Purgatory's Shore

Artillerymen, Book 1

By: Taylor Anderson

Narrated by: PJ Ochlan

Length: 22 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

On their way to fight in the Mexican-American War, a group of American soldiers are swept away to a strange and deadly alternate Earth in this thrilling new adventure set in the world of the New York Times best-selling Destroyermen series.

The United States, 1847. A disparate group of young American soldiers are bound to join General Winfield Scott's campaign against Santa Anna at Veracruz during the Mexican-American War. They never arrive.

Or rather...they arrive somewhere else.

The untried, idealistic soldiers are mostly replacements, really; a handful of infantry, artillery, dragoons, and a few mounted riflemen with no unified command. And they've been shipwrecked on a terrible different Earth full of monsters and unimaginable enemies.

Major Lewis Cayce, late of the Third US "Flying" Artillery, must unite these men to face their fears and myriad threats, armed with little more than flintlock muskets, a few pieces of artillery, and a worldview that spiritually and culturally rebels against virtually everything they encounter. It will take extraordinary leadership and a cadre of equally extraordinary men and women to mold frightened troops into an effective force, make friends with other peoples the evil Holy Dominion would eradicate, and reshape their "manifest destiny" into a cause they can all believe in and fight for.

For only together will they have any hope of survival.

©2021 Taylor Anderson (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"Writers don't come much better than Taylor Anderson, and Purgatory's Shore is Anderson at his best." (New York Times best-selling author Jack Campbell)

“Anderson masterfully digs into detailed military strategy and battle action while forcing his characters to reconsider the racial biases and religious dogma of the mid-19th century. This is a must read for fans of Harry Turtledove and other alternate-history authors.” (Booklist) 

"The writing is first-rate and the clash of technologies is a terrific example of science fiction’s ability to ask, 'what if.' Highly Recommended."—Amazing Stories 

I was stunned

I am half way through and struggling to care. The nominal "Captain" is [stunned] and [amazed] by everyone and everything. I am amazed that he hasn't just given up and quit, as he is in [awe], [stunned], and [amazed] when any woman speaks (of course women are always best and brightest at whatever needs to happen). This is not Destroyermen, and the story is bogged down by the incessant social commentary and the "strange feelings" for a woman. The inability of adult men and women to identify attraction to someone of the opposite sex is more than a little disturbing. The main character has some pretty glaring cognitive dissonance, but he spends so much time [stunned] or [amazed] or in [awe], I doubt it will matter much.

The story would have been passable had not the social commentary been shoe horned in. Whether it was the too long "dying breath speech" that made me long for a mercy killing, the cowardly way the main character deals with suspected slavery, and when he finds out it isn't happening he still operates under CRT. The incessant moral lecturing, or speeches that sound like they came from the desk of a 40 year DC politician and NOT an 1800s artillery officer, I'm out. This book was definitely purgatory.

Sometimes waiting and hoping is not enough

I was one that hoped the Destroyer Men series would go on forever and it could have but sadly it did not. It just never got old. This book seemed old by the authors standards. He simply started this series a century earlier and the characters never had me vested in them. The old format just doesn't work and so sadly I am dropping out of the listener list for this series. Maybe if you have no Taylor Anderson experience the book might seem more interesting than it does to me. The one plus is I like the narrator.

Rehash?

Mildly disappointed. Essentially a rehash of the series except set a century before. American military gets swept to the world of the cats, they form an army, & beat the bad guys.

Having been dragged this far through the series, I was hoping for a denouement, but felt dragged back by this book.

The writing was good. The descriptions of mid-1800 weapons and tactics were interesting. The array of characters & relationships could be easily transposed from the previous destroyer men stories to this one.

So, OK, I guess.

An enjoyable prequel

I considered passing on this book after reading some of the negative comments, however I enjoyed Destroyer men and decided to give it a try. If you enjoyed Taylor Anderson in the past, you will almost certainly enjoy this new book. His sense of history is superb. The book flows well and was highly enjoyable. He even manages a few interesting twists on what we already knew about the "New United States" from the last series. A fun listen I recommend it.

A lesser alternative prequel

Feels like its missing something. Similar character types and less POVs from the "cat people" and too much unsupported references and idle remarks at other entities in the world(uncovered in the other books). Is missing something more novel to it perhaps... a unique instance or group of survivors not attached to the MC and those accompanying 'them'(Americans).

Has the feeling of "Been there done that" sadly. Still a worth while read.

Filling out the backstory for the Destroyermen

If you have read the Destroyermen, you will enjoy this story. If not - well shame on you - check them out, they are worth the time and treasure. These unintentional time travelers are on the way to participate in the Mexican American War. But end up taking an unexpected turn - to a vicious parallel world inhabited by dinosaurs and bloody religious fanatics. The Wright brothers were 50 years in the future, Coca Cola was 30 years away, the Civil War was still in the future. But they still had bloody battles to come and they would be very bloody.

Can't Wait For The Next One!

I waited a long time for this audiobook to come out. When it finally did, I was not at all disappointed. I enjoyed every minute of the story and now I'm just hungry for more Artillerymen. I'm looking forward to how the war between the 1847 Americans, their Allies, and the Doms will play out and how the characters will play out.

I look forward to the next book of Artillerymen.

another great series

If you liked his last series, you'll like this series. lots of fun and adventure

Complete disappointment and hard to finish

So I started the Destroyermen series on my Kindle way back when and when the series came to Audible I bough the whole series and have listened multiple times to many of the books waiting for the next to come out. The pairing of Taylor's writing and William Dufris' narration I was always pre-ordering the next audio book so that I could listen the day it was released. Unfortunately William Dufris passed away and his friend took up the final book and dis a decent job of it. I like many other readers wanted more after the end of the Destroyerman series so I pre-ordered the Artilleryman series and waited several long months and got this under developed story line.

It is like this is the book Taylor Anderson wrote when he was thirteen and later he became a much better writer and wrote the Destroyerman series. I don't know how this first book ends because I just can't listen to it to finish it. I have started and stopped several times and will probably return it for a refund. I don't care for any of the characters and I find myself not really listening to the book when it is playing because it is really boring. I have over 1000 audio book titles in my library that I have paid for, so I am not a causal listener. In fact I have listened to more than 40 audio books since I started trying to listen to this book that I have finished and i just cannot finish this book.

Are you looking for a good read? Try B.V. Larson the Undying Mercenaries series, old James McGill is a future day and more devious Silva, Try the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson (RC Bray is the best narrator PERIOD), Try the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi narrated by none other that William Dufris, Try the Troy Rising series by John Ringo narrated by Mark Boyett. So many good books out there, skip this one.

Another great Taylor Anderson listen

A great continuation of his exploration of the world introduced in his Destroyermen series. If you liked those, you'll like this

Great story

A new world full of different people and animals. A brilliant tale. Looking forward to the next one