At The Midway

by J. Clayton Rogers

In 1906 a detachment from the U.S. Signal Corps is attacked by three Tu-nel. The Tu-nel are descended from the therapsids, mammal-like reptiles that evolved in the Triassic Period--before the dinosaurs. They co-existed with the dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. During the 135 million years of their existence, they have undergone major evolutionary changes. These helped them survive the mass extinctions of the dinosaurs and, much later, the giant mammals

The scene shifts to Hampton Roads, Virginia. Teddy Roosevelt is launching his Atlantic Fleet on a world cruise. It is an audacious enterprise, mainly because of the political tensions between the United States and Japan. The oldest ship in the Fleet is the Florida, commanded by Captain Oates. His vessel is constantly in the "Observation Ward" because of poor performance, a position that does not improve after the Fleet sets sail for South America. It is his ship that will ultimately confront the Tu-nel off Midway Island.

Genres: Adventure

532 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

J. Clayton Rogers is the author of more than ten novels. He was born and raised in Virginia, where he currently resides. He was First-Place Winner of the Hollins Literary Festival a number of years ago. Among the judges were Thomas (Little Big Man) Berger and R.M.W. Dillard, poet and husband of the writer Annie Dillard.

Reviews

[Tony Calder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read anything by J Clayton Rogers before, although he has written several books. From the blurb for this book - pre-historic sea monster vs a pre-World War I battleship - I didn't have great expectations. However, I was pleasantly surprised - it worked better than I thought it would. It was a bit too long because I think Rogers went into a bit too much backstory for a number of the characters, but that is preferable to not providing enough.

There are a few contrived situations to make this a more even contest, but Rogers has clearly thought a lot about how such a battle could go, and his battle scenes didn't stretch my disbelief too much (other than the sea monsters from 70 million years ago, but that's a basic premise of the story, so it's acceptable).

So, overall a fun story, but a little too dense and a bit long for the genre it sits in. Worth reading if you like prehistoric monsters in current times.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At the Midway" is a well written and exciting adventure story very much in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, with touches of Melville, Wouk and Stephen Jay Gould. Rogers takes the motif of the sea serpent and postulates it as a survival from the past, one which has survived the vagaries of evolution, uncounted predators and even the asteroid that brought about the demise of the larger dinosaurs; as fitted as the creatures might be for survival, however, they may not do so well against the Age of Steam.

Rogers brings to this novel a sense of history, both prehistoric and recent, as well as in-depth knowledge about life in the US Navy and on whaling vessels in the early part of the Twentieth Century. Through some very expertly drawn characters, the author weaves multiple plot-lines that intersect at Midway Island, where the Navy (and Marines) encounter a group of three fearsome creatures. Along the way, Rogers has his characters the equally destructive monsters of ignorance and racial hatred.

The action of the novel is intense, and so are the conflicts between the characters, especially the Whites and Blacks serving on the same navy ship. In addition to an examination of man's effect upon nature, it's a look at men of several races serving together, usually not in harmony, with some of them striving to achieve what the Captain termed "amity." This was under President Theodore Roosevelt, who makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the book, and the student of history will certainly be motivated to wonder what strides toward "amity" could have been taken in the melting pot of the military where sailors and soldiers face equal danger, had not the military been segregated by Wilson.

For those readers captivated by the mystery of the sea and nautical yarns of adventure, such as you might hear from an old salt who had spent a lifetime before the mast, "At the Midway" has much to offer. Others will certainly enjoy its what-if aspect of alternate history. Still others might read it for the same reason we still read Conrad, for the eternal struggle of man vs man, and man vs the sea. If nothing else, though, it's a ripping good story with dinosaurs and battleships.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly entertaining adventure story.

[Tanya Avines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Builds slowly to nail biting goodness!
Wow ... details. I felt as though I were back in time and on that ship, fighting for my life. J. Clayton Rogers brings pages to life. Who needs a movie? But speaking of them, this would make an excellent one. Loved this book. Not my all time favorite of his, I'd say this is fourth or third ... so far. Favorite being "The 56th man", second "The Mandarine Crew" ...
this is fighting with "Mismatched", lol.
Excellent, don't miss this book!

[Hrairoorah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soooo Boring. Filled with minutiae about being aboard a naval ship in the early 1900's. I could not get interested in this one. As a matter of fact, i stopped reading it, which is something i rarely do. i usually read a book to the end, regardless of how much I like it. I couldn't do it on this one.