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A Galaxy Unknown #9
Retreat And Adapt
Admiral Jenetta Carver, in Region One for just the second time since becoming Commander of the Second Fleet, receives a message that the scout-destroyer Yenisei, on routine patrol, is overdue. The ship's last report ended with a statement that they were attempting to overtake several small ships spotted on their DeTect monitors.
Admiral Augustus Poole, in command while Jenetta is away, has officially listed the ship as missing, and ordered all available ships within two hundred light-years to proceed to the Yenisei's last reported position and begin a search.
Weeks later, the Yenisei is found. Technological advances have made Space Command the most powerful military force in the known galaxy, but although sheathed with Dakinium and believed to be almost impervious to weapons fire, the Yenisei's hull is riddled with holes and the crew is dead. The ship's computer log contains images of three attacking vessels with a configuration never before seen in GA space. It appears that a new enemy has emerged, one with weapons superior to anything Space Command has.
Admiral Augustus Poole, in command while Jenetta is away, has officially listed the ship as missing, and ordered all available ships within two hundred light-years to proceed to the Yenisei's last reported position and begin a search.
Weeks later, the Yenisei is found. Technological advances have made Space Command the most powerful military force in the known galaxy, but although sheathed with Dakinium and believed to be almost impervious to weapons fire, the Yenisei's hull is riddled with holes and the crew is dead. The ship's computer log contains images of three attacking vessels with a configuration never before seen in GA space. It appears that a new enemy has emerged, one with weapons superior to anything Space Command has.
364 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2013
72 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 30, 2013
So where do I start hmm, A Galaxy Unknown is one of my favorite series, not because of the quality of writing, plot or characterization or anything else, but because it was really fun and light to read. For me this series pretty much gave me the same feeling as reading, say, Harry Potter for instance, it doesn't consume much brain cells as (most of) my other books that I've read.
Ok that was the good part of my opinion about the series, now it's time to spill out the beans. Regarding this particular book (Retreat & Adapt)...
I have no idea, why, a lot of authors seems to have this particular disease of referencing pre 21st century notables on a book that 'resides' in somewhere between two, three or more centuries later from current time.
If someone asks me, one thing that I dislike about this book, that would be it, it's not the superhuman capability of the main protagonist (up to the extent that it made no sense at all), from thousands of years of lifespan, the genius, the one that seems to have an answer to every single problem she encounters; heck you could probably throw every extinction-level event/problems to her face and she would have an answer for it, every time. None of those bothers me, because it's the exact thing which made the series fun, for me at least.
Back to the issue then, the thing that bothers me the most, from Thomas DePrima's narrative was, this one single thing where he always reference either 21st/20th century events or people, from war tactics, philosophical notes, up to generic notable events. Things like "in the 20th century, Americans does that, Germans does this, [insert_random_famous_philosopher_here] once said [insert_important_quotes_here]"; it bothers me because, let's face it, the book/series setting's in the 23rd century. There's no way, not even remotely possible, that despite every other impossibilities in the series, that no one, not a single damn event from the past two centuries is notable from the perspective of tactics. What? humanity suddenly gone dumb and there are no important events, at all, for two hundred years? no smart people, charismatic leaders, philosopher, great tacticians or scientists or politician who have done something remarkable? was Einstein and Michio Kaku the last smart modern scienstists? if that was the case, humanity is doomed before the series even started, there's no excuse to that. Not even for the sake of readers so we can relate to the book via past/recent historical events.
I was hoping that Thomas DePrima would stop doing this after so many books. Proving that you know some "stuff" about our history won't impress anyone Thomas, even moreso that most people who read your books probably know about them already.
Ok that was the good part of my opinion about the series, now it's time to spill out the beans. Regarding this particular book (Retreat & Adapt)...
I have no idea, why, a lot of authors seems to have this particular disease of referencing pre 21st century notables on a book that 'resides' in somewhere between two, three or more centuries later from current time.
If someone asks me, one thing that I dislike about this book, that would be it, it's not the superhuman capability of the main protagonist (up to the extent that it made no sense at all), from thousands of years of lifespan, the genius, the one that seems to have an answer to every single problem she encounters; heck you could probably throw every extinction-level event/problems to her face and she would have an answer for it, every time. None of those bothers me, because it's the exact thing which made the series fun, for me at least.
Back to the issue then, the thing that bothers me the most, from Thomas DePrima's narrative was, this one single thing where he always reference either 21st/20th century events or people, from war tactics, philosophical notes, up to generic notable events. Things like "in the 20th century, Americans does that, Germans does this, [insert_random_famous_philosopher_here] once said [insert_important_quotes_here]"; it bothers me because, let's face it, the book/series setting's in the 23rd century. There's no way, not even remotely possible, that despite every other impossibilities in the series, that no one, not a single damn event from the past two centuries is notable from the perspective of tactics. What? humanity suddenly gone dumb and there are no important events, at all, for two hundred years? no smart people, charismatic leaders, philosopher, great tacticians or scientists or politician who have done something remarkable? was Einstein and Michio Kaku the last smart modern scienstists? if that was the case, humanity is doomed before the series even started, there's no excuse to that. Not even for the sake of readers so we can relate to the book via past/recent historical events.
I was hoping that Thomas DePrima would stop doing this after so many books. Proving that you know some "stuff" about our history won't impress anyone Thomas, even moreso that most people who read your books probably know about them already.
July 15, 2023
a Galaxy Unknown
I have read all nine books on Kindle twice now and it is my favorite SCI-FI series I have read and I read a lot. Great characters richly developed and great stories that leet you riveted to your reader. Only disappointing feature is the last two books in the series are not available for Kindle.
I have read all nine books on Kindle twice now and it is my favorite SCI-FI series I have read and I read a lot. Great characters richly developed and great stories that leet you riveted to your reader. Only disappointing feature is the last two books in the series are not available for Kindle.
September 10, 2023
l love these stories.
I listened to this story during an interstate drive. As a retired mechanical engineer I was reminded of the rigorous testing required for new product development and Mr. DePrima captures the process well. Handheld devices have fit issues that require micron accuracy for proper fit and the problem resolution and disciplinary action for poor workmanship was very amusing.
I listened to this story during an interstate drive. As a retired mechanical engineer I was reminded of the rigorous testing required for new product development and Mr. DePrima captures the process well. Handheld devices have fit issues that require micron accuracy for proper fit and the problem resolution and disciplinary action for poor workmanship was very amusing.
February 11, 2019
i very much enjoyed this series.
January 19, 2020
I have liked every book in this series. Just bought book 10 direct from author and looking forward to reading.
February 5, 2024
4.5/5 Stars
October 2, 2013
This story and the host of characters rates a 4 stars in my book....
The Carver sisters are proving to be extraordinarily gifted in thinking outside the box when the spam hits the fan.... It's almost as if they don't even know there IS a box or that it ever existed at all!! The pace and stories are excellent and the pantheon of character are large, and diverse an allow for many possible subplots that add depth and spice to the situations the Carvers find themselves in. I have enjoyed watching the growth of the characters, especially Jenetta as she keeps suffering from the the fruits of her own success. her sisters Christa and Eliza (who are clones of Jenetta...) seem to not be suffering the same fate but are also showing themselves to be highly capable too. although there have been critics that these stories are a barely disguised version of the Honor Harrington series of books, I think they stand up pretty well. While some similarities are inevitable given the nature of the books and the general subject matter, the fact that she is military, gifted in tactics, rewarded by many for her actions in similar ways to H.H. and that she has a 2 non-human companion who seem to understand her, the stories are unique and the protagonists different from the Honor Harrington universe in that they tend to be non-human and unlike Honor Harrington, she has generally hated the promotions that have taken her further and further from any chance to command a ship of her own and has even contemplated more than once resigning if she is forced to the very highest position: Admiral of the Fleet. I think her "sisters" will fare better career wise in the sense that they haven't been victims of their own success as much as Jenette has been a victim of her own. I am huge fan of the David Weber/Honor Harrington Universe but I have enjoyed these books very much. I accept the fact that given the genre, there will be some potential overlap and accept the similarities rather than trying to find fault and wasting time comparing and contrasting. I just read and enjoy them for what they are.
The Carver sisters are proving to be extraordinarily gifted in thinking outside the box when the spam hits the fan.... It's almost as if they don't even know there IS a box or that it ever existed at all!! The pace and stories are excellent and the pantheon of character are large, and diverse an allow for many possible subplots that add depth and spice to the situations the Carvers find themselves in. I have enjoyed watching the growth of the characters, especially Jenetta as she keeps suffering from the the fruits of her own success. her sisters Christa and Eliza (who are clones of Jenetta...) seem to not be suffering the same fate but are also showing themselves to be highly capable too. although there have been critics that these stories are a barely disguised version of the Honor Harrington series of books, I think they stand up pretty well. While some similarities are inevitable given the nature of the books and the general subject matter, the fact that she is military, gifted in tactics, rewarded by many for her actions in similar ways to H.H. and that she has a 2 non-human companion who seem to understand her, the stories are unique and the protagonists different from the Honor Harrington universe in that they tend to be non-human and unlike Honor Harrington, she has generally hated the promotions that have taken her further and further from any chance to command a ship of her own and has even contemplated more than once resigning if she is forced to the very highest position: Admiral of the Fleet. I think her "sisters" will fare better career wise in the sense that they haven't been victims of their own success as much as Jenette has been a victim of her own. I am huge fan of the David Weber/Honor Harrington Universe but I have enjoyed these books very much. I accept the fact that given the genre, there will be some potential overlap and accept the similarities rather than trying to find fault and wasting time comparing and contrasting. I just read and enjoy them for what they are.
July 4, 2013
This is the 9th book in the A Galaxy Unknown series. It continues the tradition of the books in this series by getting a top star rating from me. Few, if any, book series have managed to keep such a high level of scores throughout such a long series.
As with the other books in the series this is a well written one. Despite the fact that Jenetta now have advanced to being an Admiral the author did not fall into the trap of making her take the second seat. There is plenty of Jenetta Carver in this book which is the way I like it. That does not mean that she is doing all the work in the book of course but she is certainly the lead character. The infamous Admiral Hubera is gone which is not a bad thing since he was becoming a rather pathetic and ludicrous person.
Jenetta’s arch nemesis Ravenau is also back although this is mostly a side-plot that kind of tags along and although there are some interesting, but not very unpredictable, twists on the way it never really leads to much in this book. These parts feel more like a stage setting exercise for a future book. It is probably the parts of the book that I like the least. I prefer Jenetta being in space shooting up bad guys rather than the treacherous scheming of Ravenau.
Another trap that the author did not fall into was just creating an enemy that was more of the same with bigger guns and bigger ships (okay they got some bigger ships) but actually create some believable new weaponry to give the new enemy an edge without making them too “über”. The response that was developed was also creative and believable. Well, you have to swallow the author’s concept of hyperspace and FTL-travel first of course but still, it was a good and somewhat original concept.
There are of course some loose ends on which to base the next book. One of them I was not too happy about but it all depends on what the author decides to do with it in the next book. You have to read this one yourselves to see what those loose ends are though.
As with the other books in the series this is a well written one. Despite the fact that Jenetta now have advanced to being an Admiral the author did not fall into the trap of making her take the second seat. There is plenty of Jenetta Carver in this book which is the way I like it. That does not mean that she is doing all the work in the book of course but she is certainly the lead character. The infamous Admiral Hubera is gone which is not a bad thing since he was becoming a rather pathetic and ludicrous person.
Jenetta’s arch nemesis Ravenau is also back although this is mostly a side-plot that kind of tags along and although there are some interesting, but not very unpredictable, twists on the way it never really leads to much in this book. These parts feel more like a stage setting exercise for a future book. It is probably the parts of the book that I like the least. I prefer Jenetta being in space shooting up bad guys rather than the treacherous scheming of Ravenau.
Another trap that the author did not fall into was just creating an enemy that was more of the same with bigger guns and bigger ships (okay they got some bigger ships) but actually create some believable new weaponry to give the new enemy an edge without making them too “über”. The response that was developed was also creative and believable. Well, you have to swallow the author’s concept of hyperspace and FTL-travel first of course but still, it was a good and somewhat original concept.
There are of course some loose ends on which to base the next book. One of them I was not too happy about but it all depends on what the author decides to do with it in the next book. You have to read this one yourselves to see what those loose ends are though.
Currently reading
December 8, 2013Thank. God. this is the last one (before the new! series!) After this is all over I'm gonna start a re-read of Kris Longknife because Kris is teh awesome and I fell behind in the series.
So what do I anticipate in this book... well Cylons obviously, because there's one on the cover. The Mary Sue X3 will conquer in their amazing amazingnousness and everyone will belabor the fact that they are so! amazing! I think somewhere in the middle of the series I entered some kind of delusional haze where I was convinced that there was only two books left when there were actually five (5!) but for real this time... ONLY TWO TO GO UNTIL IT'S OVER, THANK YOU JESUS (and also Buddha)
^^^^the above written before I even cracked the book.
Reading the book, observations:
I think the original clone was Honor Harrington...
there's loads of boring parts, I'm skimming
it's reminding me of a vacation's slide show hosted by your aged uncle and aunt whom you don't like very much
racism, yay!
self-righteousness, yay!
gah can't take anymore will continue later...
So what do I anticipate in this book... well Cylons obviously, because there's one on the cover. The Mary Sue X3 will conquer in their amazing amazingnousness and everyone will belabor the fact that they are so! amazing! I think somewhere in the middle of the series I entered some kind of delusional haze where I was convinced that there was only two books left when there were actually five (5!) but for real this time... ONLY TWO TO GO UNTIL IT'S OVER, THANK YOU JESUS (and also Buddha)
^^^^the above written before I even cracked the book.
Reading the book, observations:
I think the original clone was Honor Harrington...
there's loads of boring parts, I'm skimming
it's reminding me of a vacation's slide show hosted by your aged uncle and aunt whom you don't like very much
racism, yay!
self-righteousness, yay!
gah can't take anymore will continue later...
July 8, 2013
The main story line was well told, with a good build up to the battle at the end, but a number of the sub plots didn't really go anywhere and would have been better left out. These sub plots were often in tiny cut scenes that were way too short, which gave the book a bitty, restless feel that really didn't help it.
Unfortunately I feel that Jenetta has now got way too big for her boots, and the stories are just starting to get overblown. The smaller, more intimate stories from early on, and the return to form in Return to Dakistee were much more interesting. Which reminds me, the elephant in the room from the end of Dakistee did not get addressed, and I found that disappointing.
Unfortunately I feel that Jenetta has now got way too big for her boots, and the stories are just starting to get overblown. The smaller, more intimate stories from early on, and the return to form in Return to Dakistee were much more interesting. Which reminds me, the elephant in the room from the end of Dakistee did not get addressed, and I found that disappointing.
January 27, 2022
Retreat And AdaptRetreat And AdaptThomas DePrimaI can't think where Jenetta goes from here, she has made it to the top position militarily.
I am looking forward to book 10 in the series. I hope Thomas Deprima and Amazon can resolve there differences otherwise the next book will not be available on Kindle.
I am looking forward to book 10 in the series. I hope Thomas Deprima and Amazon can resolve there differences otherwise the next book will not be available on Kindle.
July 2, 2013
I liked the book, but it felt a bit "bitty" with a number of different plot lines not seeming to fully coalescing together at the end and a number of points which just felt rushed and didn't seem to gel as well as they have in the past books. The main plot of the attacking ships seemed to end in a rather unremarkable way and although it was nice to see some of the raider background I feel like it was a completely separate story just placed in the book to pad out the main timeline. Maybe I missed something but despite liking the story continuation it unfortunately didn't catch me as much as the previous books did.
August 2, 2013
I have enjoyed this series on my kindle from the start and am sorry to say re-read them a couple of times. Jenetta is an old friend, the books are light space opera, the good guys wear white hat's the bad guys wear black hats and we all know she will win in the end. I never understand why people get so hot under the collar about technicalities, it's FICTION.
However, that all said I do feel that poor Jenetta has now gone as far as she can and Thomas has got her stuck behind that desk. So unless, by some miracle she can be extricated from her current position the stories will just not be the same.
However, that all said I do feel that poor Jenetta has now gone as far as she can and Thomas has got her stuck behind that desk. So unless, by some miracle she can be extricated from her current position the stories will just not be the same.
August 5, 2013
Ugh too bad this book didn't meet my expectation. Its still continue the story but not enough action or war. the book took three story line but all of them feel incomplete. The raider story at first good but fall short. the Ruwalchu story seem kinda joke. the Denubbewa story is good but not enough action and too much puzzle in the end. Now book 9 is over and I don't know when book 10 is arrive, I feel the waiting is torturing me. Hope book 10 can give me a war.....
January 29, 2015
For whatever reason, I very much enjoy these military/scifi/space-operas. The author would probably benefit from a better editor, but the issues aren't enough to deter me from liking his work... just... there is a lot of clumsy redundancy.
"I want to communicate to the reader X, so I will have character say X, even though it would make no sense for that to ever happen in the conversation where it did."
"I want to communicate to the reader X, so I will have character say X, even though it would make no sense for that to ever happen in the conversation where it did."
January 11, 2016
This was a improvement over the last book and we got to see that the characters are not as invincible as the story was starting to seem. I liked the action and the build up in this book and that you got to see plot details being build for late stories. I do have to say there were some messed up parts like people getting Nazi experimented on but overall a good read and a welcome addition to the series.
July 10, 2016
I've read the 10 first books so obviosly this is a good enough series.
Not as good as David Weber's Honnor Harington, but if you liked that one... you'll like this one.
Don't expect very mulidimensional caracters, but a fun exciting read.
Not as good as David Weber's Honnor Harington, but if you liked that one... you'll like this one.
Don't expect very mulidimensional caracters, but a fun exciting read.
August 16, 2013
I love this author, great series.
April 22, 2014
Great Series. a little boring in places but still a fun read.
March 24, 2015
As another installment int he series, it's reasonably enjoyable, although there's not much of a story ark. Not recommended for readers who are not already plugged into this series.
September 15, 2024
Good read. Interesting story line. Recommended.
August 3, 2013
Aww I can't believe what Jen said at the end :/
August 13, 2017
The book moves at a really good pace, has some good and witty dialogue, and even a few plot twists. Captured from the first page, and totally enthralled with the characters. Action and unpredictable excitement kept me enchanted. The writing is great and it's a book you won't be able to put down! I am well pleased with the ending...more is required please!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews