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A review by thatswedishguy
Crusade by Taylor Anderson
4.0
I can't believe it's been more than two years since I read [b:Into the Storm|2414716|Into the Storm (Destroyermen, #1)|Taylor Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431236688l/2414716._SY75_.jpg|2421893]. It feels like just yesterday although much of it is a bit of a haze now, I must admit. Going into that book with no, or at least very little, expectations is probably one of the reasons why I came to adore the book as much as I did. [a:Taylor Anderson|1077166|Taylor Anderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1290029263p2/1077166.jpg] crafted a genuinely gripping and original tale that I couldn't put down. I think part of why it's taken me so long to get around to this book, despite already owning half the series, is down to the fact that I was afraid it just wouldn't live up to my inner hype.
And let me be absolutely clear here, it did not live up to that hype. As evidenced by my lower rating. But then again, the expectations were set so high that no-one could possibly live up to them. But 4/5 stars is not bad, right?
Main complaint about the book is that, much like I predicted in my previous review, there was a general feeling that things were going to keep building up with very little payoff. After all, there's fifteen books in this series so there's a lot of story to go through. The adventures of Cap-i-taan Reddy and his crew continue here as they expand their 'crusade' against the Grik and fan out in the world. Much will come to light, including the fate of the Mahaan, the ship that came into this world with Walker, and we learn more not only about the Lemurians and the different tribes but also about the Grik, the antagonists of the series so far. Plus a few twists that changes everything going forward.
But it's impossible to get away from the fact that the book is little more than one more step on the journey. If I hadn't know there were thirteen more books to read, I would've felt cheated by the lack of a climax. It's like watching the second movie in a trilogy, you know there's not going to be a proper ending. But it doesn't change the fact that the story just sort of ends?
In my review of the first book, I did mention that I had other gripes with the story but that I was suspending my judgment while waiting to read more books to see how things develop. Well, I have now read one more book and I can confidently say that the gripes are still there. One of my issues is that the Americans are being very American. It's a personal gripe, I admit, it makes sense in story for them to behave the way they are. But I just can't help but to feel a certain pang of grief when the Americans change the way things are and the Lemurians just falling in behind them. Sure, the threat of the Grik is huge and the Americans came from WWII, it makes sense that they are the way they are. But in some ways I don't buy it either, the human crew has been there long enough that I sincerely doubt the exchange of culture would be on way only. The Lemurians seems very content nearly becoming human but I see very little of the humans adapting to the Lemurians.
Parts of the book does to try to address this in some way, which is appreciated, and there are instances of human-lemurian relations fraying. Even so, even with war on the doorstep, it's been a long time in-universe, so I don't see how it's possible that these things haven't become contentious before this. Silva's relationship with Risa continues to be a sore point but is suggested to have gone further than a joke... which... yeah, duh? I just can't tell if Cap-i-taan Reddy is naive, gullible or just stupid to think there hasn't already been a whole lot of fraternization between the two different species. And by extension, if the author himself actually thinks that wouldn't happen.
Again, this is a highly personal gripe, I'm less interested in the workings of 20th century battleships than I am in the meetings of cultures. My fascination with the story is not with the ship but with the people and their struggles. The USS Walker could sink in the next book and it wouldn't change my dedication to this book series. I recognize that this is probably not the intent of the author, Anderson is very much dedicated to his love for the ship and that's fair, it's his book and I'm just living in it.
For anyone that really wants the details on how a ship like that works, the author certainly have you covered. Much like in the first book, whenever all the technical jargon started, I merely read and didn't necessarily learn. It's simply not that interesting to me nor do I think I even could learn it even if I wanted to. I do not hold it against the book, it merely continues to prove that me and the author just aren't from the same place and that's fine.
So did the book live up to the hype? No. It couldn't and I knew that going in. So it's kind of surprising that I still loved the book as much as I did. Yes, it took forever to read it but that's not the book's fault, I just stopped reading altogether in 2022 for some reason. Hopefully 2023 will be different and I'm trying to polish off the books I left unread last year. Nothing in this book has dissuaded me from looking forward to the next one and I very much intend to make short work of it. At least I won't wait 2 years this time.
And let me be absolutely clear here, it did not live up to that hype. As evidenced by my lower rating. But then again, the expectations were set so high that no-one could possibly live up to them. But 4/5 stars is not bad, right?
Main complaint about the book is that, much like I predicted in my previous review, there was a general feeling that things were going to keep building up with very little payoff. After all, there's fifteen books in this series so there's a lot of story to go through. The adventures of Cap-i-taan Reddy and his crew continue here as they expand their 'crusade' against the Grik and fan out in the world. Much will come to light, including the fate of the Mahaan, the ship that came into this world with Walker, and we learn more not only about the Lemurians and the different tribes but also about the Grik, the antagonists of the series so far. Plus a few twists that changes everything going forward.
But it's impossible to get away from the fact that the book is little more than one more step on the journey. If I hadn't know there were thirteen more books to read, I would've felt cheated by the lack of a climax. It's like watching the second movie in a trilogy, you know there's not going to be a proper ending. But it doesn't change the fact that the story just sort of ends?
In my review of the first book, I did mention that I had other gripes with the story but that I was suspending my judgment while waiting to read more books to see how things develop. Well, I have now read one more book and I can confidently say that the gripes are still there. One of my issues is that the Americans are being very American. It's a personal gripe, I admit, it makes sense in story for them to behave the way they are. But I just can't help but to feel a certain pang of grief when the Americans change the way things are and the Lemurians just falling in behind them. Sure, the threat of the Grik is huge and the Americans came from WWII, it makes sense that they are the way they are. But in some ways I don't buy it either, the human crew has been there long enough that I sincerely doubt the exchange of culture would be on way only. The Lemurians seems very content nearly becoming human but I see very little of the humans adapting to the Lemurians.
Parts of the book does to try to address this in some way, which is appreciated, and there are instances of human-lemurian relations fraying. Even so, even with war on the doorstep, it's been a long time in-universe, so I don't see how it's possible that these things haven't become contentious before this. Silva's relationship with Risa continues to be a sore point but is suggested to have gone further than a joke... which... yeah, duh? I just can't tell if Cap-i-taan Reddy is naive, gullible or just stupid to think there hasn't already been a whole lot of fraternization between the two different species. And by extension, if the author himself actually thinks that wouldn't happen.
Again, this is a highly personal gripe, I'm less interested in the workings of 20th century battleships than I am in the meetings of cultures. My fascination with the story is not with the ship but with the people and their struggles. The USS Walker could sink in the next book and it wouldn't change my dedication to this book series. I recognize that this is probably not the intent of the author, Anderson is very much dedicated to his love for the ship and that's fair, it's his book and I'm just living in it.
For anyone that really wants the details on how a ship like that works, the author certainly have you covered. Much like in the first book, whenever all the technical jargon started, I merely read and didn't necessarily learn. It's simply not that interesting to me nor do I think I even could learn it even if I wanted to. I do not hold it against the book, it merely continues to prove that me and the author just aren't from the same place and that's fine.
So did the book live up to the hype? No. It couldn't and I knew that going in. So it's kind of surprising that I still loved the book as much as I did. Yes, it took forever to read it but that's not the book's fault, I just stopped reading altogether in 2022 for some reason. Hopefully 2023 will be different and I'm trying to polish off the books I left unread last year. Nothing in this book has dissuaded me from looking forward to the next one and I very much intend to make short work of it. At least I won't wait 2 years this time.