Final Impact, by John Birmingham

The third instalment of the alt history of WWII sees events take a sharp turn from the impact of the 21st century ‘uptimers’ with the roles of Japan, Germany and the Soviet Union changing considerably in 1944. Stalin, Hitler, Eisenhower, even John F Kennedy find they are on different paths with the very early advent of modern technology wreaking havoc. Everyone has one eye on a post-war future, with the uptimers determined to carve out a space that suits modern values. The old bugbear of sloppy proofreading raises its ugly head again in this book. Authors of strong and high-selling novels really deserve much better from reputable publishers. Birmingham has the ability to make the reader care about even minor characters, on all sides of the conflict, which can be distressing when he kills them off. Fortunately he doesn’t kill off as many favourites as George RR Martin. He has written a trilogy of novellas set in the 50s as a follow-up, examining espionage in the cold war, where readers can discover just how alternative history becomes and what happens to some of the major characters.