3 out of 4 stars
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The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles is a rollicking historical adventure written by Ronald E. Yates in which we travel along with the titular Billy Battles as he journeys about in the late 19th and early 20th century world. This is the 2nd book in what is to ultimately be a trilogy that follows Mr. Battles throughout his lifetime.
The book opens with an introduction from Billy as to what has gone on before the present time of 1894. At this point in his narrative, we find him on the SS China on his way to the Orient. He continues his story, by recounting his introduction to a very intriguing woman who is a fellow passenger on the ship with him. This woman, Frau Katharina von Schreiber, is to become a close and trusted companion through many adventures and years ahead. This trip from America to various parts of the East is really Billy’s way of running away from what he feels is currently a very unsettled and unhappy life (because of the events of the first book). However, the voyage and subsequent years spent in multiple countries in the Orient, add quite a bit of trouble to his life as well. It seems like Billy just can’t run away from it.
We follow Billy through the happenings on the China (quite the story in itself) which ultimately docks in Manila, where he and Katharina disembark. Here he meets her brother, Manfred, who owns a business there, and who also becomes a fast friend to Billy. After a relatively short stay in Manila, Billy leaves on another boat for Saigon and in doing so parts ways with the siblings. He has another raucous adventure on board this ship when it is attacked by pirates. Billy's fortitude shines through in this encounter as he meets this threat head-on with the other men aboard. Once the ship finally arrives safely in Saigon, Billy goes to look for his friend, Ba whom he last saw years before in America. Here he finds more adventure once again as he gets involved with insurgents who are looking to be free from the French who currently occupy their country.
All of this is just the beginning of the journeys in which the book takes Billy and the reader throughout the story. Billy finds himself caught up in the short Spanish-American War as well as the longer Philippine-American War. Adventure also follows him back to America where he is reunited with his young daughter and his mother who both end up getting pulled into the same danger he faces being back home. A trip to Europe is no less action filled as he and Katharina become involved in a conspiracy that threatens their very lives during their relatively brief stay there. Billy Battles has anything but a boring, mundane life to say the least. It can almost take your breath away trying to keep up with him and his adventures in this book.
Even though I had not read the first book in the trilogy, I never really felt lost in any respect throughout the book. Mr. Yates did an excellent job of revisiting any important events that he hearkened back to from the previous story. This seems to be something that is becoming somewhat rare to find, but was quite the pleasant surprise in this instance.
The author states in a note at the beginning of the book that it is a work of “faction” which he explains as being narrative fiction that is based at least partly on factual events. As you can probably expect, this brings many real historical individuals (both the well-known and more obscure) into the story at various points. Mr. Yates does a very good job of weaving the facts of history with his imagination throughout the entire story. I had to look up quite a few events and people from the book to differentiate between reality and the author’s embellishment. This just brought an added level of enjoyment to the story for me as it gave me a deeper understanding and connection with the happenings in the book and history.
Overall, I have to rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical novels, adventure stories, or tales of the time period discussed. One quick caveat: there is a good deal of swearing throughout the book, but if this does not bother you, then I think that The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles will be quite the satisfactory read when all is said and done.
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The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles
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That was definitely not my intent. It is quite the action-packed book though. Nary a dull moment!
