Official Blurb
Shepherd Autrey is a Quaker, a physician, and a man deeply disturbed by the madness around him as the War Between the states bears down on his America in 1863. Dared by a friend to take an active role, Shep volunteers to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of Sherman’s scorched earth campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. There he runs foul of a Confederate recruiting drive and fi nds himself hanged by the neck from a tree. Awakening in a strange land which can’t possibly be earth, Shep is plunged into battle and saves the life of an alien warrior prince. Hailed by bloodthirsty killers as the bravest man alive, Shep combats his conscience, his flagging faith, and an ever-growing number of people who want him dead.
My Review
The title and the blurb suggest that this might be set in Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom world. Even the civil war link to the red planet suggests it may be a Barsoom story. Sadly I have to report it is nothing of the sort.
The world that the protagonist is pulled through to is Red, but its not aliens with six arms on the planet but men. Yes they do have flying boats and fight with swords over a mostly desert world but its not Barsoom. I was severely disapointed.
The story started so well , Shep the protagonist is an appealing character and the opening chapters put him in some really interesting situations. Sadly it does not stay that way. The story gets exceptionally preachy. At one point two consecutive chapters focus almost entirely on various characters trying to convince the protagonist that his Christian based anti-homesexual sentiments are wrong. Two chapters!
The end of the story was also a dispointment. Instead of building to a big battle or highly adventurous final climax it resolved with lots of explaining what happened in the past rather than showing us the action.
In the end, I was very disapointed, I kept listening hoping it would get better, be more what I had been hoping for.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3
Total Score 5/9
Dont bother downloading it from Podiobooks
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