Into the Storm (Destroyermen)

I learned about his series from a friend of the author and thought I'd give it a try. Almost from the first page, I was hooked. Anderson's characters are as fully realized as any I've ever encountered, in short order you get to know these men and women, and care about them.
I recommend this book to any military sci-fi fans, as well as fans of alternative history.

When I first saw this title I thought it sounded like a rip-off of Birmingham's "Axis of Time" series with a slight twist. But it was only $7 so I figured "what the heck?" It actually turned out to be much better than I expected. Granted, the characters are a bit weak, and the solutions to some major problems - like getting fuel & ammunition for a destroyer-class warship - come much too easily...but it was a fun read. I look forward to the next two titles in the trilogy - not enough to pay $15 a piece for them though - I just hope the story doesn't fall apart like the before-mentioned "Axis of Time" did (I LOVED Book 1, but by book 3 I had to force myself to finish it). If you are into Alternate Histories, _Into the Storm_ is a good way to spend a rainy summer afternoon or a day at the beach.

I was not sure what to expect but I was hooked from the first page and I could not put it down. My work and I am sorry to say my wife suffered but I finished it early on the third day. I look forward to reading the next book, Crusade!

Good story. I received a later book in the series for Christmas and that made me want to go back and start at the beginning. Currently on the next one and if that's just as good will keep moving right on through!

I have gone back to start reading this series after listening to each of the books on Audible. It's even better reading it. I really enjoy Mr. Anderson's work of historical sci-if / alternate universe and recommend it to anyone interested in considering how things 'might be'.

Okay....this was my first book on the Kindle 2, and I may be a little prejudiced, but I have to say that this book really caught me by surprise....I had never heard of the author, yet after reading a couple of chapters from the novel thanks to Kindle, I was hooked - My only gripe is that the second part of the trilogy has not been released for the Kindle as of yet (part 3 is available?)......I absolutely refuse to order a paperback version....
Great Science Fiction/Fantasy novel guys......Check it out!!!!

First book in the series and way to much fun. My brother-in-law recommended it as a enjoyable book to read. Now I'm hooked thought for a change it would be fun to read science fiction. Now I'm reading book two the Crusade, halfway through and unable to put it down either.

When it comes to my own preferences for fictional Navy stories, I've a tendency to avoid those dealing with the supernatural. However, I will continue to read Anderson's "Destroyerman" series and glean what I can of them. There's no question that this book is well written and held my interest. My own experience is with Fletcher Class destroyers, not four-pipers. So, I cannot gauge the accuracy of their description. Anderson has a good grasp of the early events of WWII in the Pacific and folds them neatly into the plot. When younger, I was heavily involved with sci-fi, but dropped it, in favor of real history. I would have preferred a fictional account of a destroyer in the Battle off Samar, of destroyers at Omaha Beach or those in the Battle of the Atlantic. But, having my own way would have defeated the very purpose of the story. As it stands, the tale is a very worthy sci-fi destroyer adventure.

The story follow the serial format for this type of story. I've only read the first book and it's okay but nothing to write home about; which makes it a hair better than many of these series out there. The author didn't need to throw in a Japanese battleship that wasn't there, the heavy cruisers that were there historically would have been more than enough. If you like a naval story then you might like this one.

The item was delivered in perfect condition and in a timely manner. I bought the first three books of this series (in paperback) of what promised to be a very good saga. If I like it, I'll buy the hard covers version and the fourth book in hard cover as well.

I just finished Taylor's book "Destroyermen, Into The Storm" and totally loved it. I have been reading every book by Clive Cussler as they come out, and Taylor's writing is a step above. Sorry, Mr. Cussler. Taylor's approach to character definition is unparalleled. The historical representation of the 4 Stackers and the brave men that served on them is great. The representations of what they found on the other side of the storm is beyond belief. I have already pre-ordered the next two books of his series. Please don't stop with just this series. I have known for years that Taylor is a great 19th century artilleryman, and now I am glad to know how good a writer he is.

Takes about half the book to even begin to get interesting and then skips from page 278 to 343. Then after page 374 the next page is 311, and it appears to continue on from there to the end of the book. Pages 279-310 are just gone completely. But all in all that's probably a blessing because the missing pages caused me to stop reading it.

The book was cool, I liked the idea. But to be honest I found the naval battle in the beginning to be the most exciting part of the book. The rest was interesting to be sure, but felt more like a prosaic diary of the ship on a new world.
The book never really captured my attention so to say.
But nevertheless, an entertaining read.

Mr. Anderson, please forgive me, but your book just didn't pull me in. Its great that so many people love your writing and I hope you're books are beyond successful, but I just didn't buy the story. It was all just so 'convenient'; nurses just happened to be rescued before they disappeared, oil well experts just happened to be part of the crew, 'miracle paint' used to paint the ship. There was just too many perfect fits.
Imagination is great as were the 'prehistoric' lands they find themselves in, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't buy into the story, it just seemed too 'set-up.'

AFTER I READ THE FIRST BOOK, I COULDN'T WAIT TO READ THE REST! NOW THAT I HAVE, I'M ONLY DISSAPOINTED IN ONE THING. THE DELAY UNTIL THE NEXT BOOK COMES OUT! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, ONLY KEEP IT UP FASTER. AND THANKS!!!

I found this first book by chance, and it sucked me in immediately. Familiar premise, but very, very well told. All three books should be read back-to-back, as they flow seamlessly into each other. I hope there is more to come!

Fun story, though it seemed a little short on depth to me. I didn't like it enough to go for the 2nd & 3rd installments. I just didn't get into the characters enough to be truly drawn into the alternate world that the author was trying to create.

The book is pretty good, overall. There were some typos, like missing spaces, and some formatting errors, like footnote style numbers or random Roman Numerals, but I suspect these are only from a slipshod conversion to E-Book format from what I think was hard copy.

I am very displeased with the presence of DRM on this book. For more information about DRM, see drmfreeDOTcalibre-ebookDOTc0m/about#drm
Basically, it is a scheme to prevent piracy of E-Books (or other digital media) that is a huge hassle for legitimate readers (In short, you don't REALLY own the book, so it can be taken from you at any time, and you can't back it up or read it on any other device if you did) and in most cases, can be easily circumvented by illegal means and Google, so the pirates can do what they like but the legitimate readers like myself can't.
I don't blame the author for this; I liked the story. Not so much the publisher.

The story is straightforward and reminiscent of the 1632 series, but with no amorous activity, a fact for which I am happy. I like my action novels to stay that way. Essentially, some destroyers are fighting a losing battle during WWII, when a freak storm transports them to an alternate history, but at the same relative time. They run out of fuel, but manage to get aid from one of the two sapient species present in that world, the Lemurians, who can speak Latin, thanks to previous ships pulled from our world. Unfortunately, the Grik, descendants of some type of raptor, are there too. The destroyermen have to help defeat the Grik, which apparently takes a while as there are ten other books.

Some complaints about the plot line are the first contact scenario, the finding of oil, and the Latin. Why should this culture even have a "wave" or perhaps a "hand raised in greeting" gesture that also means anything non-threatening, even if it was slightly misinterpreted?

Also, if the world is so different thanks to the Chicxulub (spelled from memory, just in case there's a typo) meteor not having hit, why is there still oil? It's from dead dinosaurs, so... No huge die off, but there is still oil? It does not re-form, so it's not like it happened slowly over time. Of course, the Great Flood would answer that, but since that's probably the real cause for the die-off anyway (Perhaps the Flood was some sort of result of the meteor?) there would be no divergent evolution. And... If we assume the author believes the Great Flood happened too, then why are we still considering the existence of evolution to have made the Lemurians and Grik, not to mention that humans were a God-created species anyway.
(You may disagree with the religion, but it's still a valid point. There's an inconsistency in the plot here.)

Now, the Latin. I know it's internally consistent, but really? There happen to be several people, one really by chance, on the ship that speak Latin? And, that they can speak any human language anyway? Either that they are physically capable, or have been made aware of the language, but both? I can willingly suspend disbelief pretty well, but this was still jarring.

Much like the Birmingham books, more than the Stirling, there are some problems in the concept that the author addresses poorly which is why the book does not get as high marks as it might have. This might be due more to the author thinking that the story he had envisioned was great and well researched in parts, rather than thinking that when we suspend our disbelief, can we drive through the holes he has left wide open with a mack truck.

Remember the scene in Operation Petticoat, which this has tones of, where the women are shown the head? There is no discomfort for the lack of privacy that the nurses create or inflict on this crew of destroyermen.

The big holes though are the use of Latin. Perhaps the author has never spoke latin, studied it or read a translation of one of Cicero's speeches. I admit to only one quarter in college. Latin does not have as many words as English, or Lemurian I should think, since both languages seem to be full of many words that those translators of Cicero would probably agonize over for months trying to get latin to work well enough to give us our modern flow of speaking. But once Latin is exposed in this story as the intermediary language, then communication is easy and swift. Not to mention that overgrown monkeys can make our speech sounds in their physiology and we theirs.

The second is rationing, fresh water, it is discussed, but even when dinosaurs are discovered making it hard to fathom sending parties ashore to get water, and then fuel, the thoughts of rationing are pretty much forgotten. Our apes and snipes eat as well as if there wasn't a war on.

Of course there isn't a war on once they arrive in this new version of our world, but they arrive right as the war that has been ongoing for hundreds of years is getting so nasty that we are looking at genocide if our heroes don't intercede. Cliche, the senior women and senior man getting together, cliche. The supply officer getting together with another, he must look like Tony Curtis...Especially since he was a bit lost before he hooks up with her...

But the author does give us some action, and some characters, though a lot sound a like. Once the whole series is presented, it might even be worth a second read.

This is a great Sci-Fi book...............one of the best I have ever read. I highly recommend the complete series. Taylor Anderson is an excellent writer with lots of action and awesome characters.

This was a great read. Loved the plot and the characters. Loved ever page and can't wait to get the next book in the series. Sorry for such a short review but don't want to ruin it for those who have not read it yet.

I bought this book anticipating of a good war yarn after reading several reviews here. I really can't understand how this book has been so well reviewed. As I read the first 200 or so pages, I realized that perhaps the target audience was not adult war/sci-fi affectionados, but young adults who's idea of plot and story-line mirrors what they have seen on (bad) TV. <SPOILER ALERT> It starts off with the implausibility of nurses and of course an Aussie scientist ("naturalist", lol) happen to find themselves on the ship plus two pilots and a Jap POW who went to UCLA and speaks latin. (I'm now struggling at the 65% mark - and even if I don't like a book, I hate to leave it unfinished... but may be unable to stand more of this, it actually is anguishing to read.) The women are treated anachronistically, first ignored and left on their own in the bowels of a destroyer. (About as likely, as them being paired up with the officers (as apparently happens later).) Of course we have the totally predictable romance between the head nurse and the Captain. Inexplicable that the nurse participates in numerous expeditions for no obvious reason other than the Captain has the hots for her. I am, just a bit, too young to claim knowledge of Navy life in '42, but I am pretty sure that the nurses would be semi-cloistered and protected as much as humanly possible (both from enemies as well as lust-besotted sailors.) And of course, we have an arrogant, cowardly adversary (Army Air Cps officer) who has been offended by his "disrespectful" treatment. Of course! If I had been asked what characters I would write into a cardboard sci-fi TV series, the only thing that this seems to be missing is a sly/dodger misunderstood petty officer who just can't seem to rise above his criminal past. Of course, all the nurses are knock-outs and all the sailors gentlemen (in proximity...) Anyway, I had to stop and review this at the point <SPOILER ALERT - really!> where the arrogant cowardly Air Corps officer proceeds to shoot the XO and then talks the crew into mutiny (even though he just shot the Captain, they let him talk rather than putting a bullet in his head!!! (xo = captain is a long story). I did mention that this Army officer is allowed to completely violate command discipline, right? (long before he pulls out his pistol). While the Captain does nothing to maintain discipline!! I just can't stand it! And for God's sake this parallel world with the cat people who speak Latin! I really find it all insulting, as if the author intends this to be a parody of Battle-on-Alien_World Sci-Fi, a bad parody. He does get something right: The angst that the two main characters feel rings almost true, if a bit melodramatic, a bit too worn on their cuff, but it definitely makes them human. Oh, did I mention the part where they pass by an alien boat, and since they are desperate for oil and supplies, they steam right by it? OMG, perhaps they were simpletons back then, when the world was still a bit wild. Or perhaps, again, the author insults our and the Navy's intelligence. I expected the AF captain to turn traitor after his first scene, and of course wasn't disappointed...it was a bit more realistic than Snidely Wiplash, but only just. < END SPOILER>
So if you like predictable story lines, with predictable characters and just-so plot devices, then this is the book for you. Why not one star? I didn't want to be first and I am going to try to struggle through it. If it were a Really Horrible book, I would have thrown out by now. 1.5 - 2 stars is about right.
First book? Seems right. I suspect that in 25 years it will be an embarrassment for him. Telegraphed plot, no extraordinary effort or inspiration, everything just seems (so far) to fall into place. (Of course, there are men on board who know how to drill AND distill oil!!!) I think it might be my age that prevents me from overlooking all of the never-ending flaws in this. It should have been done better. He probably needed 0.5 to 1 more year to fix all the glaring "the story will need this, so I am going to write it in here" elements.

Book was in good shape and arrived in time.

Did Not like extra bar code and smart code box stickers placed on cover of book and it's spine. I assume this was done by seller for inventory management needs.. Wrong move.

I Prefer original condition books as put out by Publisher!

I have always found 'alternate universe/timeline' stories interesting and engaging. Being a retired sailor who spent quite a few years in the South China Seas, this story about a WWII destroyer getting thrown into an alternate universe piqued my interest. I have great memories of experiences and shipmates from that time in my life, so I thought, 'What the heck?'

Be ready to hit the ground, feet on high boogie when you open to page 1. It does not stop... at all. When the twists started appearing in the story (it is an alternate universe, after all) I was at first 'concerned'. Admittedly my first thought is, 'Where is this basket-case trying to take this story?!' Mr. Anderson pulled it off, in spades.

Also, every crewmember on this ship that is a player in the story in any way is uniquely defined and developed. If you've ever wondered what types of men become sailors on a smalll ship (surface or sub) in our US Navy... this captures those men perfectly. Beyond expectations. You'll get to know each enlisted man and officer, and if you're a civilian, you'll laugh and cry at these sailors. If you've spent active duty time in that part of the world, you'll yearn to go back and rekindle old friendships.

Pick up the first two books - you won't want to wait 48 hours for the 2nd book to be shipped.

Bravo Zulu, Taylor.

DBF from an old diesel electric sub sailor.

Great Alternative History parallel Earth story with breath taking action packed pace and constantly evolving and growing storyline. This review isn't so much for this book as it is for the entire series. I'm currently on book 5 of the series and it just keeps getting better and better. Whereas other series tend to grow stagnant or predictable or milk their readership, I can honestly say that this series is the opposite of that. Each book is BETTER than the one before it and the storylines get more complicated and grow and you get to bond more with the characters as well as a nice expanding set of characters. This is a grand ol Adventure Opera if ever there was one. This book is comparable to Eric Flint's 1632 but unlike Flint's series, this series gets better as the books progress.

Last on my reading list for the campsite was something the crosses genres, with a significant clash of culture and technology. I considered several possibilities, with Island in the Sea of Time by S. M. Stirling nearly winning the day, but eventually settled on Into the Storm, the first book of the Destroyermen series from Taylor Anderson. This is a series I've been curious about for some time, so I decided to finally give it a shot.

A contemporary battleship being sent back to prehistoric times would have been interesting enough, but making the ship a WWI destroyer that is already failing when pressed into WWII service is a nice touch, and making that prehistoric world an alternate one, populated by a cat-like race at war with a reptilian one, is fantastic.

As sea-fairing military thrillers go, this a solid read. I tend to gravitate more towards submarines than destroyers when looking for a naval adventure, but the historical aspect was more than enough to pique my interest. The characters were all nicely developed, with a few standouts that I hope get more page time as the series continues. In terms of world-building, this is more establishing a concept than truly executing on it, but Anderson lays out enough detail to make the story work, and to make you want to keep reading. The clear delineation between the 'good' race and the 'bad' one is a bit simplistic, so I hope he blurs that line a bit in subsequent volumes. I'm really interested to see how the tentative American/Japanese true develops, and would be disappointed if Anderson didn't blur some lines there as well, particularly in terms of alliances with the new races.

There's a lot of potential here, and while I'm not sure it can sustain eight books (which is where the series stands today), I'm more than willing to go along for the ride and see how long the fun lasts. It's a book full of ideas that have been done before, but never quite in this manner. As for the writing, it's a bit cold and simplistic to start, but I could feel Anderson becoming more and more comfortable as the book progressed, with bodes well for future volumes.

Into the storm, the first in the long running Destroyermen series, is a very interesting alternate universe set in the 1940s pacific rim. The story becomes quite involved with a large cast of characters, both animal and human, making the middle of the book sag just a little. But Anderson does a great job of giving everyone a distinct personality and voice, as well as creating a convincing alternate Indonesia in which there are no humans but with other evolved species instead. Admittedly, I wish the animal characters weren't given a POV - they always just end up sounding human when given a voice. But I also appreciate that once I got past that frustration, I did enjoy the story. A very sci fi diesel punk.

Story: The men of an aging destroyer take refuge in a storm and find themselves in an alternate universe Earth with terrifying creatures. As they make an ally and a deadly enemy, they will have to be smart to find resource for their ship as well as to search out for anyone else caught in their freak storm and thrown into this AU.

The book is fairly long at 400 pages owing to all the points of view - from various USS Walker crew members, nurses, and even a Japanese prisoner who will be their key to survival in the new land. But also from the various evolved species of lemur and komodo dragon types of characters. Both Earth universes are in a fight for freedom, just one is more technologically advanced.

Clues that they were not the only ships to come through the storm in the far past (and perhaps their own present) also become apparent, giving intriguing clues to the coming plot (which I believe will kick in with the next book). But in the meanwhile, they have a lot of exploration and reconnaissance to do, involving vicious prehistoric monsters on both sea and land, and dealing with moral/crew issues as well.

Again, I think I would have liked this book a lot more without the animal POVs - it would have been leaner and more 'show, don't tell'. But the author writes very well and it is a very engaging story.

I listened to the Audible version of this book and the narrator had an unenviable job with all the foreign words and huge cast - but did an excellent job.

I haven’t read much “alternate history,” and I’m not sure why I picked up “Into the Storm,” the first book in “The Destroyermen.” Man, did I ever get hooked! I just finished re-reading the first nine books in the series, which is the first time I’ve ever done such a thing. It is a tribute to Taylor Anderson’s genius that the second time around was every bit as entertaining as the first.

The plot, or plots, for there are several, are woven together seamlessly. I assume the reader of this review is at least familiar with the premise of the series. The wars against the reptilian Grik and the sick, twisted Dominion take place at opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean, with characters plying between the fronts. Characters grow and develop, even age, all in a most believable, understandable fashion. They meet tragedy, victory, and sometimes die on us, right before a great victory. If Anderson uses a storyboard to keep track of the lines and characters, it must look like that guy’s garage in “A Beautiful Mind.”

Anderson has a grasp of muzzle loader battle, and of Napoleonic tactics. He knows the difference between grape shot and canister, and the importance of the evolution of artillery carriages from single trail to double trail. He knows how a bayonet locks on a Springfield rifle. And yet, with all that detail, he never gives one the feeling that it is gratuitous, or is just there to show how cool he is. The detail is written into the story so the reader sees it as part of the whole, like the buckles on Napoleon’s bridle in David’s portrait. The detail in Anderson’s narrative is what makes the grand sweep believable, as if one were to feel the texture on a gigantic tapestry – it’s like the flute counterpoint in a Beethoven symphony, or the guitar riff in BB King solo you’d never quite picked out until one night it’s just there, and you savor it for the glory it is.

The second reading of the books brought out so much detail I’d missed the first time! Some of it was admittedly trivial, and spoke to the military history geek in me, but much of it tied other, seemingly disparate plot lines together. For example, one of the most important ships in the series is a sailing frigate named USS Donaghey. I’d pictured her with a rakish, almost clipper-like appearance, which suited my fancy quite well. During the re-read, however, I spotted a single remark, almost an aside, a tip of the hat to a designer named Humphries. BAM! Joshua Humphries designed the USS Constitution – Old Ironsides. Suddenly, Donaghey’s bows got wider, her tumblehome more pronounced, her masts less raked, and her sailing qualities much more appropriate to a slugger. Oh, and wait! Donaghey is regarded as a very lucky ship because of the number of terrible, pitched battles she’s survived, and Constitution was called, “A most fortunate ship,” too. The way Anderson has sewn together bazillions of details – details that other authors slough off as trivial – makes his stories shine, thunder, sigh, and weep.

Truly, the devil is in the details, and Taylor Anderson has Old Scratch by the tail!

Anderson’s descriptions of the sea and of jungle-covered islands are impeccable. His sunsets are works of art – and again, the detail gives them texture and flavor and aroma. His battles are horrific things. Characters die in sudden flashes of powder and in the unexpected snap of tooth-studded jaws, and they’re just gone. An enemy trench is filled with groaning wounded and twitching corpses, and the smell of gunsmoke, blood, and voided bowels. If you want something fluffy and light, approach these books with caution. They are neither fluffy nor light.

But, my goodness! They’re good!

Great Alternative History parallel Earth story with breath taking action packed pace and constantly evolving and growing storyline. This review isn't so much for this book as it is for the entire series. I'm currently on book 5 of the series and it just keeps getting better and better. Whereas other series tend to grow stagnant or predictable or milk their readership, I can honestly say that this series is the opposite of that. Each book is BETTER than the one before it and the storylines get more complicated and grow and you get to bond more with the characters as well as a nice expanding set of characters. This is a grand ol Adventure Opera if ever there was one. This book is comparable to Eric Flint's 1632 but unlike Flint's series, this series gets better as the books progress.

Last on my reading list for the campsite was something the crosses genres, with a significant clash of culture and technology. I considered several possibilities, with Island in the Sea of Time by S. M. Stirling nearly winning the day, but eventually settled on Into the Storm, the first book of the Destroyermen series from Taylor Anderson. This is a series I've been curious about for some time, so I decided to finally give it a shot.

A contemporary battleship being sent back to prehistoric times would have been interesting enough, but making the ship a WWI destroyer that is already failing when pressed into WWII service is a nice touch, and making that prehistoric world an alternate one, populated by a cat-like race at war with a reptilian one, is fantastic.

As sea-fairing military thrillers go, this a solid read. I tend to gravitate more towards submarines than destroyers when looking for a naval adventure, but the historical aspect was more than enough to pique my interest. The characters were all nicely developed, with a few standouts that I hope get more page time as the series continues. In terms of world-building, this is more establishing a concept than truly executing on it, but Anderson lays out enough detail to make the story work, and to make you want to keep reading. The clear delineation between the 'good' race and the 'bad' one is a bit simplistic, so I hope he blurs that line a bit in subsequent volumes. I'm really interested to see how the tentative American/Japanese true develops, and would be disappointed if Anderson didn't blur some lines there as well, particularly in terms of alliances with the new races.

There's a lot of potential here, and while I'm not sure it can sustain eight books (which is where the series stands today), I'm more than willing to go along for the ride and see how long the fun lasts. It's a book full of ideas that have been done before, but never quite in this manner. As for the writing, it's a bit cold and simplistic to start, but I could feel Anderson becoming more and more comfortable as the book progressed, with bodes well for future volumes.

Into the storm, the first in the long running Destroyermen series, is a very interesting alternate universe set in the 1940s pacific rim. The story becomes quite involved with a large cast of characters, both animal and human, making the middle of the book sag just a little. But Anderson does a great job of giving everyone a distinct personality and voice, as well as creating a convincing alternate Indonesia in which there are no humans but with other evolved species instead. Admittedly, I wish the animal characters weren't given a POV - they always just end up sounding human when given a voice. But I also appreciate that once I got past that frustration, I did enjoy the story. A very sci fi diesel punk.

Story: The men of an aging destroyer take refuge in a storm and find themselves in an alternate universe Earth with terrifying creatures. As they make an ally and a deadly enemy, they will have to be smart to find resource for their ship as well as to search out for anyone else caught in their freak storm and thrown into this AU.

The book is fairly long at 400 pages owing to all the points of view - from various USS Walker crew members, nurses, and even a Japanese prisoner who will be their key to survival in the new land. But also from the various evolved species of lemur and komodo dragon types of characters. Both Earth universes are in a fight for freedom, just one is more technologically advanced.

Clues that they were not the only ships to come through the storm in the far past (and perhaps their own present) also become apparent, giving intriguing clues to the coming plot (which I believe will kick in with the next book). But in the meanwhile, they have a lot of exploration and reconnaissance to do, involving vicious prehistoric monsters on both sea and land, and dealing with moral/crew issues as well.

Again, I think I would have liked this book a lot more without the animal POVs - it would have been leaner and more 'show, don't tell'. But the author writes very well and it is a very engaging story.

I listened to the Audible version of this book and the narrator had an unenviable job with all the foreign words and huge cast - but did an excellent job.

I haven’t read much “alternate history,” and I’m not sure why I picked up “Into the Storm,” the first book in “The Destroyermen.” Man, did I ever get hooked! I just finished re-reading the first nine books in the series, which is the first time I’ve ever done such a thing. It is a tribute to Taylor Anderson’s genius that the second time around was every bit as entertaining as the first.

The plot, or plots, for there are several, are woven together seamlessly. I assume the reader of this review is at least familiar with the premise of the series. The wars against the reptilian Grik and the sick, twisted Dominion take place at opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean, with characters plying between the fronts. Characters grow and develop, even age, all in a most believable, understandable fashion. They meet tragedy, victory, and sometimes die on us, right before a great victory. If Anderson uses a storyboard to keep track of the lines and characters, it must look like that guy’s garage in “A Beautiful Mind.”

Anderson has a grasp of muzzle loader battle, and of Napoleonic tactics. He knows the difference between grape shot and canister, and the importance of the evolution of artillery carriages from single trail to double trail. He knows how a bayonet locks on a Springfield rifle. And yet, with all that detail, he never gives one the feeling that it is gratuitous, or is just there to show how cool he is. The detail is written into the story so the reader sees it as part of the whole, like the buckles on Napoleon’s bridle in David’s portrait. The detail in Anderson’s narrative is what makes the grand sweep believable, as if one were to feel the texture on a gigantic tapestry – it’s like the flute counterpoint in a Beethoven symphony, or the guitar riff in BB King solo you’d never quite picked out until one night it’s just there, and you savor it for the glory it is.

The second reading of the books brought out so much detail I’d missed the first time! Some of it was admittedly trivial, and spoke to the military history geek in me, but much of it tied other, seemingly disparate plot lines together. For example, one of the most important ships in the series is a sailing frigate named USS Donaghey. I’d pictured her with a rakish, almost clipper-like appearance, which suited my fancy quite well. During the re-read, however, I spotted a single remark, almost an aside, a tip of the hat to a designer named Humphries. BAM! Joshua Humphries designed the USS Constitution – Old Ironsides. Suddenly, Donaghey’s bows got wider, her tumblehome more pronounced, her masts less raked, and her sailing qualities much more appropriate to a slugger. Oh, and wait! Donaghey is regarded as a very lucky ship because of the number of terrible, pitched battles she’s survived, and Constitution was called, “A most fortunate ship,” too. The way Anderson has sewn together bazillions of details – details that other authors slough off as trivial – makes his stories shine, thunder, sigh, and weep.

Truly, the devil is in the details, and Taylor Anderson has Old Scratch by the tail!

Anderson’s descriptions of the sea and of jungle-covered islands are impeccable. His sunsets are works of art – and again, the detail gives them texture and flavor and aroma. His battles are horrific things. Characters die in sudden flashes of powder and in the unexpected snap of tooth-studded jaws, and they’re just gone. An enemy trench is filled with groaning wounded and twitching corpses, and the smell of gunsmoke, blood, and voided bowels. If you want something fluffy and light, approach these books with caution. They are neither fluffy nor light.

But, my goodness! They’re good!

Although I was torn between four stars and five, and ultimately gave it four, this is an excellent book that is highly recommended. There are precious few books that leave you disappointed when you're done reading them because there isn't more to read, but this is one of them.

Anderson is a gifted writer. The book is very readable; the story flows; the dialogue is first rate; and the plot is well-conceived with enough twists to keep it interesting without being outlandish.

Anderson has created a fascinating alternate world with two races of non-human sentient beings who are involved in a death struggle. Into this alien world falls an American destroyer from the Asiatic fleet in the early, desperate days of World War II. The use of an obsolete destroyer from the early 1940s was a great idea. No jets flying off a modern day aircraft carrier; just some modest sized guns on a beat-to-hell ship. Anderson does a nice job of filling in some details of the Lemurian society, which gives the book a realistic feel.

Why not five stars? A few reasons. The lemurs are intelligent, fair-minded, inquisitive and peaceful at heart. The Grik are evolved raptors who have gained intelligence but lost none of the viciousness that marked their ancient ancestors. They are the epitome of evil. That is perhaps not far-fetched, but it is rather predictable. There is virtually no description of Grik society other than they are evil killers. It isn't clear that they have language, although they clearly must. The only true criticism is that everything is a bit too convenient. Need oil? No problem. Just happen to have picked up an Australian oil engineer and there are two crew members who worked on the Texas oil rigs. Can't speak to the Lemurians? No problem. They can learn English in about a week. These are really minor criticisms, and don't really detract from the overall quality of the book.

Bottom line: Buy it. Read it. You'll enjoy it.

This is an 'Island in the Sea of Time' (ISOT) genre story, similar to SM Stirling's Nantucket trilogy or Eric Flint's 1632 series. In this one, two obsolete WWII destroyers are transported to a world where dinosaurs never went extinct and humans never evolved. The naval battles are good, and while the characters are essentially broad-stroke archetypes, it works for the story.

The Lemurians are a very amiable bronze-age race; the Grik are viscous monsters. This robs the conflict of nuance, but the general simplicity of the plot is actually a boon to the writing. This is a fun story.

The narrator of the audiobook did a good job, though a lot of his voices sounded a little silly. But then, this adds to the book's charm.

I look forward to listening to the next book.

3.5 stars

During the Second Battle of the Java Sea, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the destroyer USS Walker have been ordered to pull out of the Philippines. As they attempt to flee with several other Allied Navy ships, they're attacked by the Japanese. The Allied ships are sunk, one by one, until only USS Walker and the crippled USS Mahan are left. When the huge Japanese battlecruiser Amagi shows up with its Kamikazes, Captain Reddy knows they're lost -- Walker, an old ship which was about to be decommissioned before WWII started, can't stand up to the new Japanese ships. The only hope is to try to hide Walker and Mahan in a squall a few miles away.

When they enter the storm, they notice some strange phenomena with the rain and the sea, but things get really weird when they exit. There's no radio traffic, Amagi and its planes are gone, and there's a gigantic fish eating Japanese sailors (they manage to save one of them to hold as prisoner). When they meet a colossal wooden ship sailed by a species that looks like a cross between lemurs and cats, they realize that was no ordinary squall they passed through.

This is a parallel earth where evolution took different paths. While the climate, seas, land masses, and oil deposits are essentially the same, the animal species are different. There seem to be two sentient species. The Lemurians are passive and friendly but the Grik are definitely not. Courtney Bradford, the Australian oil company man whose hobby is naturalism, thinks they descended from the velociraptor. The Grik walk on two legs, have small arms, attack viciously, and devour their prey with their sharp teeth. After the Grik attack and kill some of the Walker men, Captain Reddy decides to help defend the Lemurian ship from a Grik attack. The humans don't want to be involved in their war, but they need allies in this new world and the Grik are obviously the bad guys.

Into the Storm is the first book in a Taylor Anderson's DESTROYERMEN series, which is currently seven books long (Iron Gray Sea, the seventh book, comes out next month). I was attracted to it because I love Patrick O'Brian's AUBREY/ MATURIN series (I read all 20½ books) and DESTROYERMEN marries that same kind of naval historical fiction with fantasy -- what could be better?

Well, Taylor Anderson's utilitarian writing style isn't quite as appealing as Patrick O'Brian's, but he writes with plenty of emotion, just the right amount of humor, and lots of knowledge. Anderson is an academic historian, a forensic ballistic archaeologist, a movie consultant, and a sailor. I was impressed with the amount of research that was evident in Into the Storm. The battles and warships Taylor uses in his plot are real (until the weird storm, of course) and I felt confident that he had his facts straight about what Walker and the other ships were like.

By necessity, there's a large cast of characters in Into the Storm. At first it's hard to keep them all straight, but Anderson manages to give the important ones distinct personalities. They felt real to me and I liked the ones I was supposed to like. The action is non-stop and exciting: torpedoes explode, ships sink, people get eaten by dinosaurs. But there is also time for humor, character development and occasional reflection about war, nationalism, justice, and evolution.

The American patriotism may be too much for some readers (especially if they're not American), and the hatred of the "Japs" is a constant theme, but it fits the context. Anderson makes the American sailors more palatable by giving them a different enemy in the parallel world. Instead of Japanese, they're fighting a mindless horde of ugly ferocious reptiles. It's an easy way out, but did we really want them fighting humans?

I had a lot of fun with Into the Storm, so I couldn't resist picking up book 2, Crusade. The men of Walker are dejected -- far from home and lonely. There are only two human women on this world, but there are indications that a group of humans were seen on the world generations ago. Might there be a human population somewhere? I have to find out what happens to these guys!

I'm listening to Tantor Audio's version which is narrated by William Dufris. He overdoes a few of the accents, but mostly he gives a great performance. I'll be reading the rest of the series on audio, too.

Alternate universes can be a lot of fun to read about. They are also a source of infinite imagination and bizarre constructs, if written by the hands of good writers. This book counts as one of the better treatments of this genre and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole storyline, plot, and scenarios described. All is not perfect in this book even though I am giving it five stars. There are too many predictable plot effects, and too many unanswered questions that require too much faith in the author.

The basic plot is that during the early stages of World War 2 in the Pacific; right after Pearl Harbor; the U.S. Navy is outgunned and outnumbered by the Japanese who are taking over the Southeast Asian waters. We start this book on the deck of a World War 1 destroyer that is participating in a doomed battle (that actually happened, but without that particular destroyer). To give it some time to avoid a sure pounding by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the destroyer hides in a rain squall - however this rain squall actually acts as a transfer conduit to a parallel universe. A universe where the geography is exactly the same is the world we are used to, but it diverged some thousands or millions of years ago from our path and therefore the development of its flora and fauna was different than ours. Hence, once the destroyermen enter the stage, they encounter beasts, fish, and trees never seen before by them. As it turns out the sentient beings in this universe are tribes of lemur-like animals that travel in immense sailing islands and are peaceful, and some lizark-like animals that travel in Eighteenth Century style sailing ships and eat anyone and anything they come across. The main story is how the 20th century Americans adapt themselves to this strange environment they find themselves in.

So, what is wrong here? Well, for starters, the initial chapter introduces the main characters and we are immediately told that an Australian naturalist of renown is on the destroyer along with his books and papers as well as six nurses who are trying to escape from Java that is being overrun by the Japanese. How convenient to have someone who can explain much of what they see, and who has the knowledge to point the destroyer to resources that it needs to be able to continue to function. The nurses - all females - are beautiful and their commander immediately falls in love with the Captain of the ship - and vice versa. Etc. In addition, once the Americans decide which race of beings they want to array themselves with, those beings immediately find a way to learn English while the Americans make no effort to learn their language. These beings are so smart that within a few short weeks, many of them become absolutely fluent in English. Hmmm... There are many such minor faults in the storyline. I could also point out that several times the author takes on a preachy tone about how much superior American culture is to others, but I will refrain as it will give the wrong impression.

The good stuff in this book is legion. The battle descriptions ring true and are very exciting. The way the story unfolds makes a kind of sense and we really start to care for all the people that we meet - of whatever kind of race they might be. The clash of technologies and the various people's responses to them are believable for the most part. The writing style is very appropriate to this story and it really flows well. At almost every chapter break I was always tempted to continue reading just a little bit more which is always a great sign from an author new to me.

I heartily recommend this book as a fun read which you do not want to analyze too closely. Enjoy if for what it is - a quick romp in a very imaginative world that is a hoot to read and one that makes you happy that this is the introductory volume in a series. I can only hope that the future volumes in this sers will be as fun to read as this one is. Recommended.

I truly was pleasantly surprised by this book. Seeing the destroyer ship on the cover as well as the title, Destroyermen, I was afraid I was going to find a book dedicated solely to war. That wasn't the case. It's a very good example of a parallel world paradox with good characters as well as 2 whole new and different species that I felt were well thought-out and described. The 2 species, specifically the Lemurians, feel like a real people. The entire book really comes alive. I appreciate how the soldiers on the ship as well as the captain try to adapt to the difficult circumstances of being alone on a world that is vaguely similar but completely different from the one they came from, with no contact with their superiors, and who end up facing an enemy worse than the one they left back home. I enjoyed the fact that the Japanese prisoner was used in a very important role, forcing the Japanese and Americans to work together, overcome prejudice, or perhaps just swallow their pride and follow the captain's orders even if they could hardly stomach the thought of working next to the "enemy". You really do get sucked in to the story and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. If you were put off or unsure of the book like I was, I encourage you to just give it a try. It was a very refreshing, exciting, and interesting read!

I have always loved alternate history books and this is a great addition to the genre. The destroyer-men have a tech advantage but not enough that they just steamroller through everybody. The captain is smart enough to know that before he goes to war he needs to take care of the basics like fuel and other logistics. The characters that survive really show their strengths and the capt. isn't left to do everything for himself. It is great to see these men who were so far in over their heads in our world still be able to stand up for the right and not just be sacrificed. As a submarine veteran I also liked the character development and how those who worked for the crew grew stronger and those who worked for their own urges fell to the wayside, especially the way Al Franken was dealt with. It may sound cold but a small tight knit crew has to work together or all will go down with the ship and men like the captain and several others really shine when they put others first.

I listened to the audio version of this book, and at first it seemed like it was going be a World War II novel. Not knowing what the novel was about, it took me by surprise when it turned out to be an alternative history novel as a US destroyer under heavy attack by the Japanese navy got sucked into a maelstrom. They then set sail to Bali and find an island inhabited by lizard like dinosaurs. They also run into Lemurians, who are mammalian in nature and more peaceful. The Americans must decide who's side they are on, while trying to figure out a way home.

There was a lot to like about Into the Storm. The naval warfare part at the beginning is really well done, as is the world building that occurs when they arrive in this alternate reality. Captain Reddy and his crew find themselves in a sticky situation, and I could really empathize with them as Reddy had to make difficult choices to keep his men alive and at the same time do the right thing in this new world. The novel is well written, well paced and filled with action and tension. The first in a series, this is the best alternate reality book I've ever read.

Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity

Nicely done all around!

A well told tale by an author who both knows his subject and knows how to tell a tale told well of that subject.

The technical details are fascinating. The "alien" cultures intriguing. And the "new world" the crew of the Walker encounters is a fascinating thing.

This is another one of those "lost in the sea of time" (sort of) tales but it's handled well. You take one part 1942 US Navy destroyer on the run from the Japanese, mix an unexplained interdimensional "squall," throw in some "dinosaurs," shake real well and you come out with a very intriguing book.

Anderson does a good job handling his characters and they come across as being real enough. I think his "aliens" can come off as being a tad stock but he's worked on that as the book progresses. The environment they find themselves in is a bit on the extreme side but that's explainable within the criteria he's set for the tale. And it all works well.

In reading this book I found myself imagining what I would do were I in the same spot as the characters. That, to me, is the mark of an engaging tale and this book does it in spades. After taking the chance on reading this first installment I then immediately went out and bought all the other books in the series. And then I burned through all of them in turn!

Yeah, it's that worthwhile.

Highly recommended and a great read.

This book was a great fast paced read, very exciting and is definately a quick read.

The book follows the crew of 2 beaten up WWII naval destroyers who start out getting battered by Japanese warships in the Asian theater of the war. While fighting a much larger Japanese warship themselves and their companion decide to head into a storm for cover. Instead of emerging from the storm they wind up in a parallel universe in which human beings have not evolved, but instead other species have. After sailing around they find a primitive civilization who are them selves at war with a more powerful, more develop enemy.

The book is definately a fascinating twist on the routinely used parallel universe genere. The book definately is action packed and is very quick the read through as I finished it in two days. I definately dont think you will be able to put the book down as most of it is pretty exciting. The book really had everything, from different societies, to attempts at diplomacy to attempted genocide. Read it, I think you will like it. Oh just as a warning, the ending is not really that well done. The final climatic scene is absolutely phenominal, but the overal conclusion of the book was quite disappointing and it seems like the author ran out of steam.

Just one complaint.. really? they are teaching mutants how to speak english in a matter of days? I want to know what language program they use, I would like to buy it.

Anyway.. awesome book, buy it!

ERB was a master of high adventure fantasy/science fiction, but certainly not without flaws. I've tried many contemporary authors and generally they are simply to silly, simple, overly complicated, over written or under thought out. I need well written, well reasoned high adventure and I don't want to leave my brain at the door and most importantly, the characters need to behave like real people would in the same situation.
Taylor Anderson hits the sweet spot on this. There isn't too much detail on the 'native' culture, but enough to explain what's going on. And it is just realistic enough so you don't have to dumb down to enjoy it.

I discovered Taylor Anderson last year while looking for new reads, and I am glad I did. Destroyermen is the story of a pair of World War II destroyers at the beginning of World War 2 that are sucked into a dimensional rift to a world where dinosaurs didn't die out. Instead they evolved into an intelligence that threatens to destroy the other intelligent race of the planet, the Lemur like Lemurians. Enter the men from our Earth and their obsolete warships, which are ages ahead of anything the two extant cultures on the planet possess. Lt. Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the Walker are everyman thrown into an incomprehensible situation and doing the best they can. Reddy, who is over his head as a ship commander, is now tasked with raising a culture and industrial base to 20th Century standards, planning a war, or watching the men he loves go down before the tide of Grik that threatens to consume the world. But the Grik have a secret weapon as well, the Japanese battle cruiser that has also come to this world. A very well written book by a man that understands history and naval warfare, and a great introduction to an interesting series. Highly recommended.

Summary on the back talks as if the transported destroyermen are in the horns of a fascinating moral dilemma about which proto-civilization they should support. As if both civilizations have good and bad points and the story is going to be elevated and agonizing involving the complex moral choices.

Nope. The Grik are lizards who want to eat your face. Let's join with their enemies because they keep attacking us (and dying, lol).

Also destroyermen never run out of cigarettes, or attempt to ration them in the first 300 pages. There are also some other disconnects involving the impact and use of 1940's technology I didn't like. Let's just say guns vs wooden ships don't quite work like the author writes it up. Main reason I didn't like it enough to continue the series after finishing volume one (yea I did soldier through it) is the cover blurb made this book into a more complex and interesting story than it actually is. Some scenes were pretty awesome, but the majority of the book managed to annoy me with how the author handled the moral issues, military discipline, and technology repair/impact.

Consider a person or group from modern times, who somehow get transported to an earlier time, or to a parallel universe inhabited by technologically less advanced peoples. Heck. Stretch this a little and include another case, where the modern group gets dropped on another planet, of backward inhabitants. In all cases, our heroes have an edge in weapons and tactics, but are sorely pressed in numbers. Typically, they ally with local friendlies against dreadful hordes of enemies. Familiar? Think Piper's Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen (Ace SF, F-342). Pournelle's Janissaries. Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time. Forstchen's Lost Regiment. Or, more recently, Birmingham's Weapons of Choice (The Axis of Time Trilogy, Book 1). So Anderson continues a long and popular tradition.

Superficially, this book seems to bear closest resemblence to Birmingham's account of American ships from 2020 plunged into World War 2. But actually Forstchen's works are the nearest prior art. He placed a Civil War regiment on another world, with backward humans oppressed by another vicious race. The regiment mobilises and tries to modernise the humans by industrialising them in the forge of war. Essentially what goes on in Anderson's book. The unique aspects here include the presence of 2 non-human sentient races. The Americans side with the lemurs, against the merciless reptiles. We mammals have to stick together, I suppose. He invokes a hypothesis made in recent years that if dinosaurs did not become extinct, some of them [the raptors] might evolve intelligence. (Cf. Harrison's West of Eden (Eden Trilogy) for a related take.)

Another distinguishing feature is the choice of terrain. Indonesia. With scenes in Borneo, Java and the local seas. I cannot recall the last science fiction story I read placed here. Makes a difference from North American or Euro-centric locales often used by other authors.

For those of you acquainted with the other stories, it can be interesting seeing how Anderson plays out "our" side and their frantic efforts to arm their allies. At some strategic level, you've read this before. So how will the tactics hold up?

The book does have a problem. Its American characters are rather uninspired. The brave commander, struggling with awesome decisions. A few errant but basically decent crewmen. And statutory love interests with some American nurses. The latter romances are by far the weakest of the character interactions. Brings to mind Robert Ludlum's widely derided love scenes for his characters.

In this wise, the book also continues one of the oldest of science fiction traditions. The characters are not especially memorable. Anderson goes through the motions with perfunctory development. So that he can turn to the science fictional themes and narrate the battle scenes.

The second book in this series is due out in a few months. Probably already fully written. Anderson appears very competent in his knowledge of warfare. But can he flesh out his characters more fully?

I suppose this series has become successful enough that one more review won't make any difference, but I will leave one anyway. Do you like the idea of a series hero hunting an alasaurous, with a 100 caliber/1"/25mm flintlock musket, which he crafted from the barrel of a salvaged Japanese naval auto cannon? Read on. This author apparently visited my own imagination and decided to write a long series of.books, just for me! There are so many elements I love in this series! The story and the world where it unfolds are like a wonderful collision between Doyle's Lost World and Alastair Maclean's best Second World war adventures, with some Michael Crichton for leavening. The heroes are tongue in cheek larger than life. The locales are exotic and fascinating. The villains are suitably villainous and it is guilt.free to hate them. The wildlife is, well, wild! The writing is excellent. Really head and shoulders above anything else I've come across in a long time. The action is well done and there are moments of genuinely hillarious dialouge and situations. There is NO sex. None. Zero. No Game of Thrones crap here, strictly PG-13 all around, proving it IS possible to write excellent fiction without flooding the pages with smut.

I run across lots of speculative fiction that has concepts which sound great, until I actually read the book, but I literally couldn't stop listening to these! The audio book versions are excellent, surprisingly. I usually cannot stand american narrators, but the guy who does this whole series does it very well. I bought the whole series on audio based on the strength of the first book and have not been disappointed!

If you are interested in historical accuracy, you will find it here. I mean it. The author has clearly done his research on the WWll tech used in the story. He does a fascinating job "extrapolating" from the real tech to create the fictional tech advancements.

Good stuff here.

I like the way the author mixes a historical setting with an alternate world. He really nailed the way the characters all react to things and keeping their knowledge and attitudes firmly entrenched in WW2. I also appreciate the icky bugs he creates for his alternate world. The setting, plot, and outcome were all satisfying.

My only beef is the writing style. How this guy ever got past an editor is a mystery to me. Grammatically, the writing was top notch, as I don't remember a single typo. However, his constant head hopping, many times within the same paragraph, let alone each scene, was annoying at times. It was more annoying because if it were me trying to sell this manuscript to an agent, I never would have got past the first round and my rejection letter would have read something like "You need to clarify your POV's. No head hopping." Yet this guy gets his book published. He is either really lucky or knows someone. That all being said, it was not enough for me to dislike what I read.

I almost didn't pick the book up, as when I glanced through random pages, I noticed long paragraphs and almost no dialogue. It gave me the impression the book rambled a lot, but in actually reading it, I found it moved along nicely, despite many long paragraphs.

To a non-writer, my criticism is meaningless, and in that respect, as a just a reader, I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to continuing the series. If you like high-seas adventure with a huge twist of sci-fi, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.

Interesting story and okay writing. Some of the inner dialogue is forced, and a bit repetitive. Characters are interesting, some endearing, but the development is spotty.

Lots of detailed description of life aboard a destroyer. And interesting idea for an alternate historical timeline. And entirely too much detail about the violent conflict.

I'm kinda interested in seeing how all of this pans out, but this is likely to be a one and done series for me.

I always love to get my hands on the first book in a new alternate history series. Taylor Anderson has really started out well with the saga of an old worn out Great War "4-stacker" destroyer, USS Walker, and it's iron crew.

Anderson accurately depicts the desperate state of the US Asiatic Fleet in the early days of W.W. II: worn out equipment and ships, dud ammunition, torpedoes that don't work, and confused leadership. Lt. Commander Matthew Reddy, a recalled-to-duty Annapolis graduate, is placed in command of the destroyer as the tensions leading up to the events of 7 December, 1941 are increasing. Other interesting characters emerge in the telling of the tale--Chief Bosun's Mate Fitzhugh Gray, Gunners Mate Dennis Silva, to name a few. After a vividly described battle between a Japanese battlecruiser, Amagi, and Walker accompanied by Mahan, the damaged destroyer enters a strange squall that shifts the ship and crew into an alternate universe at the same time and place.

The Walker emerges into a new world populated by bizarre and very alien creatures: a species of peace-loving mammals called "lemurians" by pseudo-naturalist Courtney Bradford (a former petroleum engineer), and a voracious race of reptilian predators, the "Grik." The Walker and Captain Reddy are reluctantly drawn into yet another war in the new universe.

Several well drawn battles take place amd the Lemurians emerge as an effective ally in a struggle against the Grik; many well developed Lemurian characters also emerge: Adar, the "sky priest," Keje, commander of the Sallisa home, and Chack Sab-At, a recruit into the U.S. Navy and liason between the races. A romantic interest is provide in the guise of Lt. Sandra Tucker of the U.S. Navy nurse corps.

Most of my reviews don't belabor plots and slavishly reiterate the story line--I generally tend to focus on writing style, technical accuracy, chaacter development, and overall readability. I am pleased to report that this is a very nicely executed work in all of these regards. Author Anderson is to be commended on his first novel; a solid *5-star* effort. Highly recommended.

This book is fast paced and has a good story. However, the thing that turned me off is the realism glitches in some areas. It might seem strange to speak of realism in a book where the basic premise is teleportation to an alternative world, but for me at least, in a techno-military SF style book, it all falls flat on it's face if the technical details are wrong. Just a few examples:

* A two engine aircraft do not use less fuel whan one engine is turned off, on the contrary, it will use more.

* A 46000 ton warship with ten inch guns would be ludicrously undergunned.

* Wooden men of war do not disintegrate after a few salvoes of roundshot, a wooden ship of war sunk by gunfire in the age of sail is almost unheard of.

Some people might see this as nitpicking, and everyone has his taste, but for me these things make the book silly. It also peeves me a little that it is evidently written as a part of a series with no real ending, the reader is simply supposed to want to buy even more of the same.

I could taste the salt as I read this vivid description of an alternative universe set in 1942 western Indian Ocean.

Anderson describes the tale of the old WWI vintage "Walker" and how her crew copes with choosing sides in a war that our species had no part initially.

I see the Grik antagonists as the carbon copy evil bent destroyers similar to Lucas's Imperial Stormtroopers.

Skipper Matt Reddy leads as every good leader does from the front. CPO Gray carries the men and their concerns like every senior enlisted I've known. Gunner's Mate Dennis Silva is every man's sailor fighting with his purpose, officers, other sailors, and biology in his struggle from loathsome villian to hero.

An excellent read!

An action-adventure packed with great battle action. This is a fun read. A WWII destroyer gets caught in a storm while running away from Japanese battleships on her tail and ends up in a parallel world where the geography is the same as the original earth, however, monsters roam and what are seen and the "human" inhabitants are a cross between monkeys and cats having their homes in large boats that are continually at sea.

This is a well done WW2 naval action and sci-fi twist novel. The characters on an ancient WW1 era steam powered destroyer and are in the thick of a losing naval battle in which they are about to be destroyed by a modern Japanese battle-cruiser. They escape into a strange and violent squall and fall through a weird vortex into a parallel world and thus the adventure begins. It's well researched and I found it hard to put down. The main complaint I have is that this book finishes "to be continued" and does not end cleanly. You are required to buy the sequel to find out what happens, which I did, only to have "Crusade" end the same way. I don't care for these kinds of games with my time and money and Taylor Anderson needs to learn how to create a solid stand-alone ending for a series book that leaves the reader satisfied while still encouraging purchase of the next book.

Into the storm is the first of Taylor Anderson's fictional books I have read and it is quite a well placed first shot into a crowded field of literary talent.

From the moment you meet the tired little boat and her crew you immediately get the sense that they are in over their heads. Escaping from one fight against overwhelming odds only to find themselves thrust into another battle against an enemy so far removed from anything they have experienced before that it might drive lesser men mad.

The theme of a parallel world is nothing new but the author keeps it interesting by placing it in a part of the world little is ever heard of causing me to break out a map again and again to capture the feel of the area in which the action is set.

Being somewhat familiar with Mr. Anderson's previous literary accomplishments I am glad to see him jump into the world of fiction. Though it is not surprising to see the same desire for historical accuracy he always strives for. Making the little destroyer come alive but without the O'Brian like attention to every sheet and stay and transplanting her into a world as imaginative as it is deadly. The characters and story are infused with the feel of a book written closer to the 1940's rather than today recalling some of the style from a more golden age of science fiction.

I am looking forward to the next of what I hope is a long line of novels from Mr. Anderson.

In the growing sub-sub-genre of "a ____ from ____ is suddenly transported to ____," this series is more derivative than most. It owes vast props to William Forstchen's "Lost Regiment" novels, in which a Yankee Civil War unit being transported on a ship finds itself on an alien planet populated by hordes (in the Mongolian sense) of aliens who Eat People.

The similarities are impossible to ignore:

There are the commanders, noble and upright square-jawed white men who agonize over the tough decisions that force them to put their men in harm's way;

Their love interests, the beautiful young, unattached, age-appropriate women who just happens to have boarded the ship just before the portal opened;

The fearsome, insatiable, inhuman foes who Eat People;

The peaceable allies who have lived in fear of the Implacable Foe until the mighty humans arrive to put steel into their spines and make them face their destiny;

The descendants of Other Humans From the Past (not major players in the current Destroyermen books, but we know they're there);

The members of the human unit who just happen to understand the necessary technologies to industrialize the peaceable allies in order to fight the implacable foe.

Etc., etc.

If you have not read Forstchen's series, or any of the other series by Sterling, Turtledove, Birmingham, etc. that riff on the same theme, you'll enjoy this story of an American WWII destroyer and its crew, suddenly transported to an alternate earth where the descendants of giant lemurs (the Peaceable Allies) struggle against the descendants of velociraptors (the Implacable Foe) in the waters of the Java Sea. The writing is workmanlike, the characters are stock, the situations are simple and straightforward. It's reasonable fun.

But the more of the genre you've already read, the more you'll find the back of your mind ticking off the points of congruence between this book and its predecessors in the field, and for the most part this one comes up short.

IMPORTANT: I have enjoyed all 11 books currently in this series as of 2016 and the story lines continue to grow and spread. While I like this series I wish I would have known this before hand. As far as I know the author hasn't given any indication at to the number of books to expect. I have to believe this going to be something like a 15 book series since just wrapping up the existing story lines would probably take two books. So I would recommend waiting to begin this series until there are 13 (or more) books out. Since the author seems to release a book a year that means you may not want to start this series until 2018 or later.

Certainly it is a theme told before, and perhaps better...I haven't read as much of this sort of sci-fi (military sci-fi) so I can't say. I agree the characters are weak, but the pace and action are more than adequate. Basically, a well-told story, if not one that grips you tightly and immerses you.

Destroyermen tells the story of a group of US navy sailors who, while fighting the Japanese, are transported via a strange storm to an alternate reality where humans do not exist. In this reality, earth is much more primordial and dinosaurs walk the earth and the dominant race are a group of human-lemur anthropomorphs called Lemurians.

I found destoyermen initially started off quite slow. The narrator was not the best, and takes a while to get used to his stale sounding voice. After a couple hours, the story picked up, and the characters began to grow on me, but I never found myself that interested in any individual characters. I particularly found the nurses annoying and towards the end the sainted noble savage Lemurians got on my nerves too. It felt like Avatar with the Lemurians and humans banding together to save the rainforest, but instead it is Lemurians and humans banding together to repel the evil villainous reptile people. The battle especially at the end was slightly cheesy, especially the revelation of what the Grikk did with their prey.

I guess I would prefer a story where the focus was on humanity. I'm not opposed to alien critters, but I don't want them to supplant the humans, nor am I that interested in seeing humans hook up with furries or the growing interdependence between humans and this Mary-sue race of people. Perhaps if the Lemurians had a few truly alien customs it might make up for the fact that they are so totally human in every other respect. I also found the attitude of the sailors to be fairly contemporary. These guys are supposed to be from the 40's but they seem way too modern and lacking in prejudice (except the rather overt prejudice against the Japanese soldier). I also found it convenient that these two vessels took on a group of female nurses- right before being stranded in a reality where there were (presumably) no human women. I also find it odd in hindsight, that never once were Lemurian children or babies mentioned. However there seems to be plenty of discussion of the females nursing equipment. It felt like Lemurians spring from the womb fully formed and skip the child stage altogehter.

This story was uneven for me. It started off quite dull, got interesting, and then went over the top at the very end with the Lemurians stealing the show.

As someone who likes science fiction, but not usually the military aspect of the genre, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I truly enjoyed reading Destroyermen: Into The Storm. I found the military story engrossing and realistic. The creature descriptions were spot on. I didn't feel that characterization was lacking as some others commented. There were just many characters in which to be introduced. Pacing was good and some parts made me laugh out loud. It was clear at the end that this book is just one in a series. I can't wait to move on to book #2.

What really caught my eye, from the publisher's description was that, on this version of earth, two different intelligences had evolved and are at war, the humans "have the means to turn a primitive war into a genocidal Armageddon, one thing becomes clear: They must decide whose side they're on. Because whoever they choose to side with is the winner."

The book is solidly, if unexceptionally, written. As the destroyer is part of a fleet that is trying to escape the Japanese, a chance is had for the ship to pick up some additional people, besides the crew. There are a couple of pilots (gotta be able to fly on the alternate world), some nurses (gotta have some women), and an Australian jack-of-all-trades scientist (who can be knowledgeable and/or ignorant, as needed.) They even rescue a Japanese sailor who got sucked through the squall into this world along with them. A Japanese sailor on a US Navy ship, now that's conflict! (Fortunately, he was educated in the US, speaks English, and wasn't too gung-ho about the Pearl Harbor attack. Wouldn't want to have to actually deal with conflicting viewpoints.) While these are fairly formulaic, they are not hard to swallow in the context of making the cast of characters more interesting, and creating some potential plot conflicts.

The battle descriptions are very good. The ship's abilities are discussed, and the battle tactics are described, well, but without so much jargon that it becomes incomprehensible. The captain, whose viewpoint rightly dominates the book, is a reasonably interesting character. Most of the other characters are right out of central casting.

My problems with the books start to appear as the crew meets the first alien (to them) race, one descended from lemurs. I was looking forward to the ethical dilemma of choosing sides, but this dilemma disappears almost immediately, as these nice furry people are under attack by a race descended from raptors, who have no redeeming social qualities, and also have big teeth. While a paragraph or two is spent on the captain hemming and hawing over stepping in, he quickly decides to help the beleaguered "cat-monkeys" and the dilemma is over before it has a chance to begin.

I was also annoyed by the fact that this alternate world was supposed to be as old as the earth, and yet the races on it are far behind humans in technology. No explanation is given as to why they are so far behind, it just makes for a better story.

The book moves along well enough that until it is an enjoyable read, but afterward I realized that it was mostly a waste.

At the onset of World War II, the desperate allies put into the navy several warships that have seen their better days. Commander Matthew Reddy leads one of them; a destroyer that he fears will fail. When the enemy engages his vessel, Matthew realizes how helpless they are; he orders his men to steer into the eye of a nasty storm to elude their foes.

However, Matthew fully understands what it means to jump from the frying pan into the fire when the storm abates; he and his crew find themselves in a world where dinosaurs live and humans are non existent. However Matthew learns of two sentient races at war; each side demands he join them as his junk ship is superior by far to what either side possesses.

With a nod to Star Trek and DC comics, INTO THE STORM is an engaging military science fiction parallel earth thriller. The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action. On the plausible side is this alternate earth with dinosaurs and sentient races and the crew entering the "portal"; on the doubtful column is the impact of a broken down destroyer on a world war (potential technological leaps in the long run aside). Still fans will appreciate Taylor Anderson's fine tale.

Harriet Klausner

This book was a suprisingly good read. I grabbed it as something to fill up the space between books while I was waiting for some to come in the mail. I enjoyed it so much I ordered the hardback of this and the other 2 in the trilogy (so far, but I hope there is more!) Anderson does an excellent job of making the characters real to the reader without spending 5 chapters telling us what the name of everyone's pet fish from elementary school. The action stars pretty much from the first chapter as Anderson does a good job of getting you up to speed from the first pages. I have a little bit of military experience so the book was pretty easy to read when the arthor talk in Navy lingo. I think he does a great job of explaining all the Navy terms and customs for people that might not have a high level of familurarity. The only thing that might make a reader say "hmmm" is the fact that many of the characters have additional skills that are crucial in the book but... that is the same senario in Star Wars; if everything didn't line up perfect, there wouldn't be a story. Plus, if you can believe in the existence of a portal that will take a ship into another 'dimension,' than it's not a far stretch that 2 crew members were ex-oildrillers. Bottom line; this is an excellent book.

This book and this series is really an enjoyable read, I read the whole series in a week and my only regret is that I must now wait for the next book to come out. Well written and interesting details. Truly a great story. The author really takes the time to build up a great story while keeping you interested and involved the whole time. Character development is also great. If you find the summary of the book interesting then you really will enjoy this book and series.

There are plenty of alternative histories about and quite a lot of time/alternative reality stories where a bunch of people are plucked form our universe and history and fine themselves somewhere...else. And yes, this is indeed one of them.

During a WW2 sea battle with the Japanese an elderly US warship (The Walker) is transported into an alternative reality where the landscapes are the same but man does not appear to have evolved. Almost immediately they have to take sides in a conflict between two races...with overwhelming power but dwindling resources, has the crew of the Walker picked the right side, and can they survive?

Although a theme we may have seen before, this is well delivered and more thoughtful then most. It certainly moves with pace and although you can see where it is going and what is likely to happen over the next few books, it is still written with enough intelligence to lift it above the standard for these types of books.

I picked up this book after I got into a fury of buying alternative universe books that were mainly about war. I had read Weapons of Choice, which was one of the best books I have ever read but this series is getting close to topping that. The Author has really come into his self writing this series and I can't get enough of his books. The story is all about a discarded ship and it's crew who is sucked into an alternative universe where evolution was radically different than what happened to us. Just like that storm that sucked up the characters in this story, you to will be sucked up into it.

I really enjoyed this book so much, a little out of the norm of what I normally read, although I do read some fantasy and science fiction, but something about the description of this book caught my eye. It reminded me a little of James Rollins. I love James Rollins, but his books are like reading movies and kind of "out there" pretty unrealistic. But maybe that is why I enjoy them and I felt the same about this book. It was just good fun, I liked the characters, I liked that he used a World War Two setting, and I found the societies on the other side of that storm, really fun. Well, if you can call the Grik fun....anyway, this is a great book to spend some time with and I can't wait until the sequel.

Nice surprise with this one. I was expecting historical fiction from the first few pages I read... then discovered it was more than just that. What happens when a WWII destroyer in the Pacific enters a storm and emerges in an alternative reality? Have a read and find out.

Taylor Anderson has been a friend for many years...I have long respected his artistic abilities and his devotion to accuracy in his historical reenactments. Taylor, as many know, did the artillery work on the latest Alamo motion picture. But, who knew he could write!!?? And, write well!!

Thank you, Taylor, for a great read created as I would have expected you to do....ships and equipment accurate to the last bolt...characters developed to the point of almost stepping off the page. I can't wait to start the next one!

In some ways, this book reminded me of Birmingham's books but without politically correct nonsense that flood Birmingham story. I loved Taylor Anderson's descriptions of conflict and different races involved. His style of writing is quite vivid and it made for easy and enjoyable read. I won't go into description of the story but needless to say this is a must for sci-fi and alternate history lovers.

This book was well written and researched. The author knew about the US destroyers and their actions in WW2. Exciting action mixed with politics and first contact. Before I had finished the first one I had downloaded the second. Normally I find errors in spelling and editing, but this but was well edited. I recommend the book to any one that likes WW2 and science fiction.

I just finished "Into the Storm: Destroyermen", and I LOVED it!! I have been reading SF for over 40 years and I put "Into the Storm" up there with "Alas, Babylon", "Battlefield Earth" and "Farnum's Freehold". My wife and I have owned a New and Used bookstore for the last 15 years, so I have had the opportunity to read a huge variety of books. This one goes on my to keep shelf!!
From first page to last, Taylor kept my attention with the fast paced action, accuracy with weapons and tactics,(a huge deal with me) and a very eclectic group of characters. From the very first chapter the characters showed their humanity and flaws. We see the ability of man to overcome impossible odds with courage and faithfulness to Duty, Honor and Country. We see why the American soldier and Sailor have been a power to contend with for the last 200 plus years. In Into the Storm: Destroyermen we see how those same men and women overcome things that they never even considered possible. Ordinary men in Extraordinary circumstances. It's a formula for greatness. I almost wish that I had waited to read the first book until I had them all. Then I would be losing sleep reading them instead of wondering what will happen next. If you love SF and or Alternate History, do not pass up this book. "Into the Storm: Destroyermen" is jumping off the shelves in our store. We are so confident that our customers will love it that we are offering a "Money Back Guarantee". No-one has asked for thier money back yet!!!

When I picked up this book I thought that I would read a little bit (it was in the evening) put it down and call it a night. Didn't happen! I finally put it down around 4 a.m. when I finished it! Needless to say work was a little rough the next day but that's how good this book is!Into the Storm (Destroyermen)

I couldn't put it down!
Can't wait for book 2 the "Crusade" to come out in October.
I think its refreshing for a new author to skillfully combine WWII era descriptions, men, boats and planes with a different dimension, monsters and race, but still make it all flow effortlessly together in a fast paced great read.
This well told tale is obviously a great candidate for Peter Jackson or George Lucas to put on the big screen.
Taylor's author's notes on several items in the book were great.

Into the Storm: Destroyermen, Book I (Destroyermen)
As a retired bookstore owner of 19 years, I would recommend this book as a fun and enjoyable read. "Into the Storm" mixes action adventure, sci-fi, and WWII history without botching the history end.
The storyline pits a battle worn destroyer crew into an unreal situation in an alternative plane of existence without knowing how they got there or more important, how to get home. The crew encounters dangerous "Sea Monsters" that sailors in legends would find at the ends of the earth, along with dinosaurs roaming the pacific islands where people should be. Soon they find themselves in another war with very unusual allies and everything at stake.
Also of interest is the author's website [...] which has drawings and diagrams, that did not make it into the book, that gives perspectives of the different ships.
I can't wait for the other 2 books in the Destroyermen series and for other books by this author, Taylor Anderson.

I liked book two better but this is also a darn good book. It really sets the stage for book two, I hope book three lives up to the first two.
I frequently start books and then drift around to others that I'm in different stages of reading and then drift back. But both these books caught me, I did what I haven't done in years and stayed up half the night reading.

I went looking for a library book to fill down time. I stumbled on the first book in this series, and had a difficult time getting back to work! I enjoyed the sea-based content which seemed reasonable at all times. The alternate universe is well crafted with interesting characters. I have already downloaded the second book and hope it is as captivating as the first.

The only things I liked about this book is the descriptions of life aboard a WWII destroyer and the battle with Japanese before "The Squall". Obviously the author knows what he is talking about, and has strong feelings on the topic. Seagoing simians were okay, but nothing exciting -- basically humans with tails. They are primates, so they ought to be fairly similar to us. Other than that, though...

1. The characters are boring and typecast. Even people who give the book 4 or 5 stars seem to agree with this.

2. The sea ecology is impossible. Sure, there were real sea monsters in Mesozoic, but never in THESE numbers! It's a marine equivalent of fantasy books (or D&D Wilderness Encounter table) where a top predator is hiding behind every tree.

3. The Grik are by far the worst feature of the book. Their social organization and motivations make no sense at all. Granted, their social organization and motivations are not explained, but I have a suspicion the author did not even bother to think them through. Large numbers of Grik coordinate their actions across entire Indian Ocean, yet act as bloodthirsty berserkers with no understanding of tactics -- except when plot requires that they DO understand them. I think the author simply wanted a totally evil non-human enemy, with no moral ambiguities and possibility of negotiation. An all-too common -- and lazy, IMO, -- occurrence in recent military SF.

This is an exciting and nicely paced read. Getting my mind into the overall concept was easier with the placement of good guys and bad guys to provide clear lines of association. I love the flavor of the characters in the book. This could have easily expanded into much more, but I understand the limits of most publishers. I would be disappointed if this stops at book three. How entertaining would be the idea of seeing these characters age through the years and see how it changes the future in new ways.
This series needs at least 6 to 7 books to complete. I have cherished each one as they have come out. I have re-read this one a second time and I find it to be more fun to read the second time through.

This book starts out in a battle scene and soon transports you to a different dimension where nothing is as it should be. The characters are torn between what their fate would have been had they stayed where they were (probably death),and accepting the fact that they must adapt to their new "world". The characters are unique, and the author is very effective with his descriptions. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you are a Sci-Fi reader. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

What a truely fantastic suprise!!! I talked about this book so much my father decided to read it too. He got very upset with about thirty to twenty pages to go. I asked why, and he told me he had figured out this book was part of a series, and now he would have to WAIT and WONDER as to the continuation and conclusion. I must say I agree with him. Very frustrating and exciting to be kept "on the hook" for several months. But in my opinion well worth the wait!!! Thank you Mr. Anderson.

Entertaining book, but an obvious ripoff of William R. Forstchen's lost regiment series. If you liked this book, you should try Forstchen's series. The Union Forever (Lost Regiment)

Just a few words to say that Taylor Anderson has done a wonderful job of creating a story that is fun and interesting to read. It is a must for Sci-Fi and WWII alternate history fans. Their is never enough, so I am hopeful for further books in this series (beyond the 3 so far). Please!