Rising Tides

Destroyermen, Book 5

By: Taylor Anderson

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 17 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Stuck in an alternate universe during World War II, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy of the U.S.S. Walker has found an unlikely but invaluable ally in Commodore Jenks of the New Britain Imperial Navy. And now they are united in their desire to hunt down the traitor who abducted two women both men would die to protect: Reddy's love, nurse Sandra Tucker, and young Princess Rebecca of the New British Empire. But first they have a new battle to win.

However, this battle will not be fought with broadsides and broadswords, but with cunning and intrigue. For when Reddy and Jenks report the situation to the New Britain Company, they are met with scorn and disbelief. It soon becomes obvious that the ruthless Company is attempting to overthrow the Imperial Throne - and that someone involved knows where Sandra and Rebecca are. From the halls of power to the ballrooms of the nobility, Reddy must navigate through a tempest of politics, deception, and betrayal if he is ever going to save the hostages and live to fight another day.

Battle stations! Listen to more in the Destroyermen series.

©2010 Taylor Anderson (P)2011 Tantor

Still entertaining

Originally posted at FanLit.

If you’ve been enjoying Taylor Anderson’s DESTROYERMEN series, there’s no reason to stop now. Rising Tides is another quality installment in which we do a lot of sailing, have some fun and laughs, and barely survive some frightening events — exactly what we were expecting.

Captain Reddy and his original crew of Destroyermen, of which less than 100 survive, are different men than those who entered the storm so many months ago. They’ve been tried and tested in many ways, and it’s brought out the best in most of them, though some make deadly mistakes due to inexperience. Right now the Destroyermen are rather spread out across the unpredictable south Pacific ocean. One group is trying to free an old submarine from a volcanic island. Another is trying to recover a sunken cache of planes and ammunition from a different island. Captain Reddy himself is pursuing the traitors of New Britain who kidnapped some of Reddy’s crew who, though he doesn’t know it, are now stranded on a deserted (and very dangerous) island. It’s obvious that the Americans will have to get involved in the messy politics of the New British… but at least they might meet some women.

Though the DESTROYERMEN epic has a completely different setting and cast, its structure is very similar to Robert Jordan’s WHEEL OF TIME. There’s a large ever-expanding cast of characters who begin to split off and have their own storylines, though each separate adventure has been coordinated by Reddy to further the allies’ goals. With each book, Anderson spends time reminding us about each character — where they are, what they’re doing, and all their particular personality quirks. This gets repetitive and, like Jordan, Anderson uses some of the same phrases or in-jokes to re-introduce his characters in every book.

The repetition also slows down the plot but, generally, Anderson’s story moves faster than Jordan’s does. By the end of each book there are few major developments, but the plot has definitely advanced (not always the case with WOT) and we’ve always enjoyed spending time with some likeable characters. A few new characters are introduced in Rising Tides, including a cute talking bird whose vocabulary, because he’s hanging out with Dennis Silva, consists mostly of curse words.

Though the structure of DESTROYERMEN is very similar to WOT, the story is not — it’s unique for a fantasy novel. I’m enjoying the industrial revolution that the Americans have brought to their new world and I’m learning a bit about some interesting topics such as fuel efficiency, developing bombs and mortars, radio transmission, the dangers of target fixation, and how to raise sunken ships. The Americans still solve problems a little too easily (I think Anderson wants to give us a scare but not stress us out too much) and they’re still a bit too righteous while the bad guys are over the top, but I’m willing to forgive this because DESTROYERMEN, overall, is genuinely entertaining. And I’m pleased with Tantor Audio’s version which is read by William Dufris.

Great series, to repetitive

I have really enjoyed the Destroyermen series; with its epic battles, fights for survival, nation building. It is a grand story told on a grand scale. However I find myself constantly annoyed at the book. The author is constantly providing character assessments, shedding introspective light, and providing background for thought. Great once maybe twice, but I was perturbed in the first book, livid in the next, flabbergasted in the third, and so on. Maybe if I had read the books a year or so apart I would have appreciated the reminders, but as I read them in succession I was just annoyed.
Despite this I would recommend the book, it has a great dynamic story told well enough to draw you into the alternate realm.

Continues to entertain

What did you love best about Rising Tides?

The characters and their adventures especially Dennis Silva

Would you recommend Rising Tides to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes. Enjoyable story with a great narrator.

What does William Dufris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

William mixes up his voices well and seems to enjoy his work.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Survival moments were well done.

Any additional comments?

The story needs to end sometime. It's starting to become a story with no ending.

Great story, characters + excellent narration!

This is a great addition to this series in which American and Japanese ships from WWII have gone through a warp to a parallel world filled with strange creatures and a cannibalistic enemy, the Grik. I like facing the adventures in this strange world with these wonderful, quirky characters. The story had me laughing out loud when the Americans were introduced to the British Governor. At another part I was near tears as struggles to complete a mission turned to tragedy.

There is interesting detail of munitions, replacing supplies of weapons and transport, ships and aircraft, as well as battle strategy that I find fascinating. There is also plenty of action to keep the listener interested. Taylor does a great job of making the characters full and real. One or two of the events are in the nature of miracles, but, hey - I believe in miracles! And not all of it has happy endings as this is full of war and struggling in hostile environments.

Audio Notes: Dufris does a fabulous job building on the real characters by giving them believable accents full of nuances and emotion. His narration is remarkable and definitely enhances the reading enjoyment for me. I am excited to listen/read on to book 6!

(More details of the storyline available on my blog review.)

LOVE THIS SERIES

The series is terrific and this book is another WONDERFUL hit. Five stars should also be awarded to the narrator William Dufris! I love the way he allows each character a voice and brings the world written by the author to life.

Every sequel is another "Can't wait to see and rea

Can't wait for the next book. What an imagination this author has! Suck you right in!!

Ex-cell-ant!!!

5th in series. Not much I can add. Book 4 left some unresolved plots that Book 5 ties up. New alliances, new enemies and hopefully some new toys. William Dufris' narration is perfect!!! OK where's # 6?

Excellent

What did you like best about this story?

The background universe and refreshing story

Any additional comments?

I have to go back and get the earlier books. To refresh my memory. Silva is a hoot and I want to see more of his development. It's very nice to find books not openly dismissive of basic American values. This series is about freedom.

Awesome series !

This is the second time I’ve listened to this series ! I love listening to the whole series one after another uninterrupted as much as possible . I had to wait between books because I came across this series so early , while I was still working . It’s one of my joys in retirement to just be able to listen to them on audible . I hope that the future writers of tv or movie’s gets the idea of making this into a well funded project .

Favorite series

The Destroyermen has turned into my favorite sci fi series. Taylor Anderson can sure spin a tale and William Dufris is one of the best narrators in the business. My only gripe with this series is that I can read faster than Anderson can write.