The Captains

The Brotherhood of War Series, Book 2

By: W. E. B. Griffin

Narrated by: Eric G. Dove

Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

It was more than an incident: It was a deadly assault across the 38th parallel. It was the Korean War. In the fear and the frenzy of battle, those who had served with heroism before were called again by America to man the trenches and sandbag bunkers. From Pusan to the Yalu, they drove forward with commands too new and tanks too old, brothers in war, bonded together in battle as they had never been in peace....

©2009 W.E.B. Griffin (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Great Continuation to the Military Officer Corps

This is a great story following fictional lives within the military structure and how they work or not during specific timelines and possible skirmishes.

Incredible character development

This engaging story is told from the author's firsthand experiences in Korea and his characters come alive with a detail and nuance that is truly amazing. I've read the entire series several times and the Audible version beings a fresh perspective to the story. The only criticism is with the narration...too many words mispronounced and military acronyms not given correct interpretation for a professional read.

Captivating!

This book and series is Awesome.
The story is great and pulls you in.

Great Characters

I enjoy WEB Griffin’s books. The development of the characters is always done so well to the point you feel you know them personally.

Excellent series in a Military setting

If you liked W.E.B Griffin's "Corp" series, you'll also like this series, “Brotherhood of War”. They are very similar in style, although the characters and stories are all different. As with "Corp", this series is really about people and the trials and challenges of their lives, and much less about the actual wars during with the books are set. The 9 books in the series follow the principle characters thru promotions and ensuing wars over 20 years, spanning from the mid 40’s to the mid 60’s. You most definitely should start with book 1 in the series, The Lieutenants.

These books are about character development and growth in the military setting. I love the military background and the details of life for career service men and women, perhaps because it’s a world I never experienced. I have the greatest respect and admiration for our service men and women, although I never served. There’s no doubt that part of my enjoyment of these books is seeing the inner workings of a life I never experienced – but this review is coming from a guy who was never there.

I like the ones narrated by Scott brick better

I feel Scott brick does a better job narrating than the gentleman that did this one

Continuation of a great historical yarn

What did you love best about The Captains?

W. E. B. Griffin develops his characters extremely well and you think you have met them during your days in the Service.

What other book might you compare The Captains to and why?

I like The Corp and Brotherhood of War series as well as Lonesome Dove.

Any additional comments?

These are new performances.

Love the book, but the reading not so much.

I know these books very well. The narrator mispronounced words and misread the context so his inflection was off in several places. It became distracting.

Narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of The Captains to be better than the print version?

No. It is very good but to an experienced soldier the Narrator just about insures that in this instance the written word is superior.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is a continuation of the outstanding story lines from the Lieutenant’s which was excellent in content and descriptive personalities presented to the listener.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Unfortunately, in just one way: His pronunciation, He really should have researched city and geographic names of Korea

Who was the most memorable character of The Captains and why?

Lowell

Griffin Hits His Stride

Griffin has found his stride in this novel. The Korean War starts and his protagonists from the last book, plus an African American lieutenant who played a small role in the first novel, all find themselves in harms way (or, in the case of the Medal of Honor winner, trying to get into harms way when the army doesn’t want him there because it would be bad public relations if he got killed). In addition to Griffin’s signature “dealing with the army bureaucracy” scenes, there are tough moral decisions and a decent amount of action. We all see more of the West Point alums protecting each other and their careers at the expense of non-West Pointers and usually against America’s interests in the war. (This sort of thing comes up enough in Griffin’s novels that I sometimes wonder if he dislikes the military academies, but it is probably just his attempt to show how those who are connected take care of themselves no matter what the cost.)

There’s a tragedy in the middle of this novel which I think Griffin handles very well, but mostly what I like about this series is Griffin’s insights into why the military functions the way it does—the good and the bad.