Purgatory's Shore
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4.4 • 57 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
On their way to fight in the Mexican-American War, a group of American soldiers are swept away to a strange and deadly alternate Earth in this thrilling new adventure set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Destroyermen series.
The United States, 1847. A disparate group of young American soldiers are bound to join General Winfield Scott's campaign against Santa Anna at Veracruz during the Mexican-American War. They never arrive.
Or rather . . . they arrive somewhere else.
The untried, idealistic soldiers are mostly replacements, really; a handful of infantry, artillery, dragoons, and a few mounted riflemen with no unified command. And they've been shipwrecked on a terrible, different Earth full of monsters and unimaginable enemies.
Major Lewis Cayce, late of the 3rd US "Flying" Artillery, must unite these men to face their fears and myriad threats, armed with little more than flintlock muskets, a few pieces of artillery, and a worldview that spiritually and culturally rebels against virtually everything they encounter. It will take extraordinary leadership and a cadre of equally extraordinary men and women to mold frightened troops into an effective force, make friends with other peoples the evil Holy Dominion would eradicate, and reshape their "manifest destiny" into a cause they can all believe in and fight for.
For only together will they have any hope of survival.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Returning to the world of the long-running Destroyermen saga (completed in 2020 with Winds of Wrath), this familiar prequel and Artillerymen series launch transports a group of displaced U.S. soldiers to an alternate Yucatan Peninsula. Capt. Lewis Cayce is shipping with an assorted troop of artillery and infantry soldiers to rejoin the 1847 U.S. invasion of Mexico when, once again, a mysterious storm transports the convoy to an entirely different version of Earth. Gathering the scattered survivors, including a troop of Mexican cavalry, Cayce learns that this "other" Yucatan is populated with giant, killer dragons and, worse, the Blood Priests of the Holy Dominion, who practice a twisted combination of Spanish Inquisition theology and Mayan blood sacrifice. Allying themselves with the few remaining free Mayans, Cayce and his forces must build up a base of technology and train an army to stop the Blood Priests on their unholy crusade. Anderson deftly switches his military and social focus to an earlier milieu of muskets and slavery, adding new layers to the history of this alternate Earth while providing longtime fans with plenty of recognizable touches. This is a promising series starter.
