Another
Column at MyShelf.Com |
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| Beyonds
The Words, Past |
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| The "Lost
Regiment" Series– ROC Books We have all been there. Think about it. You read two chapters of a new book from the library, or worse, from a bookstore, and your eyes begin to close from sheer boredom and/or disinterest. For some reason, the cool cover art and the compelling back-cover blurbs have not lived up to their hype. So there you are, either late at night, or at home, inside and hiding from horribly depressing weather, and suddenly the startling realization hits: you have nothing to read. It all starts with “Rally Cry”, as a regiment of just over 600 Union soldiers from the Civil War is transported to, what turns out to be, another planet. To make matters more interesting, this “miraculous transportation”, conducted randomly by a spinning “wheel of light” in the sky, has happened before, thus bringing humans from other various times and places to this alien locale, where they settle and raise separate societies and cultures all their own. But of course, in the midst of this bucolic splendor, there are bad-guys. These are portrayed as various tribes of gigantic, lizard-like creatures, who roam the planet nomadically on horseback, searching for food. Unfortunately for our Union heroes, the lizard’s diet consists of human flesh. And before the arrival of the Civil War soldiers, the humans mostly complied with the lizard hordes, volunteering humans for slaughter, and not raising a finger in protest. Well, we know that had to change with the arrival of the troops in blue, armed with weapons far advanced from the lizards' swords and arrows. Unfortunately though, the lizard hordes are vast, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. How can the humans expect to survive such an onslaught? I know, it sounds a little weird, and a touch bizarre. But Forstchen excels in not only painting an accurate picture of Civil War soldiers and their technology, but dresses the entire story with broad images of heroism, patriotism, and courage under fire. Forstchen’s soldiers do not simply line up and fire their weapons; they summon an inner fire they all learned at Seminary Ridge and Gettysburg. These characters live on, in an alien environment, and they still adhere to concepts of order, discipline, and the value of a single human life. “…As the last volley died away, a lone bugler, concealed inside the ruins of the Foundry, blew the first notes of taps. It was yet another ritual from the old world. It was a tune born of the Army of the Potomac, written by Dan Butterfield as nothing more than a signal for lights-out. Butterfield’s lullaby many had come to call it. Hans had once said he was partial to it, and Andrew now thought it would be a fitting gesture…” (From “Men of War”) As the rain is hitting my window at 2A.M., and I have closed yet another disappointing “thriller” that I recently purchased, I find myself turning once again to the exploits of Colonel Andrew Keane, commander of the army of the republic, in his “against all odds” fight for the very survival of the human race on a planet he is now forced to call home. I recommend that when the occasion arises, that you do the same. Titles linked to Amazon.com Rally
Cry
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When
this happens to me, and it happens regularly, I turn back to favorites
that keep me entertained and reading even after multiple readings.
William R. Forstchen’s “Lost Regiment” series
is where I inevitably go to climb back into the category of awake,
alert, living and breathing readers. The series contains eight books
that follow a primary plotline, and a ninth book that follows some
of the same characters and their descendents as they undertake a
somewhat new direction.