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A review by topdragon
The Final Storm: A Novel of the War in the Pacific by Jeff Shaara
4.0
A follow-on volume to Jeff Shaara’s excellent World War II trilogy ([b:The Rising Tide|29917|The Rising Tide (World War II 1939-1945, #1)|Jeff Shaara|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388535171s/29917.jpg|168570], [b:The Steel Wave|2047408|The Steel Wave (World War II 1939-1945, #2)|Jeff Shaara|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441410840s/2047408.jpg|6645517], and [b:No Less Than Victory|6441706|No Less Than Victory (World War II 1939-1945, #3)|Jeff Shaara|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388205842s/6441706.jpg|6631652]), this novel turns the attention to the war in the Pacific. Most of the Pacific War is skimmed over in the prologue so that the novel can focus on the single bloody battle for the island of Okinawa, the final major action before what would have been the invasion of the Japanese home islands had the atomic bombs not been dropped. The author does his usual great job of describing history through the eyes of just a few participants including Admiral Nimitz, President Truman, Japanese General Ushijima (commander in Okinawa) and others. By far the major viewpoint throughout the novel is granted to Marine private Clay Adams whose up close and personal experiences is some of the bloodiest, ground-pounding modern warfare you will ever read. It is absolutely top-notch writing and realistically exposes the reader to what many of us have imagined the true Hell of close combat warfare to really be like.
I really wish that this book had been granted its own trilogy similar to the first three books of the series. Jeff Shaara could have devoted quality time to many aspects of the earlier war in the Pacific with the resulting finale written about in this volume becoming the culmination of the incredible sacrifices on all sides that had come before. I understand that the publisher however, needed Shaara to get back to the Civil War novels for which he is known and for which his devoted readers keep demanding more of. Perhaps, sometime in the future, these other books can be written.
Overall, I was quite pleased with this book. The final portion, devoted to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, seemed sort of tacked on as a way of bringing a conclusion to the entire set of four books (the real “Final Storm”) although travelling along with Paul Tibbets, the pilot who flew the Enola Gay and dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, was far more thrilling than I thought it would be. The logistics of pulling this off in total secrecy was very enlightening. The afterword was very informative as well, letting us know what happened to all of the major players.
I have read quite a number of historical fiction books centering on a particular battle or war and Jeff Shaara always come through. He remains one of my top-tier historical novelists.
I really wish that this book had been granted its own trilogy similar to the first three books of the series. Jeff Shaara could have devoted quality time to many aspects of the earlier war in the Pacific with the resulting finale written about in this volume becoming the culmination of the incredible sacrifices on all sides that had come before. I understand that the publisher however, needed Shaara to get back to the Civil War novels for which he is known and for which his devoted readers keep demanding more of. Perhaps, sometime in the future, these other books can be written.
Overall, I was quite pleased with this book. The final portion, devoted to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, seemed sort of tacked on as a way of bringing a conclusion to the entire set of four books (the real “Final Storm”) although travelling along with Paul Tibbets, the pilot who flew the Enola Gay and dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, was far more thrilling than I thought it would be. The logistics of pulling this off in total secrecy was very enlightening. The afterword was very informative as well, letting us know what happened to all of the major players.
I have read quite a number of historical fiction books centering on a particular battle or war and Jeff Shaara always come through. He remains one of my top-tier historical novelists.