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Drop Trooper #14
Collateral Effects
Book 14 in the Amazon Bestselling Drop Trooper series by Rick Partlow is here. It's Military Sci-Fi the way it's supposed to be!
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 12, 2023
359 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Rick Partlow
211 books372 followersRick Partlow is that rarest of species, a native Floridian. Born in Tampa, he attended Florida Southern College and graduated with a degree in History and a commission in the US Army as an Infantry officer.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 22, 2025
Not going to be too long here but enough is enough man, this series is just getting weird now. The beginning absolutely was just word sandwich with nothing really interesting going on but the ending did bring in some heat. Like I said other reviews in the last two books this series needs to end. In saying all that it was still a decent read. In any case here are my 3 pros and my two negatives in this never ending series.
Pros:
Love The SCI-FI Tech Lore
The thing I love about Rick Partlow is he explains everything. In his words through Cameron. He explains transition space, space travel, laws of physics, human survival, and hi tech futuristic laser weapon systems. Most SCI-FI authors I’ve come to know barely scratch the surface of what they are describing. Rick Partlow puts it a learners notion and in a mind thought process through the eyes of Cam. I still looked up most of what he was saying but even when I did I got a very good generalization from the book.
Good Circle Backs From Previous Books
This is book 14 and a lot of shit has happened on this series. So much to the point where I feel like I have forgotten key parts. Just as I’m getting through the book feeling abandoned by the author to remember everything, he loops me back in with a generalized overview of events in previous books. Almost as if he suspected it the author reaches back in the pages and pulls us back in the to the story line. While this can be easy to do it takes skill to make it go with the plot. He does it describing Cans memories and I feel that is good literature point to mention.
Good Battle Heat In The End
Not going to lie most of the book was a drag. There was a significant lack of battles that I’m used to in other books in this series. There is a decent one in beginning that puts some good plot measures and a bit of a sacrifice with one of the key characters but other than that scene that was basically it until the end. The nova, the alien race that’s the main enemy in the book right now, just confused me and honestly they are boring. In any case the ending battle filled with desperation, strategy, quick maneuvers, and unexpected twists. Everything I grew to love from the author. Additionally there are plenty of carnage, explosions, weaponry and anger another aspect I love from this series.
Negatives:
It’s all over the place
I feel like in every book the Author struggles to keep it alive and finds a new twists and turns that are a little too over the top and just feel like a drag in the end. This series could have been over 5 books ago but here we are. Every-time we think the answer to coming home is in the next book we are left again with confusion and just unwanted plot stress. We got aliens from every book playing together that the reader is expected to remember. We got exhausted characters that should have revolted against their own author at this point. Lastly, we have a plot that never settles and just keeps finding new ways to stay relevant. The series needs to end its getting too complicated to have courage to move on. I will. But I’m not happy about it.
Bogus, irrelevant, Mystical Telekinesis
Part of the twists as I mentioned is this new ability Cam has that makes zero and I repeat zero sense. Powers from pre-historic advance dinosaurs from earth that allow him to defy everything and freken fly! Not to mention make black holes out his thoughts and destroy super ships. O it there’s voices in his head that tell him to take over everything and he has less than 54 hours to get to new jump gate that might take them home. If I was high this would make sense. It just doesn’t fit the story, it is desperation at its finest and again it’s exhausting. Really hope the next book can explain this better and hopefully lead us to light in the end of tunnel of getting this series over with.
Well that’s that, not a bad read just again really want this over but I will power on!
Thanks for reading,
-Alex
Pros:
Love The SCI-FI Tech Lore
The thing I love about Rick Partlow is he explains everything. In his words through Cameron. He explains transition space, space travel, laws of physics, human survival, and hi tech futuristic laser weapon systems. Most SCI-FI authors I’ve come to know barely scratch the surface of what they are describing. Rick Partlow puts it a learners notion and in a mind thought process through the eyes of Cam. I still looked up most of what he was saying but even when I did I got a very good generalization from the book.
Good Circle Backs From Previous Books
This is book 14 and a lot of shit has happened on this series. So much to the point where I feel like I have forgotten key parts. Just as I’m getting through the book feeling abandoned by the author to remember everything, he loops me back in with a generalized overview of events in previous books. Almost as if he suspected it the author reaches back in the pages and pulls us back in the to the story line. While this can be easy to do it takes skill to make it go with the plot. He does it describing Cans memories and I feel that is good literature point to mention.
Good Battle Heat In The End
Not going to lie most of the book was a drag. There was a significant lack of battles that I’m used to in other books in this series. There is a decent one in beginning that puts some good plot measures and a bit of a sacrifice with one of the key characters but other than that scene that was basically it until the end. The nova, the alien race that’s the main enemy in the book right now, just confused me and honestly they are boring. In any case the ending battle filled with desperation, strategy, quick maneuvers, and unexpected twists. Everything I grew to love from the author. Additionally there are plenty of carnage, explosions, weaponry and anger another aspect I love from this series.
Negatives:
It’s all over the place
I feel like in every book the Author struggles to keep it alive and finds a new twists and turns that are a little too over the top and just feel like a drag in the end. This series could have been over 5 books ago but here we are. Every-time we think the answer to coming home is in the next book we are left again with confusion and just unwanted plot stress. We got aliens from every book playing together that the reader is expected to remember. We got exhausted characters that should have revolted against their own author at this point. Lastly, we have a plot that never settles and just keeps finding new ways to stay relevant. The series needs to end its getting too complicated to have courage to move on. I will. But I’m not happy about it.
Bogus, irrelevant, Mystical Telekinesis
Part of the twists as I mentioned is this new ability Cam has that makes zero and I repeat zero sense. Powers from pre-historic advance dinosaurs from earth that allow him to defy everything and freken fly! Not to mention make black holes out his thoughts and destroy super ships. O it there’s voices in his head that tell him to take over everything and he has less than 54 hours to get to new jump gate that might take them home. If I was high this would make sense. It just doesn’t fit the story, it is desperation at its finest and again it’s exhausting. Really hope the next book can explain this better and hopefully lead us to light in the end of tunnel of getting this series over with.
Well that’s that, not a bad read just again really want this over but I will power on!
Thanks for reading,
-Alex
February 2, 2024
Finish stronger than it started. I'm invested enough in this series to finish it even thought it's gotten pretty stupid.
June 17, 2024
Well, this series just goes on and on and on. That’s not a bad thing, but pretty soon I would think the author is going to get these people home and that should be the end. But, it’s not going to happen in the book nor does it look like it’s going to happen in the next book! Captain Cameron Alvarez is now in charge of what was supposed to be an effort to find the homeworld for Lilandreth, a Resscharr alien. They also hoped to find the knowledge of how to get back home to Earth or the Commonwealth from which they came. Unfortunately, their travels lately have only lead to trouble, lots of trouble.
They did find a slightly broken Predecessor ship which Lilandreth can operate, but it has no weapons and some limited functionality. Still, it is made for Resscharr who are considerably taller and larger than humans, so Lilandreth has taken up residence and command of that vessel. They have just escaped what they thought was the homeworld of the Nova, another alien race that looked similar to Earth octopuses. By escape, these Nova weren’t friendly at all and were trying to destroy both the human’s ship, the *Orion*, and the Predecessor ship.
The Orion and the Predecessor ship had just escaped through a warp gate into another galaxy and were hoping the aggressive Novans wouldn’t follow. While going through these warp gates was sometimes physically uncomfortable for Cam Alvarez and the other humans about the *Orion*, they usually quickly recovered and then began searching the new systems for habitable planets. They believed they were on the right path to eventually find the “Northwest Passage” that would lead them back to their own system and the Commonwealth.
Yet, while this new system they had just entered seemed to be promising with a single inhabitable planet, they soon found out differently. The planet had been devastated or rather it seems the inhabitants had all been destroyed while preserving their cities. In fact, this planet had one huge city that seemed to encompass an entire continent. Captain Alvarez took a contingent of Marines down to the surface only to find everything intact, but not a single body in the entire city or at least the portion they could explore. They did find a huge gash through the city and could not fathom what in the world had caused such a large, massive gash in a modern city.
Since there wasn’t much point in staying a this dead world and system they proceeded on through another few warp gates. Again, they found a single habitable planet and just like before, they took a small exploration party down to its surface. Only this time, they found living beings. These were Resscharr like Lilandreth except these had been left behind by the Predecessors without the knowledge of how their city works. Apparently the Predecessors used their cities with mind control, building things just by thinking about them. These Resscharr weren’t capable of doing that so they were reduced to growing their own food and making things out of pieces of the city they could actually use. They weren’t necessarily ignorant, but they had been left alone on their own for a long, long time and several generations had passed since this meeting with Cameron Alvarez and his troops. They were especially shocked by the appearance of Lilandreth. To them she was one of the original Resscharr or a Predecessor and for some reason they feared her terribly.
About this time, a new group of Nova arrive. They appeared to have come through a warp gate still on the path the *Orion* was following. While they didn’t appear to be overly aggressive at first, once they got a look at Lilandreth, their attitude changed for the worse. They immediately attacked Cameron and his Marines with powerful weapons including their landing craft. Of course Cameron’s troops scattered and began fighting back, but during the melee, Lilandreth was captured. She was eventually found in a lab undergoing some kind of treatment. Cameron and his Marines rescued her and began evacuating back to their respective ships, but it appeared that Lilandreth had changed.
So, the rest of the book describes how you fight back against an alien that has God-like powers. Is there any kind of defense against such. Is this going to be the end of the humans struggle to return to their home world. It doesn’t sound too good for them right now. You’ll have to find out where this is all going in the book 15. “Down Range”, now available on Amazon.
They did find a slightly broken Predecessor ship which Lilandreth can operate, but it has no weapons and some limited functionality. Still, it is made for Resscharr who are considerably taller and larger than humans, so Lilandreth has taken up residence and command of that vessel. They have just escaped what they thought was the homeworld of the Nova, another alien race that looked similar to Earth octopuses. By escape, these Nova weren’t friendly at all and were trying to destroy both the human’s ship, the *Orion*, and the Predecessor ship.
The Orion and the Predecessor ship had just escaped through a warp gate into another galaxy and were hoping the aggressive Novans wouldn’t follow. While going through these warp gates was sometimes physically uncomfortable for Cam Alvarez and the other humans about the *Orion*, they usually quickly recovered and then began searching the new systems for habitable planets. They believed they were on the right path to eventually find the “Northwest Passage” that would lead them back to their own system and the Commonwealth.
Yet, while this new system they had just entered seemed to be promising with a single inhabitable planet, they soon found out differently. The planet had been devastated or rather it seems the inhabitants had all been destroyed while preserving their cities. In fact, this planet had one huge city that seemed to encompass an entire continent. Captain Alvarez took a contingent of Marines down to the surface only to find everything intact, but not a single body in the entire city or at least the portion they could explore. They did find a huge gash through the city and could not fathom what in the world had caused such a large, massive gash in a modern city.
Since there wasn’t much point in staying a this dead world and system they proceeded on through another few warp gates. Again, they found a single habitable planet and just like before, they took a small exploration party down to its surface. Only this time, they found living beings. These were Resscharr like Lilandreth except these had been left behind by the Predecessors without the knowledge of how their city works. Apparently the Predecessors used their cities with mind control, building things just by thinking about them. These Resscharr weren’t capable of doing that so they were reduced to growing their own food and making things out of pieces of the city they could actually use. They weren’t necessarily ignorant, but they had been left alone on their own for a long, long time and several generations had passed since this meeting with Cameron Alvarez and his troops. They were especially shocked by the appearance of Lilandreth. To them she was one of the original Resscharr or a Predecessor and for some reason they feared her terribly.
About this time, a new group of Nova arrive. They appeared to have come through a warp gate still on the path the *Orion* was following. While they didn’t appear to be overly aggressive at first, once they got a look at Lilandreth, their attitude changed for the worse. They immediately attacked Cameron and his Marines with powerful weapons including their landing craft. Of course Cameron’s troops scattered and began fighting back, but during the melee, Lilandreth was captured. She was eventually found in a lab undergoing some kind of treatment. Cameron and his Marines rescued her and began evacuating back to their respective ships, but it appeared that Lilandreth had changed.
So, the rest of the book describes how you fight back against an alien that has God-like powers. Is there any kind of defense against such. Is this going to be the end of the humans struggle to return to their home world. It doesn’t sound too good for them right now. You’ll have to find out where this is all going in the book 15. “Down Range”, now available on Amazon.
October 3, 2025
I think my view of this book is clouded by some others I've recently read. But I love this series and I will follow it as long as it continues.
This particular installment has a whole lot of crazy stuff happening. Sometimes scifi will dip into "magic" and that bothers me . . . if I wanted to read fantasy I'd read fantasy. In this case it's couched in space and science so I guess it's ok. But the villain is a bit of a cartoon. The solutions are a little too superhero for me. So while I do love the story, this one wasn't as compelling as others in the series.
James Patric Cronin continues to expertly narrate. At this point I'm finding books to read just because he's narrated them.
This particular installment has a whole lot of crazy stuff happening. Sometimes scifi will dip into "magic" and that bothers me . . . if I wanted to read fantasy I'd read fantasy. In this case it's couched in space and science so I guess it's ok. But the villain is a bit of a cartoon. The solutions are a little too superhero for me. So while I do love the story, this one wasn't as compelling as others in the series.
James Patric Cronin continues to expertly narrate. At this point I'm finding books to read just because he's narrated them.
September 15, 2024
Just when they think things can’t be worse
When the last book ends with Cam, Vicky & the crew of the Orion are deeply concerned with the Nova wanting to take the predecessor for their own purposes while they want to exterminate the humans.
So of course they have desperate times ahead that continue to whittle down the numbers of the Drop Trooper Marines. They are still loyal to their oaths, willing to trust the leadership of Cameron Alvarez but they are tired, and mostly just want to be back to their homes in the Confederation.
When the last book ends with Cam, Vicky & the crew of the Orion are deeply concerned with the Nova wanting to take the predecessor for their own purposes while they want to exterminate the humans.
So of course they have desperate times ahead that continue to whittle down the numbers of the Drop Trooper Marines. They are still loyal to their oaths, willing to trust the leadership of Cameron Alvarez but they are tired, and mostly just want to be back to their homes in the Confederation.
December 25, 2023
Best of the Series So Far
An excellent Book with some exciting twists and turns. Cam and his crew are headed for the Northwest Passage but first they need to find the planet Homecoming in order to find the direction home.
An excellent Book with some exciting twists and turns. Cam and his crew are headed for the Northwest Passage but first they need to find the planet Homecoming in order to find the direction home.
April 13, 2024
As noted by another reviewer, it started slowly. I felt the end was rather abrupt. The series is entertaining; but my primary driver in continuing my reading of this series is my OCD regarding completion on a task once started.
July 24, 2024
More more more
I enjoyed this story. I've been looking forward to it for a while. Keep up the good work. Cam doing the impossible again. It's such a long way from pirates, only to run back into pirates!
I enjoyed this story. I've been looking forward to it for a while. Keep up the good work. Cam doing the impossible again. It's such a long way from pirates, only to run back into pirates!
December 24, 2023
Good Series
I have enjoyed reading this series as Vicki and Cam work their way back home. This book moves fast and was full of action.
I have enjoyed reading this series as Vicki and Cam work their way back home. This book moves fast and was full of action.
May 3, 2024
Curious how the author will solve the OPness of the protagonist introduced at the end
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2025
One more book to go until the end of the story. This entry was a very fast-paced and exciting one and I liked it a lot. On to the last part of the series.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews