The Empire's Corps

Empire's Corps #1

by Christopher G. Nuttall

You Should Never Speak Truth To Power…

The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. After a disastrous mission against terrorists on Earth itself, Captain Edward Stalker of the Terran Marine Corps makes the mistake of speaking truth to power, telling one of the most powerful men in the Empire a few hard truths. As a result, Captain Stalker and his men are unceremoniously exiled to Avalon, a world right on the Rim of the Empire. It should have been an easy posting…

Well, apart from the bandits infesting the countryside, an insurgency that threatens to topple the Empire’s loose control over Avalon, and a corrupt civil government more interested in what it can extort from the population than fighting a war. The Marines rapidly find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of political and economic chaos, fighting to preserve Avalon before the competing factions tear the world apart. They’re Marines; if anyone can do it, they can.

The battle to save the Empire starts here.

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Space, Audiobook

563 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is unapologetic military Sci-Fi porn with a strange lack of Sci-Fi. The story is set on some far distant planet but it could have just as easily taken place in any number of places on Earth. Being set in the future adds little to the story except for allowing the marines to just mow down anyone who happens to get in their way with little effort.

All of the characters are one dimensional and no one really goes through any kind of development. The imperial marines are god like beings who can do no wrong while everyone else is either incompetent, corrupt, or just evil. The villains are sadists who's only real motivation seems to be killing and raping everything that moves as a way to stick it to the great empire that has wronged them.

I found the marines to be unrealistic because based on my own experience there is no such thing as a military unit that is 100% perfect let along an entire branch of the armed forces which is how the marines are portrayed. There will always be some faults with group of people because they are just humans are flawed. I don't know if Mr. Nuttall has any military experience but that doesn't appear to be the case. He writes the marines with what seems to be the prospective of someone who's only experience with the military is the 24 hour news and movies.

I'm not sure who this book is written for but if you enjoy unfailing protagonists and thinly veiled social commentary then this might just be the book for you. If you want a story similar themes then I suggest reading March Upcountry by John Ringo and David Weber.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The future don't look good... Seems like it seldom does in science fiction.

The Empire has spread out over the many many years of it's history and now the young (spoiled boy) Emperor is pretty much up for anything so long as he gets to have his luxury.

You probably read the synopsis...seems that our hero Marine Captain Edward Stalker makes the mistake of (as we're told) "speaking truth to power"

From there we go with this (under strength) marine company to the planet Avalon on the edge of the Empire. Looks like someone wants them/him out of the way, possibly permanently.

Landing on the planet along with another exile (a college professor who wrote a book also speaking the truth) they must deal with the results of the Empire's government and lack of governing.

I like this book and plan to follow the series (for at least one more book). You get plenty of action, plenty of character(ization) and plenty of plot. All done well and readably. I can recommend this to science fiction fans, action fans, military fans, military science fiction fans and probably even those of you who like political fiction (though this will be fiction "lite" on that count).

So, recommended, enjoy.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairly standard mil sf in the baen mode; however it really worked for me from all points of view - characters, prose, setting, philosophy, in jokes and references (joe buckley, tom kratman etc)

Somewhere between weber (ideology, setting) and ringo (marine hardcore stuff) and a great read all around; plan to read the sequels asap and see how long I enjoy them

[Tobias · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish.

Too much SPEHSS MEHREENS!, too much Failed Welfare State (c)David Weber, some Technological and scientific inconsistencies and an odd focus on rape.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

A heroic company of USMC IN SPAAAAAACE!! heroically props up a decadent and ungrateful Empire against evil separatists. Frankly, with the empire being so decadent and ungrateful (not to mention it being, well... an empire, with an emperor, with bread and circuses for Earth paid for by colonials in debt peonage, banning of books, suppression of civil unrest by orbital strikes, and all that) I almost root for the separatists... Although they're, of course, even worse. Actually, anyone who isn't a Marine is, at best, well-meaning but too weak-willed and confused to do anything worthwhile and at worst a murderer and rapist with death penalty being too lenient a sentence for them. You've got the picture. And, as far as this kind of story goes, it's actually quite good, even if the author tried a bit too hard to make it appealing to Baen Books crowd...


But then the author managed to destroy all my enjoyment of the book with a single sentence. Having a mixed-race kid is somehow a sign of moral decadence just one step above incest? Seriously? I don't care if it's just clumsy writing. I don't care about any other whys and wherefores. You may have the right to publish it, but I have the equal right to give it the lowest rating possible. So, there it goes.

[The Sample Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Questionable social mores aside, despite being a fairly straightforward read The Empire's Corps is too long-winded for my tastes. It talks the talk, but crawls when it ought to walk, or even run. I’d be willing to see if the series improves with time, though.

Read the full ebook Sample Reader review here.

[Mark Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Milporn.

I kept thinking about superheroes when I read this, but it is really a book about angels. Creatures that look like humans but are distinct from them, and enforce the will of an ineffable distant power. Marines are never seriously tempted, and never ever do wrong. People in uniform are more virtuous than those who are not in uniform, and those who have contempt for the military are evil and corrupt. It is difficult to portray three dimensional characters in such a setting, but Mr. Nutall does a good job. I can identify with most of the Marines, even though they are all so much more perfect than I am.

The pity is that there is a really interesting plot here. Mr. Nutall has studied his history and has a good grasp of how things fall apart. If there were more three dimensional characters and more human beings in the book, I'd leap at the next one in the series.

[personnavn · Rating 1 out of 5]

What could have been a great Sci-fi book quickly became cringy. The author cannot help but insert his personal belief that children need to be beaten or they will turn into drug addicted prostitutes, and it only gets worse from there. If I didn't know he was a Scot, I would have thought the author was a christian fundamentalist from the American south.

But aside from that the author seems happy to "solve" extremely complicated issues and situations within half a page - because "now the book is finished - so..... MAGIC".

[Forrest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable but...

An interesting read/listen but would've been infinitely better without the author's political opinions tenuously and awkwardly plugged into the story unnecessarily.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual a book from Christopher Nuttall does not disappoint. At least not for me but then tastes are different of course. I have read several books from Mr. Nuttall now and I though that I should finally dig into this series which, with 8 book at the writing of this, is the longest series yet by this author.

Normally I am a wee bit hesitant when it comes to these marine focused stories. They are not my favorite genre. I prefer science fiction that focuses on starships and combat between ships. However, since I have liked so many other books from Mr. Nuttall I decided to have a go at this one anyway.

It is a good book and I liked it better than I thought I would do. The background story is a rather depressing one with the empire dying due to political shortsightedness, incompetence and rampaging corruption. As the blurb states our heroes made the mistake of speaking the truth and quickly got exiled to a world on the rim of the empire.

As far as I am concerned this is a good thing. It allows Captain Stalker and his men to escape the worst of the corruption. Not only that but on the world of Avalon him and his men can actually make a difference. The characters are as well done and enjoyable to read about as usual by Mr. Nuttall. There are of course plenty of marine action in the book. Given the name of the book this should not come as a surprise.

As usual the first book in a series is a bit of a stage setter but although the book does indeed set the stage for future books it holds it own as a free-standing book. It does not take forever to get into the story and the book have a good ending without an annoying cliffhanger.

This is definitely yet another series that I will continue to read.

[Ivan Dow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre at best, no character development whatsoever.

[Red Tide]

I only finished this rubbish, so that no other unsuspecting reader need do. Rating: minus 20 out of my usual -5 to +5 scale

This is one more rewrite of about 1400 reviews. I did not attempt to proselytize as Claes Rees Jr/cgr710 and several other members claimed in their comments, as well as their notes on my personality, intelligence, morality and more, over more than four years. I did not think that I needed to remind a potential commenter that I record my reactions to books and writers for myself. I thought everyone did the same but was wrong. I also had not realised the site is being monitored for US fascist approved content. I had not realised that the audience for this filth were so committed to silencing the unfortunate souls who accidentally encountered this or the many others like it, thinking they were being offered actual novels. You would think they would support my suggestion to Amazon/Kindle that there is a benefit in clearly labelling the varieties of US hegemonic, libertarian, Nazi and other filth. The fans can locate them easily and others are spared the trauma of reading even a chapter. They do not seem to agree. 😊

Now my intention is to present a clear and simple judgement of the 90%+ drivel which passes for an Amazon selection of bulk science and other genre fiction. Trigger warning: I will disassemble the background universe, touch on the prose, characters and the values being touted by these "heroes". Those include overt support for large slave populations, mass rape and sex slavery, forced prostitution due to the lack of alternative employment options, the price reduction benefits for heroic marines of a massive increase in the number of sex workers, a transaction with a sex worker being considered dating, all working class women being named as "whores". If not deterred, what you will read here is a product of what I consider to be right, to be decent and that this review is a kindness to sane fellow readers in order that they avoid another "literary" horror.

Before continuing I must stop on YouTube for a bit. This was made possible by channels - Ukraine News TV, Jake Broe, May, Military History Visualized, Dr Fatima, Between the Wars, Brandon F, Dr Alexander Clarke, Yinka, SK Media, Call of History, The Pioneer, The Fantasy Forge, Sukhwant Sukhi. Abbie Emmons. Jed Herne, Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, May Moon Narrowboat, Spacedock, Lisa Walton, Daisy Victoria, Horses, Kazachka, Abney Park, No Justice MTG, Smack the Pony, Lydia Loves Timelines, TIKHistory, Operator Starsky, Kings and Generals, MetaNerdz, The Pioneer, NerdForge, Discourse Minis, Lily Simpson, Jean's Thoughts, Kidology, Emma Thorne, Tom Nicholas, Aleksi Himself, Deerstalker Pictures, Lindsay Nikole, Nikki Howard, The Shades of Orange, Doctor Who/They break my heart - RecklessGirl100, FunnyLilGal Reacts, J Draper, Abby Cox, Terrible Writing Advice, Ukraine the Latest, Montemayor, The Bands of HM Royal Marines, Unleashed - Hardigan, Acollierastro, Mia Mulder.

I almost bailed on the book early in but decided to see how the writer created a story, no matter how bad out of this setting. He does not because he has, as another reader put it, decided to create another of the anti-working class, racist and misogynist "US Marine Porn" series. The book's afterword, praises anti-Muslim policies and described black Americans protesting their public murder as childish. This is written to a specific American audience. As badly written as it is, The book delivers the "middle class" 30+ white American cis white male the disturbing and disturbed sexual fantasy which sometimes strikes teen males but unlike teens his readership thrives on the brutality and dehumanization. It elevates the Snowflakes in their own mind to the tough guy allowed to act out his every sick desire, while being constantly told how moral and heroic his behaviour is. I once read that these books are guaranteed to lengthen that special appendage in deficient males of the description above with each page read.

This book does not really lend itself to an informal literary criticism, any more than "Mein Kampf" and for much the same reasons. I attempted unsuccessfully to avoid that reality for several years on this most literary of sites. Eventually I began to address these US hegemonic, Racist and Misogynist, Libertarian and Fascist polemics posing as entertainment in terms of the effectiveness of their delivery.

This will begin as a fun romp through what this writer knows full well to not be even an attempt at background universe.

There is an Empire but is ruled by a council of some sort.
There is no description of or explanation of "The Empire".
There is no description of the Imperial bureaucracies or their functions.
The Imperial Treasury is depleted because of welfare payments.
The solution to unemployment is the mass deportations of citizens to slave colonies.

There are colonial governors but they lack authority or enforcement ability.
There are Civil Guards who may or may not serve the governors.
The Civil Guards have no police nor investigation mandate.
Trade, Banking and Manufacturing do not exist in the Empire.
The Empire is of unknown size.
Nothing is known of that which lies beyond the borders.

There is no description of nor explanation of the Imperial military, except that

There seems to be a navy, nothing else is known.
The standard Imperial planetary garrison consist of a single 100 strong marine company.
There are no larger units in the Imperial military.
This company process and train their own recruits.
The supply and maintenance functions are contained within in the company.
Supplies, equipment and recruits are delivered by magic.
The 100 (full strength) man company include their own air and artillery unit.
The highest rank in the Empire is Captain, which is different to the naval rank.
All captains across the Empire are equal in the chain of command.
Marines are identified as soldiers, which are very different labels.
All marines who do not carry rifles are called "Rear Echelon M@therf@ckers".

There is no structure to explain pay, quartermaster function, ammunition, supply, medical personnel or equipment, vehicle or weapons replacements and any other function which appear magically, as needed. This company have only 81 members and can conquer and control entire provinces by defeating tens of thousands of armed escaped slaves. This is made possible because all marines are cross trained in every specialty, from artillery to pilot to medical to tank crew to unit records.

There are no system Defence Commands in any Imperial system. There are no orbital fortresses or naval patrols despite the mention of pirates and unnamed enemies on the frontier. There are no endo/exo atmospheric combat craft. There are no planetary defence artillery units. It might be that the writer imagines one company are sufficient to provide all these capabilities simultaneously. 🤔

I originally wrote four longish paragraphs explaining the ridiculousness but now direct an interested reader to YouTube's - Battle Order, Military History Visualized, The Templin Institute, Filaxim Historia, Kings and Generals, Cambrian Chronicles, History with Cy, TIKHistory, Real Time History, Perun, Historia Civilis, Fall of Civilisations, Dan Davis History, World War Two, ConeofArc, Bovington Tank Museum, Spacedock, Covert Cabal, Military History Visualized among others. Do not be embarrassed that you did not recognise the absurdities above but you will certainly turn away from any other similar book. For military fiction you might try David Weber, David Drake, Eric Flint, Timothy Zahn, Cherryh, Mixon, Pournelle, McCaffrey and others. Also a visit to several other science fiction or history channels might be useful.

I will visit YouTube again before continuing. This next is courtesy of the channels - Covert Cabal, Mandy -web series, Lynn D Jung, Linguoer Mechanic, Foster on the Spectrum, Ana Psychology, The Pioneer, LuckyBlackCat, Red Plateaus, Professor Gerdes Explains, The Trans Atheist, Sarah Z, Hello Future Me, Cinzia Dubois, Mitchell and Webb, Geo Girl, Dark Docs, Verilybitchie, Agro Squirrel Narrates, Rowan J Coleman, Harbo Wholmes, Alt Shift X, Knowing Better, Epimetheus, Perun, Ukraine News TV, Natasha's Adventures, Narrowboat Pirate, MechWest Show, Dr Becky, Atun Shei, Art Deco, Dr Brian Keating, The Closet Historian, Extinction Rebellion UK, The Dice Hour, The Dadvocate, Discourse Minis, The Grungeon Master, Depressed Russian, The Little Platoon, iWriterly, Bobbing Along, Kris Atomic, James Somerton.

The marine heroes are tasked with protecting the colonial slave owners only. The heroes make no attempt to rescue what seems to be thousands of sex slaves kidnapped by bandits. They find no problem with the forced prostitution of women in urban areas. The writer described a woman as looking forward to performing oral sex in public on heroic marines.

The writer spent an inordinate number of pages describing multiple gang rapes of of kidnapped women. The sex life of the heroes is described as identical to that of the evil escaped slaves/bandits and both are done in painful detail. I admit that I was nauseated long before I reached that point but I needed to document this writer's depravity. The female marines are special and not casually assaulted despite being women. They are only casually demeaned. Fun fact, the US Marine Corps, Army and Air Force have serious publicised problems with cultures normalizing the rape of both males and females in their ranks but while covered up are still publicly said to be a bad thing.

Slaves are all described as lazy. All slaves are criminals because they try to escape slavery. Slaves/criminals by nature perform unspeakable crimes, almost as horrible as that of the slave owners. One character spouting the above, also thinks that slave deportation but not exploitation might be unfair. Once the slave/criminal leader is captured, no rescue attempt of thousands of kidnap victims is mounted because as the protagonist explains, "they are all whores now".'This was definitely written for an American audience.

To call the characters stereotypical is much too generous. They are message vehicles only. In the Afterword, the writer states that he is a Trump fan, decries political correctness as damaging to society and thinks that it is childish that black Americans should protest against the patterns of their false imprisonment, their predetermined guilt in the U.S. legal system and the increasingly popular practice of murder by police, who are all by their own statement constantly afraid for their lives. Nuttall has adapted his writing to very American sensibilities. He at one time wrote serviceable science fiction but has moved to service the more lucrative American market. The racist and anti-working class justification for slavery, the normalised misogyny and justification for every form degradation inflicted on working class men and women, the blaming onerous social welfare costs for budget deficiencies are all libertarian hymns. While Nuttall is not working class, much of his audience are and stupidly imagine that fascism will improve their lives. It is tragic. Goodreads do not Allow me to see the other reviews but with only 1% of ratings being one star, they say all that is needed about American culture and not much for the people.

This is a slightly more overt expression of white nationalist rants than most of the other low end US science fiction but not by much. The standard for these books ranges in quality from No Effort through Insulting to Abhorrent. I admit that after more than four years struggling with Amazon's loan offerings, I no longer prefer print fiction. The streaming services will not deliver any product as horrible as these. YouTube also host short film channels, such as DUST and Omeleto.

I began using YouTube two to three years ago in search of useful science fiction commentary and succeeded. The search by way of the algorithm led me to the lifestyle, science, hobbyist essayist and other educational channels. My last great discovery was that of the book channels. 😍 These host some very wonderful communities of thoughtful, curious readers with varied interests and tastes but all of whom love the world of bookish things. I really feel that any sane reader will find those and the literary criticism channels a treat. I promise that they are the opposite to whatever Goodreads have become. From sponsor spots on various educational channels, I found the dedicated educational sites such as Nebula. They are all interesting and Nebula especially is very modestly priced.

About Goodreads membership and discourse. About eighteen months past, I wrote a short, mildly negative review of Powers of the the Earth, a pathetically juvenile salute to the sociopathic January 6, 2021 hero by Travis Corcoran. He was/is still an employee of an unnamed US agency and supporter of Putin's Russia, US veteran, self-described libertarian and vocal advocate for the return of chattel slavery. He and six friends spent more than a year writing increasingly insane comments demanding a response. I discovered that all of history was created by white males, socialists will deport all black Americans to Jamaican plantations, that all slavery past to present (especially North American) were moral and a social good among other libertarian madness.

Claes Rees Jr/cgr710 finally declared that They had "won" (?). I discovered that They had launched a year long+ campaign of vile sexual and racist comments directed to channels which I mention. The Swedish essayist, the Oxford astrophysicist, the German theoretical physicist, the pensioner in France and all the other female creators were less than impressed. The libertarian/fascist thugs did increase the world's store of unpleasantness and delivered a sadly accurate self-portrait of the emotionally unbalanced American man-child to a broad multinational audience. USA, Yay ??

My YouTube picks of the moment.
The Intel Report, Biz Barclay, Female Warriors - Teresatessa, Welcome to Ukraine, Hello Future Me, Installation 00, Bernadette Banner, Abbie Emmons, NerdForge, Sarah Millican, Mrs Betty Bowers, Kiko1006 - Secret Melody.

About Amazon/Kindle/Goodreads. Please consider treating this as a potentially hostile site. 🤔

Ominous music begins. 😊 I was less than neutral after the first six months on this reader's forum. Several dozen insulting comments from members who either commented without reading (often with no similar titles on their shelves) or who had read the book and scanned negative reviews as patriotic monitors. Either is depressing on so many levels. "Reader's" forum?

Kindle/Goodreads employees stepped up to support the anti-human collective. They masked (eventually all) commenter names. There is nothing quite like cowardly shites in 3-6 strong comment clouds posting anonymously but having never themselves written a review. I began scanning reviews after the first year. It was time consuming but worth it. I am a curious fellow. Kindle have now removed all comments to my reviews from view except my newest below and blocked my view of other reader opinions, though that option has hardly been missed. Kindle techs have disabled my end-of-book transition to the Rating and Review page, almost as if someone (Bezos?) is a fan of slavery, misogyny, racism and bad writing. I kid (?) but am curious how many mentions of the man will finally lead to several long overdue dismissals. Kindle also blocked my uploads to Goodreads and interrupted my Kindle services for days at a time, in blocks of a month to five weeks. It ends mysteriously when I write about it. Since Kindle have not responded to my emails, I can only guess at the cause. Jeff should perhaps look into Amazon customer service protocols even on this dismal site. 😊

The best illegal (even in america) action taken, included sharing my very limited message traffic with the mad lads of the comment clouds. A favour was then requested of Australian Intelligence by some US secret clearance holder (1.3 to 1.6 million of the scamps). Pine Gap Centre may be expensive but is apparently well worth it, if it facilitates the interrogation of an Australian friend for my personal information. I had to reassure him that my safety was handled. While I realise that I should feel flattered by the attention, for some reason my contempt for Amazon has increased dramatically and my disappointment in the Australian government almost broke my heart.

I doubt that many American members find the above disturbing, let alone shocking, since they are certain that will never receive that attention. To them I say, Good on you. For other readers. I suggest several precautions to make your exposure to Kindle safer. These are good first steps and will make it more difficult for them to disguise invasion of your privacy or promoting of physical harm to you, should you write an unpopular review.

Minimise personal information on Amazon/Kindle/Goodreads. Amazon even sell their "Ring" surveillance video to any buyer and Kindle will deliver what they have for a lark. Remove lurkers from your friend list (those friends who monitor but never post), do not use Goodreads messaging or Kindle calendar or email for obvious reasons. Screenshot the odd and the ugly on this site. These precautions will not cost anything but to not might well do. Never forget that these sociopaths, employees and members alike are lacking in both morality or humanity. Most importantly these mental man-children are American. Ominous music ends. 😊

May we all find Good Reading! 🤗

These are some of my favourite channels.
Doctor Who/They break my heart - RecklessGirl100, Leeja Miller, KernowDamo, Dr Fatima, Tara Mooknee, Owen Jones, Lady Knight the Brave, Mrs Betty Bowers, Noah Samsen, Kiko1006 - Empire of Angels, Mom on the Spectrum, Some More News, Abney Park, It's Black Friday, Cecilia Blomdahl, May, Munecat, Savy Writes Books, Roomies Digest, Omeleto, Karolina Zebrowska, Abby Cox, J Draper, Historical Fashion, Break N Remake, Engineering Knits, ThePrimeChronus, Shannon Makes, Cinzia Dubois, Sabine Hossenfelder, Renegade Cut, Acollierastro, Physics Girl, Chris and Shell, Cruising Alba, Cruising Crafts, Engineering with Rosie, Princess Weekes, Smack the Pony, Deerstalker Pictures, OrangeRiver, Lore Reloaded, A Day of Small Things, Books and Lala, Philosophy Tube, TVP World, Terrible Writing Advice, Welcome to Ukraine, Jake Broe, Mia Mulder, Prime of Midlife, May Moon Narrowboat, Elina Charatsidou, Gutsick Gibbon, Ben G Thomas, Planarwalker, Geo Girl, Annie's Literary Empire, Anna from Ukraine, Welcome to Ukraine, Alizee, Brittany Page, History with Kayleigh, The Intel Report, Kathy's Flog in France, Overly Sarcastic Productions, The Great War, TIKHistory, JuLingo, Belinda Carr, Adult Wednesday Addams - 2 seasons, Unleashed - Hardigan, Malinda, Viva La Dirt League, Dominic Noble, Rebecca Watson, What Vivi did next, The Clockwork Reader, UATV, SK Media, The Juice Media, Knowing Better, The Researcher, NFKRZ, Quinn's Ideas, Diem25, Eckharts Ladder, Crecganford, Raptor Chatter, DUST, Brickcrafts, Don't F@ck with Ukraine, Julie Nolke, Andrewism, Second Thought, The Good Place, The Octupus Lady, The Little Platoon, Big Train, No Justice MTG, ALLShorts, Not the Andrew Marr Show, Kidology, MechWest Show, Archer, Robot Chicken.

I wish you a beautiful morning, an energetic afternoon, a pleasant evening, a wonderful night and may we all continue learning.

If you allow Another to speak in your name unchallenged, you adopt Another's sins.
My Grandmother

[Ken Selvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Passable narrator, boring story, uninteresting characters.

[Leather · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book of a long series of Military Space Opera, The Empire Corps is a big self-published block that does not lack interest.
Even if it is not written with a single point of view, the reading is very fluid and rhythmic throughout the book, it is well written and pleasant to read.
The universe of the book, if it is caricature enough, is globally credible. The characters are convincing, without being particularly worked, the author choosing to go to the basics. The plot of the book is rather predictable but it is well managed, despite some inconsistencies here and there.
The action scenes are very well written, this is the main asset of this book. Regarding science fiction we are in the ultra basic, it is almost a pretext to isolate a company of Marines on a planet in the grip of a civil war. Once the troop disembarked from his spaceship, we are more in a war novel than in a science fiction novel.

As so often in this type of work, the description of the universe is above all a pretext for the author to expose us at length his conservative political ideas. The political opinions of an author are normally unrelated to the quality of his work except when it becomes the heart of his book. In this case we are a bit on the limit, the book sometimes turns to the geopolitical treaty way David Weber, and if for many it could sound like a compliment, I assure you that it is not the case!
The book suffers from incessant repetition about the political context, it unnecessarily lengthens the book and it hurts the progress of the story. There is virtually no action scene in the first hundred pages, which is a shame for this kind of work.

In conclusion it is an action book that I liked but that would have pleased me more if he had done a hundred pages less by going to the basics and pruning repetitions on its geopolitical context.
I will read the following to see how the series evolves.
Note that reading the book I was 100% convinced that the author was American, while he is British ...

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book one in a new series. Nuttall is a fairly new author; I read his first books, the Ark Royal trilogy. I see he has now started a series. I enjoyed his trilogy so decided to give the series a try. The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. Our protagonist Captain Edward Stalker spoke the truth to those in power. As a result he and his men are exiled to Avalon, a world right on the rim of the Empire. Avalon is about to collapse from a corrupt government and insurgents, bandits roam freely in the county side. Stalker and his Marines are soon caught up in a whirlwind of events.

The Empire starts off with a good description of the enormity of the Empire including intricacies of the political scene which seems enormous. Nuttall creates not only an interesting world but an entire universe full of planet inhabited by humans. With hundreds of planetary cultures I can only imagine where the series will go. The book is fast paced, lots of action, suspense and military dialog. There is more character building because it is the first book of a new series. The book is about Marines so there is less Naval space action in this story.

I understand that Nuttall was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland but he is currently living in Borneo with his wife Aisha. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. This is the first time I have encountered a book narrated by Jeffrey Kafer. He did a good job narrating the book. I will look forward to listening to him narrate other books. If you enjoy military Sci-Fi you will enjoy this book.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much a military history buff as I am, I don't read military fiction much. Bad memories from mid/late 80's stuff so poorly written and full of clichés it was laughable. For some reason I gave a try to Nuttall's first book of the Empire Corps series and I will go for seconds.

Exiled on a far away planet, a company of Marines is caught between roaming bandits, corrupt politicians and revolutionaries. Now they have to restore peace with minimum casualties.

This basic plot is actually well written, mixing politics and military action just enough not to get bored on either side. The author knows enough of the Military to engage the reader in believable action. The political/economical system described kind of overstretches the limits of credibility but not enough to be dismissed as ridiculous.

So of course our Marines are bold and brave, with little bits of John Wayne stuffed in, and of course they live up to their motto. But hey! that's what's expected in a Space Marines book, ennit?

The characters are not much developped since they are the embodiment of the Corps more than anything else, so there's actually no surprise here either but that's still not the point.

All in all a pleasant read. If you're into military history and/or military fiction, this one should be on your reading list.

[David Laing · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an odd book, it was both well written, and poorly written. The writing style kept me engrossed, but I there are several issues that stuck in my craw.
The marine that was kidnapped was both susceptible and not susceptible to drugs, this was papered over later with a mention of actually needing to sedate the marines, so the implant wasn't 100% effective. Then with the cash, why would the Marines bring so much cash, its papered over later. Why not foreshadow these events.
And the Captain was smart, almost a Mary Sue, except that when dealing with the Governor he was a complete idiot. He gives the Governor evidence, that he has already decided is NOT sufficient, and then gets mad (very mad) when the Governor decides its insufficient. He gets mad at expected outcomes a few times, it's very odd.
The resolution for the resistance movement just didn't seem believable, it would be out of character for the Captain to make the offer he did.
Actually reading the book gave the impression that the Marine Corps is the Mary Sue. But there were enough other smart people thrown in that it made me feel that they were thrown in only to temper the over-the-top love affair for the Corps.
I did enjoy the book, but it has enough annoyances that I will not be reading the rest of the series.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

"You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies" -- which pretty much damns all the protagonists in this book.

Sadly the marine stars of this book are never challenged; not physically, strategically, morally, philosophically, intellectually, or even economically. Not only are there no interesting conflicts in this story, all the foes arrayed before the marines are portrayed as degenerates and failures. It's not until the book is about 80% over that we get our first interesting fight, and that's from the standpoint of a non-marine soldier (the only character in the story that has any development at all, and that's limited to going though boot camp).

The story takes place in a science fiction universe, which is never explored to any great length, and seems to only be used to make things a little easier for the marines to get things done.

There could be something interesting to explore in the odd economic world that the story is set on; but given that all interesting philosophical tension is plowed under by the seemingly infinite bankroll of the marines, and the inexplicably suicidal action by the only interesting opposition the marines face, I have to say I'm not at all interested in continuing on with this series.

[Aaron Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first 2 and a bit of this series. I don't recommend it.

The characters are bland, the marines as a whole are a bit too perfectly boring. No details are given about the marines "enhancements" or their implants, or anyone else's for that matter.

I found the first two books interesting enough to continue reading for now, but then the third book started back at the epicenter of the collapsing Empire, and it made me lose my slight interest.

I think I might try a more recently written series by this author to see if I enjoy his recent work more.

[Lance Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr Nuttall really needs to learn military rank. It is not (ahem!) rocket science. I know this is SF set in the far future, but it's written in modern day English.

A major does not rank a colonel. A major would not be overall commander of the Guard with subordinate colonels. A captain (marine/army rank, not navy) does not get promoted to colonel without intermediate steps of major and lt colonel.

And a corporal is definitely a ranking noncom, taking over unit command when there are sergeants around.

I am picky about this kind of thing as an Academy grad and AF combat vet. When someone writes military fiction and gets this kind of thing this wrong, it just grates and drags me right out of my willing suspension of disbelief into headshaking denial.

[Thomas Smalley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre Mil Sci FI.

A decent novel ruined by angry old man yelling at the youths politics. If you think undisciplined teens and overproducing welfare rats are destroying the world ... well this is the book for you.

Hell it even has a cringe worthy scene where a "undisciplined" brat gets spanked and that act of authority makes that kid get her life together. Not to mention this is after the novel berates the character for putting herself in a position to get gang raped but is save by the responsible marine.

I can usually ignore politics in novels but this novels heavy hard was way to heavy to ignore. If you don't like soap boxes I would stay miles away from this novel.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid military science fiction, August 9, 2016

This review is from: The Empire's Corps (Kindle Edition)

This story idea is reminiscent of Heinlein's Star Ship Troopers featuring elite super soldiers in powered armor. These soldiers and their commanders are virtually incorruptible while serving a corrupt and declining empire. This is great, entertaining fiction but not very realistic as no human organization is actually incorruptible. It is in the nature of the beast. Ignore that and hang on for an exciting ride. Good guys vs. bad guys.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got half way and quit, it feels like a YA book in writing while having adult content. I like the concept, but every character was unbelievably one dimensional. The final straw was a antagonist plan to take control of the planet government was just so stupid. The plan was to weaken the government's army, giving weapons to a bandit army, after the government army loses in a ambush taking over the government using political means, with seemingly no plan to deal with the bandits afterwards and all while a popular insurrectionist group exists.

[Lyndon]

Skimming through some novels in a bundle called "Stars & Empire" - a collection of military sf stories. I gave up on this one after 5 chapters (with 50 more to go). Too many words. Wordy word words and lots of wordy exposition and more wordy telly words after that. On to the next one called Rebel by Ed Robertson. Haven't been impressed with the books in this bundle so far (except Michael Bunker's Pennsylvania novel), so I don't hold out much hope for this one either, but it's something mindless to skim through at bedtime.

[John Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the final chapters kept me reading with haste, I found the whole merely above average. Does this book have soldiers fighting? Yes, but the battle scenes are only decent. Does this book have political intrigue? Yes, but it is not terribly sophisticated. Does this book keep the reader entertained? Yes, and that is all I can really say about the book without nitpicking.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book suffers from show not tell, gave up after what felt the twentith time it was stated how uncroupted the marines where and how great they were.

Along with this there was also the problem of too many info dumps

[Glen C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe the next Heinlein

[Sean Tompkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decidedly mediocre with cut out characters. Stopped reading halfway through.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christopher Nuttall departs his wisdom on empire and it's fall in 560 pages.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4, maybe 4.5 stars. A very satisfying read.