BirminghamThis is the first book in what will be a trilogy (part two is already out). I heartily recommend it! For a laugh: check out the review on amazon.com that says that this is Birmingham's "debut novel". Well done, guys.
Comments
# JohnP
12/01/2006 1:03 AM
Sounds interesting, if I can get past the whole U.S.S. Hillary "named for one of the country's greatest presidents".
That's going to be very difficult.
# Dave Burke
12/01/2006 2:07 AM
Did you finish it? I bought the MSReader version for my PocketPC and read it through (I think about half-way) where they docked in Hawaii and...well, I wanted to know how far along you were before I mentioned any details. But it was about that point I got away from it. You're right about the battle scenes and the juxtaposition. (Negro FEMALE Commander???)
btw, I LOVED the "U.S.S. Hillary."
# mabster
12/01/2006 6:51 AM
Not quite finished yet, Dave. I've just been introduced to Himmler and Hitler, and the US troops have just been made aware that one of their vessels is under Japanese control on a mountaintop in New Guinea.
When you say "I got away from it" ... did you just stop reading it?
# Dave Burke
12/01/2006 3:15 PM
Uhh, yeah. But on the positive side, because of your positive review I reloaded it back onto my Pocket PC. The problem is finding where you were in a book with over 3000 pages is a bitch.