Dissolution of Peace

by Richard Flores IV

When Earth Navy Captain Christina Serenity is brutally attacked by a traitor, her life is saved by Security Forces Corporal Michael Carlson. On the heels of her recovery, her ship is attacked by terrorists, and she is thrown into a difficult assignment. She must chase after the only clue they have, a Martian ship called the Phobos, and find out what secrets it hides. To make matters worse, someone still wants her dead.

Her ship, E.S.S. Australia embarks on a mission that leads Serenity on journey of discovery, friendship, betrayal, and revenge. She quickly learns the only thing harder to prevent than war, is love.

Now Serenity must trust her protection crew to keep her alive long enough to solve this puzzle while trying to prevent an interplanetary war.

The line has been drawn. Who will cross first?

Genres: Science Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2012

About the author

Richard is an author of Speculative Fiction who lives in Washington. He fits his writing time around being a father of three young boys and a husband to his beautiful wife. He has had short fiction published in a variety of markets. He was the publisher and editor for two short fiction magazines. For more information on Richard Flores IV, you can find him online at https://www.floresfactor.com. You can also find him on Twitter @Richard_Flores4

Reviews

[Jess Mountifield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally posted on Indie ebook review on June 7th 2013

Cover: 17/20

The cover for this book made me think of traditional sci-fi space covers so I think that's a great thing for an indie cover, my only slight niggle is not being able to read the small print on the top of the book very easily and considering how ebooks are going and the whole thumbnail thing works I'd prefer that to be larger.

Characters: 11/20

I liked the Captain in this novel but unfortunately I found the rest of the characters were a little bland. The descriptions of them were all fairly samey and with how little was shown of them I found it difficult to relate to them. Just couldn't quite care for their fate or feel worried when their lives were in danger.

Storyline: 12/20

There was a large amount of action in this book, often resulting in the main characters going from one sort of fight to another very quickly. I often wondered how they would cope with the stress levels of being in danger that often. The action was all described really well but I'd have preferred a longer book that meandered around and had maybe one or two less battles, or at least a greater variety of reasons for getting into them.

Style: 5/20

This was probably my least favourite part of the book, which is a shame really. I just found the pacing was far too full on and I was told stuff about the characters in the gaps without being shown it. The relationships would have felt more real if they'd been allowed the limelight in a bigger way.

I also felt that the book glided over details that would have been useful and then inserted others that seemed to be unimportant, like the sex scenes. I actually think the book would do better without any reference to the sex, almost like it was chucked in to try and show the relationships, but without any real build up being shown it just seemed shallow.

As a result of the style I was kept on the edge of my seat but just wasn't connecting or relating to anyone.

Spelling and Grammar: 10/20

I noticed more mistakes than I'd have liked and it could do with a final proofread to pick those out but it wasn't too bad.

On top of that I would occasionally find that some words were in a tiny font, but it would just be odd words here and there, which was rather distracting and random paragraphs would have a right hand indent all through them for some reason, so the formatting needs a look over.

Finally, there was one of my pet peeves. The dreaded 'could care less' phrase which should actually be 'couldn't care less'. If someone could care less, then they care to some degree. That one drives me up the wall.

Conclusion: 55/100

This book and author have a lot of potential and the action is good as well as the cover design, just needs to work out the kinks, and show more of the relevant relationships and characters, possibly giving more description dropped in here and there and more dialogue.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Assassination attempts crop up left and right. Cpt. Serenity also has to deal with rogue ships attacking, even ramming, her ship. But then it gets even better, because aliens become an issue. Friendlies? Baddies? Perhaps they are just neutral. Serenity has to walk a tight line to safely navigate the awkwardness of First Contact. But her ship is badly damaged and many of her people killed before the mystery of who is behind the assassination attempts is unraveled. Then there is also the distraction of the blossoming romantic interest in one of her body guards, which is totally against regulations.

This story was very much action driven, being fast paced and lots of injuries and some dead bodies. While I liked all the action, sometimes we flitted from one scene to the next a little too quickly and my brain was a bit jarred off and on. The characters are very easy to connect with, even though they lack depth and growth. But let me point back to that ‘action driven’ part: if you just want a space opera that is easy to jump into without having to concentrate on character or setting details, then Richard Flores‘ book is for you. The espionage aspect coupled with the secret society bit was intriguing and kept me guessing about characters the entire time. The side romances added tension without taking away from the main reason I was reading the book: Action In Space. Not bedroom action, but space fights and first contact, etc. You get the point. There were lots of females in power without being all Hear Me Roar. It simply was a well integrated navy without the bullshit of gender inequality. Very refreshing.

Of course I need to talk about the one negative point. Unfortunately, this is a biggy for me. I love words and stories in which every word was thought about and carefully placed to be pleasing to plot and reader brain. This book was not well edited. Yes, someone used spell check, but forgot to use grammar check. I kept stumbling over wrong words – like wonder where the author clearly meant wander. Then and than drove me crazy. There were very few pages of this book that were clear of such mistakes. Most of the time, I quickly discerned what was intended, but sometimes I found myself stumbling over a sentence, taking far too much time to puzzle out the meaning. I have this belief that I should give the words as much attention as the author did. I ended up scanning the last half of this book, simply getting the plot gist.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a great book from start to finish. I had a hard time putting it down, to the point where I got frustrated with my kids when they interrupted where I was in the book. I would get them what they needed, after making a mark where I left off in the book. I was definitely caring for the characters and was definitely rooting for at least three of them: Captain Serenity, Corporal Carlson, and Officer Kanter. I liked that it wasn't just conflicts with the ship the ESS Australia and Martian vessels. You get to know the main characters as people and not just as people in the Earth Navy on a warship. The ending made me want the author get to writing a sequel to this book since I wanted to kno what happened to the characters I cared about,as well as the other secondary characters on the warship, and there were quite a few. I normally don't read science fiction, or speculative fiction as it is now known, but I would recommend it to family and friends who are looking for a good book to read, or for those who are tired of the same old book. Great book!

[Tiffany C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first sci-fi book I've read, apart from any homework assignments over a decade ago. I was a bit tentative at first, wondering if I'd be able to follow all the military/space lingo. But I did! And the flow of the book is amazing! A real page turner!! :)

The relationships between the characters, the sudden action scenes that seem to pop out of nowhere; all make it a really great book! My reading pace is fairly quick as it is, but with children to care for, I wasn't able to just sit and enjoy for hours at a time. Even still, I began reading I believe last Friday, and it's now Friday again. So yeah, definitely a page turner! I didn't want to put it down at night, but I was literally falling asleep with my cell phone (ebook) in hand! :P

Great job, Richard!! :D Really awesome to be reading a book from a longtime friend. I had no idea back in high school that you were a writer, but man you got some mad talent buddy! :D

So, when's the sequel coming out, cuz I can't wait to read it! :P I'm going to have "book world withdrawals". hehehe

[LeighAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally read science fiction so I wasn't sure what I would think of this book. I decided to give it a shot because it's always good to branch out and try new genres, you never know how many great books you are missing out on if you don't. I found myself really growing to like the characters and rooting for them. I also liked that the whole book wasn't all one big fight scene, there's a little romance tossed in there as well. I felt myself becoming frustrated for the characters just hoping that they could eventually express their love. There were a few grammatical/spelling errors, but I am also the type of person that notices every single mistake in books. I am waiting for a sequel the be released so I can find out what happens next! I did enjoy this book and if you are a science fiction fan then I think you would enjoy it even more!

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. Janice Kantor desperately wants a promotion. In order to get this, she's required to do Protection Security for a year. She's accustomed to policing on Earth, so when she assigned to the ESS Australia, she is unsure what to expect and hopes her year will go by quickly.

Mike Carlton, is the head of Protection Security for the personal security of the captain of the ESS Australia. After the occurrence that had happened with his previous partner, he chooses a candidate he thinks he won't get close to. After all, she barely passed her exam, so he doubts she'll take her post seriously. Boy was he ever wrong.

Captain Christine Serenity, she's the youngest captain of an Earth vessel. Because of this, the Admiral is constantly questioning her suitability for her position. Recovering from an injury made by a traitor to Earth, she has constant security around her at all times. Things get even more dangerous when she uncovers a secret bigger than you can imagine.

This book was a fantastic science fiction thrill ride. There was non-stop action, romance and even a mystery in the mix. Carlton and Serenity’s attraction was not only believable but also plausible. This book could very easily become a memorable sci-fi series comparable to Star Trek. This should be on everyone's TBR List, a definite must read!

[Angus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christina Serenity is the youngest Naval Officer to have made Captain of a capital warship, in this case the ESS Australia. Due to her youthful age, her aggressive interference in the drug trade and perhaps other things she is constantly under threat of assassination.

Corporal Mike Carlson is assigned to protect the Captain along with his new partner Officer Janice Kanter. He’s protecting her from many things and he carries many buried issues as he does his job, protecting someone he cares about more than professionally.

Conspiracies, treason, aliens of both friend and foe threaten to tear apart the peace that Mars and Earth have lived in for many years. This book moves fast and characters the author builds do get hurt or die.

I enjoyed this military space opera. There are some choices, like referring to a carrier in space as an aircraft carrier, that I didn’t care for but all in all the story kept my interest. I finished it in two sittings. Four out of five satisfying laser blasts are hereby awarded.


http://www.amazon.com/Dissolution-Pea...

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing in this book was decent but I had a hard time getting into the story. It was just a little too implausible for me and I didn't care for the romance bits. One of the hardest parts to swallow was the contact with aliens. I doubt first contact would be handled so nonchalantly and that the aliens would be so accepting and their culture so similar to earth. The motivation of Mars was unclear to me, as was the secondary group of aliens and I couldn't figure out how there would be such an extensive list of military personnel who were willing to turn traitor and assassinate the captain. There was enough action to keep the story moving but I felt the character development was weak and the wherefores and the why's of the story were too quick and convenient, or lacking all together.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to read this book before it was published. It's easily one of my favorite space books, reminding me in some ways of Star Trek. It isn't quite the peaceful utopia of that series, but the author manages to take a lot of the great storytelling and give it a bit of action.

The fighting scenes are the only odd point for me, since you hear about the battles after they're fought. They're described the way Picard asked which decks had casualties.

All in all, this is definitely a book you should pick up. It has enough plot twists that you won't expect the ending until the end, the way a good book should be!