Final Impact
by John Birmingham
Published by Del Rey
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Reviewed by Sue Stein
This is the final book of the alternate history military thriller Axis of Time Trilogy. Not knowing any of the background story, it took me a while to figure out what was going on--but once I did, I was hooked.
A wormhole created in 2021 transports not only military personnel, but also their technologically advanced naval vessels into the thick of the action in WWII, along with their historical knowledge of what is supposed to happen. This "fore" knowledge creates all manner of intrigue and double-dealing, as the 1942 denizens try to change the trajectory of history, or the future, as the case may be. The technology brought back is adapted by the Allies and Axis powers. The Nazis race with the Americans and Soviets to develop the first atomic bomb, but the Americans outmaneuver them at every turn.
Prince Harry and his SAS cadre from the 21st century are in the thick of things as they blow up a facility and steal away with rocket scientists like Werner von Braun, leaving Himmler to explain to the Fuhrer what has happened.
Stalin drops the world's first atomic bomb on Lodz, a Nazi stronghold, and ramps up hostilities along the Eastern Front. Hitler is so angry he suffers an incapacitating stroke. Himmler reasons that Hitler is now T4 (or defective and no longer belongs among the living), and suffocates Hitler with a pillow. After he proclaims himself to be Fuhrer, he kills many Soviets with biological weapons at the Eastern Front.
The Soviets turn on the Japanese, sending ships to conquer Hokkaido, and the Japanese send forces to battle the Soviets and ultimately sink their entire fleet. The annoyed Stalin promptly vaporizes Tokyo with two atomic bombs.
Himmler offers an unconditional surrender to the Americans as the Nazi war effort implodes under the American's advances. The Americans have also succeeded in building bombs, and Roosevelt drops three of them on Berlin, destroying the city and Himmler.
Tightly plotted book, with great characters and thought-provoking scenarios of the clash of cultures between 1942 and 2021. Now I need read the first two books!
Armchair Interview says: History with a whole new twist.