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Junkyard Dogs #1
The Scrapyard Incident
Junkyard Dogs 1: The Scrapyard Incident.Ensign Tamara Carlisle, a brilliant, beautiful but decidedly quirky young officer on a remote assignment to obtain information needed to finish her advanced degree in Military History...Lieutenant Ryan Harris, a talented and experienced engineer who harbors doubts about his ability to command...Engineering Technician Angus Hawkins, a savvy veteran and former Chief Petty Officer busted down in rank for brawling...These three unsuspecting individuals, marooned after a devastating sneak attack on the United Terran Federation Naval Reclamation Center-- a huge, orbiting Junkyard located in a remote corner of Federation space-- are forced to confront their limitations and team up to fight back against unknown, heavily armed foes who threaten their continued survival...During their effort to survive, the trio discovers that their unknown foes have even bigger plans. It seems they would like nothing more than to start a revolution...Can the three Scrapyard survivors come together with an Islamic Ambassador on a mission of peace, a smuggling ring bent on nothing more than making a profit, and a small, underarmed orbital station security force to somehow thwart a terrorist attack that threatens to ignite a new interplanetary war?
365 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 3, 2013
15 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
Phillip Nolte
19 books29 followersBorn and raised in Minnesota, educated at Moorhead State (Moorhead, MN) and North Dakota State University. I developed a passion for science fiction in junior high and have been hooked ever since. I started writing science fiction sometime around 1986 or so and about a dozen of my short stories were published in pioneering online magazines such as "Athene" and "Intertext."
I have been employed as a potato scientist at the University of Idaho since 1991. I currently serve on the editorial boards of two national trade journals and have written more than two hundred educational and informative articles for the popular press. I live with my wife and two cats (or is it the other way around?) in southeastern Idaho, where most of the potatoes are.
An irresistible compulsion just a few years ago to get back into writing science fiction resulted in "The Scrapyard Incident." Maybe the theme of the book would make more sense if I admitted to having an inexplicable interest in junkyards too...
I have been employed as a potato scientist at the University of Idaho since 1991. I currently serve on the editorial boards of two national trade journals and have written more than two hundred educational and informative articles for the popular press. I live with my wife and two cats (or is it the other way around?) in southeastern Idaho, where most of the potatoes are.
An irresistible compulsion just a few years ago to get back into writing science fiction resulted in "The Scrapyard Incident." Maybe the theme of the book would make more sense if I admitted to having an inexplicable interest in junkyards too...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 10, 2021
Dogs can be important
Great read. My older brother was 28 years career Army. He was a Command Sergeant Major when he retired. I've always known that our thinking processes were completely diverse. This book which highlights the military way of thinking reminds me of my brother, our arguments, our friendship, and his odd way of thinking and handling problems. I understand the territorial 'dog like' reaction to his thoughts when we discussed things to the point of mutual disgust. It was his thought process vs my thought process, near the twain to meet. He was a junk yard dog down to his claws. Liked the characters. I'm sorry he's gone. DRAGONBOGLE
Great read. My older brother was 28 years career Army. He was a Command Sergeant Major when he retired. I've always known that our thinking processes were completely diverse. This book which highlights the military way of thinking reminds me of my brother, our arguments, our friendship, and his odd way of thinking and handling problems. I understand the territorial 'dog like' reaction to his thoughts when we discussed things to the point of mutual disgust. It was his thought process vs my thought process, near the twain to meet. He was a junk yard dog down to his claws. Liked the characters. I'm sorry he's gone. DRAGONBOGLE
June 25, 2023
I really great action story if you like military style stories this is really good I’m now reading the second book and it’s starting to get my attention, worth your time l enjoyed this book and looking like the others in the series are well written I’m not going to drop any spoilers but nicely put together.
April 3, 2021
Enjoyable but simple plot. it was a great read if you want to not think and just be entertained. A strong female lead who doesn't cave to pressure.
September 6, 2016
Large scale space battles; drags in places
Set about 500 years in the future, mankind has expanded into the far reaches of space--unclear if intergalactic, or merely interstellar. But old earth disputes continue: Muslims, fundamentalist Christians, and cults, with large scale government's backing all them.
In this volume (the first of a series) the action center's on a junk yard containing mostly debris from the last full-scale war. A rogue ship approaches and without warning vaporizes the space ship at the center of the junkyard, and everyone on it--thousands of people. Three people survive, as they happen to be out in the junkyard at the time of the attack. The remainder of the book consists of parallel stories of the junkyard battle, the battle for a platform orbiting the main planet in the system, and the Ambassador, who was indirectly the target of the attack.
The action sequences are fine, well written with lots of drama...but they only take up a small part of the narrative. Unfortunately, the main characters are drawn more as cliches than human beings: the steadfast second in command, the crusty old captain, the Scottish engineer, and of course the amazingly beautiful and off the charts brilliant (but with hints she is on the autism spectrum) woman warrior/love interest. None of them are given any inner life or more than the briefest of thumbnail backstories, which do nothing to explain their character or actions. For example, all we learn about the beautiful warrior is that she is from one of the few families which live only in space. But the only thing the author uses this background for is to explain why she is so adept at fighting in zero gravity.
Not super excited to read the next volume....but maybe I'll try it, just to see where the author takes the story.
Set about 500 years in the future, mankind has expanded into the far reaches of space--unclear if intergalactic, or merely interstellar. But old earth disputes continue: Muslims, fundamentalist Christians, and cults, with large scale government's backing all them.
In this volume (the first of a series) the action center's on a junk yard containing mostly debris from the last full-scale war. A rogue ship approaches and without warning vaporizes the space ship at the center of the junkyard, and everyone on it--thousands of people. Three people survive, as they happen to be out in the junkyard at the time of the attack. The remainder of the book consists of parallel stories of the junkyard battle, the battle for a platform orbiting the main planet in the system, and the Ambassador, who was indirectly the target of the attack.
The action sequences are fine, well written with lots of drama...but they only take up a small part of the narrative. Unfortunately, the main characters are drawn more as cliches than human beings: the steadfast second in command, the crusty old captain, the Scottish engineer, and of course the amazingly beautiful and off the charts brilliant (but with hints she is on the autism spectrum) woman warrior/love interest. None of them are given any inner life or more than the briefest of thumbnail backstories, which do nothing to explain their character or actions. For example, all we learn about the beautiful warrior is that she is from one of the few families which live only in space. But the only thing the author uses this background for is to explain why she is so adept at fighting in zero gravity.
Not super excited to read the next volume....but maybe I'll try it, just to see where the author takes the story.
January 12, 2014
The germ of a good story, about a young cadet (with a sort of autistic mental stutter that is played more as a quirk than a disability) who, with help from a hunky young officer and a grizzled engineer repel a pirate attack. Unfortunately, the prose is really stilted (sample lines: "Kresge swooned back to partial consciousness." "As he attempted to comfort the beautiful but distraught warrior..."...anchor the suit to the deck while the occupant slogged it out with adversaries...") and I never felt at any point a moment of suspense or of doubt that the plans of the good guys would all work out. The long passages of background commentary at each chapter's head added nothing of value to the story for me, and neither did the developing romantic subplot.
December 24, 2020
Admirals are well-known for encouraging fraternization in the ranks (lest you think this has changed in the future, it is highlighted later in the book as something explicitly discouraged).
OF COURSE the women are the ones who organize food and where people sleep, and seem generally glad to do so.
Vacuum is a great insulator - not radiating heat isn't a great space suit, it's a great way to die.
Why wouldn't you serve wine at a diplomatic meeting with a culture who fundamentally believes the consumption of alcohol is wrong? Does this go along with painting and using various chemicals inside closed atmospheres such as space stations?
OF COURSE the women are the ones who organize food and where people sleep, and seem generally glad to do so.
Vacuum is a great insulator - not radiating heat isn't a great space suit, it's a great way to die.
Why wouldn't you serve wine at a diplomatic meeting with a culture who fundamentally believes the consumption of alcohol is wrong? Does this go along with painting and using various chemicals inside closed atmospheres such as space stations?
April 11, 2013
Looking forward to the next book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews