Distant Thunders: Destroyermen, Book 4

If you have enjoyed the other books in the Destroyermen series, you will certainly enjoy this one. We reconnect with the crew of USS Walker and her allies 3 months after the devastating, yet victorious, battle with the Grik. Everyone has been very industrious since that battle and the first two-thirds of the book is effectively a tour of all the industrious things different groups have been doing.

The final third of the book finally brings some serious conflicts and setbacks (and battles!) that have made the series so enjoyable. The Grik are in the background for most of this story, though there is no doubt they will rise to menace our heroes again.

Overall I did enjoy the book, but it mostly felt like a bridge between the prior three books and future books. That was OK with me because I enjoy the characters and the "lost world" aspect of their surroundings. I do expect the next one to have a lot more action as all the allies' industrious activities on the home front get put into high gear.

The narrator generally does a fabulous job with the voices - certainly not easy with multiple human and non-human characters. Though I though his vocalization of "Larry the lizard" left a bit to be desired - though that certainly didn't take away from a thoroughly enjoyable time.

I love these books, cannot wait for the next book to come out. This whole series is fantastic.

Another great story. I am enjoying the series and the development of the characters. The naration is still excellent.

Just as good as the first three!!

Throughout this series I have thought the details provided by the author regarding all manner of things have alternated between overly tedious to wonderfully enlightening. He gives a complete background on minor characters and gadgets the characters have invented. However, I have come to really appreciate the details. In this installment of the series the destroyermens' relationship with the 18th century Brits is developing into a story of its own. I have written in previous reviews that Audible should make the illustrations and maps that are in the printed books available as PDF files for audio book fans. I went to the Audible website's chat site and made that suggestion to an Audible rep who said he would pass it along. I hope that the suggestion is acted upon for this series and all the other books that Audible sells. But back to this story. I am happy to note that the quality of the writing is just as high in this fourth book as it was in the first. The characters remain a source of inspiration for their courage and ingenuity. The author is now delving into one of life's great questions - what makes us human? This question is reflected certainly in the author's presentation of the Lemurian "people", but now he has opened that box regarding the Grik and other reptilian species as well. I am anxious to see how this plays out.

If you like: alternate history, time travel stories, The Sand Pebbles, empire building, Lemurs, naval combat, or any outrageous adventure, then listen to this series, you won't be disappointed.

Well written, funny, historically accurate (until time changes of course), a wonderful start to an SM Stirling style empire building adventure series.

Loved it, loved the narration, recommend it to all my friends and family, and now to you.

After the war with the Grik, the crew of the Destroyer Walker is forced to reconcile its losses and regroup its forces, rebuilding and refitting Walker is priority #1, second to finding resources to repel a future Grik offensive. In this alternate Earth, Reddy and his crew discover that other humans exist on this earth, and they have internal strife of their own, bringing war once again to the doorstep of the Allied forces on this alternate Earth.

I would change how the chapters are arranged. There are many breaks in the story that appear to be natural chapters ends. the author chooses to continue with the story by changing setting, for example. As a listener, I would be nice to have some of those 'natural breaks' as good pausing points.

There are strong shades of the Master and Commander, Horatio Hornblower, and Honor Harrington series. It has all to do with the similarities in naval command themes.

When the Walker was raised and repaired.

Yes, it would make an interesting visual feature. The Lemurians would be great if played by Sacha Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer. As fas as the humans, it doesn't really matter who plays them since the visual attraction is based on the strange world.

Taylor Anderson continues to deliver in the Destroymen series.The concept of the obsolete Pacific fleet destroyer that were basically target practice in WWII being such a huge force for good in this parallel world that it gets sucked into is quite interesting. With the world there much more hostile than the world we are from, with the Grik on one side, a world that seems intent on eating you (the pirannah-like fish and the larger mountain fish) and only one real ally, the Lemurians you would think that the prospects for the Americans to be pretty grim.

But Captain Reddy and his crew continue to persevere. Even in the face of interaction with the New Britain Imperial Navy and the increasing threat of the Grik don't seem to keep them down. The action is pretty non-stop, with a lot of story lines going on at the same time. The main focus is on the developing relationship and exploration of the New Britain (and the associated "Company" (Far East India Trading Company basically) which is the power that is manipulating the throne) given that they have the Princess Rebecca in their protection. While CPT Reddy is away an agent of the Company kidnaps Rebecca, her protector Dennis Silva as well as Reddy's fiance are kidnapped.

A lot of this book was build-up. Exploring the development of additional technologies and critical repairs that hopefully will pay off in the future novels. In addition to the Grik menace, the less than friendly Imperials there is also hints of another set of humans located in the America's that may present another threat in the future. Lots of space for these threads to continue to develop. I already picked up the next book in the series because I am excited to see how it develops.

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.