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Alliance Archives Role-Playing Universe
So It Begins
Experience the Human Cost of War!
The battle rages on in book two of the award-winning Defending the Future series. Witness sixteen accounts of hardcore military science fiction, from planetside combat to fleet actions up among the stars.
Featuring the works of David Sherman, Charles E. Gannon, John C. Wright, James Daniel Ross, Jonathan Maberry, James Chambers, Patrick Thomas, Andy Remic, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeffrey Lyman, Jack Campbell, Mike McPhail, Bud Sparhawk, Tony Ruggiero, and C.J. Henderson.
DAVID SHERMAN "Surrender or Die" (DemonTech)
CHARLES E. GANNON "Recidivism"
JOHN C. WRIGHT "The Last Report On Unit Twenty-Two"
JAMES DANIEL ROSS "The Mercy Rebellion" (Radiation Angels)
JONATHAN MABERRY "Clean Sweep"
JAMES CHAMBERS "War Movie"
PATRICK THOMAS "The Battle for Knob Link" (142nd Starborne)
ANDY REMIC "Junked" (Combat K)
DANIELLE ACKLEY-McPHAIL "First Line" (Alliance Archives)
CHARLES E. GANNON "To Spec"
JEFFREY LYMAN "Gun Sergeant" (Compartment Alpha)
JACK CAMPBELL (a.k.a. JOHN G. HEMRY) "Grendel" (Lost Fleet)
MIKE McPHAIL "Cling Peaches" (Alliance Archives)
BUD SPARHAWK "The Glass Box"
TONY RUGGIERO "Looking for a Good Time" (Death Dealers)
C.J. HENDERSON "Everything is Better with Monkeys" (The Roosevelt)
The battle rages on in book two of the award-winning Defending the Future series. Witness sixteen accounts of hardcore military science fiction, from planetside combat to fleet actions up among the stars.
Featuring the works of David Sherman, Charles E. Gannon, John C. Wright, James Daniel Ross, Jonathan Maberry, James Chambers, Patrick Thomas, Andy Remic, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeffrey Lyman, Jack Campbell, Mike McPhail, Bud Sparhawk, Tony Ruggiero, and C.J. Henderson.
DAVID SHERMAN "Surrender or Die" (DemonTech)
CHARLES E. GANNON "Recidivism"
JOHN C. WRIGHT "The Last Report On Unit Twenty-Two"
JAMES DANIEL ROSS "The Mercy Rebellion" (Radiation Angels)
JONATHAN MABERRY "Clean Sweep"
JAMES CHAMBERS "War Movie"
PATRICK THOMAS "The Battle for Knob Link" (142nd Starborne)
ANDY REMIC "Junked" (Combat K)
DANIELLE ACKLEY-McPHAIL "First Line" (Alliance Archives)
CHARLES E. GANNON "To Spec"
JEFFREY LYMAN "Gun Sergeant" (Compartment Alpha)
JACK CAMPBELL (a.k.a. JOHN G. HEMRY) "Grendel" (Lost Fleet)
MIKE McPHAIL "Cling Peaches" (Alliance Archives)
BUD SPARHAWK "The Glass Box"
TONY RUGGIERO "Looking for a Good Time" (Death Dealers)
C.J. HENDERSON "Everything is Better with Monkeys" (The Roosevelt)
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2009
3 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Mike McPhail
23 books25 followersMike McPhail is the award winning Author and Anthologist of the military science fiction series Defending The Future, published by Dark Quest Books, and editor of the publisher's DTF Publications imprint. He is a member of the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA), and the creator of the Alliance Archives (All'Arc) series and its related Martial Role-Playing Game (MRPG), a manual-based, percentile system, that realistically portrays the consequences of warfare.
Born into a military / engineering family, his lifelong dream was to join NASA and become a mission specialist; to that end, he attended the Academy of Aeronautics in New York, as well as enlisting in the Air National Guard. While working towards his goal, a sudden illness brought a halt to these dreams.
After recovering, he came to grips with his new reality; so he chose to put his hard-earned technical skills and imagination to use as a graphic artist, writer/editor and game designer.
To learn more about his work visit:
www.mcp-concepts.com
www.defendingthefuture.com
www.milscifi.com
Born into a military / engineering family, his lifelong dream was to join NASA and become a mission specialist; to that end, he attended the Academy of Aeronautics in New York, as well as enlisting in the Air National Guard. While working towards his goal, a sudden illness brought a halt to these dreams.
After recovering, he came to grips with his new reality; so he chose to put his hard-earned technical skills and imagination to use as a graphic artist, writer/editor and game designer.
To learn more about his work visit:
www.mcp-concepts.com
www.defendingthefuture.com
www.milscifi.com
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 8, 2018
The second in the "Defending the Future" science-fiction war anthologies has some stand-out and some stand-at-attention, but no stand-in-the-corner stories. Every story is at least a three-star. A total of fourteen stories and some additional content in the Kickstarter addition (the additional content is not reviewed here).
The theme of the anthology, other than science-fiction war, focused on "So It Begins". How do these conflict start, when did the first gun get fired, what philosophical difference destroys worlds?
Short Stories
Recidivism by Charles E. Gannon - Living in peace comes at a price.
The Last Report on Unit 22 by John C. Wright - You can take the mind out of the body, but not the body out of the mind.
The Nature of Mercy by James Daniel Ross (also available as a stand-alone) - Programming quality control; always test before release!
War Movies by James Chambers - Brings new meaning to "Clone War Movies".
The Battle for Knob Lick by Patrick Thomas - One for the category of "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Really, really?!? Zombies?!? A good idea - in whose definition of good or idea? (Also rebellion, petty revenge, and promises to children - and so many other ways for a "good idea" to go "hold my beer" wrong.) One of the strongest stories in the anthology.
Junked by Andy Remic - Getting to where you need to be is most of the battle.
First Line by Danielle Ackley-McPhail -The military hates to let go of any resource, especially well-trained soldiers. Spend them, sure. Give them up, not so much. Recycle, that is a bonus.
To Spec by Charles E. Gannon - Field tests are the worst.
Gunnery Sergeant by Jeffrey Lyman - Speaking of resource utilization - need more room on a ship, make the soldiers smaller. Holy freak! If only for the solution presented to cramming in as many sailors as possible on a ship, this story is a must-read.
Grendel by Jack Campbell - How do you know when to start a war?
Cling Peaches by Mike McPhail - Things can go a bit buggie when returning a damaged ship back for repairs through hyperspace.
The Glass Box by Bud Sparhawk - Not all weapons look or feel like weapons, but a bomb is still a bomb.
Looking for a Good Time by Tony Ruggiero - Orders are orders for a reason, and youth in military break them as youth are want to do, especially looking for a Good Time.
Everything is Better with Monkeys by C.J. Henderson - The song and dance of diplomacy, as seen through C.J. Henderson's signature kaleidoscope of humor.
Received as part of the Defending the Future anthology Kickstarter from eSpec Books.
The theme of the anthology, other than science-fiction war, focused on "So It Begins". How do these conflict start, when did the first gun get fired, what philosophical difference destroys worlds?
Short Stories
Recidivism by Charles E. Gannon - Living in peace comes at a price.
The Last Report on Unit 22 by John C. Wright - You can take the mind out of the body, but not the body out of the mind.
The Nature of Mercy by James Daniel Ross (also available as a stand-alone) - Programming quality control; always test before release!
War Movies by James Chambers - Brings new meaning to "Clone War Movies".
The Battle for Knob Lick by Patrick Thomas - One for the category of "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Really, really?!? Zombies?!? A good idea - in whose definition of good or idea? (Also rebellion, petty revenge, and promises to children - and so many other ways for a "good idea" to go "hold my beer" wrong.) One of the strongest stories in the anthology.
Junked by Andy Remic - Getting to where you need to be is most of the battle.
First Line by Danielle Ackley-McPhail -The military hates to let go of any resource, especially well-trained soldiers. Spend them, sure. Give them up, not so much. Recycle, that is a bonus.
To Spec by Charles E. Gannon - Field tests are the worst.
Gunnery Sergeant by Jeffrey Lyman - Speaking of resource utilization - need more room on a ship, make the soldiers smaller. Holy freak! If only for the solution presented to cramming in as many sailors as possible on a ship, this story is a must-read.
Grendel by Jack Campbell - How do you know when to start a war?
Cling Peaches by Mike McPhail - Things can go a bit buggie when returning a damaged ship back for repairs through hyperspace.
The Glass Box by Bud Sparhawk - Not all weapons look or feel like weapons, but a bomb is still a bomb.
Looking for a Good Time by Tony Ruggiero - Orders are orders for a reason, and youth in military break them as youth are want to do, especially looking for a Good Time.
Everything is Better with Monkeys by C.J. Henderson - The song and dance of diplomacy, as seen through C.J. Henderson's signature kaleidoscope of humor.
Received as part of the Defending the Future anthology Kickstarter from eSpec Books.
May 17, 2009
"This collection would kick ass and take names, but if it brought a pencil it would end up stuck in your eye!"
Seriously good collection. As with any collection there were those I really liked and those I thought weren't as stong - but overall I really enjoyed it.
"The Nature of Mercy" by James Daniel Ross stands out as my favorite from the collection, but if you like military sci-fi you should get this book.
Seriously good collection. As with any collection there were those I really liked and those I thought weren't as stong - but overall I really enjoyed it.
"The Nature of Mercy" by James Daniel Ross stands out as my favorite from the collection, but if you like military sci-fi you should get this book.
January 5, 2026
La guerra nella fantascienza
[Disclaimer: Ho ricevuto il libro grazie al programma Early Reviewer di LibraryThing] Almeno per me, il problema di questa raccolta di racconti è che sono di guerra, e non è che ci siano tutte quelle variazioni sul tema anche se li ambientiamo in un futuro più o meno lontano. Ecco comunque un giudizio monoriga sui vari racconti:
▪ Recidivism, Charles E. Gannon. Ovviamente, La sentinella. 3/5
▪ The Last Report on Unit Twenty-Two, John C. Wright. Un cyborg può ancora essere umano. 5/5
▪ The Nature of Mercy, James Daniel Ross. Perché un robot non può peccare. 3/5
▪ Clean Sweeps, Jonathan Maberry. Il finale è inaspettato, ma non mi è piaciuto lo svolgimento. 2/5
▪ War Movies, James Chambers. «Sono comparse, ragazzo. Le comparse non tornano, vengono rimpiazziate.”» La guerra ha bisogno di film di guerra. 4/5
▪ The Battles for Knob Lick, Patrick Thomas. Mi pare un estratto di un romanzo, e ci sono troppi buchi nella storia. 3/5
▪ Junked, Andy Remic. Anche questo è probabilmente parte di un libro. 3/5
▪ First Line, Danielle Ackley-McPhail. Punto di vista inusuale, e finalmente un racconto che sta in piedi da solo. 5/5
▪ To Spec, Charles E. Gannon. Buona vecchia hard sf. 5/5
▪ Gunnery Sergeant, Jeffrey Lyman. Se vi piacciono le storie di combattimenti, ok, ma non è roba per me. 2/5
▪ Grendel, Jack Campbell. Bella storia, non troppo centrata sulla guerra. 4/5
▪ Cling Peaches, Mike McPhail. Mica l'ho capito. N/A
▪ The Glass Box, Bud Sparhawk. Umano o non umano? 5/5
▪ Looking for a Good Time, Tony Ruggiero. Lo scorrere del racconto per me non ha alcun senso. 2/5
▪ Everything's Better with Monkeys, C.J. Henderson. Lo conoscevo già. Divertente. 4/5
▪ Surrender or die, David Sherman. E che dovrebbe essere? 1/5
[Disclaimer: Ho ricevuto il libro grazie al programma Early Reviewer di LibraryThing] Almeno per me, il problema di questa raccolta di racconti è che sono di guerra, e non è che ci siano tutte quelle variazioni sul tema anche se li ambientiamo in un futuro più o meno lontano. Ecco comunque un giudizio monoriga sui vari racconti:
▪ Recidivism, Charles E. Gannon. Ovviamente, La sentinella. 3/5
▪ The Last Report on Unit Twenty-Two, John C. Wright. Un cyborg può ancora essere umano. 5/5
▪ The Nature of Mercy, James Daniel Ross. Perché un robot non può peccare. 3/5
▪ Clean Sweeps, Jonathan Maberry. Il finale è inaspettato, ma non mi è piaciuto lo svolgimento. 2/5
▪ War Movies, James Chambers. «Sono comparse, ragazzo. Le comparse non tornano, vengono rimpiazziate.”» La guerra ha bisogno di film di guerra. 4/5
▪ The Battles for Knob Lick, Patrick Thomas. Mi pare un estratto di un romanzo, e ci sono troppi buchi nella storia. 3/5
▪ Junked, Andy Remic. Anche questo è probabilmente parte di un libro. 3/5
▪ First Line, Danielle Ackley-McPhail. Punto di vista inusuale, e finalmente un racconto che sta in piedi da solo. 5/5
▪ To Spec, Charles E. Gannon. Buona vecchia hard sf. 5/5
▪ Gunnery Sergeant, Jeffrey Lyman. Se vi piacciono le storie di combattimenti, ok, ma non è roba per me. 2/5
▪ Grendel, Jack Campbell. Bella storia, non troppo centrata sulla guerra. 4/5
▪ Cling Peaches, Mike McPhail. Mica l'ho capito. N/A
▪ The Glass Box, Bud Sparhawk. Umano o non umano? 5/5
▪ Looking for a Good Time, Tony Ruggiero. Lo scorrere del racconto per me non ha alcun senso. 2/5
▪ Everything's Better with Monkeys, C.J. Henderson. Lo conoscevo già. Divertente. 4/5
▪ Surrender or die, David Sherman. E che dovrebbe essere? 1/5
April 7, 2010
An excellent collection of themed short stories, particularly Jack Campbell's 'Grendel', which adds depth to his Lost Fleet series.
November 15, 2012
This is worth reading for Jack Campbell's story 'grendal' which is the prequel to his lost fleet series. The other stories while ok aren't as memorable.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews