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STRAT
On a hell-class world where feudal lords joust with mechs and use memetic tech to imprint loyalty onto their vassals and thralls, all Charlie and his people ask is to be left alone, free to think for themselves.
Then, on his wedding day, Charlie's bride is kidnapped to be a thrall. As he fights for his life and her freedom, he discovers the war helm of an ancient and powerful lord. He needs the knowledge in the helm to bring the battle to his enemies. But if he uses it, he risks losing himself... and becoming embroiled in a war that will soon span the galaxy.
Then, on his wedding day, Charlie's bride is kidnapped to be a thrall. As he fights for his life and her freedom, he discovers the war helm of an ancient and powerful lord. He needs the knowledge in the helm to bring the battle to his enemies. But if he uses it, he risks losing himself... and becoming embroiled in a war that will soon span the galaxy.
- GenresScience Fiction
275 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 3, 2013
2 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
Tara Maya
138 books175 followersTara Maya has lived in Africa, Europe and Asia. She's pounded sorghum with mortar and pestle in a little clay village where the jungle meets the desert, meditated in a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas and sailed the Volga river to a secret city that was once the heart of the Soviet space program. This first-hand experience, as well as research into the strange and piquant histories of lost civilizations, inspires her writing. Her terrible housekeeping, however, is entirely the fault of pixies.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 20, 2024
I liked it.
January 23, 2016
Book Info
ebook, 275 pages
Published June 3rd 2013 by Misque Press
ASIN B00D6KC6Y4
edition language English
Source:From Author in exchange for honest review
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On a hell-class world where feudal lords joust with mechs and use memetic tech to imprint loyalty onto their vassals and thralls, all Charlie and his people ask is to be left alone, free to think for themselves.
Then, on his wedding day, Charlie's bride is kidnapped to be a thrall. As he fights for his life and her freedom, he discovers the war helm of an ancient and powerful lord. He needs the knowledge in the helm to bring the battle to his enemies. But if he uses it, he risks losing himself... and becoming embroiled in a war that will soon span the galaxy.
Charlie Cooper is the main character and whose POV is how the story unfolds. This is a very complex tale that encompasses a span of time less than 20 years but in the time frame there is a lot of changes in store for Charlie that are both good and bad in their own way.
When the story starts it starts out full blast without taking too much time out for world or character development which allows the reader to get involved immediately with both in a way that is at times overwhelming but also allows one to take in each detail as it happens rather than waiting for an elaborate setup.To say that this is an easy book to read would be an untruth but it is also not that hard to follow if you just allow the narrative and action to flow naturally without over thinking about what you are absorbing as the pages pass.
The book is one that details the change from someone who has only been exposed to a very narrow view of life, in his years alive on his home world of Neraka Charlie Cooper has only dreamed big one time in his life and that is to spend every moment from his wedding day forward with his beloved Benisse but thanks to a cosmic irony fate has other things in store for the two starting with the arrival of an unexpected "guest" to their wedding who changes everyone's fate in one fell swoop for years to come.
Author Tara Maya has once again taken her own unique brand of writing style and combined it with her vision of a future for her characters that is both outlandish as well as very believable. The conflicts that Charlie faces during the intervening years from his origins of early life to the later years where his entire way of thinking is turned upside down over and over again are just a part of what makes this read interesting as it makes you think long and hard about what it would be like to try and save a sense of self under very trying emotional and physical conditions.
More than just a story about galactic warfare Strat is full of revelations about the inner workings of what truly makes one human and what it takes to strip that humanity to the very bone when push comes to shove.
ebook, 275 pages
Published June 3rd 2013 by Misque Press
ASIN B00D6KC6Y4
edition language English
Source:From Author in exchange for honest review
Book Buy Links
AMAZON
B&N
BOOK SYNOPSIS
On a hell-class world where feudal lords joust with mechs and use memetic tech to imprint loyalty onto their vassals and thralls, all Charlie and his people ask is to be left alone, free to think for themselves.
Then, on his wedding day, Charlie's bride is kidnapped to be a thrall. As he fights for his life and her freedom, he discovers the war helm of an ancient and powerful lord. He needs the knowledge in the helm to bring the battle to his enemies. But if he uses it, he risks losing himself... and becoming embroiled in a war that will soon span the galaxy.
My Thoughts
Charlie Cooper is the main character and whose POV is how the story unfolds. This is a very complex tale that encompasses a span of time less than 20 years but in the time frame there is a lot of changes in store for Charlie that are both good and bad in their own way.
When the story starts it starts out full blast without taking too much time out for world or character development which allows the reader to get involved immediately with both in a way that is at times overwhelming but also allows one to take in each detail as it happens rather than waiting for an elaborate setup.To say that this is an easy book to read would be an untruth but it is also not that hard to follow if you just allow the narrative and action to flow naturally without over thinking about what you are absorbing as the pages pass.
The book is one that details the change from someone who has only been exposed to a very narrow view of life, in his years alive on his home world of Neraka Charlie Cooper has only dreamed big one time in his life and that is to spend every moment from his wedding day forward with his beloved Benisse but thanks to a cosmic irony fate has other things in store for the two starting with the arrival of an unexpected "guest" to their wedding who changes everyone's fate in one fell swoop for years to come.
Author Tara Maya has once again taken her own unique brand of writing style and combined it with her vision of a future for her characters that is both outlandish as well as very believable. The conflicts that Charlie faces during the intervening years from his origins of early life to the later years where his entire way of thinking is turned upside down over and over again are just a part of what makes this read interesting as it makes you think long and hard about what it would be like to try and save a sense of self under very trying emotional and physical conditions.
More than just a story about galactic warfare Strat is full of revelations about the inner workings of what truly makes one human and what it takes to strip that humanity to the very bone when push comes to shove.
[KINDLE COPY FROM Authorin exchange for honest review]
July 27, 2013
Describing this as military science fiction is like describing Pride and Prejudice as a romance novel. This is one of those gems that is so welcome (but rare) in the $3.99 section of your favourite ebook store.
Charlie's battles with both enemies (and his own mind about what is a real memory and what is propaganda) are imaginative and Tara Maya serves up surprise after surprise and well rounded characters.
The weapons, strategies, cultures, and hell class worlds are all great but so is the Decline and Fall way that shit just happens to Charlie.
Fab, the best sci fi book you'll pick up for $3.99 this year.
Charlie's battles with both enemies (and his own mind about what is a real memory and what is propaganda) are imaginative and Tara Maya serves up surprise after surprise and well rounded characters.
The weapons, strategies, cultures, and hell class worlds are all great but so is the Decline and Fall way that shit just happens to Charlie.
Fab, the best sci fi book you'll pick up for $3.99 this year.
August 29, 2013
I had high hopes for this book. I LOVE the Unfinished Song series from Tara Maya, but I just couldn't get into STRAT. The premise seemed interesting, but I was unable to find myself engaged in the story. It's possible it's simply because I'm not a big military/strategy book reader; I do really enjoy Dystopian type books, but this book just didn't fit that category.
I admire greatly that the author seeks to branch out into new genres. This book was just not my style.
I admire greatly that the author seeks to branch out into new genres. This book was just not my style.
January 19, 2014
Strat tells the story of a man who goes from a resistance movement on his home world to an interstellar mercenary. War is an ugly business and the first person account leaves little doubt of that. While at times hard to follow, the story does keep the reader's attention. The author certainly describes worlds that would at best unpleasant to live in.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews