Axis of Time

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The Axis of Time trilogy is a series of novels written by Australian journalist and author John Birmingham, from Macmillan Publishing.

Contents

[edit] Plot

A US-led task force off Indonesia in 2021 finds itself sent back to 1942, just prior to the Battle of Midway. The novels deal with a rapidly altered version of World War II, and to a lesser extent the social changes that result amongst the Allied powers.


[edit] Easter eggs

Birmingham names several minor characters after contemporary nonfictional people:

  • Paul Brasch, Brisbane comedian. Appeared as Major Paul Brasch, a major character.
  • Karen Halabi, a journalist who has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, appeared as Captain Karen Halabi, captain of the HMS Trident, a major character
  • Piers Akerman and Andrew Bolt, right-wing Australian columnists. Appeared as SAS demolitionists.
  • Dale Brown, Tom Clancy, Stephen Euin Cobb, and Garth Nix - thriller writers appearing as counterboarding specialists aboard USS Leyte Gulf.
  • Eric Flint (alternative history author) appeared as a Secret Service agent. The fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia, from his 1632 series is referred to as Dan Black's home town. In addition, it was mentioned that 1632 and its sequels were turned into movies, directed by Peter Jackson.
  • William R. Forstchen (sci-fi/alternative history author) referred to as a fringe 'professor' who wrote an underground bio of J. Edgar Hoover.
  • Bill O'Reilly and Jerry Springer are mentioned as both being United States senators in the 21st Century.
  • Matthew Reilly (Australian action/sci-fi author) appears as a lieutenant on the USS Leyte Gulf. Redshirted.
  • S.M. Stirling (sci-fi/alternative history author), appeared as a Secret Service agent. His Draka series is referenced when one of the characters remarks that, with all the events of the past year, he would not be surprised to hear of a new race of super-Nazis arising in South Africa, and a second time when a character mentions Draka movies by Steven Spielberg.
  • Harry Turtledove, one of the most prominent alternate history authors, appears as "Commander Turteltaub", an aide to FDR. The President at one point asks him whether the space lizards have invaded yet, a reference to the Worldwar series.
  • Mike Judge Creator of Beavis & Butt-Head, King of the Hill and Office Space, commanding officer of the USS Hillary Clinton.
  • James H. Cobb, Robert Dessaix, and Jean-Paul Sartre are namesakes for naval ships.
  • Hillary Clinton is also the namesake of a naval ship, an American aircraft carrier. From the perspective of the series' 2021 setting, Clinton is a former President who led the country during a war and was later assassinated.
  • Phillip McGregor (co-author of Space Opera (FGU), Rigger Black Book #1 (FGU) and many other roleplaying games and supplements) appears as the Pilot of one of the Dakota gunships used to decimate German Paratroops taking part in Operation Sea Dragon, a thank you for helping provide the author with some historical background material as part of a discussion on the book on the soc.history.what-if usenet newsgroup.
  • Lieutenant Colonel Nancy Viviani - Logistics officer of the Marine battalion in the 21C forces. Most likely Professor Nancy Viviani, formerly of Australian National University, also Griffith, a well-known expert in International Relations.
  • Tim Horan and Peter FitzSimons (former rugby union players and in 'fitzys' case also journalist and author) appear as Australian military personnel
  • The French ship Robert Dessaix, actually an Australian novelist, was commanded by René Goscinny with First Officer Albert Uderzo, the creators of Asterix.
  • Contributors of Birmingham's blog, Cheeseburger Gothic, have also scored cameos (Master Chief Madoc, USMC Force Recon Gunnery Sargent Adam Denny and Lt Lobes for example)
  • SAS Troopers Peter Hamilton (a British science-fiction writer) and Sir Vivian Richards (one of the greatest cricketers of all time).
  • Colonel Harry Windsor of the British SAS.
  • Rosanna Natoli Is a reporter/presenter for Channel Seven News Queensland Australia. Was a 21st Century reporter murdered in Hawaii by a Japanese officer.

Birmingham names at least one place (USSR Demidenko facility) after contemporary writer Helen Darville, an Australian journalist and writer. In 1993, Darville won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award for her book The Hand that Signed the Paper. Darville had written the novel under the pseudonym Helen Demidenko.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Axis of Time novels by John Birmingham
Novel series:
Specific articles:
Characters: