Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Without Warning | 2009 | John Birmingham | Buy |
| 2 | After America | 2010 | John Birmingham | Buy |
| 3 | Angels Of Vengeance | 2012 | John Birmingham | Buy |
On March 14, 2003, just before the planned invasion of Iraq, a massive energy wave appears over North America. It covers most of the continental United States, southern Canada, and parts of Mexico and Cuba. Everything inside the wave dies. Three hundred million people are gone in an instant. The energy field itself remains, a visible barrier that destroys anything entering it.
The rest of the world reacts. The American military forces already deployed overseas are now a nation without a homeland. Coalition allies in the Middle East face an enemy that no longer has a reason to surrender. France and other European powers maneuver for advantage. Israel acts preemptively. Refugee crises erupt on every border. Birmingham tracks the chaos through multiple viewpoints, from a smuggler in France to military commanders in the Pacific to survivors in Seattle, one of the few American cities outside the wave.
The trilogy follows the collapse and partial rebuilding over several years. After America deals with the energy wave’s eventual disappearance and the dangerous, lawless territory it leaves behind. Angels of Vengeance continues the geopolitical fallout as various factions fight over what remains. Birmingham treats the premise seriously, working through the economic, military, and social consequences of removing America from the world overnight.