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The Slaver Wars #1
Moon Wreck
For the first time, all three short stories that introduce the Slaver Wars science fiction series are together. The Slaver Wars has currently sold over 100,000 copies. Read how it all began.
Disaster has struck the first Moon landing to be attempted in years. Commander Jason Strong and his fellow lunar explorer Greg Johnson have become stranded with no way home. In desperation, they set off in their lunar rover to check out an anomaly they discovered on their descent. What they find will shake their beliefs and what they know of human history. It is the beginning of an adventure that will take them far out into the Solar System and to a discovery that is beyond belief.
Disaster has struck the first Moon landing to be attempted in years. Commander Jason Strong and his fellow lunar explorer Greg Johnson have become stranded with no way home. In desperation, they set off in their lunar rover to check out an anomaly they discovered on their descent. What they find will shake their beliefs and what they know of human history. It is the beginning of an adventure that will take them far out into the Solar System and to a discovery that is beyond belief.
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 13, 2013
322 people are currently reading
337 people want to read
About the author
Raymond L. Weil
93 books339 followersUSA Today Best Selling Author
I live in Clinton Oklahoma with my wife of 40 years and our cat. I attended college at SWOSU in Weatherford Oklahoma, majoring in Math with minors in Creative Writing and History.
My hobbies include watching soccer, reading, camping, and of course writing. I coached youth soccer for twelve years before moving on and becoming a high school soccer coach for thirteen more. I also enjoy playing with my five grandchildren. I have a very vivid imagination, which sometimes worries my friends. They never know what I am going to say or what I am going to do.
I am an avid reader and have a science fiction / fantasy collection of over two thousand paperbacks. The space program has always fascinated me and I've followed it since its inception. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an astronaut. Now, I just write about it.
I live in Clinton Oklahoma with my wife of 40 years and our cat. I attended college at SWOSU in Weatherford Oklahoma, majoring in Math with minors in Creative Writing and History.
My hobbies include watching soccer, reading, camping, and of course writing. I coached youth soccer for twelve years before moving on and becoming a high school soccer coach for thirteen more. I also enjoy playing with my five grandchildren. I have a very vivid imagination, which sometimes worries my friends. They never know what I am going to say or what I am going to do.
I am an avid reader and have a science fiction / fantasy collection of over two thousand paperbacks. The space program has always fascinated me and I've followed it since its inception. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an astronaut. Now, I just write about it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
June 29, 2014
I can live with poor writing, provided the plot and characters are solid. I can handle a crummy plot, provided the prose is good.
Unfortunately "Moon Wreck" fails on both fronts - this is a book full of laughably bad writing, coupled with zero-dimensional simplistic characters, and a predictable plot that reads like "Battlestar Galactica" written in Up-Goer-Five.
Where to begin? Well, to begin with the beginning, the warning signs are right there in the opening two sentences:
"Mission Commander Jason Strong stared at the damaged lunar lander with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. His best friend and copilot Greg Johnson was standing next to him."
Daring, Tom-Swift-style WASP hero? Check. Disaster in space? Check. His best friend by his side? Check. Oh dear, I should have stopped there.
Over the next 150 pages, we learn that Greg has an infant son back on Earth. We know this because we are told so 29 times. We also learn that Greg hopes that his son will one day follow his father into space, something we are told 9 times. Strangely, we never do find out the name of Greg's son, or anything else about Greg for that matter.
People in this book smile a lot (50 times) and convey emotions with their eyes (102 times), but oddly always speak in full sentences with almost no contractions or colloquialisms. Expert trained astronauts repeatedly ask obvious questions of each other, presumably for the benefit of the reader. The aliens learn to speak English almost immediately, and have suspiciously Anglo-sounding names like "Andrew Benson".
And to cap it off, there's an undercurrent of sexism that runs throughout. The main female character in the book is always referred to as "Lisa", while most other people besides the two leads, Jason and Greg, are referenced by their last names. We hear repeatedly that Lisa has deep blue eyes and blonde hair, while never learning anything at all about the physical appearance of her fellow male astronauts. When Lisa boards the spaceship for the first time, we are told that she has a "look around, recognizing that these quarters could certainly use a woman's delicate touch".
The only three other female characters to appear in the book are described as (1) "gorgeous" with "deep dark eyes", (2) "a brunette and very striking", and (3) "a pretty blonde with deep blue eyes".
This is writing for tweens, without the sophistication. Please. Stop.
Unfortunately "Moon Wreck" fails on both fronts - this is a book full of laughably bad writing, coupled with zero-dimensional simplistic characters, and a predictable plot that reads like "Battlestar Galactica" written in Up-Goer-Five.
Where to begin? Well, to begin with the beginning, the warning signs are right there in the opening two sentences:
"Mission Commander Jason Strong stared at the damaged lunar lander with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. His best friend and copilot Greg Johnson was standing next to him."
Daring, Tom-Swift-style WASP hero? Check. Disaster in space? Check. His best friend by his side? Check. Oh dear, I should have stopped there.
Over the next 150 pages, we learn that Greg has an infant son back on Earth. We know this because we are told so 29 times. We also learn that Greg hopes that his son will one day follow his father into space, something we are told 9 times. Strangely, we never do find out the name of Greg's son, or anything else about Greg for that matter.
People in this book smile a lot (50 times) and convey emotions with their eyes (102 times), but oddly always speak in full sentences with almost no contractions or colloquialisms. Expert trained astronauts repeatedly ask obvious questions of each other, presumably for the benefit of the reader. The aliens learn to speak English almost immediately, and have suspiciously Anglo-sounding names like "Andrew Benson".
And to cap it off, there's an undercurrent of sexism that runs throughout. The main female character in the book is always referred to as "Lisa", while most other people besides the two leads, Jason and Greg, are referenced by their last names. We hear repeatedly that Lisa has deep blue eyes and blonde hair, while never learning anything at all about the physical appearance of her fellow male astronauts. When Lisa boards the spaceship for the first time, we are told that she has a "look around, recognizing that these quarters could certainly use a woman's delicate touch".
The only three other female characters to appear in the book are described as (1) "gorgeous" with "deep dark eyes", (2) "a brunette and very striking", and (3) "a pretty blonde with deep blue eyes".
This is writing for tweens, without the sophistication. Please. Stop.
September 4, 2014
I am truly amazed that anybody could rate this book anything more than one star. If I could I would rate this book negative stars.
The review by Bryan Gaensler sums it all up well - exactly what I would have written had he not already done so.
..at one point while reading this novel I was wondering if it might be a book for younger readers, and that I had mistakenly purchased it. But a few things indicated otherwise, such as the cheap sexist remarks. Even if this had been a book for younger readers, the writing is still very poor (again, what Bryan wrote). I know of so many other novels for young adults that are of magnitudes better. Nobody deserves this drivel, neither adults nor young.
Five chapters in, I am deleting this book from my Kindle. I don't have time for this.
How on earth does an author like Raymond L. Weil even get published? And not only this novel, but a whole series?
The review by Bryan Gaensler sums it all up well - exactly what I would have written had he not already done so.
..at one point while reading this novel I was wondering if it might be a book for younger readers, and that I had mistakenly purchased it. But a few things indicated otherwise, such as the cheap sexist remarks. Even if this had been a book for younger readers, the writing is still very poor (again, what Bryan wrote). I know of so many other novels for young adults that are of magnitudes better. Nobody deserves this drivel, neither adults nor young.
Five chapters in, I am deleting this book from my Kindle. I don't have time for this.
How on earth does an author like Raymond L. Weil even get published? And not only this novel, but a whole series?
November 20, 2018
Want to like this but I'm torn (SPOILERS)
Lots of potential for a good plot and an interesting concept but for me it doesn't work for several reasons. The main characters are barely developed and we learn virtually nothing about who they are or why they do what they do. The dialogue is hard to read at times and comes across very unnatural. But for me the kicker, and why I'm not sure I'll follow the series further, is the following...
SPOILER
When the protagonist discover that the occupants of the crashed ship are just like them you would think this would be a massive part of the plot! Why are there humans in the crash? Where did they come from? Why do they also use that term to describe their species? Why do they speak English?
Not only are the answers never provided the characters don't even ask this most obvious question! I continued reading on waiting for the answer as the protagonist meet more of these "people" and yet it is never addressed nor discussed in the entire first book. How is that possible? I can suspend a lot of disbelief as a fan of sci-fi but this makes absolutely no sense and leaves me confused as to whether I've missed something, the author completely forgot to explain this, or maybe there's an expectation of reading multiple books to find out the answer. If it's the later there should at least be some suggestion that this is the case.
This huge plot hole is so annoying I'm not sure igbo will read on to see if it's ever explained.
Lots of potential for a good plot and an interesting concept but for me it doesn't work for several reasons. The main characters are barely developed and we learn virtually nothing about who they are or why they do what they do. The dialogue is hard to read at times and comes across very unnatural. But for me the kicker, and why I'm not sure I'll follow the series further, is the following...
SPOILER
When the protagonist discover that the occupants of the crashed ship are just like them you would think this would be a massive part of the plot! Why are there humans in the crash? Where did they come from? Why do they also use that term to describe their species? Why do they speak English?
Not only are the answers never provided the characters don't even ask this most obvious question! I continued reading on waiting for the answer as the protagonist meet more of these "people" and yet it is never addressed nor discussed in the entire first book. How is that possible? I can suspend a lot of disbelief as a fan of sci-fi but this makes absolutely no sense and leaves me confused as to whether I've missed something, the author completely forgot to explain this, or maybe there's an expectation of reading multiple books to find out the answer. If it's the later there should at least be some suggestion that this is the case.
This huge plot hole is so annoying I'm not sure igbo will read on to see if it's ever explained.
January 19, 2020
Awful, seriously
From bad editing to a tendency to ignore basic science to wooden characters, no matter how much I wanted to follow the plot this book was exhausting. I can't take the rest of the series seriously. If the later books are better Mr. Well should re-write and thoroughly edit it.
From bad editing to a tendency to ignore basic science to wooden characters, no matter how much I wanted to follow the plot this book was exhausting. I can't take the rest of the series seriously. If the later books are better Mr. Well should re-write and thoroughly edit it.
October 21, 2017
I do recommend this for Sci-Fi/Space Opera fans. It was pretty solidly done. 3 short stories together makes a small novel that was pretty good. It was a relief to read something by a new author I didn't dislike. :) I read 2 or 3 new authors in a row in this genre whose work I didn't like that much.
Minor complaints in spoilers:
Minor complaints in spoilers:
June 24, 2017
One small step for man ...
On man's first flight to the moon after many years, a strange interference disrupts all radio and computer operations as the landing module approached the moon causing it to crash land. Without contact with Earth the two explorers search for the cause of the disruption and travel 30 miles away towards a small crater. Upon climbing to the top of a ridge blocking their way they discover the wreckage of a huge spaceship - one not made on Earth!
This first contact introduces Earth to their first non-terrestrial people. Where do they come from, why did they come, are there more and why didn't they contact Earth? These questions and more are answered in this first book of the series as the groundwork is well laid.
The author lays the basis of complex character personalities and exciting plotlines. Well developed and written this novel is exciting and holds your interest throughout the book. I enjoy this author's writing style and the way he builds layer upon layer.
On man's first flight to the moon after many years, a strange interference disrupts all radio and computer operations as the landing module approached the moon causing it to crash land. Without contact with Earth the two explorers search for the cause of the disruption and travel 30 miles away towards a small crater. Upon climbing to the top of a ridge blocking their way they discover the wreckage of a huge spaceship - one not made on Earth!
This first contact introduces Earth to their first non-terrestrial people. Where do they come from, why did they come, are there more and why didn't they contact Earth? These questions and more are answered in this first book of the series as the groundwork is well laid.
The author lays the basis of complex character personalities and exciting plotlines. Well developed and written this novel is exciting and holds your interest throughout the book. I enjoy this author's writing style and the way he builds layer upon layer.
December 28, 2019
Looks like the start of a great series! I finished "Moon Wreck (The Slaver Wars Book 1)"and eagerly looking forward to "The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact" Book 2)
Really enjoyed the two main characters and the plot. Great job of introducing to how an advanced wrecked spacecraft is found on the moon. Best thing I liked was we don't get into the political wrangling and international fighting for the discoverin this book, just good old fashion sci-fi. Not sure if I"ll be seeing the same two characters again in the next book but I hope the author eventually continues evolving the storyline to include more of them as the aliens start moving closer to earth. Of course I won't mind if their is some political wrangling involved or mentioned in a future story with the characters after all it wouldn't be our planet without it,
Really enjoyed the two main characters and the plot. Great job of introducing to how an advanced wrecked spacecraft is found on the moon. Best thing I liked was we don't get into the political wrangling and international fighting for the discoverin this book, just good old fashion sci-fi. Not sure if I"ll be seeing the same two characters again in the next book but I hope the author eventually continues evolving the storyline to include more of them as the aliens start moving closer to earth. Of course I won't mind if their is some political wrangling involved or mentioned in a future story with the characters after all it wouldn't be our planet without it,
January 1, 2018
A good start to a series with potential. Not the "best" sci fi out there, as is the case with many self-published authors/books. Could use a copy editor. And a thesaurus, as the author tends to employ the same word choices repeatedly. The author's a bit old fashioned too (ie., some people would view him as borderline sexist), but it's still a pretty engaging story if you can get past these weaknesses, and the potential for a good series exists here. On to the next one! Recommended.
May 28, 2018
Disappointing series launch.
Having seen repeatedly the series pop up in my recommendations, I though of checking it. The writing is ok, the characters not too developed but not too cartoony. The main drawback is that the suspension of disbelief required is very/too high, and some of the decision making seems to be done just to justify further plot.
Not interested in checking the rest of the series from that one.
Having seen repeatedly the series pop up in my recommendations, I though of checking it. The writing is ok, the characters not too developed but not too cartoony. The main drawback is that the suspension of disbelief required is very/too high, and some of the decision making seems to be done just to justify further plot.
Not interested in checking the rest of the series from that one.
June 27, 2020
I liked this book. It is about two men that go on an incredible journey to the moon but unfortunately crash and happen to stumble upon an old space ship wreck. I like this book because it is an adventure story and it talks about aliens and space travel technology. I also like how it shows how much of a strong bond you can build with different people and even different aliens. This is the first book in a series.
December 2, 2019
a very stimulating book
I don't know why I am surprised by Mr. Wells books. I had started this book thinking I had read this series and wanted just to fill the time while on a trip. Found I had not read this series, surprise.
Good Story line and what any one I think one would hope to happen on first contact.
I don't know why I am surprised by Mr. Wells books. I had started this book thinking I had read this series and wanted just to fill the time while on a trip. Found I had not read this series, surprise.
Good Story line and what any one I think one would hope to happen on first contact.
June 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were fairly likable, and the pacing was good. The whole story of survival and discovery was done really well. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of survival stories, stories of discovery, or science fiction.
April 13, 2018
A pretty good read
Certainly not Shakespeare, but i love the pacing and plot. I appreciate an author that doesn’t have a page count in mind and will fill page after page of fluff to make their goal. This is a good story and it just moves along.
Certainly not Shakespeare, but i love the pacing and plot. I appreciate an author that doesn’t have a page count in mind and will fill page after page of fluff to make their goal. This is a good story and it just moves along.
December 23, 2019
Premise good but writing is repetitive.
I liked the idea for the story.
Seems like every page has a recap of what’s happened. Every character has to be told what’s going on thus the reader has to read it numerous times.
Found myself skipping a lot to get to the point.
I liked the idea for the story.
Seems like every page has a recap of what’s happened. Every character has to be told what’s going on thus the reader has to read it numerous times.
Found myself skipping a lot to get to the point.
March 5, 2020
Great first contact book! I loved it!
This book is amazing! I love how it develops from disaster to alien contact. I love the characters, and I love how each new character fits in perfectly. I can’t wait to start the next one!
This book is amazing! I love how it develops from disaster to alien contact. I love the characters, and I love how each new character fits in perfectly. I can’t wait to start the next one!
May 11, 2024
The series starts nicely, the writing is good and there are good plot twists but as it progresses into the following books the writer probably got bored and writing becomes tedious and not interesting.
Nice read, though.
Nice read, though.
December 29, 2017
A solid book with modern earth encountering advanced technology. A well developed story.
May 21, 2018
Good Sci-fi
A great story for a new or old readers. Plan on reading the next book as well as the "slaver" series.
A great story for a new or old readers. Plan on reading the next book as well as the "slaver" series.
April 29, 2020
Nope. Dated, poorly constructed, predictable, slow, ridiculous dialog. Outside of that this might be the book for you. I got through 30% before I was sure it wasn't going to get any better.
April 30, 2022
Always Excellent
I read this when it came out. This series along with some classics changed my reading genre forever. I’m reading along with audible this time.
I read this when it came out. This series along with some classics changed my reading genre forever. I’m reading along with audible this time.
September 2, 2023
So far, a really good story.
This the first “backward Earth gets a boost” story I’ve started that seems to be getting it right. I’m looking forward to the next book.
This the first “backward Earth gets a boost” story I’ve started that seems to be getting it right. I’m looking forward to the next book.
November 5, 2023
DNF'd at the third page or so. Horrible writing style
March 18, 2024
I really wanted to like this, the premise is interesting but the writing is so terrible.
February 21, 2025
fantastic!
Really enjoying this opening book of the series. Well written and fascinating! Can't wait to read the next book. 5 stars!
Really enjoying this opening book of the series. Well written and fascinating! Can't wait to read the next book. 5 stars!
June 25, 2025
4⭐️ - definitely a cool concept! Can’t wait to read the next one
February 18, 2022
refreshing sci-fi
The start of a very well written sf series great characters and a fantastic plot a must read by all.
The start of a very well written sf series great characters and a fantastic plot a must read by all.
May 14, 2017
I read the reviews so was a bit wary of starting this book/series. No problem it is a good story. I was wasn't looking for something that could win a super literature prize just wanted a good destress book and that's what I got. Moving on to the next book.
December 19, 2020
I've read Slaver Wars 1-4 so are this point I have a good overview of the begining of the series. A lot of these space opera series are filled with military worship and their frustration of dealing with stupid civilians. Well most of this story so far is dominated by weapon descriptions, ship maneuvers, very simplistic tactics and strategy and fleet distribution. So much so that there's really no space for an actual story to develop. Main characters are so shallow that I really couldn't care less if they get killed. We don't really know anything about the enemy except for their either mysterius or just plain simplistic "honor" economy. And the AIs are evil because, well, evil. They could be up to kidnapping all hamsters in the galaxy for all we know. Ships get destroyed left and right but with no real consequence. I find myself not really caring, the whole story is about very few characters so we never get to know most of what's going on. Who's in the ships, who builds such a ridiculously amount of armament... Who rebuilds or replace all the crap that gets destroyed and I could go for a long time. Why are aliens so infuriatingly dumb if they've been dominating a quarter of the galaxy for centuries? Why the hell are they still using thumb drives in the future? Why do the aliens act so suspiciously similar than present day US army? They are aliens! AIs even have a control room, they speak, as in, actual words. They control things with AI hands and sit with AI chairs.... it's just... dont.
January 3, 2023
Great mystery book.
Ii loved how well this book was spun out. And the lead up to the future troubles. But some things were to easy to see coming.
Ii loved how well this book was spun out. And the lead up to the future troubles. But some things were to easy to see coming.
September 2, 2014
This book is actually three books in one: First Contact, Revelations, and Secrets of Ceres. They are each relatively short but as one book, they fit together well. Figuring out the series is kind of confusing unless you know that there are other single books in the series. And the series is called, “The Slaver Wars” not “Moon Wreck”. That should clear up something I was confused about.
Now, this book is what I wanted my life story to be! I am Commander Jason Strong, Astronaut, and one of two Astronauts to land on the Moon. Unfortunately, we crashed landed! For some reason we experienced electronic interference just as our lunar lander was descending to our designated landing spot. This messed up the radar and everything else including our communications back to Earth. Our lander hit on the side of a crater and tipped over.
After getting out and looking at our situation, we realized two things. One, we were lucky to be alive and two, we had only a few months to live given our existing resources even on minimum rations. We had no way to right the lander, it was just too heavy. Fortunately, the side containing the lunar rover was undamaged. So we decide we might as well try and find the source of the interference and see if we could turn it off and maybe get some communications back to Earth. Maybe!
What a situation to be in! I’m not sure how I would have really reacted to this situation but these guys are just as cool as can be. Greg Johnson is the copilot of this mission and while he’s a civilian working for the contractor that funded the mission, he’s also former military. These two guys work well together and it’s good they do.
They get the lunar rover out and running and head for the source of the interference. What they find changes the course of the world and the entire universe. This is exactly the story that any science fiction fan would want to read. It is exciting and, so far, seems to be very realistic.
Just remember the title of the first book: “Moon Wreck: First Contact” . Need I say more!
Now, this book is what I wanted my life story to be! I am Commander Jason Strong, Astronaut, and one of two Astronauts to land on the Moon. Unfortunately, we crashed landed! For some reason we experienced electronic interference just as our lunar lander was descending to our designated landing spot. This messed up the radar and everything else including our communications back to Earth. Our lander hit on the side of a crater and tipped over.
After getting out and looking at our situation, we realized two things. One, we were lucky to be alive and two, we had only a few months to live given our existing resources even on minimum rations. We had no way to right the lander, it was just too heavy. Fortunately, the side containing the lunar rover was undamaged. So we decide we might as well try and find the source of the interference and see if we could turn it off and maybe get some communications back to Earth. Maybe!
What a situation to be in! I’m not sure how I would have really reacted to this situation but these guys are just as cool as can be. Greg Johnson is the copilot of this mission and while he’s a civilian working for the contractor that funded the mission, he’s also former military. These two guys work well together and it’s good they do.
They get the lunar rover out and running and head for the source of the interference. What they find changes the course of the world and the entire universe. This is exactly the story that any science fiction fan would want to read. It is exciting and, so far, seems to be very realistic.
Just remember the title of the first book: “Moon Wreck: First Contact” . Need I say more!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews