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Colonist Soldier
Devious Criminals, Bloodthirsty Aliens, a Colony in Despair, and One Hardened Veteran!
Vesta Colony has a problem, aliens are snatching men until they disappear for good. Humanity's defensive forces are stretched too thin to help a distant outpost, and so, the desperate founders, as well as their investors, are given the bad option of recruiting the worst while bribing the rest.
When Alex's wife was murdered, he turned full vigilante. After years of having a sterling record, he found himself willingly incarcerated to exact his vengeance. His incarceration eats at his soul until an offer too good to refuse from Vesta Colony changes his fate. While he's more than happy to get out from behind bars, the fact colonies treat humans like cattle means he understands what he's signing up for.
Except...
There's more to this situation than a hardened veteran anticipates. Life won't be easy, issues won't stop rearing their ugly heads, and the lovely beauties who need his protection make Alex's head spin. Oh, and the rumor is, there's an army of testicle eating aliens trying to turn him into a snack.
Join Alex as he crosses the void to become the Guardian of Vesta Colony!
Vesta Colony has a problem, aliens are snatching men until they disappear for good. Humanity's defensive forces are stretched too thin to help a distant outpost, and so, the desperate founders, as well as their investors, are given the bad option of recruiting the worst while bribing the rest.
When Alex's wife was murdered, he turned full vigilante. After years of having a sterling record, he found himself willingly incarcerated to exact his vengeance. His incarceration eats at his soul until an offer too good to refuse from Vesta Colony changes his fate. While he's more than happy to get out from behind bars, the fact colonies treat humans like cattle means he understands what he's signing up for.
Except...
There's more to this situation than a hardened veteran anticipates. Life won't be easy, issues won't stop rearing their ugly heads, and the lovely beauties who need his protection make Alex's head spin. Oh, and the rumor is, there's an army of testicle eating aliens trying to turn him into a snack.
Join Alex as he crosses the void to become the Guardian of Vesta Colony!
986 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2023
296 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 31, 2023
I tried
I really tried to like this, but there were some issues that I just couldn’t overcome. The villain plot armor kills me. The bad guy always taunting and getting away to strike again is just awful. Also, the bad guy on a few occasions had his head pummeled out of conciseness and yet he quickly recovers to get away and maintain composure? I’m sorry, but has the author ever experienced a concussion? You’re out of it for a few days and not the miraculous minutes our plot armor villain appears to do. There are a few other issues I have with this story, but these two were the worst for me.
I really tried to like this, but there were some issues that I just couldn’t overcome. The villain plot armor kills me. The bad guy always taunting and getting away to strike again is just awful. Also, the bad guy on a few occasions had his head pummeled out of conciseness and yet he quickly recovers to get away and maintain composure? I’m sorry, but has the author ever experienced a concussion? You’re out of it for a few days and not the miraculous minutes our plot armor villain appears to do. There are a few other issues I have with this story, but these two were the worst for me.
April 13, 2023
Some interesting action and intrigue, but many logic flaws.
Good action starting with the coup on the colony ship, especially since the captain and crew paid for their folly with their lives. It was never specified in the narrative that the women taken by Serrano were raped and abused but that is the likely senario since Serrano proudly announced when he took over the ship that was his intention. Yet Jennifer and the others never mentioned it to Alex nor the people on Vesta. That makes no sense! All of the colonists and some crew members who survived the coup made it to the colony. Tongues always wag and the survivors arrived before Serrano did, so theres no way that Serrano and his thugs couldn't have been outed, especially by the women they victimized. Many women, especially those willing to go to a frontier are tough and are more likely to attack their rapists at the first opportunity than to shrink and cower.
Its also ridiculous that Serrano could tell Belladonna that Alex was the coup leader without the truth coming out until so late in the story. Even though she is short sighted, self-absorbed and inept enough to not check the stories of their relief ship, that they went into debt to pay for, which was pirated and destroyed. If nothing else, no one would be wiling to do business with Vesta from a risk management standpoint so they should have been interested to find the culprits to avoid backlash.
The political intrigue at the colony was interesting, but once again had many glaring flaws. Why didn't team Alex seek Vitale's technical help for intelligence gathering even before the election shenanigans since they had good rapport? Why is the council's obstinacy especially on the budget and Belladonna's embezzling not being leaked to the public much sooner, especially with Vitalie's tech help? After all the only thing politicians fear is their constituents waking up. Why did Alex's campaign speech fail to throw Serrano under the bus by describing his character and actions, especially since verfication by those how were there is available. He should have also detailed his analysis of the steps needed to reduce the Jargar threat? Why was commander Rooney so subservent to the council so much so that it eventually got him eaten? Sure the council led by Belladonna was inept but so was their opposition, team Alex, who failed to do basic research, intelligence gathering and damage control.
The colony has communication technology with other colonies as well as those who financed the relief ship and the ship owners. Those corporations couldn't have gotten to be big players being stupid so they should have reviewed what happened on the ship and taken steps to recoup losses and make an example of the perpetrators. Serrano and his boys should have had a bounty on their heads the moment they stepped out of the escape pod, especially the traitorous pilot who was cashiered from the navy so has a history as a bad actor.
Since Vitore was able to download Kristina's personality and memories from the ship until her deactivation she should have animosity against Serrano and his pirates, after all, they killed her. With her upgrades she should have played a much bigger role in taking them down.
The next questionable item is the aliens. Since there is no backstory, we don't know if other sentinent alien species exist. Still the discovery of a sentient species should be big news. Everyone on Vesta just poo-pooed this news and said nothing about it.
As l said, there were many flaws in the story over and above greed, shortsightedness and just plain old fashioned ineptitude. Still it was interesting, but I'm not sure if I will bother to read another installment.
Good action starting with the coup on the colony ship, especially since the captain and crew paid for their folly with their lives. It was never specified in the narrative that the women taken by Serrano were raped and abused but that is the likely senario since Serrano proudly announced when he took over the ship that was his intention. Yet Jennifer and the others never mentioned it to Alex nor the people on Vesta. That makes no sense! All of the colonists and some crew members who survived the coup made it to the colony. Tongues always wag and the survivors arrived before Serrano did, so theres no way that Serrano and his thugs couldn't have been outed, especially by the women they victimized. Many women, especially those willing to go to a frontier are tough and are more likely to attack their rapists at the first opportunity than to shrink and cower.
Its also ridiculous that Serrano could tell Belladonna that Alex was the coup leader without the truth coming out until so late in the story. Even though she is short sighted, self-absorbed and inept enough to not check the stories of their relief ship, that they went into debt to pay for, which was pirated and destroyed. If nothing else, no one would be wiling to do business with Vesta from a risk management standpoint so they should have been interested to find the culprits to avoid backlash.
The political intrigue at the colony was interesting, but once again had many glaring flaws. Why didn't team Alex seek Vitale's technical help for intelligence gathering even before the election shenanigans since they had good rapport? Why is the council's obstinacy especially on the budget and Belladonna's embezzling not being leaked to the public much sooner, especially with Vitalie's tech help? After all the only thing politicians fear is their constituents waking up. Why did Alex's campaign speech fail to throw Serrano under the bus by describing his character and actions, especially since verfication by those how were there is available. He should have also detailed his analysis of the steps needed to reduce the Jargar threat? Why was commander Rooney so subservent to the council so much so that it eventually got him eaten? Sure the council led by Belladonna was inept but so was their opposition, team Alex, who failed to do basic research, intelligence gathering and damage control.
The colony has communication technology with other colonies as well as those who financed the relief ship and the ship owners. Those corporations couldn't have gotten to be big players being stupid so they should have reviewed what happened on the ship and taken steps to recoup losses and make an example of the perpetrators. Serrano and his boys should have had a bounty on their heads the moment they stepped out of the escape pod, especially the traitorous pilot who was cashiered from the navy so has a history as a bad actor.
Since Vitore was able to download Kristina's personality and memories from the ship until her deactivation she should have animosity against Serrano and his pirates, after all, they killed her. With her upgrades she should have played a much bigger role in taking them down.
The next questionable item is the aliens. Since there is no backstory, we don't know if other sentinent alien species exist. Still the discovery of a sentient species should be big news. Everyone on Vesta just poo-pooed this news and said nothing about it.
As l said, there were many flaws in the story over and above greed, shortsightedness and just plain old fashioned ineptitude. Still it was interesting, but I'm not sure if I will bother to read another installment.
May 5, 2023
Absolute trash
I made it only part way through. This book became absolute trash the minute gang rape became ok. It never explicitly said it happened; however, it was alluded to many times. At that point I was done. Apparently the authors think even promoting something like that in writing is ok.
I made it only part way through. This book became absolute trash the minute gang rape became ok. It never explicitly said it happened; however, it was alluded to many times. At that point I was done. Apparently the authors think even promoting something like that in writing is ok.
May 6, 2023
I could not finish this book, I didn’t even make it out of the first chapter. The writing is so flat and bad. There is no difference between narration exposition and the large exposition dumps that occur in character dialogue and just … just … someone really needs to learn how to “show, not tell.” This read like it was written by someone in middle school.
March 19, 2023
As required by U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations and Audible.com requirements, I am disclosing that I was given a free review copy of this audiobook. I have listened to the audiobook, and I have voluntarily left an honest review. Receiving a review copy did not influence my rating nor my review.
“Colonist Soldier” is an excellent audiobook; the story, characters and narration are all well-done! There are many things different about this book than is typical in current haremlit. First, the MC (Alex) is a 38yo man, with experiences that make him a believable leader in the story. Secondly, while his main adversary is definitely evil, there are many men in the story who are good people; this isn’t a story where all the men except the MC are evil or losers. Thirdly, while several women are happy to join team Alex, they don’t all throw themselves at him immediately. Some women never want to play on his team. This is a science fiction story first, and a haremlit story second.
MC Mark is not an ordinary man, and he puts the welfare of others ahead of his own needs. At the same time, he’s not a saint. After fifteen years serving in a mercenary army, he served time in prison for a revenge killing. His main adversary, Serrano, is an excellent villain. He’s very believable as he lies and corrupts others around him as he seeks to accomplish his own goals.
In addition to the struggles between colonists, there’s a life-and-death struggle between natives of the planet (Jargars) and the colonists. Much of that struggle reminded me of the Star Trek (The Original Series) episode “The Devil in the Dark”. Natives of the planet (Hortas) suddenly begin killing humans mining for the rare mineral, pergium. Through the Vulcan mind meld, Spock is able to communicate with the Horta, and discovers the creatures are intelligent, and began attacking the miners to protect the Horta children.
For those who view Alex as a James Bond character (a thug with a license to kill for the “good guys”), and Serrano as a Bond villain - you’ll be glad to know that the story has an excellent “Q” in the terrific Vitale!
There’s plenty of steamy action in the book with Alex and his women (the humans and the wonderfully lifelike android Kristina!), but as the author said, this book isn’t erotica, it’s a science fiction story. Personally, I’m happy it had both elements!
The epilogue serves as cliff-hanger, and I can’t wait for book 2 (scheduled for publication in two weeks, with the audiobook to follow soon after!). For those keeping score, book 3 will be published April 30th!
“Colonist Soldier” is an excellent audiobook; the story, characters and narration are all well-done! There are many things different about this book than is typical in current haremlit. First, the MC (Alex) is a 38yo man, with experiences that make him a believable leader in the story. Secondly, while his main adversary is definitely evil, there are many men in the story who are good people; this isn’t a story where all the men except the MC are evil or losers. Thirdly, while several women are happy to join team Alex, they don’t all throw themselves at him immediately. Some women never want to play on his team. This is a science fiction story first, and a haremlit story second.
MC Mark is not an ordinary man, and he puts the welfare of others ahead of his own needs. At the same time, he’s not a saint. After fifteen years serving in a mercenary army, he served time in prison for a revenge killing. His main adversary, Serrano, is an excellent villain. He’s very believable as he lies and corrupts others around him as he seeks to accomplish his own goals.
In addition to the struggles between colonists, there’s a life-and-death struggle between natives of the planet (Jargars) and the colonists. Much of that struggle reminded me of the Star Trek (The Original Series) episode “The Devil in the Dark”. Natives of the planet (Hortas) suddenly begin killing humans mining for the rare mineral, pergium. Through the Vulcan mind meld, Spock is able to communicate with the Horta, and discovers the creatures are intelligent, and began attacking the miners to protect the Horta children.
For those who view Alex as a James Bond character (a thug with a license to kill for the “good guys”), and Serrano as a Bond villain - you’ll be glad to know that the story has an excellent “Q” in the terrific Vitale!
There’s plenty of steamy action in the book with Alex and his women (the humans and the wonderfully lifelike android Kristina!), but as the author said, this book isn’t erotica, it’s a science fiction story. Personally, I’m happy it had both elements!
The epilogue serves as cliff-hanger, and I can’t wait for book 2 (scheduled for publication in two weeks, with the audiobook to follow soon after!). For those keeping score, book 3 will be published April 30th!
July 20, 2023
Errors, aggravation, but I couldn't stop.
This book upset me. There were so many grammatical, spelling, and formatting errors. There's a chunk of the story missing towards the end and suddenly people are in different places with no explanation of how they got there. However, I had to finish it.
The plot was moderately intriguing. That alone would have kept me going. The characters were aggravating. It was like reading a story about all the corruption and nepotism in United States politics. However, it was written in such a way, and I hated it so much, that I had to see how it turned out. It was like Joffrey from Game of Thrones; hated him so much but had to admit it was extremely well done.
There were a lot of genre tropes, such as the MC having the largest member in the galaxy, all the women essentially throwing themselves at him, etc. However, there were some good male side characters in here as well. They had their own girls and their own lives. They interacted just enough to be good side characters.
I finished this book but I will not be continuing the story. Problems resolved, plots tied up, but I disliked the writing and characters enough that I absolutely could not read the next book in this series.
This book upset me. There were so many grammatical, spelling, and formatting errors. There's a chunk of the story missing towards the end and suddenly people are in different places with no explanation of how they got there. However, I had to finish it.
The plot was moderately intriguing. That alone would have kept me going. The characters were aggravating. It was like reading a story about all the corruption and nepotism in United States politics. However, it was written in such a way, and I hated it so much, that I had to see how it turned out. It was like Joffrey from Game of Thrones; hated him so much but had to admit it was extremely well done.
There were a lot of genre tropes, such as the MC having the largest member in the galaxy, all the women essentially throwing themselves at him, etc. However, there were some good male side characters in here as well. They had their own girls and their own lives. They interacted just enough to be good side characters.
I finished this book but I will not be continuing the story. Problems resolved, plots tied up, but I disliked the writing and characters enough that I absolutely could not read the next book in this series.
April 3, 2023
I found the story a little contrived but nevertheless interesting Space Opera. I haven't read a true space opera story in a while and this was one with a Harem flair and a twist or two. I don't find this story as compelling as say the Lensman series or David Weber's Honor Harrington, or Hammer's Slammers or the BOLO series but it was entertaining. I thought the characters were interesting enough and the protagonist(s) had depth. The villain was exactly what you wanted him to be.
Towards the last 10 chapters I found several errors that really grated - the villain was stealing weapons out of the armor but the narrative said his henchman were breaking him out of jail. There were several misplaced gender pronouns.
For the most part I found the story progressed naturally and smoothly to its conclusion. I did find it a long story to read - 985 pages take a while to get through. I'm not sure I have the patience any more to wait that long to get to the end. However, the story did keep me going. I'll probably get book 2 and book 3 but I'm also okay where this story ended because it was a satisfying conclusion.
Towards the last 10 chapters I found several errors that really grated - the villain was stealing weapons out of the armor but the narrative said his henchman were breaking him out of jail. There were several misplaced gender pronouns.
For the most part I found the story progressed naturally and smoothly to its conclusion. I did find it a long story to read - 985 pages take a while to get through. I'm not sure I have the patience any more to wait that long to get to the end. However, the story did keep me going. I'll probably get book 2 and book 3 but I'm also okay where this story ended because it was a satisfying conclusion.
September 28, 2024
DNF. It's awful. I grabbed this one because I read Xeno Slayer and really enjoyed it. This one is terrible. The plot is super basic and stupid. Sure, fill a ship with hardened criminals that are free to roam around with almost zero security. I guess there are no cameras on the ship since murders are happening left and right. The captain of the ship is completely retarded. It's mind-numbingly stupid.
But, TBH, I can let a stupid plot slip if the MC is worthy. This one is NOT. He's a complete simp. He's easily manipulated by a pretty skirt. He let's people live who are trying to kill him. He's everything I hate in an MC.
But, TBH, I can let a stupid plot slip if the MC is worthy. This one is NOT. He's a complete simp. He's easily manipulated by a pretty skirt. He let's people live who are trying to kill him. He's everything I hate in an MC.
May 16, 2023
Decent plot, a little contrived but that's necessitated by the niche genre of a "sci-fi harem" it's trying to fill. There's plenty of conflict for the main character to overcome. The characters are a little weak but it's not unbearable, mostly it's the writing for the women. Also the intimate scenes seem to be written by a virgin, with a fair bit of wishful self-insertion of the author to the MC.
All things considered, it's nothing totally unexpected for the genre. If you know what the norm is for these kinds of things then it's actually a fair bit better than most others.
All things considered, it's nothing totally unexpected for the genre. If you know what the norm is for these kinds of things then it's actually a fair bit better than most others.
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February 3, 2024Awful
This book is just awful. None of it makes sense, half the characters are generic, the other half don't make any sense at all. No one would do or act the way they are. Not to mention the societal setup is... Nonsense, on top of being extremely misogynistic. To top it all off, none of the science or physics, what little there actually is, makes any sense at all. Honestly, it reads like it was written by a mediocre AI, spell checked, and sent straight to amazon.
Terrible book, don't even bother.
This book is just awful. None of it makes sense, half the characters are generic, the other half don't make any sense at all. No one would do or act the way they are. Not to mention the societal setup is... Nonsense, on top of being extremely misogynistic. To top it all off, none of the science or physics, what little there actually is, makes any sense at all. Honestly, it reads like it was written by a mediocre AI, spell checked, and sent straight to amazon.
Terrible book, don't even bother.
April 24, 2023
loved the storyline
I loved the storyline, very engaging.
But there where times that one second they are saying they don’t understand what species Alex is, and then several paragraphs later they are talking about how great it is to finally be able to research an Atlantean.
And the spelling and punctuation was not great.
I loved the storyline, very engaging.
But there where times that one second they are saying they don’t understand what species Alex is, and then several paragraphs later they are talking about how great it is to finally be able to research an Atlantean.
And the spelling and punctuation was not great.
May 8, 2023
Alex had a hard life single mother parent later fought in orbital wars then found love .
Alex was a mostly good kid . Father left at five years old . Raised by single mother parent . Later joined orbital wars fought 15 years . Found love married . recommend reading excellent book .
Alex was a mostly good kid . Father left at five years old . Raised by single mother parent . Later joined orbital wars fought 15 years . Found love married . recommend reading excellent book .
April 26, 2023
really good story mixed with action
Loved the flow of the story and intro to the world and I hope in next we get more Jagar interactions to see if they will cause a change in vesta as a whole.
Loved the flow of the story and intro to the world and I hope in next we get more Jagar interactions to see if they will cause a change in vesta as a whole.
March 22, 2023
Good book one
Definitely a thorough read. I like the slow build up and couldn’t put the book down until I was finished. Can’t wait for book 2.
Definitely a thorough read. I like the slow build up and couldn’t put the book down until I was finished. Can’t wait for book 2.
April 23, 2023
I really wanted to like this book, the story line seemed pretty interesting, but the writing style is just too juvenile for me. DNF'd at 12%
May 30, 2023
What a great tale
This is a story of good vs evil. I hope you find it as intriguing as I did. The writer keeps the action going at a great clip. A love stain space. The action is non-stop.
This is a story of good vs evil. I hope you find it as intriguing as I did. The writer keeps the action going at a great clip. A love stain space. The action is non-stop.
December 8, 2023
I’m all for books that are simple fun, but this plot, monsieur, is wafer-thin. I learned more from the synopsis than I did reading the first third of the book. It’s just so vague and frustrating.
February 14, 2024
Fairly good story. But for being of a superior race, Alex sure seems to get his ass whooped by normal humans a lot.
March 7, 2024
i don’t know what to say
This has been one of the best stories I have read in a while. I am anxious to start on the other two book. This is a must read
This has been one of the best stories I have read in a while. I am anxious to start on the other two book. This is a must read
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews