Destroyermen: Storm Surge by Taylor Anderson

Genre: Alternate History

Setting: In an alternate version of Earth during the World War II time period.

First Sentence:  Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, High Chief of the Amer-i-caan Clan, Supreme Commander (by acclimation) of All Forces United Beneath (or beside) the Banner of the Trees, and Captain of the old Asiatic Fleet four-stacker destroyer USS Walker (DD-163, loved baseball.

This novel is the seventh in Anderson's Destroyermen alternate history series.

The series begins in the Western Pacific at the very start of World War Two.  The USS Walker, attempting to evade a Japanese battleship, enters a strange storm cloud.  The ship emerges in an alternate version of Earth.  There they become involved in a war between two sentient species: the peaceful lemur-like Lemurians and the vicious, reptilian Griks.

At first the destroyermen believe that they are the only humans in this alternate world.  They soon discover that the are several different groups of humans who have arrived at different times throughout Earth's history.

As the series has progressed, the scope of the "known" world has widened.   At the beginning of this novel the destroyermen have encountered humans from the South American continent westward across the Pacific and Indian oceans to Africa.

Central to the plot of this novel is the battle against the evil Grik.  The novel begins slowly as the author reintroduces us to the characters of the novel, where they are, and what they are doing. The Americans and their allies are gathering ships, planes and other technologies for a grand attack.  Led by the traitorous Japanese admiral Kukokawa the Grik have been improving their weapons and battle tactics.

When the action of the battle begins, the pace of the novel picks up.  Soon the pages fly by.  Victory is not assured.  It takes the might of the combined allied forces, along with some interesting surprises, to determine the outcome of the battle.

At the end of the novel, Anderson leaves us some interesting clues about several new human, lemurian, and reptilian cultures.  Some may be friendly to the allied cause.   Some may be friendly to the Grik cause.  And some may have their own ideas about conquering the world.

I read this book voraciously.  I like Anderson's writing style.  The battle scenes are especially interesting to read.  I can't wait for the next novel of the series.

If you are interested in the Destroyerman series, I strongly suggest that you begin with the first book: "Into the Storm".  There are so many characters that starting in the middle of the series might be confusing.

It's a great well-written series.  Check it out!


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