Maelstrom

Destroyermen, Book 3

By: Taylor Anderson

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, along with the men and women of the U.S.S. Walker, are once again at war. Having sided with the peaceful Lemurians against the savage, reptilian Grik, they now find themselves scrambling to prepare for the attack that is sure to come, searching for resources to support their forces - even as they look for allies to join their struggle.

Meanwhile, the Japanese juggernaut Amagi, also trapped in this strange world, is under Grik control---with her fanatical commander approaching madness. And soon they will have amassed a force that no amount of firepower and technology will be able to stop.As the raging conflict approaches, Reddy, his crew, his allies, and his loved ones face annihilation. But if there is one thing they have learned about their new world, it is that hope - and help - may be just over the horizon.

Battle stations! Listen to more in the Destroyermen series.

©2008 Taylor Anderson (P)2009 Tantor

Best Military science fiction in many years

This is book 4 of the series, if you got this far you already know this is an amazing series, epic in scope. I am an army officer, not navy, but i do appreciate his accuracy and attention to detail in military matters. Performer is top notch.

The war grinds on, series still great fun

I really enjoy the Destroyermen series, but man is Taylor Anderson milking this or what?

In book one, the USS Walker, an obsolete steam-powered destroyer dragged to an alternate Earth from 1942, along with her Japanese battlecruiser adversary, allied with a race of peaceful lemur-people against the reptilian Grik. In book two, the war against the Grik continued, with a few chapters told from the POV of the crazy Japanese captain and the evil Grik.

Book three, Maelstrom, is basically the next chapter, and it's literally just another chapter in the story, albeit a 400-page chapter. The Americans and their Lemurian allies continue to prepare for the massive Grik invasion, the captain of the Amagi continues to chew scenery as a megalomaniacal psychopath, and the Grik continue to chortle and salivate at the thought of eating all their enemies.

There was a little bit of extra characterization, as it's hinted that the Grik are actually capable of learning and evolving. And the Walker meets more wayward visitors from Earth, and descendants of even earlier ones. Which is cool except it seems likely to be a recurring shtick - whenever the author needs to add a twist, hey, let's discover another ship or lost civilization that got yanked to this world from the old one.

Despite my griping, I still really enjoyed this book. It's full of sea battles, dashing heroism, mustache-twirling villainy, and all the stuff a fan of military SF should enjoy. You could make this a typical space opera just by moving it to space and making the Grik and the Lemurians aliens instead of products of an alternate evolutionary history on Earth. The Destroyermen series is almost in the planetary romance genre, except for all the emphasis on military tactics and nautical terminology.

It's great fun, but I'm looking at the six or more books ahead of me in the series and wondering if we will plodding through this same war with the same adversaries for all of them.

Good story

Okay, I marked down the previous book in the series with the remark that I wanted to introduce the author to the word despite. In this book, I found that he does indeed know the word. He even used it once. The other 100 times, he reverted to the phrase, "in spite of." It was distracting. Other than that, I liked the story.

Maelstrom Redefines Science Fiction

Where does Maelstrom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Ahead of the rest, but not number one

What was one of the most memorable moments of Maelstrom?

The last third of the book when the planning all comes together

Which scene was your favorite?

The coming together of Becky the strip lizard with the crew.....

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Book made me laugh in many different locations through out the book....it was fun.

Any additional comments?

I don't like the rehashing of the features of the past book....

Wow

Best series I have listened to on Audible. This series will keep you on the edge of your seat.

W.o.w

Another great must read adventure. Series is so addicting that there is little else that I do with my life anymore. Listener beware

great entertainment and narration

I love this whole series . I have not actually read any of the books--just listened to them. The narrator does a great job with the voices and accents. I couldn't wait for the next book each time.
I recommend it to anyone

Don't get dissuaded by the slow start!

Don’t let the slow start in this episode dissuade you - it just builds a basis for getting to know the characters and made me feel like part of the crew!

The first half of this book fills in the backgrounds of the characters and events to bring a new reader up to date in the series. There is a lot of behind the scenes details, building characters, setting the locations, revealing society positioning and strategy for the upcoming battles. Though it’s not exciting, still I found it very interesting. I liked even the geographical descriptions as a comparison between the alternate world and the world that the Americans came from. This story also introduces a few new characters, including some pre-American Revolution British officers who choose to remain outside of the alliance.

I had already like Captain Matthew Reddy and many of the crew members from the prior books. By the time the battle begins in the second half of this book I felt like I knew the American crew personally. When this book jumps into the battle action there is excitement, fear, horror, loss and sorrow. A couple times I actually found myself holding my hands over my face as I dealt with the emotions during the battle.

Audio Notes: William Dufris does a grand job of narrating that captures the nuances of the characters– good guys and bad guys– and the excitement of the battle. I get wrapped into the narration which to me signifies both a good story and a delivery that keeps the reader focused on the characters and action with no negative distractions from the reading.

Saga Continues

At first I thought this series was going to be tedious as it seems to be a simple story, but very long. I am beginning to appreciate the detail with which the author spins the tale. He obviously has some engineering background and he goes to great lengths to give the reader insight on how certain things are manufactured in the alternate earth. By the same token, he develops his characters well and even focuses attention on what could be considered minor characters. I reviewed the previous volumes and noted that Audible should allow "listener/readers" access to the maps and other illustrations that are in the printed versions of the books. There should be some way that a purchaser of an audio book can receive the ancillary devices the author deemed necessary in the printed version. This is the only weak link in any audio book - not just this series. The narrator is extremely talented. It is amazing how he provides for all the different voices of the characters whether male or female, human or non-human, Australian, etc. I am now committed to every book coming in this series. It is a superior epic type of tale.

Destroyermen is a don't miss series.

Epic success, Taylor Anderson has done a superb job with this story line, each book in the series expertly moves various individual aspects along while at the same time keeping things fresh and exciting. The character development and dynamic stories emerges you into this wonderfully exciting world and the complexity that has been put into each part of these books set the stage for a wide rage additional stories. Well worth adding to your Audible collection no matter what your genre preference is.