[The following abridged/introductory book summary and subsequent review are as spoiler-free and non-specific as I could reasonably make it. The review covers the first quarter or so of the story, so if you'd rather read the book totally blind, please do NOT read the summary.]
I don't like fantasy. Never did care for elves or dwarfs or magic or stuff like that. Even after playing Skyrim and a bit of Dungeons and Dragons when I was in high school (and enjoying them both!), the genre of fantasy has never really resonated with me. So when I saw that Destoyermen: Into the Storm by Taylor Anderson was tagged as “alternate history” and “fantasy” on Goodreads, I was hesitant to give the novel a shot. But I had the Wikipedia page of the series in my Chrome bookmarks for who knows how long, so I thought that if my past self had thought the story was worth reading and consciously saved it, I might as well give it a go. I downloaded an EPUB from Libgen and started reading it on my phone. Little did I know that over the next several days I would be ravenously reading that little file until I had gone from its digital front to back.
Into the Storm is the first book in the Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson. From the very first page, we are introduced to U.S. Navy Lieutenant Captain Matthew Reddy, commander of the antiquated, WWI destroyer USS Walker, in the middle of an intense naval battle. Accompanying Walker are a few other allied ships who are all trying to escape a Japanese fleet in the Java Sea, who have them outmanned, outgunned, and are slowly but surely catching up. Lucky hits from the Japanese guns slowly whittle down the scrappy American ships as they retreat until all that are left are the half-dead USS Mahan and the severely damaged Walker. Acutely aware that it would only be a matter of time before the two crews would succumb to a fiery demise at the hands of their wartime enemy, Captain Reddy desperately tries to think of any way out of their situation when something grabs his attention: some distance away, a powerful squall is brewing over the sea. Realizing that the rain would provide visual cover, he directs Walker and Mahan to go full speed ahead... into the storm.
After experiencing some strange phenomenon while passing through the center of the squall, the two destroyers come out of the other side to find that the deadly Japanese battleships who were just at their heels have seemingly disappeared. What's more, one of the enemy cruisers they had hit just before entering the storm had sunk… and her crew were being eaten alive by some kind of super-piranhas and a massive whale shark. The only survivor of the wreck is what appears to be an unconscious officer, who is taken aboard and locked up in the brig.
The seamen quickly learn that not only is the sea filled with endless amounts of man-eating fish, but the island is home to massive brontosauruses, technologically advanced velociraptor-like creatures, and absolutely no trace of human activity. Matt decides to split up Walker and Mahan so that hopefully one of them could find a port to repair their battle damage and replenish concerningly low fuel reserves.
Soon after separating from Mahan, Walker's lookouts are shocked to spot a massive wooden boat on fire, (as large as an aircraft carrier) while it is being attacked by several smaller ships that look straight out of the 18th century. Moving closer, the crew see that there is a heated battle going on between the lizards they had encountered earlier and furred creatures with long tails. Matt tries to keep his ship uninvolved in the fight, but when one of the boats peels away from the fight and starts to attack Walker, Matt chooses to destroy it, inadvertently choosing a side in the fight. With the destructive capability of Walker's (relatively) modern main guns and a hail of bullets, they obliterate all the lizard attackers on the wooden ship's massive deck. Stunned, the furred sailors come closer to Walker as she pulls closer to their ship, close enough that the crew can see the strange faces of the creatures they just saved:
"Any word from Mahan?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Nothing, sir."
"Very well. Mr. Scott, right full rudder. All ahead two-thirds. Let's see if we can pick up her trail." Even over the rising whine of the blowers, Matt heard the chattering exclamations of the creatures when Walker surged ahead. On impulse, he raised his hand palm outward and waved at the inscrutable faces.
"Upon my word!" Bradford exclaimed when the gesture was hesitantly returned by a few of the creatures as Walker peeled away.
First, I'd like to start with what I really enjoyed most about Into the Storm. Mr. Anderson's strongest skill in his literary arsenal is his ability to write these intensely detailed, visceral naval battles that make me truly feel like I'm there, smelling the smoke of the guns and being soaked by the salty sea spray. I know that might sound really cliché and corny, but I am one hundred percent serious. Anderson includes the most minute of details in these fights, but not enough to slow things down by being too nitty-gritty. He keeps such scenes feeling punchy. I've only really felt that frenzied “page turner” urge from a handful of books, and Into the Storm is now one of them. Happily for me, there was more than one massive battle detailed in the novel!
Something that I wasn't expecting from this book, which has a large cast of protagonists, is that a good deal of time is spent with the secondary characters and having them interact with each other. Not in a comedy relief sort of way, but in ways that are significant to the plot. For example, if the captain said something like “we need to do this essential setup or repair ASAP”, the story would let whatever scene the captain was in come to a natural end, and within another scene or two, the personnel responsible for the task would get some “screen time” to figure out how the hell they'd do what they were ordered. This gives us a way to have their personalities be fleshed out. Since Walker and Co had a lot of stuff to do, this happened a lot, and you can watch the side characters develop over the course of the book.
However, this does tie into one of the gripes I had. I realize now after finishing the novel that I should have expected it, but at around the two-thirds mark, the story takes on a somewhat “administrative” feel, with extended scenes of the head honchos just reporting in, planning, and concurring on what they should do for the last third of the book. I understand that it makes sense in terms of the story for them to have such a meeting, but it definitely felt dry reading through it. Not boring, just drab.
Also, I was a little let down by the lack of (in my humble opinion) enough scenes from the other species' perspective. There were several extended segments focusing on one of the more important creatures, but what about everyone else? What about their culture? The people demand more lore building! But I suppose there is only so much Taylor Anderson would want to include in the first novel of his fifteen (!) book series.
Overall, I would recommend you (yes, you!) crack open the digital pages of this book. Or actual pages, if your local library or bookstore has a copy. If you like WWII novels, alternate history novels, or the ever popular Japanese isekai genre, you should enjoy Into The Storm like I did!