Crusade: Destroyermen, Book II
by Taylor Anderson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Taylor AndersonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-07
ISBN: 0451462300
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Roc
Book Reviews of Crusade: Destroyermen, Book II
Book Review: 1 dimensional Grik enemy
Summary: 4 Stars
You can read this 2nd book in Anderson's trilogy simply out of sheer curiosity as to how the early episodes of book 1 play out. For me, I was curious about the setting in south east Asia, as something different from other alternate history novels.
We learn more about the Grik reptiles, which was the big gap in the first book. Alas, what transpires is very stilted and stereotyped. There is no discernible difference between the Grik society and the Bug Eyed Monsters of 1930-40s pulp science fiction. The Grik are portrayed as ravening hordes, always bent on killing, including their own species if none others are forthcoming. In one unintentionally hilarious scene, a Grik leader devours a live baby Grik. At least I think it's a baby Grik. The narrative is not absolutely clear on this point. Apparently, the author means to show how disgusting Grik are. Yet when I read it I couldn't help but think back to that scene in the movie Dune, where one alien puts a small live creature into a plastic container, squeezes it to death and drinks the juices. Totally campy! The passage in Destroyermen is meant to induce disgust in the reader; it's just ludicrously over the top.
The only major science fiction works in recent years to show even more voracious and genocidal aliens were Weber's In Death Ground and Shiva Option. In those, there is absolutely no portrayal of the enemy societies. They remain a blank mask.
Candidly, if you want a story with deeper, better rounded treatments of a foe, look at the Moties in Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye, or the Kzin in Niven's Man-Kzin Wars, eg. Choosing Names (Man Kzin Wars VIII).
Having said this, the combat scenes in Destroyermen 2 are well done. Worth a read. Though I must say this, if you end up reading this book and liking it. The combat involves modern firearms and medieval weapons. These descriptions of close quarter combat are bettered by what you can find in Stirling's Nantucket series, Island in the Sea of Time (Island), or Pournelle's Janissaries.
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