I wish I had discovered S.M. Stirling long ago, but then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of catching up on his books the way that I did.
The first I read was Island in the Sea of Time quickly followed by it's sequels Against the Tide of Years and On the Oceans of Eternity.
This series of books is known as the Nantucket series as the premise is that the island of Nantucket is transported back in time to 1250 BC. The main character is Captain Marian Alston and as she's a she, and African American to boot, she raises some eyebrows when she visits ancient Alba (Bronze Age England). I feel that Stirling manages to build stronger and more rounded female characters than his men. Alston and her partner the warrior, Swindapa Kurlelo, are no exceptions as both of them are conflicted souls that I learned to love.
I also enjoyed the idea of individuals from the warrior tribes of Alba being turned into something very close to G.I.'s with crew cuts and modern military equipment.
As in all the best books the baddies are very bad and Stirling pulls no punches when it comes to violence. The main bad guy, William Walker, is one of Alston's own officers and he teams up with the deliciously psychotic Alice Hong to carve out an empire in Europe which inevitably this leads to conflict with the Nantucketars...
Stirling weaves a believable world with 21st century morals and science coming into conflict with barbarism and savage conflicts. He brings to life historical figures, places and people coming to terms with the new tools brought by the Americans from the future.
Only 3 books in the series but the ending does leave open a chance for a return to this world...
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