Pass of Fire

Destroyermen #14

by Taylor Anderson

After being transported to a strange alternate Earth, Matt Reddy and the crew of the USS Walker have learned desperate times call for desperate measures, in the return to the New York Times bestselling Destroyermen series.Time is running out for the Grand Human and Lemurian Alliance. The longer they take to prepare for their confrontations with the reptilian Grik, the Holy Dominion, and the League of Tripoli, the stronger their enemies become. Ready or not, they have to move--or the price in blood will break them.     Matt Reddy and his battered old destroyer USS Walker lead the greatest army the humans and their Lemurian allies have ever assembled up the Zambezi toward the ancient Grik capital city. Standing against them is the largest, most dangerous force of Grik yet gathered.     On the far side of the world, General Shinya and his Army of the Sisters are finally prepared for their long-expected assault on the mysterious El Paso del Fuego. Not only is the dreaded Dominion ready and waiting for them; they've formed closer, more sinister ties with the fascist League of Tripoli.     Everything is on the line in both complex, grueling campaigns, and the Grand Alliance is stretched to its breaking point. Victory is the only option, whatever the cost, because there can be no second chances.

Genres: Alternate History, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Military Fiction, Audiobook

477 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end could be in sight for one front while another heats up

The Allied campaign against the Grik ancestoral homeland in Africa leads to a huge, almost climactic battle to capture Sofesshk, the Grik capital and ancient holy city. Almost climactic because it appears that if the Alliance loses, they will ultimately lose the war. But if they win, the Grik will be on the ropes, greatly weakened, possibly divided into factions and likely to eventually lose the war. However there will still be a LOT of Grik and a lot more fighting.

In the Americas the allies move against the Pass of Fire and the best Dom general they have yet encountered. The League of Tripoli, at least its local representatives, openly ally themselves with the Doms and bring a large Italian destroyer, the Leopardo, to the fight.

If you have enjoyed the series you will probably enjoy this volume 14 with its graphic description of the largest battle yet.

[Hotrats · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say? I keep reading them. The series that will never end.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourteenth in the Destroyermen military science fiction in an alternate world series and revolving around the human crews from a pair of WWII destroyers working to survive in this alternate world.

My Take
Whew, another terrifying tale — that's species- and character-driven with lots and lots of military action leavened by humor — in the Destroyermen series that had me stopping and starting so I could keep my heart rate and emotions under control!

As always it's good versus evil with massive sacrifices on all fronts, men who interpret the progress of a battle and do what they must, including a massive betrayal against his own.

It astonishes me how bigoted the Doms are about those "animals"!

"Is it not amazing to be able to converse with animals? Perhaps they might make suitable slaves. Even pets!"

It does make for a nice contrast for the Lemurians who view both males and females as equals...and a lot of females have a command.

The enemies have improved their weapons and their battle tactics, and it's dang scary. Halik's New Army is an excellent example, and I certainly appreciate Enaak and Svec's concerns about Halik's loyalties. On the one hand it's amazing how educated Halik's army has become, which also makes it a greater menace. Even worse are the citizens of the Dominion — including women and children! — who join in with the Blood Drinkers to fight. It's that cold approach and the Doms' evil that makes me appreciate Orrin Reddy's new battle plan. Gruesome, but effective.

Ooh-wee, the confrontation and "education" of the Giver of Life is fascinating. She isn't stupid and has been questioning Esshk's and the Chooser's actions for a while. It's a nice switch on my impression of her and her mother in previous stories. It's also been a fascinating evolution of the Grik throughout the series. Witness Halik's army

Hmm, Palace of Vanished Gods... Anderson does talk of the Grik architecture and that some of it must have been done by an earlier race whom the Grik drove out or that a more evolved Grik had created. Now that sounds like a bit of foreshadowing...!

Anderson includes a fascinating bit of back history on how the League arrived in this world, including that they brought a huge chunk of that world's Tripoli onto this world's!

Fiedler has some terrifying news for the Alliance about the power of the League albeit tempered by the League's manufacturing issues while Don Hernan's attitude to people who don't care for the Dominion's idea of ruling is also terrifying. Even Gravois is appalled. Gravois'd better be careful though, for Don Hernan will turn on anyone.

I love it! I love it! Rebecca and Saan-Kakja finally get reamed out! And the Gentaa actions will shock you...almost as much as they shock the Republic.

Yep, it's easy enough with third person global subjective point-of-view to "listen in" on all sides and on important characters to gain our own perspective on them and events.

And in his quiet way, Lawrence is a hero.

The Story
Time is running out for the Grand Alliance of humans and Lemurians. The longer they take to prepare for their confrontations with the reptilian Grik, the Holy Dominion, and the League of Tripoli, the stronger their enemies become. Ready or not, they have to move — or the price in blood will break them.

The Characters
For a full list of characters, see the August 14 review at KD Did It.

The Grand Alliance consists of...
…the United States Navy, the United Homes of the Mi-Anakka, a.k.a., Lemurians or ‘Cats, Maa-ni-la, Aryaal, B’mbaado, North Borno, Austraal, the Imperials, the Khonashi, the Shee-ree, the Maroons, the Empire of the New Britain Isles (Imperials, a.k.a., Impies) ruled by Governor Empress Rebecca Anne McDonald , the High Chief of Maa-ni-la and all the Fil-pin Lands Saan-Kakja, and more. The capital and headquarters of the Alliance is based at Baalkpan, Borno.

The Grik War Front
Sofesshk is...
...the capital of the Grik empire and set on the Zambezi River in Africa. The Allied base is Camp Simy, and surrounds Arracca Field, a new airstrip.

Captain Matthew Reddy is High Chief of the American Navy (and Marine) Clan and Commander-in-Chief of All Allied Forces and commands USS Walker. The crew includes Juan Marcos, Cdr Brad "Spanky" McFarlane, "Minnie" is the 'Cat talker, "Tabby" is the engineering officer, Chief Isak Reuben, Corporal Neely, Lieutenant (Lt) Ed Palmer, Chief Quartermaster Paddy Rosen, Chief Bosun's Mate Jeek, Cdr Bernard Sandison, Cdr Toos-Ay-Chil, Earl Lanier, Lt Sonny Campeti, and Surgeon Lt Pam Cross.

The enemy here is...
...the Grik, who are ruled bu the Celestial Mother, the Giver of Life, who lives in the Palace of Vanished Gods. First Gen Regent Champion Esshk is in command of the army as well as the chief advisor to the Celestial Mother. The Chooser has been in cahoots with Esshk. The Hij are the ruling leisure class. The Uul are nothing. First of One Hundred Sagat is a Dorrighsti and directly under Esshk, loyal only to him.

The War Front of the Army of the Republic of Real People is…
…coming up from South Africa and composed of humans, Lemurians, and Gentaa. The Dominus is the Gentaa supervisor. Doocy Meek is their ambassador to Baalkpan. Nig-Taak is its Lemurian kaiser.

The enemy here is...
...Fifth General Akor.

The Holy Dominion War Front
El Corazon, near El Paso del Fuego (the only navigable channel between the Pacific and the Atlantic) is a coming battle between the Grand Alliance and the Holy Dominion.

Commander-in-Chief of All Allied Forces High Adm Jenks, an Imperial whose flagship is the Maaka-Kakja , a.k.a., Makky-Kat , captained by Flag Capt Tex Sheider and with Fleet (Vice) Adm Lelaa-Tal-Cleraan on board. General Tomatsu Shinya is in command.

Major Blas-Ma-Ar is in command of the 2nd Battalion. Col Arano Garcia's El Vengadores de Dios. Col Sister Audry is their spiritual leader.

The enemy here is...
The Holy Dominion. Blood Drinkers are an elite, fanatical military order directly serving His Supreme Holiness, Messiah of Mexico, and by the Grace of God, Emperor of the World — whom the Blood Cardinal, His Holiness, Don Hernan de Divina Dicha, intends to murder. Gen Anselmo Mayta is the new commander of the Army of God. Gen Allegria, a Blood Drinker son of Hernan, is a hothead under Mayta.

The Eastern Front Against the Holy Dominion
The New United States (NUS) is a possible ally with the Grand Alliance. Capt Anson, a Ranger, is the spy who rescued Kari and Reynolds. Adm Duncan is overall operational commander of the NUS naval and land forces in the Caribbean while Commodore Semmes commands the NUS Fleet.

Signals Ensign Kari-Faask and Lieutenant (jg) Fred Reynolds are on a mission. Capt Greg Garrett commands the USS Donaghey.

The enemy here is...
...the Holy Dominion with the League of Tripoli, a fascist alliance of enemies: French, Spanish, Italian, and Germans whose approach is to conquer and subjugate. Their current plans are to keep the Doms, Grik, and Allies fighting each other to weaken them for the League's plans. Capitaine de Fregate Victor Gravois is with French Naval Intelligence. Capitano Ciano commands the Leopardo .

The Cover and Title
The cover is the night of the attack in a collage of planes, Grikbirds, steamers and sailing ships on a roiling almost black sea with the oranges of fire and blacks and grays of smoke rising into the dark blues of the sky. At the top, framed on either side by three light orange horizontal lines is the darker orange series information. Below this is the title in white. A testimonial is on the far left in a pale blue. At the very bottom is an info blurb in the same pale blue with the author's name in the pale orange of the lines.

A too true title for this story is a Pass of Fire on land, sea, and air in Grik Africa and the Holy Dominion.

[Daniel Shellenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much to go over... but I'll start by saying that this is another very solid addition to the series. The tone is a bit more dour than is usual for this series, and reasonably so as the fighting in the East and the West is vicious, bloody, and while the allies continue to meet their strategic objectives, the tactical setbacks are... grim. The book primarily focuses on two (and a half) simultaneous Allied offensives. The first, in Africa, aims to capture the Grik capital of Soffeshk and the Grik matriarch/head of state, the Celestial Mother, who has been little more than a puppet of General Esshk while he consolidated power following the Allied slaying of the former Celestial Mother on Madagascar. Having learned from the disastrous Grik reaction to that event, the Allies believe their best hope to end the war in the West quickly is to essentially co-opt the Grik, convince the Celestial Mother that the best hope for their race is to abandon the ancient all-consuming "Hunt" and learn to be real people, and have her use her god-like status to get (at least most of) the rest of the Grik to stand down. To accomplish this task, the Allies must break through the largest and most powerful Grik Army to date. Thankfully the Allies have two large and powerful armies at their disposal and they've got a few new tricks up their sleeves (including better tanks!) that the Grik are absolutely not prepared for. The second offensive, which is largely the focus of the first half of the book (yeah, I know, probably would've made more sense to mention it first), is an Allied operation in the East to seize the so-called "Pass of Fire" from the Dominion, to enable the Allies to link up with the New United States, a friendly power (begun by earlier American arrivals) in the northern Caribbean that occupies the Gulf Coast region and Cuba. The Pass of Fire is a naturally-occurring waterway connecting the Pacific to the Caribbean, much like the Panama Canal of our world, but formed by volcanism (and possibly meteoric impacts) and sitting in southern Costa Rica rather than the Isthmus of Panama. General Shinya and Admiral Jenks are faced with a Dominion general who is both competent and intelligent and who has studied their previous actions and intends to bring the Allies to a catastrophic battle by fully mobilizing the locals (unlike other areas of the Dominion the Allies have occupied, most of the locals in this region are zealots of the blood-thirsty Dominion religion), even using children, and by forcing the Allies to assault a strongly entrenched enemy while the remainder of the Dominions naval forces and its "dragons" have been... improved with the intent of crushing the Allied naval fleet. Of course, as Shinya well knows, the key to defeating an enemy who's studied you exhaustively and prepared carefully is to do something different. Finally, while the Allies are pushing to link up with the NUS, the Nussies (along with the Allied frigate U.S.S. Donaghey and its crew) are launching their own offensive towards the Dominion's heartland in New Granada (historically, what we'd think of as Colombia and Venezuela). Unbeknownst to the NUS, the Dominion has forged an alliance with the nefarious League of Tripoli and requests that the League's powerful destroyer (it's really more of a light cruiser) Leopardo should destroy the NUS fleet. Alright, that's the non-spoiler-y overview, now my thoughts...


Man, it's been a hard couple books for Silva, his friends all seem to be dying one by one. Risa, Pokey, Moe, Jindal... oddly, those are pretty much the only major named characters to die in this book (not that the Allies don't suffer some brutal casualties) So, for the most part, the Allies won some impressive victories here. The Grik aren't totally defeated but the situation has become... delightfully confused in that we now have the Celestial Mother essentially becoming an Allied co-belligerent akin to Italy in World War 2, fighting against General Esshk and his personal guard, while this means there's still plenty of bloody fighting to come (particularly with Ando supplying Esshk with as much modern weaponry as he can devise), at the same time, the vast numbers of the Grik Empire are now likely to be turned on themselves as much as on the Allies and more and more it looks like the Western Front will be a civil war between Allied-supported factions of Grik willing to become something better than just predators and Grik who won't change or who are too blinded by their own ambitions (pretty much, Esshk). The real question is what General Ign will do, he's clearly the most powerful and talented Grik general (apart from Halik, whose situation is even more ambiguous, as he's already embraced many of the views the Allies espouse but he is also more infected with the ideas of honor and subsequent personal loyalty to Esshk) and he is clearly torn between his view that General Esshk is a two-faced, self-important asshole and his view that General Esshk is the strong leader that the Grik need. Hopefully, his personal antipathy to Esshk will win out because his veteran troops would be a great addition to the Allied cause. It's great to see, as I pointed out several books ago, that the New Army troops really don't need Esshk and his war and they're finally really realizing it (Jash's arc from the past couple books has been very interesting). Turning Chack's brigade into paratroopers worked far better than I expected (especially since they basically just jumped into it without practice). It was also good to see that the Allies (or at least, Chairman Letts) are continuing to push out newer and better tanks, something they're going to need rather badly if the League decides to throw its support behind Esshk and his faction of Grik (as a buffer), and I wouldn't be too surprised if the German contingent, already viewed as inferior by the leaders of the triumvirate, is given the crap assignment of launching a counter-offensive against the Allies. In which case the allies are definitely going to need bigger, better, cannon-armed tanks. In many ways, the victory at the Pass of Fire, while extremely costly, was a much more quantifiable success. Not only have the Allies gained control of basically the only naval connection between the Atlantic and Pacific (apart from the long route through the Indian Ocean and around Africa), but they've essentially conquered the western half of the Dominion in one battle with General Mayta fleeing east alone, the survivors of his force surrendering (and switching sides), and the NUS expeditionary force holding down any possible Dominion counter-offensives with their foothold in northern New Granada (I would presume, from their description, on that world's equivalent to the Guajira Peninsula) astride the Dominion's main east-west military highway. It's likely the League will make an attempt to launch its own counter-offensive to take the pass (that is, after all, the only reason they're interested in helping the Dominion in the first place), but with the locals defeated and co-opted I would expect Shinya to make the pass an Allied stronghold (it might be a good idea to mine the Caribbean approaches while the Allies are rebuilding 2nd Fleet) and with the fleet gone, he doesn't have anything better to do than train and modernize his troops and fortify their gains (well, I suppose he could march to meet up with the NUS forces, but with the League in control of the Caribbean, that would leave him with long supply lines and terribly vulnerable flanks). I will say that the appearance of the "other" Greater Dragons struck me as a bit too much like ret-conning the Dominion an advantage from Taylor Anderson. Yes, he did vaguely mention that there were legends of dragons capable of carrying off a man, but it seems strange that they only appeared at this point. Moreover, for the first time I have to call "no way" on the whole concept as frankly, yes, there are fossil records of Pteradons of the size he describes, but such creatures couldn't just take off and land from the ground, as they weighed too much and couldn't generate that kind of lift by flapping their wings. Rather, the commonly accepted view is that they launched themselves off of cliffs and used thermals and updrafts to gain altitude as they were essentially gliders like flying squirrels rather than capable of self-propelled flight like birds or bats. This is a nit-pick and this series is fantastical in many ways, but the Greater Dragons just seemed like a cheap addition that added very little to the story and just didn't make much sense. Likewise, I was a little confused how the Dominion managed to deploy new weapons to its army, all of whom are armed with socket bayonets now rather than plug bayonets. Supposedly, this army has been in continuous retreat since the Battle of Fort Defiance and yet, somehow it managed to get new weapons on the road? That or somehow they managed to stockpile all these new weapons at the Pass of Fire... it's unclear and it seemed rather strange and convenient, particularly as they don't describe the Pass of Fire as an industrial heartland of the Dominion in any way.

On the naval front, the Allied 2nd Fleet is essentially gone, its carriers are still afloat, but they're out of action (again! they really need to move to steel decks) and the Allied battle line was decimated in the naval battle of the pass by the armored Dominion liners, though the latter (likely the last of the Dominion Navy) were destroyed entirely thanks to the Allies' rather innovative use of mountain fish as weapons (see, do what the enemy doesn't expect). Given these losses and the stabilization of the naval situation in the West, it seems as if Mr. Anderson is clearing the board for a naval confrontation between the Allies and the League in the Caribbean. At this point, the Allies have 1 light cruiser and 3 destroyers in active service, but at least that many new build cruisers and destroyers are nearing completion in Balkpaan and Manila and both the Empire and the Republic are on the verge of launching their own armored steam warships not to mention that the Allies are moving heaven and earth to get Savoie back in operation (not to mention U-114 (or is it 112, I can't remember)). So... let's say the Allies may be able to scrape together as many as twenty modern warships, which is a decent force, even if some of the force is a bit... less modern than others, it's still going to be badly outnumbered if the League sends as much as they can to the Caribbean, but the Allies have several major advantages. First, the League is BADLY out of practice fighting modern opponents. They've been on this world since 1939 and haven't had to fight any peer or near-peer opponent, rather their strength has been tied up conquering and pacifying the Mediterranean littoral, while much of their naval strength has rusted at anchor (I was actually rather surprised how well the Leopardo did in its ambush of the NUS fleet as I rather expected that the drug-addled out-of-practice crew would miss a lot more). Second, while its naval forces are numerous and powerful, the League's naval forces are of the old battleship-centric fleet concept. They have no aircraft carriers and given their limited industrial capability, no ability to build new ones (or convert vessels to use as aircraft carriers), nor do they have aircraft capable of operation off of aircraft carriers. As we know from our own history, when battleship fleets met aircraft carrier fleets the result was always a slaughter... of the battleships (Pearl Harbor, Taranto, Bismark, the Philippine Sea, I could go on...). This might not have been as bad of a disadvantage for the league if the Allies only had Nancys and Fleashooters, but with the obvious vulnerability of those types (even the most advanced Nancy variant, the -F's suffer badly in engagements in this book, which will hopefully lead to the type being phased out from combat roles in the next book, it's certainly still useful as a scout plane, but the Allies need a proper light/dive/torpedo bomber), the Allies have been pushing for newer, better carrier light bombers and fighters as well as twin-engine medium bombers based on the Bristol Beaufort. Given these and the continual improvements to the PB-5 (not to mention the likely addition of improved air-launched torpedoes based on Muriname's designs), the Allies are likely to be able to confront the League's fleet with some nasty surprises. Finally, while the League is undoubtedly stronger in numbers and quality, they have some serious deployment issues. At present, Leopardo is the only League combat asset in the Caribbean and utterly reliant on its oiler to stay operational. In turn, they are reliant on the League's slightly more powerful assets at Ascension Island to maintain a link to the League's strongholds in the Mediterranean. Unlike the Allies, they don't have a large fleet of auxiliaries to keep their forward forces operational (much less floating dry docks) and many of their ships are apparently not in any shape to leave the protected waters of the Mediterranean for the open ocean. The question is, if the Allies take Ascension Island and eliminate just a handful of League auxiliaries (a role for which U-114 would be perfect if they can get it across the Pacific), will the League even be able to operate in the Caribbean? My guess would be no, at least, not for the present, and that gives the Allies a unique opportunity. Certainly, the League will deploy more assets to the Caribbean before the Allies can get First Fleet there and Second Fleet back in action, but for the first time since the war began, the League is largely in the dark about what the Allies have at their disposal (more so if Henry Stokes and his snoops catch some of the Dom spies and manage to start funneling some misinformation to Don Hernan) and their confidence (and Gravois's obsession with playing everybody against each other and under-estimating his opponents) may mean that they deploy far less than they might and unwittingly give the Allies a fighting chance. It's difficult to say what (if any) role the NUS can play in these proceedings. Their fleet got its ass handed to it by Leopardo and while they could follow the example of the Dominion and armor-up their warships, its questionable if that would be a real solution (after all, the Dominion was only facing the Allied second-string forces armed largely with muzzle-loading non-rifled cannon). Frankly, apart from acting as auxiliaries to the Allied forces (and supplying the Allies with some much-needed sailors to crew some of the new construction), the NUS fleet has essentially been neutralized even though most of its strength is still intact.

Finally, on the domestic front, I anticipate trouble. While nothing broke in this book, the Sular issue continues to rear its ugly head and there's no doubt that there's going to be serious upheaval when news reaches the Homes of Captain Reddy's accommodation with the Celestial Mother. Quite reasonably, there's a lot of Lemurians whose attitude has become "Destroy All Grik," and the fact that it might be possible to end the Grik as a culture without killing all of them is the sort of subtle difference that isn't always understood by people who've had their families eaten. I will be shocked if the Sularans don't try and force the issue and call for Captain Reddy to be dismissed as leader of the United Homes' armed forces as well as trying to unseat Chairman Letts on basically a Lemurian Fascist political platform. Worse comes to worse, much of the new naval construction may be delayed or not sent to join the forward fleets, which could make fighting in the Caribbean even more difficult.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is #14 in the Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson. I've thoroughly enjoyed this series. I'm not really drawn to Alternative Histories, but this one has been so much fun. The narrator, William Durfis aka William Duffy, does such a phenomenal job with the audio narrations. He is one of the primary reasons this has had such a high enjoyment factor. So with sadness, I have to say that he died last year of cancer. I have the next one in this series now being done by a new narrator and I'm feeling a little apprehensive about starting that one. Hopefully it will be a positive experience.

I love the characters in the whole series. They grow and progress and there is always something new going on. And I even like the war scenes. There is always a fair amount of action that keeps me glued down. So 4.5 stars. I really am going to miss the narrator.

[T.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment in the series

I inadvertently skipped the prior book in the series when reading this one. However, it did not detract from the overall story. It did seem like most of the battles in this installment were extremely one-sided. That said, the action was good and character development was fun as always. Now to go catch up on the one I missed...

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've listened to all of the books in the Destroyermens series and this one is by far the least interesting of the bunch. I don't have a clue what happened in the first 14 chapters because I pretty much tuned out.

[Karen Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, lots of action. An amazing twist towards the end. We'll see if it lasts.

[jj Grilliette · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!!!!

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best in the series! I don't give spoilers, but suffice it to say that a LOT happens in this book, even for a Taylor Anderson book! Some of it is quite satisfying, while in true Destroyermen fashion a new crisis is on the way... As usual his characters are well fleshed out & seem like people you know, from the irrascible Dennis Silva to Chack, Abel Cook, Courtney Bradford or Matt Reddy.

They all grow in various ways, as does the story line. Well worth the read!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the best alternative history/fiction in print today. Enjoyable military history in another world.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to books 12, 13 and 14 all at once and am planning on posting the same review for all them. First, you may want to be aware that these books hit my sweet spot. I love them and would give them 4.8 stars if Goodreads allowed. They are not perfect but they are incredibly good.

On at least on occasion in the past the author failed to provide resolution in the book he wrote. I still gave the book 4 stars because I enjoy this series so much. Fortunately here, that is not a problem. Each of the books ends with some sort of resolution even as the larger story continues to grow. I would add that it would have been a dream to encounter these books in, I'm guessing, about 3 years since I suspect it will be that long before any of the wars the MCs are currently fighting in are resolved.

I am going to a little time on one of the short-comings of these books simply because otherwise I would have nothing more to say. The author occasionally plays a little loose with common sense to make his stories more exciting. I really became aware of this in an earlier book when a modern warship encounters a bunch of enemy sailing ships. The modern ship should have been able to just keep its distance and destroy the enemy at will but somehow that didn't happen. In the books the subject of this review this shows up in "Grik birds". The bad guys use these birds to bring down planes but since the planes should be able to fly much higher and faster than these birds they should nearly be as effective as portrayed.

Given where the last book, "Pass of Fire" ended I expect great things of the next book in the series. "Pass of Fire" was published June 11, 2019, so I'm just going to go with the guess that the next book will be out around June 2020. So, depending on your reading rate, you could start the series now and be ready for book 15 in about 8 months. That sounds fantastic to me.

Bottom line: Read them all.

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

(See all of my Book Reviews) - “Pass of Fire” eBook was published in 2019 and was written by Taylor Anderson (http://taylorandersonauthor.com). This is the 14th book in his “Destroyer Men” series. See my interview with Taylor Anderson.

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story continues the saga of the Destroyer Men who have been transported to an alternate Earth from our WWII era of history.

Several characters are featured in this volume of the series. The people from our Earth continue their war with the Grik, the Holy Dominion, and the League of Tripoli. The Grand Human and Lemurian Alliance faces what seems to the the final battle with the Grik. They also confront the Holy Dominion at one of their strongholds. As the Human/Lemurian forces appear to be succeeding against the Grik and Holy Dominion empires, the League of Tripoli lurks in the shadows threatening the future.

I enjoyed the 16.5+ hours I spent reading this 477-page alternate history thriller. I have read three of the fourteen novels in this series and I have enjoyed every one. While you can read this novel stand alone, I would recommend reading these books in order. This edition of the series spreads the story across more characters than I recall in the prior two novels. The story is approaching a conclusion of one of the plot threads, but the series is far from over. I look forward to future novels in this series. I give this novel a 5 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a highly satisfying read!

Taylor Anderson has such a LARGE cast of characters in his delightful Destroyermen series and this series is literally set all over the globe!

This is an alternate history series where a pair of obsolete early World War II American Pacific Fleet destroyers (and one huge Japanese ship they were fighting at the time) were swept up by this bizarre "green squall" into an alternate (parallel) Earth.

An Earth where the doomsday asteroid never fell and killed off the dinosaurs and (among other geographical oddities) Costa Rica doesn't exist, this being where the Pass of Fire between North America & South America is located.

I love Alternate History and time travel.

This series only has time travel in that "bizarre storms" have brought humans/ships/their animals with them at varying points in history (so no, our heroes were NOT the only ones to make this journey).

This being a war story there has been the inevitable "butcher's bill" of key cast members being killed off during the fourteen books so far. But, fortunately, Mr. Anderson has been able to make these losses bearable, if keenly felt, rather than wasting these deaths for shock value only.

So, you feel the peril of favorite characters each time they charge into battle.

I particularly have also enjoyed that Mr. Anderson has also shown what our heroes' enemies are thinking and planning, so we get a feel for their point of view as well!

Highly recommended for longtime fans of this series!

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The penultimate book of the series mostly wraps things up with the war against the Grik, but I’m happy to report it isn’t a cartoon clean victory. None of this “We beat ‘em so now we can party without a care” stuff we get in some books. There are still factions of the killer dinosaurs out there who’ll need mopping up, and the young Grik queen doesn’t completely capitulate, having been kept in the dark about the realities of life, but there’s promise for the future.

So now I guess the final book will be the war with the Dominion, the extremist Spanish Inquisition blended with Aztec religious cult. I suspect they’ll fall too, especially if the Alliance can now add Grik to their shock troops. The only big question mark is this world’s only superpower, the League of Tripoli. I suppose that would have to be an entirely new series, because wrapping up a conflict with them in a single book would be extremely anticlimactic.

I am concerned that Reddy will die of cancer or a heart attack something, as Anderson keeps hinting that the guy isn’t doing so well, healthwise. Reddy himself passes it off as nerves or jitters, but I don’t know. After 14 books, I’m invested in the survival of the few characters who’ve lasted through the entire series, and Captain Matt Reddy is this series’ equivalent to Captain Kirk.

Edit: just noticed this is my 100th book of the year. (Although 55 of them are graphic novels, so this is really the 45th “real” book.)

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the fourteenth installment of Destroyermen, the Grand Alliance has finally pushed the Grik up against the wall. The First Allied Expeditionary Force has a firm foothold along the Zambezi downriver from the Grik capital, whilst the army of the Republic of Real People is pushing north to join up. The final assault on Sofesshk is about to begin. Unfortunately, the Grik are well dug in, and rooting them out will take some innovative tactics. Also, just defeating the Grik on the battlefield will not be sufficient. They must be broken politically in order to prevent a retreat and resurgence.

Meanwhile, on the American front, the Second Allied Expeditionary Force is set to assault the Pass of Fire, and will find out the depths to which the Dominion will sink in their exploitation of the populace. League of Tripoli forces loom in the wings, scheming.

There is even more battlefield action than usual in Pass of Fire. And it is the good stuff. Mr. Anderson continues to show a talent for expanding the story, while still moving it forward and closing off plot threads. There is obviously plenty more to come.

The world of Destroyermen is becoming rather complex, with myriad military actions, references to previous events, and many, many ship types. Thankfully, there is a Wiki with maps, ships drawings, characters bios and more.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/2019/06/...

[Francisco · Rating 3 out of 5]

About 20% of the books is dedicated to recapitulating the plot. Once this "Previously, on destroyermen" exposition by dialogue stills remains an issue. I found it jarring and immersion breaking.

Another gripe i have is that the author has to keep finding surprises for his protagonist to thwart. I understand it is a "mysterious" new world, and the good guy enemies are nefarious, but how many "new" thigns can their enemies come up with? it is getting ridiculous.

But when the book starts it is actually quite good.

But even with all the exposition if a new reader gets his hands into this book, he will be perplexed by it.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This penultimate installment of the Destroyermen saga is bittersweet indeed. It’s exciting to see the many fronts of this alternate Earth world war gradually converging toward its climax with all the wonderful characters and creativity I’ve grown to expect from Taylor Anderson. However, my enjoyment of the tale is tempered with the knowledge that this was the final installment narrated by the great William Dufris. For all 14 books, his fantastic voice and ability to make every character sound unique has greatly contributed to my enjoyment of them. Rest in peace, Mr. Dufris. Your talent and contribution to this amazing mega-adventure will be greatly missed and very fondly remembered.

[Jerry Nachison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good thoroughly written finale to this part of the series. On to the Zambezi in Eastern Africa from the Indian Ocean and end one threat. Done. One madman gone, remaining WWII Japanese military soldiers apparently gone and many prisoners released. Reptilean Grik are at least down - for now.

Now, what's next Mr. Taylor? One to Matt's other enemies, multitudes of other Grik, fascists also transported to this earth II and conquistadores also there and now overblown after centuries in these lands. Please tell us.

[Ryan Rauber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting entry for the former crew of the Walker and their fight against the Grik and the Dominion. After the recent books that centered on the war in the west, here we get an update on the eastern front. Still, the majority of the novel takes place in the west, and an exciting part where Chack's brigade, and Silva and Lawrence of course, parachute into the heart of the Grik ancient capital to capture the Grik queen. If you enjoy this series as much as I have, you'll enjoy this entry.

[Stifynsemons · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.6 stars, I really liked it and might read the series again
A new secret weapon is revealed. Stunning in its effect, and one of Silva's crazy ideas, but not unusual in context of World War II. The difficulty at this stage of the narrative is unrelenting military action, which makes it difficult to contrast the various challenges and maintain increasing tension.

Not especially unpredictable, but an exciting and satisfying read. Danger remains, but it is more focused. Perhaps the series is winding down?

[Kevin K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid offering in the Destroyermen Universe. They appear to have settled down the Africa campaign, and are hot on the heals of the evil Grik general. I'm curious to see what the "alliance" with the CM results in.

It was good to read some progression of the South American campaign, but it's got to be a right bastard trying to weave all the plots together giving time to everyone.

Overall I really enjoyed this novel, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific entry to the story line. Grabbed me right out of the gate and never looked back. I don't know how Taylor continues to bang out these stories. Thought by now I'd tire of it but he's kept the excitement and logical progression believable and moving. Great characters and development for them. Once the plan unfolded that Silva and the gang were going in to secure the grik queen, I thought, hey let's make an ally out of her. Nice to see Taylor agreed. Can't wait for the next installment!

[Jaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one took a little longer to read. I had to return it to the library and wait a month or so to get it back.
Most of the action in this book takes place in the Grik territory of Eastern Africa, as Captain Reddy and his allies bring the war home to the Grik capital, attacking the Celestial Mother herself. On the other side of the world, the Alliance continues the fight against the Holy Dominion at the Pass of Fire.

[Skip Torok · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I enjoyed this series years ago, I read #1 to around #5 as I recall. I saw this book on "Book Bub" for a buck and bought it looking forward to some good... new/old reading.

What the heck happened between #5 and #14? Unbelievable! This series was trashed! I had a hard time getting through the first page! I quit somewhere in chapter 2. I gave a 2 rate simply for ole times sake. PITIFUL!

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am continuing to enjoy reading this series. This book has some new tactics and technology to advance the war against the Grik Empire. Which leads me to my question of why the author chose the Pass of Fire which while does have a significant battle fought over it in this book to me most of the action occurred in Africa. I stand by my statement in previous reviews that this series needs to be read in order to keep up with all the different characters

[Gary Weinman · Rating 4 out of 5]

No surprises here. I've been along for the ride for the first 13 books so it shouldn't be a surprise that I liked this one either. Yes, there are plenty of holes and many completely unrealistic things, but I enjoy them all. Many of the characters have started to take on the form of old friends to me and I like keeping in touch with them.

[Yorick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this installment. Satisfying and thrilling. I can't really say anything more specific without spoilers, but if you have read the series thus far, you'll definitely want to read this. As ever, some well-loved characters die, and thankfully, others don't.
A surprising plot twist in this volume.

[brian andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting to the end of one major chapter and another beginning.
This book was needed as an end of part of the series, I felt it was getting too drawn out and the series a little faded in its duration, war with the Grik.

Perhaps new character arc's are now needed with the launch of the war against the League,perhaps...

[Mr S I Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another page turner

I've followed this series from the offset.

I often fear it will start repeating itself but somehow the author finds just enough inspiration to take you down a different path, but not one you feel was written in desperation to fill more pages, but more a desire to tell more of the ever evolving story ahead.