Weapons of Choice

Axis of Time, Book 1

By: John Birmingham

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

The impossible has spawned the unthinkable. In 2021, a quantum military experiment goes horrifically wrong. A multinational taskforce of ultra-modern warships is suddenly transported back in time to 1942...right into the path of the U.S. naval battle group bound for Midway Atoll.

History is rewritten in an instant as the future smashes into the past, and high-tech hardware goes head to head with World War Two technology. In the chaos that ensues, thousands are killed, but the maelstrom has only just begun. The veterans of Pearl Harbor have never seen a helicopter, or a cruise missile - let alone nanotechnology, ceramic bullets, and F22 Raptor stealth jetfighters.

Allied and Axis forces are then caught in a desperate struggle to gain the upper hand - each hoping to tip the balance with a fist full of 21st-century firepower. What happens next is anybody's guess - and everybody's nightmare.

Listen to the entire Axis of Time trilogy.

©2005 John Birmingham (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

A WELL THOUGHT OUT THRILLER

Would you consider the audio edition of Weapons of Choice to be better than the print version?

I read this series a few years ago and listening to it now is even better because the characters are sharper, especially with all the nationalities involved. Some of the predictions incorporated into the near future are pretty darn close to what has happened....too close

What other book might you compare Weapons of Choice to and why?

It is similar to many of the recent military scifi series but much more realistic in recognizing the limitations as well as the advantages of this event. It quickly dismisses the time travel paradox issues many other time traveling books insist on grappling with and simply writes it off to the multiverse theory and gets on with the story. It does not devolve into the ponderous detail of a Turtledove novel, but lets the story line move forward briskly.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The issues, conflicts, and belief systems clash between the future soldiers and the 1942 population. Both groups have issues ranging from bigotry and sexism to the brutality the wars in future have changed the moral compass of the future soldiers. I like the fact that even with "wonder" weapons from the future, the reality of being unable to reproduce needed stocks for the future weapons presents logistical realities for this thriller. The main characters are not as flawed as some in novels like this, Yet, the response of the 1940's characters to reading about themselves in the books from the future remains a high light of the book. The battle scenes are tense, realistic and non stop. I am on book 2 and looking forward to the 3rd

Weapons of Choice

It is a very good book !!!!!!!! one of the best!!!!!!!!

Couldn't get into it

This sorry simply did not engage me the way I thought it would. The technical details did not lend themselves to the sort of clarity of mental picture to which I am accustomed as a shipbuilding engineer. I'll try it again another time.

Getting 5 Stars from me is hard, seriously hard.

First, I am actually going to review the first three books of this series. There is an implied fourth book, though I know no details. All three books are equally good and I would rate them all the same. I started out with one and found myself purchasing the other two immediately to finish.

Second, the writing is great for this genre. It is future meets past with guns. I have read at least eight or nine such series and John Birmingham (JB) is among the top three. Now most of these are like zombie books, something sciency happens and "look what happens". JB gives enough detail to be set the scene without being annoyingly magical. He then exacts a cost and shows us a path through the interaction of past with future. Obviously the slight future tech, a little farther out than he posits, could be devastating, but he spreads future tech around. However, the new tech can't overcome the weight of history. He does this is a clever, entertaining way, without getting stuck on blood and gore. He doesn't let us forget the human toll in the past. At the same time he is exploring the human toll in the future.

JB does a great job of switching between telling and showing. I know many think that showing is always better than telling, but sometimes showing is just too long and telling us gets us back to the real plot. JB choices I think are well founded and keeps the story moving smoothly.

JB also introduces the friction that happens with the world of 1940's meets the world of the 2020's. Things have changed and it is going to grate, and it does. This exploration of the interface of the past and future people is a very interesting part of the book and it is consistent throughout all three books.

So all three books cover the sciency thing, the cost of translation, the interaction of past and future, how WW II changes, how it stays the same, and finally how it ends. Setting up for the fourth novel.

JB earned 4.8 stars from me by his consistency in building the story, quality character building, killing indiscriminately (some people I liked died! And no it wasn't the ones I thought might die. DAMN YOU, JB!), great and plausible exploration of tensions on the person-to-person and societal levels, and keeping information on historical characters as accurate as we know them from rigorous history. BUT why did you have to kill ..., damn it.

I have to say, JB must have had some great editors! Seriously, JB, take them out for a lot of dinners or whatever or give them a great service medal and bonus.

Third, Jay Snyder (JS), the narrator, is flawless. That's all I can say. All right, that last statement was a lie. I have listened to a few by JS and I have liked them all, but here he is shows what a true narrator/storyteller is all about. You never lose track of what is happening. He lets you know where every comma, period, and paragraph break is and you don't even realize he is doing it. The narration flows so well, I am fully engrossed in the story. I never lose track of who is talking and he can do eight characters in a scene, men and women, fully differentiated without making you scowl because some of the voices are silly or just grating. He doesn't imitate a perfect woman's voice, but he isn't trying, he's giving you a good approximation that doesn't detract from the story at all. He is consistent enough on all the characters voices that even if JB didn't give you a tag, you still know who is talking from JS' voice. That's just weirdly cool. (JB, you should definitely be taking JS out for some good meals of his choosing, and take his significant other.) I think JS shows the difference between great actors and great narrators, and frankly, great narration is FAR HARDER!

JS earned every star of 5 stars

Fourth and finally, these are well produced books. The editing is solid. No 8 second voids where you think your player malfunctioned. No repeats of the last 5 to 30 seconds of the book. No obvious edit points where the narrator's voice sounds completely different for 25 seconds and then goes back to normal. Nice polish. Pat yourselves on the back editor and producer! Lately I have heard too many of these flaws.

Overall it's a great series if you like military, alternate-history science fiction. I gave it a 5 star in overall performance, because I had to listen to all three books in a row. Expect to listen to all three if you like the first one. I am looking forward to the fourth.

Time Travel

I was excited to listen to this story because it combines WWII and time travel. However I was disappointed as to the political and racial undertones throughout the book as if the future creates more problems than answers to these issues in 1942.

mixed bag

Extremly interesting premise, mostly well written but the author falls all overhimself to wax feminist virtue, to the point of distraction at times. (Also, USS Hillary Clinton, lol)
Still, i plan on checking out the next book for the good outweighs the bad thus far.

Paying attention in the beginning

I almost gave up on this book at the beginning because it was hard to follow during the first engagement after the transition to the past. I started over and focused and once past that it was a great book.

Eclectic, Entertaining, Coarse, Bizarre

An imaginative mix of quantum mechanics, brutal warfare, time travel, historical figures, science fiction, gory violence, and sex. Somehow captivating and certainly fast-moving. Unusual, unbelievable, but curiously entertaining waiting for the next twist.

Great story, Narration Ok

Any additional comments?

Great story, really enjoyed listening and getting drawn into the action and issues that would have been faced with the modern values and the clash of old. On the narration, its all about the attention to detail, and some of it was lacking. Mistakes in narration only draw attention to it, appose to being lost in the story. Some of the examples were the incorrect use of nautical terms, also if your going to use multi national militaries, get the terms correct! When your talking about the UK and Aus officers I know the rank of "Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander" and such are spelt the same as the US, but they are most certainly pronounced differently. The narrator should have done some homework and although he had great accents, I guarantee you call a Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander or Lieutenant anything but a "Left-tenant Commander" and a "Left-tennant" and your bound to get corrected very quickly.

time travelling modern navy

Any additional comments?

fun time travelling book. WWII with a modern navy dropped in. very predictable if you have read a couple of the other similarly themed books. This is a fun read, but not extremely thought provoking.