Payback

Earth Legions #2

by M.V. Viltch

Branded a hero after the victory on Atlas, Jake Adlar is honored with a personal introduction to the Legion’s Legate.Easy. What could possibly go wrong?Then he’d be free to confront the deranged, body-snatching Centurion in league with the Synths and save some lives.Meanwhile, the sleeks, who showed up as Earth’s saviors only to make humanity their slaves, have enlisted the Legion’s services in a mercenary gig.The Synths have broken their contract and the sleeks want their property repossessed.Except it isn’t air-cars on the chopping block, but living beings, and the sleeks have an agenda of their own.Well, Jake has something to say about that. He might not be able to bring back the dead, but he can avenge them.Book 2 of an action-packed Military Sci-Fi series from debut author M.V. Viltch. Perfect for fans of Joshua Dalzelle, Rick Partlow and Marko Kloos.

Genres: Science Fiction

426 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2023

About the author

An avid explorer, author, and alien enthusiast, M.V. Viltch is a military academy graduate and ex Naval Reservist currently working in the maritime field. No experience with aliens just yet, despite best efforts.

mvviltch.com

Reviews

[Lucas W Mayberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adler is still clueless and he’s not sure how he is winning. Also his motormouth is getting him in trouble with the top brass and his friends. However his recent heroics has got him noticed by the Legate, the top boss in overall charge of all the Legions. She is a beautiful but intimidating and powerful woman who seems to be showing more than a professional curiosity towards the lowly trooper. There seems to be more than meets the eye with the Legate and what Adler sees both scares and thrills him. As he gains her trust though she sends Adler on a daring mission that if he fails could have severe repercussions for the whole of humanity. As with the previous book this was a fun read and I throughly enjoyed myself with the fast paced, descriptive and sometimes humorous writing style. I said about the previous book that there are flavours of Halo and Starship Troopers, so if you are a fan of them I fully recommend this. Judging by the ending the third book is setting up to be another rip roaring space adventure which I am looking forward to reading.

[Space Cowgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avenging the Dead💀
Military Sci-fi Space Opera🚀💫💥🌏
Our hero, Jake🐺💪👊🔫🗡, battles on against the synthetics. Humanity's fight against human slavery is held in the balance.
I got this e-book from Amazon📚 with Kindle unlimited.

Book 2 in this series📚. The books need to be read in order. Ends in a cliffhanger😵.

[Ryan M Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Payback is a thrill ride that is the best in breed of the military sci-fi subgenre. It's slightly slower paced than the first book in the series, but full of adventure and intrigue as the world is filled out through the internal politics of the titular Earth Legions. It's a blast to read and has a satisfying conclusion, yet sets up the third book in the series well. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced military sci-fi adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously.

[Dan Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Passable, 2.5 stars really

I read this book hard on the heels of its prequel, Earth Legions: Gold Squad. I was looking forward to finding out what happened next. The book starts promisingly in the same style as Book 1, but for me, the writing quality, wild-seeming plot and MC's "tropey" character take the quality down a couple of notches compared to Gold Squad.

Jake's embroilment in his nemesis's thickening scheme increases. A visit from the mysterious Legate Maldovi to the home he shares with his Legion on the troop carrier Venator complicates his life further when she takes a shine to him. Intrigue ensues.

Like Book 1, this book had very strong pacing. However, the plotting became too implausible for me. The previous book had plot weaknesses, but those didn't degrade the read, whereas in this book, the wild plotting and further development of the MC into what I felt was a much less relatable character reduced the entertainment value a lot. While in the last book, there was a minor barb or two in the vocabulary, this book contained vocabulary gaffs which rendered some sentences hard to parse; I am not normally bothered by the odd typo and don't need flawless edit quality to enjoy a book but for me to enjoy it, along with other factors, it must read easily without having to be deciphered. In any case, the fast pace is consistent with the previous book and it was still possible to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy some of the story.

This book was not for me but I wouldn't not recommend it. If you enjoyed Book 1, don't mind the MC's character trope and aren't too much of a stickler for vocabulary, then you still might get some enjoyment out of it.

[Eric Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I like the series and will be reading book three as well. However, Payback, the second book, suffers a slight change in tone and pacing. Where the first was a fairly even blend of action, intrigue, and bumbling shenanigans, this one sets aside much of the action, especially in the first half of the story. More focus on intrigue would be fine, Vilch's writing is still good, but the plot takes a long time to develop, and this development leans heavily on Jake's shenanigans which are less bumbling and more ill-advised. Adlar has more agency, and makes more decisions, but they are now based less on naivety and more on a kind of vindictiveness and even self-destruction. It becomes less charming and a bit less believable that he's getting away with it. Even this is only a minor departure from book one. The only thing that might detract from some readers' enjoyment is that the editing has taken a nosedive. There is a large number of those typos that happen to be real words so they get past the spellchecker, and it gets noticeably worse in the second half.

[Michael Bland · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun series

Congratulations to Viltch. It’s not easy to continue the fun, twists and surprises of the first book, but the author did that in spades. Adlar is a great protagonist, tough but impulsive, with his heart mostly in the right place as he tries to navigate the life he’s been thrown into. While he’s still just a trooper, he finds himself rubbing elbows with—and clashing with—the top brass. (I would say something else but don’t want to give away any spoilers.)

With intrigue, growing stakes, and characters you care about, this series is a great time. I recommend it!

[David Hyder · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story and action are good and interesting. No perfect characters here. Simply flawed humans improvising as they go along. Normally this would get four stars because I have gotten interested in the series. As they say friends come and go but enemies accumulate. So far so good, but someone should have edited the second half of the book. About every other page I reported a novel and incorrect use of a word (e.g. mute for moot). It is as though the author used a poorly calibrated speech to text app for his writing.

[Brian Boyington · Rating 3 out of 5]

the life of an anti-hero

Trooper Adler, wise life goal was obscurity, fails that, and is drafted into an elite combat Legion. He obviously suffer from ADD, is easily distracted,can’t follow directions, and in battle is thrust into crisis after crisis. Strangely, he manages to make the correct decision which saves his squad. Widely ridiculed by his fellow soldiers as a loser, he somehow manages to be very attractive to women. It is a fun story,worthy of reading.

[john s moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rather gripping rread

A rather gripping read you don't want to put down well let's say I did not. It is a different read with a another mix of cultures and ideals. I was rather surprised again at the similarities to Roman ahh now I was just about to give the ending away then. Read and enjoy

[Lydia Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a mixed experience for me. There were parts that I loved, but there were also sections that felt like filler. The writing was good, but the story was a bit too predictable. It’s not a bad book, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype. Worth a read, but manage your expectations.

[Madalyn Burch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a captivating journey that I didn’t want to end. The author’s talent for world-building is extraordinary, pulling you into a vibrant and engaging setting. The characters were well-developed, with rich backstories that made them feel real. I’m still thinking about it days later. Simply outstanding!

[Aditya Sundararajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun sequel that perfectly matches the tone and pacing of the first book. The author's scenes never feel repetitive in style and setting, and they manage to add new twists and turns along the way, which kept me turning the pages. Looking forward to close out the trilogy with the 3rd one soon.

[Jay Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

an interesting series

This series of books has intriguing aspect in its view of our place in the universe. There are parts of it that were simplistic but it is a nice relaxing series.

[GREGG CORDELL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read.

This was a good book . I like how you never know who is really fighting who. There is a lot of shady stuff going on in this series, plenty of action and a lot of I never saw that coming. Already preordered the next one.

[Lilly Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really intrigued by the premise, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The middle part dragged a bit, and some of the characters felt one-dimensional. It’s not a bad story, but it could have been so much more. I liked it, but I didn’t love it.

[Lola Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic! The author has a way with words that brings every scene to life. The story was engaging, the characters lovable, and the pacing just right. It was the perfect escape and exactly what I needed. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.