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Battle Earth #1

Battle Earth

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A distress transmission from Mars research colony warns of an advanced and unknown enemy approaching the heavily populated lunar colony. An elite marine unit commanded by Major Mitch Taylor is dispatched to protect the civilians. However, the attack is merely a prelude to a massive invasion of Earth. A futuristic adventure that chronicles vast battles following humanity’s reach into the stars.

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2011

93 people are currently reading
443 people want to read

About the author

Nick S. Thomas

144 books73 followers
Nick S. Thomas, is a novelist, martial arts instructor and military history enthusiast. Author of the bestselling 'Battle Earth' series and is co-founder of the prestigious Academy of Historical Fencing.

Nick has worked full time as an author for over a decade and also still designs his own novel art, as well as that of his brothers, fellow novelist Michael G Thomas.

As well as the pursuit of historical materials to transcribe, translate and interpret, Nick enjoys writing works of historical fiction, fantasy, and science-fiction. He is also an avid military history enthusiast. A collector and restorer of WW2 military vehicles, as well as antique edged weaponry.

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5 stars
194 (22%)
4 stars
248 (29%)
3 stars
257 (30%)
2 stars
97 (11%)
1 star
51 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
3 reviews
May 4, 2013
The idea behind the storyline is sound, however, execution was very weak. I find the whole Battle Earth series to be weak structurally, and unrealistic with respect to both the actions of the "heros" in the storyline, as well as, the technological aspects of the armies represented here.

It is obvious that Nick Thomas needed both real military experience, and the services of a good editor. It would have helped if he had advisors who could have helped direct parts of the storyline, and actions of his characters, as well. The dialogue is unrealistic, redundant, and sophomoric.

I made a mistake buying the whole series before reading the first book. Do not bother reading this story, save your money.
Profile Image for Kirkus.
73 reviews16 followers
November 6, 2013
Felt like it was written and published 1980 ish. WTF its written and published 2011? OMG.

This piece of toilet paper is a should be put in a museum as an example for how cavemen think.

6 sequels to this crap? Who buys this stuff? Other cave people?

Lovely invention is the computer, it really changes stuff you know...
Computer controlled tanks, airplanes, boats is standard today in the military without an actual operator in the machine. Solves that pesky question of how to avoid losing experienced personnel. This is today, how it will be 200 years from now is mindboggling.

Telling how we would fight aliens in the year 2200 ish with WW2 weapons and tactics is just rubbish. What were you thinking? Does the Tommy Gun appear in your sequels perhaps as a new amazing weapon for the humans?

To others thinking of reading this book, give it to someone you dislike instead. If you got this recommended then your "friend" hates you.
Profile Image for Tamer Sadek.
262 reviews9 followers
August 9, 2014
Awful writing. Awful, inconsistent, characters. Terrible dialogue. Avoid.
Profile Image for Greg.
287 reviews8 followers
March 13, 2012
This wasn't a bad book, but I have to wonder if the author was ever in the military. I got the impression, not. Just some simple things, like "over and out." At least for me in my time in, that was drummed into your head, you never say "over and out" it's "over" if you expect a response, or "out" when you are done and don't expect or need a response. "over and out" are mutually exclusive.

Also the kind of constant angst of the military members kind of bugged me. Sure this is in the future where there hasn't been a major conflict for many decades, so the military were more police than military, but still.

Also the alien tactics. They own space, they own the high ground, they traveled between stars, but no selected kinetic weapon use? No advance warning of incoming attacks? No insertion of troops behind enemy lines to flank/encircle them?

Okay, okay, maybe there's something in the culture that keeps them from these things, but still...

But all that said, I still finished (I refuse to waste time on a book to just finish it if I don't like it, if it doesn't grab me some at least) and liked it. Classic? This isn't a John Ringo book... but still good none the less.
23 reviews11 followers
October 4, 2014
Well as you can probably tell I wasn't a great fan of this book. Although having absolutely no military experience even I knew that some of the character's actions were totally unrealistic. The star crusade series which Btw was written By Nick Thomas's brother is a much better shout. I won't waste my life reading any more of this drivel. I only read this because when I looked Nick Thomas up, I found out that he had a martial arts background, and I was curious if he'd bring that background into the novel. As i'm a great fan of the martial arts genre, I hoped that this novel although clearly a military science fiction story, would have brought a martial arts feel to the book. Anyway I would say to any potential readers of this book, don't bother.
Profile Image for Rob.
13 reviews
June 28, 2013
Glad its over....for under three bucks, I can't really complain but I won't be following the series any further.
Profile Image for Frank Watson.
12 reviews
May 28, 2014
The book is ridiculous. The character's and plot are shallow. It is every clear that Mr. Thomas has no military background, nor did he take the time to ask someone to help him in that regard. How this book warranted several other books is beyond me, let alone get published. The grammar is poor, the dialog between characters even poorer. Most of his "events" make no sense, ie: sending Armorer Piercing rounds to a moon base????

From the affair between a Major in the Marines with a Sergeant under his command (a big no no in the Military)to Weapons and ammunition that has been mothballed for over 60 yrs, yet works perfectly, the whole thing is a farce. There is no interaction on the part of the Author with the invading Aliens. We don't know why they are here, just that they kill everyone and are almost unstoppable.

I read the first book in the Thomas brothers Zombie Dawn. Why I thought this would be better, is beyond me. It seems their books run along the same lines, shoddy at best.

I plan on reading the second book in this series, just to see if Mr. Thomas has improved any (something I doubt. The only way I would recommend this book is if you have a lot of time to waste and can get a free copy. It certainly isn't worth the price to buy
Profile Image for Bookwyrm Speaks.
303 reviews20 followers
April 4, 2016
The idea of the alien invasion of the Earth isn't a new one. So, an author has to dig deep to come up with an original angle for it to succeed. Well, Nick Thomas delivers. He does this by creating some great characters you get invested in, having a pulse pounding plot that makes you want to keep listening, and creating a setting you can actually see yourself in if the circumstances were right. He is so successful he has lots of sequels to this one to continue the story, of which I am certain you will. Neal Arango nails the narration, really bringing the characters and story to vivid life. I can recommmend this series to any fans of sci fi, of whatever stripe of sci fi your in to.

I was given a copy of this book for free by the publisher, Author or Narrator in return for an honest review through Audiobookblast.
64 reviews3 followers
July 22, 2019
Humanity is at peace and have colonised the moon, but all that changed when they are invaded by an alien race, the Krycenaens. The invading aliens are much more technologically advanced than the humans and they are ruthless in their endeavors to rid the earth and moon of humans. This book has non-stop action and two heroes/leaders emerge in the fight for humanity, Mitch Taylor and Charlie Jones. This story line has galactic battles and all out war on earth, lots of destruction and mayhem, fantastic characters and a great plot. An amazing read, I was not able to put it down.
Profile Image for Candy.
164 reviews
January 4, 2014
War

Okay I knew when I started reading this book there would be blood and guts. Us against aliens. I downloaded this book because I wanted something out of my comfort zone (and it was free). Well this for sure was the book to do that. I will not read anymore of this series because it depresses me. To even imagine fighting an unbeatable foe, is beyond me and frightening.
Profile Image for Chris Jackson.
1 review
March 2, 2019
Great start to what seems a long battle ahead.

This book starts of strong. A vast unearthly behemoth of a space craft on a coalition course for earth. Quiet answering no hails aimed at them. Landing on earth attacking all in their way. Can we put all our troubles behind us and unite as a species to save our home.
Profile Image for Tony Duxbury.
Author 9 books73 followers
May 5, 2019
I enjoyed this alien invasion story. Major Taylor, the main character, is a career marine who, by accident becomes one of the main protagonists in the fight to save our planet. The man is gung-ho, but quietly, he just gets on with the job.
Profile Image for Robert.
3 reviews
September 13, 2011
Very good read. Well developed plot and characters. About the only real flaw is a lack of editing - there are just too many grammatical errors.
Profile Image for George Floyd.
205 reviews
March 17, 2018
Fast paced action novel

Author Thomas has written a fast paced, quickly read story of the survival of mankind's homeland. I read this in a single sitting.
10 reviews
October 21, 2020
No, do not read this one. I sacrificed a few hours of my life (and a dollar) so you don’t have to.
Flat characters, C-movie level dialogue and massive (and I mean MASSIVE) plot holes.
I mean, come on - alien invaders in a humongous space ship, want to conquer Earth and massacre all humans. So far, so good. Their thousand miles wide ship lands in the Atlantic becoming an island and starts spitting armored, meChanized storm troopers. I am cool with that too.
Earth governments react by sending a few dozens of nuclear missiles but the aliens intercept them without breaking a sweat. So, what do the Earthling do? They send a bunch of US marines with RPGs! I kid you not. And aliens can neither intercept their vessel, nor stop them penetrating the motheship despite their much more advanced weapons. And even more astonishingly, the penetrating marines do NOT carry nuclear warheads with them to blow up the mothership from within. Why? No explanation. That was just an example...
After that the book gets even mote ridiculous but never mind. It’s crap.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for RJ.
2,044 reviews13 followers
August 20, 2019
I wanted to like this book and looked forward to several more sequels in publication, but the more I examined what I was hearing being an audiobook, the more confounded I became. There was lots of non-stop action but it made no sense. Were we fighting highly advanced aliens or off-world amateurs with no tactical expertise whats so ever? We’re in what, 2080 or there-about, and we’re fighting with 1970 weapons? The romance was unnecessary and played no part in the story. Military and weapon research was somewhere between lacking to non-existent. It was entertaining while I was listening but way too unrealistic, even for science fiction. I’ll give him credit for trying though; it’s a tough business. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for Brian Turner.
707 reviews12 followers
October 10, 2019
I liked this author's other series "Starforce Ganymede" and decided to give this a go.
Fairly standard earth invaded story, with unknown attackers with advanced technology managing to get the upper hand.
Combined forces from across the globe join up to try to repel them. There is also an attack on the moon colony and a small group trying to hold them off there.

Could have done with better editing and checking. The characters are a bit one-dimensional and the story rushes from one assault to the next.
Profile Image for Vicky Camp.
287 reviews10 followers
November 12, 2017
War at it's bloodiest.

In the fight for the survival of the entire Earth, the human forces all come together as allies.

After years of peace the world's military units are forced to regroup around old technology and humans begin once again to do what they do best, fight and overcome.

This book needs a little more editing but is not lacking in action. I am looking forward to reading more of the story.
Profile Image for Dawn.
1,211 reviews53 followers
January 11, 2018
Sadly, I didn't enjoy this. The writing was okay, the story was okay-ish, the characters were boring. There was far too much "action" and not really enough of anything else to keep me interested (though the start was promising). I found an American character (talking to other American characters) using "ground floor" instead of "first floor" odd - though the book is written by (I think) a Brit, if your character is American PLEASE let them at least talk like an American!
Profile Image for Scott.
1,484 reviews12 followers
December 30, 2019
Thomas does the military scifi very well and so this should come as no surprise that the characters work very well, as does the majority of the story. 
I did find the lack of communication and video a bit jarring for the age that it is set in , but otherwise very good and I look forward to the 2nd audio.
Thomas also does well in picking his narrators, im new to Arangos work and outside feeling a few background fx could of been employed, also very satisfied with his work
234 reviews
January 18, 2021
Great book

This it's the story of mankind's fight to save the world. First Mars was attacked, then the lunar colony and finally, Earth. There were pitched battles in France and on the moon, fighting to survive. There was a supply drop sent to the moon with ships outfitted with enemy engines in the hopes they could get in and out. By some miracle, the men defending Paris held out until reinforcements arrived. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes long odds.
272 reviews
March 25, 2022
Fairly standard military science fiction. Earth is just expanding to the stars when it is attacked without warning by a more advanced alien race. They refuse to communicate, our politicians are slow to react and hundreds of thousands are killed before the military manage to slow their advance. The only quibble I had was mistakes are always followed by feeling of shame. People always admitting they're wrong or realizing they made a mistake? Never.
21 reviews
December 12, 2018
DNF If you know anything about the Army or Marines reading this book will make you want to give up reading military sci-fi forever and switch to books about sparkly vampires.
2 reviews
December 4, 2019
Wow!!!!

Awesome book. I must read the next and the rest of the series! Wonderful and engaging writing, exciting grand finale.
Profile Image for Terry.
7 reviews
March 6, 2020
Basically it says what it is on the tin very good book
Profile Image for Sam.
2,553 reviews41 followers
January 20, 2021
A good military sci fi with aliens! If this is your thing, give it a try! Action packed plot & good start to series!
51 reviews
April 14, 2021
What an excellent read!

A very fast paced book shifting to many locations but always with lots of action. I stayed up way too late to finish this gripping story. Well done!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews

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