Cadet

Defender of the Empire #1

by Catherine Beery

Welcome to the Spectral Empire. A galactic empire enfolding hundreds of colony worlds governed by the Twenty-Five Prime Worlds who are in turn ruled by the Imperial Council and the Emperor. A society of great advancement but broken and under threat…

My name is Rylynn Sinclair of Colony Lenti. I have lived there with my Aunt Sylvia for as long as I can remember. We were by no means rich, but we were happy. We had a roof over our heads and food on the table. So what if the neighbor was a mean drunk and I was often bullied by the resident gang? I had a home.

My simple life had a hole blown into it when I was thirteen. My home was destroyed the day before the mercenary scourge of the Empire came. War, in all but name, began. And because certain interests were left alone, no help was forthcoming from our noble Prime World. Survival became the only playable card. When I saw that my group of hopeful escapees were in danger of being killed by a pair of hunting Telmicks I traded my life for their chance to escape…

And that is when everything… well…went weird. I was saved and given a new life as a cadet in the illustrious Legion Fleet Academy: a position never before held by a mere colonist. Not only that, I became involved in the Admiral’s Competition. And to add to the weirdness that my life had become, I started hearing voices. Many voices. Some helpful. Others just cryptic. And all of this on top of being the only witness to a serial killer…

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Young Adult, Military Fiction, Amazon, Military Science Fiction, Space

234 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2014

About the author

I am a full time author. My family is awesome and all of them are storytellers in their own ways. My mom is a very talented woman when it comes to art and music. My sister is the athletic one of the family. She is also a budding artist and writer. My dad is a pastor, computer geek, and (yes) an author.

I personally love playing the piano and reading. And, as with any avid reader, I also love writing.

For me, writing is a way to dream with my eyes open. I discover these beautiful and dynamic worlds that challenge me to discover all their secrets. The characters are mostly very gracious about letting me step into their shoes. Others... oh, others are more challenging. These are the mysterious ones that keep me curious and always wondering what they are going to do next. Because, you see, they ALWAYS turn around and surprise me with something I was not expecting. Things that I should have guessed at a long time ago, but didn't. It's thrilling when the pieces click into place.

I want to thank my family for allowing me to talk their ears off about some world I discovered.

Reviews

[Nekooni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I managed to read almost 40% of this book and gave up at that point. The book is full of errors such as spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and whole missing words. I'm still not sure i got the "professionally edited" version, because if someone was paid to proof-read this book, he wasn't worth the money.

The storyline is just as awful - it's unbelievable to the point of being ridiculous. What happens to the main character within 3 or 4 days after arriving at the Academy is just incredible. The other characters are just as unbelievable, so at least it's a consistent thing. 13 year old "Colonist" main character gives "Core System snob" a stern talk and he immediately turns into her best friend level of unbelievable.

[Layne · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the story, can't wait to read the next one in the series.

A great coming of age story with all of the good stuff. Loyalty, friendships, dark secrets, invisible voices and most of all friends in high places to help and guide.
What's not to like.....there are three more in the series and the best part is that I don't have to wait for them, they are already written and published...

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok YA story but riddled with grammatical errors. I was unable to finish the book on the first read but after a pause of several years I could ignore the flaws and appreciate the good points. A good editor could make this a more enjoyable reading experience.

[Volpot · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Good plot/concept. But weak characters, weak science, weak world building, weak story-line overall

[Per Gunnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

being the only witness to a serial killer…

I bought this book a bit on a whim because it popped up in my Kindle recommendations and it appeared to be the kind of story that I usually like. The story revolves about a few rather young characters. Very young indeed if the term cycles are anything near the years on Earth. The story is also very simplistic, adventurous and fairly unbelievable which is why I personally would classify this book as Young Adult.

The book starts off by trying to set the backstory for the rest of the book but there is not much world building. Throughout the book we never really get much information about things, just that Earth is gone, that humanity now is ruled by an emperor and that there are mysterious energy based entities around. These entities lives bound to a human and seems to manifest themselves as animals. Sounded a bit like The Golden Compass to me.

To basic story is not really bad. However, it is very simplistically implemented. Rylynn’s adventures are quite unbelievable especially taken into account the very short timespan in which the story takes place. The logic of the actions falters from time to time and anything like actual science and military strategy is mostly absent. The characters are generally rather shallow and I never really felt that I took that much liking to any of them, including Rylynn.

Having said that, it is not really a bad book, just perhaps a bit more for the not so experienced reader. It is a pleasant enough adventure and I have read a lot worse books. Not sure I will bother picking up a second book if one comes out though.

[Jim Kratzok · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable story about a young girl with hidden abilities that even she knows nothing about. I'm sure I have never read this book before but couldn't help feeling as if I had. There were so many similarities in the plot to other books I've read over the years. Precocious teen with unusual gifts becomes a natural leader despite being ostracized by her snobby peers. She forms a core group of friends that include a royal heir disguised as a regular student, a shape shifting agent for the good guys who can appear to be 15 years old, and a formerly snobby ensign busted in rank for disobeying orders to guide our heroine so now is punished by being made to do just that.

Fortunately, I like books like this and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked this story and look forward to subsequent books where hopefully the main character becomes a little older. I had a hard time envisioning a 13 year old with the level of maturity displayed by the protagonist, let alone entering a military academy and being given opportunities to fly spaceships, even in a training scenario. I think I would have enjoyed the story a little more if the characters were at least in their late teens or early 20's. Aside from that and a few other implausible scenarios I thought the story was interesting and a good start to a series.

[Torlek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you know how it is, when a plot completely falls apart, after you think a bit about it. This book is a extreme example of that. I could argue, that the nominal bad guy despite his xenophobia and whatever it takes approach has ample reason to do what he does. Also the main character is a Mary Sue.

[Jim Van dyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book along the lines of the old Space Operas I loved as a kid. If you liked the books by E.E. "Doc" Smith, you will like this.

I like the feel of good is good and bad is bad, no looking for secret motives or shades of gray. There is enough of that in the real world and I read for escape.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely mature for a 13 year old, although I suspect since it's sci-fi, 13 cycles on her home planet might be more like 18 cycles on earth, although it never hinted that she was an adult.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great coming of age kind of story, as you would expect from the title/description. I'm looking forward to more in this series...