Originally Posted by Wiley
Some time ago, I posted on Jetblast recommending John Birmingham's sci-fi yarn "Weapons of Choice - World War 2.1". I'm almost at the end of his second offering of what I suspect will be a trilogy (towards the end of Book 2.2, 'Designated Targets', we're still in 1942 and the Battle of Bundaberg).
For those not familiar with the books, they are a rather clever (and far superior) spin on the Michael Douglas(?) movie of some years ago where present day forces are thown back in time to WW2. (Don't let that put you off - Birmingham handles the premise very well IMHO, and Birmingham's troops are from 2130, which cleverly avoids any of the time travelling characters meeting themselves back in 1942.)
Birmingham's rather fantastical premise and the way he sees our immediate future has more than a little bearing on this debate in that the 2130 troops have been at war non-stop for 20 years against 'the Caliphate Forces'). I fear he might be a little closer to the mark in some of his predictions than many people today would be comfortable with. One is that in 2130, the full on war was nowhere near being resolved. Another that comes to mind is the way the 2130 troops summarily execute any enemy they consider to have committed a war crime. (We won't go into the war crime many would consider they are committing in doling out this punishment.) This, along with many other things about the people from the future, deeply shocks virtually everyone from 1942. I find myself wondering if something similar won't happen to us over the next few years in the real world, as we realise we will simply have to put aside some of our sensitivities if we are to prevail - and survive - against an enemny who has no such sensitivities.
As I said of the first book - a good read, if perhaps a little too much like Jules Verne for comfort (in the way so much of Verne's 19th century science fiction has become 21st century science fact).
You're right, they're very good reads that way beyond just the technical challenges but well into the social differences of the time. I just got 2.3 and will be reading it on the plane to LA next week.
I think you'll find, however, that they're from 2021, not 2130. It's at the start of 2.1.
Magoo