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Empire's Corps #8
Retreat Hell
A new mainstream novel of The Empire’s Corps!
After the disastrous mission to Lakshmibai, the very existence of the Commonwealth is called into question by politicians on Avalon. But as the political firestorm mounts, a call for help arrives from Thule, a highly-developed world facing a major insurgency in the wake of the Empire’s collapse. Reluctantly, the Commonwealth deploys the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force to Thule.
But all is not as it seems. The insurgents are receiving support from off-world powers, while bare light years across the border, Wolfbane – another successor state to the vanished Empire – is preparing for war... and an old enemy plots her revenge. As the countdown to war begins, the CEF finds itself sinking in a quagmire of bitter hatred...
After the disastrous mission to Lakshmibai, the very existence of the Commonwealth is called into question by politicians on Avalon. But as the political firestorm mounts, a call for help arrives from Thule, a highly-developed world facing a major insurgency in the wake of the Empire’s collapse. Reluctantly, the Commonwealth deploys the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force to Thule.
But all is not as it seems. The insurgents are receiving support from off-world powers, while bare light years across the border, Wolfbane – another successor state to the vanished Empire – is preparing for war... and an old enemy plots her revenge. As the countdown to war begins, the CEF finds itself sinking in a quagmire of bitter hatred...
406 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 3, 2014
This is one of these books were I feel that I need to reiterate that I am in no way a professional reviewer and do not aspire to be one. Thus my ratings are heavily influenced by my personal tastes and I am afraid that this book wandered out of my comfort zone by quite some margin.
We are back to Avalon and the Commonwealth’s struggle to rebuild and stabilize the region. Unfortunately not all players share the visions of the leaders of Avalon and the Commonwealth. As a matter of fact, not all of the leaders of Avalon shares the greater visions for the Commonwealth.
The book, the story and the characters are as well written as in earlier books. However, this is a story of politics, manipulation, deceit, betrayal and general despair. To say that these elements in a story is not exactly my favorite elements would be quite an understatement. Actually they are really elements that I do not like at all. I know this is very much the main elements of several books in this series but they all had things in them that made me feel enjoyment when reading anyway.
The story begins with a politician at Avalon trying to pin the Lakshmibai failure onto the marines and subsequently use that as a political monkey wrench to isolate Avalon and stop offering military help to the Commonwealth members. Bad start. His plans are derailed but, unfortunately, the CEF blunders into yet another scenario which turns out to be a trap and an even worse one than the previous one. The words “not again” popped up in my head rather early in the book.
Old enemies return and, of course, makes things even worse than everyone thought they were. Things go from bad to worse and a good chunk of the book is rather depressing actually. At least if you are on the Commonwealths side. Unfortunately the book ends in a cliffhanger at a time when things looks really black. Needless to say I do dislike cliffhangers. Especially when used in a book like this they give a lingering I-really-did-not-like-this feeling after you close the book.
As I said, the technical aspects of the book are as good as one would expect from this author but it was really not my cup of tea. The one good thing I can say about the book is that it has set the stage for a nice comeback from the Commonwealth and I for one hope that this is the direction that the author plans to take. If the old enemy that returned is not getting a thorough spanking eventually then I am going to be mighty disappointed.
There are also some interesting technical developments by Avalon mentioned in the book that I hope will play a somewhat bigger role in future books than in this one.
If you like politics, manipulation, treachery etc…, or at least do not dislike them, then you will probably find this book a lot more enjoyable that I found it. It is a good book, just not my cup of tea as I wrote before.
We are back to Avalon and the Commonwealth’s struggle to rebuild and stabilize the region. Unfortunately not all players share the visions of the leaders of Avalon and the Commonwealth. As a matter of fact, not all of the leaders of Avalon shares the greater visions for the Commonwealth.
The book, the story and the characters are as well written as in earlier books. However, this is a story of politics, manipulation, deceit, betrayal and general despair. To say that these elements in a story is not exactly my favorite elements would be quite an understatement. Actually they are really elements that I do not like at all. I know this is very much the main elements of several books in this series but they all had things in them that made me feel enjoyment when reading anyway.
The story begins with a politician at Avalon trying to pin the Lakshmibai failure onto the marines and subsequently use that as a political monkey wrench to isolate Avalon and stop offering military help to the Commonwealth members. Bad start. His plans are derailed but, unfortunately, the CEF blunders into yet another scenario which turns out to be a trap and an even worse one than the previous one. The words “not again” popped up in my head rather early in the book.
Old enemies return and, of course, makes things even worse than everyone thought they were. Things go from bad to worse and a good chunk of the book is rather depressing actually. At least if you are on the Commonwealths side. Unfortunately the book ends in a cliffhanger at a time when things looks really black. Needless to say I do dislike cliffhangers. Especially when used in a book like this they give a lingering I-really-did-not-like-this feeling after you close the book.
As I said, the technical aspects of the book are as good as one would expect from this author but it was really not my cup of tea. The one good thing I can say about the book is that it has set the stage for a nice comeback from the Commonwealth and I for one hope that this is the direction that the author plans to take. If the old enemy that returned is not getting a thorough spanking eventually then I am going to be mighty disappointed.
There are also some interesting technical developments by Avalon mentioned in the book that I hope will play a somewhat bigger role in future books than in this one.
If you like politics, manipulation, treachery etc…, or at least do not dislike them, then you will probably find this book a lot more enjoyable that I found it. It is a good book, just not my cup of tea as I wrote before.
July 4, 2015
Stalker and the Marines are back on the Commonwealth of Avalon after the disaster on Lakshmibai. This series needs to be read in order as it is written as one long story divided into installments. Not too surprising our heroes fall into the traps set by Admiral Singh and rush to aid the world named Thule.
I am glad to see Jasmine is still in-charge of the Commonwealth Forces. Mandy is in charge of the Avalon government, she was wounded after an assassination attempt. The Commonwealth is at War which came as a surprise to everyone. Our villain Singh is leading the attack on Avalon and Commonwealth. Thule has fallen to Singh along with a large number of the Commonwealth Forces, Jasmine and troops are now P.O.W.
Nuttall moves the story through his well developed characters. The book is full of action; lots of suspense as everything gets worse. This book like so many others ends in a cliff hanger. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Jeffrey Kafer continues to narrate the series.
I am glad to see Jasmine is still in-charge of the Commonwealth Forces. Mandy is in charge of the Avalon government, she was wounded after an assassination attempt. The Commonwealth is at War which came as a surprise to everyone. Our villain Singh is leading the attack on Avalon and Commonwealth. Thule has fallen to Singh along with a large number of the Commonwealth Forces, Jasmine and troops are now P.O.W.
Nuttall moves the story through his well developed characters. The book is full of action; lots of suspense as everything gets worse. This book like so many others ends in a cliff hanger. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Jeffrey Kafer continues to narrate the series.
December 21, 2014
Another enjoyable read, in a good series.
January 11, 2024
The individual books in this series are well-enough written, with good world building, interesting characters, and a strong plot. But the "series" so far has at least four only tangentially related storylines, and the books do not seem to be chronological.
This book, in the Avalon storyline (the most interesting, IMO) ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger, and it looks as though the next book is in a different storyline.
While, as I noted, the stories are well-done, this is more than slightly annoying. If you want to write books that are only related by their placement in the same world timeline, it's rude to call them a series.
If this series were actually being written as a coherent story rather than novel-length, vaguely related vignettes, I would rate it higher. As is, I can't say that I could recommend it wholeheartedly.
This book, in the Avalon storyline (the most interesting, IMO) ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger, and it looks as though the next book is in a different storyline.
While, as I noted, the stories are well-done, this is more than slightly annoying. If you want to write books that are only related by their placement in the same world timeline, it's rude to call them a series.
If this series were actually being written as a coherent story rather than novel-length, vaguely related vignettes, I would rate it higher. As is, I can't say that I could recommend it wholeheartedly.
April 18, 2023
I had trouble finishing this installment in the series. There's a whole lot of exposition that gets annoyingly repetitive. This book could have been half its size and not impact the story at all. Way too much time is spent building up the political situation that doesn't really matter to the overall story.
August 5, 2020
The mainline of this series is very samy... rebels, fighting, quite monotonous. The earlier even numbered books in the series are good, odd numbered books in the series are great, but I couldn't even get through 20% of this before I gave up.
April 8, 2015
Another installment of the main storyline of the series. This one picked up where book #6 left off, with Avalon reeling after the military fiasco that they got maneuvered into. But even as the politicians are marking out their places, ready to point fingers and denounce the military (in ways that we can't get behind as readers), another, bigger threat to the Commonwealth -- or at least one of its constituent planetary systems -- arises. And whether they like it or not, they have to respond.
This time, the forces from Avalon are in the position of trying to squelch a rebellion, instead of aiding and abetting one. Worse, the leader appears to be someone with their own background (and a much abler adversary for it). But right when the fighting gets hot, a new player enters the picture -- the Big Bad that has been toying with the Commonwealth for a couple books, now. And the fight between two new regional powers in the Rim has begun.
As other commenters have mentioned, this definitely has a "... to be continued" feel to it and if I'd been reading it before book #10 had come out, I think I would have been extremely grumpy about the ending.
This time, the forces from Avalon are in the position of trying to squelch a rebellion, instead of aiding and abetting one. Worse, the leader appears to be someone with their own background (and a much abler adversary for it). But right when the fighting gets hot, a new player enters the picture -- the Big Bad that has been toying with the Commonwealth for a couple books, now. And the fight between two new regional powers in the Rim has begun.
As other commenters have mentioned, this definitely has a "... to be continued" feel to it and if I'd been reading it before book #10 had come out, I think I would have been extremely grumpy about the ending.
May 10, 2015
Retreat Hell, author Christopher Nuttall's eighth book in the Empire's Corps series, trends back to marine Jasmine Yamane. She's given command of a military force tasked with backing up the teetering government on an industrially rich but economically threatened planet called Thule. Little does she know that the rebels are backed by weapons from rival Wolfbane, which is trying to defeat the still susceptible Commonwealth and bolster its own status after the fall of earth and the Empire. Yamane does well against the rebels, while questioning if she should be fighting on their side instead of the weak government supported by the wealthy business owners, who don't allow votes to people without jobs. This means most people can't vote because the economy went into a tailspin after the fall of the Empire, and before that its slow decline. Nuttall tells the story through his characters, who are quite well developed by this point. The action continues to push the reader along, and Nuttall gets his points about economics and its influence on politics in the meantime. It's fun stuff. I had to read three of these in a row, which is no small time commitment.
August 12, 2016
No no no no - a cliff hanger ending - I call reader cruelty!!! This book is as exciting and enthralling as the rest of the series [full of action]. You are sucked into this world and the lives of our characters and heroes. However towards the end of the book I kept looking at percentage read [75% 85% 95%] with my stress level increasing & my tummy knotted up with tension wondering when things were going to start working out for the good guys but things just kept getting worse (although the title was a pretty big hint). Hopefully Christopher doesn't keep us waiting too long for the next book in the series "The Best Laid Plans" [no pressure Chris I guess it's better to be good than quick].
***Added 26March14:
With a bit of perspective I see that this story arc is getting too big to be dealt with appropriately [and with the quality writing we've come to expect from this author] in just one book.
***Added 26March14:
With a bit of perspective I see that this story arc is getting too big to be dealt with appropriately [and with the quality writing we've come to expect from this author] in just one book.
March 26, 2014
I thought the title was a statement as so many of the titles in this series are. Maybe it is meant to be a description; but I'm not so sure. That is as close to a spoiler as I'll go. This series is getting so large in its characters and locals; I can see how difficult it must be keeping it all in one novel. This felt more like a chapter in the larger story than a complete novel unto itself. The characters are still interesting and the universe is enlightening but I feel this is the first and only book in the series that could not stand on its own.
March 9, 2014
This is the eighth book in author Nuttall’s “The Empire’s Corps” series and is well worth reading. The plot of the series is believable as are the strategy and tactics employed by the characters. Author Nuttall is a professional writer, and the book shines with crisp dialogue. The often expressed philosophical comments by the characters could easily be found in today’s news. Taking the time to read the entire series would be time well spent.
April 1, 2021
Admiral Singh is back. As far as villains go she has definitely improved since her first appearance. Less one dimensional and stereotypically evil. The author seems to have veered off relating all the events to 20th century Earth history which is a nice bonus. There's no way that in 5,000 years the events leading up to WW1 will have any actual relevance to the politics of the day. Instead, we get a look at some of the history of the Empire
January 14, 2023
Politics for at least the first third
I could not stay with this one, just political discussions repeated endlessly. After about 1/3 started skimming ahead. Sadly, failed to find anything worthy. Yawn.
I could not stay with this one, just political discussions repeated endlessly. After about 1/3 started skimming ahead. Sadly, failed to find anything worthy. Yawn.
November 18, 2024
It's interesting the way Christopher has built this world and the way he publishes his books. This one book is perhaps one of the weaker ones as it works as a foundation for the following books. Simply put things go wrong and how this will be work out in book 10 will be interesting.
May 5, 2025
Picked up pace towards the end, either that or I was concentrating better.
February 13, 2015
This series got a bit tedious a few books ago, this one is just yadda yadda blah blah zzzzzzzzzzzz....
October 5, 2016
good read
May 8, 2015
Great series!
A lot going on in this book. I like that the conflicts aren't all wrapped up in bow at the end. Quite a cliff hangar though!
A lot going on in this book. I like that the conflicts aren't all wrapped up in bow at the end. Quite a cliff hangar though!
June 29, 2015
Action packed awesomeness but the author helt back bridging to a possible story arc with last few books in the series... ah we'll see. five stars
January 24, 2016
Another great book
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews