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A Sword Into Darkness
“Solid adventure, intrigue and speculative space-tech, from a rising star in military science fiction.” — DAVID BRIN, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of ‘EXISTENCE,’ ‘THE POSTMAN,’ and ‘STARTIDE RISING’
HUMANITY IS NO LONGER ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE. AN UNKNOWABLE THREAT APPROACHES EARTH . . . AND WE ARE COMPLETELY UNPREPARED TO FACE WHAT'S COMING.
Aerospace tycoon Gordon Elliot Lee cannot stand idly by while a mysterious alien presence from Delta Pavonis bears down upon mankind's only home. Shut out from NASA and military support, Gordon is forced to go it alone, to sow the seeds for an entirely new sort of planetary a space-based naval force.
Joined by Nathan Kelley -- a bloodied naval warrior, scarred by his own actions in the waters off North Korea -- and Kris Munoz -- an avant garde scientific genius with more ideas than sense -- these three will scour the very edges of fringe science and engineering to attempt development of Earth's first space navy in time to oppose the Deltan invasion.
Beset by ridicule, government obstruction, industrial espionage, and their own personal demons, it will take a miracle just to get off the ground. But the challenges on Earth are nothing compared to what awaits them in space. Against an unknown alien enemy with vastly superior technology, a handful of human scientists and warriors must become the sword that holds the darkness at bay.
MISSILES WILL FLASH, RAILGUNS WILL RUMBLE, LASERS WILL BURN, AND DEFENDERS WILL DIE.
IF THEY FAIL, OUR END IS AT HAND.
“There are brilliant first contact stories, great space combat stories, and amazing stories of technological discovery. Rarely do you find all three in the same novel. Remember the name Thomas A. Mays. You’re going to be seeing it on the bestseller list.” — JEFF EDWARDS, Award-winning author of ‘SEA OF SHADOWS,’ and ‘THE SEVENTH ANGEL’
“Sharply written, suspenseful and tightly plotted, A SWORD INTO DARKNESS reads like the best Tom Clancy novels, with a science fiction heart provided by Arthur C. Clark. Can’t wait to read more from Thomas Mays!” — GRAHAM BROWN, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of ‘ZERO HOUR,’ ‘BLACK RAIN,’ and ‘THE EDEN PROPHECY’
HUMANITY IS NO LONGER ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE. AN UNKNOWABLE THREAT APPROACHES EARTH . . . AND WE ARE COMPLETELY UNPREPARED TO FACE WHAT'S COMING.
Aerospace tycoon Gordon Elliot Lee cannot stand idly by while a mysterious alien presence from Delta Pavonis bears down upon mankind's only home. Shut out from NASA and military support, Gordon is forced to go it alone, to sow the seeds for an entirely new sort of planetary a space-based naval force.
Joined by Nathan Kelley -- a bloodied naval warrior, scarred by his own actions in the waters off North Korea -- and Kris Munoz -- an avant garde scientific genius with more ideas than sense -- these three will scour the very edges of fringe science and engineering to attempt development of Earth's first space navy in time to oppose the Deltan invasion.
Beset by ridicule, government obstruction, industrial espionage, and their own personal demons, it will take a miracle just to get off the ground. But the challenges on Earth are nothing compared to what awaits them in space. Against an unknown alien enemy with vastly superior technology, a handful of human scientists and warriors must become the sword that holds the darkness at bay.
MISSILES WILL FLASH, RAILGUNS WILL RUMBLE, LASERS WILL BURN, AND DEFENDERS WILL DIE.
IF THEY FAIL, OUR END IS AT HAND.
“There are brilliant first contact stories, great space combat stories, and amazing stories of technological discovery. Rarely do you find all three in the same novel. Remember the name Thomas A. Mays. You’re going to be seeing it on the bestseller list.” — JEFF EDWARDS, Award-winning author of ‘SEA OF SHADOWS,’ and ‘THE SEVENTH ANGEL’
“Sharply written, suspenseful and tightly plotted, A SWORD INTO DARKNESS reads like the best Tom Clancy novels, with a science fiction heart provided by Arthur C. Clark. Can’t wait to read more from Thomas Mays!” — GRAHAM BROWN, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of ‘ZERO HOUR,’ ‘BLACK RAIN,’ and ‘THE EDEN PROPHECY’
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 16, 2013
74 people are currently reading
638 people want to read
About the author
Thomas A. Mays
6 books43 followers Thomas A. Mays (Tom) is an 18-years-and-counting veteran of the US Navy, working as an officer in the surface fleet aboard destroyers and amphibious ships, as well as teaching and assisting with research into electromagnetic weapons and ballistic missile defense. He has two degrees in applied physics, but his passion is writing (he tries not to let what he actually knows get in the way of telling a good story). The author of several short stories in both print and online magazines, Tom usually lives wherever the Navy tells him to, making a home with his lovely wife, three beautiful kids, and an insane Hawaiian mutt. Tom's blog, The Improbable Author, can be found at: http://improbableauthor.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
March 16, 2016
It is rare that a book gets into the techno babble of space drives, time dilation and the all so confusing Physics of space travel and I enjoy it. Like grab a coffee in both hands and stab the next button to read a description that nails down travel, makes a good argument for space drives and materials that are only a bit of a stretch.
While I loved the premise of the book, the tech and the science, the characters development slowed to a grinding halt. They interested me in the beginning but then started to wilt away. Now that said they were on one long ass journey so that might have something to do with it.
It was well written and the tech, awesome. Give it a go, if anything you come out with a better understanding of science and a decent tale of someone giving the world the middle finger and telling them he'll do it his own damned self.
While I loved the premise of the book, the tech and the science, the characters development slowed to a grinding halt. They interested me in the beginning but then started to wilt away. Now that said they were on one long ass journey so that might have something to do with it.
It was well written and the tech, awesome. Give it a go, if anything you come out with a better understanding of science and a decent tale of someone giving the world the middle finger and telling them he'll do it his own damned self.
June 12, 2014
Fans of Dilbert (aka victims of bureacracy) and fans of military fiction, space opera, hard science and technology will find plenty to feast on in this novel by debut author Thomas A. Mays, a Navy veteran who's earned two degrees in physics. "Improbable Author" is his improbable name at twitter.
My review of this novel will be live at Perihelion Science Fiction ezine June 12-July 12, titled "Contains Explicit Science." You can read it for free online. Donations are welcome. Buying books or anything via a Perihelion link to amazon costs you nothing but adds a few cumulative pennies to the ezine's budget.
http://www.perihelionsf.com/1406/revi...
After a one-month run, stories, reviews and other content will be archived for three months. My reviews will then show up here or at my blog.
If you hurry, the novel is on sale for 99 cents, reduced from the usual $3.99. A sequel is in progress.
Mays has published a second novel, REMO.
A Sword Into Darkness was shortlisted for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
My review of this novel will be live at Perihelion Science Fiction ezine June 12-July 12, titled "Contains Explicit Science." You can read it for free online. Donations are welcome. Buying books or anything via a Perihelion link to amazon costs you nothing but adds a few cumulative pennies to the ezine's budget.
http://www.perihelionsf.com/1406/revi...
After a one-month run, stories, reviews and other content will be archived for three months. My reviews will then show up here or at my blog.
If you hurry, the novel is on sale for 99 cents, reduced from the usual $3.99. A sequel is in progress.
Mays has published a second novel, REMO.
A Sword Into Darkness was shortlisted for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
March 4, 2014
This is one of the best military scifi novels I have read in quite sometime. Often when I peruse the downloadable books of new, indie, self-published, niche, etc. authors in this genre you never know what to expect, this book met all expectations and then some. I wouldn't doubt if Thomas Mays' work becomes a well recognized work in scifi. The writing is superb. The story isn't just a tale set in the future, but the science is well explained and integral to the story. The combat focuses on ship-to-ship combat (versus space marine type of story). If you find the summary-blurb interesting, then I recommend you read this book because the author definitely delivers. Looking forward to the sequel.
December 17, 2018
I don't normally read hard science fiction, but I decided to give this one a shot. I regret nothing.
Without giving away the plot of the story, if you take one part Elon Musk, one part General Mattis (when he was younger) and two big helpings of Apple tech-black-ops, this is the story you get.
The idea as to why things happen, what happens after that, and the twists in the middle (again, still trying to keep it vague, but let's just say there's a ship-to-ship weapon you won't expect).
Without giving away the plot of the story, if you take one part Elon Musk, one part General Mattis (when he was younger) and two big helpings of Apple tech-black-ops, this is the story you get.
The idea as to why things happen, what happens after that, and the twists in the middle (again, still trying to keep it vague, but let's just say there's a ship-to-ship weapon you won't expect).
November 29, 2018
Wow!
If you like SciFi this one's for you. Also space battle. But most important is human interaction. Character development is not left out in favor of "flash". Good read. Lots of fun. Thank you, Mr. Mays.
If you like SciFi this one's for you. Also space battle. But most important is human interaction. Character development is not left out in favor of "flash". Good read. Lots of fun. Thank you, Mr. Mays.
September 12, 2015
I feel slightly guilty giving this book only two stars. It was recommended by Jeff Edwards (Dome City Blues), and because I loved Edwards' writing, I went with it. Ultimately, I think the pacing of the book was its undoing. The first two chapters hooked me. The descriptive realism of his prose is uncommon. He's writing about military subjects, and the more I think I know in that regard, the better prepared I think I am. ( I have no personal experiences to draw on.)
But when I finished the first two gratis chapters courtesy of Amazon, then purchased the book, the tone immediately shifted to something more like a Michael Crichton book. The clean, descriptive military precision went away and I got a dose of ... Jacqueline Susann? I put up with the seemingly unrelated back stories and social dalliances for a few chapters, but the premise of the book–– that there's perhaps an alien race heading our direction with suspicious intent–– finally rendered these little side trips irritating. What's going on with the aliens?
Since I'd been promised a space fight, I wanted a space fight. I didn't want politics, however realistically they're rendered. Budget considerations, privately funded- versus- governmental oversight, academic infighting...all may indeed be needed to get a good battle going in outer space, but once I gave Mays my suspension of disbelief, I wanted to suspend disbelief. I didn't want to be artistically and convincingly led down the path of preparation for said battle. The battle prep took up three-fourths of the book.
Technically, I'm not qualified to comment except to say that Mays' knowledge of physics and science was sufficient to bamboozle me. Page after page of technical jargon rendered me stupefied. I believed all his characters knew what they seemed to know, which were things I didn't know and didn't really understand even after the characters explained them to each other. And once I realized that, I began thumbing pages every time he launched into a technical explanation until the meat of the story (for me) reappeared. I found I could get away with this technique finally not just during his technical explanations, but also with his social and political machinations. I cared less about his love plot lines and his assemblage of seasoned
war vets and politicians. I just wanted an alien-human outer space battle. I wanted stuff to get blown up.
For me, once the thumbing starts the tension ends, and a novel falls apart often simply because of my own impatience rather than the author's lack of prowess. Nevertheless I give each author I choose the same blithe and gullible spirit, with varying results. By book's end I found myself becoming irritated with his characters' smarminess under fire, as if there were a Schwarzenegger-ish, written-for-the-screen undercurrent to his prose that became sharper as the novel progressed. I finished the book, and read every page of the final 50, I'm sure. And the battle didn't disappoint. He's great when he's great. But he needs a good editor to either cut away some of the technical stuff (which, yes, many smarter-than-me readers seem to love), or to dumb down the science to make readers like me happy. All-in-all, maybe he rated 3 stars. But I just thought the book was OK.
But when I finished the first two gratis chapters courtesy of Amazon, then purchased the book, the tone immediately shifted to something more like a Michael Crichton book. The clean, descriptive military precision went away and I got a dose of ... Jacqueline Susann? I put up with the seemingly unrelated back stories and social dalliances for a few chapters, but the premise of the book–– that there's perhaps an alien race heading our direction with suspicious intent–– finally rendered these little side trips irritating. What's going on with the aliens?
Since I'd been promised a space fight, I wanted a space fight. I didn't want politics, however realistically they're rendered. Budget considerations, privately funded- versus- governmental oversight, academic infighting...all may indeed be needed to get a good battle going in outer space, but once I gave Mays my suspension of disbelief, I wanted to suspend disbelief. I didn't want to be artistically and convincingly led down the path of preparation for said battle. The battle prep took up three-fourths of the book.
Technically, I'm not qualified to comment except to say that Mays' knowledge of physics and science was sufficient to bamboozle me. Page after page of technical jargon rendered me stupefied. I believed all his characters knew what they seemed to know, which were things I didn't know and didn't really understand even after the characters explained them to each other. And once I realized that, I began thumbing pages every time he launched into a technical explanation until the meat of the story (for me) reappeared. I found I could get away with this technique finally not just during his technical explanations, but also with his social and political machinations. I cared less about his love plot lines and his assemblage of seasoned
war vets and politicians. I just wanted an alien-human outer space battle. I wanted stuff to get blown up.
For me, once the thumbing starts the tension ends, and a novel falls apart often simply because of my own impatience rather than the author's lack of prowess. Nevertheless I give each author I choose the same blithe and gullible spirit, with varying results. By book's end I found myself becoming irritated with his characters' smarminess under fire, as if there were a Schwarzenegger-ish, written-for-the-screen undercurrent to his prose that became sharper as the novel progressed. I finished the book, and read every page of the final 50, I'm sure. And the battle didn't disappoint. He's great when he's great. But he needs a good editor to either cut away some of the technical stuff (which, yes, many smarter-than-me readers seem to love), or to dumb down the science to make readers like me happy. All-in-all, maybe he rated 3 stars. But I just thought the book was OK.
December 11, 2015
From The Musings of a Starving Author"
I have to be honest, my foodies, in that I haven’t had a good dining experience at the military sci-fi table. Until now, I had thought this was just a genre of cuisine that would eternally curdle my stomach. So when I had another such dish get served up out of the pantry, I was hesitant to even crack the serving dome. Still, hope springs eternal in this diner’s heart, so I bravely dove into A Sword Into Darkness. Would this be the dish that broke through to me about this genre or would this spaceship crash and burn?
Before we find out, let us recite the rules of Starving Reviewing:
I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre
I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible
I have to be honest: Sword is a sharp bit of writing. Which is a good thing, because, uh, swords? Poor humor aside, this is definitely the first military sci-fi dish that truly impressed me, that had me focused on it for the entire read … and it’s also is wrapped in the crunchy roll of hard sci-fi, another thing that often puts my taste buds to sleep. So, what did the chef do right in this recipe that brought it above the pack?
As I say all the time, first and foremost, Sword has excellent cooking fundamentals. The key ingredients: a well-paced plot, smartly arranged exposition, relatable characters, and multi-layered dramatic conflict. Yes, there are plenty of solid genre conventions: spicy military action, that crunchy hard sci-fi layer I mentioned before, and an implacable yet imminently understandable race of alien invaders. However, it never lets these spices overwhelm those core fundamentals.
One thing I want to particularly focus on is the excellent foreshadowing and symbolism shown at various points in the meal. It was done in a nuanced fashion that, when certain plot points come to the fore of your literary palate, you suddenly taste that zest of flavor from that previous nugget of foreshadowing, that thrill of sudden understanding. As far as symbolism, if you do read Sword, a certain dinner fairly early on between three major characters is, though the detail at first blush seems excessive, deeply informative of their personalities and motives once you see the symbolism and meaning about those details.
There’s not much more I can say that won’t dive into SPOILERS, so let’s wrap this up! A Sword Into Darkness is a wonderfully flavorful and nuanced dinner of military sci-fi, the best I have read so far! If you like military sci-fi, it is a must read. If you are a general lover of sci-fi or genre fiction, it is also worth your time.
FINAL VERDICT: ***** (A wonderfully flavorful and nuanced dinner of military sci-fi, the best I have read so far!)
I have to be honest, my foodies, in that I haven’t had a good dining experience at the military sci-fi table. Until now, I had thought this was just a genre of cuisine that would eternally curdle my stomach. So when I had another such dish get served up out of the pantry, I was hesitant to even crack the serving dome. Still, hope springs eternal in this diner’s heart, so I bravely dove into A Sword Into Darkness. Would this be the dish that broke through to me about this genre or would this spaceship crash and burn?
Before we find out, let us recite the rules of Starving Reviewing:
I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre
I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible
I have to be honest: Sword is a sharp bit of writing. Which is a good thing, because, uh, swords? Poor humor aside, this is definitely the first military sci-fi dish that truly impressed me, that had me focused on it for the entire read … and it’s also is wrapped in the crunchy roll of hard sci-fi, another thing that often puts my taste buds to sleep. So, what did the chef do right in this recipe that brought it above the pack?
As I say all the time, first and foremost, Sword has excellent cooking fundamentals. The key ingredients: a well-paced plot, smartly arranged exposition, relatable characters, and multi-layered dramatic conflict. Yes, there are plenty of solid genre conventions: spicy military action, that crunchy hard sci-fi layer I mentioned before, and an implacable yet imminently understandable race of alien invaders. However, it never lets these spices overwhelm those core fundamentals.
One thing I want to particularly focus on is the excellent foreshadowing and symbolism shown at various points in the meal. It was done in a nuanced fashion that, when certain plot points come to the fore of your literary palate, you suddenly taste that zest of flavor from that previous nugget of foreshadowing, that thrill of sudden understanding. As far as symbolism, if you do read Sword, a certain dinner fairly early on between three major characters is, though the detail at first blush seems excessive, deeply informative of their personalities and motives once you see the symbolism and meaning about those details.
There’s not much more I can say that won’t dive into SPOILERS, so let’s wrap this up! A Sword Into Darkness is a wonderfully flavorful and nuanced dinner of military sci-fi, the best I have read so far! If you like military sci-fi, it is a must read. If you are a general lover of sci-fi or genre fiction, it is also worth your time.
FINAL VERDICT: ***** (A wonderfully flavorful and nuanced dinner of military sci-fi, the best I have read so far!)
March 6, 2014
I enjoyed this novel and will be reading more of the author's work in the future.
I was pleased to see Mr. Mays had spent some time editing and crafting his story. I understand the ability to self publish has caused a rash of works that don't have an editor. I've heard tales of self published books with poor spelling and grammar.
I disagreed with the categorization of the book as 'space opera'. I always felt space opera was about military life in space. As it was explained to me "Horatio Hornblower in space." The book has the military in the story but only as history and to be bad guys.
A few issues knocked down my rating a bit. Many science fiction stories are written for drama first and accuracy second. There's a balance that you have to achieve. You need to leave out the boring bits and embellish the exciting parts. Too many authors invent some world changing technology that lets them get to the exciting story they want to write. Unfortunately when the tech doesn't seem plausible it breaks my "willing suspension of disbelief". This story fell into that trap. The technology was implausible and the implications of it were ignored. The transporter in Star Trek is the best example.
The characters are interesting and have some depth. I would personally have preferred more but I don't mind all that pesky exposition. I got a chance to chat with the author and made the point some of the characters are not personified at all. He designed it that way on purpose but it made the story less engaging for me.
A good read and I'm looking forward to seeing where Thomas Mays goes with his further books.
I was pleased to see Mr. Mays had spent some time editing and crafting his story. I understand the ability to self publish has caused a rash of works that don't have an editor. I've heard tales of self published books with poor spelling and grammar.
I disagreed with the categorization of the book as 'space opera'. I always felt space opera was about military life in space. As it was explained to me "Horatio Hornblower in space." The book has the military in the story but only as history and to be bad guys.
A few issues knocked down my rating a bit. Many science fiction stories are written for drama first and accuracy second. There's a balance that you have to achieve. You need to leave out the boring bits and embellish the exciting parts. Too many authors invent some world changing technology that lets them get to the exciting story they want to write. Unfortunately when the tech doesn't seem plausible it breaks my "willing suspension of disbelief". This story fell into that trap. The technology was implausible and the implications of it were ignored. The transporter in Star Trek is the best example.
The characters are interesting and have some depth. I would personally have preferred more but I don't mind all that pesky exposition. I got a chance to chat with the author and made the point some of the characters are not personified at all. He designed it that way on purpose but it made the story less engaging for me.
A good read and I'm looking forward to seeing where Thomas Mays goes with his further books.
August 27, 2014
When a armature astronomer and head of a large company believes that he has found evidence of something in space heading in the direction of Earth, he tries to get NASA and the government to take notice, but they treat him like a kook and ignore his warnings. He then recruits people and begins to develop a reconnaissance craft to investigate. He finds an Ex Navy man to head the endeavor and finds a brash and brilliant young college student who has developed a revolutionary new propulsion system based on clues from the approaching body. When the probe reaches the unknown and sends back information before it is destroyed, the group begins to build a ship that can reach out the light years needed to confront what is a strange grouping of artifacts revolving around what seems to be a captive sun. The mission of the ship and crew is to make contact a determine whether the strangers are friendly or not. Caught you interest? Give it a try to find out what happens.
July 18, 2014
I’ve had my hands on Thomas Mays’s
A Sword Into Darkness
for a while, but Eric Raymond’s review at http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=5922 prompted me to actually read the book.
Having read it, there’s little I can add to what Eric has written about it: the book is well-plotted, well-written, and fun to read. The best sort of Space Opera—Hard S.F. with believable and sympathetic characters.
I hope he keeps writing, sequels and unrelated books both; I want to read more by this author.
Having read it, there’s little I can add to what Eric has written about it: the book is well-plotted, well-written, and fun to read. The best sort of Space Opera—Hard S.F. with believable and sympathetic characters.
I hope he keeps writing, sequels and unrelated books both; I want to read more by this author.
May 13, 2014
I got this as a bargain ebook sale from Bookbot, and boy was it good! Hard military science fiction revolving around whether a new light in the night sky found by astronomers is a comet or someone coming to visit. The plot is intriguing and very well paced. This isn't an in depth character development sort of story, but the characters are believable and certainly engaging, like they are in a well done adventure movie. If you like your science fiction without fantasy and based from Earth, and I do, this is a very good choice. Compulsively readable.
June 27, 2014
I loved, loved this book for many reasons! Awesome sci-fi with a smart plot, good physics and great characters -- this is one of those "almost real" sci-fi novels where the narrative just makes sense and comes to life, even while you are conscious it is scifi. I also liked the characters and their actions. Frankly, some scifi is fun because it is creative, but this boom combines this with believability and a fun plot, of course!
August 29, 2018
Brilliant!
Brilliant!
Speculative military SF with a healthy dose of Space Opera is exactly what a person needs to shout "Humanity, HELL YEAH!"
Anyone who enjoys space battles, everyday Navy life, and bleeding-edge science will love this book.
Brilliant!
Speculative military SF with a healthy dose of Space Opera is exactly what a person needs to shout "Humanity, HELL YEAH!"
Anyone who enjoys space battles, everyday Navy life, and bleeding-edge science will love this book.
March 2, 2014
A very good read
this story was better than most of the books that can be downloaded.it had an interesting storyline characters that were believable and science that was realistic.this was the first time I read a book by this author and I certainly plan to read more of his work
this story was better than most of the books that can be downloaded.it had an interesting storyline characters that were believable and science that was realistic.this was the first time I read a book by this author and I certainly plan to read more of his work
March 6, 2014
Humanity Last Stand
A signal is sent out and received, but why won't the aliens communicate? Fearing theorists ridiculed by his peers, one man must prepare for the worst. Fans of Weber and Clancy will enjoy this ripping space adventure.
A signal is sent out and received, but why won't the aliens communicate? Fearing theorists ridiculed by his peers, one man must prepare for the worst. Fans of Weber and Clancy will enjoy this ripping space adventure.
February 16, 2015
So much better than I expected. I'm not usually a first contact guy, but this book gets so many things right.
I want more, and I have a feeling whatever I read next will be disappointing bc it's not this.
I want more, and I have a feeling whatever I read next will be disappointing bc it's not this.
January 5, 2016
Perhaps the best indie military fiction I have ever read. Premise is an interesting twist on a familiar story , but the writing is several cuts above the average indie book. A true, polished, and fun ride.
August 4, 2014
Another winner!
Another winner!
This is space opera at its best. Enough science to make it interesting and believable, and weird alien scrum to hate. An entertaining read with a satisfying conclusion. Very well done.
Another winner!
This is space opera at its best. Enough science to make it interesting and believable, and weird alien scrum to hate. An entertaining read with a satisfying conclusion. Very well done.
January 16, 2017
3.5 stars
Very entertaining right out of the gate. Good, fun military sci-fi.
The book works perfectly well as a stand alone, but has been left open to sequels.
The narration was really good.
Very entertaining right out of the gate. Good, fun military sci-fi.
The book works perfectly well as a stand alone, but has been left open to sequels.
The narration was really good.
August 24, 2020
Excellent military space warfare book. Well written and compelling for both the techno types and the more general reader of the genre.
December 22, 2022
I seem to be reading a lot of alien invasion books of late. This one is very inventive IMO.
October 7, 2022
3/5 liked
100% finished.
Exceptional for a first novel. There is some very nice 'realistic' science applied to space combat. Once again another solid Atomic Rockets recommendation. This expectedly lacks the polish of a more experienced writer, but I didn't mind. It's not an exceptional novel.
Disclaimer: My ratings reflect my enjoyment of the book unless stated otherwise. The scale from 1 through 5 is disliked, okay, liked, greatly liked, and loved. The scale is not set with 3 as 'okay' because preserving a normal distribution and "using the whole scale" while reviewing is more important to me than aesthetics (also Goodreads recommends this scale). I lack the time to pull textual examples to back up my opinion statements, but I love helping people like myself enough to still want to write reviews. I know that without evidence, everything I say is an opinion statement and might be drivel. Take it as such if you wish.
Characters: 2/5
This isn't about the characters. There is romance. No, it isn't the point of the story either. I don't know what to say without sounding judgmental. Alright, edited the template blurb. Anyway, The characters were not annoying. They are standard, but not cookie cutter, if you catch my drift. They don't change much and don't bring anything new to the table, but at least they aren't annoying and at least they aren't *too* generic. I appreciate how every character is fallible. I don't appreciate how the female lead randomly did a 180 in her personality and characterization as soon as she met the main character, and the fact that he didn't let he know that she didn't even need to do that to get him to like her. That's a minor quibble though, since it takes up all of two sentences of story.
Main character characterization: male, ex-military, disgraced, always capable, born leader, hot, imperfect decision-making
World: 3/5 liked it
The science was nice. The reveal was nice. It's basically as Mr. Chung from Atomic Rockets said.
Story: 2/5 okay
There wasn't enough space combat for my taste. The whole thing felt rather wishy-washy and not hard enough for me to really sink my teeth into it. There was way too much discussion and decision-making happening in the middle of battle. You're telling me you had 1.5 years to make a battle plan for fighting an unchanging target and now you have to break concentration right before you engage to ponder what distance you should keep between you and this still-unchanging target? Lots of little things like that threw me off. Not consciously all the time, but enough to impact the vibe of the story and give it that mushy feeling.
As a tangent, I really liked the 1000x4-panel webcomic One Over Zero. (Goodreads no longer lets people add books and also doesn't allow web-serials, so I have nowhere to plug it.)
100% finished.
Exceptional for a first novel. There is some very nice 'realistic' science applied to space combat. Once again another solid Atomic Rockets recommendation. This expectedly lacks the polish of a more experienced writer, but I didn't mind. It's not an exceptional novel.
Disclaimer: My ratings reflect my enjoyment of the book unless stated otherwise. The scale from 1 through 5 is disliked, okay, liked, greatly liked, and loved. The scale is not set with 3 as 'okay' because preserving a normal distribution and "using the whole scale" while reviewing is more important to me than aesthetics (also Goodreads recommends this scale). I lack the time to pull textual examples to back up my opinion statements, but I love helping people like myself enough to still want to write reviews. I know that without evidence, everything I say is an opinion statement and might be drivel. Take it as such if you wish.
Characters: 2/5
This isn't about the characters. There is romance. No, it isn't the point of the story either. I don't know what to say without sounding judgmental. Alright, edited the template blurb. Anyway, The characters were not annoying. They are standard, but not cookie cutter, if you catch my drift. They don't change much and don't bring anything new to the table, but at least they aren't annoying and at least they aren't *too* generic. I appreciate how every character is fallible. I don't appreciate how the female lead randomly did a 180 in her personality and characterization as soon as she met the main character, and the fact that he didn't let he know that she didn't even need to do that to get him to like her. That's a minor quibble though, since it takes up all of two sentences of story.
Main character characterization: male, ex-military, disgraced, always capable, born leader, hot, imperfect decision-making
World: 3/5 liked it
The science was nice. The reveal was nice. It's basically as Mr. Chung from Atomic Rockets said.
Story: 2/5 okay
There wasn't enough space combat for my taste. The whole thing felt rather wishy-washy and not hard enough for me to really sink my teeth into it. There was way too much discussion and decision-making happening in the middle of battle. You're telling me you had 1.5 years to make a battle plan for fighting an unchanging target and now you have to break concentration right before you engage to ponder what distance you should keep between you and this still-unchanging target? Lots of little things like that threw me off. Not consciously all the time, but enough to impact the vibe of the story and give it that mushy feeling.
As a tangent, I really liked the 1000x4-panel webcomic One Over Zero. (Goodreads no longer lets people add books and also doesn't allow web-serials, so I have nowhere to plug it.)
February 2, 2020
Unlike most people, I enjoyed the the first half of the book more than the last half. I enjoyed Gordon a lot, and I even had moments were I enjoyed Nathan, though Edwards was my favorite. Kris was unfortunately a meme character, le quirky engineer girl, a meme I thought began with Firefly but actually goes back at least as far as Miami Vice. The story had predictable elements and plot "twists" that were obvious 10 light years away, and Mays' prose is frequently basic and sometimes repetitive.
All that being said, I had a really good time reading this book, and did so quickly. Mays can describe scientific phenomenon aptly without dumbing it down, I only briefly got lost during the initial scene with the K-mart. 5 stars to make the Goodreads algorithm do its job, 3.5 stars objectively. Time well spent.
All that being said, I had a really good time reading this book, and did so quickly. Mays can describe scientific phenomenon aptly without dumbing it down, I only briefly got lost during the initial scene with the K-mart. 5 stars to make the Goodreads algorithm do its job, 3.5 stars objectively. Time well spent.
September 21, 2017
Honestly I really liked the first few chapters. It's what drew me into the book, but then it seemed to stall, slow down and get bogged down with boring unending descriptions of stuff I had no clue about. The politics were overdone...get on with the story itself...I don't need chapter after chapter on how crappy the government is. I started to like the characters in the first chapters but they got flat, boring and uninteresting as the book went on. There was no real excitement or tension. The aliens were a footnote throughout most of the book. I almost stopped listening to it a dozen times .. I had the audible version ... but I just did not have another book to listen to on my long commute to work right now so I kept listening. Would not buy it again.
December 15, 2019
Very slooooow start for this book, with multiple angles getting put into play
... the last half of the book was much better than the 1st half, which I guess was just character-building.
... the last half of the book was much better than the 1st half, which I guess was just character-building.
July 16, 2020
Fun read and impressive tech development ideas
Combat was well described. Incredible technology development was key, but too rapid even for sci-fi and dependent on a beautiful, impossibly gifted love interest.
As for a lot of sci-fi, suspend scepticism and enjoy a fun read.
Combat was well described. Incredible technology development was key, but too rapid even for sci-fi and dependent on a beautiful, impossibly gifted love interest.
As for a lot of sci-fi, suspend scepticism and enjoy a fun read.
September 7, 2018
Great sci-fi book
Liked the time it took for events to unfold. Technical details not overwhelming. Characters compelling. Would recommend to others. Read it
Liked the time it took for events to unfold. Technical details not overwhelming. Characters compelling. Would recommend to others. Read it
August 23, 2019
Is it possible?
The Science Fiction of the past is more often than not the FACTs of the present. Lt. Col. USAF(RET). Mashpee
The Science Fiction of the past is more often than not the FACTs of the present. Lt. Col. USAF(RET). Mashpee
September 9, 2019
Good writer, great narration skills. Story was amazing, just pasable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2021
3 1/2. a great, imaginative sci fi read but too much scientific jargon & concepts for me.
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