Iron Gray Sea

Destroyermen, Book 7

By: Taylor Anderson

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

In Taylor Anderson's acclaimed Destroyermen series, a parallel universe adds an extraordinary layer to the drama of World War II. Now, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, the crew of the USS Walker, and their allies battle an ever-growing host of enemies across the globe in a desperate battle for freedom.

War has engulfed the other earth. With every hard-won victory and painful defeat, Matt Reddy and the Allies encounter more friends-and even more diabolical enemies. Even, at last, in the arms of the woman he loves, there is little peace for Reddy. The vast sea, and the scope of the conflict, have trapped him too far away to help on either front, but that doesn't mean he and Walker can rest. Cutting short his "honeymoon," Reddy sails off in pursuit of Hidoiame, a rogue Japanese destroyer that is wreaking havoc in Allied seas. Now that Walker is armed with the latest "new" technology, he hopes his battle-tested four-stacker has an even chance in a straight-up fight against the bigger ship - and he means to take her on.

Elsewhere, the long-awaited invasion of Grik "Indiaa" has begun, and the Human-Lemurian Alliance is pushing back against the twisted might of the Dominion. The diplomatic waters seethe with treachery and a final, terrible plot explodes in the Empire of New Britain Isles. Worse, the savage Grik have also mastered "new" technologies and strategies. Their fleet of monstrous ironclads - and an army two years in the making-are finally massing to strike.

©2012 Taylor Anderson (P)2012 Tantor

Gets Better And Better ...

I was not sure what to expect when I first got the first book of this but after following 7 books of this I am still curious where things are going to go next. This series has me hooked and it is eating all my credits =)

Another Chapter...

This IS NOT a "normal" book series. On most series, each book is stand alone with a small tread running trough each. So while it is always better to read in order, each book is satisfying on it's own. that IS NOT the case with the Destroyerman books. Each of these books would be better described as chapters. They DO NOT stand on their own and there is no conclusion at the end of each book, just the set up for the next.

Because of the continuing story, nothing every gets settled and you never feel satisfied at the end. I think there are at least 15 books in this series and I just cannot see myself going much further (after finishing #8). I would feel differently if these were more in the style of say the "Bosch" series, same characters (plus or minus) different situation and each book stands on it's own. If that were the case, I am sure I would listen to all of the books. As it stands now, while I (in some ways) want to continue, it seems like more of a chore than excitement for the next book.

As for me, even though I am interested in the characters, I am jumping off this boat since there is absolutely no conclusion in site.

Yawn....

The battles continue in book 7 of 9. By now, the reader is accustomed to the technology inject and the static fighting between multiple entities as the war plods on for multiple volumes. There are still multiple story lines and one of them keeps popping up at the end of each book: "Gee, where did that come from?" Not much got resolved, the enemies are still the same and the USS Walker crew dwindles. I wonder what will happen next?

Significant events occur

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

Iron Gray Sea, the seventh book in Taylor Anderson’s DESTROYERMEN series, begins with the sinking of a battleship and then a wedding. The remaining Destroyermen are all together to witness the marriage of Captain Matthew Reddy to Lt. Sandra Tucker, but soon they must disperse again because they and their allies are still fighting all over the world on several fronts, and they are spread thin.

Their own technology is advancing rapidly but, with the help of the Japanese, so is the Griks’. Not only are the bad guys making better weapons and using better military strategy than they did before, but they are also using genetic engineering to create better soldiers. The allies must stay ahead of the Grik and get control of the sea and the air and, maybe eventually, the land.

The political situation is changing, too, especially in the country where Princess Rebecca’s parents rule. The Americans are happy to see that the concepts of freedom and liberty are spreading, but there is much opposition and a coup attempt seems likely. Princess Rebecca, special friend to the Destroyermen, must be kept safe. The Destroyermen also want to maintain enough influence in the various allied governments so they can help make decisions about which fronts get priority.

The Destroyermen are learning more about their new world and starting to figure out that the weird storms that brought them and others to this world are not as rare as they had previously believed. Explorers are now being sent to discover what else is out there. Perhaps they can find some new allies before the Grik overrun the whole planet.

My feeling, at this point in DESTROYERMEN, is that this series is going on too long and should have been condensed. I’m still reading, though, because I like these characters and I want to know what happens to them. I also like the audio versions produced by Tantor Audio and narrated by William Dufris. The previous book, Firestorm, did little to advance the plot and could probably be skipped, or at least skimmed. Fortunately, Iron Gray Sea is better than Firestorm. The wedding takes too long, but significant events occur, we see more of the world, and we spend more time with some of the characters we love such as Courtney Bradford and Princess Rebecca. There is a lot of loss in Iron Gray Sea, but there is also hope for the future.

I am unhappy to say

What would have made Iron Gray Sea better?

Having a beginning and and ending. The middle was was well constructed and entertaining.

What was most disappointing about Taylor Anderson’s story?

Anderson is a enjoyable writer. I thoroughly the first four or five books. Even though they are part of a series each of those books was a complete story. The most recent books are no longer novels. They are chapters of some never ending story. I am worried that it will end like the Lost Regiment series that just stop many years ago with out a conclusion. The author of that series did always give his readers a stand alone book . If, like me, you probably can not quit this series. If you have not started it wait until Taylor Anderson had completed it.

What about William Dufris’s performance did you like?

It was not intrusive.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Taylor Anderson writes well though recently he has been giving the readers to many information dumps that add nothing to the progress of the story.

Any additional comments?

I am disturbed that so much of the science fiction available on this site consists of series that appear to have no potential ending.

The story grows!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The story seems to be getting larger, to the point that an end to it would be much more difficult to write within one book.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting aspect to me is the events described in the epilogue.

Which character – as performed by William Dufris – was your favorite?

My favorite character, as performed, is Silva.

Did Iron Gray Sea inspire you to do anything?

This book does not inspire me to do anything.

Any additional comments?

There is no obvious end in sight for this storyline. Feeling this way after book 7 in a series worries me about the authors ability to finish the storyline.

To short for how in depth the plot

This book takes place across an entire alternate planet, two wars are being fought in several locations and new characters are being introduced. This cannot happen in a 16 hour book! After anxiously awaiting this book, it left you more on a precipice than the last, no breaks or conclusions to the story line. And so much of the little time is refreshing the reader on character traits, and situational background, very frustrating.
Write longer or wrap up some of the loose ends!
A nice 40 hour book like the King Killer Chronicles would get this book 5 stars.

Good story but overall a little long in the tooth

What did you like best about Iron Gray Sea? What did you like least?

I have listened to all of the books in this series and have enjoyed them very much up to this point but even with the book before this one the story line is getting a bit long in the tooth for me. Each book seems to now be just more of the same except now there are multiple grounds to keep track of.

Iron Gray Story

First few books in series were really grate and refreshing, but now series is going "gray" and stale. Author is trying to keep it fresh with new characters and entities.
For people who are mesmerized by the whole story - it's pretty good. For those who felt tired in previous book - this one will not solve this issue.

each installment spends more time on review

I recently re-listened to the first seven books in this series. The first time around, I had stopped with this one as I became weary of the huge amount of time/print spent on reviewing the previous installments and re-introducing the characters. Plus, it seemed as if Anderson had decided to make a career of this series and would be at it until his retirement or death. Maybe that worked for O'Brian, but this series is not nearly as good as Aubrey/Maturin. Now years later, I see that there are at least 4 more books in the series -- one written this year! Yes, he's still at it. I won't be catching up.

With regard to the narration, there are now so many characters that Dufris has run out of voices for them. It's really awkward when two characters with almost the same voice share a scene, which happens in this installment. Sorry, but I took off an extra star for that.