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Wandering Engineer #5
Plague Planet
Things just weren't looking good for John Henry Irons, Fleet Admiral of the once mighty Federation of Sapient Planets, ever since his awakening five years ago he'd been through the ringer emotionally. First, finding his beloved civilization destroyed. But he'd vowed to rebuild.
Twice in moments of seeming triumph he was cut down, kicked out or driven out of a system he was trying to help.
Now things were starting to look up, he had his own courier ship, the Phoenix, to get him around the sector. With his loyal AI crew he was fairly certain he could finally get started on laying the ground work of the new Federation.
He thought Epsilon Triangula would be just a stopping point, the place to refuel before his long jump across the sector, but once again events conspired to involve him in local affairs and his reputation and the desire of others to find people like him brought him face to face with an old and terrifying enemy.
Irons has fought many battles in his lifetime, but how can he fight something he can barely see? Something that can reproduce a thousand fold in the blink of an eye and is carried by the winds of the planet? And how will he deal with the terrified people he's trying to help?
Is he going to be forced to watch millions die on this PLAGUE PLANET?
Twice in moments of seeming triumph he was cut down, kicked out or driven out of a system he was trying to help.
Now things were starting to look up, he had his own courier ship, the Phoenix, to get him around the sector. With his loyal AI crew he was fairly certain he could finally get started on laying the ground work of the new Federation.
He thought Epsilon Triangula would be just a stopping point, the place to refuel before his long jump across the sector, but once again events conspired to involve him in local affairs and his reputation and the desire of others to find people like him brought him face to face with an old and terrifying enemy.
Irons has fought many battles in his lifetime, but how can he fight something he can barely see? Something that can reproduce a thousand fold in the blink of an eye and is carried by the winds of the planet? And how will he deal with the terrified people he's trying to help?
Is he going to be forced to watch millions die on this PLAGUE PLANET?
563 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 10, 2013
26 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 11, 2017
Filler
Filler filler filler filler. Did I say that enough? Yes I understand this book is to get you to the next one. However it should be FREE
Filler filler filler filler. Did I say that enough? Yes I understand this book is to get you to the next one. However it should be FREE
November 17, 2013
The author has finally gone too far with this book I'm sorry to say. In the past, I kind of looked past really poor grammar and spelling because the story was interesting, but in this book, the author has went wholesale into stealing other people's characters and plots with the use of thinly (or not at all) disguised versions of 20th century pop culture characters. Examples: a planet with a Hazard County run by "Boss Hodges" w/ a Roscoe, a Cleetus and a sexy farm daughter that's interested in Luke. Another: a city named Metropolis with a newspaper crew of Jimmy, Lois and Clark working with the editor Perry White. Another city with hte name of Gotham w/ oblique references to Batman. A worker installing a cell phone network uses the phrase "Can you hear me now?" - I'm sure Verizon is thrilled. At best, these are copyright infringements; at worst plagiarism. In any case, a demonstration of laziness on the authors part. I may read future works by this author, but will no longer pay for them - if he does not respect the IP rights of others, I see no reason to respect his. It doesn't matter how good a story is, if the author treats his readers with this level of contempt.
July 25, 2013
Ooph this is a hard start. Hechtl is fitting a lot of background into the first few pages, and the lack of a truly professional editor definitely shows. I know I liked the rest of the series, and I will probably like this one when it gets started, but 3% in and I skipped to another short story. 7% was where it got better, and by 20% I was sucked into the plot.
Alright, as is typical of Hechtl when the main action started this one got significantly better & more engrossing. The action is good, the characters are pretty good, and the writing is improving - definitely more editing would help. They're cheap quick reads, but the author has a lot of potential, and at the rate he's writing them he's going to be excellent in a few years. A few loose ends & unbelievable parts (regarding characters, the universe is actually pretty consistent for a sci-fi) but overall a solid continuation of the series.
Alright, as is typical of Hechtl when the main action started this one got significantly better & more engrossing. The action is good, the characters are pretty good, and the writing is improving - definitely more editing would help. They're cheap quick reads, but the author has a lot of potential, and at the rate he's writing them he's going to be excellent in a few years. A few loose ends & unbelievable parts (regarding characters, the universe is actually pretty consistent for a sci-fi) but overall a solid continuation of the series.
August 11, 2013
the "politics in this make no sense and the author "borrows" a lot of names from other stories Gotham,Metropolis with a news paper company who just happen to have a photographer name Jimmy,2 reporters named Lois and Clark, Oh and April O'Neil who is also a reporter that wears a yellow jumpsuit and is red head come on man you got some great potential as a writer seems u just get lazy sometimes with the names hell just mix and match the names Like April Kent for example, but yes this one is definitely your best of the series so far, and find yourself an editor don't take this as me complaining ok a little yes but more like constructive criticism
January 26, 2014
Author Hechtl continues a great space opera. I have read all previous books in the WANDERING ENGINEER series and find his story line fresh and believable. That said, he has a tendency to deliver long discourses that slow the pace. All of his work is in need of professional editing and/or proof-reading. In spite of the errors, his books are worth reading and I look forward to additions to the series.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews