Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

could/should have been longer...	Customer Rating:
Have to agree with other reviews, last book felt a bit rushed,was hoping it would have been longer, but still an excellent page turner, one of the best trilogys ive read in a very long time

A thrilling finale

Customer Rating:

John Birmingham's Axis of Time series is one of the most compelling things I've read. Having read Weopons of Choice and Designated Targets back to back over a year ago, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Final Impact. When it came it didn't disappoint. The drama unfolded with the same gripping drama of the first two books. If there is one criticism that I could make, then I could point out the scene between Halabi and Duffy where Birmingham mistakenly refers to Willett when he means Halabi, but that is a one off mistake, and does nothing to spoil the story or its flow. I have got a lot of pleasure and enjoyment from reading this series which is full drama, imagination and humour. It is obvious that Birmingham put a lot of thought and research into the series, and Final Impact gives the series a well crafted and deserving end.

An enjoyable read

Customer Rating:

This review is being written after having read all three of Mr. Birmingham's "Axis of Time" books, so it's really review of the whole series. The nearest comparable thing of which I'm aware is Harry Turtledove's "World War/Colonization" series, in which World War 2 is interrupted by an invasion of aliens with advanced technology. In this case, it's advanced technology from our own future. Like Mr. Turtledove, Mr. Birmingham spreads his story over a wide range of characters and situations, with the twist that all the participants in WW2 know of what would have happened and seek to take appropriate action, so, for example, Heinrich Himmler has all the Führer's future enemies eliminated, while hushing up his own attempted peace efforts in the dying days of the Third Reich. The books drag a bit in some parts, but are also often quite exciting, the series reaching its climax for me in the second book with the attempted Nazi invasion of England whose defence is primarily in the hands of the 21st century HMS "Trident" and its part-Pakistani lady captain, whose very existence horrifies the pukka sahibs of the 1940s Royal Navy. Mr. Birmingham brings out well the stark differences in attitudes to colour, gender and sexuality between the two times and how these two worlds exist uncomfortably side by side. The characterisation is not bad, and, again like Mr. Turtledove, Mr. Birmingham has left open the possibility of sequels. If this standard can be maintained, I for one would welcome them. In conclusion, an entertaining series.

Twists and turns that'll make you "what if"

Customer Rating:

A 21nd century carrier battle fleet gets sent back in time and thrown smack into the middle of WW2. based over 3 books (Final Impact being the finale), this is a compelling story that can be analysed for hours on end. I found the first book, Weapons of Choice, is a whirlwind of activity, so much so that it can be very confusing, which is perhaps the purpose. Book 2, Designated Targets, takes us one step further, whilst Final Impact is a fitting end to a great concept. I found this last book the most interesting, although it ends up being a fairly straight forward 'war novel' after a while. By splitting the story over 3 books, John Birmingham is able to follow a realistic timeline, with several months or years between each book. Saying that, this creates gaps in the story which aern't always explained, and characters dissappear during the 'time off'. Regardless, the plot is easy enough to follow, and quite gripping at times. I cannot help but think that the author has used the 1980 film, The Final Countdown, starring Martin Sheen and Kirk Douglas (where the USS Nimitz gets transported 40 years back in time to the eve of the attack on Peal Habour) as a source of inspiration for his books, although the axis of time trilogy is much more detailed, and includes a broader spectra of activity, from naval to special forces, with the srory told from many different sides. Despite being occassionally confusing this series of books is to be recommended to all those interested in alternative history.

Rushed to a finish

Customer Rating:

The first 2 books in this trilogy were excellent reads. Unfortunately the third and final book is very unsatisfying. It has two major flaws in my opinion. First is that 3 books just wasnt enough space to flesh out the story - 5 would have been better to keep the pacing and development shown in the first 2 books. As a result everything seems rushed in an attempt to fit it all into one final book. The second issue I have is with the speed of technology development in a few years. While some of the improvements by the allies are reasonable, Birminghan lets them do too much too soon. I dont think he realises just how much associated development is necessary to get a particular piece of hardware working, debugged and in full production. But the biggest annoyance is the way he treats the axis and the Soviet Union. The Germans in particular seem to have been unable to do much with the knowledge they gained, yet the Soviets, with a more primitive base and only stolen data - no people to help - get much further. This is presumably because he seems to be setting up another book based on WW3, but in order to set it up the advances of the Soviets are quite unbelievably fast and efficient. Sorry, but the final book just was a let down after the first two.