Able Fire: The Next War - 2025 and Beyond

Reading the Kirov Series

The Kirov Series is a long chain of linked novels by John Schettler in the Military Alternate History / Time Travel Genre. Like the popular movie “The Final Countdown” which saw the US Carrier Nimitz sent back in time to the eve of Pearl Harbor in 1941, in the opening volume, the powerful Russian battlecruiser Kirov is involved in an accident during live fire exercises that sends the ship back to the 1940s in the Norwegian Sea, where it subsequently becomes embroiled in WWII.

Similar to episodes in the never-ending Star Trek series, the saga continues through one volume after another as the ship’s position in time remains unstable. The main 40 volume series is an alternate history of WWII, from 1940 to late 1944, showing the war as it is changed by the intervention of Kirov and crew. It is the most detailed fictional depiction of WWII ever written, covering most every major battle on land and sea.

Getting Started:

There are two key entry points to the series, the most obvious being Book 1, Kirov, where you will meet all the main characters in the series and learn their inner motivations. However, as the series describes a great loop in time, new readers can also enter with the current season 6 of the story, beginning with volume 41, Homecoming. The author is writing these final books to include all the necessary information new readers would need to know. This final season shows what would have happened to the ship and crew if they had not shifted to the past in book 1, and Kirov becomes embroiled in the outbreak of WWIII in the Norwegian Sea. At the conclusion of Season 6, new readers can then move to book 1 in the main series, and see what happens to the ship if it does shift back in time.

Detailed information on the battles covered in each book, including battle maps, is available at www.writingshop.ws. A listing of books in all six “seasons” of this amazing series appears below.

KIROV SERIES - SEASON 1: Kirov

1) Kirov

2) Cauldron of Fire

3) Pacific Storm

4) Men of War

5) Nine Days Falling

6) Fallen Angels

7) Devil’s Garden

8) Armageddon – Season 1 Finale

KIROV SERIES - SEASON 2: Altered States (1940–1941)

9) Altered States

10) Darkest Hour (Naval Battles, Mers El Kebir)

11) Hinge of Fate (Gibraltar & The Med)

12) Three Kings (North Africa, Spain)

13) Grand Alliance (North Africa, Syria)

14) Hammer of God (Crete, Malta, North Africa)

15) Crescendo of Doom (North Africa, Tobruk)

16) Paradox Hour – Season 2 Finale

KIROV SERIES – SEASON 3: Doppelganger (1941–1942)

17) Doppelganger (Naval Action)

18) Nemesis (Barbarossa, Typhoon)

19) Winter Storm (Moscow, Operation Crusader)

20) Tide of Fortune (Moscow, Pearl Harbor, Operation Condor)

21) Knight’s Move (Japanese Offensive, Malaya, Singapore)

22) Turning Point (Soviet Counteroffensive, Java Sea, Supercharge)

23) Steel Reign (Operation FS - Fiji-Samoa, Sakhalin)

24) Second Front – (Torch, PQ-17, Portugal) Season 3 Finale

KIROV SERIES – SEASON 4: Tigers East (1942–1943)

25) Tigers East (Operation Blue)

26) Thor’s Anvil (Stalingrad)

27) 1943 (Pacific Battles)

28) Lions at Dawn (Plan Orient, Operation Phoenix, Tunisia)

29) Stormtide Rising (Tunisia, Syria, Baghdad)

30) Ironfall (East Front, Kharkov)

31) Nexus Deep (Operation Zitadelle, Rumyantsev, Sicily-Italy)

32) Field of Glory (Special Edition: Waterloo Campaign)

KIROV SERIES – SEASON 5: Prime Meridian (1943–1944)

(Historical material covered by each volume in parentheses.)

33) Prime Meridian (Italy, Operation Dragoon)

34) Event Horizon (Russian Autumn Wind, New Guinea, Makin)

35) Dragonfall (Drive on Dnieper, Solomon Sea, Philippine Sea)

36) 1944 (Battles in France, Operation Valkyrie)

37) The Tempest – (Overlord & The Marianas)

38) Breakout – (Cobra)

39) Starfall – (Market Garden & The Bulge)

40) Rhinelander – (Across the Rhine)

WWIII ~ The Next War Segment:

These volumes depict what would have happened to the ship and crew of Kirov if it had not shifted to the past in volume 1 of the series. It has two “Seasons,” with the first presenting in detail the war in 2021 that was the background to Season 1 of the series. In the course of that action, Kirov shifts to 2025, finding itself in the future of the time line they intervened in during WWII. Readers interested in WWIII action can therefore enter the series with Homecoming, and then return to book 1 if interested in the WWII interventions. These volumes are written to present all necessary information required for you to dive right in. Enjoy!

KIROV SERIES – SEASON 6: The Next War (2021)

Vol 1: Homecoming – (Alternative entry point for new readers)

Vol 2: Kill Chain

Vol 3: Twilight’s End

Vol 4: Resurgent

Vol 5: Deep Blue

Vol 6: Ice War

Vol 7: Eagle Rising

Vol 8: Tangent Fire – Bridge novel to Season 7

KIROV SERIES – SEASON 7: The Next War (2025)

More WWIII action to come, as the final season covers the war in 2025

Vol 1: Condition Zebra

Vol 2: Able Sentry

Vol 3: Able Fire

Vol 4: Far Horizon

More to come!

Discover other titles by John Schettler:

Award Winning Science Fiction:

Meridian - Meridian Series - Volume I

Nexus Point - Meridian Series - Volume II

Touchstone - Meridian Series - Volume III

Anvil of Fate - Meridian Series - Volume IV

Golem 7 - Meridian Series - Volume V

The Meridian series merges with the Kirov Series, beginning with Book 16, Paradox Hour, when the Meridian team discovers the catastrophic damage to the continuum created by the battlecruiser’s unexpected shift into the cauldron of WWII.

Classic Science Fiction:

Wild Zone - Dharman Series - Volume I

Mother Heart - Dharman Series - Volume II

Historical Fiction:

Taklamakan - Silk Road Series - Volume I

Khan Tengri - Silk Road Series - Volume II

Mythic Horror

Dream Reaper