What do you think?
Rate this book
Odyssey One #1
Into the Black
This edition of Odyssey One has been completely edited and remastered to correct the typos and content issues that reviewers commented on in the original edition.
Beyond the confines of our small world, far from the glow of our star, lies a galaxy and universe much larger and more varied than anyone on Earth can possibly imagine. For the new NAC spacecraft Odyssey and her crew, the unimaginable facets of this untouched world are about to become reality.
The Odyssey’s maiden voyage is an epic adventure destined to make history. Captain Eric Weston and his crew, pushing past the boundaries of security, encounter horrors, wonders, monsters, and people, all of which will test their resolve, challenge their abilities, and put in sharp relief what is necessary to be a hero.
Beyond the confines of our small world, far from the glow of our star, lies a galaxy and universe much larger and more varied than anyone on Earth can possibly imagine. For the new NAC spacecraft Odyssey and her crew, the unimaginable facets of this untouched world are about to become reality.
The Odyssey’s maiden voyage is an epic adventure destined to make history. Captain Eric Weston and his crew, pushing past the boundaries of security, encounter horrors, wonders, monsters, and people, all of which will test their resolve, challenge their abilities, and put in sharp relief what is necessary to be a hero.
587 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2011
2191 people are currently reading
7814 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 - 30 of 806 reviews
May 26, 2016
Often, with me, Space Operas are hit or miss. There's either too much mindless action or too much mindless action or there's even too much mindless action.
But sometimes, fortunately, I get caught up with a crew of some really great characters. They get thrown in some interesting situations with plenty of translator humor, and then, suddenly, all my worries just seem to melt away.
If you're looking for some great pew-pew, vroom, and kaa-plowie action, this novel has it in spades and spades, and it's great fun, but none of that would be quite as fun or engaging without a great cast.
This has a great cast. :)
It's also the kind of thing I've always enjoyed about Star Trek. It's all about people who get thrown into situations that may or may not be out of their ken or abilities, but more often than not, it is the fundamental aspects of living and getting along that make them so damn real and a part of our lives. The ship breaks. There's plenty of miscommunication in and out of the hull. And best of all, it's the little heroisms that snag me. :)
Of course, if you want to be an explorer on the first interstellar spacecraft, meeting good and bad aliens and getting caught up in some really stellar action, I think you'll enjoy this novel, too. :) I mean, this is the DEFINITION of Space Opera. :)
Good clean fun... with or without court-martials. :)
But sometimes, fortunately, I get caught up with a crew of some really great characters. They get thrown in some interesting situations with plenty of translator humor, and then, suddenly, all my worries just seem to melt away.
If you're looking for some great pew-pew, vroom, and kaa-plowie action, this novel has it in spades and spades, and it's great fun, but none of that would be quite as fun or engaging without a great cast.
This has a great cast. :)
It's also the kind of thing I've always enjoyed about Star Trek. It's all about people who get thrown into situations that may or may not be out of their ken or abilities, but more often than not, it is the fundamental aspects of living and getting along that make them so damn real and a part of our lives. The ship breaks. There's plenty of miscommunication in and out of the hull. And best of all, it's the little heroisms that snag me. :)
Of course, if you want to be an explorer on the first interstellar spacecraft, meeting good and bad aliens and getting caught up in some really stellar action, I think you'll enjoy this novel, too. :) I mean, this is the DEFINITION of Space Opera. :)
Good clean fun... with or without court-martials. :)
February 11, 2020
Hard Sci-Fi with a ton of action and characters you could grow to love... Very much an Enterprise feel to it, but I am feeling the genre at the moment, so I enjoyed it quite a bit!
February 9, 2017
This book was just what I was looking for at the time I picked it up (low-brow schlub that I am). I have included it on my space-opera shelf as well as my other science fiction shelves. We get lots of action here, lots of esprit de corps as the crew of the "new star ship", made up of people from all services pull together into one cohesive unit.
So far as this being a military science fiction/military fantasy we get fleet action, groundpounder action, even space fighter action.
Yes the story is well into science fantasy as well as science fiction and that will probably "alienate",(get it, science fiction...alienate...??? Oh well) some readers.
However, I think there's enough hard science involved in the story to appeal to "some" hard science fiction fans. Of course I realize others will be annoyed when that is twisted or whatever... Life I guess.
This is an adventure read, a first contact read, a war/combat fiction read it's enjoyable on several levels and I think most who enjoy imaginative reads will find something to like here.
So, as I said...I like it. I can recommend it, as a matter of fact I do recommend it, enjoy. I plan to snap up the next as soon as I finish another science fiction read I have downloaded from the library. If the series stays this good I may move it to my favorites shelf.
So far as this being a military science fiction/military fantasy we get fleet action, groundpounder action, even space fighter action.
Yes the story is well into science fantasy as well as science fiction and that will probably "alienate",(get it, science fiction...alienate...??? Oh well) some readers.
However, I think there's enough hard science involved in the story to appeal to "some" hard science fiction fans. Of course I realize others will be annoyed when that is twisted or whatever... Life I guess.
This is an adventure read, a first contact read, a war/combat fiction read it's enjoyable on several levels and I think most who enjoy imaginative reads will find something to like here.
So, as I said...I like it. I can recommend it, as a matter of fact I do recommend it, enjoy. I plan to snap up the next as soon as I finish another science fiction read I have downloaded from the library. If the series stays this good I may move it to my favorites shelf.
October 7, 2011
A real action fest with some nice ideas on technologies and the problems of waging war in space. I would never call it a space opera. The people on the Odyssey are all perfect soldiers: idealistic, courageous, professional, (almost) infallible. Their motivation is very thin and their characters would be the typical soldier/cannon fodder used in many movies, if not for the fact that it is not possible to kill them (unless they want to sacrifice themselves). It is also hard to accept that the Odyssey was in any danger, despite the situation it was in.
With respect to the spelling/grammar errors, I know this is an indie publication and I don't expect perfection. Nevertheless, it looks like the author never read his manuscript twice. Besides the constant use of "then" instead of "than" and other errors, there are also several cases where one paragraph repeats the previous or contradicts the next. There were also at least two cases where in the middle of the action the author goes on on a tangent to give the history of a rifle or a weapon (something that he doesn't bother to do for most of his main cast) ruining the pacing of the story. This book needs some editing, even some unprofessional one from a friend would improve it considerably.
All in all, if you love Starship Troopers then you will love this, otherwise it is hard to recommend. My rating: It was ok (two stars)
With respect to the spelling/grammar errors, I know this is an indie publication and I don't expect perfection. Nevertheless, it looks like the author never read his manuscript twice. Besides the constant use of "then" instead of "than" and other errors, there are also several cases where one paragraph repeats the previous or contradicts the next. There were also at least two cases where in the middle of the action the author goes on on a tangent to give the history of a rifle or a weapon (something that he doesn't bother to do for most of his main cast) ruining the pacing of the story. This book needs some editing, even some unprofessional one from a friend would improve it considerably.
All in all, if you love Starship Troopers then you will love this, otherwise it is hard to recommend. My rating: It was ok (two stars)
January 20, 2013
Into the Black is the first published work (as nearly as I can tell) by Evan Currie, published thought he Kindle Direct Publishing program that Amazon has put into place. It is a piece of military science fiction. For those not entirely familiar with the term, military science fiction is just that - science fiction focused around some military organization. In most cases, it involves mankind at war against either themselves or some variety of aliens.
Into the Black focuses on the first voyage of the Odyssey - a new, high advanced spacecraft built by a conglomeration of nations formed in the aftermath of a war with the other conglomeration of nations. The Odyssey is piloted by Eric Weston, a highly decorated pilot from the aforementioned war, has been assigned to leave the solar system and test their new FTL drive. During this, they make contact with an entire civilization of humans and the bugs that are trying to kill them. Naturally, matters move forward and the Odyssey finds itself taking an active part in the war. This mostly seems to be due to the fact that Earth humans are good at fighting wars, and alien humans really don't have a clue in that regard. There are other reasons, but going into them would be spoilers.
Into the Black brings into play a variety of characters - this is nearly 600 page book, after all. It handles them with a certain amount of skill - characters stay in character and dialog is somewhat interesting. The military jargon flows thick here, though, and many of the characters would have benefited from a little more in-depth exploration of their motivations; in all but two or three characters, we never get to know these people outside of their uniforms.
One thing the book does very well is technology. The writer clearly has a pretty good grasp on lasers, and shows that throughout the book. He also is able to write about tachyons good enough to allow one to suspend disbelief about the vast variety of uses that they are put to (which is a talent required of any science fiction author, especially one writing about FTL). The combat scenes are also very interesting, though the space combat is, perhaps, more so than the ground combat. Descriptions are done well enough to allow one to visualize what he's talking about, and he mostly succeeds in not putting the reader to sleep with page after page of technology explanations. In this, he succeeds in not falling into a pit fallen into by many other, very good, science fiction writers.
The book's primary enemy is the Drakin, a sort of rock-based insectoid race. Its an interesting concept for a race, particularly given a revelation made in the epilogue of the book, but the Drakin have no real personality. We're given no reason for understanding why they're prosecuting this war, other than "they are terrible creatures who are going to eat us all". This short-changes a potential interesting conflict, and threatens to turn it into a meaningless exercise in blowing up the evil bugs.
Another frustration are the alien humans. Throughout the book, we're given the barest hints as to where this civilization came from, and various vague references to an Oath. At no point does the book go deeper into these details, however much one can imagine the characters asking and however curious the reader is to know. It is, in fact, somewhat probable that the Drakin and this Oath are all tied together - a little more explanation to this could have made the Drakin a more interesting enemy.
As stated, though, this was an interesting book - I finished it about a week after having started it. The book has a sequel (it seems pretty clear that the author intends this to be a series), which I will likely pick up at some point and read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good action read, and particularly to those who enjoy military science fiction. I would not recommend this book who are looking for a good character-based drama. I'll be giving this book three stars.
Into the Black focuses on the first voyage of the Odyssey - a new, high advanced spacecraft built by a conglomeration of nations formed in the aftermath of a war with the other conglomeration of nations. The Odyssey is piloted by Eric Weston, a highly decorated pilot from the aforementioned war, has been assigned to leave the solar system and test their new FTL drive. During this, they make contact with an entire civilization of humans and the bugs that are trying to kill them. Naturally, matters move forward and the Odyssey finds itself taking an active part in the war. This mostly seems to be due to the fact that Earth humans are good at fighting wars, and alien humans really don't have a clue in that regard. There are other reasons, but going into them would be spoilers.
Into the Black brings into play a variety of characters - this is nearly 600 page book, after all. It handles them with a certain amount of skill - characters stay in character and dialog is somewhat interesting. The military jargon flows thick here, though, and many of the characters would have benefited from a little more in-depth exploration of their motivations; in all but two or three characters, we never get to know these people outside of their uniforms.
One thing the book does very well is technology. The writer clearly has a pretty good grasp on lasers, and shows that throughout the book. He also is able to write about tachyons good enough to allow one to suspend disbelief about the vast variety of uses that they are put to (which is a talent required of any science fiction author, especially one writing about FTL). The combat scenes are also very interesting, though the space combat is, perhaps, more so than the ground combat. Descriptions are done well enough to allow one to visualize what he's talking about, and he mostly succeeds in not putting the reader to sleep with page after page of technology explanations. In this, he succeeds in not falling into a pit fallen into by many other, very good, science fiction writers.
The book's primary enemy is the Drakin, a sort of rock-based insectoid race. Its an interesting concept for a race, particularly given a revelation made in the epilogue of the book, but the Drakin have no real personality. We're given no reason for understanding why they're prosecuting this war, other than "they are terrible creatures who are going to eat us all". This short-changes a potential interesting conflict, and threatens to turn it into a meaningless exercise in blowing up the evil bugs.
Another frustration are the alien humans. Throughout the book, we're given the barest hints as to where this civilization came from, and various vague references to an Oath. At no point does the book go deeper into these details, however much one can imagine the characters asking and however curious the reader is to know. It is, in fact, somewhat probable that the Drakin and this Oath are all tied together - a little more explanation to this could have made the Drakin a more interesting enemy.
As stated, though, this was an interesting book - I finished it about a week after having started it. The book has a sequel (it seems pretty clear that the author intends this to be a series), which I will likely pick up at some point and read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good action read, and particularly to those who enjoy military science fiction. I would not recommend this book who are looking for a good character-based drama. I'll be giving this book three stars.
April 19, 2024
A surprisingly well rounded first novel. Apparently initially independently released, but subsequently reworked and remastered to correct a number of issues for its official release on the 47 North label.
”General quarters. This is a call to general quarters.”
Now, while I can’t speak for the quality of the initial (independent) release, this “remastered” official version is fantastic. It’s a fairly hefty book at 500+ pages, but it’s a real page turner.
Nothing worse than an enemy who’s a quick learner.
What starts off as exploration Science Fiction quickly escalates to high quality Military Science Fiction with some Space Opera leanings. There is also a mystery within a mystery, when one of the extra terrestrial species the Odyssey comes across turns out to be, well, not quite aliens. This isn't quite cleared up either, so I'm looking forward to see where it goes.
“Run silent, run deep.”
A highlight for me was the deadly game of cat and mouse between the outnumbered Odyssey and a number of enemy ships that is depicted at one point. Thrilling stuff!
There was no way for anyone to know that they’d be in a situation that was anything even remotely like this.
I can imagine this could be easily enjoyed even by readers who aren’t hardcore miliary science fiction enthusiasts.
Recommended – 4.5 stars rounded up.
”General quarters. This is a call to general quarters.”
Now, while I can’t speak for the quality of the initial (independent) release, this “remastered” official version is fantastic. It’s a fairly hefty book at 500+ pages, but it’s a real page turner.
Nothing worse than an enemy who’s a quick learner.
What starts off as exploration Science Fiction quickly escalates to high quality Military Science Fiction with some Space Opera leanings. There is also a mystery within a mystery, when one of the extra terrestrial species the Odyssey comes across turns out to be, well, not quite aliens. This isn't quite cleared up either, so I'm looking forward to see where it goes.
“Run silent, run deep.”
A highlight for me was the deadly game of cat and mouse between the outnumbered Odyssey and a number of enemy ships that is depicted at one point. Thrilling stuff!
There was no way for anyone to know that they’d be in a situation that was anything even remotely like this.
I can imagine this could be easily enjoyed even by readers who aren’t hardcore miliary science fiction enthusiasts.
Recommended – 4.5 stars rounded up.
February 23, 2022
If you follow my reviews, then you know I am a sucker for good military science fiction/space opera, and while there is a lot of this coming out in recent times, Currie really stands tall among the pack. The plot itself, along with the characters, is not really all that new, and Currie relies on a lot of old scifi tropes along the way, but the thing that separates him from the 'pack' if you will is that he can really tell a story.
Into the Black takes place sometime is the relatively near future. Earth has recently suffered WWIII and it was ugly to say the least. The war forced many political changes, with two main 'blocs' emerging-- NAC (the North American Confederation) and the 'Block' lead by China. Now, several years after the war was over, the NAC has developed the first ship with a FTL drive, the Odyssey, and sends it out for a 'shake down' cruise. The ship, while technically an exploration vessel, is equipped with a host of new/experimental weapons along with the novel FTL drive. After leaving the solar system, the ship quickly finds out that humanity is not alone in the universe!
Currie is amazing with the pacing without a doubt, producing an engaging story that just does not quit. The ship finds in relatively short order the remains of some sort of space battle around a planet in a fairly nearby star and further, manages to find a survivor; turns out the survivor is a human, but obviously not from Earth. What is the origin of these people, who have managed to colonize several worlds and have had interstellar space flight for thousands of years? Who is the remorseless enemy that attacked several of their planets and destroyed them? Seeking an answer to these questions takes The Odyssey further into 'contested' territory and some hair raising encounters in space, along with some 'ground pounding' military escapades.
I would call this 'hardish' military science fiction. The FTL drive is rather unique- essentially 'translating' the ship instantaneously from one place to another for up to 30 light years. The rest of the military hardware and the tech Currie makes seem rather plausible and it is pretty easy just to run with it. The characters are fun, basically being a grab bag of NEC military personal from various branches and it takes a while for them to 'click' as a team. Currie drags, no, propels the reader along remorselessly and gives you people to root for, and implacable enemies that really need to be dealt with with extreme prejudice! That, and the mystery of the 'colonial' human civilization is enough for a great page turner. Yes, there are a few moments where you have to suspend disbelief and just run with the story, but as I said at the start of this review, Currie's story telling abilities overcome this quite nicely. 5 glowing stars!!
Into the Black takes place sometime is the relatively near future. Earth has recently suffered WWIII and it was ugly to say the least. The war forced many political changes, with two main 'blocs' emerging-- NAC (the North American Confederation) and the 'Block' lead by China. Now, several years after the war was over, the NAC has developed the first ship with a FTL drive, the Odyssey, and sends it out for a 'shake down' cruise. The ship, while technically an exploration vessel, is equipped with a host of new/experimental weapons along with the novel FTL drive. After leaving the solar system, the ship quickly finds out that humanity is not alone in the universe!
Currie is amazing with the pacing without a doubt, producing an engaging story that just does not quit. The ship finds in relatively short order the remains of some sort of space battle around a planet in a fairly nearby star and further, manages to find a survivor; turns out the survivor is a human, but obviously not from Earth. What is the origin of these people, who have managed to colonize several worlds and have had interstellar space flight for thousands of years? Who is the remorseless enemy that attacked several of their planets and destroyed them? Seeking an answer to these questions takes The Odyssey further into 'contested' territory and some hair raising encounters in space, along with some 'ground pounding' military escapades.
I would call this 'hardish' military science fiction. The FTL drive is rather unique- essentially 'translating' the ship instantaneously from one place to another for up to 30 light years. The rest of the military hardware and the tech Currie makes seem rather plausible and it is pretty easy just to run with it. The characters are fun, basically being a grab bag of NEC military personal from various branches and it takes a while for them to 'click' as a team. Currie drags, no, propels the reader along remorselessly and gives you people to root for, and implacable enemies that really need to be dealt with with extreme prejudice! That, and the mystery of the 'colonial' human civilization is enough for a great page turner. Yes, there are a few moments where you have to suspend disbelief and just run with the story, but as I said at the start of this review, Currie's story telling abilities overcome this quite nicely. 5 glowing stars!!
January 3, 2020
There is a classic approach to this space opera story and I loved the simplicity of it. The Odyssey has been designated as the first ship to use a transition drive system to allow faster-than-light travel. It’s mission was just to go to a predetermined area, scope it out a little, and come home. Except, when they transition to their predetermined star system they pick up a distress beacon and feel obligated to look into it, which in turn leads them to make first contact with a human from another planet (Priminae colonist) and eventually helping them fight to overcome spider-like ugly creatures who are intent on destroying all the Priminae colonies.
The book and story is just fun – it’s space opera and space battles. The heroes are obviously those of Earth and the Priminae colonies and the bad guys are the Drasin (the spider-like ugly creatures). It’s set up where you can easily understand everything including the overall approach to the plot and story as well as the battles and build-up to the battles, which is key in this type of story.
Audio Book Review
So, I started with the follow-on series, Archangel One, which uses a different voice actor than this series does, which is David de Vries. I was ok with the Archangel One narrator and had gotten used to his style and found myself having to adjust a little at first to this series narrator. But the adjustment didn’t take too long because I came to really enjoy this narrator. Every character has their own unique voice and different accent, which to me is very key for a good audio book performance. And I never had any issue identifying if it was Steph and his southern accent and relaxed manner of speaking or Milla and her Priminae accent, which sounds like a mix of different European accents.
But one thing was very apparent to me in the audio book – space battles and space fight scenes are a ton of fun to listen to when there are many different, unique characters to listen to. It was like being part of the action – a fly on the wall – as all of them go back and forth giving each other a hard time, or giving orders, or directing attention to specific issues at hand. They are all stressed due to the conflict and you can hear it in their voices, which kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat.
Overall, a great start to this series and look forward to picking up the next one.
Rating: 5 stars – mostly because the book was just a lot of fun.
The book and story is just fun – it’s space opera and space battles. The heroes are obviously those of Earth and the Priminae colonies and the bad guys are the Drasin (the spider-like ugly creatures). It’s set up where you can easily understand everything including the overall approach to the plot and story as well as the battles and build-up to the battles, which is key in this type of story.
Audio Book Review
So, I started with the follow-on series, Archangel One, which uses a different voice actor than this series does, which is David de Vries. I was ok with the Archangel One narrator and had gotten used to his style and found myself having to adjust a little at first to this series narrator. But the adjustment didn’t take too long because I came to really enjoy this narrator. Every character has their own unique voice and different accent, which to me is very key for a good audio book performance. And I never had any issue identifying if it was Steph and his southern accent and relaxed manner of speaking or Milla and her Priminae accent, which sounds like a mix of different European accents.
But one thing was very apparent to me in the audio book – space battles and space fight scenes are a ton of fun to listen to when there are many different, unique characters to listen to. It was like being part of the action – a fly on the wall – as all of them go back and forth giving each other a hard time, or giving orders, or directing attention to specific issues at hand. They are all stressed due to the conflict and you can hear it in their voices, which kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat.
Overall, a great start to this series and look forward to picking up the next one.
Rating: 5 stars – mostly because the book was just a lot of fun.
February 8, 2017
Just finished and would like to quote Cpt. Weston as much as Adm. Tanner: "Wow!"
The author is incredibly good in writing what I call a classical sci-fi novel. Nothing is sleek, shiny or too clean as most new sci-fi novels and movies are. The characters are being introduced, then developed as if the reader was on board the Odyssey itself (the crew got scrambled together so that gives the reader a sense of reality). The action is incredible, breathtaking and exhilarating but also the science, politics and inter-human relations are being adequately and elaborately described. Great book!
And while reading the last few chapters, I discovered that the second part will be available in September already! Yay!!!
I hope there will be quite some more books about the Odyssey and its crew!!!
The author is incredibly good in writing what I call a classical sci-fi novel. Nothing is sleek, shiny or too clean as most new sci-fi novels and movies are. The characters are being introduced, then developed as if the reader was on board the Odyssey itself (the crew got scrambled together so that gives the reader a sense of reality). The action is incredible, breathtaking and exhilarating but also the science, politics and inter-human relations are being adequately and elaborately described. Great book!
And while reading the last few chapters, I discovered that the second part will be available in September already! Yay!!!
I hope there will be quite some more books about the Odyssey and its crew!!!
December 13, 2012
Originally posted at FanLit.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Because he was such a spectacular fighter pilot during WWIII, Captain Eric Weston has been given command of the new spaceship Odyssey which is making her maiden voyage beyond the galaxy, to boldly go where no man has gone before. What Weston and his crew find out there is quite a surprise: a small spacecraft emitting a distress signal and containing a nearly dead human woman named Mia.
When they take Mia back to their ship, revive her and learn her language, they discover that her ship had been attacked by non-human aliens. In fact, the Odyssey has arrived just in time to witness the aftermath of the destruction of an entire planet of humans by a horde of insectoid aliens, and these aliens don’t seem to be content with just one planet. The human targets, unfortunately, are somewhat pacifistic and do not have the weapons they need to defend themselves.
For Captain Weston, there are so many questions that need answers. First, obviously, is how there are humans so far away from Earth… but that’s going to have to wait, because the most pressing concern is whether or not the crew of Odyssey should try to help their genetic cousins. Their duty, after all, is to go straight back to Earth and report what they’ve found because if they stay and help, they’ll likely be destroyed, and then Earth won’t know to prepare for a possible alien attack. But can they, in good conscience, leave their defenseless fellow humans to certain destruction? Of course not.
Into the Black, the first in Evan C. Currie’s ODYSSEY ONE saga, is a fast-moving military science fiction novel akin to Jack Campbell’s LOST FLEET or David Weber’s HONOR HARRINGTON series. It also reminded me somewhat of Taylor Anderson’s DESTROYERMEN series (Americans surprised to find humans in another world and needing to fight hordes of hive-minded aliens) and, because our heroes are fighter pilots, the movie Top Gun, and of course, Star Trek. Into the Black was originally self-published but has been picked up by 47North, an Amazon imprint whose books are produced on audio by Brilliance Audio.
Unfortunately, Into the Black, feeling like a mish-mash of several other military and/or science fiction series, doesn’t really stand out in any way. Plotwise, I don’t think there was anything in Into the Black that I haven’t seen before. It’s all a bit gadgety with lots of emphasis on how the guns, spacesuits, and spaceships work, including lots of explanation about vectors, velocity, weapon trajectories, and such. For readers who love, or at least aren’t tired of that sort of thing, Into the Black may be a satisfying (if not original) story.
I would have enjoyed Into the Black more if it had excelled in some other area, but it doesn’t. The writing is merely serviceable and even a bit choppy in places. The jokes that make the fighter pilots chuckle didn’t have the same effect on me. I was baffled by a sudden shift in Currie’s style about half way through the book: his characters, who had not uttered (I believe) a single curse word up until that point, abruptly start cursing regularly, and this couldn’t be explained by the story’s plot. I was seriously wondering if someone else was now writing the dialogue, or if Currie had suddenly obtained permission from his editor to use bad language. The language didn’t bother me — the obvious stylistic switch did.
Another thing that didn’t work too well was the characterization, which is not an uncommon problem in gadgety science fictions stories. Currie does a good job with Captain Weston (though I’m still wondering how his superiors thought he was qualified for this mission) and a few of his characters are quite likeable, but most of them seem like stock characters. Perhaps there are only, as Myers-Briggs suggests, 16 different personality types to work with, but some more background or introspection from the main secondary characters would have helped. This is perhaps forthcoming in future installments of the ODYSSEY ONE series. The crew is also unwaveringly courageous, obedient, and noble, even when faced with an attack by a horde of aliens they didn’t know existed. The humans that the Odyssey encounters are similarly pale. Except that they were pacifists and had different fashion trends, Mia’s race was indistinguishable from American people. You’d think that humans living in another galaxy wouldn’t be so much like us.
I listened to Brilliance Audio’s production which was read by Benjamin L. Darcie. I like his voice, but I thought his reading was dull. I’m not sure that was his fault, though. I should mention that the audio edition of this book has received excellent reviews by other readers at Audible, so mine seems to be the minority opinion. I have the next book in the ODYSSEY ONE series, The Heart of the Matter, which also has good reviews at Audible. I may or may not try it.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Because he was such a spectacular fighter pilot during WWIII, Captain Eric Weston has been given command of the new spaceship Odyssey which is making her maiden voyage beyond the galaxy, to boldly go where no man has gone before. What Weston and his crew find out there is quite a surprise: a small spacecraft emitting a distress signal and containing a nearly dead human woman named Mia.
When they take Mia back to their ship, revive her and learn her language, they discover that her ship had been attacked by non-human aliens. In fact, the Odyssey has arrived just in time to witness the aftermath of the destruction of an entire planet of humans by a horde of insectoid aliens, and these aliens don’t seem to be content with just one planet. The human targets, unfortunately, are somewhat pacifistic and do not have the weapons they need to defend themselves.
For Captain Weston, there are so many questions that need answers. First, obviously, is how there are humans so far away from Earth… but that’s going to have to wait, because the most pressing concern is whether or not the crew of Odyssey should try to help their genetic cousins. Their duty, after all, is to go straight back to Earth and report what they’ve found because if they stay and help, they’ll likely be destroyed, and then Earth won’t know to prepare for a possible alien attack. But can they, in good conscience, leave their defenseless fellow humans to certain destruction? Of course not.
Into the Black, the first in Evan C. Currie’s ODYSSEY ONE saga, is a fast-moving military science fiction novel akin to Jack Campbell’s LOST FLEET or David Weber’s HONOR HARRINGTON series. It also reminded me somewhat of Taylor Anderson’s DESTROYERMEN series (Americans surprised to find humans in another world and needing to fight hordes of hive-minded aliens) and, because our heroes are fighter pilots, the movie Top Gun, and of course, Star Trek. Into the Black was originally self-published but has been picked up by 47North, an Amazon imprint whose books are produced on audio by Brilliance Audio.
Unfortunately, Into the Black, feeling like a mish-mash of several other military and/or science fiction series, doesn’t really stand out in any way. Plotwise, I don’t think there was anything in Into the Black that I haven’t seen before. It’s all a bit gadgety with lots of emphasis on how the guns, spacesuits, and spaceships work, including lots of explanation about vectors, velocity, weapon trajectories, and such. For readers who love, or at least aren’t tired of that sort of thing, Into the Black may be a satisfying (if not original) story.
I would have enjoyed Into the Black more if it had excelled in some other area, but it doesn’t. The writing is merely serviceable and even a bit choppy in places. The jokes that make the fighter pilots chuckle didn’t have the same effect on me. I was baffled by a sudden shift in Currie’s style about half way through the book: his characters, who had not uttered (I believe) a single curse word up until that point, abruptly start cursing regularly, and this couldn’t be explained by the story’s plot. I was seriously wondering if someone else was now writing the dialogue, or if Currie had suddenly obtained permission from his editor to use bad language. The language didn’t bother me — the obvious stylistic switch did.
Another thing that didn’t work too well was the characterization, which is not an uncommon problem in gadgety science fictions stories. Currie does a good job with Captain Weston (though I’m still wondering how his superiors thought he was qualified for this mission) and a few of his characters are quite likeable, but most of them seem like stock characters. Perhaps there are only, as Myers-Briggs suggests, 16 different personality types to work with, but some more background or introspection from the main secondary characters would have helped. This is perhaps forthcoming in future installments of the ODYSSEY ONE series. The crew is also unwaveringly courageous, obedient, and noble, even when faced with an attack by a horde of aliens they didn’t know existed. The humans that the Odyssey encounters are similarly pale. Except that they were pacifists and had different fashion trends, Mia’s race was indistinguishable from American people. You’d think that humans living in another galaxy wouldn’t be so much like us.
I listened to Brilliance Audio’s production which was read by Benjamin L. Darcie. I like his voice, but I thought his reading was dull. I’m not sure that was his fault, though. I should mention that the audio edition of this book has received excellent reviews by other readers at Audible, so mine seems to be the minority opinion. I have the next book in the ODYSSEY ONE series, The Heart of the Matter, which also has good reviews at Audible. I may or may not try it.
May 6, 2018
This is Space Opera - Science Fiction. For the most part, this was 3 stars for me. It was heavy on the science which isn't a bad thing even though science was never a favorite subject of mine. There were times where it seemed a little on the wordy side.
I did add a star to the rating because I was impressed by the time I finished. I liked the story and the characters, even though both were a little on the 'perfect' side. The world building was also nicely done. There were also some thought provoking questions and they were eloquently tossed around. I always appreciate when there is that kind of food for thought.
But the one thing I absolutely loved, was the ending. When I finished, I immediately thought, "Where do I get the next one in the series?" Really the ending was worth getting to. So 4 stars and I'll definitely be moving forward in the series.
I did add a star to the rating because I was impressed by the time I finished. I liked the story and the characters, even though both were a little on the 'perfect' side. The world building was also nicely done. There were also some thought provoking questions and they were eloquently tossed around. I always appreciate when there is that kind of food for thought.
But the one thing I absolutely loved, was the ending. When I finished, I immediately thought, "Where do I get the next one in the series?" Really the ending was worth getting to. So 4 stars and I'll definitely be moving forward in the series.
February 6, 2017
A free (on special) book from Amazon and it reflects that. The story takes place after World War 3, when the good guys (North Americans, of course) have won and are just starting with a new phase of space exploration that includes faster than light speed travel. Captain Weston takes his starship out of system and receives an alien signal in another star system. What do you think he does next? Travels to that transmission without any communication back to Earth. He finds the remnants of a massive battle and a trail his sensors can pick up to where the survivors went. Now what do you think he does? Yep, he follows it. Then he finds a decimated planet, presumably destroyed by the aliens he is following and another trail. Now guess what he does? You guessed it, he follows this trail until he becomes embroiled in a firefight with aliens, chock full of military and literary cliches. It was actually pretty amusing to read all the different descriptions of how thick the tension was and what you could do with that tension. Saving graces that kept it from a one star? The descriptions of space battle and likening them to naval surface battles was actually well done. And the fact that there was talk of him being court-martialed for his absolute idiocy (although he wasn't), at least acknowledged to some small degree that the plotline was ludicrous. So many better books to pick up off the shelf in this genre. Don't start here.
August 23, 2013
This book gets my personal BIBLIOGASM award. You know, that high we all get when reading a good book. Where your practically jumping out of your skin with anxiety, anticipation. Losing sleep because you have to know what happens. Slightly manic and bursting to tell anyone who will listen how good the story is.
I was really excited because it's hard for me to find military sci-fi that I like. That has a good story, straight-forward space travel and battle technology, no cookie-cutter characters and a plot that you can get lost in. I
I left the Earth's orbit right along with the Odyssey on its' maiden voyage to test it's new faster-than-light jump technology. Manned with a crew of 300 of the world's best military, scientists etc. I was drawn in to the mystery when they jumped to a system that held debris and wreckage from a very recent fight and further when they find a pod with a HUMAN in it. She explains that they were attacked by alien creatures and the epic battles that go on as the Odyssey and it's valiant crew fight them and we find out more about these colonies of humans so very far from earth.
I had a great time, got caught up in the semper-fi life and death human survival of it all.
I was really excited because it's hard for me to find military sci-fi that I like. That has a good story, straight-forward space travel and battle technology, no cookie-cutter characters and a plot that you can get lost in. I
I left the Earth's orbit right along with the Odyssey on its' maiden voyage to test it's new faster-than-light jump technology. Manned with a crew of 300 of the world's best military, scientists etc. I was drawn in to the mystery when they jumped to a system that held debris and wreckage from a very recent fight and further when they find a pod with a HUMAN in it. She explains that they were attacked by alien creatures and the epic battles that go on as the Odyssey and it's valiant crew fight them and we find out more about these colonies of humans so very far from earth.
I had a great time, got caught up in the semper-fi life and death human survival of it all.
June 18, 2016
More like 2.5.
What to say, the book is competently written with a fast paced plot and looooots of action and some great „stealth“ sections. The tech is futuristic, of course, but described just enough for us to suspend the disbelief and see it as possible. And the story is nicely rounded with an ending that suggest grand things to come.
Personally the greatest failing for the book ar the characters. Fairly one dimensional and uninteresting. I understand they are not important and so the focus isn’t on them but still I didn’t care for anybody and as a result lots of tension that the book builds simply had no effect on me. I mean I was rooting for the humans but I didn’t care if half of them died or not which made those slow parts simply boring to me.
Sadly I had high hopes for this series but it looks like I won’t be continuing with it.
What to say, the book is competently written with a fast paced plot and looooots of action and some great „stealth“ sections. The tech is futuristic, of course, but described just enough for us to suspend the disbelief and see it as possible. And the story is nicely rounded with an ending that suggest grand things to come.
Personally the greatest failing for the book ar the characters. Fairly one dimensional and uninteresting. I understand they are not important and so the focus isn’t on them but still I didn’t care for anybody and as a result lots of tension that the book builds simply had no effect on me. I mean I was rooting for the humans but I didn’t care if half of them died or not which made those slow parts simply boring to me.
Sadly I had high hopes for this series but it looks like I won’t be continuing with it.
June 4, 2019
This is an exciting space opera where some humans from Earth first journey to the stars, and discover that it's a scary place out there. If you are relatively new to scifi, this should be a refreshing read.
If you are well-read in this genre, you will see where the story borrows from Heinlein, Kris Longknife, and others. The author even acknowledges this, but don't let that deter you. This books is well crafted and entertaining.
I'll read the next one.
If you are well-read in this genre, you will see where the story borrows from Heinlein, Kris Longknife, and others. The author even acknowledges this, but don't let that deter you. This books is well crafted and entertaining.
I'll read the next one.
January 13, 2021
Good space opera, but it takes a while to get going.
I was looking for good military sci-fi and I wasn't disappointed. There is great battle sequences, and wonderful characters, but it takes a little long before you get sucked into the story. There are too many people to keep track of, but once the lasers start firing, things get good quickly. I'll look forward to reading the next book!
I was looking for good military sci-fi and I wasn't disappointed. There is great battle sequences, and wonderful characters, but it takes a little long before you get sucked into the story. There are too many people to keep track of, but once the lasers start firing, things get good quickly. I'll look forward to reading the next book!
March 10, 2012
I didn't like this book. It's too heavy on military tack and bearing and very light on science fiction. I knew pretty much from the first several pages that this person is a lightweight sci fi writer. I think I read a review that said as much.
The book is based on the story line that a ship from Earth named the Odyssey One leaves on an exploratory mission around the universe. But the ship uses a technology that makes the crew sick when it goes faster than light speed and the ship is more a battle ship with all types of armament than a scientific exploratory ship.
The ship is run like an Earth bound battle ship with descriptions of lots of military terms. The heart of the story is a battle with an enemy that the crew/ship encounters after if finds other human life. But it's not until the Epilog that any description is given of this enemy. And then only a few words of description.
At the end of the book there is mention of a book two describing the second voyage of the Odyssey. I pretty much skimmed from the middle of the book to the end and will certainly not be interested in reading a second story.
The book is based on the story line that a ship from Earth named the Odyssey One leaves on an exploratory mission around the universe. But the ship uses a technology that makes the crew sick when it goes faster than light speed and the ship is more a battle ship with all types of armament than a scientific exploratory ship.
The ship is run like an Earth bound battle ship with descriptions of lots of military terms. The heart of the story is a battle with an enemy that the crew/ship encounters after if finds other human life. But it's not until the Epilog that any description is given of this enemy. And then only a few words of description.
At the end of the book there is mention of a book two describing the second voyage of the Odyssey. I pretty much skimmed from the middle of the book to the end and will certainly not be interested in reading a second story.
October 1, 2023
Przeczytałam to juz chyba po raz czwarty. I pomimo drobnych usterek i błędów (szczególnie językowych i związanych z nazwiskami bohaterów) to uwielbiam tę serię. Jest świetna, żeby się rozluźnić 👍👍
July 9, 2024
Meine Rezension von 2014:
Der Rezensent fühlt sich arglistig getäuscht. Er erwartete eine Space Opera, der Klappentext war vage genug um neugierig zu machen, und auch das Cover und der Titel bereiteten nicht auf den Inhalt vor. Absicht des Verlages, um möglichst viele Leser zu erreichen? Jedenfalls ist das Buch Military-Science Fiction reinsten Wassers.
Und das ist der Inhalt: Nach dem Ende eines Weltkrieges bricht das Raumschiff Odyssey unter dem Kommando von Commander Marc Weston (nomen est omen), einem ehemaligen Kampfpiloten, in den interstellaren Raum auf. Eigentlich ist es nur ein Testflug, der Überlichtantrieb soll getestet werden. Aber dann wird auf der Brücke ein Tachyonensignal (ja, die gibt‘s wirklich) aufgefangen. Also warum mal nicht vorbeifliegen und nach dem Rechten sehen? denkt sich der Kapitän zumindest. Die Odyssey stößt auf die Überbleibsel einer gigantischen Raumschlacht. Sie bleiben Beobachter, aber das Signal kommt von einer Rettungskapsel. Sie können die Passagierin bergen, und oh Wunder, die junge Frau ist ein Mensch. Aber niemand wundert sich so richtig darüber. Dabei müsste doch ein Weltbild zusammenstürzen, aber die Besatzung hält sich eisern an ihrem Dienst fest. Die Frau stammt aus einer jahrtausendealten friedlichen Zivilisation, in der es viele französisch klingende Namen gibt und die technisch viel weiter fortgeschritten als die Menschheit, Gerade haben die außerirdischen Drasins , wirklich monströse Arachnoide, einen unvorstellbaren Vernichtungskrieg gegen die Menschheit begonnen. Die Soldaten von der Erde können sich nicht länger aus dem Konflikt heraushalten, sie werden selbst auch angegriffen, als sie einem bereits fast entvölkerten Planeten zu Hilfe eilen. Gewisse technische Details bringen einen Vorteil im Kampf.
Schließlich werden sie hineingezogen in den Kampf um einen der Hauptplaneten der Astralen Menschheit, die die Erde anfänglich als Abtrünnige und Verräter beargwöhnen, was aber (zumindest in diesem Roman) nicht erklärt wird. Bodentruppen werden auch ausgesandt, um die Drasins aufzuhalten.
Im Kampf gegen einen übermächtigen Feind zeigen sich alle von ihrer besten Seite. Und die Kriegserfahrung der Terraner kommt jetzt ihren friedlichen Artgenossen, die darauf warten, dass ihr eigenes intelligentes Abwehrsystem sie technisch ausrüstet, zu Gute. Und natürlich wird so im Nachhinein gerechtfertigt, dass die Odyssee wie ein Kriegsschiff bewaffnet wurde.
Der Großteil der Handlung besteht aus Kampfhandlungen und Action. Es geht ordentlich zur Sache. So gesehen ist für Spannung gesorgt. Andere Aspekte, die interessant sein können, kommen aber schlicht zu kurz. Die Mentalitätsunterschiede und die daraus entstehenden Konflikte und Missverständnisse, die durchaus unterhaltenden Charakter haben können, werden meistens nur geschildert, wenn es um die Unterschiede in der technischen Entwicklung geht. Da hat man den Eindruck, 70 Jahre SF sind spurlos am Autor vorbeigegangen, wären da nicht das ironische Gefrotzel der Soldaten, dass sie sich wie einen SciFi-Movie vorkommen, und die spekulativ-technischen Einzelheiten auf dem Stand der Gegenwarts-SF.
Die Elemente sind abgedroschen. Man hat den Eindruck, hier werden Bedürfnisse bedient, der Leser mit dem gängigen Lesefutter versorgt. Das aber mit Erfolg, wie der Rückentext marktschreierisch verkündet.
Der Rezensent fühlt sich arglistig getäuscht. Er erwartete eine Space Opera, der Klappentext war vage genug um neugierig zu machen, und auch das Cover und der Titel bereiteten nicht auf den Inhalt vor. Absicht des Verlages, um möglichst viele Leser zu erreichen? Jedenfalls ist das Buch Military-Science Fiction reinsten Wassers.
Und das ist der Inhalt: Nach dem Ende eines Weltkrieges bricht das Raumschiff Odyssey unter dem Kommando von Commander Marc Weston (nomen est omen), einem ehemaligen Kampfpiloten, in den interstellaren Raum auf. Eigentlich ist es nur ein Testflug, der Überlichtantrieb soll getestet werden. Aber dann wird auf der Brücke ein Tachyonensignal (ja, die gibt‘s wirklich) aufgefangen. Also warum mal nicht vorbeifliegen und nach dem Rechten sehen? denkt sich der Kapitän zumindest. Die Odyssey stößt auf die Überbleibsel einer gigantischen Raumschlacht. Sie bleiben Beobachter, aber das Signal kommt von einer Rettungskapsel. Sie können die Passagierin bergen, und oh Wunder, die junge Frau ist ein Mensch. Aber niemand wundert sich so richtig darüber. Dabei müsste doch ein Weltbild zusammenstürzen, aber die Besatzung hält sich eisern an ihrem Dienst fest. Die Frau stammt aus einer jahrtausendealten friedlichen Zivilisation, in der es viele französisch klingende Namen gibt und die technisch viel weiter fortgeschritten als die Menschheit, Gerade haben die außerirdischen Drasins , wirklich monströse Arachnoide, einen unvorstellbaren Vernichtungskrieg gegen die Menschheit begonnen. Die Soldaten von der Erde können sich nicht länger aus dem Konflikt heraushalten, sie werden selbst auch angegriffen, als sie einem bereits fast entvölkerten Planeten zu Hilfe eilen. Gewisse technische Details bringen einen Vorteil im Kampf.
Schließlich werden sie hineingezogen in den Kampf um einen der Hauptplaneten der Astralen Menschheit, die die Erde anfänglich als Abtrünnige und Verräter beargwöhnen, was aber (zumindest in diesem Roman) nicht erklärt wird. Bodentruppen werden auch ausgesandt, um die Drasins aufzuhalten.
Im Kampf gegen einen übermächtigen Feind zeigen sich alle von ihrer besten Seite. Und die Kriegserfahrung der Terraner kommt jetzt ihren friedlichen Artgenossen, die darauf warten, dass ihr eigenes intelligentes Abwehrsystem sie technisch ausrüstet, zu Gute. Und natürlich wird so im Nachhinein gerechtfertigt, dass die Odyssee wie ein Kriegsschiff bewaffnet wurde.
Der Großteil der Handlung besteht aus Kampfhandlungen und Action. Es geht ordentlich zur Sache. So gesehen ist für Spannung gesorgt. Andere Aspekte, die interessant sein können, kommen aber schlicht zu kurz. Die Mentalitätsunterschiede und die daraus entstehenden Konflikte und Missverständnisse, die durchaus unterhaltenden Charakter haben können, werden meistens nur geschildert, wenn es um die Unterschiede in der technischen Entwicklung geht. Da hat man den Eindruck, 70 Jahre SF sind spurlos am Autor vorbeigegangen, wären da nicht das ironische Gefrotzel der Soldaten, dass sie sich wie einen SciFi-Movie vorkommen, und die spekulativ-technischen Einzelheiten auf dem Stand der Gegenwarts-SF.
Die Elemente sind abgedroschen. Man hat den Eindruck, hier werden Bedürfnisse bedient, der Leser mit dem gängigen Lesefutter versorgt. Das aber mit Erfolg, wie der Rückentext marktschreierisch verkündet.
February 8, 2017
Since I received this book through the Amazon.com Vine program, I am unable to post the review directly on this site. You can see it here: Now is Gone review of Into the Black; URL is: http://katysozaeva.blogspot.com/2012/...
February 3, 2016
Good enough to make you want to read the rest of the series.
February 7, 2017
"Warriors are never appreciated in peacetime, except by those they saved during the war."
I have never read military science fiction before and am now official in love with the genre. It was great to find our armed forces written with such nobility and compassion in the genre. Too often in science fiction there is a dark military industrial complex looking to rule the universe.
This book takes place in a near future where the world is getting back on its feet after WWWIII, North American Block vs Eastern Block, and taking its first foray out beyond our galaxy more for global moral purposes than scientific expectation. Captain Weston's Odyssey has a crew of scientists and a mix of military from all branches of the sharp end; the best of the best, deadliest of the deadly, were asked to join the crew as security. It is understood that this is the government putting them to pasture as the political climate switches from war to peacekeeping. For this the same reason all the best of the war time armaments are loaded onto the Odyssey resulting in a very well armed space exploration vessel expecting no trouble at all. Whatever the reasons I would never enter the unknown black of space any other way.
Immediately after their first jump the Odyssey detects a distress signal that leads them to an escape pod amidst the remains of a recent space battle. The survivor is a very human woman from one of the many colonized and highly populated worlds with thousands of years of history we knew nothing about. She hints that our world could have evolved from "the others, the oath breakers" but, as there is a social stigma attached, she never goes into it. Besides, there are bigger issues, like what just killed two of her planets. Thousands of years of peaceful civilization had bred a complacency towards defense Weston and his crew have trouble understanding. Armed to the teeth or not the Odyssey did not venture into space to involve themselves in someone else's war, but neither will they stand for genocide.
This is hard scifi with long, detailed, and very exciting battle scenes in space and on the ground. I think if you enjoy military history/documentaries and science fiction you will like this book and this genre. Romantic subplots were absent, I like romance in everything but it's a small matter. I enjoyed the narration free with kindle unlimited. Already downloaded the sequel!
I have never read military science fiction before and am now official in love with the genre. It was great to find our armed forces written with such nobility and compassion in the genre. Too often in science fiction there is a dark military industrial complex looking to rule the universe.
This book takes place in a near future where the world is getting back on its feet after WWWIII, North American Block vs Eastern Block, and taking its first foray out beyond our galaxy more for global moral purposes than scientific expectation. Captain Weston's Odyssey has a crew of scientists and a mix of military from all branches of the sharp end; the best of the best, deadliest of the deadly, were asked to join the crew as security. It is understood that this is the government putting them to pasture as the political climate switches from war to peacekeeping. For this the same reason all the best of the war time armaments are loaded onto the Odyssey resulting in a very well armed space exploration vessel expecting no trouble at all. Whatever the reasons I would never enter the unknown black of space any other way.
Immediately after their first jump the Odyssey detects a distress signal that leads them to an escape pod amidst the remains of a recent space battle. The survivor is a very human woman from one of the many colonized and highly populated worlds with thousands of years of history we knew nothing about. She hints that our world could have evolved from "the others, the oath breakers" but, as there is a social stigma attached, she never goes into it. Besides, there are bigger issues, like what just killed two of her planets. Thousands of years of peaceful civilization had bred a complacency towards defense Weston and his crew have trouble understanding. Armed to the teeth or not the Odyssey did not venture into space to involve themselves in someone else's war, but neither will they stand for genocide.
This is hard scifi with long, detailed, and very exciting battle scenes in space and on the ground. I think if you enjoy military history/documentaries and science fiction you will like this book and this genre. Romantic subplots were absent, I like romance in everything but it's a small matter. I enjoyed the narration free with kindle unlimited. Already downloaded the sequel!
May 30, 2012
This book started out as a 4/5 star story. I'm a Trekkie, so earth's first star ship 'The Odyssey' going on her maiden voyage and immediately getting into a dangerous situation and has to battle it out with 'Star Ship Trooper' type insects was right up my alley. But the stars started falling off my rating about about half way through the book. The Odyssey is gearing up for the fight of her life, soldiers and civilians are fighting for their lives on the planet below and the author decides its a great time to geek out and get technical and then make small side plots his main focus-I mean who cares about how the pilots play poker when there are people down on the planet battling it out with hordes of killer insects! Literally half of this book was pointless. I listened to this book on Audible and the reader was very flat and didn't pause in-between chapters making it tough to realize there was a transition in the story.
February 7, 2017
There really are too many editing errors in this book. This couldn't stop me from giving this the five stars it deserves.
Of the 6+ books Evan Currie has written, this is the third one that I have read. Interestingly enough it's as impressive to me as his others because it was his first. This fact is only noticeable through the editing error that mottle this otherwise exceptional military science fiction. Take note, Evan C. Currie is to military science fiction what Brandon Sanderson is to fantasy. Sanderson just has/is a better editor. There I said it.
That's pretty much all the review I have. This tale is epic, keeps you guessing and if you've read Currie's work before you'll know that it will be filled with great theoretical tech. It's out of this world. Apparently, taking a quote from the book. It's what he does!
Of the 6+ books Evan Currie has written, this is the third one that I have read. Interestingly enough it's as impressive to me as his others because it was his first. This fact is only noticeable through the editing error that mottle this otherwise exceptional military science fiction. Take note, Evan C. Currie is to military science fiction what Brandon Sanderson is to fantasy. Sanderson just has/is a better editor. There I said it.
That's pretty much all the review I have. This tale is epic, keeps you guessing and if you've read Currie's work before you'll know that it will be filled with great theoretical tech. It's out of this world. Apparently, taking a quote from the book. It's what he does!
November 13, 2013
No character development, no back story. The characters don't interact and don't form relationships. What is the reason of introducing 1500 characters by name if it is not to learn anything about them? And to this point, I have no idea, what the culture of the humans or the aliens is, or why the Drasins attacked. No, they are evil beings doesn't count as a reason to me. I have no issue with books that are parts of series, but this book doesn't even feel like an episode in a series. It feels as if I were dropped in a single scene of an episode, with no explanation of how I got here and no idea where I am going.
February 5, 2017
Into the black bag. Shocker. DNF.
April 15, 2021
OK, this is a really fun book with some absolutely amazing creative ideas but it suffers from one terrible problem. It needs more editing. So instead of 4 stars I am giving 3.
The story is about Earth's first interstellar vessel and the trouble it runs into on it's first mission. It's a space opera so it's easy to expect no one central to die but plenty of surrounding characters might. Red shirts if you will. The author has created a submarine/carrier/battleship for his characters to use with a complete set of elite fighter pilots as well as weapons that are amazingly efficient against the alien opponents. Not very believable sure, but tons of fun. Like I said above, this book is really fun and creative.
None of the characters are developed very deeply, nor is any of the technology really explained. It's all hand waving. Again something I totally expect from a space opera. And the frenetic pacing, over the top characters, mysterious aliens (both human and non) all make a great story.
Here's the problem. It should be about a third shorter. There are too many pages of telling me things not showing me things. There are too many inconsistencies in character behaviors which makes me believe that there were not enough test readers and definitely not enough editing.
(Example 1: The fighter pilots use three different messages to indicate firing the same missile, Fox 2, Fox 3, and Missiles away. That is nuts, no elite organization would be that inconsistent.
Example 2: The captain calls the male bridge crew by their last names, and the female bridge crew by their first names. That level of familiarity and difference would be bad for moral and is definitely out of character for someone who is supposed to be life-long military and it was very jarring to the reader.
Example 3: Early in the story it is going to take 12 hours to recharge a weapon system, I wanted to know why can't they recharge one of the 'tubes' in 1/12th the time. Later in the story they can suddenly charge only some tubes instead of all at once. Super frustrating)
Yes, I just put three paragraphs into parenthesis. Good thing I'm not a writer, just a reader. I think if some of the exposition was removed and all the inconsistencies caught it would be a much more enjoyable read. I was given the first three books of Odyssey One so I'll be reading them too. Are there more? I dunno, I haven't looked that up.
The story is about Earth's first interstellar vessel and the trouble it runs into on it's first mission. It's a space opera so it's easy to expect no one central to die but plenty of surrounding characters might. Red shirts if you will. The author has created a submarine/carrier/battleship for his characters to use with a complete set of elite fighter pilots as well as weapons that are amazingly efficient against the alien opponents. Not very believable sure, but tons of fun. Like I said above, this book is really fun and creative.
None of the characters are developed very deeply, nor is any of the technology really explained. It's all hand waving. Again something I totally expect from a space opera. And the frenetic pacing, over the top characters, mysterious aliens (both human and non) all make a great story.
Here's the problem. It should be about a third shorter. There are too many pages of telling me things not showing me things. There are too many inconsistencies in character behaviors which makes me believe that there were not enough test readers and definitely not enough editing.
(Example 1: The fighter pilots use three different messages to indicate firing the same missile, Fox 2, Fox 3, and Missiles away. That is nuts, no elite organization would be that inconsistent.
Example 2: The captain calls the male bridge crew by their last names, and the female bridge crew by their first names. That level of familiarity and difference would be bad for moral and is definitely out of character for someone who is supposed to be life-long military and it was very jarring to the reader.
Example 3: Early in the story it is going to take 12 hours to recharge a weapon system, I wanted to know why can't they recharge one of the 'tubes' in 1/12th the time. Later in the story they can suddenly charge only some tubes instead of all at once. Super frustrating)
Yes, I just put three paragraphs into parenthesis. Good thing I'm not a writer, just a reader. I think if some of the exposition was removed and all the inconsistencies caught it would be a much more enjoyable read. I was given the first three books of Odyssey One so I'll be reading them too. Are there more? I dunno, I haven't looked that up.
February 8, 2020
Mini-Review:
4 Stars for Narration by David de Vries
4 Stars for Tech/Cultures/Language
3.5 Stars for Characters
4 Stars for Action Sequences
-1 Star for Whiplash POV Switches
The very start of the story is good but my attention kept petering out after the Captain of Odyssey One was introduced. It took a few tries to get my mind to focus onto the story. Overall, great setup for the series!
World War III has ended and the first foray into space has been launched. Talented individuals have been chosen to be the crew for Odyssey One but there hasn't been enough time or training for the crew to become a cohesive whole.
Surprise! Earth humans are not the only sentient life forms! In fact, Odyssey One ends up saving a unknown, human female far from Earth. Plus aliens species that's tearing worlds apart for fuel & stuff.
The story makes me think of the old Enterprise episodes. In a good way!
I enjoyed the way languages are dealt with in the story. How cultural differences in thoughts/actions/choices define characters. The way clunky technology & advance technology are thrown together but new does not necessarily mean effective use or outdated tech equates to being useless.
The overall camaraderie on Odyssey One was well done & I look forward to getting to know all of them better. While characters are not necessarily shown as multi-faceted, they are drawn into clear lines and you get a good sense of the scenes + people/aliens involved.
4 Stars for Narration by David de Vries
4 Stars for Tech/Cultures/Language
3.5 Stars for Characters
4 Stars for Action Sequences
-1 Star for Whiplash POV Switches
The very start of the story is good but my attention kept petering out after the Captain of Odyssey One was introduced. It took a few tries to get my mind to focus onto the story. Overall, great setup for the series!
World War III has ended and the first foray into space has been launched. Talented individuals have been chosen to be the crew for Odyssey One but there hasn't been enough time or training for the crew to become a cohesive whole.
Surprise! Earth humans are not the only sentient life forms! In fact, Odyssey One ends up saving a unknown, human female far from Earth. Plus aliens species that's tearing worlds apart for fuel & stuff.
The story makes me think of the old Enterprise episodes. In a good way!
I enjoyed the way languages are dealt with in the story. How cultural differences in thoughts/actions/choices define characters. The way clunky technology & advance technology are thrown together but new does not necessarily mean effective use or outdated tech equates to being useless.
The overall camaraderie on Odyssey One was well done & I look forward to getting to know all of them better. While characters are not necessarily shown as multi-faceted, they are drawn into clear lines and you get a good sense of the scenes + people/aliens involved.
August 27, 2019
A very good read. I look forward to more books in this series.
August 26, 2014
This was another debut military sci-fi novel, this time by Evan C. Currie. However, unlike the "Man of War" series I recently started as well, this one is not only quite clearly a "first novel", it is also clear that it was self-published first. Although it gets better near the end, the first part of the book is amateurish and difficult to continue listening to. It shows why good editors are so important in fiction writing. The author makes a number of choices in the story that simply are too much to possibly believe. Feeling like a kind of cheap Star Trek copy, the novel starts with humanity's first faster-than-light ship's maiden voyage, that then quickly turns into a Jack Campbell-style military sci-fi romp. But the jump is way too sudden, and the situation utterly unbelievable. Almost immediately upon arriving at Alpha Centauri, the ship responds to a distress signal in yet another system, which they blindly follow, after which continues one unlikely decision after another until this fleet is involved in full-scale battles with alien forces. It is simply not believable that such a captain would make decisions like this, not based on our current knowledge of military procedures and extensive and careful prototype testing.
While the book does get better later on (at least the space battle are well done), it can't make up for the strange and out of place decisions that are made by both the author and characters in the first half. Another seriously unbelievable element is in the type of "aliens" they run into, although I won't spoil that particular point. Ultimately if he wanted to write an exploration novel, then exploration should have dominated the theme of the book and the conflict kept small and realistic. If he wanted to write military space battles, then he should have introduced us to a world in which this was already feasible, not tacking it on to what was essentially an exploration mission. Some people might disagree with me and say that it worked for them. If so, then please continue reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the series. I'll be stopping here, thanks.
I also need to give a language warning on this one: There is a lot of profanity, so this is definitely not for younger listeners or readers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 806 reviews