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The Slaver Wars #2
Alien Contact
From the author of Moon Wreck comes the first full length novel in the series.
The Human Federation of Worlds thought they were alone in the galaxy. But now an alien spacecraft has appeared over one of their distant mining operations. The frightened miners immediately call for help to deal with this worrisome first contact situation.
Admiral Streth is sent to implement talks with the aliens and to find out what they want. The aliens inform the admiral that they are called Hocklyns and are from a large multi-world trading federation. In truth, they come from an empire that is expanding through the galaxy and conquering world after world for slaves, and they have set their sights on the human worlds as their next conquest.
The Human Federation of Worlds thought they were alone in the galaxy. But now an alien spacecraft has appeared over one of their distant mining operations. The frightened miners immediately call for help to deal with this worrisome first contact situation.
Admiral Streth is sent to implement talks with the aliens and to find out what they want. The aliens inform the admiral that they are called Hocklyns and are from a large multi-world trading federation. In truth, they come from an empire that is expanding through the galaxy and conquering world after world for slaves, and they have set their sights on the human worlds as their next conquest.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 17, 2013
319 people are currently reading
467 people want to read
About the author
Raymond L. Weil
92 books339 followersUSA Today Best Selling Author
I live in Clinton Oklahoma with my wife of 40 years and our cat. I attended college at SWOSU in Weatherford Oklahoma, majoring in Math with minors in Creative Writing and History.
My hobbies include watching soccer, reading, camping, and of course writing. I coached youth soccer for twelve years before moving on and becoming a high school soccer coach for thirteen more. I also enjoy playing with my five grandchildren. I have a very vivid imagination, which sometimes worries my friends. They never know what I am going to say or what I am going to do.
I am an avid reader and have a science fiction / fantasy collection of over two thousand paperbacks. The space program has always fascinated me and I've followed it since its inception. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an astronaut. Now, I just write about it.
I live in Clinton Oklahoma with my wife of 40 years and our cat. I attended college at SWOSU in Weatherford Oklahoma, majoring in Math with minors in Creative Writing and History.
My hobbies include watching soccer, reading, camping, and of course writing. I coached youth soccer for twelve years before moving on and becoming a high school soccer coach for thirteen more. I also enjoy playing with my five grandchildren. I have a very vivid imagination, which sometimes worries my friends. They never know what I am going to say or what I am going to do.
I am an avid reader and have a science fiction / fantasy collection of over two thousand paperbacks. The space program has always fascinated me and I've followed it since its inception. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an astronaut. Now, I just write about it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
December 25, 2016
A good series, I look forward to the rest.
October 5, 2020
I started this book assuming it would carry on from Book 1 Moon Wreck, it doesn’t! It’s my fault for not reading the publicity blurb, but I am still annoyed with whoever numbered these books.
This story is about the war with the Hocklyns and their masters, but having read Moon Wreck I now know how this is going to end.
Overall the story wasn’t bad, but it kept telling me stuff I already knew. In fact telling the reader facts over and over again is one of the author’s worst habits.
If I had read this book before Book 1 Moon Wreck, I might have given three stars.
This story is about the war with the Hocklyns and their masters, but having read Moon Wreck I now know how this is going to end.
Overall the story wasn’t bad, but it kept telling me stuff I already knew. In fact telling the reader facts over and over again is one of the author’s worst habits.
If I had read this book before Book 1 Moon Wreck, I might have given three stars.
July 19, 2013
I generally do not like prequels. Not in movies, not in TV-shows and not in books. I feel that knowing where the journey is going to lead you just detracts too much from the enjoyment of reading and progressing through the story. Despite this, I still enjoyed this book. It is another full length novel from Raymond L. Weil following the Moon Wreck short stories.
There appears to be some confusion as to the name of these two book-series. At least if you look at Amazon. On their site “Moon Wreck: First Contact” is also labelled “Slaver Wars, #1” were as this book is labelled “Alien Contact, Slaver Wars One”. Actually all the Moon Wreck books have also been labelled with Slaver Wars in the title. I would chalk that up to sloppy data entry or some marketing dimwit thinking that changing the labels would make more people buy in on the two book-series. However, if you read the authors site it seems fairly clear that he labels the Moon Wreck books just that and this one is indeed the first one in the Slaver Wars series and the coming book will be the second one in this series. Having said that, both book series are indeed within the same universe and within the same overall story only different parts of it.
As for the book it is written in the same general style as the other books which is a fairly simple, easy to read and unpretentious storytelling. The space action is perhaps not the most elaborate I have read but it was fun reading nonetheless. Of course, the book being a prequel, you knew the major elements of what was going to happen and this reduced the fun a bit. Still we did get to learn a bit more, not only how the humans of the federation was forced to flee to Earth but also how they ended up becoming a federation far from Earth in the first place. In a interesting plot twist we also learned a bit more about the enemy AI ships and the Hocklyn’s. That was a nice revelation that makes me eager to learn where the author will go with that plot element in future books.
On the hole I quite enjoyed this book despite it being a prequel and, as I said already when reviewing Fleet Academy, I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the Moon Wreck/Slaver Wars universe.
There appears to be some confusion as to the name of these two book-series. At least if you look at Amazon. On their site “Moon Wreck: First Contact” is also labelled “Slaver Wars, #1” were as this book is labelled “Alien Contact, Slaver Wars One”. Actually all the Moon Wreck books have also been labelled with Slaver Wars in the title. I would chalk that up to sloppy data entry or some marketing dimwit thinking that changing the labels would make more people buy in on the two book-series. However, if you read the authors site it seems fairly clear that he labels the Moon Wreck books just that and this one is indeed the first one in the Slaver Wars series and the coming book will be the second one in this series. Having said that, both book series are indeed within the same universe and within the same overall story only different parts of it.
As for the book it is written in the same general style as the other books which is a fairly simple, easy to read and unpretentious storytelling. The space action is perhaps not the most elaborate I have read but it was fun reading nonetheless. Of course, the book being a prequel, you knew the major elements of what was going to happen and this reduced the fun a bit. Still we did get to learn a bit more, not only how the humans of the federation was forced to flee to Earth but also how they ended up becoming a federation far from Earth in the first place. In a interesting plot twist we also learned a bit more about the enemy AI ships and the Hocklyn’s. That was a nice revelation that makes me eager to learn where the author will go with that plot element in future books.
On the hole I quite enjoyed this book despite it being a prequel and, as I said already when reviewing Fleet Academy, I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the Moon Wreck/Slaver Wars universe.
May 31, 2016
So glad that I found the Slaver Wars series. What a great read! As I read in someone else review; this is my style of book. I love that the writing is straightforward yet engaging and that M. Weil does not get too technical about all the FTL traveling mumbo-jumbo. What I want is a fun, action-packed space adventure with interesting characters and this is exactly what is being served here. As you can read in my review of Moon Reck (book one in the Slaver Wars series) the author as being either severally bash for his poor writing skills or hailed as the best ever... That kind of polarizing reviews can be confusing, so let me reiterate that all you have do to is read the sample for yourself. You will find out that the writing is simple yet very effective, the action is fast paced in the military SCI-FY / space opera genre with lots of great spaceship battles. Everything (action sequences, plot threads, character development, etc..) is easy to follow thanks to the aforementioned writing style of the author. M. Weil is also able to maintain a great sense of dramatic tension and exploration wonder throughout the story and that is always appreciated in a SCI-FY novel.
July 10, 2016
a prequel to the prequel........diaboliqal
October 22, 2017
Not the greatest book, but it's still a genre I love, and it was tolerable. Some of my complaints:
It's amazing that designers of both human and alien warships never figured out the complex design of seat belts. They're constantly being thrown around during combat on their ships. They get broken arms and wounds constantly. I mean, they could also do something far better than a seat belt, perhaps cages that lock them at their station, or all kinds of better things. It's pretty ridiculous.
The humans have a lot of familiar sounding first names, which is rather weird/wrong.
The author mixes Navy and Army ranks everywhere. Confusing, even if they are supposedly alien humans. Either use different rank system entirely, or don't be so mixy-matchy.
A few random unexplained psychic powers. The main admiral knows something is wrong back home (this supposedly isn't just intuition, he has had it other times in the past. "A mother would know if her daughter was still ok." Uh huh.
Every female is trim. Their looks are constantly described, males rarely are, except main Admiral character. Females are never been in a command position of a ship, not once in the entire book. AI's are always attractive young females. Every time someone is scared or worried it's a female character, when males usually try to make them feel better. I'm sure the author doesn't really intend this. It just somehow comes out of his worldview unconsciously.
It'd be a bit different if we were told that the society is male dominated. Lots of readers wouldn't like it, but it'd be an explanation. This just seems like roughly 1980-2000 social society with a hugely accelerated technology. By that I mean glass ceiling for women, very similar to our own. Even the wife of The Admiral's brother constantly is cooking and bitching about her husband not complimenting her on her cooking. She's supposed to be a marine officer, my god. It's like a bad sitcom. :)
Guess I'll spoiler a few things.
It's amazing that designers of both human and alien warships never figured out the complex design of seat belts. They're constantly being thrown around during combat on their ships. They get broken arms and wounds constantly. I mean, they could also do something far better than a seat belt, perhaps cages that lock them at their station, or all kinds of better things. It's pretty ridiculous.
The humans have a lot of familiar sounding first names, which is rather weird/wrong.
The author mixes Navy and Army ranks everywhere. Confusing, even if they are supposedly alien humans. Either use different rank system entirely, or don't be so mixy-matchy.
A few random unexplained psychic powers. The main admiral knows something is wrong back home (this supposedly isn't just intuition, he has had it other times in the past. "A mother would know if her daughter was still ok." Uh huh.
Every female is trim. Their looks are constantly described, males rarely are, except main Admiral character. Females are never been in a command position of a ship, not once in the entire book. AI's are always attractive young females. Every time someone is scared or worried it's a female character, when males usually try to make them feel better. I'm sure the author doesn't really intend this. It just somehow comes out of his worldview unconsciously.
It'd be a bit different if we were told that the society is male dominated. Lots of readers wouldn't like it, but it'd be an explanation. This just seems like roughly 1980-2000 social society with a hugely accelerated technology. By that I mean glass ceiling for women, very similar to our own. Even the wife of The Admiral's brother constantly is cooking and bitching about her husband not complimenting her on her cooking. She's supposed to be a marine officer, my god. It's like a bad sitcom. :)
Guess I'll spoiler a few things.
May 14, 2019
I keep waiting for this to get better and it's not. It's rare I abandon books before I'm done but I'm going to do this with this one.
Four human colony worlds. All identical, all exactly like earth apparently. They even have reef sharks on the one. (...and no - they're not "stocked" from Earth, they're not colonies of Earth. They are independent evolved ecologies - just an unimaginative author). (There's also no apparently home-world for these colonies, either -- just stand-alone colonies. ...and why do you have massive space fleets & defensive installations for colonies that have never encountered any interstellar enemies? ...and could all the space marines stop being so perfect & flawless? ..and why are ships sized so perfectly in multiples of 100 units of length & width? ...and why are those unit in meters? ...and is whats-her-name the blond or brunette? ...and does it matter? (Answ: No, it doesn't...)
...and, ...and, and....
As I said in the review of the earlier volume. Interchangeable characters, wooden dialog, and zero attempt to world build. I'm a sucker for a book with a spaceship on the cover but I just can't continue this. It's become a chore.
Four human colony worlds. All identical, all exactly like earth apparently. They even have reef sharks on the one. (...and no - they're not "stocked" from Earth, they're not colonies of Earth. They are independent evolved ecologies - just an unimaginative author). (There's also no apparently home-world for these colonies, either -- just stand-alone colonies. ...and why do you have massive space fleets & defensive installations for colonies that have never encountered any interstellar enemies? ...and could all the space marines stop being so perfect & flawless? ..and why are ships sized so perfectly in multiples of 100 units of length & width? ...and why are those unit in meters? ...and is whats-her-name the blond or brunette? ...and does it matter? (Answ: No, it doesn't...)
...and, ...and, and....
As I said in the review of the earlier volume. Interchangeable characters, wooden dialog, and zero attempt to world build. I'm a sucker for a book with a spaceship on the cover but I just can't continue this. It's become a chore.
September 19, 2017
As someone who read and enjoyed the three prequels - or is it "after" stories as this one is dated in the future but published later, I was interested to see what the author had in store to lead up with the alien invasion. Without having a spoiler, I wasn't disappointed as the author had engaging action scenes, good dialogue between his characters, and the technology was believable and didn't make you call a foul. This does appear to be a lot like a re-do of Battlestar Galactica.
The various scenes were put together nicely and the ending, as expected, left you wanting more and now I'll join the long list of people waiting for a sequel. One nit I had for this book is it really needs an editor to catch the spelling errors (there vs. their and just cutoff words in the Kindle version) as well as stopping a lot of the choppy sentences.
The various scenes were put together nicely and the ending, as expected, left you wanting more and now I'll join the long list of people waiting for a sequel. One nit I had for this book is it really needs an editor to catch the spelling errors (there vs. their and just cutoff words in the Kindle version) as well as stopping a lot of the choppy sentences.
December 29, 2019
After book 1of The Slaver Wars: Moon Wreck, where Jason Strong discovered the wrecked Federation ship, Ariel and the Survivors of the Federation on the Secret base at Ceres, book 2 Alien Contact, takes us back 100 years to show us the how and why the war was started.
Why did the War Star? Who started it? Who survived and how did they survive?
Great action packed,introduces us to the world's of the Federation, their political governmental and military leaders and the mistakes that were made leading up to the war. Once again the author does a fantastic job of keeping the bureaucratic and governmental sides to a minimum needed, and the human relationships and battles to maximum enjoyment!!!
Why did the War Star? Who started it? Who survived and how did they survive?
Great action packed,introduces us to the world's of the Federation, their political governmental and military leaders and the mistakes that were made leading up to the war. Once again the author does a fantastic job of keeping the bureaucratic and governmental sides to a minimum needed, and the human relationships and battles to maximum enjoyment!!!
January 1, 2018
An interesting stoppage in this series, where the back story of the series is told. I would have thought this would have been the first book, but while it's a bit jarring, and you wonder how you're going to remember the events of the first book as they presumably pick up in the third book, this is in itself a very good story. Lots of action, decent military sci fi. Good continued promise for the series overall. Recommended.
January 8, 2019
Definitely worth a go.
I picked this series a couple of weeks ago and have just finished the second book. Raymond has you just wanting more. This was a great book with a few twists and hardships.. The author has a fantastic imagination building up the main characters and profiles.
I will continue to read them all. Phil
I picked this series a couple of weeks ago and have just finished the second book. Raymond has you just wanting more. This was a great book with a few twists and hardships.. The author has a fantastic imagination building up the main characters and profiles.
I will continue to read them all. Phil
May 18, 2017
Possibilities
The story is very good. The grammar is poor, the editing seems basically nonexistent. Good editing would fix the grammar and the good story would turn into a very good book, and probably a very good series. I will read the next book and hope to see improvement.
The story is very good. The grammar is poor, the editing seems basically nonexistent. Good editing would fix the grammar and the good story would turn into a very good book, and probably a very good series. I will read the next book and hope to see improvement.
January 7, 2018
Series is getting better
This book was an enjoyable read and a good next step in the evolution of the larger story. There is not much character development but the action moves along at a good pace, and I am looking forward to the next books
.
This book was an enjoyable read and a good next step in the evolution of the larger story. There is not much character development but the action moves along at a good pace, and I am looking forward to the next books
.
June 12, 2017
Decent space opera
Nothing overwhelmingly good, an average sci- first adventure. Plenty of action and adventure. But I think one of these is enough.
Nothing overwhelmingly good, an average sci- first adventure. Plenty of action and adventure. But I think one of these is enough.
October 20, 2017
I've read the whole series, and there are lots.
The cast of characters are strong and believable, and honestly I wish I was a crew member on one of their ships.
I am totally sold on this series.
The cast of characters are strong and believable, and honestly I wish I was a crew member on one of their ships.
I am totally sold on this series.
March 30, 2018
Good
Good linkage from the last book. Now to bring it all together in the next book for the future after the first
Good linkage from the last book. Now to bring it all together in the next book for the future after the first
May 21, 2018
Enjoyed very much
Must read, Enjoyed very much, StarTrek, Klingons, The Matrix Machines, and Battlestar Galactica all present, just waiting on the Cylons to show up
Must read, Enjoyed very much, StarTrek, Klingons, The Matrix Machines, and Battlestar Galactica all present, just waiting on the Cylons to show up
June 10, 2018
Enjoyable series, but has many reviews have pointed out the author tends to repeatedly state known facts.
July 16, 2018
It’s starting to get interesting and we get to see the Hocklyns and a bit of their history. Enjoy the book it’s a fun sci fi hasn’t got bogged down in trying to be technical.
July 28, 2018
Good read!
Hope more details of the AI civilization is revealed. Not as detailed as I would like but very enjoyable. Ready for next book.
Hope more details of the AI civilization is revealed. Not as detailed as I would like but very enjoyable. Ready for next book.
March 12, 2017
Writing is a little predictable and is in need some some editing. However, the story if fun and engaging. The rest of the series is getting better.
May 31, 2013
From My Newsletter Number 43:
This review is on a new author I found named Raymond L. Weil. The book is called The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact. It is the first book in the Slaver War Series. It also follows several short stories based on the Moon Wreck Series.
The story starts out in deep space on a Human Federation of Worlds battle cruiser called StarStrike. The crew is far from home deep in enemy territory searching for the aliens called Hocklyn that had attacked their home worlds without warning. Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth is in command of the cruiser.
The story backtracks eight months earlier when the Federation first came into contact with the Hocklyn race. Negotiations failed and the Hocklyn attacked all four home worlds with the intent to make the humans part of their slave worlds. It seems the Hocklyn race obeys the “Masters” who want complete dominion of the galaxy.
The conflict escalates between the Human Federation of Worlds and the Hocklyn Empire. The Hocklyn unfortunately has more advanced technology and more warships and it does not look good for the human race. There is a plot twist at the end, which most people will anticipate, especially if you have read the Moon Wreck Series.
The battle scenes are pretty good and the characters are realistic. The story line reminds me a little of the TV show Battlestar Gallactia. There are also some parallels with the book series called The Frontiers Saga by Ryk Brown, although that series has been compared to Star Trek.
I give this book four stars because the story is interesting and has some exciting battle scenes. I look forward to reading book two in this series and possibly the short stories that serve as a prelude to the book series. All are moderately priced. Hopefully, the author will further develop the new characters and suspense in book two.
Don Viecelli
This review is on a new author I found named Raymond L. Weil. The book is called The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact. It is the first book in the Slaver War Series. It also follows several short stories based on the Moon Wreck Series.
The story starts out in deep space on a Human Federation of Worlds battle cruiser called StarStrike. The crew is far from home deep in enemy territory searching for the aliens called Hocklyn that had attacked their home worlds without warning. Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth is in command of the cruiser.
The story backtracks eight months earlier when the Federation first came into contact with the Hocklyn race. Negotiations failed and the Hocklyn attacked all four home worlds with the intent to make the humans part of their slave worlds. It seems the Hocklyn race obeys the “Masters” who want complete dominion of the galaxy.
The conflict escalates between the Human Federation of Worlds and the Hocklyn Empire. The Hocklyn unfortunately has more advanced technology and more warships and it does not look good for the human race. There is a plot twist at the end, which most people will anticipate, especially if you have read the Moon Wreck Series.
The battle scenes are pretty good and the characters are realistic. The story line reminds me a little of the TV show Battlestar Gallactia. There are also some parallels with the book series called The Frontiers Saga by Ryk Brown, although that series has been compared to Star Trek.
I give this book four stars because the story is interesting and has some exciting battle scenes. I look forward to reading book two in this series and possibly the short stories that serve as a prelude to the book series. All are moderately priced. Hopefully, the author will further develop the new characters and suspense in book two.
Don Viecelli
September 11, 2014
Genre: Space Opera.
I think this means that the book is more about action , combat and thrills than science, character building and deep thinking. SLAVER Wars, Alien Contact is all about what happens when an advanced , peaceful, expansive human society encounters a more advanced alien and definitely not peaceful society. The results are not pretty, but it does make for some exciting moments.
So, why three stars? The characters are all typical. The strong, valiant Admiral, leader of the resistance. A weasley, pompous politician who wants to negotiate with the aliens despite their obvious blood thirsty nature. A tech whiz female officer who falls in love with another office just as everything is going up in radioactive smoke.the dialog is banal. Description of the warships, weapons propulsion and communication systems are brief and relate pretty much to common current terms anyone who has watched the Star Trek vids will be familiar with, so scientific jargon does not get in the way, The aliens are "reptilian" but look much like humans.
Does it matter ? The book is a western ,set in outer space, with the white hats, sneering villains, and tough townspeople waiting for the cavalry. And like those Western movies of too long ago, the book is entertaining, with a slam- bang fight at the finish. In fact, it was that battle at the end, along with a few surprises to tweak the plot that made the book worthwhile.
For fans of the genre, be advised, though. Slaver Wars, Alien Contact is no. 1 of a series at leads six books long, so sve up your pennies if you get into the fate of our heroes.
I think this means that the book is more about action , combat and thrills than science, character building and deep thinking. SLAVER Wars, Alien Contact is all about what happens when an advanced , peaceful, expansive human society encounters a more advanced alien and definitely not peaceful society. The results are not pretty, but it does make for some exciting moments.
So, why three stars? The characters are all typical. The strong, valiant Admiral, leader of the resistance. A weasley, pompous politician who wants to negotiate with the aliens despite their obvious blood thirsty nature. A tech whiz female officer who falls in love with another office just as everything is going up in radioactive smoke.the dialog is banal. Description of the warships, weapons propulsion and communication systems are brief and relate pretty much to common current terms anyone who has watched the Star Trek vids will be familiar with, so scientific jargon does not get in the way, The aliens are "reptilian" but look much like humans.
Does it matter ? The book is a western ,set in outer space, with the white hats, sneering villains, and tough townspeople waiting for the cavalry. And like those Western movies of too long ago, the book is entertaining, with a slam- bang fight at the finish. In fact, it was that battle at the end, along with a few surprises to tweak the plot that made the book worthwhile.
For fans of the genre, be advised, though. Slaver Wars, Alien Contact is no. 1 of a series at leads six books long, so sve up your pennies if you get into the fate of our heroes.
September 15, 2014
12 September 2014
This is a great series! I cannot tell you how much I enjoy reading these books! Unlike the “Fleet Academy” which dealt with mostly younger kids getting in trouble, this book is about grown-ups or the Federation of Humans that have fled their worlds after being almost totally annilated by the AIs and their slave warriors, the Hocklyns.
I have been confused as to the order of the books in this series. I have read “Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy” which was actually book 3 in the series but reading them in the order I have done seems to make for better continuity.
In “Fleet Academy” we found out that there were other humans in our galaxy and we started working with them. But, we didn’t know how they got here or why they came to us in the first place. “Alien Contact” tells you exactly how and why we have the Federation in our solar system and thank goodness they are here.
In this book we get to know Admiral Hedon Streth in great detail. We also meet with Colonel Amanda Sheen, Admiral Streth’s second in command, and get to know her as a human but also as a fast acting warrior. After reading this book, now we know what happened to these humans and what will eventually happen to the humans of Earth if we don’t get prepared for war.
The writing is excellent, continuity is great, it has been superbly edited so it is very easy to read. You will find yourself captured by this book and will probably loose a lot of sleep once you get into it. There is a lot of fast paced action and a lot of human story lines that are nice to read about.
I can’t wait to get into the next book which I will do immediately.
This is a great series! I cannot tell you how much I enjoy reading these books! Unlike the “Fleet Academy” which dealt with mostly younger kids getting in trouble, this book is about grown-ups or the Federation of Humans that have fled their worlds after being almost totally annilated by the AIs and their slave warriors, the Hocklyns.
I have been confused as to the order of the books in this series. I have read “Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy” which was actually book 3 in the series but reading them in the order I have done seems to make for better continuity.
In “Fleet Academy” we found out that there were other humans in our galaxy and we started working with them. But, we didn’t know how they got here or why they came to us in the first place. “Alien Contact” tells you exactly how and why we have the Federation in our solar system and thank goodness they are here.
In this book we get to know Admiral Hedon Streth in great detail. We also meet with Colonel Amanda Sheen, Admiral Streth’s second in command, and get to know her as a human but also as a fast acting warrior. After reading this book, now we know what happened to these humans and what will eventually happen to the humans of Earth if we don’t get prepared for war.
The writing is excellent, continuity is great, it has been superbly edited so it is very easy to read. You will find yourself captured by this book and will probably loose a lot of sleep once you get into it. There is a lot of fast paced action and a lot of human story lines that are nice to read about.
I can’t wait to get into the next book which I will do immediately.
September 15, 2016
I enjoyed the premise and overall storyline. It was a very enjoyable read, for the most part.
What I had a problem with was the writer's style. It felt very choppy to me, with sentences ending abruptly. I kept getting knocked out of my reading zone when a sentence would bring my reading to a screeching halt.
If you like this style of writing then you will find this a very enjoyable read.
What I had a problem with was the writer's style. It felt very choppy to me, with sentences ending abruptly. I kept getting knocked out of my reading zone when a sentence would bring my reading to a screeching halt.
If you like this style of writing then you will find this a very enjoyable read.
July 17, 2014
I won this book in a Goodreads contest.
Having never read a Raymond L. Weil book before, I didn't know what to expect. I liked the story and the concept. Towards the end of the book, the story slightly reflected one of my all-time favorite Syfy series whose name will go unmentioned to avoid even a slight spoiler.
However, there were 2 things about this book that annoyed me.
My first pet peeve was the breathing. This character took a deep fortifying breath. That character took a steadying breath. And this other character let out a long sigh. I felt as though the author was stuck on inhaling/exhaling as a predominate way of expressing a character's emotions. I believe the expressions of the characters, both through their verbal exchanges and their actions, is the one area which needs the most improvement.
The second annoyance with this book was the editing, or lack thereof. I'm far from being a grammar/spelling nazi, for lack of a better term (calm down, I'm Jewish), but I found this book to have a lot of spelling errors, missing commas, and missing or misplaced quotation marks.
That being said, I hope that my critique will help the author grow in some way. And, I do have an interest in seeing where this story goes in the future.
Having never read a Raymond L. Weil book before, I didn't know what to expect. I liked the story and the concept. Towards the end of the book, the story slightly reflected one of my all-time favorite Syfy series whose name will go unmentioned to avoid even a slight spoiler.
However, there were 2 things about this book that annoyed me.
My first pet peeve was the breathing. This character took a deep fortifying breath. That character took a steadying breath. And this other character let out a long sigh. I felt as though the author was stuck on inhaling/exhaling as a predominate way of expressing a character's emotions. I believe the expressions of the characters, both through their verbal exchanges and their actions, is the one area which needs the most improvement.
The second annoyance with this book was the editing, or lack thereof. I'm far from being a grammar/spelling nazi, for lack of a better term (calm down, I'm Jewish), but I found this book to have a lot of spelling errors, missing commas, and missing or misplaced quotation marks.
That being said, I hope that my critique will help the author grow in some way. And, I do have an interest in seeing where this story goes in the future.
May 28, 2013
This is the only the second book I have ever given a 5 Star rating . I found this story/novel to be awesomely entertaining. It is the "prequel" if you will to the "Moon Wreck" trilogy novellas. It's hard to get into any descriptions without giving away any spoilers.... Its basically is the story of the Human Federation from the Moon Wreck novellas making first contact and the conflict that ensues with the species that is so much described and feared in Moon Wreck. This story is action packed. It describes huge space naval battles and the tactics that are used to try and win them. There is awesome weapon technology that is used to wage war in an all out defense of the people and places you read about. You get some history of the who what and when and whats nice is that the reader discovers this as the humans in the book does. Now this book isn't perfect. You could nick pick to death as some readers make it their mission to do. Its just too darn entertaining for me to care about any errors and I am so looking forward to any continuation to this story which should entail troubles closer to home.
October 28, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. It is written in the old style sci-fi of space travel, aliens, and gadgets. Some have complained about the lack (to their satisfaction) of character development but I was happy with the characters as written. Any more info about them, for me, would have just added more pages and slowed down the story.
This would be a 5-star book except for two things... I'm not big on "the story continues in my next book" books and trying to determine what book(s) precede or come next is a real chore. After some searching you learn that there is a three book prequel with a totally different title, with more digging you find out that there is a fourth prequel book. More digging reveals that the 4th book is really a complete collection of the first three, so you don't need to buy the first three at all. CONFUSING!! The author did not himself, or his readers, any favor with the setup/arrangement of this series. Still, I only docked one star for this lapse.
This would be a 5-star book except for two things... I'm not big on "the story continues in my next book" books and trying to determine what book(s) precede or come next is a real chore. After some searching you learn that there is a three book prequel with a totally different title, with more digging you find out that there is a fourth prequel book. More digging reveals that the 4th book is really a complete collection of the first three, so you don't need to buy the first three at all. CONFUSING!! The author did not himself, or his readers, any favor with the setup/arrangement of this series. Still, I only docked one star for this lapse.
August 18, 2016
so the this book series has a bunch 4 star reviews but not really sure why. Not saying a bad series so far and probably read a couple more in the series because I have started it. I would just say it is unremarkable in comparison to other books in the same genre. Maybe it is a slow starter. I would have to say it has been awhile since I have read an entire book and not remembered a single character or name from the book a day after reading the book. I know there was a woman, some AIs, and bunch of ships, an alien race, and some type of Empire. I would just say there was no significant dimension or uniqueness about them to make me remember them. I think it was because the descriptions of everything was so poor and undeveloped. I feel like there was some obligatory misogynistic description of the female after taking a shower but not really any description of any other character. Something positive to say? Hmm. Consistently mediocre across the board nothing really awful about it.
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