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Taken to the Stars #3

Eclipse of Empire

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Accidental revolutionaries.Charlie and the others hadn’t set out to free the galaxy, but fate had other plans…and so did the ancient AI robot, Lenny, who brought them together. And brought them to Sanctuary.Now, a whole planet of Copperell refugees looks to Charlie for leadership and his first task as their commander is to find weapons to arm the AI-guided zoo ships that are their only military fleet. And only the Anguilar have the weapons they need.For once, the operation goes off without a hitch, but during the mop-up, they discover the secret of a terrible superweapon the Anguilar have spent the last ten years Nova Eclipse.It can destroy entire worlds, lay waste to solar systems, and it’s already claimed its first victims.And the next target is Strada.The Eclipse is massive, heavily armed and always accompanied by a deadly escort of Anguilar cruisers, and even with the weapons they stole, they’d never be able to take the force on in a stand-up fight.Charlie and the others have no choice but to do things the sneaky way, infiltrate the Eclipse…and destroy it from within.Or die trying.

424 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2023

758 people are currently reading
79 people want to read

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J.N. Chaney

446 books9,589 followers
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Community Reviews

5 stars
992 (65%)
4 stars
407 (26%)
3 stars
100 (6%)
2 stars
8 (<1%)
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1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
Profile Image for Meenaz Lodhi.
1,010 reviews86 followers
November 26, 2023
Another phenomenal performance by RICK PARTLOW and JN CHANEY!

“..regret is a waste of energy. You can’t change what you’ve done or what has been done to you, you can only try to control what you allow it to turn you into.”

I just couldn’t get enough of the story! It’s engrossing, engaging, exciting, funny, thrilling..I know, it took me a week to read this book, but it was all mea culpa. If I could I would have read it in one day, like I used to, that good is this series! But, life.

Each instalment of the series makes their character appealing and engaging in their own way, including—with regard to engaging, anyway—the bad guys. The last pages were both heartbreaking and terrifying. I wasn’t expecting it!

“Is there ever a good reason to start a war of conquest?”
No. There never is. But to dominate, possess, the greed for power, hatred..is a terrible engine to want to conquer countries, worlds. It’s what happening in our present day, so no wonder our future looks bleak.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend to read this fantastic SciFi series.
Profile Image for Per Gunnar.
1,312 reviews73 followers
January 14, 2024
This books was okayish but I think it was the one I liked the least in the series so far.

It is still a read worthy book but when reading it I sometimes felt like “get over with it already”.

Charlie & Co just runs from one convoluted, and not very plausible, plan to another, usually with the aims to infiltrate some Anguilar ship to either steal it or destroy it.

Setbacks and twists are thrown in like in a cheap Hollywood TV-series and overall it got tiresome and not very believable. The entire series is a rather unbelievable, except for the “travelers” come begging for help but in the end take over part (seems familiar anyone?), adventure but the previous two books where indeed more fun to read. I felt this book sacrificed the characters (some literally) for the sake of a sensational plot.

It didn’t help when Charlie utters dumbass comments like “What’s a transponder?”. Seriously? Transponders have been around for quite a while already. Yes they are not implanted in people, yet, in our age but still…
Profile Image for Fred Barnes.
316 reviews39 followers
December 1, 2023
A FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO EXIST AND LIVE FREE IN THE UNIVERSE

J.N. Chaney and Rick Partlow have added another great book in "Eclipse of Empire" the 3rd book in their TAKEN to the STARS series. As always, it's well written and action full from the first page to the last. Charlie, Laranna, Val, Brandy, Brazzo, Giblet, Mallarna, and of course, Lenny team up to fight the evil Empire for the freedom of Strada and Peboktan. The losses are high, and the fight is tough, all while making alliances in the fight from unexpected places. I really enjoyed this book as well as the previous two books in this series and highly recommend it to all action and Sci-Fi enthusiasts.
561 reviews1 follower
November 25, 2023
Against the world 0

Pretty good face to face fight with the evil and having the partner finish it off. I liked the interactions, the protagonist's internal dialogue, and the challenges faced between the emotions and logical connections. Some challenges with the intelligent ship, and the lack of security on evil.
19 reviews
November 20, 2023
Awesome

Fast paced. Amazing battle scenes. Excellent characters. All characters fit together like a well thought out jigsaw puzzle. Looking forward to the next book in this series.
Profile Image for Jim.
1,219 reviews51 followers
August 12, 2024
The book starts out calmly enough. Everyone that is with Charlie Travers are resting up on Sanctuary. It was nice to have a place to actually rest and to top it off, they were on an actual planet. Yet, they all knew that they had danger ahead of them. They still need to take their fight against the Anguilar further, but to do so means they’re going to have to add more firepower to their ships.

Lenny has six of these huge former “zoo” ships that had previously been used to kidnap different species from different planets and take them to zoos for the Anguilar’s viewing pleasure. Lenny, a AI, found a way around his programming and since all the “zoo” ships were captained by copies of himself, it wasn’t hard to pass that programming escape to the other ships. Now that he’s got a team that can fight against the Anguilar, he’s going to marshal his small fleet to do whatever it takes to defeat the Anguilar. But, it’s going to take a whole lot of everything.

They plan first to find an Anguilar supply depot where they can go in and steal the guns they need to place on these six ships now called “*Liberators*”. The plan won’t be easy and it could mean the end before they even get started.

Charlie has been designated as the leader of this terrorist band as they have been labeled by the Anguilar. The Anguilar don’t yet consider them much of a threat even though this was the group that forced the Anguilar off Strada, home planet of Laranna, Charlie’s girlfriend. The Stradans were grateful for Charlie’s successful help, but they had no idea what was in-store for them.

Yet, Charlie’s small band was somehow very efficient in what they were doing. Even though Charlie didn’t feel he should be in-charge, he was and he seemed to come up with some very good plans. They had succeeded in getting the new weapons for their Liberator ships and were busy outfitting them when word came of something terrible, almost beyond comprehension.

Brazzo, a Peboktan, was Charlie’s engineer and to Charlie, a very strange alien. He looked like a bug, a huge bug, but he also had a lot of technology covering parts of his body. He was a cyborg and that was due to a previous injury he had sustained, but at least he was alive. He had came in very helpful with Charlie getting the Liberator in fighting shape and organizing this small band of fighters. Then they found out Brazzo’s home planet, Peboktan, had been completely destroyed! That shouldn’t be possible.

Yet, as more information came to be known, it became a fact. Charlie and his group went to check this out themselves only to find rocks and dust where once a planet existed with millions of inhabitants. They did find a few miners left on an asteroid, but that might be the only remaining Peboktan’s in this galaxy. Word had come that the Anguilar had a new weapon in the form of a ship called the *Nova Eclipse* and it was like nothing previously created in this galaxy. It was, simply put, a planet killer!

So, Charlie said they had to destroy it! Just for what this ship could now do was reason enough to get it away from the Anguilar, but they also found out its next target was Strada! They had to do something. That something would involve numerous deaths to those around Charlie, but it had to be done and it definitely wasn’t going to be easy.

So, a very exciting book with some added humor. Charlie Travers is a human and he’s always saying things about Earth TV shows which no one not from Earth would understand. He’s also not your hero type but he’s in a position that almost makes him take up that role since there’s really no one else to do so. While this book does kind of tie things up, the Anguilar Empire is still there so more will be coming in book 3, “Legacy of Empire”, now available on Amazon.
342 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2023
What can you do against a planet-destroying ship?

The resistance led by Charlie and Laranna find out that the Anguilar have a formidable weapon which can wipe out an entire planet in seconds. Such a weapon could quell almost any rebellion, so they have no choice but to find a way to destroy it. First they need to find out where it is, and then obtain the necessary authorization as implanted transponders to get on board. The two part mission becomes even more vital, when they find out the next target is Laranna's home planet of Strada....
We learn more about the Anguilar, and experience sacrifice, betrayal, suspense, action, romance, a wedding, intrigue and numerous 80's pop culture references in this exciting novel....
Profile Image for Jen.
2,138 reviews155 followers
March 23, 2024
Well, Charlie Travers, you've gotten yourself in quite a pickle. Just trying to get home and now you've got a green-skinned wife and a major galactic war on your hands.

And this is why this series is good. When I read initial reviews on it saying it had all manner of problems, I think the reviewers were expecting too much. This is candy scifi. It's the gobble it up, have a good time, and move on scifi. It's junk food scifi. It's fun.

I think suspending disbelief is what makes it fun. What alien civilization would have British accents or use any/all of the euphemisms we do? Who cares? This is good fun.

John Pirhalla does an amazing job with the narration. I really liked it. Let's see if Charlie and company can actually save the universe after all.
Profile Image for Leo.
410 reviews7 followers
March 17, 2024
Better than the last book

Part ofme.wants to like.this series, hut part of me.is also annoyed by how the story is playing out. Long-short, Charlie Travers is.the chose one, and his band of misfit soldiers is retaking the occupied galaxy, one skirmish at a time from on occupying force that has dominated to region for hundreds of years. While the individual portions of the story is interesting, the way they keep winning despite the circumstances is jus unbelievable, especially for some.one.with basic ROTC training.
138 reviews4 followers
March 21, 2024
So predictable with unbelievable plot twists.

The Authors, Chaney and Part low have provided readers with a book first does not have much if any truly original plots. Charlie stumbles around whining and complaining about not being a leader. He gets his people into on crisis after another. Amazingly the Authors provide Charlie with incredible almost fairy tale like luck to prevail and satisfy the readers' need for heroic action so the protagonists can carry on to the next villains
11 reviews
December 3, 2023
Needs to be a movie

I just LOVE this series. It is so new and refreshing. The characters are so well-developed and so endearing that it needs to be shared with the wider world.

Too bad so many people in the entertainment industry are caught up with regurgitating silly stuff from 20 or 50 years back!
65 reviews
December 3, 2023
Awesome

When I first started reading this series, it intrigued me. But then I couldn't put it down, until I absolutely had to so I could get some work done. Then it just keeps getting better! I could not put it down until the book was done! Exciting, detailed, and at times I wanted to smack some of the characters myself! In the end, I love this series!
207 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2023
A Repirve

Truly our friends deserve a respite in time to reheal regroup and rethink thank you dear authors you're collaboration has made this storyline grow and become loved you have put much of your heart and soul in this in these books and they will always be part of me congratulations
469 reviews2 followers
January 1, 2024
Very good characters and great story now on to the next book in this series

I'm amazed that this author can write so many fantastic novels, I hope that he never stops writing. His books are some of the best Entertainment I have read and worth the time to read them. Thank you for a very fun entertaining read.
20 reviews
February 12, 2025
Started out slow but improved with time!

If i'd reviewed this midway through, it would have had a lower rating. But it improved about half way through, and ended with a bang. I'm looking forward to the next one now! Guess I need to add some more hollow words to get this to post. It would be nice if they didn't waste my time.

93 reviews1 follower
June 2, 2025
A Nova Eclipse ship that can destroy worlds by itself if well defended becomes the target

Charlie come up with another dangerous plan to destroy the Nova Eclipse before it can be used to destroy one of the rebel planets as multiple worlds combined their forces to end the evil empire threat.
545 reviews3 followers
January 8, 2024
Great series

I've read the first three books are they are outstanding. The characters are super interesting, the action is non-stopping, and the storyline is all you can want. Great series by great authors.
165 reviews1 follower
February 10, 2024
Excellent story to read

As the third in the series, this book did not disappoint! Excellent characters and solid plot. Action is very well written. Does not have too much technical descriptions, making the story plot the center of attention for the reader.
15 reviews
March 24, 2024
One of the better reads

The characters, the storyline, action is almost hypnotic, can’t put it down. that’s all the good side. The stories are a bit short and leave you needing the next one, so the addiction isn’t cheap but feels worthwhile.
Profile Image for Alan Schrader.
59 reviews
September 16, 2024
Another delightful fast passed battle in the stars

Because of character development you get to know and like the characters and the pressure of war and losses and gains for freedom.


17 reviews1 follower
March 23, 2025
Great read

I just have one complaint, hence the 4 stars. I read these books via Kindle. So, each time I opened the app, I had to look at the cover. The face staring back was creepy.
935 reviews8 followers
March 30, 2025
Absolutely brilliant.

It's not a death star but it is earth shattering.
Great characters with realistic situations and lots of action.
The rebellion has started.
I look forward to the next one.
39 reviews2 followers
November 28, 2023
Better and Better

Thrown together, seemingly at random. Or, perhaps by an intelligence? Against insurmountable odds, they face down the empire...

Time to get to work.
164 reviews7 followers
January 2, 2024
This is a fun book that continues the saga revolting against the Anguilar. I'm really enjoying this series, it does have some common tropes but overall it's original and fun
171 reviews2 followers
January 15, 2024
This third book in the series picks up the pace and gets into interesting plot twists as the bad guys get worse :-) Our heroes are up to some huge challenges and the story kept me reading!
308 reviews4 followers
Read
January 23, 2024
3 Times the charm

How can you fight great evil? Love and life he!p put an end to evil. This is o e great story of how to fight evil with our becoming evil.
302 reviews4 followers
January 23, 2024
Good Read

Took me a little time to warm up to this book in the series. May have been the wait between book 2 and this book. It surely picked up the pace with dynamic intrigue!
102 reviews
January 26, 2024
Hooked again

The story continued to make me want to keep reading. the many people who have a part in this story add the whole story and make it a wonderful plot.
190 reviews1 follower
April 1, 2024
A Great Read

Here is a story we should hope never ends. May we all take heart from it and continue doing all that we each can to make the world a better place for all.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews

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