{"id":2611,"date":"2012-03-27T09:27:40","date_gmt":"2012-03-27T07:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.military-history.us\/?p=2611"},"modified":"2012-03-28T13:54:09","modified_gmt":"2012-03-28T11:54:09","slug":"book-review-kirov-by-john-shettler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/2012\/03\/book-review-kirov-by-john-shettler\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Kirov by John Schettler"},"content":{"rendered":"

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kirov<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0by John Schettler is the\u00c2\u00a0Philadelphia\u00c2\u00a0Experiment in reverse. \u00c2\u00a0It is the tale of a\u00c2\u00a0Russian\u00c2\u00a0cruiser\u00c2\u00a0that\u00c2\u00a0through some\u00c2\u00a0anomaly\u00c2\u00a0that is never fully explains finds itself catapulted eighty years backwards in time from 2021 to 1941 to just weeks prior to the meeting of Roosevelt and Churchill at Argentia Bay in Newfoundland. \u00a0 The cruiser in the novel is the resurrected, upograde, and fully modernized guided missile cruiser Kirov <\/a>that currently exists in the Russian Navy today. \u00c2\u00a0Of course the cruiser used in the book is a\u00c2\u00a0fictionalized\u00c2\u00a0version but realistic. \u00c2\u00a0A very good\u00c2\u00a0aspect\u00c2\u00a0was the use of historical figures and the\u00c2\u00a0convincing\u00c2\u00a0way they are portrayed. \u00c2\u00a0I am \u00c2\u00a0not normally someone that likes historical fiction, you could even say that I despise it as a genre but Mr. Schettler does a good job of making the reader forget he is writing historical fiction.<\/p>\n

I very much enjoyed reading this book. \u00c2\u00a0The plot is fantastic enough to be Sci-Fi but realistic enough to be good fiction and my favorite, there is plenty of well researched and\u00c2\u00a0portrayed\u00c2\u00a0action. \u00c2\u00a0The action scenes in the book are very well written and it is some of the best naval combat fiction I have read. \u00c2\u00a0I would compare the quality\u00c2\u00a0of\u00c2\u00a0naval combat portrayal with that of David Weber in the Honor\u00c2\u00a0Harrington\u00c2\u00a0books. \u00c2\u00a0Fantastic, but gripping enough to keep you reading. \u00c2\u00a0The plot moves smoothly along for the most part and I was not tempted to put it down until it was finished. \u00c2\u00a0I could wish there was more of an epilogue but the one that is there leaves plenty of room for the readers imagination while setting a stage for that imagination.<\/p>\n

I have only one complaint about the book and it may be minor and is definitely a personal quirk of mine. \u00c2\u00a0When the main characters are introduced he tends to be fairly long-winded (or penned?) when describing the character’s history and motivations. \u00c2\u00a0It is almost as if each main characters ends up an\u00c2\u00a0excursion\u00c2\u00a0from the main plot instead of these elements being interwoven into the narrative.<\/p>\n

Overall, I have to say I enjoyed this book immensely. \u00c2\u00a0There is plenty of action along with plenty of introspection on motives and human nature. \u00c2\u00a0I also have to say that I don’t understand why one of the bigger publishing houses hasn’t picked up this book or others by Mr. Schettler. \u00c2\u00a0It is currently published by The Writing Shop Press<\/a> and as is all too often true in the world of publishing, great books get overlooked\u00c2\u00a0because\u00c2\u00a0the big publishers can’t or won’t pick them all up. \u00c2\u00a0I would probably never have found this work had the author not contacted me directly asking if I would be willing to read one of his books and review it on my site. \u00c2\u00a0I am glad he did, Kirov<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0is an excellent work and fans of authors, such as David Drake, David Weber, Eric Flint, Tom Kratman, and John Ringo can confidently add John Schettler to the roster of authors putting out excellent military Sci-Fi.<\/p>\n