What do you think?
Rate this book
CSS Appomattox: A Thomas Devareaux Alternative History Military Adventure
"Deserves an "A" for thinking outside the box," James F Walroth. They're alone in the middle of the ocean. The enemy is closing in fast. Can Thomas Devareaux save the men under his command - or are they all doomed to spend eternity in a watery grave? Recruited by the Confederate Secret Service to defend their new allies, Captain Thomas Devareaux and the CSS Appomattox crew find themselves standing not only against a power hungry expansionist German Empire … but against the United States as well. The conflict unfolds in the skies above the Caribbean, and in the hills of occupied Puerto Rico as they join forces with guerrillas fighting to free their countrymen from enemy occupation. Battling both the enemy and forces within, these heroic men face impossible odds in this action-packed alternative history thriller. The CSS Appomattox is the first book in the Thomas Devareaux series. Click Buy Now to get CSS Appomattox and get started on the adventure! Other books in the series Sharpsburg Sunrise - Prequel to the Series. CSS Appomattox - This book The Last Airship to Khartoum - Book 2 Black Sea Peril - Book 3 Due out February 2019 I have made some layout changes to the books since its original release back in 2014. I have moved the initial introduction that described the world of the book to the back. I have also done some more editing and layout changes. All of these were needed and I hope improve the overall quality of the book. - Chris 10/30/2018
262 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 29, 2014
10 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 8, 2024
Good alternate history and adventure novel available thru Kindle Unlimited
A very interesting premise and plot with some spelling, sentence structure and grammar errors but very entertaining. Post war Confederate airships anyone? Slavery? No longer an issue. Black enlisted men and officers serve in the military.
Mr. Stoesen tends to write in a very direct style with short sentences which make the book easy to read and follow. He has obviously done his historical research without which alternate history is not believable. Well done. I plan to next read the prequel.
A very interesting premise and plot with some spelling, sentence structure and grammar errors but very entertaining. Post war Confederate airships anyone? Slavery? No longer an issue. Black enlisted men and officers serve in the military.
Mr. Stoesen tends to write in a very direct style with short sentences which make the book easy to read and follow. He has obviously done his historical research without which alternate history is not believable. Well done. I plan to next read the prequel.
January 16, 2019
Fascinating Alt History novel. The characters are well-developed and the scenes are vividly portrayed. There is a lot of action (which I love) and the book is fast-paced. I can't speak on typos, etc. as I had my Kindle read it to me. It all flowed well and was a great read. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
August 27, 2017
I was very curious to read CSS Appomattox because I believe it is a “steampunk” version of an incident in history about which I knew nothing but using 19th century steam technology. Having recently become interested in the social history during the Industrial Revolution I was prepared to be educated a little more but from the angle of an alternate victory in the USA when the Confederates won their independence in the Civil War and were allied with Spain – I think.
The main problem for me was the continuous distractions caused by a few editing errors and the constant battles “at sea” when the airship was fighting the Germans or the US and their allies, Britain and France. There were times when battle stations seemed to go on forever followed by quite long passages when conversations or descriptions were too lengthy and I lost the complications of the plot. My lack of knowledge about the history involved probably did not help and my flagging interest in the story continued. There were several characters, Devareaux, Benjamin and members of his crew, that were well drawn and some realistic dialogue but an occasional expression used that was more contemporary of modern times. Although some of the battle scenes were fast and exciting I just found it too much after a while. There is a dramatic court martial scene (no spoiler!) and I enjoyed some of the details about weaponry in the appendix but I am not sure I would rush to read a sequel to CSS Appomattox.
The main problem for me was the continuous distractions caused by a few editing errors and the constant battles “at sea” when the airship was fighting the Germans or the US and their allies, Britain and France. There were times when battle stations seemed to go on forever followed by quite long passages when conversations or descriptions were too lengthy and I lost the complications of the plot. My lack of knowledge about the history involved probably did not help and my flagging interest in the story continued. There were several characters, Devareaux, Benjamin and members of his crew, that were well drawn and some realistic dialogue but an occasional expression used that was more contemporary of modern times. Although some of the battle scenes were fast and exciting I just found it too much after a while. There is a dramatic court martial scene (no spoiler!) and I enjoyed some of the details about weaponry in the appendix but I am not sure I would rush to read a sequel to CSS Appomattox.
January 29, 2015
Disappointing in the details
CSS Appomattox has a very interesting premise. It starts out well and the background story of a war set in an alternate history is good. The characters are not so well developed. Their backgrounds are sketchy or not given at all. Their personalities are also somewhat stilted.
The editing of the book is very poor. It has lots of typos. There several places where the sequence of events is confusing, and th e characters performing an action is misnamed. I don't recommend this book.
CSS Appomattox has a very interesting premise. It starts out well and the background story of a war set in an alternate history is good. The characters are not so well developed. Their backgrounds are sketchy or not given at all. Their personalities are also somewhat stilted.
The editing of the book is very poor. It has lots of typos. There several places where the sequence of events is confusing, and th e characters performing an action is misnamed. I don't recommend this book.
January 10, 2016
A good premise, but it needs work. Some pieces flow naturally from the basic premise others not so much. The characters are somewhat pro format which I expect that author to fix as he moves forward. But explain why a living CSA would name an airship after a backwoods railroad deposit where in their history nothing happened.
November 7, 2015
Not Bad
Nice story line but too many cliches. The man hero ls slightly flawed and that's good but the structure is disjointed.
Nice story line but too many cliches. The man hero ls slightly flawed and that's good but the structure is disjointed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews