Rising Tides

December 13, 2010
The intrigue-heavy fifth installment in the saga of a temporally displaced WWII destroyer and crew moves from southeast Asian jungles to Hawai'i dueling grounds. Capt. Matt Reddy is faced with the dual tasks of breaking the treacherous Honorable New Britain Company and securing an alliance with the slave-keeping Empire. Doing so, however, incurs the enmity of the Holy Dominion, displaced colonial Spaniards who practice a blood-drenched sort of Catholicism. While Matt struggles with moral ambiguities, the younger officers gain more responsibilities and face the fatal consequences of mistakes in command, and Lt. Sandra Tucker leads imperial heir Princess Rebecca and a boatload of Company escapees across a dinosaur-crammed Pacific island. Anderson continues to broaden the scope of the story, but never lets the philosophy drown out the action, tossing in a full-scale naval battle and a volcanic tsunami for the twin climaxes.