Destroyermen

Destroyermen series
Author Taylor Anderson
Country United States
Language English
Genre Alternate history
Publisher Roc Books
Published June 2008 – ongoing
Media type Print (hardback & paperback)
No. of books 12

The Destroyermen series is a series of alternate history books, written by American writer and historian Taylor Anderson. The twelve books in the series so far are Into The Storm, Crusade, Maelstrom, Distant Thunders, Rising Tides, Firestorm, Iron Gray Sea, Storm Surge, Deadly Shores,[1] Straits of Hell, Blood in the Water and Devil's Due.

The books chronicle the adventures of the crews of the destroyer USS Walker (DD-163) and the Japanese battlecruiser Amagi, in the early stages of the War in the Pacific during World War II, being transported to an alternate Earth. This Earth is relatively the same geographically as the one they left, but evolution took a different turn eons ago.

Plot summary

Into the Storm

In Into the Storm,[2] the story begins during the Second Battle of the Java Sea. The USS Walker (DD-163) is a destroyer of the United States Asiatic Fleet, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy. The Walker was a part of the surviving ABDACOM fleet, consisting of the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Exeter, HMS Encounter, and the United States Navy destroyers Pope and Mahan, all of which were fleeing from Japanese naval forces. However, the Japanese forces closed range, and opened up on the small Allied fleet. The Exeter took a major hit, and ordered the remaining four destroyers to leave the crippled cruiser.

The destroyers were systematically sunk, starting with the Encounter, followed by the Pope shortly thereafter just as happened in the real naval battle. The surviving destroyers, Walker and Mahan, then encountered the Japanese battlecruiser Amagi. Seeing no other option, Lieutenant Commander Reddy commanded the pair of destroyers to stage a torpedo attack, which sunk an accompanying destroyer, and badly damaged the battlecruiser, before the ships were enveloped in a freak squall, and transported to an alternate world, where humans never evolved, apparently because the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (specifically the Chicxulub asteroid impact) never occurred.

There are two races. One, the Lemurians, evolved giant lemurs from Madagascar, who are peaceful farmers and fishermen, and live on huge oceangoing houseboats called Homes. Walker's captain, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, meets with the Lemurian leadership, and forms an alliance with them to fight the other race, the Grik, who are at war with the Lemurians. The Grik are possible descendants of the dinosaur genus Velociraptor.

Crusade

Second book in the series that was released in October 2008.[3]

In the second book, Crusade, Reddy, and the crew of Walker, are training the Lemurians how to fight. The Amagi is now under Grik control, and her captain is half-mad.

Maelstrom

Third book in the series that was released in February 2009.[4]

By Maelstrom, Reddy, his crew, and their Lemurian allies, are fighting the Grik. By Distant Thunders, the tide is turning.

Distant Thunders

Fourth book in the series that was released in June 2010.[5]

Rising Tides

The fifth novel in the series was released in February 2011.[6]

Firestorm

Firestorm is book 6 of the series that was released in October 2011.[7]

The sixth volume in the series follows the growing threat from the "Dominion", a Grik / Japanese superweapon, and the arrival of more ships through the "squall", including a Japanese destroyer.

Iron Gray Sea

Book 7, Iron Gray Sea, was released in July 2012.[8] Many new developments but also picks up some older story lines that had previously taken a sideline.

Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces and the captain of USS Walker, marries Nurse Lieutenant Sandra Tucker. The Grand Alliance is taking the war to the Grik and the Japanese. The Lemurians, Walker's allies, have been fighting the Grik for a year and are now winning. Walker, in the past year, has been rebuilt, and is now part of the Little class.

This book introduces the a human-Lemarian culture called the Republic of Real People in what would be South Africa. Also introduced in this book is the German ocean liner SMS Amerika that was transported from a different timeline. It was later revealed in Deadly Seas that Amerika was converted to an armed merchant cruiser during the First World War when it was transported while fighting the British instead of being stuck in an American port in the world the USS Walker came from.

Storm Surge

Book 8 was released on July 2, 2013.[9]

The eighth book in the series picks up with the desperate situation in Grik India from Book 7, as well as covering some new developments on the Eastern Front in the battle against the Dominion.

In the Pacific, as USS Walker is repaired and updated after a previous battle and Matt Reddy is healing from his wounds, planning begins for a bold raid on the very heart of the Grik Empire.

But time is running out for the Alliance army in India, and the Allied forces in the west must gather in an unprecedented land, air, and sea campaign to destroy the mighty Grik battle fleet and break through to their relief. All other plans go on hold when the attempt proves more difficult—and more heartbreakingly costly—than anyone imagined.

Meanwhile, the struggle continues on other fronts near and far: in the jungles of Borno in distant Africa and in the Americas, where the Allies are finally learning the truth about the Dominion.

The Alliance is on the offensive everywhere, but their enemies have a few surprises, including new weaponry, new tactics and an unexpected major geographic advantage.

Deadly Shores

Book 9 was published in May 2014.[10] It deals with the Alliance invasion of the heart of the Grik Empire.[11]

The ambitious, long-planned raid on the Grik Empire has grown dangerously ill defined. Only Matthew Reddy, commander of the old destroyer USS Walker, seems focused on the original intent.

While many Lemurians see an opportunity to reconquer their stolen homeland, others—Lemurian and human—have their own agendas, which could compromise the Alliance. Complicating matters further is Reddy's suspicion that his task force is being stalked by some unknown power bent on aiding the Grik for reasons of its own.

As the raid begins and chaos reigns, Reddy has no choice but to risk everything in a desperate act that results in a sprawling, nightmare battle on the beaches of "Grik City", on the very decks of Walker, and in the labyrinthine passageways of the Celestial Palace itself. The final cost could be more than Matt Reddy—or the Alliance—can bear.

Straits of Hell

Book 10 was published in May 2015.[12] It dealt with the Alliance's attempts to keep the Grik from reconquering the Lemurians' ancestral home of Madagascar, battles against the Dominion on land and at sea, introduction of the League of Tripoli and various other plot points.

Matt Reddy’s old Asiatic Fleet destroyer USS Walker has been mysteriously transported to an alternate version of earth. Here World War II is no longer raging, and Reddy and his crew have been trying to find a new place for themselves in this strange new world.

Now, along with the felinoid Lemurians and Imperial allies, they fight to keep the reptilian Grik, a race growing in supremacy, from reconquering the Lemurians' ancestral home on Madagascar. Reddy and his crew are exhausted, far from reinforcements, and wildly outnumbered, so the odds seem greater than ever before. As for the fate of the Americas, Don Hernan and the evil Dominion have gathered to annihilate the forces behind the walls of Fort Defiance as a shadowy power with an agenda all its own rises with chilling resolve.

As the war teeters on a knife-edge, a tipping point may have been reached at last—and cold steel and hot-blooded valor will remain the ultimate weapons.

Blood in the Water

Book 11 of the series was released in June 2016[13] following teaser released: Taylor Anderson’s enthralling New York Times bestselling series of alternate history continues as game-changing revelations upend the Grand Alliance in a potentially cataclysmic war.

Ever since the USS Walker came from another world war to defy the terrifying Grik and diabolical Dominion, Matt Reddy and his crew have given their all to protect the oppressed Lemurians. But with the Walker in desperate need of repairs just as the Grik's First General is poised to strike, Reddy is desperate.

With more enemies than ever before arrayed against them, the crew of the Walker needs new allies. That means combing the lethal wilds of Madagascar to find the Lemurians' fabled ancestors, as well as the enigmatic dwellers east of the Pass of Fire. But what Reddy's crew unearths may be more than they can handle—discoveries so shattering they could tilt the balance of the war in either direction.

But Reddy's greatest adversary is from his past: a madman named Kurokawa whose single-minded mission of revenge will shake the Alliance to its core and raise the stakes to the most personal and terrifying levels Reddy has ever faced.[14]

Devil's Due

The twelfth book in the series was released in June 2017.[15] The Alliance begin a more active conflict against the League of Tripoli, a military coalition that was led by the Parti Populaire Français from a different alternative timeline in which France, instead of Germany, became the dominate fascist power in Europe. Some of the vessels that were brought over included the French submarine Surcouf, the French Bretagne-class battleship Savoie, the Italian Leone-class destroyer Leopardo, and the Spanish Alsedo-class destroyer Antúnez along with a German Junkers Ju 52 trimotor transport aircraft and a squadron of Italian license-built Messerschmitt 109 fighter aircraft.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Anderson, Taylor. "Taylor Anderson". Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2008). Into the Storm. Penguin. ISBN 9780451462077 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2008). Crusade. Penguin. ISBN 9780451462305 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2009). Maelstrom. Penguin. ISBN 9781440698620 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2010). Distant Thunders. Penguin. ISBN 9781101187999 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2011). Rising Tides. Roc. ISBN 9781101475577 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2011). Firestorm. Roc. ISBN 9781101540732 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2012). Iron Gray Sea. Penguin. ISBN 9781101587058 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2013). Storm Surge. Roc. ISBN 9780451465139 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2014). Deadly Shores. Penguin. ISBN 9780451465665 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18667936-deadly-shores
  12. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2015). Straits of Hell. Penguin. ISBN 9780698162969 – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2016). Blood In the Water. Penguin. ISBN 9780698162976 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ http://www.taylorandersonauthor.com/blog/
  15. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2017). Devil's Due. Penguin. ISBN 9780451470652 – via Google Books.
  16. ↑ http://www.tantor.com/NarratorDetail.asp?Narrator=Dufris_W

References

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