Rating: 
Summary: Hard to Stop Reading
Review: The second of Stirling's alternate timeline series is as compelling as the first. If I had the time, I would have read the book in one sitting. The plot is brilliant and the anticipation of where the Eagle people go and what they do next is mind boggling. If you haven't read the first part of the trilogy, you may want to stop reading this volume and read the first one to get a better flavor of the characters, the event and the change of history. I hope Mr. Stirling keeps this series going past the next volume and the one after that. I guarantee that once you start reading this series you will not put this book down until it's finished.
Rating: 
Summary: Stirling is a good author, but...
Review: This and the other two books in the Nantucket trilogy are excellent, but there is a good deal of totally unnecessary objectionable material in all three books. He gives...descriptions of...sexual acts...None of [the] graphic sexual relationship or any of the off-color language that he litters his books with are even remotely related to the plot...Apparently, the last thing that a person or animal does when they are killed is defecate...There is a lot of killing in these books and he just loves to write about how they "void" before they die. He must have written that hundreds of times in the books. He also loves to tell of the stench of defecation that is present at the scene of a killing or battle. ...If all of what I just mentioned isn't offensive to you, then you should read all three books.
Rating: 
Summary: Good light reading
Review: This is one of the better "Americans lost in the past" books, and certainly more realistic than Eric Flint's =1632=. I'm puzzled, however, by the number of reviewers who seem to believe that a strong female character, like Marian Alston, automatically means that the male author hates his own gender. I'm also puzzled by the references to Alston being "a psychotic lesbian." If being career oriented, strong minded, and loving toward her family is "psychotic," well, I'm a psychotic heterosexual and have been for forty years. It's too bad that a decent female military lead is still intolerable to so many. I also do not understand this "Stirling is left wing" business. The only way I could see any "leftist influence" is that the female characters were portrayed as equal to the men rather than being stereotypes. Compared to the average military SF book, this *is* liberal, but ultimately this is much more damning of the right wing/libertarian strain in science fiction than of S.M. Stirling. Or maybe the idea of one person, one vote at a New England town meeting is a bit much for some people? Finally, the "reviewer" who brings up the subject of Bronze Age combat being reliant on brute strength is forgetting a few things (just a few). First, this book is about Americans changing the paradigm by introducing less strength oriented tactics and weapons. Second, modern Americans are larger, stronger and healthier than Bronze Age Mediterraneans. That includes women, believe it or not. Third, Bronze Age warfare depended on brute strength because the tactics and weapons were extremely primitive. The Nantucketers may be *in* the Bronze Age, but they are not *of* the Bronze Age. Their weapons are steel, not Bronze (and thus stronger and lighter), they eat a better diet and are in better shape, and they have the benefit of several thousand years' worth of later military tactics and battle accounts. Of course they would cream the Bronze Agers in battle. Stirling has done a nice job with what is rapidly becoming a cliche in science fiction. Definitely worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: The master does it again
Review: Alternate military history is normally an excuse to give stock characters blasters and knives and then run them through the usual paces. No thought as to how the cultures interact on each other. No real tech knowledge. Often little real military knowledge. Mr. Stirling makes it all work so beautifully that you have to keep shaking yourself that this is NOT a popular history of real events. The characters and places are so real it is breath taking. Even when he takes a real event, such a Rorke's Drift, he makes it come alive in the detail. Every time you think he cannot get any better he does. He's in a class by himself. He understands multiple viewpoints so well it almost feels like you are listening to their thoughts.
Rating: 
Summary: Personal comments
Review: There's no doubt that Stirling knows his histories and that the situation as he set it up is fascinating, particularly the idea of the all-metal modern sailing craft to be used for travel. What turned me off (and it always does) is the ubiquity of a horrible and seemingly omnipotent villian (Walker). I think dealing with the impact of the ancient civilizations would have been more than enough for Nantucket's citizens to contemplate. Imagine establishing a firm government for the meso-Americans and the potential pre-Inca civilizations of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. Just sitting back and trying to fit in with the Celts (or their dark-haired predecessors in Britain) and learning how to speak with Egyptians and read linear A -- the prospects are fascinating. When Walker made off with the small boat and became the eternal, untouchable villian, I discarded book I without finishing it, and when he was still a problem in book II, I gave it away. That's a personal bias, I admit...but I may not be the only one who possesses it.
Rating:
Summary: Good Plot runs out of steam. Hope the next book fixes that.
Review: Every so often we get a "Kalvan of Otherwhen" style novel that is worth reading. "Island in the Sea of Time" was one of them. "Against the Tide of Years." suffers a bit from sequelitis. I'm not really qualified to address the male/female skill/brute strength martial arts question. My big question is whether Nantucket's Secretary of State is going to crack up in the third novel, or did S. M. Stirling get too tired to tighten up his first draft?
Rating:
Summary: Thank God for Americans...
Review: Other reviewers have commented on the political correctness and 'left-wing'ness of the author. How they could overlook the theme of the how wonderful American imperialism is and would be is beyond me. It seems inconceivable to the author that anything his heros might do could be wrong or evil. Likewise his villain is pure evil through and through with no redeeming features (and ironically the only character one cares about at all). And add to that the 'superhero' characters and it's almost enough to set the volume aside. Why the main characters are invulnerable to any sort of attack thrown at them is beyond me, and makes them completely unbelievable and unsympathetic, in my opinion. And finally, the author uses a plot device that is almost *identical* at the end of this book, and the end of the first one to end the climactic battle in favor of the 'good guys'. On the other hand, it is very well written if one can get past the heavy-handed politics of the author.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun to read--loses in the details, though.
Review: Despite the fact that he seems very knowledgable about Indo-European linguistics in general, Mr. Stirling makes grave errors whenever he tries to use Latin or make references to Archaeology; "Troy VVI" for example--this isn't even a number, though I knew what he *wanted* was Troy VII. Simple mistake, seemingly, but one that an Editor should have verified. Same with his Latin quotes; these should be researched. This would lead me to my second criticism--who edits this book? Whomever it was needs to find a new line of work, as I found error upon error, both in homonyms and in spelling (especially of foreign words--'hectacomb' is not a word; 'hecatomb' is). This may seem a minor point, but seeing them time and again really jars one from the book's setting. That said, this is about as filled with action as one could want; half a naval novel, half military, and the other half an up-close look at the Bronze-Age Near East (I do indeed realize that that's 3/2) as it comes in contact with the 20th century technology and techniques of the Nantucketers. Pick it up, read it, enjoy--and by all means investigate the *real* history in conjunction with this!
Rating:
Summary: This is a better buy than you think, reading other reviews
Review: I've read most of the other reviews. To cut to the chase, who carea about the sexual politics? It's just another view of thw way things might be. Who cares if the RON "gets it right" all of the time. This is escapist literature. Suspend disbelief! Did you like the read, 'cause I did? Most of negative reviews miss the point. Is this book clever? It is. Are there unsusual viewpoints and ways of looking at things expressed? There are. Is it is enjoyable to read? It is. Whay more do you want for the price ?
Rating:
Summary: The preceeding review is not my work.
Review: I just wish to state that the earlier review titled 'The New Barbarians' by An Unenlightened Man from a cave was submitted by a friend who used my email address without my permission. I myself have not read this book yet, so I do not feel qualified to comment on it.
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