his sequel to Weapons of Choice (2004) picks up without skipping a beat the complex and thrilling events following the accidental eruption of a naval task force from the year 2021 into the middle of 1942, in the midst of all the attendant hostilities of Axis versus Allies.
Four months have elapsed in 1942 since Admiral Kolhammer and his ships slipped back through time and met an initial confused and deadly reception. By now their presence has thoroughly deranged the course of history. (What the history books of 2021 record is now referred to as "original history.") The majority of the ships and nearly all their personnel have come down firmly on the side of the Allies, as might only be expected. But a couple of straggler ships and their invaluable technology—as well as a few traitors—have fallen into the hands of the Germans, the Japanese and the Soviets. Now ensues a race: Whichever side can co-opt the future technology fastest will rule the globe.
In California, Kolhammer is in charge of a burgeoning autonomous zone, in essence a 21st-century colony, where science and technology—and culture—are rapidly being disseminated. He's also remotely running the war efforts of his task force as well. This includes the contingent under Col. "Lonesome" Jones, who are helping General MacArthur repel a Japanese invasion of Australia; Capt. Karen Halabi of the Trident, which is stationed off England helping to fend off a German invasion; and various secret agents planted in Siberia and elsewhere.
But the enemy is not just a sitting duck for Kolhammer. The Japanese, under the clever direction of Admiral Yamamoto, are about to mount an invasion of Hawaii. Disguised assassins are out to kill Prime Minister Churchill. The Germans are aiming to perfect an A-bomb. And Joseph Stalin, ostensibly neutral at the moment, has plans to turn the world into a Soviet fiefdom.
But what might hinder the war effort most of all is the unreasoning hatred of one man against the future soldiers: J. Edgar Hoover.
First contact for two times
After his splendid performance in the first volume of this trilogy (and be warned that this current book ends on several excruciating cliffhangers), Birmingham might have justifiably slacked off a bit. But he doesn't. He layers in several surprises and even ramps up the weirdness and action quotients considerably, thus making this novel fully as satisfying as the first, which featured the unduplicatable pleasures of first contact between the denizens of 2021 and 1942.
One of the strengths of the first book was in the depiction of how each generation of characters found the other to be strange and inscrutable. The 20th-century folks saw the 21st-century intruders as merciless and decadent; the future people saw the past people as ignorant and bigoted. Now, working more closely together, the two camps are forced to reassess their attitudes. The allure of what the future people bring is rippling out across the American nation, drawing thousands of "contemporaries" (or 'temps) to Kolhammer's free zone. But the influence is not one way, as exemplified by the love affair between Julia Duffy (2021) and Dan Black (1942). Meanwhile, books and movies from the future are being licensed for distribution, so that, for instance, Ronald Reagan is promoting Bedtime for Bonzo, a film made in 1951. And a sleazy operator named Slim Jim Davidson is going around signing up a preteen Elvis Presley and other nascent stars to cash in early on their future success.
Birmingham never forgets his main mission, however. All of this good culturally speculative stuff is woven deftly into a sprawling war saga with hyperkinetic and brutally entrancing battle scenes. I'm not sure where Birmingham derives his experience, but his intimate detailing of both 1942 and 2021 military technology, strategy and tactics makes for captivating, even fetishistic reading. The description of the M1A3 Abrams tank that opens Chapter 20 is a good example of what I mean.
Rocketing from character to character and place to place like a heat-seeking missile, employing both the historically famous and the richly invented, Birmingham convinces us of the solid reality of his scenario and makes us care about its outcome, while simultaneously offering no easy certainties.
