Earth, A.D. 2519. The clone soldiers of the Enlisted Man’s Empire, formerly members of the Unified Authority’s powerful military, maintain a tenuous grasp on the power they fought so hard to gain. But the U.A. will not be so easy to suppress as they had hoped…
A provocateur attacks the Pentagon. Gunships converge on the penitentiary where Unified Authority war criminals are held. And a clone assassin murders Admiral Don Cutter, commander in chief of the Enlisted Man's Empire…
It all happens at once—and five minutes later, more assassins attack Wayson Harris as he prepares for a summit with delegates of Olympus Kri. With Harris missing and their most deadly enemies on the loose, the remaining officers of the Empire must uncover a plot to overthrow their government while preparing for war…
Steven L. Kent is the author of the Rogue Clone series of Military Science Fiction novels as well as The Ultimate History of Video Games.
Born in California and raised in Hawaii, Kent served as a missionary for the LDS Church between the years of 1979 and 1981. During that time, he worked as a Spanish-speaking missionary serving migrant farm workers in southern Idaho.
While Kent has a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and a Master’s degree in communications from Brigham Young University, he claims that his most important education came from life.
He learned important lessons from working with farm laborers in Idaho. Later, from 1986 through 1988, Kent worked as a telemarketer selling TV Guide and Inc. Magazine. His years on the phone helped him develop an ear for dialog.
In 1987, Kent reviewed the Stephen King novels Misery and The Eyes of the Dragon for the Seattle Times. A diehard Stephen King fan, Kent later admitted that he pitched the reviews to the Times so that he could afford to buy the books.
In 1993, upon returning to Seattle after a five-year absence, Kent pitched a review of “virtual haunted houses” for the Halloween issue of the Seattle Times. He reviewed the games The Seventh Guest, Alone in the Dark, and Legacy. Not only did this review land Kent three free PC games, it started him on a new career path.
By the middle of 1994, when Kent found himself laid off from his job at a PR agency, he became a full-time freelance journalist. He wrote monthly pieces for the Seattle Times along with regular features and reviews for Electronic Games, CDRom Today, ComputerLife, and NautilusCD. In later years, he would write for American Heritage, Parade, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and many other publications. He wrote regular columns for MSNBC, Next Generation, the Japan Times, and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
In 2000, Kent self-published The First Quarter: A 25-year History of Video Games. That book was later purchased and re-published as The Ultimate History of Video Games by the Prima, Three River Press, and Crown divisions of Random House.
During his career as a games journalist, Kent wrote the entries on video games for Encarta and the Encyclopedia Americana. At the invitation of Senator Joseph Lieberman, Kent has spoken at the annual Report Card on Video Game Violence in Washington D.C.
Another great read in the Rogue Clone series. Everything you've come to expect from Kent's Clone series is here. Things have escalated and the level of violence shows as well. Nice insights into Ray Freeman in this book as well. The latest installment in this series takes place six months after the end of the previous book. Harris is struggling with new found fears from his time as a captive who was subjected to torture and systematic brainwashing. Harris is incapacitated, forcing Ray Freeman to step in to take care of business. We spend some time in Freeman's head this time around. Definitely a fun read. Like the other books in this series, this one keeps you interested. It throws curve balls at you as well. I highly recommend this book.
I really disliked this book, nothing actually happens in it, we learn nothing new of relevance from the previous books and to me it just seems like the author is just dragging this out to milk money from the series, I really hope there is a definite and suitable end to Harris's story arc and Mr. Kent doesn't just run it into the ground past a point when his readers stop caring.
The Clone Assassin kicks off Straight after the previous book with Wayson and Freeman keeping a lid of the Enlisted Man's Empire! :D This is proving to be a juggling act as the United Authority is resurgent and determined to put itself on top again! :D The action throughout is relentless but as with the previous books the humour flows perfectly amongst all the battles, inter service rivalry is all there to boot, the humour is used ruthlessly by the characters and serves as and forms part of the feel of the book! :D MacAvoy's gung ho tactics that consternate the UA at every turn are hilarious! :D Harris's consternation as the fact it's the army doing the ground pounding and not the Marines is hilarious like all the books humour! :D The consternation of the lower ranks to there supposed superiors is will have you ribs breaking as as another example! :D This humour works perfectly for the characters as the bullets are busily flying! :D Harris competition with Admiral Hauser is also another great example! :D There squabbling over Mesoamerica is a another example where you will find your ribs hurting! :D It also illustrate how Earth has changed around them with it's uniform culture! :D
At the same time in The Clone Assassin the personal reasons for there are actions are all up on the page, Harris and his revenge quests, Freeman looking for Harris and Sunny's evil scheming etc all are all packed in! :D This results in a plot that will keep you guessing from the start! :D The book is genuinely tense as you never know what is going to happen! :D The characters are always on the front line (a fact that the UA exploits! :D ) and the odds are always stacked! :D This makes the plot flow brilliantly, there are unexpected surprises from the beginning, the combat is visceral and vicious, and this all combined to a character driven action fest staged on an epic canvas that never lets up from the start, that takes the plot in unexpected turns and at the same time puts the character to extremes! :D
The Clone Assassin flows along with an epic pace! :D The cast is epic but you always know where all the characters are! :D The POV neatly changes between then keeping you as the reader informed so the book has a detective feel amongst all the action! :D The Clone Assassin filled with plot twists, daring do, humour, epic battles, cunning, is filled with gripping adventure and Action Packed! :D Brilliant Crisp High Five! :D Go and gets! :D Make sure you have the next one! :D
Book 9 military sf I read for the Endeavour Award. An okay read but basically 90% war and 10% mystery so not really my thing. Some interesting ideas around cloning and programming and societal changes but they take a huge backseat to armed conflict. The pov character and all of the main characters are male. The two female characters are pretty darn secondary. The technology itself is not a major part of the story. Not a bad read.
If you like military science fiction with at least some plausibility, then this series if for you. The action is good, the characters likable, and the story interesting. However, the lack of creativeness and blind spots by the protagonists is hard to ignore. Usually, the heroes of the story are smarter than the villains, but in this one the protagonists walk into predictable ambush after ambush. It was my one critique of an otherwise great read.