An Unproven Concept

Vergassy Chronicles #2

by James L. Young Jr., Jonathan Holland (Illustrator), Anita C. Young (Illustrator)

"I loved this book. The action sequences are of epic proportions. It opens on a bang and just keeps going from there."--Twisted Sci Fi, 4.5 / 5 Stars

"This is a space opera that plays out on a grand scale, and Young conducted it with aplomb."--Pop Cults, the website of Geek and Alternative Culture

There are lots of ways to make history. Sometimes one’s purpose in life is to serve as an example of utter folly.

The Confederation of Man has overseen the prosperous expansion of humanity for almost eight centuries, with the Confederation Fleet its shield against all enemies both internal and external. Despite its numerous successes, the Fleet is a shield that is becoming warped by the schism between its Carrier and Line factions. In the year 3050, Fleet Admiral Malinverni has overseen the design and commissioning of a vessel intended to merge the best of both factions: the battlecruiser Constitution. Intended as a harbinger of a better future, the Constitution is considered a flawed concept by all except her crew. If either Fleet faction has its way, neither the Constitution nor her captain, Mackenzie Bolan, will ever get a chance to prove their naysayers incorrect.

The starliner Titanic is considered to be the epitome of her type. With a handpicked crew, the Titanic is expected to see to passengers’ every need and whim, be it a rare artifact of opulence to stringent, discreet security. Unfortunately Captain Abraham Herrod, her master, is confronted with the growing likelihood that his vessel may soon be rendered obsolete by the ever pressing march of technology. Pushed by his superiors, Captain Herrod makes several fateful decisions in an attempt to prolong the “Golden Age of Starliners.”

Unlike the Titanic and Constitution, the destroyer Shigure is far from modern. As the oldest destroyer in the fleet, the “Late Rain” is chosen for a special, dangerous project. With a young crew and modifications that makes her vessel not what she seems, Commander Leslie Hawkins presses into unknown space to examine structures detected by an Confederation Fleet survey vessel.

With all the unremitting action, mecha, and carnage of the original novel, An Unproven Concept (Kraken Edition) also includes the short story “Ride of the Late Rain” for the first time. In addition, this special edition contains full color artwork by comic book artists Steven Sanders and Eric Weathers. Finally, excerpts from the upcoming alternate history novel Acts of War (90 pages) and the paranormal novel Eyes of Osiris by author / illustrator Anita C. Young (90 pages) round out the expanded text. Combined, there are over 300 additional pages of action in this version compared to the first novel.

"Overall, if you like hardcore space battles with high body counts, definitely give this novel a shot!"--Right Fans: Sci-Fi from the other Side Website

"If you like Star Trek or hard science fiction that focuses on elements that make the experience realistic, you'd probably be fascinated with Young's Unproven Concept." Jake Vyper, Epicstream.com

Genres: Science Fiction

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2013

About the author

James Young is a Missouri native who escaped small town life via spending four years at a small, well-known Federal educational institution in upstate New York. After being set free from the Hudson River Valley, Dr. Young spent the next six years of his life in various locations (both foreign and domestic) having the cost of his education repaid one nickel at a time. Along the way he collected a loving, patient, and beautiful spouse...and various animals that did not fit any of those descriptions.

After leaving the Republic's employ, James returned to the Midwest where he earned his doctorate in U.S. History. He now spends his time basking in the joy of completing his education while writing fiction and working for the Republic (again). His writing awards include winning the United States Naval Institute's 2016 Cyberwarfare Essay Contest and placing 2nd in the 2011 Adams Cold War Essay Contest. He has been published in the Journal of Military History and Proceedings.

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles van Buren

TOP 1000 REVIEWER

5.0 out of 5 stars

Well done military and political sci-fi

May 14, 2019

Format: Kindle Edition

Review of the Kraken Edition E-book
Publication date: May 3, 2014
Language: English
ASIN: B00K437Z3I

James Young is an interesting author who is definitely not for everyone. He writes lengthy, complex books which can easily confuse the unwary just with the number of characters. I admit that when reading this novel while tired, I did a couple of searches to remind myself of who and what some characters were. One proved to be a cat. He also doesn't spoon feed the backstory. Generally enough information is revealed for the reader to have at least some understanding of the past but Young frequently spreads the reveals throughout the book and in small increments. This obviously annoys some reviewers but I prefer it to lengthy expositions about the past.

Another characteristic of his writing which annoys some people is his sometimes obscure 20th and 21st century cultural references and even older historical references used by his characters living in the distant future. Some complain that people in the future would not use or even recognize such references. However most if not all of Young's characters who refer to "ancient" culture and history are educated people who would be more likely to recognize and use references to past culture and history. In addition, Mr. Young uses things which could easily still be known in the future since in his world there has been a continuous human history with no collapse of civilization. Things such as the sci-fi novel ALAS BABYLON and the movie RED DAWN. Some are perhaps just things which Young likes and hopes will be remembered. A reference to a spacecraft named Calvin and Hobbes comes to mind. He also uses Shakespeare. Not hard to imagine that still being familiar to people in the future. After all many of us are familiar with history and culture going back a couple of thousand years, why wouldn't people in the future know some of the past. It isn't a stretch for me to believe such things as the use of historically significant ship names. The Enterprise is not just a name from Star Trek. Which reminds me that there is a very crude and vulgar negative review which claims that Mr. Young's book basically steals plot and characters from Star Trek. Perhaps there is some similarity to later incarnations of Star Trek but I see virtually no resemblance to the original Star Trek series and movies.

There is strong but not lengthy character development. Mr. Young even portrays some of the "bad" guys with some sympathy and understanding. Be aware that Young writes pretty realistic fiction. Not all his main characters survive. Some perish in gruesome ways. Mr. Young is a West Point graduate, a former army officer and has a PhD in history. His accounts of combat are most decidedly not romantic. Even as he writes of some very unpleasant things, I did not find his descriptions to be offensively graphic.

If you read military sci-fi just for the action, you may find that action in this novel is spaced too far apart for your taste. Young devotes part of his story to the political and military structure of his future world. The descriptions of both the structures and conflicts within them are believable and an important part of the story.

An unproven concept. It is a hybrid battlecruiser-carrier developed to meet a specific problem in the future space fleet. Such a ship was considered by a few seafaring navies in the twentieth century. The Japanese actually converted a couple of their old battleships to such hybrids during WW2 but by the time they were completed it was too late for the Japanese navy. A lack of aircraft and pilots prevented them from operating their air wings in combat. I do not believe that they participated in any significant surface combat after conversion. They remained an unproven concept. Fortunately, the concept embodied by the hybrid Constitution in this novel is engaged in heavy and exciting action.

Mr. Young has created a believable and engaging future world populated by compelling characters. I enjoyed visiting it. I downloaded this book via Kindle Unlimited.

[Glenn Conley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just bad Star Trek fanfic. Seriously. The producers of Star Trek should totally sue this guy. Here's why: this book contains a ship named Enterprise, an officer named Sulu, and even warp speed. There's more similarities than that, but that's enough, goddammit.

The whole story is just derivative as fuck. The battle scenes seem like they're just ripped from some submarine battle, like The Hunt for Red October. Down bubble this. Firing solution that. It seems so familiar.

And then, there's the cruise spaceship named Titanic. Why the fuck anyone would build any kind of ship with that name, I will never understand. It's always going to end in disaster. But it is slightly harder to hit an iceberg, when you're in space.

But there's pirates! Arrrrg! So, the pirates attack the Titanic, and all hell breaks loose. Well, that is to say, the story turns into that Poseidon movie, where one highly skilled guy helps some rich guy escape the ruin that is their ship. So again, derivative as fuck.

Did I mention that there's also a ship named Calvin & Hobbes? Yeah. Seriously. I don't get it. I have to assume that this book is set in a future several hundred years ahead of our own, so why is there so many references to our current popular culture? It wouldn't surprise me, if they were watching episodes of Friends on their cruise ship TV. It's that fucking retarded.

I say that this book is bad Star Trek fanfic, because there's hardly any sex scenes in this book. If it was real fanfic, it would be mostly sex scenes, where Q is fucking Picard violently in the ass, as Picard begs for more. So, if you're going to write Star Trek fanfic, that's fine. But do it right, goddamnit. At least have the decency to give us some violent ass fucking. Is that too much to ask? I think not.

[Marina Fontaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Unproven Concept is just like the Titanic movie- if you take out cheesy romance and class warfare propaganda, make the main characters likeable, add aliens and set it in space.

OK, come to think of it, it's nothing like the Titanic. It does, however, have a "disaster movie" vibe, especially in the first third of the book. We are told at the start that something will go horribly wrong, then are introduced, slowly and meticulously, to the cast of characters that are at once immediately recognizable and entirely unique. Then, as soon as we come to care for everyone and settle in for the ride, the story switches gears, both in mood and pacing, taking us places we sometimes really, really don't want to go.

The action, once it gets going, is both fast-paced and intricately plotted, with the author clearly making an effort to get all the little details correct. The violence is abundant and graphic, both on an epic "thousands-dead" and personal "oh-no-this person-didn't-just-die" scale. No one is safe: not women, not children, not people of honor who deserve better. That having been said, the deaths are not throwaways just to up the body count and create shock value, but significant events that affect both the surviving characters and the reader in a profound way.

It is easy in military fiction with high body count to veer towards the nihilistic, especially in sci-fi environment where humans face off against the aliens and come up short; easy to point to the fallibility of humanity, whether in arrogance or in technological deficiency; to conclude that maybe we don't deserve to survive as a species. An Unproven Concept occasionally skirts along the edge of this line of thought, especially in its darker moments, but in the final analysis unequivocally refuses to go there. While flaws of humanity are mercilessly exposed, so are our better traits. Not every hero wins every battle, not every decision is proven correct, and everyone pays the price. Still, the reader comes out out on the other end feeling inspired by the possibilities of what the best of humanity has to offer, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds.

There is definitely plenty of space for the sequel as the reader is left wanting to know more about the hostile aliens and to just spend time with the surviving characters, but the author takes the time to close out the character arcs enough to leave us with closure. After the intensity of the ride, the detailed winding down of the story is a reader equivalent of getting off a roller-coaster and taking a slow walk afterwards. It feels right, and it leaves us with just the perfect combination of being satisfied and wanting to come back for more.

Recommended for fans of military sci-fi as well as anyone looking for a solid action novel.

[Cape Rust · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spall, Sewage, and Starship Battles in An Unproven Concept

by Cape Rust · Feb 21, 2014




An Unproven Concept (The Vergassy Chronicles) by James Young

Genere(s): Sci-Fi, Space Opera, Military Thriller
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Description: In the year 3050, Fleet Admiral Malinverni has designed the battlecruiser Constitution to merge the best of two divided factions in the hope of forging a better future. Considered a flawed concept by all but those who serve aboard her, the Constitution is unexpectedly called upon to save the passenger liner Titanic from a new and pressing foe.

After reading and reviewing Ride of the Late Rain, I was ready to see what Mr. Young had up his sci-fi sleeves. The biggest complaint I came across about Ride of the Late Rain was that it was too short. With An Unproven Concept, the exact opposite could be said. This isn’t a long book, but the housekeeping that Mr. Young does at the end takes the reader past that point where they think the book is ending or should end. This novel is definitely military sci-fi, but not so much “hard” sci-fi that the reader gets sucked into a vacuum of technical details. The book flows well, and the action is gritty, gory, and glorious.

I would recommend reading or re-reading The Late Rain before you start An Unproven Concept. The stories are interlaced, yet have the ability to stand alone; but by reading The Late Rain, you will have a much better understanding of some of the events in An Unproven Concept, and you will in turn get to view some of the action taking place in The Late Rain from a very different angle. I love that Young nested his first novella into this novel; it was done well and didn’t feel at all like a newbie writer’s gimmick.

This book is classic space opera; there is just enough fictional science to please those who take a more technical approach to their reading. Conversely, there were a few times when I thought, “Damn, Mr. Young, would you quit with the technical foreplay?” While a bit scarred and slightly dysfunctional, the characters in this story were believable. The banter in this book, even in times of extreme danger, is just the banter you would expect from most military or former military types. There are a few of the usual suspects who pretty much exactly as you would expect them to.

One of the best aspects of this book — and one of the most complicated to pull off — was Mr. Young’s ability to shift between capital ship combat, fighter combat, and shipboard combat. Young managed to keep all three stories on the rails and moving at just the right speed. Capital ship combat is difficult, and the ranges between vessels are in the thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Young was able to translate the ship distances — and the weapons damage that they could do — like a boss. It was all a matter of perspective and proportion. Having seen several movies involving submarines, the capital ship combat in this book was very similar. The distance between the fighting vessels created time betweens weapons traveling and detonating created a delicious tension that made the combat feel tense and real. Young seemed to love using the word spall, it was appropriate but there were a few chapters where it was used quite often.

Young’s intellectual writing style was reminiscent of author Kim Newman. Both authors are clever, well researched, and their writing contains tons of Easter eggs. Like Newman, Young uses his extensive knowledge — not just of his subject matter, but history in general — to hide those clever Easter eggs in plain sight. I was thankful that I read this book on a Kindle as opposed a paperback. I say this because all of Young’s ship titles, and many of the devices used, had historical references. The Kindle allowed me to look up some of the more obscure references there on the spot, rather than having to turn on a laptop or tablet to look them up. Along with the historical references, there were several clever and utterly geeky references sprinkled in. At one point, a ship by the name of The Calvin and Hobbes comes into play. Several of the weapons systems were named after oft-encountered creatures in the just-turned-40 table-top roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. How cool is that?

My biggest problem with this book was that there were several times when I thought it should end, and it didn’t. This dangling bit of book didn’t drag on, but I felt like I was running a race, started sprinting towards the finish line, then watched the race officials move the finish line back — several times. I can see that Young was using this ever changing finish line to wrap things up. I would have been happier with a cliffhanger ending, but it was not my book to do that with. In hind sight, I’m glad I got to find out what happened during the falling action, but there were way too many great stopping points that Young charged through like my Corgi getting to his food bowl.

This book tells a story, and it tells it in a descriptive and entertaining manner. Young didn’t write a book to change society or rewrite physics, he wrote a military sci-fi thriller. Young’s ability to manage the chaos he created while still inserting those Easter eggs and the gallows humor that seems to be so prevalent amongst men and women of action is to be commended. This is a space opera that plays out on a grand scale, and Young conducted it with aplomb. David Drake, check your six, Young has tone, and he just yelled, “Fox 1.”

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kraken Omnibus edition is a well done disaster tale with plenty of interesting twists.

[IMHO · Rating 4 out of 5]

"An Unproven Concept" is great space opera!

RECOMMENDED ! ! ! !

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great sci-fi read

This was a great story well written with good characters. The story was full of action and adventure making it a great read

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young's story revolves around a passenger liner that is someplace it shouldn't be. It gets attacked by alien and the humans in the book, many of whom are either military or security personnel, or both, fight back to try to save their own skins and the lives of the civilians around them. The aliens appear out of nowhere and things get ugly quickly. The fact that no one quite knows who they are adds spice. The fact that no one knows where the came from might just be what leads into the rest of the series. I haven't read it yet so it's hard to say, but I'm definitely looking forward to more. There is a lot of story here still to be told.

What is here is awesome though. Survival is guaranteed to no one in this tome. When a passenger liner full of civilians and retired military gets boarded things get ugly quickly. Young's aliens make pretty good but not perfect (more on this later) villains. They're ruthless and intelligent but not all knowing and annoying. They can fight but apparently have a skilled technical caste as well. I don't want to spoil the book but there are times when they do something completely unexpected and it works. Our heroes are always on their toes and they have to be.

Young's heroes aren't always heroic in the sense a lot of other writers' heroes are. That's because he portrays them as doing what's necessary instead of what feels good. Young's characters are not James T Kirk. There is no overacting, no aha moment and no miraculous ending. This does start to look like the Kobayashi Maru, but there is no cheating here. When one of Young's characters is given the choice between defending a group of innocents or acting to save the entire ship he makes the militarily right decision. It's not easy for him and he pays the price later but he does his duty. Young's captains do their duty when they know what the cost is likely for the same reason This type of gritty realism is hard to pull of but Young does a damn good job of it. Young is retired military and it shows, although I'm still trying to figure out how an Army guy ended up writing Navy and Marine stories has me a bit perplexed.

There is a lot of political intrigue in this work. It's obvious that Young has been hard at work on his universe and that there is a lot out there left to be revealed. It's politics at all levels as well: Fleet politics, interstellar politics and office politics all appear in the story and they all matter. When the shooting pauses, the politics go full tilt. Unless there is some other form of personal drama going on. This is Space Opera and, while the romance does not by any stretch of the imagination take over the book, it's there and well done.  One moment in particular is the kind of thing that will stick with you forever once you've read the book.

I only have one major complaint about this work but it's one I've had about a lot of others. The aliens in the book are inhuman and enigmatic. That's OK. Aliens don't have to be human because they're aliens. They're almost complete ciphers though. At no point do we get a scene with an alien point of view. We never find out what their motivations are. They just show up and kick ass. Granted, the book focuses on the humans and their reactions but AUC could have been even better if we knew why the aliens were doing what they were doing. Here's hoping that future volumes will reveal more about the enemy. His motivations matter too and can make for some good reading. There's a reason that Yellow Eyes is my favorite of John Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata series. That much being said, this book still rocks and it's not like there was any great need in the plot to throw this in there.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The full title of this book is the rather long-winded An Unproven Concept: The Unfortunate Starwreck of the Spaceliner Titanic. I think this is my problem with this book. It really has two components that are kind of woven together. One is the “unproven concept”, a new carrier/battlecruiser hybrid. The other is the starliner Titanic and how she gets herself into a real mess. I do not think I am really spoiling any surprises when I write that the first have to get involved in cleaning up the second.

Now, the Unproven Concept part of the book I quite liked. The characters and their interaction was enjoyable reading. The science and the ship action was quite good. This part had a lot of promise.

The Titanic part…well I did not like that bit as much. It was quite different reading. If you have read the teaser short story, Ride of the Late Rain, (spoiler alert if you have not) you known that aliens get involved in the “unfortunate part” of the Titanic’s adventures and much of this part of the story felt rather illogical. Especially the behavior of the aliens. Just to mess things up even more the author throws in some high level subversive behaviour and plotting between the various human parties aboard the Titanic as well.

The action related part of the book ends quite bit before the actual end of the book and the last chapters are a rather slow going mopping up with a lot of talking and not much interesting happening. One positive point though would be that the real asshole in the book does indeed get what he deserves.

If a much larger part of the book would have revolved around the battlecruiser Constitution then this could have been a really good book. As it stands today I feel it is an okay(ish) book but not much more. It also ends with a huge unresolved thread…the aliens. If the author comes out with another book that picks up on the military aspect of this book and the aliens then I will probably pick it up.

[Yvonne Boag · Rating 5 out of 5]

The year is 3050 and the Confederation Star Ship Constitution is conducting military exercises under the command of Captain Bolan. The Constitution is a hybrid ship, the brainchild of Fleet Admiral Malinverni who will do everything in his power to make sure it succeeds while other factions will make sure that it fails.

Meanwhile the Spacefaring Ship Titanic under Captain Herrod is one of a dying breed. Technology is making ships faster and cruise ships are slowly becoming a thing of the past. In an attempt to go out with a bang instead of a whimper Captain Herrod is under orders to disobey Section 195 of the Spacefarer’s Code, “A vessel whose primary purpose is the carrying of passengers will be prohibited from entering a system until it is properly named.” Considering that the only alien contact so far is from ruins thousands of years old a lot of factions wish to repeal the code. Captain Herrod is caught between a rock and a hard place and the decision he makes will have cataclysmic results.

I loved this book. The action sequences are of epic proportions. It opens on a bang and just keeps going from there. The sense of foreboding throughout the beginning of the book is so well maintained that I had to read the entire book in one sitting to find out what would happen next. What really made this book good for me was the characters. They weren’t heroes or bigger then Ben Hur they were just ordinary men and women who made choices under the worst kind of conditions. Some of the choices were bad ones and some were good but it was this that made the crews come alive for me and made the book such an exciting read.

I would also recommend Ride of the Late Rain before reading this book though I feel that An Unproven Concept stands up quite neatly on it’s own. Four and a half stars

[Cedar Sanderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space Opera fans, this is another one you'll love. Those of you who glaze over at overly detailed space battles? Bear with the first chapter, then, and dig into the dovetailed plot and interesting characters he gives you from there on out.

The two plots intertwine, one the tale of the Space Fleet and the men and women who struggle to keep humanity from imploding into an interstellar war that threatens between the core worlds and the Spartans. The other is the story of the fatally-named Titanic, a gargantuan space liner for the rich and powerful to soar through the spectacle of the stars, dancing in micro-gravity.

The collision of these two story arcs is unexpected, and yet well-foreshadowed. I really enjoyed the gritty realism that Young, himself a veteran, put into the battles and something I rarely see detailed; the aftermath of battles.

He made me cry. I almost never cry at science fiction anymore, and I won't spoil it, but the character who… well, there's a holographic farewell delivered that made me laugh while crying. It was masterfully done.

And the ending, well, he keeps delivering right through the end, continuing after the climax to give the reader enough to satisfy them about the emotional growth of the major characters. It's good. Really. It just needs a new cover to properly cue the awesomeness within. On the other hand, my blog readers can now be ahead of the curve, and sneak in before it takes off like Andy Weir's Martian (which initially had a crappy cover, and I was surprised at the quality of the writing inside) and gets all popular.

[Sgt Maj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Mil Sci Fi

Enjoyed reading it this although I had reservations early on. I am a bit simple minded so when an author throws in lot of characters, sub-plots w plot and starts with it, I generally take a pass.

Author did a good job keeping me in the game and not sorry I read his book -- I liked it. I will say there's a few nuances about this universe that I didn't quite get until much later in the story. And maybe there's a few universe points lingering , it didn't detract from enjoying story. Still a little fuzzy of Spartans like the clones and the major human sub-divisions and their idiosyncrasies.

I'm not a techno type, so I don't look for scientific misses. As long as it makes some kind of sense, which it did for me. The capper for me was rail guns instead of all the stuff some folk are coming out with as weapons, etc. I can relate to weapons that make sense and regardless of 'mans evolution ' all the nonsensical energy stuff usually turns me off.

Author has good grasp of ships and 3 dimensional war, battle. No huge military gaffs and very reasonable weapons tech. Decent character development, I got to like and cheer for them, which is a biggie. Thumbs up for this one. BTW, I don't give 5 stars unless I hit wrong button. Save those for classics, 'Forgotten Soldier', 'All Quiet on Western Front', 'Attacks', 'Fields of Fire', etc.

[Leah (White Sky Project) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting space opera

I normally like science fiction novels set in space, but for some reason it took me a while to really get into this book. Maybe I was just not in the right mood or something.

Having said that, I still think it’s an interesting read overall. It’s kind of a military type, action-packed novel and there are technical terms and concepts that I don’t really understand but I usually don’t mind those things too much. I like how sections or chapters are told from the perspective of different characters – at first it was confusing for me because I couldn’t remember who was who but it was okay after a while.

I also like the worldbuilding with the little backstories that we get about where some characters come from and what the human civilization is like. I like the little nods to pop culture or real historical icons.

I also like the pacing of this novel. Right from the start, you have an idea of the main thing that’s going to happen but you just keep reading to find out where the story goes. Overall I enjoyed reading this and I tip my hat to the author for writing it.

I received a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Stephen6868 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, and a lot of fun to read.

Space. June 3050. The S.S. Titanic sails off to a new unexplored (and unguarded) world, and is forced to send out a distress signal. The captain of a ship with a brand new jump technology is sent off to check out a potential alien technology. And a new fleet commander is the first to respond when the aliens turn out to be pretty tough and nasty.


Confusing at the beginning. It was difficult to keep track of who was doing what when, but the author explains that each chapter is time stamped because some of the events happen at the same time in different locations. Once things get settled out, however, the action becomes very easy to follow.

I like this author, and I'll be looking for more in the future. The writing is clear and interesting. None of the main characters are safe, and nothing seems to go as planned.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billed as a genuine space opera, I must agree with the sales pitch. Unproven Concept is a very solid story with some fantastic characters that interconnect via multiple viewpoints on an at times non-linear plot progression. For all the complexity, I never felt lost, excepting sympathy for characters who were. I was reading in the updated Kraken edition, which includes the author's short story Ride of the Late Rain. The story integrates so well that I'm not sure how Unproven worked without it. This novel is in desperate need of some proofreading to correct some strange type-settings, a bit of pluralization inconsistency, and some phrases that lost their impact in repetition. Should Mr. Young get picked up by a publisher that does the work on preproduction, I can easily see his work hitting my five-star column quite regularly.

[Stephen King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has great pacing, solid dialog, and good thought snippets -- not too many, but the ones that are there add flavor and depth. Reminds me in writing style of Tom Clancy.

I did enjoy the characterization and the balance of that with the action. Character building never seemed to slow the action down, but it was evident through the book and even had my eyes misting a little at a couple of points.

I loved how the book didn't fall into the Star Trek "only Redshirt Crewman Number X dies" mentality. It's a realistic approach to battle set in a space opera setting, and yet the deaths that must happen do so with both dignity and meaning, and they're well handled.

[Kaspar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part is the action, but the dialogues.. Man. It's like everybody is a teenager, the old and the young alike. The human villains are horribly shallow and stereotypical and the non-humans don't really serve a point. I would have enjoyed it more if it were a space-opera conspiracy theory piece instead with no old-school alien antagonists.

[Rob]

To cliche

[Alan Bedard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unintelligible

Bad physics, bad military/naval jargon, two dimensional characters, and action that plays out like a school yard brawl. Made my head hurt.

[Nancy (The Avid Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Herrod’s ship the Titanic, a passenger ship, is about to become obsolete. It is being pushed aside for a ship the Constitution, a combination between a battle ship and a passenger ship. Captain Herrod will do everything in his power to prove that the world still needs a ship like the Titanic.

When the Titanic runs into a little trouble and the Constitution comes to her rescue it could end up changing everything for the two ships. Will it be a change for the good? Will it be what Captain Herrod had in mind? Can Captain Herrod save the Titanic? To find out all the answers you will have to pick up your copy of An Unproven Concept.

When I read the summary of An Unproven Concept and saw that it was about a starship called the Titanic I knew I had to check it out. It sounded like it would be like Star Trek but with the concept of the Titanic. I was very excited about reading it as I love both Star Trek and Titanic movies. If you love Star Trek and Titanic then you are going to love An Unproven Concept.

[Stacey Schneller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually I normally don't give a book a low star rating but I just wasn't really in to the book. I did read all of it just so I could finish it and see what happens. 


The writing is good don't get me wrong in that there is a few twist in the story. The story was a good pace read. Well written characters. Just not the book for me. 


If you like Sci-fi Space oprea books this would be a book you would want to read. 

I voluntary received a ARC of this book from Goddess Fish Promotions to give a honest review.