To the Shores...

Empire's Corps #6

by Christopher G. Nuttall

A new mainstream novel of The Empire's Corps! Four years after their abandonment by the now-fallen Empire, the Commonwealth of Avalon is expanding into interstellar space and making contact with other successor states. With suspicion high on both sides, the Commonwealth and the enigmatic Wolfbane agree to hold a diplomatic meeting on Lakshmibai, a neutral world. But Lakshmibai's government hates off-worlders and, with the fall of the Empire, sees its chance to be rid of the hatred intruders once and for all. While Edward Stalker is besieged in their capital city, Jasmine Yamane must lead an untested army on a race against time to save the diplomats from annihilation. And if she fails, the Battle of Lakshmibai may be the first shot in a new interstellar war.

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Space Opera, Action, Military Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction

478 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2013

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, not as good as the others have been, but good.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed reading this series so far. Book six has us back with Stalker’s Stalker again. Nuttall is continuing to build most interesting characters. The bad guys are really bad like in the old B movies of the 1950s. Nuttall kept the story about the characters and doesn’t wander off into lots of techno babble but he does get hung up repeating his fall of the Empire causes.

The story is fast paced with lots of action. I was surprised the author killed off one of the original favorite characters.

Nuttall has the Commonwealth of Avalon expanding into interstellar space making contacts with other successor states. The leaders of Avalon and Col. Edward Stalker agree to a diplomatic meeting with a nearby world on Lakshmibai a neutral world. The Lakshmibai’s government hates off- worlders and saw a chance to rid itself of hated intruders. Jasmine Yamane must lead an untrained army on a race to the Capital City to save the diplomats from annihilation. There is lots of fighting in this book, I think maybe over three fourths the book is the rescue fighting.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Jeffrey Kafer has done a good job narrating the series.

[Kjirstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This addition to the series was heavy on the military -- three-fourths of the novel was solid fighting -- and a little lighter on the political maneuvering of the previous versions. I found myself less engrossed (mainly because I don't particularly care about blow-by-blow battles in my novels and tend to skim them) than I had been with the rest of the series so far. Also, it was hard to read about the Commonwealth getting levered into a situation that was pretty clearly not going to be a good one. And by the end there was still a lingering sense of "but why?". In many ways this felt like a set-up for the next main storyline novel, and less a story to be read for its own merits.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a main story novel, so the Avalon heroes appear - here on a diplomatic mission which takes place on a hellhole world and where obviously the matter hits the fan quickly; heavy ground battles, guerrilla work and the like, less space opera or world building

great stuff though continuing a series that has quickly become a huge favorite

[Stephen Rip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Title: Disappointing Dip in an Otherwise Stellar Series

I've been an avid follower of Christopher G. Nuttall's Empire's Corps series, thoroughly enjoying the action-packed narratives and well-developed characters presented in the first five books. Unfortunately, "To the Shores..." falls short of the high standards set by its predecessors, warranting a modest two-star rating from a dedicated fan.

While Nuttall's writing style continues to be engaging, the fundamental flaw lies in the plot's premise. The narrative centers around a diplomatic meeting between the Commonwealth and another galactic power on what is supposed to be a "neutral" world. However, the chosen planet is glaringly hostile, with stark ideological differences that set the stage for an inevitably tumultuous encounter.

My primary gripe stems from the questionable decision-making by the main characters. Despite the established prowess of the Commonwealth Marines over the course of five books, they inexplicably trust the dubious leadership of the chosen planet. Even more perplexing is the decision to dismiss battleships on the grounds of "diplomacy," a move that proves detrimental when things inevitably take a turn for the worse.

What follows is a cascade of errors and miscalculations by the main characters. The very individuals we've come to admire for their strategic acumen and combat proficiency suddenly find themselves making one mistake after another. It's disheartening to witness a series that painstakingly built up the capabilities of the Commonwealth Marines unravel due to lapses in judgment and unwarranted trust.

One cannot help but question the continuity of the story when such vital elements seem out of character for the well-established protagonists. The frustration mounts as assumptions and oversights take precedence, leading the narrative down a path that feels forced and contrived.

In essence, "To the Shores..." disappoints not because of Nuttall's writing skill, but rather due to a narrative choice that undermines the very essence of the series. For fans invested in the prowess of the Commonwealth Marines, the book may prove to be a letdown as it deviates from the established strengths and strategic brilliance that defined the earlier installments. Here's hoping that future entries in the Empire's Corps series return to the captivating storytelling and character consistency that initially hooked readers like myself.

[phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

6th book and looking forward to the rest

As always non stop action, pulling victory from the mouth of defeat, and rooting for the acquisition of ships and technology to defeat stronger foes while helping form a better system of morals and cooperation than those which caused the fall of past society's and governments.

[Ray Ritchey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boxer Rebellion Updated

Nice action packed with space marines, thuggees in a later day boxer rebellion motif. A great part was when a marine instructs local rebels how to repurpose items as weapons. Great quote there are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous people.

[Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, man!!

excellent sequel, great story line. Not over sold. Twists throughout. Stalker had his challenge and found a way to prevail.
Great story, keep it going. To He'll with Arm Singh.

[Steven Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent entry into this space opera series. Several characters from previous novels are in this one, and we see some more development of the main Marine characters.

[Greg O'Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun Nuttall book. There's some suspension of belief in places and the single dimensional bad guys are a bit much. But well, it all works out ok.

[JOHN LAWTON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Another fast paced story from Chris Nuttall couldn't put it down
Lots of twists in the story and interesting characters

[James A. McCarrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible Editing

This was the worst formatted book I've ever read on Kindle. There are complete dropoffs, repeats of entire sections, etc. Don't waste your time.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

Another well done book in this series. I am sure the future series will be just as engaging. Nuttall is always with the read

[Mark Gray · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was great, however, the racist political views made this a difficult read.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Nuttall have a few themes that have a tendency to come back in his books. The decline of overconfident and oppressive governments as well as the decline of civilization itself certainly appears to be a favorite one. Various kinds of fanatics modelled after our own current and past history is another one. The latter one is of course a rather tempting as well as rewarding fountain of inspiration to use considering the amount of fanatics, religious or otherwise, that seems to run rampage and infest our planet these days.

This book takes the first theme, the decline of the human empire which is the foundation of the series itself, and throws in some religious nutcases based on the Indian caste system with a few dashes of one of our favorite historical villain, a certain Austrian corporal.

The result is a all-marine slug-it-out-in-the-dirt kind of story. Apart from the initial transport to this miserable planet that constitutes the location for this book there are no spaceships whatsoever. The highest off the ground we get are with a few choppers used for fire support. The story in this book can perhaps also be said to be somewhat narrower in scope than in many of Mr. Nuttall’s books. From starting out as a diplomatic mission it rather quickly turns into an issue of survival against a bunch of mad religious assholes with an even madder religious asshole as their leader.

As usual the writing is very good and you are sucked into the story without much difficulty. The level of lunacy on the side of the bad guys can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating but on the whole it is very enjoyable reading. I did find the ending to be a bit quick though. I would have liked a bit more agony as well as some dawning understanding that his world was indeed crashing down on him on the part of the prince. But that is a minor complaint.

Mr. Nuttall also managed to get in a last minute twist and tie-in to a previous book in the series in the last couple of paragraphs although I cannot say much about that one without it being a huge spoiler.

Overall yet another good book in the series.

[Mike Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his sixth novel in the Empire's Corps series, author Christopher Nuttall returns to his original protagonist Col. Edward Stalker. This time, the leader of the shrinking band of marines must meet with representatives of another newly independent planet system to hash out a treaty. This must be done because the Earth-base empire has imploded, and those who do not either band together or generate enough defensive strength will be overrun by stronger entities. The theme has been part of earlier books. Thus treaties are important, regardless of how valuable they will be to the commonwealth established with the planet of Avalon as its base. Stalker heads to what is agreed to be neutral territory of an obscure and hard-to-pronounce planet called Lakshmibai. The talks are no big deal. They go off as planned. However, the people who run the planet are caste-oriented (India comes to mind as a template), and a faction decides to assassinate the off-worlders. Jasmine Yamane leads the force that must rescue a small contingent of the two teams of diplomats. Nuttall creates a world where there are two distinct populations, those of upper caste who denigrate the lower caste as less than human. And the bottom rung who are starving and rebelling. The entire story is about Yamane's push to get from a remote base abandoned by the Empire to rescue Stalker, and Stalker's efforts to survive. The story is highly engaging and debates socioeconomic themes Nuttall always stuffs into his novels.

[Andrew Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trapped in a consulate the Marines must defend themselves until the Avalon forces can force a breakthrough to save the Captain. Another great book in the series that includes a very well written article on east-west relations. I have to be careful when I read one of these because they tend to distract me from little things such as sleep. Can’t wait for the next one.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is not as rich in depth as the rest of the Empire's Corps series. It is still a very fun and enjoyable read and solid addition to the story.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the previous books. Seems to get bogged down in very similar battles and you don't get much interaction between the two diplomatic factions.

[George Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished it yesterday, not bad but much more a "ground pounder" than his other novels or the rest of the series. I felt it was a thinly veiled allusion to Iraq.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great plot!

Non-stop action continues in this book. More heavily military action than other books in the series. Continue to definitely recommend this series.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

VERY GOOD