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Three against the stars
On the distant alien planet of Rhajnara a conspiracy created by the facist Khandra Regime is set into motion to overthrow the rightful Rhajni Republic and instigate a policy of ethnic-cleansing. The conspirators are cunning and it seems nothing in the universe can derail their mad apocalyptic scheme. Nothing that is but three rambunctious Space Marines from the Third Regiment Company E of the United States Space Marines assigned to Rhajnara with the Terran Expeditionary Force. Sergeants Fernado Cortez, Seamus O’Hara and Claudia Akira are the most unlikely trio ever to don jarhead camouflage and become military heroes. To their superiors they are wild, reckless and incessant troublemakers always in the thick of things. Yet their courage, loyalty and devotion to duty prove them to be the toughest Devil Dogs in the Corp. Now, with the aid of a Medical Corpsman named Makki Doon, a young Felisian native proto-feline humanoid, these three futuristic musketeers are about to become the one factor capable of exposing the traitorous Khandra coup. But to do so they will have to put their lives on the line one more time and risk all to save the day facing off against incredible odds. To save an empire they will truly become…
THREE AGAINST THE STARS. Joe Bonadonna delivers a fast paced, action packed space opera fans of Edmond Hamilton and E.E. “Doc” Smith will not soon forget. With interior art by Pedro Cruz.
THREE AGAINST THE STARS. Joe Bonadonna delivers a fast paced, action packed space opera fans of Edmond Hamilton and E.E. “Doc” Smith will not soon forget. With interior art by Pedro Cruz.
- GenresScience Fiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 26, 2012
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Joe Bonadonna
39 books26 followersI've published a number of short stories, and authored and co-authored eight novels, and five screenplays. I'm a former board member of the Chicago's Screenwriter Network, where I lectured on the history of science fiction, horror, and fantasy in films, as well as on writing screenplays. I'm also a former rock and roll guitarist and songwriter from the Golden Age of 1964-1984. I've written numerous reviews and articles for Black Gate online magazine.
MAD SHADOWS - Book 1: THE WEIRD TALES OF DORGO THE DOWSER.
MAD SHADOWS - Book 2: THE ORDER OF THE SERPENT,
MAD SHADOWS - BOOK 3: THE HEROES OF ECHO GATE.
THREE AGAINST THE STARS
THE MECHMEN OF CANIS-9
WATERS OF DARKNESS, co-authored with David C. Smith.
THREE GHOSTS AND A BLACK PUMPKIN and THE POWER OF THE SAPPHIRE WAND, co-authored with and illustrated by Erika M Szabo
QUEEN OF TOADS appears in the Kindle anthology, Here Be Ghosts.
SAMUEL MEANTWELL AND THE LITTLE BLACK CLOUD OF THE APOCALYPSE appears in the shared-world anthology, Shad'Dadd: Toy, co-authored with Shebat Legion.
THE BOOK OF ECHOES, appears in the brand-new "shared-theme" anthology from Heathen Oracle, ARTIFACTS AND RELICS: EXTREME SWORD AND SORCERY.
THE BLOOD OF THE LION appears in the Sword and Soul Fantasy anthology GRIOTS 2: SISTERS OF THE SPEAR, edited by Charles Saunders and Milton Davis.
For author Janet Morris' highly-acclaimed series, HEROES IN HELL, I have published stories in Poets in Hell, Doctors in Hell, Pirates in Hell, Lovers in Hell, Mystics in Hell, Liars in Hell, and Monsters in Hell.
My story, SINBAD AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE, appears in the shared-world anthology, SINBAD: THE NEW VOYAGES, VOL. 4. m.
My story, "The Dragon's Horde," has been published in HEROIKA 1: DRAGON EATERS.
In collaboration with David C. Smith, our story, "To Save Hermesia," appears in the shared-world anthology, THE LOST EMPIRE OF SOL.
I have published poems in Stand Together: A Collection of Poems and Short Stories for Ukraine.
My story, "The Vampire Tree," appears in SAVAGE REALMS MONTHLY, MARCH 2022.
My story, "Just Another Day in Heaven, appears in the anthology UNBREAKABLE INK.
My story, "The Goblin Herd," appears in the anthology, LEGION PRESS.
As Editor:
"Hello, My Name is Max, and I Have Autism: An Insight into the Autistic Mind," written and with drawings by Max Miller.
"Being Max's Mom," by Rebecca Miller.
"Libertine: Awakenings," written by Cat Ravenelle.
For author A.L. Butcher I have edited "The Kitchen Imps," and "Tales of Erana: The Warrior's Curse."
MAD SHADOWS - Book 1: THE WEIRD TALES OF DORGO THE DOWSER.
MAD SHADOWS - Book 2: THE ORDER OF THE SERPENT,
MAD SHADOWS - BOOK 3: THE HEROES OF ECHO GATE.
THREE AGAINST THE STARS
THE MECHMEN OF CANIS-9
WATERS OF DARKNESS, co-authored with David C. Smith.
THREE GHOSTS AND A BLACK PUMPKIN and THE POWER OF THE SAPPHIRE WAND, co-authored with and illustrated by Erika M Szabo
QUEEN OF TOADS appears in the Kindle anthology, Here Be Ghosts.
SAMUEL MEANTWELL AND THE LITTLE BLACK CLOUD OF THE APOCALYPSE appears in the shared-world anthology, Shad'Dadd: Toy, co-authored with Shebat Legion.
THE BOOK OF ECHOES, appears in the brand-new "shared-theme" anthology from Heathen Oracle, ARTIFACTS AND RELICS: EXTREME SWORD AND SORCERY.
THE BLOOD OF THE LION appears in the Sword and Soul Fantasy anthology GRIOTS 2: SISTERS OF THE SPEAR, edited by Charles Saunders and Milton Davis.
For author Janet Morris' highly-acclaimed series, HEROES IN HELL, I have published stories in Poets in Hell, Doctors in Hell, Pirates in Hell, Lovers in Hell, Mystics in Hell, Liars in Hell, and Monsters in Hell.
My story, SINBAD AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE, appears in the shared-world anthology, SINBAD: THE NEW VOYAGES, VOL. 4. m.
My story, "The Dragon's Horde," has been published in HEROIKA 1: DRAGON EATERS.
In collaboration with David C. Smith, our story, "To Save Hermesia," appears in the shared-world anthology, THE LOST EMPIRE OF SOL.
I have published poems in Stand Together: A Collection of Poems and Short Stories for Ukraine.
My story, "The Vampire Tree," appears in SAVAGE REALMS MONTHLY, MARCH 2022.
My story, "Just Another Day in Heaven, appears in the anthology UNBREAKABLE INK.
My story, "The Goblin Herd," appears in the anthology, LEGION PRESS.
As Editor:
"Hello, My Name is Max, and I Have Autism: An Insight into the Autistic Mind," written and with drawings by Max Miller.
"Being Max's Mom," by Rebecca Miller.
"Libertine: Awakenings," written by Cat Ravenelle.
For author A.L. Butcher I have edited "The Kitchen Imps," and "Tales of Erana: The Warrior's Curse."
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 13, 2012
Three Against the Stars- A Review
Three against the stars is the newest work from Joe Bonandonna. This time Joe tackles the far flung future and not the past. Three takes place in a universe where man has ascended to a state of interstellar faster than light travel and has alliances with many other races.
Our story centers on four space marines, sort of the three musketeers, with the fourth member being a cat man from the world our team finds themselves stationed on. O’hara a big brogue speaking Irishman is the team’s defacto leader, Akira is a cigar chomping female, Cortez is the dashing, somewhat empty headed ladies’ man and Maki is the cat man, and corps medic.
Our story takes place in several places at once including deep space far from our heroes. There is much mystery afoot in this universe. There are several different factions amping up their agenda’s in this story, and only some of them play out by books end, so I can only assume there will be another volume coming sometime in the future.
Our team faces everything from bar fights to infiltrating enemy strong holds, as well as running about in ancient dilapidated starships. The marines may be the peacekeepers of the universe but they are far from the best supplied.
The main enemy in this book is the Drakonians. A race of lizard-men who share a fragile peace agreement with Earth and its allies. This is a book about not only the three space-marines but also about that peace agreement, and how fragile it really is.
There is civil war brewing amongst the cat people and has been for a very long time it seems, and it does not take much for that to boil over, leaving the three marines right in the midst of things.
All in all I liked this story. It was interesting and fun. It took place in space in the far future and that’s one of my favorite genres. But that’s not to say it didn’t have a few problems, minor at worst, but enough to be annoying tome at least.
There seemed to me at least to be too many characters introduced just to be killed, and there were far too many characters in general to keep track of. At one point I was asking myself ‘Who’s this now?”
Also, and I know this is a nitpick on my part, but with a name like “Three against the Stars.” I really expected it to be the three of them (Or four counting their cat man buddy) for an extended period of time (Like most of the book) battling an enemy on some planet hopping quest or perhaps being hunted as fugitives by a corrupt gov’t or something similar. It was very little of them being together and in the center of the action. Maybe the last fifth of the book.
Don’t get me wrong I really liked the story, and very much enjoyed reading this adventure, but at times I felt it was a bit convoluted. The stories resolution left me a little empty as well, beyond that I’m not going to say much because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else reading it, and it is WELL worth reading.
In conclusion, if you enjoy space adventures with grand schemes and larger than life characters then pick up a copy, sit back and enjoy. It’s a very good story with a few minor, easily overlooked flaws that most will not notice. Four out of five stars.
Three against the stars is the newest work from Joe Bonandonna. This time Joe tackles the far flung future and not the past. Three takes place in a universe where man has ascended to a state of interstellar faster than light travel and has alliances with many other races.
Our story centers on four space marines, sort of the three musketeers, with the fourth member being a cat man from the world our team finds themselves stationed on. O’hara a big brogue speaking Irishman is the team’s defacto leader, Akira is a cigar chomping female, Cortez is the dashing, somewhat empty headed ladies’ man and Maki is the cat man, and corps medic.
Our story takes place in several places at once including deep space far from our heroes. There is much mystery afoot in this universe. There are several different factions amping up their agenda’s in this story, and only some of them play out by books end, so I can only assume there will be another volume coming sometime in the future.
Our team faces everything from bar fights to infiltrating enemy strong holds, as well as running about in ancient dilapidated starships. The marines may be the peacekeepers of the universe but they are far from the best supplied.
The main enemy in this book is the Drakonians. A race of lizard-men who share a fragile peace agreement with Earth and its allies. This is a book about not only the three space-marines but also about that peace agreement, and how fragile it really is.
There is civil war brewing amongst the cat people and has been for a very long time it seems, and it does not take much for that to boil over, leaving the three marines right in the midst of things.
All in all I liked this story. It was interesting and fun. It took place in space in the far future and that’s one of my favorite genres. But that’s not to say it didn’t have a few problems, minor at worst, but enough to be annoying tome at least.
There seemed to me at least to be too many characters introduced just to be killed, and there were far too many characters in general to keep track of. At one point I was asking myself ‘Who’s this now?”
Also, and I know this is a nitpick on my part, but with a name like “Three against the Stars.” I really expected it to be the three of them (Or four counting their cat man buddy) for an extended period of time (Like most of the book) battling an enemy on some planet hopping quest or perhaps being hunted as fugitives by a corrupt gov’t or something similar. It was very little of them being together and in the center of the action. Maybe the last fifth of the book.
Don’t get me wrong I really liked the story, and very much enjoyed reading this adventure, but at times I felt it was a bit convoluted. The stories resolution left me a little empty as well, beyond that I’m not going to say much because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else reading it, and it is WELL worth reading.
In conclusion, if you enjoy space adventures with grand schemes and larger than life characters then pick up a copy, sit back and enjoy. It’s a very good story with a few minor, easily overlooked flaws that most will not notice. Four out of five stars.
November 17, 2016
I love a story you can chew through and digest without realizing just how much you've read in one sitting. THAT's what happened to me as I enjoyed "Three Against the Stars".
And is it any surprise? I'm an ex Marine and avid sci-fi fan. In "Three Against the Stars" you have the Devil Dogs of 7th Company, Marine Corps, Terran Expeditionary Force, duking it out against an evil empire of alien bad guys? Ah, seventh heaven.
In particular, we follow the exploits of Sergeants O'Hara, Cortez and Akira and their Felisian buddy, Makki as they "bring it" to the Drakonian bad guys and their sympathizers on a far distant planet where peace – it seems – is held together by the thin veneer of deception.
With great dialogue, fine humor, a fast pace, and plenty of action, this is sci-fi escapism at its best. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m sure you will too.
And is it any surprise? I'm an ex Marine and avid sci-fi fan. In "Three Against the Stars" you have the Devil Dogs of 7th Company, Marine Corps, Terran Expeditionary Force, duking it out against an evil empire of alien bad guys? Ah, seventh heaven.
In particular, we follow the exploits of Sergeants O'Hara, Cortez and Akira and their Felisian buddy, Makki as they "bring it" to the Drakonian bad guys and their sympathizers on a far distant planet where peace – it seems – is held together by the thin veneer of deception.
With great dialogue, fine humor, a fast pace, and plenty of action, this is sci-fi escapism at its best. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m sure you will too.
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September 10, 2014Rousing adventure SF
THREE AGAINST THE STARS is a rousing military-SF adventure tale. It's a bit like a 1940s war movie in space. Three dashing space marine sergeants battle evil fascists on exotic and deadly alien worlds. TATS refers to the WW2 heroics of the Marines through mentions of Iwo Jima and Corrigedor. It feels like an old John Wayne movie, launched into the deep end of the galaxy where pop culture orbits black holes and all that stands between civilization and unspeakable evil are trusty heroes, and a good blaster.
THREE AGAINST THE STARS is a rousing military-SF adventure tale. It's a bit like a 1940s war movie in space. Three dashing space marine sergeants battle evil fascists on exotic and deadly alien worlds. TATS refers to the WW2 heroics of the Marines through mentions of Iwo Jima and Corrigedor. It feels like an old John Wayne movie, launched into the deep end of the galaxy where pop culture orbits black holes and all that stands between civilization and unspeakable evil are trusty heroes, and a good blaster.
December 9, 2014
Wonderful, classic, and immensely readable.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews