Rally Cry

The Lost Regiment, Book 1

By: William R. Forstchen

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

Boarding a transport ship after the Battle of Gettysburg, Colonel Andrew Keane and his 35th Maine regiment are swept into an alternate world. The first human civilization they encounter on this planet resembles medieval Russia, with boyars and priests ruling over the peasants and townspeople. Soon Keane and his regiment learn this world's terrible secret: that cannibalistic hordes of large, fierce Tugars circle the planet and demand tribute - including humans to be devoured. And the hordes will be arriving sooner than expected, with several hundred thousand warriors on horseback.

Using all their 19th century know-how, Keane and his men build a new society with railroads and ironworks, and with skill, cooperation, and courage, the regiment and most of the Russians work together in hopes of defeating the horde.

A great story of survival and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. First novel in the acclaimed Lost Regiment series by the author of One Second After, One Year After, and Day of Wrath.

©1990 William R. Forstchen (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Where have you been hiding?

I feel like I need to say, 'forgive me father for I have sinned... I have ventured away form my usual zombie genre again'. Truthfully, I am glad I did. I took a punt on this one. There were no real detailed reviews. I was running low on cash and needed a title which was long enough to make certain I could see the end of the week out.

This one took me an hour to really get into it. At first I was thinking this is just a simple army transported back in time deal. That in itself isn't a bad story line. But as the story went along it really developed into so much more. The author needs to be congratulated for the great ideas which were gradually introduced in this one. Actually, this kind of summarised my thoughts of the whole story, wasn't expecting much, but as the story went it gradually grew on me, to the point that I have purchased the next in the series.

Narration: not the best in sound quality more static than usual. The breathing of the narrator is more obvious. Speed was acceptable and could easily be listened to at normal speed. The slightly less quality might be due to the fact that this is a old release... I think 1990. The benefit of not needing to be sped up like so many titles these days is that you get full value dollar per hour wise. And at over 15 hours it is excellent value!

The story is similar to 'Destroyermen' series by Taylor Anderson, or is it the other way round? Destroyermen is similar to Rally Cry The Lost Regiment??? Either way it doesn't matter. I loved Destroyermen and now I am hooked on this one!

What I found very pleasing is the ending of this one. I won't give away any details. However, I will say this one does end well and it is not one of those stories which forces you to buy the next in the series to find out what happens. The reality is that you will buy the next in the series because you won't want it to end!

PS. Some people have tracked me on the good old inter webs and asked if I receive free copies of the titles I review, or if I get paid for reviews. I can say beyond any shadow of doubt, the answer is no I have not. Some authors have offered, but I have said no.

I’m that guy- “I never write reviews but...”

I seriously never take the time to do this but this entire series is one of my all time favorites. I found this book on a discount rack back in 1994. I read it all without stopping to sleep or eat. Went back to the book store the next day and bought all the books in the series that were available at that time. Read them all in less than 2 weeks. Even wrote the author- William R. Forstchen, to thank him and beg him for more books in the series. Have been a huge fan ever since. I read this entire series over and over until the covers fell off. I bought them all again and turned my friends on to them. I’ve read them all from cover to cover 5 different times. THE most enjoyable series of books I have EVER read and I read a ton of books. When I signed up for audible, these books were the first ones I bought. Was so much fun listening to them from another readers perspective. I cannot recommend them enough.

Fun Introduction

A fun introduction to an interesting new world. The narrator is, however, rather bland. Making it difficult to tell who he is voicing at times.

Story wise, it is enjoyable enough. The only major annoyance being the writer clearly can’t write women, and as a result their is only one female viewpoint character and she regularly is just pinning about her romantic angst for the Captain of the brigade. More annoying that anything else, but the rest of the characters are written well enough.

By far the best writing has to go to the cannibalistic Tigard, whose viewpoint chapters are exceptionally engaging as we get a look at their alien culture.

If you like ISOT stories, then this will scratch that itch pretty well. Definitely good enough for me to eventually pick up the second one.

Great story, Bad narrator

I have every intention of buying the rest of the books gradually despite my preference for a different narrator. The guy just didn't have the weight and gravitas for this book. The main protagonists are 8 ft tall, eat human beings and look like devil's as the book itself describes them. It really needed to be a deep base voice like a baritone. It's not the narrators fault. Someone else should have been selected.

I could not finish the first one

I was sadly disappointed in this book. After reading One second after series I was expecting the same quality of story, I was disappointed. The performance of the reader was tiresome and uninteresting. I got through about half before I could not take anymore. Very disappointed

Good read

Enjoyed this book years ago when it came out. Glad it’s finally on Audible and available as an ebook. If you like civil war history mixed with a little sci-if then this book is for you.

Amazing book. Fantastic narrator!

Rally Cry by William Forstchen and read by Patrick Lawlor is a match made in heaven. Lawlor makes the characters come alive with an amazing array of voices, you'd think it was multiple people performing on this book. The story by Forstchen is a beautiful, enthralling, blend of historical warfare and science-fiction. The 15 hours that this book took to finish flew by and sets up for bigger things to come! Do yourself a favor and get it as it's worth every cent. ENJOY!

The Republic's battle hymn pours over a new world.

I heard about this series a long time ago and it really piqued my interest. Sadly, they were out of print, and for sale were only beat up copies at ridiculous prices. So when I first got my Audible account I quickly latched onto this. That said, this novel is excellent, both on its own and as the start of a series. Among the transplanted Americans we have a nicely rounded group of important main and secondary characters (the leader, the pacifist, the gruff second-in-command, the traitor, etc.,). In regards to their medieval Russian counterparts, I feel they fit well with the setting as well, both the allies and enemies. The cannibalistic alien Tugars are a particularly gruesome threat for the heroes to face. And yet, when you listen to the sections that focus on them and their point of view, the story makes them just relatable enough to understand them, even if you despise what they do. As for the narrator, he's done plenty of other audio books and does a suitable job. Maybe there are narrators that could've done better, but there's nothing worth complaining about. Having listened to the whole series, I can easily say this is the best one. If you enjoy stories of Earth's fighting men taking on alien threats on distant worlds, this'll give you what you need.

Fascinating story

Yes, as you start listening you keep wondering is this a history novel, or will some story appear. I almost stopped listening, but boy I'm glad I kept going. An entertain sometimes mystical adventure with characters you can truly like. Then the excitement starts and you don't want to put it down. I really enjoyed this story and hope it continues. The narration was excellent and added to the enjoyment.

Rally cry

This was a great story..author did his research too...cant wait for next part to start again

harry turtledove like with a Civilation game feel

I wasn't sure about this title but i'd say if you like Harry Turtledove, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series or the Civilization games by Sid Meier; then you will probably enjoy this!

I have a fondness SF Alternative history combos so was already its target audience but its look at religion, the task high speed industrialization and civil war battle tech and tatics really made this book enjoyable.

Also its nice to have a book where a Quaker is one of the main character and their struggle with non-violence principles in a barbarous world.

Great

Thought this was going to be a bit crappy and it did have a crappy seeming start but I loved it and would suggest to anyone