Distant Thunders

Destroyermen, Book 4

By: Taylor Anderson

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

After the battle in which the men of the destroyer Walker and their Lemurian allies repelled the savage Grik, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy is shocked by the arrival of a strange ship captained by one Commaner Jenks of the New Britain Imperial Navy - an island-nation populated by the descendants of British East Indiamen swept through the rift centuries before.

With the Walker undergoing repairs, Reddy already has a great deal on his hands. For the Grik will return, and Reddy will need all hands on deck to fight them off when they next attack. But Jenks's uncertain loyalties make Reddy question whether he can trust the man. As tension between the Allies and the Imperials mount, Reddy will come to realize that his suspicions are not misplaced - and that a greater danger than the Grik is closer than he ever suspected.

Battle stations! Listen to more in the Destroyermen series.

©2010 Taylor Anderson (P)2010 Tantor

EXCELLENT BOOK

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

Love this Series

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.

good listen

a lot of action with good character development.
It's not hard to figure out the outcome of any given action be the details to get there can be surprising.

Great listening I'm hooked.

Would you consider the audio edition of Distant Thunders to be better than the print version?

Cant comment

What was one of the most memorable moments of Distant Thunders?

meeting of new creatures on boats off his home island.

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

Walker steaming in and the captain seeing the damage.

Destroyermen is a don't miss series.

It keeps getting better, 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.

the most addicting series ever!

this is quickly becoming my favorite series. everything you could hope for in a story. fast paced and really hard to turn off.

Action-packed, entertaining listening!

This is the fourth book in the series continuing the adventures of Captain Matthew Reddy and the Americans from the two destroyers, Walker, and Mahan, who have landed in a parallel world– out of time. Author Anderson, through a smooth process of flashbacks, presents the background information of the existing characters so new readers can identify them. I found the information helpful to refresh my memory without being at all boring. The reader also learns more about the newer characters, particularly the British Empire officer, Jenks, who might turn out to be honorable and the “East Indian Company” man, Billingsly, who clearly is not honorable.

There is quite a bit of interesting history on ship and weapon development. I appreciated how the author combines the more advanced, industrialized 1940s crew with the previous peaceful, but non-industrialized Lemurian culture so they work together to develop new materials and methods to build the assets needed to prepare for the war against the Grik.

The Grik are still in the picture with a few scenes keeping the reader informed on the changes happening with their leadership and machinations. It is interesting to observe the hunter having to deal with the realization that they are becoming the prey to the American and Allied forces.

After reintroducing the players there is plenty of action. Captain Reddy takes Captain Jenks along to Aryall to see the battle preparations and advance engagements against the Grik. Meanwhile, repairs to Walker and other damaged ships is underway at the shipyard at Baalkpan. Billingsly, left behind with the British ship at Baalkpan, kidnaps the New Britain Princess, Rebecca, along with several others, including Matt’s sweetheart, Lieutenant Sandra Tucker, and the irrepressible, salty, but genius, sailor, Dennis Silva.

Matt returns to Baalkpan to head out in pursuit of Billingsly while Silva ruminates over escape plans for those kidnapped. There is plenty more story to look forward to in the next installment!

Audio Notes: I am utterly impressed with the narration by William Dufris. He portrays the character idiosyncrasies and his reading keeps pace with the emotions and actions. I love listening to this series!

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.

good not to ominous

the last book was intense had me feeling tence like a thriller I liked the diplomatic parts of the series. this has more of that. also less gritty

A series that continues to shine

What made the experience of listening to Distant Thunders the most enjoyable?

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.