Two hundred years ago, the generation starship Pathfinder fled a war-torn Earth, never to be heard from again. Until now...
Captain Caleb Card and his crew are on a mission to investigate a transmission believed to be from the lost ship. Ambushed upon arrival, they immediately fear the worst. But the beacon isn’t only active, it’s on the move, and where it leads will change everything they thought they knew about the universe. Cast into a distant galaxy brimming with unknown dangers, they’ll need to adapt quickly if they want to survive long enough to help the missing colonists.
Caleb knows war. He’s been fighting most of his life.
He’s never experienced anything like this.
If you like fast-paced, action-packed science fiction, lost starships, space marines and alien worlds, you’ll love Galaxy Unknown, the latest exhilarating sci-fi from bestselling author M.R. Forbes.
M.R. Forbes is the author of a growing number of science-fiction series including Rebellion, War Eternal, Chaos of the Covenant, Stars End, and the Forgotten novels. Having spent his childhood trying to read every sci-fi novel he could find (and write his own too), play every sci-fi video game he could get his hands on, and see every sci-fi movie that made it into the theater, he has a true love of the genre across every medium. He works hard to bring that same energy to his own stories, with a continuing goal to entertain, delight, fascinate, and surprise.
He maintains a true appreciation for his readers and is always happy to hear from them.
To learn more about M.R. Forbes or just say hello:
This is science fiction as it used to be. Monsters with waving tentacles, sharp claws and big teeth, mind-controlling aliens, a galactic empire with a galactic empress, wormholes, space battleships, ray guns, and a hero who is insufferably brave, rude to his superior officers, caring and courteous to those loyal to him, and with an alien sidekick - a symbiote in this case - to provide some mocking humour. It is all there in Galaxy Unknown, there is even a cliffhanger ending pointing to a sequel and it is really well written.
Ideal if you want a break from reality and go flying into a world of high drama, dynamic courage, unflagging loyalty and dastardly treachery. Who or what is the mysterious Lord Crux? Who will take over the old empire now the empress is dead? Is General Haas to be trusted? Will our hero, Captain Caleb Card, rescue the trusty Ham and win the affection of Private Andrea Marley? Will Ishek, the Relyeh advocate who lives in Caleb's armpit, keep his cynical sense of humour? I feel I should really be reading Virginia Woolf or Dostoyevsky but I want to read the sequel to Galaxy Unknown. That's the way pulp fiction gets to you when it's written properly.
This is one of the better books I’ve read in a while. This is a military sci-fi book which I have been straying away from lately. It’s good to get back to what I really enjoy. Captain Caleb Card of the Centurion Space Force Marines is on a scouting mission with his crew of two, Abraham (Ham) Cortez, pilot and Corporal Jii Kwon, gunner/navigator. This last character, Kwon, doesn’t last long and if Caleb doesn’t get some things done, neither will Ham.
What they are scouting for is a lost colony ship called the “Pathfinder”. It was sent out almost 200 years ago and never heard from again. Now that humanity has expanded far beyond where it was 200 years ago, the powers that be wanted to know what happened to the Pathfinder. One of the reasons the Pathfinder had been sent out was because of the attack by the Relyeh, an alien race that can take over the minds and bodies of certain humans. These are vicious aliens that seem to be determined to wipe-out humanity.
Still, humanity has been able to defend itself and has adapted to their enemy. In fact, Captain Card has a form of the Relyeh attached to his body with connections to his brain. This arrangement was explained in the book although it seems that it wasn’t a universal adaptation by humans and Relyeh. Caleb called his attached Relyeh Ishek and they worked together to keep each other alive. Ishek was able to enhance some of Caleb’s human responses to make him faster, stronger and heal quicker than any normal human. Apparently, the Relyeh usually attached to a host and took it over but only if the mind of the host was weak. Caleb’s mind was far from weak and Ishek had realized that from the start. Therefore, if he wanted to continue to live, he had to assist Caleb when it was needed most. To some, this kind of arrangement would be totally unacceptable. And that was soon to be the case.
The scout ship, Spirit, had gone to the Trappist-1 system hoping to find a signal from the Pathfinder. Such as signal was located an it appeared be coming from the vicinity of Trappist-G. So the Spirit headed towards that planet only to find they had apparently fallen into a trap. Relyeh starfighters were waiting for them. While the small scout ship could account for itself it wouldn’t last long against a fleet of Relyeh fighters. Still, they managed to destroy and evade this first attack only to find out the signal they had was gone.
So getting out of one trap and falling into another wasn’t part of Captain Card’s plan. He had his crewman, Kwon, rebuild an antenna receiver to attempt boosting its receiving capability. That proved successful when they got a faint, very faint signal coming from Trappist-E. So, that’s where they headed.
As they approached, they found the signal getting stronger, but it was still a distress signal and didn’t seem to be one that would be coming from the Pathfinder itself. If the colony ship had landed on the planet and there were survivors, they would expect to see a pretty big settlement by now. That wasn’t the case, so they got as close to the signal site as they could when Captain Card and Kwon dropped for the Spirit onto the planet.
This is where it gets very interesting. They do locate the signal, but it’s coming from a lander that appears to have crashed. It’s definitely not the Pathfinder. They manage to get on-board only to find its sole occupant long dead! She was an engineer from the Pathfinder that had found out something the leadership and military of the colony didn’t want her to know. She had fled the Pathfinder to save her own life only to die of starvation on Trappist-E. They found all this out via a tablet she had left behind. She also wrote down that the Pathfinder had found a wormhole that appeared to be navigable, but the scientist aboard the Pathfinder had used the wrong math in figuring out how to transition through the wormhole. She believed that if the Pathfinder had tried to go through the wormhole it would have been destroyed.
All this was good information but it still didn’t tell Captain Card where the Pathfinder went. Surely they wouldn’t have gone through a dangerous wormhole. But, he now had other problems to worry about. The Relyeh were present on Trappist-E and they were controlling the indigent life there which started attacking the crashed lander. Card and Kwon had to get out and get back to the Spirit and fast. They had to fight their way through a mass of deadly alien creatures with Kwon getting seriously injured. While Captain Card tried to carry his injured crewman up a cliff face to the Spirit, Kwon died. Card wouldn’t make the climb if he had to carry this now dead weight so he abandoned Kwon and managed to just get aboard the Spirit.
Once again the Spirit got back into space only to find them in another Relyeh ambush. This time they really had no way out. There was just too much for one small scout ship to defeat. They finally realized that their only recourse was to set course for the wormhole and use the correct (they hoped) navigation information given to them on the tablet of the dead Pathfinder engineer.
Now is where the rest of this story really starts and where the rest of the series will probably take place. It’s a very interesting story line especially the interaction between Card and his Relyeh. They sometimes have different opinions of what to do, but both want to stay alive so they have to compromise and it usually works out. Their only real problem is that what they find through the wormhole. Captain Card is considers a demon and must be killed.
I really can’t wait for the second book, “[Galaxy Unstable](https://amzn.to/45kMkV6)” now available on Amazon.
While I gave Galaxy Unknown only 2 stars, I give Paul Heitsch 5-stars for his narration performance - great job.
Caleb and his crew are in search of a missing colony ship. Lured by a distress beacon, they arrive at an ambush. On the verge of defeat, they enter the wormhole they think the missing ship used to escape. They emerge in another Galaxy and continue the search encountering the alien race trying to kill the survivors.
I have read many of Forbes' books, all better than this one. It is difficult to pinpoint why I hoped for the book to finish. I think it was the symbiote named Ish that I found irritating and the almost supernatural impact it had on Caleb. Ish is of the same race as the enemy but is sympathetic to the plight of the humans, and is collaborating with Caleb. It doesn't hurt that if the two are separate they both die.
I don't know; somehow the story felt a bit too contrived. The cliffhanger ending didn't help. I will take a pass on the next book.
I never thought I'd enjoy this as much as I did. Paul Heitsch was a fantastic narrator. The characters were really well written - I didn't expect to like them as much as I did. I really have enjoyed a lot of this author's books and not realised it.
There are space battles with aliens that apparently ride around in ships that look like asteroids - and have names like "pebbles" and "slates" and other rock-related things. There's an alien slug that can do mind tricks. There's a whole contingent of humans from the past who are out to get the main character. It's a lot.
But it makes for a fun story. Altogether a win for me.
Blah, blah I like Forbes' work. But I wouldn't really expect much from this Book (and series). I did read them all, because I kept wanting it to get better. Sadly it did Not.
Card is the main guy and he is okay. So Vanilla you can taste it like a cupcake. He doesn't do wrong, he is always on top of it. Handsome but never wants a kiss. IE Boring.
I like the supporting cast. I would've like some sex between characters, not graphic, but something PG. FFS its a ship they are on for weeks at a time. Trust me, there'd be lots of it. I was on the Eisenhower after it went Co-Ed in 1994. By end of cruise like 80% of the females were pregenant.
The story is okay. I like the armpit alien angle. Space battles were boring, combat was Blah. I liked the overall space part for sure.
I don't know how Forbes does it every time, but he's got another hit! New planets, New enemies, New creatures, and old sarcastic Ish are here to keep you entertained. I love the dynamic between Caleb and Ish. This book is a great opener for a new series. I can't wait to see what Forbes has in store for us and what new dangers are in this galaxy
I always read the book description and the preview before I DL a KU title but these did not prepare me for the intensity and constant conflicts that fill this storyline. Lots of collateral deaths and violent destruction. Much of it is beyond reasonable expectations and yet so far our primary protagonist has survived. There is no story resolution in book 1, and the reader is left only with questions yet to be answered at the end.
The story is interesting and the action is non-stop. The story jumps from one crisis right into another one, all the way through the book. It is a shoot-em-up SF action story, complete with a Marine Captain hero that is linked to an alien symbiont that gives him super-human strength and endurance. Not a lot of philosophical exercises for the reader, just a bunch of physical confromntations between the good guys and the bad guys. I'm still debating whether I will tune in for the sequel.
So back we are to the manticore spiral and actually find out how the Pathfinder ended up where it did. Forbes has great characters and a multiverse to play in so anything goes and if you have been along for the ride, it’s interesting to see how the pieces fit. Who else are we going to run into as Caleb latest adventure plays out?
fast paced, enjoyable, start to a new series, not for me though.
Book was very fast-paced, and very enjoyable world building was excellent. There was one issue that I personally as a reader had with the book with the MC. That’s the action that he took later in the book that put me off, reading the rest of the series. You may enjoy this book And the series give it a chance.
Not a fan of writing reviews on the tablet, but this book deserves a good word. Excellent story telling, expanding on the universe. Compelling characters and non stop action! Highly recommend this book.
Forbes always does such a good job with characters no different in this one. Caleb is one who just really can't help but like., Plenty of action and can't wait for the next one.
This is an awesome series!!! It has a superb MC and outstanding plot. There are some interesting twists. This is a series with hard core science fiction similar to starship troopers. I can’t wait for the next book.
Not interested in reading anymore about the “Hunger” or the Relyah aliens. I thought the other books finished up with that. Time to find a different author. Really enjoying Bobs Saucer Repair series.
This managed to keep my attention throughout, which is unusual for me, and the story is good. I was a bit worried at first, with only three characters, but more appear later on.
M.R. Forbes is an excellent storyteller. The narrator also did a fantastic job. I am behind in reading the overall series arc (this is the 9th set) but I still had no problem following and enjoyed every bit of this amazing tale. I look forward to the rest of the series!
Captain Caleb Card thought he was in control of a neutrally linked advocate parasite attached to his body. Unfortunately for the Princess he was trying to save a Relyeh parasite overrode his parasite and he assassinated her-Opps.
This was an enjoyable read! Good storyline, good action, nice little twist at the end, and of course, a cliffhanger (not surprising). Yes, I’m going to read the next installment to see how out man Caleb and Ham fare.
I was not convinced to read this book but I ask myself to give it a chance and I was surprised by the excellent work and very well written book! The plotlines and the characters are interesting. Keep up the good work! Thank you! I can't wait for the next book!
I like Caleb as a main character. He has the Jekyl/Hyde thing going, so of course, the lovable side of him is quite endearing. Looking forward to the next book...