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Summary: Like eating popcorn...
Review: No one could sum up this book better than the gentleman in the bookstore who reccomended it to me: "Reading it's like eating popcorn; it's tough to stop." Boy, does that ever hold true. Character development is excellent; you really care about them. The author demonstrates his knowlege of all aspects of the Civil War time period, from strategies and tactics, to the manufacture of weapons and the training of troops, and he combines all of these elements into a very readable, very fun story. A great book to start a great series.
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Summary: A great mixture of civil war fiction and science fiction
Review: William Forstchen has created a great tale that includes the best of a civil war drama and a science fiction novel. An infantry regiment is transported through a hole in space to a world where humans are not the top of the food chain. They refuse to submit to the carnivorous tyrany of the dominant species. With their modern weaponry, they inadvertantly cause a rebellion against the eight foot tall warrior race that rules the planet. The natives join the Yankees in their resolve to be free of the tribute of human flesh required of them every twenty years. The book is filled with outstanding battle sequences, but goes beyond that into an area that is not covered in most war novels. That area is logistics. It adds a further dimension to the story when to survive, the new government must create an industrial society out of midevil Russian serfs. I lost a night's sleep because I could not put it down after I had read the first chapter. If you like science fiction or military fiction, I think you will like "Ra
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Summary: Great reading.....Great Author
Review: This is the book that caused me to move William Forstchen up into one of my favorite authors. William Forstchen uses his knowledge of Americian History to create a story that you dont want to put down
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Summary: It ain't Shakespeare, but it's a fun book!
Review: During a sea voyage just after the Battle of Gettysburg, several Union Regiments are mysteriously transported to an alien world. They are not the first; civilizations from ancient Rome to medieval Russia to the pirates all roam the planet here, but they are dominated by the ruthless Merki, aliens with only medieval technology but the muscle and power to completely rule the humans. And worse than that, the Merki eat humans.
And so the battered Union soldiers with their advanced rifles battle the Merki horde with every rifle they can find or make and as much Yankee ingenuity as they have.
This book (and its sequels in the Lost Regiment series) probably won't be a top-ten for most readers. Forstchen tends to draw out the various meetings and you can't go a page without a spate of swearing (which gets tiresome after 400 pages), but it is a solid title with lots of adventure, story, character-play, and all that. Overall, just a good, fun book.
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Summary: Excellent combo of adventure, politics, & fantasy
Review: A great read, very easy to stay up late
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Summary: Aleksander Nevsky Meets The Killer Angels
Review: This first book is unquestionably the best of the series. What makes it so rewarding is that the history is real on both sides of the story. Yes, as all the other commentators have noted, Andrew Keane and his Maine men are in every way equal in courage and idealism to Colonel Chamberlain and his team from THE KILLER ANGELS. It really is heart-wrenching and inspiring to see the events in this action-packed story give literal meaning to phrases like "we'll fill the vacant ranks with a million freemen more." The book shows that the "battle cry of freedom" was not merely an idealistic wish but a realistic and workable policy. But what no one has noticed is that the book is at least as enlightening on the subject of RUSSIAN history and society. The Tugar hordes are an alien race, but Forstchen's stroke of genius was to make them human by giving them the culture, outlook and capabilities of Genghis Khan's Mongol hordes. Note that this author bucks fifty years of Science Fiction convention here. These space aliens are not little green men with huge, bulging craniums and ray guns. Rather they are eight foot giants who despise all learning, technology, and even basic handicrafts. They are trapped in a nomadic, essentially sterile way of life that goes nowhere, and little by little in each book you sense their increasing pessimism and despair. Sustained brilliance by Forstchen makes these "hordes" into characters as compelling as any in the works of Larry McMurtry or James Fenimore Cooper. The hordes are doomed to extinction just like the noble red men of the American west. Returning to the Mongol hordes analogy, however, what makes RALLY CRY such an eye-opening book is Forstchen's analysis of medieval Russia. Here THE KILLER ANGELS meets ALEKSANDER NEVSKY. Forstchen shows how the unhealthy alliance between boyars and the church, and the suffocation of the peasants, is a long-lasting after effect of the terrifying threat of Mongol invasion. Never before did I see quite so clearly how and why Russia evolved into a backwards, impoverished autocracy. The unspeakable horror of the Tugar feasts allows the nobility and the church to rule unquestioned and with no accountability to their own people. Though this is science fiction, it is also superb social commentary and insightful history. This book is a classic -- even if you hate science fiction, you will love this!
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Summary: Dependable Serise
Review: I must have had this book in my closet for up to five years. I brought a lot of this Author's books in a serge around that time when I was reading the Wing Commander serise. If you like Harry Turtledove's "Lost Legion" you should not have a problem with this even though this book is not as indepths as Turtledove's stuff. This is a story of good guys and bad guys, even though you could probably guess the ending already I do recommend it the charecters here are very fun and it helps pass the time. Overall-Solid Book
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Summary: Good read, some errors
Review: Really good book. Forstchen did a good job of having a regiment of Civil War-era soldiers are able to convert a medieval Russian state into a 'Little America' with massive industry. The 35th is widley varried, with a history teacher, down to a circus worker. The ending part at the Battle of Suzdal was extremley surprising and shocking.
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Summary: Good Story, But Overrated & Predictable .....
Review: I am by no means a dedicated reader, but I have found myself polishing off about 2 books a week for the last month. So, having read 6 consecutive David Gemmell novels, I thought to give myself a change of pace by reading this highly rated book.
What a disappointment. Yes the story idea is very good, but the character degvelopment left much to be desired. Dozens of pages go on & on with the sole purpose of showing the writer's knowledge of 1860's history & Civil War facts. Nothing was added to the story by this; and it was very boring (I could care less how a grain mill worked in 1865). I will not give away the ending, but anyone with even a little imagination could see it coming 2/3 of the way thru the book. If you are a Civil War fan, you most likely will enjoy the book with many of it's historical facts & technical details.
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Summary: Not sure why all the glowing reviews
Review: Being a fan of Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Harry Turtledove lead me to this book. I had just finished Mr. Forstchen's book "1945" and was curious of his other work. When Union Colonel Andrew Keane along with his regiment the 35th Maine borded the transport ship "Ogunquit" they had no inkling of their fantastic journey would take them to the alien land of Valdennia filled with many pockets of humanity stolen from time to be mere herds of cattle for the violent, war-mongering, nomadic tribes of the Chosen Race of Valdennia. He doubtless would have been horrified at the lot humans had been cast in this alien society. This engrossing well written tale begins the saga of the 35th Maine (along with the 44th New York Light Artillery) as they bring hope and new ideals of freedom to the thousands of "Rus" peasants citizens of the city of "Suzdal" living in fear from the tribe of the Chosen Race known as the Fearsome "Tugars". Under Col. Keane they teach Kalenka and the peasant Suzdalians about freedom, and how to get out from under the oppresive yoke of the "Boyar" (leader) Ivor and the Church Patriarch Rasnar. The first half of this exciting book tells of the Rus peasants overthrow of this serfdom, and preparation for the coming battle with Muzta Qar Qarth (chieftain) of the Clan of the Tugars, a viscious alien race nearly ten feet tall! This powerful, fiersome foe, a vanquishing army of over 200,000 armed with ax,spears, catapults and bows pits itself against the army of 10,000 "freemen" consisting of the combined strength of the 35th Maine, the 44th New York (L.A.), the crew of the transport Ogunquit, along with Kalenka and the citizens of Suzdal. We read of the ingenuity of 19th century science and tech- "no how" brought by the brave Union soldiers to this vast medieval Russian society, one of many time torn pockets of humanity that are food to the Tugars. We read also of the brave citens of Suzdal, their dreams of freedom and the terrible price to be paid for it. The second half tells the breath taking horrific onslaught of the mighty Tugars, and of the valiant fighting spirit of this "Lost Regiment". I highly recommend this book to fans of military fiction, civil war buffs, and to science fiction fans. A great page turner, an exciting well crafted read!
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