Just Finished Reading: Destroyermen – Into the Storm by Taylor Anderson

In the early days of the Pacific war the USS Walker is running for her life. Alongside her sister ship she is being pursued by a Japanese battlegroup who clearly intend to destroy any allied shipping in their way. The aging First World War destroyers only have one option – flee. Unfortunately for the American ships their enemies are both stronger and faster. Defeat seems inevitable until a strange squall is spotted and headed towards at full speed. Hoping to lose themselves in the weather anomaly they instead find themselves in uncharted waters, familiar yet strange. It is not long before the find that they are literally not in Kansas anymore – or any place that has even heard of Kansas. For they have entered a world where humans have not evolved, a world were descendants of predatory dinosaurs ravage the few remaining colonies of intelligent mammals. The crew of Walker must decide for their own survival to enter a war against an unknown enemy but at least in this world they have the technological upper hand. But will their guns be enough against the countless and implacable Grik?

This book had just about everything going for it – it was a combination of some of my favourite genres, alternate history and combat SF, it promised non-stop action, and it was the first book in a series. I was not disappointed. Despite being somewhat overly contrived in places – not that surprising for a first novel – this was a great deal of fun to read. The ship and its crew – plus a few extra passengers picked up from the evacuation of a pacific naval base – felt real. The action, both before and after passage through the squall, was gripping and the idea of a world where humans had failed to evolve was a very interesting one. There were bits that felt like excerpts for Jurassic Park but that could’ve just been me channelling Spielberg rather than the author doing the same. The enemy Grik – by the sounds of it descended from Raptors – were truly terrifying beasts worthy of the fear they instilled in the (fairly) peaceful Lemurians (descended from, no surprise here, giant Lemurs). I’m looking forward to exploring more of that world in future volumes (I’ve already bought the second book in paperback) to see how things turn out, to see if anyone else gets trapped there and to see if they finally make it back home. There are many possibilities worth exploring – which is what I have always loved about science-fiction. As always…… watch this space.