This is our alternate blog for the Kirov Series Novels by John Schettler. It presents a brief writeup about each book with a link to the main web site section for each volume where you can read reviews, reader comments, see maps and images pertaining to each volume, and read a long author interview on the series as it evolved book by book. The author also maintains a more extensive blog site here, but the web links below in each title line will give you the most comprehensive info on each book.
THE KIROV SERIES: By John Schettler
Volume I – Kirov A strange accident sends the most powerful battlecruiser on earth careening through a breach in time…to the year 1941! Now the Royal Navy begins the hunt for a deadly new ship they believe is a new German commerce raider. But as Kirov runs the Denmark Strait, she poses a threat to the lives of Churchill and Roosevelt, both at sea for their first meeting at the Atlantic Charter. Exciting naval action in “The Russian Final Countdown.”
Kirov II – Cauldron Of Fire Sailing across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean Sea in search of life, Kirov again shifts in time to the year 1942 where she is soon surrounded by enemies and embroiled in one of the largest Air/Sea battles of the war: Operation Pedestal. Sailing for safe waters beyond Gibraltar she is confronted by the full might of the Royal Navy and a curious man at Bletchley Park who begins to unravel the deepening mystery surrounding the ship.
Kirov III – Pacific Storm Kirov finds herself again in the dangerous waters of the Coral Sea in 1942. Discovered by a Japanese fleet poised to invade Port Darwin, the ship now faces its most dangerous and determined challenge ever when they are stalked by the powerful Japanese 5th Carrier Division and confronted by an enemy task force led by the battleship Yamato and an admiral determined to sink this phantom ship, or die trying.
Volume IV – Kirov Saga: Men Of War Kirov returns home to a changed world in the year 2021, and as the Russian Naval Inspectorate probes the mystery of the ship’s disappearance, Anton Fedorov begins to unravel yet another dilemma—the secret of Rod 25. The world is again steering a dangerous course toward the great war that blackened the shores of a distant future glimpsed by the officers and crew. Fedorov has come to believe that time is waiting on the resolution of one crucial unresolved element from their journey to the past—the fate of Gennadi Orlov.
Volume V – Kirov Saga: 9 Days Falling The war foreshadowed in Kirov’s long voyage to the past has now begun and will escalate over 9 days as humanity begins its descent into oblivion. Now the officers and crew of Kirov hold the last straw of hope in the bottom of Pandora’s jar as they struggle to prevent the war from ever happening. As Karpov confronts the US 7th Fleet in the Pacific, Fedorov leads a daring mission to the past to search for Gennadi Orlov. Meanwhile Admiral Volsky is embroiled deeper in the web of mystery surrounding Rod-25. The story takes an dramatic turn when catastrophe erupts amid the fury of all out conventional war at sea.
Volume VI – Kirov Saga: Fallen Angels Captain Karpov finds himself at the dying edge of the last great war, yet his own inner demons now wage war with his conscience as he contemplates another decisive intervention. Meanwhile tensions rise in the Black Sea as the Russian mission to rescue Fedorov and Orlov has now been expanded to include a way to try and deliver new control rods to Kirov from the same batch and lot as the mysterious Rod-25. Will they work? All efforts are now focused on a narrow stretch of coastline on the Caspian Sea, where men of war from the future and past are locked in a desperate struggle to decide the outcome of history itself.
Volume VII – Kirov Saga: Devil’s Garden The stunning continuation to the Kirov saga extends the action, both past and present, as the prelude to the Great War moves into its final days. The last remnant of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet has fought its duel with Halsey in the Pacific, resorting to nuclear weapons in the last extreme—but what has happened to Kirov and Orlan? Now the many story threads involving Fairchild Inc. and the desperate missions to find Orlov launched by both Haselden and Fedorov all converge in the vortex of time and fate on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Fedorov and Troyak lead an amphibious assault at Makhachkala, right into the teeth of the German advance. Meanwhile, Admiral Volsky and Kamenski read the chronology of events to peek at the outcome and discover the verdict of history. Can it still be changed? Turn the page with Admiral Volsky and learn the fate of Orlov, Fedorov, Karpov and the world itself. Follow the strange and enigmatic figure of Sir Roger Ames, Duke of Elvington as he reveals a plot, and a plan, older than history itself on the windswept shores of Lindisfarne Castle.
Volume VIII – Kirov Saga: Armageddon The lines of fate have brought the most powerful ship in the world to a decisive place in history. Driven by his own inner demons, Captain Karpov now believes that with Kirov in 1908 he is truly invincible, and his aim is to impose his will on that unsuspecting world and reverse the cold fate of Russian history from 1908 to the 21st century. But it is not just the fate of a single nation at stake now, but that of all the world. Shocked by Karpov’s betrayal, Anton Fedorov plans a mission to stop the Captain before he can do irreversible damage to the cracked mirror of time. Now Admiral Volsky must do everything possible to launch this final mission aboard the nuclear attack submarine Kazan. The journey to the Sea of Japan becomes a perilous one when the Americans and Japanese begin to hunt Kazan in the dangerous waters of 2021. Join Anton Fedorov, Admiral Volsky, Chief Dobrynin, and Gennadi Orlov aboard Kazan as they launch this last desperate mission to confront the man, and the ship, that now threatens to change all history and unravel the fabric of fate and time itself.
Volume IX – Kirov Saga: Altered States Kirov and Kazan move forward yet find themselves stuck in the midst of WWII once again, only the world is not the same! The consequences of all their interventions in history have now calcified to a new reality. The political borders of nations have been re-drawn, Colonial powers vie for control of the undeveloped world, and Russia itself is a divided nation. Discovering they still possess a decisive edge in weapons technology they must now decide which side to take to end a long and terrible war that threatens millions more lives.
Volume X – Kirov Saga: Darkest Hour The first rounds have fallen, heavy shells smashing against the armored conning tower of HMS Hood, stunning the ship and its stolid Admiral Holland. Yet Hood fights on, her guns raging in reprisal as the pride of two navies meet in the largest naval engagement since Jutland. Even as Admiral Tovey reaches the action, the shadow of Hoffmann’s battlegroup looms over his shoulder and the odds stack ever higher against the embattled ships of Home Fleet. Off to the north the Stukas rush to re-arm aboard carrier Graf Zeppelin, while far to the south another ship hastens north to the scene, from a time and place incomprehensible to the men now locked in a desperate struggle raging on a blood red sea that may decide the fate of England in 1940. Can they engage without shattering the fragile mirror of history yet again? Learn the outcome and follow Kirov north as it heads to home waters, determined to meet the man that may have changed the course of all history, Sergei Kirov. Meanwhile the action moves to the Med where the young Christopher Wells is dispatched to Force H. The British must first prevent the powerful French Fleet from falling into enemy hands. The fighting has only just begun as Altered States continues the retelling of the naval war in an exciting second volume.
Volume XI – Kirov Saga: Hinge Of Fate – As Turing and Tovey pursue the mystery of the strange mother lode of information on the Russian ship, Admiral Volsky sails to meet with the British on the Faeroe Islands, bearing an offer of formal alliance between Soviet Russia and Great Britain. Meanwhile, the Germans plan a fateful meeting of their own, at the small village of Hendaye on the border near Spain. There Hitler hopes to secure another vital ally so that he can breathe life into Admiral Raeder’s long advocated plan for a Mediterranean strategy. It will begin with ‘Operation Felix’ the assault on Gibraltar, and only one man stands in the way, el Caudillo himself, Francisco Franco. As Britain steels itself for possible invasion, Tovey must now rally his battered fleet to the defense of Gibraltar, England’s Rock in the Mediterranean and the hinge of fate that could turn the entire course of the war should it fall. Opposing him are the powerful new French battleships at Casablanca and Dakar, and a resurgent Kriegsmarine led by a fearsome new gladiator, the Hindenburg. Meanwhile, The airship Narva faces danger and mystery on the Stony Tunguska, even while elements of two other airship fleets converge on another hinge of fate, the inn at Ilanskiy. Action, mystery and intrigue pulse through this compelling continuation of the amazing Kirov Saga!
Volume XII – Kirov Saga: Three Kings – As Admiral Tovey struggles to stop heavy German units breaking out into the Atlantic, the first of three kings falls with the embattled garrison of Gibraltar. The last two, Malta and Suez, are now under threat of imminent attack.
General O’Connor launches Operation Compass against the Italians only to be opposed by a dangerous new foe in the Western Desert, Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps. As British fortunes reach a desperate state, Volsky and Fedorov soon learn of two newcomers on the vast field of battle, and a triumvirate of powerful ships rises to the challenge, Three Kings of the sea to stand as mighty champions against a powerful combined Axis fleet.
The war effort on every side is soon focused on the Middle East, and Admiral Volsky accompanies John Tovey to a fateful conference in Alexandria to meet with General Wavell. Like Three Kings of the West meeting on the field of battle, they plan the future course of the war and struggle to find some way to stop the relentless Axis juggernaut before its shadow darkens the world. Yet to do so they must also reckon with the Three Kings of the East, Sergei Kirov, Ivan Volkov and Vladimir Karpov.
The war effort on every side is soon focused on the Middle East, and Admiral Volsky accompanies John Tovey to a fateful conference in Alexandria to meet with General Wavell. Like Three Kings of the West meeting on the field of battle, they plan the future course of the war and struggle to find some way to stop the relentless Axis juggernaut before its shadow darkens the world. Yet to do so they must also reckon with the Three Kings of the East, Sergei Kirov, Ivan Volkov and Vladimir Karpov.
Kirov Saga: Grand Alliance – As Fedorov struggles to forge an alliance of understanding between Brigadier Kinlan and General O’Connor, Rommel prepares to launch an offensive to break the last line of resistance south of Sidi Barani. While the Afrika Korps is overstretched and dangerously low on fuel, it now threatens to break through and open the road to Alexandria–and Wavell has nothing left to throw at them until…
German oasis patrols soon encounter an unexpected mechanized force massing on Rommel’s flank, and the fate of Egypt will now be decided at an insignificant desert outpost called Bir el Khamsa when the great grandsons of the Desert Rats join their ancestors on the field of honor.
Meanwhile, Volsky, Tovey and Fairchild forge a grand alliance at sea to oppose a powerful Axis fleet. The hubris of Italian General Iachino brings his force into contact with these powerful new foes as the Franco/German fleet rushes to the scene of battle. And Sergei Kirov receives a visit from Vladimir Karpov as the wily ex-Captain of Kirov seeks to further enmesh himself in the decisive campaigns about to open on the eastern front. But Karpov’s grand vision of alliances he hopes to form will soon lead him to a most unexpected place, where he will again hold the fate of nations in the palm of his hand.
Kirov Saga: Hammer of God – Churchill enters the story with a dramatic visit to the desert oasis of Siwa, and there he meets with the “man from tomorrow” Anton Fedorov. With Rommel retreating to the west, Paulus and Manstein convince Hitler not to abandon his Mediterranean strategy, and strong new reinforcements are assigned. At the same time, the British plan a new offensive to secure the vital Middle Eastern states of Iraq and Syria. But the Germans have plans of their own, falling like Hammer of God upon a most unexpected place when Kurt Student’s 7th Flieger Division goes into action again.
Kirov Series 