BLUF: FIVE STARS.

Hey, all. Yeah, it’s been a little sleepy around here lately. For a host of reasons, and I have them, it’s been a thing. However, it is time to wake things up with a return to first principles; a review of classic science fiction by one of my favorite authors, S.M. Stirling.

He’s written a lot of cool stuff, including many personal favorites. In fact, I’ve encountered little of his that I began and was like, “Nah, I’ll pass.” Many of his books I’ve read and re-read; I discovered his writing over twenty years ago during the dawn of the Iraq campaign. “Dies the Fire” was incredible, and that was the book I found in a GI library in a hot and dusty place.

I’ve been hooked ever since.

The other night, during a strategy session with my friend, during a discussion about a future project, he mentioned Stirling’s latest, “To Turn The Tide.” He gave me the premise and I was intrigued. As soon as we hung up, I found and ordered it.

Guys, it’s been nonstop ever since. On both of the first two nights, I was up crazy later than normal, and today, I finished it in the morning, which is highly unusual for me. Usually, I do my reading in the evening after all my other tasks for the day have been completed. Nope. Not today.

I’ve had a lot of trouble reading for a while. I’m unsure why. During my career, reading was a failsafe in bad situations. I always had a book out after taking care of the essential. But my lifelong habit has failed me of late, and I am unsure of why. But, it’s been a thing. This has left me unmoored; reading has always been a constant, since about five or six years of age.

Therefore, when I heard Stirling had a book whose premise I REALLY dug, I ordered it immediately after hanging up with my Australian friend.

I don’t do spoilers and won’t break my record now. You can read the premise on the Amazon homepage. It’s pointless for me to regurgitate it here.

I’ll give you my impressions of the read. You need to know that this is a time-travel book in Stirling’s style: action, believable characters, and bad baddies. If you’ve never read his stuff, please browse his catalog. If you have read his stuff, then you know his style.

This book is Stirling in spades. That’s a good thing.

You know this will be awesome from the first chapter, which punches you right in the nose. Nothing grabs one’s attention like apocalypse, that’s all I’ll say. It segues into the time-travel sequence directly with no letup. From there, we see the requisite world-building and more violence. Glorious violence, done in Stirling’s fashion.

While the action sequences were great and are possibly the biggest draw for readers, I preferred the world-building sequences. They were amazing and almost made me wish for a time-travel machine, myself. Except for zero antibiotics, stinky people with edged weapons attacking in the dark, and garum, which, while beloved by the Romans, is probably pretty gross.

What is it with Stirling and his descriptions of food? It’s almost pornographic how he makes you taste delicious breads! The guy really has a talent for this, and I’ve seen it in every single one of his books.

I knew three chapters into this book that it would rank among my favorites. By the end of this morning, I was dead certain. In fact, after eating, I plan to re-read this book, effective immediately. I missed things during the first read that I’ll pick up in the second iteration. That’s just how I read when it’s badass stuff—I burn through it without proper consideration.

However, my initial impression was more than enough to write this review.

Believable characters. Great history. A touch of romance. A desperate mission in a lost world. If you can’t love that, then I don’t know how to help you.

Get. This. Book!