Into the Storm: Book Review

So, this past week I’ve finally managed to get caught up on Jim Butcher’s the Dresden Files, and I’m on the verge of finishing Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series. With that in mind, I decided to start a new series, and picked up Into the Storm, the first book in Taylor Anderson’s The Destroyermen series.

Into the Storm is a work of Portal Fantasy/Alternate History. The main character is Matthew Reddy, the Captain of the USS Walker, a WWI era ship Destroyer that is currently being used to fight the Japanese in WWII. As you might imagine, this works out poorly for the outdated ship, and when it tries to flee from the Japanese Navy, it is sucked into a sort of portal which transports it into an alternate version of earth — one where Dinosaurs still walk the earth, and two new species — the Grik and the Lemurians — are locked in a brutal war. The thing is, neither species has progressed much past the Iron Age, which leaves the Walker with the ability to tip the balance in the war. Think The Final Countdown meets Dinotopia. Hats off to those of you who didn’t have to google The Final Countdown by the way!

Reddy and his crew are quickly forced to take sides in the conflict (I won’t tell you which one), and try to understand this new world that they’ve found themselves in — as well as whether or not they can make their way home.

All in all, it makes for an engaging read. Anderson’s world building is spectacular. He clearly put a lot of thought into thinking up the various customs and cultures of the two species. And despite the fact that only a part of the book is actually set in WWII, Anderson is clearly a stickler for historical accuracy. As near as I can tell, Anderson has history down to a T.

So, how’s the plot of the novel hold up? Pretty well, I’d have to say. Anderson has crafted a very original, and quite enjoyable, story. I was enthralled by the many twists and turns, and I was constantly turning the page, desperate to see what new mystery would reveal itself. Additionally, there’s not a lot of Portal Fantasy out there, and I think that anyone who loves the genre will find the book quite enjoyable. I suspect fans of Military SF will also enjoy it, given that most of the characters are, first and foremost, members of the military

Now, let’s talk about some of the character arcs, because quite frankly, they’re not that great. It’s not like they’re poorly written — they’re just plain dull. We have Captain Reddy, the reluctant commander who struggles to keep his ship afloat, Nurse Sandra Tucker, the strong female protagonist/love interest, and so on. The fact is that these characters don’t really do much that makes them memorable, and they aren’t anything that I haven’t seen a thousand times already. There are a few moments later in the novel that had a whiff of originality, and interestingly enough, most of these revolved around the non-human characters.

The saving grace of Into the Storm and the Destroyermen series is that it belongs to one of my favorite types of series — Binge Books. No, don’t bother googling it, I made that term up just now.

Binge Books are short-to-medium length books that are part of a long running series. They’re also fairly cheap, usually costing $7-11. Other examples of Binge Books are series like The Lost Fleet or The Dresden Files — both of which I highly recommend. I like Binge Books, because I can buy a bunch of them at once, and sit down and read them all within a week. With thirteen books currently out, almost all of which are priced at $7.99, Destroyermen certainly counts as a Binge Book series. But is it a series worth reading?

Here’s what I’ll say; Into the Storm was good enough for me to go and buy the second book in the series, but not the third or the fourth. I’m already busy reading The Lost Fleet, and I don’t want to invest too much money in the series if it turns out to be bad. But it was good enough that I want to see what happens next, and that’s the hallmark of good writing (I do plan on writing a review for the second book, by the way). So if you’re looking for a new series to binge, go ahead and start heading Into the Storm.

3/5 Stars.