Post by Relyt on Sept 26, 2023 9:13:22 GMT 1
Dunno if anyone will ever read this, but heck with it. Couple of reviews, on two series. If you are reading this, hi. Been a while.
The Great Martian War by Scott Washburn
Par for the course for the regulars of these forsaken lands (Damn you Facebook, I'm never making an account!), this one's a sequel series to The War of the Wortlds by H. G. Wells. It occurs around the timeframe the First World War would have occured, except the war begins a handful of years before 1914 to coincide with the true dates of the Mars orbital opposition. The premise is probably what one would expect: the Martians learned of the failures of their first colonization effort and are trying again, this time on a larger scale but with some different strategic choices. The landings occur in remote areas instead of populated to prevent early destruction of the cylinders, as humanity would know to destroy them as soon as they are found. Nine additional cylinder guns are constructed on Mars, enabling landings on every continent. Much of the series takes place in the American southwest, but later books appear (Series is not yet completed.) to be branching out into other places including Australia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Sorry Western Europe, you're just too civilized for the Martians to land there!
Humanity, meanwhile, has learned some lessons too. The course of history has been changed: Theodore Roosevelt gets reelected on a platform of military expansion in preparation of any possible wars with Mars or Europe, and other nations are persuing similar efforts to modernize, especially since Britain is reluctant to share any Martian secrets. If you're expecting human-built tripods though, guess again. This is WWI: we're getting tanks, dreadnought battleships, massed artillery, and flimsy airplanes. That's more fun anyway. And who's to say we don't ghet some truly outlandish weapons in the mix...
Humanity's preparedness enables Earth to get the Martians bogged down in a multi-front war spanning several years, and both sides end up in an arms race. The story is told from the viewpoint of multiple characters, as would be necessary since it's truly war this time, and it includes Martian characters too. It's up to the reader to determine if these Martians are worthy of the title as there are a small handful of retcons that can be attributed to the original Narrotor having a flawed, well, narrative. I personally find them pretty interesting. For example, we learn why the first invasion was limited merely to Southern England.
Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson
While The Great Martian War is the sequel I've always wanted, Destroyermen feels like it was written specifically for me to enjoy. Those that know of me here know that I am an ship nerd. Heck, we all love HMS Thunder Child, scifi's first hero ship (Nautilus isn't heroic, just tragic. She doesn't count.)! But I am getting ahead of myself.
It is February 1942, and the United States Asiatic Fleet, based out of the Philippines, is in shambles after a string of crushing defeats at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Navy. After the Allied defeat at the Battle of the Java Sea, three US destroyers, USS Pope, USS Walker, and USS Mahan, are escorting the damaged cruiser HMS Exeter and destroyer HMS Encounter out of harm's way. They are overtaken by Japanese forces, with HMS Exter and Encounter sunk, and USS Pope following soon after. All of this actually happened, except historically Walker and Mahan were not there at all. This is their story.
USS Walker and USS Mahan, as well as USS Pope, were known by many titles: four-stacker, four-piper, flush-decker. These were decrepit, outdated destroyers from the end of the First World War that had no business being on the front lines in this war. These are all real ships, except Walker and Mahan were decomissioned before the war began. The author does this intentionally with every ship in the fictional events of this series to respect history: Every warship in the series that takes part in a non-historical event was actually built but had a peaceful career, or construction was planned but never completed.
Walker and Mahan, in the midst of battle and their inevitable destruction at Japanese hands, encounter the Squall, a sort of time-space anomaly that transports them to another Earth. This other Earth had a different pre-history to ours, such that evolution took a different course altogether. This world has two intelligent species, and they are at war with eachother. Walker and Mahan stumble into this new, savage war, and while they had been all but disposable and forgettable on our world, USS Walker and USS Mahan and their crews (and a few convenient passengers) will be what tip the balance of power and shape this world's future.
The Great Martian War by Scott Washburn
Par for the course for the regulars of these forsaken lands (Damn you Facebook, I'm never making an account!), this one's a sequel series to The War of the Wortlds by H. G. Wells. It occurs around the timeframe the First World War would have occured, except the war begins a handful of years before 1914 to coincide with the true dates of the Mars orbital opposition. The premise is probably what one would expect: the Martians learned of the failures of their first colonization effort and are trying again, this time on a larger scale but with some different strategic choices. The landings occur in remote areas instead of populated to prevent early destruction of the cylinders, as humanity would know to destroy them as soon as they are found. Nine additional cylinder guns are constructed on Mars, enabling landings on every continent. Much of the series takes place in the American southwest, but later books appear (Series is not yet completed.) to be branching out into other places including Australia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Sorry Western Europe, you're just too civilized for the Martians to land there!
Humanity, meanwhile, has learned some lessons too. The course of history has been changed: Theodore Roosevelt gets reelected on a platform of military expansion in preparation of any possible wars with Mars or Europe, and other nations are persuing similar efforts to modernize, especially since Britain is reluctant to share any Martian secrets. If you're expecting human-built tripods though, guess again. This is WWI: we're getting tanks, dreadnought battleships, massed artillery, and flimsy airplanes. That's more fun anyway. And who's to say we don't ghet some truly outlandish weapons in the mix...
Humanity's preparedness enables Earth to get the Martians bogged down in a multi-front war spanning several years, and both sides end up in an arms race. The story is told from the viewpoint of multiple characters, as would be necessary since it's truly war this time, and it includes Martian characters too. It's up to the reader to determine if these Martians are worthy of the title as there are a small handful of retcons that can be attributed to the original Narrotor having a flawed, well, narrative. I personally find them pretty interesting. For example, we learn why the first invasion was limited merely to Southern England.
Verdict: 4/5 It's the sequel war I wanted. The author is a history nerd and it shows, particularly in the nuances of developing new military technologies.
Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson
While The Great Martian War is the sequel I've always wanted, Destroyermen feels like it was written specifically for me to enjoy. Those that know of me here know that I am an ship nerd. Heck, we all love HMS Thunder Child, scifi's first hero ship (Nautilus isn't heroic, just tragic. She doesn't count.)! But I am getting ahead of myself.
It is February 1942, and the United States Asiatic Fleet, based out of the Philippines, is in shambles after a string of crushing defeats at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Navy. After the Allied defeat at the Battle of the Java Sea, three US destroyers, USS Pope, USS Walker, and USS Mahan, are escorting the damaged cruiser HMS Exeter and destroyer HMS Encounter out of harm's way. They are overtaken by Japanese forces, with HMS Exter and Encounter sunk, and USS Pope following soon after. All of this actually happened, except historically Walker and Mahan were not there at all. This is their story.
USS Walker and USS Mahan, as well as USS Pope, were known by many titles: four-stacker, four-piper, flush-decker. These were decrepit, outdated destroyers from the end of the First World War that had no business being on the front lines in this war. These are all real ships, except Walker and Mahan were decomissioned before the war began. The author does this intentionally with every ship in the fictional events of this series to respect history: Every warship in the series that takes part in a non-historical event was actually built but had a peaceful career, or construction was planned but never completed.
Walker and Mahan, in the midst of battle and their inevitable destruction at Japanese hands, encounter the Squall, a sort of time-space anomaly that transports them to another Earth. This other Earth had a different pre-history to ours, such that evolution took a different course altogether. This world has two intelligent species, and they are at war with eachother. Walker and Mahan stumble into this new, savage war, and while they had been all but disposable and forgettable on our world, USS Walker and USS Mahan and their crews (and a few convenient passengers) will be what tip the balance of power and shape this world's future.
Verdict: 5/5
I like it more than The Great Martian War. I even like it more than The War of the Worlds. It's my favorite book series ever now. Fight me. It takes inspiration from history and the old pulp scifi magazines like Fate or Amazing Stories, and the trope of "Ship gets lost at sea and ends up somewhere very srtange," is a classic that goes back to the Odyssey. The author takes great pains to make this story historically authentic (I was hooked on the series when the author wrote something along the lines of "Walker turned sharply." In my studies I know the Wickes class destroyers had notoriously wide turning circles. The author preemptively followed up my nitpick by adding Walker had an enlarged rudder to compensate this, even though it'd be lost on the average reader. He shows his work all the time.). Through extensive research and consultation he describes in great detail the workings of a Wickes class destroyer, and numerous other vessels as well (no spoilers, but there's a lot of ships in this series. Given the nature of the conflict some of the engagements get downright bizarre and I love every second of it.). There's plenty of land battles too. It's a series of 15 books and it took me a year to go through it all, and once it ended I didn't know what to do with myself. I must stress the decision to make a Wickes class destroyer a hero ship is inspired. These old ships are all but forgotten in spite of so many of them working themselves to death throughout the entirety of the Second World War (USS Ward, HMS Campbeltown, I remember you.). They were outdated, broken down, and unloved. Turning the real-life USS Walker (DD-163) and USS Mahan (DD-102) into the sort of hero ships I can mention in the same breath as USS Enterprise (Starship or carrier, take your pick. They all have the same soul.), or the Millennium Falcon, or SSV Normandy, or HMS Thunder Child, is a hell of an achievement, and those two four-pipers are now at the top of my list. So whether you pick up Destroyermen or not, spare a thought for these long forgotten greyhounds.