What do you think?
Rate this book
Forged by Battle
Aliens changed the world.
Portals changed reality.
Shadows will destroy us all.
The year is 2042, and in the wake of alien contact and rapid expansion, Humanity and her allies find the multi-verse is not a welcoming place. Portals have opened around the colonies and throughout critical systems. Gateways to realities where shapeshifting Elves, monstrous Elementals, and impossible magic hold sway. As the Joint Fleet battles the unbelievable, rapid advancements in technology are pressed, blending the lines between machine and men.
On the front lines of the conflict a techno-phobic snub-fighter pilot tries to forget his loss, a captured surgeon struggles to save the unending wounded, and an exiled psionic commando infiltrates the fleet. Their paths lead to the planet Hecate, where they discover that something darker than magic or technology is growing, feeding off the chaos.
Forging an alliance seems impossible, but if they should fail it will not mean the loss of a colony or system, it will mean annihilation. The real war has begun among the shadows, and every reality will feel the impact in WarVerse.
Portals changed reality.
Shadows will destroy us all.
The year is 2042, and in the wake of alien contact and rapid expansion, Humanity and her allies find the multi-verse is not a welcoming place. Portals have opened around the colonies and throughout critical systems. Gateways to realities where shapeshifting Elves, monstrous Elementals, and impossible magic hold sway. As the Joint Fleet battles the unbelievable, rapid advancements in technology are pressed, blending the lines between machine and men.
On the front lines of the conflict a techno-phobic snub-fighter pilot tries to forget his loss, a captured surgeon struggles to save the unending wounded, and an exiled psionic commando infiltrates the fleet. Their paths lead to the planet Hecate, where they discover that something darker than magic or technology is growing, feeding off the chaos.
Forging an alliance seems impossible, but if they should fail it will not mean the loss of a colony or system, it will mean annihilation. The real war has begun among the shadows, and every reality will feel the impact in WarVerse.
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 2, 2014
About the author
Patrick J. Loller
3 books27 followersWhen he was in grade school, Patrick once wrote a story that was four pages long and punctuated only once. He believed that only the end of a story deserved a period. To his editors mounting horror that hasn't changed dramatically, and his grasp of grammar remains tentative at best. Patrick has been writing since he was old enough to hold a pencil, and though he has flirted with many careers, only writing has won his heart.
He served as a combat medic in Afghanistan, a paramedic in the capitol of Connecticut, and has been a teacher.
While deployed he found solace in a universe of his own creation. One where the various types of stories he read could exist simultaneously.
WarVerse is more than a single story, it is the start of a collection, and one he hopes to branch out to other indie authors some day.
Find his work on Amazon.
He served as a combat medic in Afghanistan, a paramedic in the capitol of Connecticut, and has been a teacher.
While deployed he found solace in a universe of his own creation. One where the various types of stories he read could exist simultaneously.
WarVerse is more than a single story, it is the start of a collection, and one he hopes to branch out to other indie authors some day.
Find his work on Amazon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 26, 2015
Good military speculative fiction.
With writing reminiscent of Poul Anderson, writer Patrick Loller blends elements of science fiction and fantasy to form an original and entertaining space opera.
In a near future, humanity has come into contact with several alien races and radical increases in technology – and magic. The protagonists learn to work together to combat a common enemy.
Loller describes portals, dimensional gates whereby magic forces contend with advanced alien technology that leads to changes that humanity struggled to keep up with. The writer uses shifting perspectives to provide background and better than average characterization, especially from an alien standpoint.
Loller’s world building and speculative setting is first rate. He has clearly used his own military background to enhance his narration. This could have used some editing, but for the most part this is engaging and fun. A good start to a series.
With writing reminiscent of Poul Anderson, writer Patrick Loller blends elements of science fiction and fantasy to form an original and entertaining space opera.
In a near future, humanity has come into contact with several alien races and radical increases in technology – and magic. The protagonists learn to work together to combat a common enemy.
Loller describes portals, dimensional gates whereby magic forces contend with advanced alien technology that leads to changes that humanity struggled to keep up with. The writer uses shifting perspectives to provide background and better than average characterization, especially from an alien standpoint.
Loller’s world building and speculative setting is first rate. He has clearly used his own military background to enhance his narration. This could have used some editing, but for the most part this is engaging and fun. A good start to a series.
May 19, 2015
This was a lot of fun & a great first book. It's a sort of space opera, but has a lot more to it. There's a blend of fantasy & SF that's very reminiscent of Robotech, but it certainly isn't a copy. It is definitely its own universe peopled with an assortment of creatures & plenty of action.
The only complaint I do have is there is a bit too much action to really get to know the characters. They're certainly interesting with intriguing glimpses of their past & there is some growth & change, but they just never took as much depth as I would have liked.
The second book is out & the author has kindly sent me a copy of it for an honest review, too. I intend to get to it shortly. Can't wait!
The only complaint I do have is there is a bit too much action to really get to know the characters. They're certainly interesting with intriguing glimpses of their past & there is some growth & change, but they just never took as much depth as I would have liked.
The second book is out & the author has kindly sent me a copy of it for an honest review, too. I intend to get to it shortly. Can't wait!
September 13, 2015
I don' t have a shelf for this one and I have no idea what a shelf would be called to house it.
Patrick Loller has taken a range of genres and character types and stuck them in a big pot and delivered a fun easy to read sci fi story with a HUGE difference.
So it is a SciFi really, extra terrestrials, exploring new planets, fighting other races more advanced technically and less advanced. The big difference from your bog standard SciFi is that the other races are all fantasy races like Gnomes and elves. But Elves that can shapeshift into wolves and deadly porcupines. Then there are Transformers and fire witches and and and pretty much everything except a vampire.
It is certainly an interesting cross over, blending the fantasy world with the scifi and there are a few moments of things happening that are explained away as magic without any explanation of what kind of magic is being used. But that is squared off somewhat by the characters admitting they call it magic because they don't understand how it is done.
The characters are pretty good, I think we start to see some of the develop, but there isn;t much time to build too much depth as it is a pretty short novel and is full on form about 20% in. The story is pretty fast paced and a really good action/battle scene shows Loller can deliver excitement.
Once you get past the giant porcupines shooting quills at spaceships you'll find a nice groove to settle in and enjoy this. A good solid story that was fun to read. I am giving this 3.5 Stars and will definitely read some more of Lollers stories.
Disclaimer: Patrick sent me a copy to read in exchange for a review. So this is the review. Thanks for the fun read Patrick.
Patrick Loller has taken a range of genres and character types and stuck them in a big pot and delivered a fun easy to read sci fi story with a HUGE difference.
So it is a SciFi really, extra terrestrials, exploring new planets, fighting other races more advanced technically and less advanced. The big difference from your bog standard SciFi is that the other races are all fantasy races like Gnomes and elves. But Elves that can shapeshift into wolves and deadly porcupines. Then there are Transformers and fire witches and and and pretty much everything except a vampire.
It is certainly an interesting cross over, blending the fantasy world with the scifi and there are a few moments of things happening that are explained away as magic without any explanation of what kind of magic is being used. But that is squared off somewhat by the characters admitting they call it magic because they don't understand how it is done.
The characters are pretty good, I think we start to see some of the develop, but there isn;t much time to build too much depth as it is a pretty short novel and is full on form about 20% in. The story is pretty fast paced and a really good action/battle scene shows Loller can deliver excitement.
Once you get past the giant porcupines shooting quills at spaceships you'll find a nice groove to settle in and enjoy this. A good solid story that was fun to read. I am giving this 3.5 Stars and will definitely read some more of Lollers stories.
Disclaimer: Patrick sent me a copy to read in exchange for a review. So this is the review. Thanks for the fun read Patrick.
March 19, 2015
At first glance, FTL starships, a war with magic users from other realities, and [SPOILER] *** [/SPOILER] bring to mind a dog's breakfast of irreconcilable arts/technologies.
But Mr Loller pulls it off, and brilliantly; the story hits the ground running and the reader has no time to think about what he is being asked to suspend disbelief in. Kept me going. Elves, gnomes, aliens, humans ... and the darnedest series of firefights I've run my eyes across.
Go get a copy. Enjoy. Look for the sequelae.
___________________
*** Spoiler: Carrier based space and atmosphere fighter craft that transform into giant mecha. Yeah. ***
But Mr Loller pulls it off, and brilliantly; the story hits the ground running and the reader has no time to think about what he is being asked to suspend disbelief in. Kept me going. Elves, gnomes, aliens, humans ... and the darnedest series of firefights I've run my eyes across.
Go get a copy. Enjoy. Look for the sequelae.
___________________
*** Spoiler: Carrier based space and atmosphere fighter craft that transform into giant mecha. Yeah. ***
April 5, 2015
I read a lot of fantasy as a kid, I imagine a lot of people did. Over time though my preference in fiction has shifted and I'm much less likely to pick up a fantasy book or even watch a fantasy TV series or movie.
These days I will always give almost anything scifi a chance, and have been reading almost nothing but. I've largely been jumping back and forth between modern scifi (generally fleet combat/popcorn action sort of stuff) and some of the classics.
I got off to a weird start with this book, by no fault of its own. I read a portion, went away on a business trip, got swamped with work, and felt it would be best to start over again in order to provide a fair review. Patrick Loller, the author, provided me with a free copy and asked for my feedback. For the great delay in my review I can only apologize, I don't normally have so much trouble getting through a book unless I don't like it, which wasn't the case here.
Three stars according to Goodreads indicates I "liked it." On further reflection I would like to be able to select something more like 3.5. I certainly feel it deserves more but at this time I don't want to say I really liked it.
I was curious how he would combine the fantasy and the science fiction elements. If you don't like fantasy the book almost provides a way for you to accept the fantasy and magic: in this universe the humans who rely on their technology (and that of other races) will tend to perceive the more fantastical elements as merely science which is beyond their grasp. Considering the books setting being less than 30 years from now this feels pretty easy to swallow as an explanation, but I do wonder if future books will attempt to define magic as just magic, and not some rationalized technological development. I hope it stays more towards the latter description, or at least depicts humanities struggle to understand it rationally.
Humans aren't too advanced although they have some pretty neat ships and tech, a lot of that comes from alien allies. That doesn't imply the relationships with those aliens are all cozy and friendly, humanity likely isn't over discriminatory attitudes and behavior towards one another at the time this book takes place and it certainly doesn't seem it treats the other races it has allied with all that well at times. It's a tenuous friendship that humanity has with the other races, and it's something that I would like to see explored in greater detail in this series.
The Star Carrier series gets in to similar territory, and does so with more thought and makes the uneasy friendship with alien races more intriguing. Room for improvement, but not off to a bad start!
As other reviews have pointed out the book could benefit from better editing, there are some strange typos and missing capitalization on some words. I figured maybe some of this was due to my copy which was quickly converted to epub but it looks like other reviewers caught some of this too.
I can ignore that and enjoy the book on its merits, of which I think there are plenty. The books is safely in the comfort zone there, it's nowhere near being such a mess I can't read it. So with all that in place I figure I should break down what does and doesn't work with the plot and style for me:
The good:
I enjoyed the growing trust between a human and the aliens holding him captive. I also enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the troop activities. The authors military background clearly informs the narrative here and it shows. The juxtaposition of conventional (modern era) projectile firearms and alien tech is interesting. I'm curious if we'll see more about the technological divide.
There's a good core cast of characters with either clear motivations or clear purpose. Although the book seems to focus pretty heavily on Vincent and The Exile, I think The Exile is one of the more interesting characters. That said the Ele/Vincent factor is going to be interesting going forward and I'm also curious to see what happens to the Condemned.
The author has done a good job of laying groundwork for a very diverse universe with different factions each having unique strengths and capabilites, as well as motivations. Often times the first book in a series like this either does a lot of worldbuilding or comes out and really land an explosive story, this one doesn't quite do either, but it proposes enough interesting ideas that I want to know more. I can feel the intent driving all this even if it's not all laid out in this one book. This does lead in to some of the issues I had with the book though.
The not quite as good:
I felt myself having trouble painting a mental image for certain scenes. I'd like to know what level of tech the human tanks are based on, the weaponry on the Inferno, etc. The handheld weapons got more attention, perhaps a reasonable thing given the author's background, but I like being able to understand the technology and the rules of a science fiction universe and I felt details were missing that could have pulled that together.
Considering this is his first major piece of fiction I think Mr. Loller did a fantastic job overall, but this is one area I really hope to see some improvement. I expect to fill in the gaps but I hope the author can provide a bit more of the framework so that I can develop a detailed mental image of what this universe looks like.
The book on the whole could benefit from not just more explanation about what's going on and what the things in this universe are, but more information about the background for the current setting. How did we get here? What are the motivations driving all the characters and factions? Some are served better than others (as mentioned above the core characters largely make sense) but a lot feels left out. This ended up impacting the pacing as well, as some parts feel rushed and unclear.
That's not to say that some parts didn't move forward well and feel adequately developed, there were just some parts that I got a bit lost on, particularly the prep and entry in to combat on the planet. A lot of things were already in place and we didn't get as much background as I'd like to explain how they got there or what they went through. I figure the author took the liberty to start with them already there, but it feels abrupt to me, as a reader.
I'm not sure if the book should have been longer to flesh the particular section out or if it should have been the same length but ended earlier.
The frequent references to current fictional properties felt a bit weird to me, but I think that had more to do with me wrapping my head around the timeframe and accepting what these characters might have been exposed to. It may be that it's just difficult to accept this storyline as taking place three decades from now. With future novels the author may get to spend more time explaining and defining the struggle humanity has gone through to get to this point and this may not seem as weird.
Overall:
This was a fun, easy read and I am looking forward to the sequel. I do want to see the story continue, but I also want to see the author develop his own narrative style and work on providing more background and explanation. Surely some of the things that felt off to me will improve as he writes more, and it's an interesting setting to explore with plenty of potential.
These days I will always give almost anything scifi a chance, and have been reading almost nothing but. I've largely been jumping back and forth between modern scifi (generally fleet combat/popcorn action sort of stuff) and some of the classics.
I got off to a weird start with this book, by no fault of its own. I read a portion, went away on a business trip, got swamped with work, and felt it would be best to start over again in order to provide a fair review. Patrick Loller, the author, provided me with a free copy and asked for my feedback. For the great delay in my review I can only apologize, I don't normally have so much trouble getting through a book unless I don't like it, which wasn't the case here.
Three stars according to Goodreads indicates I "liked it." On further reflection I would like to be able to select something more like 3.5. I certainly feel it deserves more but at this time I don't want to say I really liked it.
I was curious how he would combine the fantasy and the science fiction elements. If you don't like fantasy the book almost provides a way for you to accept the fantasy and magic: in this universe the humans who rely on their technology (and that of other races) will tend to perceive the more fantastical elements as merely science which is beyond their grasp. Considering the books setting being less than 30 years from now this feels pretty easy to swallow as an explanation, but I do wonder if future books will attempt to define magic as just magic, and not some rationalized technological development. I hope it stays more towards the latter description, or at least depicts humanities struggle to understand it rationally.
Humans aren't too advanced although they have some pretty neat ships and tech, a lot of that comes from alien allies. That doesn't imply the relationships with those aliens are all cozy and friendly, humanity likely isn't over discriminatory attitudes and behavior towards one another at the time this book takes place and it certainly doesn't seem it treats the other races it has allied with all that well at times. It's a tenuous friendship that humanity has with the other races, and it's something that I would like to see explored in greater detail in this series.
The Star Carrier series gets in to similar territory, and does so with more thought and makes the uneasy friendship with alien races more intriguing. Room for improvement, but not off to a bad start!
As other reviews have pointed out the book could benefit from better editing, there are some strange typos and missing capitalization on some words. I figured maybe some of this was due to my copy which was quickly converted to epub but it looks like other reviewers caught some of this too.
I can ignore that and enjoy the book on its merits, of which I think there are plenty. The books is safely in the comfort zone there, it's nowhere near being such a mess I can't read it. So with all that in place I figure I should break down what does and doesn't work with the plot and style for me:
The good:
I enjoyed the growing trust between a human and the aliens holding him captive. I also enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the troop activities. The authors military background clearly informs the narrative here and it shows. The juxtaposition of conventional (modern era) projectile firearms and alien tech is interesting. I'm curious if we'll see more about the technological divide.
There's a good core cast of characters with either clear motivations or clear purpose. Although the book seems to focus pretty heavily on Vincent and The Exile, I think The Exile is one of the more interesting characters. That said the Ele/Vincent factor is going to be interesting going forward and I'm also curious to see what happens to the Condemned.
The author has done a good job of laying groundwork for a very diverse universe with different factions each having unique strengths and capabilites, as well as motivations. Often times the first book in a series like this either does a lot of worldbuilding or comes out and really land an explosive story, this one doesn't quite do either, but it proposes enough interesting ideas that I want to know more. I can feel the intent driving all this even if it's not all laid out in this one book. This does lead in to some of the issues I had with the book though.
The not quite as good:
I felt myself having trouble painting a mental image for certain scenes. I'd like to know what level of tech the human tanks are based on, the weaponry on the Inferno, etc. The handheld weapons got more attention, perhaps a reasonable thing given the author's background, but I like being able to understand the technology and the rules of a science fiction universe and I felt details were missing that could have pulled that together.
Considering this is his first major piece of fiction I think Mr. Loller did a fantastic job overall, but this is one area I really hope to see some improvement. I expect to fill in the gaps but I hope the author can provide a bit more of the framework so that I can develop a detailed mental image of what this universe looks like.
The book on the whole could benefit from not just more explanation about what's going on and what the things in this universe are, but more information about the background for the current setting. How did we get here? What are the motivations driving all the characters and factions? Some are served better than others (as mentioned above the core characters largely make sense) but a lot feels left out. This ended up impacting the pacing as well, as some parts feel rushed and unclear.
That's not to say that some parts didn't move forward well and feel adequately developed, there were just some parts that I got a bit lost on, particularly the prep and entry in to combat on the planet. A lot of things were already in place and we didn't get as much background as I'd like to explain how they got there or what they went through. I figure the author took the liberty to start with them already there, but it feels abrupt to me, as a reader.
I'm not sure if the book should have been longer to flesh the particular section out or if it should have been the same length but ended earlier.
The frequent references to current fictional properties felt a bit weird to me, but I think that had more to do with me wrapping my head around the timeframe and accepting what these characters might have been exposed to. It may be that it's just difficult to accept this storyline as taking place three decades from now. With future novels the author may get to spend more time explaining and defining the struggle humanity has gone through to get to this point and this may not seem as weird.
Overall:
This was a fun, easy read and I am looking forward to the sequel. I do want to see the story continue, but I also want to see the author develop his own narrative style and work on providing more background and explanation. Surely some of the things that felt off to me will improve as he writes more, and it's an interesting setting to explore with plenty of potential.
January 13, 2024
It was a fun and pulpy read. It was a little all over the place but I think it was very ambitious.
April 3, 2015
Military SF meets Epic Fantasy meets the Uplift Wars
Disclaimer: I received my copy of this book from the author for my review.
This is a packed story, so packed it is hard to describe. The basic story takes place some years after Earth has had first contact and entered into a rather hostile galaxy that not only contains high-tech aliens, but also contains magical beings. This initial story (in what feels like it will be a significant series) covers the lead-up to and resolution(?) of one skirmish in humanity’s struggle.
The story is told from a number of viewpoints, so many that the story seems to lag in the beginning because you are getting only a snippet from each viewpoint before you move onto another. It takes until nearly halfway through the book before it all comes together and really gels into what feels like a consistent narrative. There are so many viewpoint characters that I am hard pressed who to designate as the protagonist. Likewise it is hard to say who the antagonist is other than the entity of pure evil which isn’t really a fully realized character.
What this story has is action. As previously mentioned, it takes a bit to get going with all the viewpoints, but even there we have a lot of action. This story also has a lot of interesting ideas and world building, so much so that at times it is almost too much wrap your head around. The author has come up with something that is similar at points to many things but derivative of nothing. The action sequences gripping and well described with everything easy to visualize.
The concept of in-media-res (starting in the middle of the action) is so fully embraced by the author that the reader has to stay on their toes to not get lost. All the characters have significant back-stories that initially are only hinted at. Not only that, but you almost feel like you walked into a movie twenty minutes after it started, with no one there to get you up to speed.
We have few markers to know who the “good guys” are, or who are really the “bad guys” since each character seems to have both noble and ignoble motivations. Once some of the mysteries finally start to get sorted out, new ones rear up, and then we have the big battle and we’re done, left with at least as many questions as we started with if not more. For every question answered near the end of the book, two or three more are lobbed out there in the final pages like some sneakily thrown grenades.
It is rare for me to say this, but this book felt too short. By the time I finally felt like I had a handle on what was going on and who we were dealing with, it was over. Most books suffer from too much exposition, this one actually felt like it could have used more, or at least more time to develop the various characters. The ending also felt a bit like deus ex machine, since certain elements seem to come together a bit too conveniently.
So, did I like it? Mostly. Will I read the next book in the series? Yeah.
Will others like it? It depends. If you like military SF and epic fantasy and can be patient with a multi-viewpoint story you will most likely enjoy it. The writing and editing are tight, the concepts and characters fairly interesting and it reads fairly fast. If you don’t like mixing magic with technology, or prefer a simpler more straightforward narrative style, then this probably isn’t your cup of tea.
Disclaimer: I received my copy of this book from the author for my review.
This is a packed story, so packed it is hard to describe. The basic story takes place some years after Earth has had first contact and entered into a rather hostile galaxy that not only contains high-tech aliens, but also contains magical beings. This initial story (in what feels like it will be a significant series) covers the lead-up to and resolution(?) of one skirmish in humanity’s struggle.
The story is told from a number of viewpoints, so many that the story seems to lag in the beginning because you are getting only a snippet from each viewpoint before you move onto another. It takes until nearly halfway through the book before it all comes together and really gels into what feels like a consistent narrative. There are so many viewpoint characters that I am hard pressed who to designate as the protagonist. Likewise it is hard to say who the antagonist is other than the entity of pure evil which isn’t really a fully realized character.
What this story has is action. As previously mentioned, it takes a bit to get going with all the viewpoints, but even there we have a lot of action. This story also has a lot of interesting ideas and world building, so much so that at times it is almost too much wrap your head around. The author has come up with something that is similar at points to many things but derivative of nothing. The action sequences gripping and well described with everything easy to visualize.
The concept of in-media-res (starting in the middle of the action) is so fully embraced by the author that the reader has to stay on their toes to not get lost. All the characters have significant back-stories that initially are only hinted at. Not only that, but you almost feel like you walked into a movie twenty minutes after it started, with no one there to get you up to speed.
We have few markers to know who the “good guys” are, or who are really the “bad guys” since each character seems to have both noble and ignoble motivations. Once some of the mysteries finally start to get sorted out, new ones rear up, and then we have the big battle and we’re done, left with at least as many questions as we started with if not more. For every question answered near the end of the book, two or three more are lobbed out there in the final pages like some sneakily thrown grenades.
It is rare for me to say this, but this book felt too short. By the time I finally felt like I had a handle on what was going on and who we were dealing with, it was over. Most books suffer from too much exposition, this one actually felt like it could have used more, or at least more time to develop the various characters. The ending also felt a bit like deus ex machine, since certain elements seem to come together a bit too conveniently.
So, did I like it? Mostly. Will I read the next book in the series? Yeah.
Will others like it? It depends. If you like military SF and epic fantasy and can be patient with a multi-viewpoint story you will most likely enjoy it. The writing and editing are tight, the concepts and characters fairly interesting and it reads fairly fast. If you don’t like mixing magic with technology, or prefer a simpler more straightforward narrative style, then this probably isn’t your cup of tea.
January 15, 2015
Disclaimer: I was given this book for free by the author in exchange for a fair review.
I primarily write reviews for self-published works of fantasy, so you can imagine my scepticism when I first saw the cover of his book. The man has got a gun! This isn't fantasy!
Patrick J. Loller had assured me that in spite of its science fiction trappings, Forged by Battle would have enough fantastic elements to merit my consideration. He isn't wrong either.
Loller is a military vet, and it adds a degree of authenticity to the highly regimented hierarchical structure within which our main protagonist operates. The son of a deceased combat pilot, he finds himself under the yoke of a tyrannical middle management type who holds a distinctly personal grudge against him. Fortunately this distinctly unlikeable individual is kept in line by the large and in charge commander of the fleet.
We have Elves, who are considered a slave race, and all kinds of weird and wonderful things. There's also the presence of power that science cannot explain, referred to by the book's characters as magic. This is a clever nod to the reality that power which lacks human understanding can seem magical. There's also a very powerful form of telekinesis and in addition to this there seems to be some degree of telepathy explored too.
The characters are memorable without being outstanding and they drive the plot along at a sensible pace.
So I'm enjoying myself thus far. Why only three stars?
Well, my first problem with the book was that it got a little too caught up in its own military diction, to the point where it was becoming distracting. While I appreciate the authenticity as previously stated, it's a bit of a double-edged sword for those of us who never served.
The second much larger issue is the typos. Loller needs to hire a professional to iron out his work with a keen editorial eye. The cover was excellent, the beginning of the book was edited well but it starts to fall off the rails just as we get going. This was frustrating for me personally because I wanted this to be as good as it initially promised.
My final issue is that this isn't a fantasy book, and I'm a fantasy book reviewer. While I've read my fair share of science fiction over the years, I struggled here as I was expecting the more fantastical elements to creep in and take over the tale. While there were fantastical concepts, they augmented the tale rather than imposing themselves.
Three stars from me is a solid rating, meaning that with a redraft and a bit of editing Forged By Battle could please fans of military science fiction. I wouldn't recommend it to the fantasy crowd though, unless you're prepared to switch up genres and move out of your comfort zone.
I look forward to reading what Loller comes up with next. In spite of the rockiness of this début there are some quality moments and it's solidly written for the most part. While I can't give it any glowing praise, there's lots to be positive about with this tale.
I primarily write reviews for self-published works of fantasy, so you can imagine my scepticism when I first saw the cover of his book. The man has got a gun! This isn't fantasy!
Patrick J. Loller had assured me that in spite of its science fiction trappings, Forged by Battle would have enough fantastic elements to merit my consideration. He isn't wrong either.
Loller is a military vet, and it adds a degree of authenticity to the highly regimented hierarchical structure within which our main protagonist operates. The son of a deceased combat pilot, he finds himself under the yoke of a tyrannical middle management type who holds a distinctly personal grudge against him. Fortunately this distinctly unlikeable individual is kept in line by the large and in charge commander of the fleet.
We have Elves, who are considered a slave race, and all kinds of weird and wonderful things. There's also the presence of power that science cannot explain, referred to by the book's characters as magic. This is a clever nod to the reality that power which lacks human understanding can seem magical. There's also a very powerful form of telekinesis and in addition to this there seems to be some degree of telepathy explored too.
The characters are memorable without being outstanding and they drive the plot along at a sensible pace.
So I'm enjoying myself thus far. Why only three stars?
Well, my first problem with the book was that it got a little too caught up in its own military diction, to the point where it was becoming distracting. While I appreciate the authenticity as previously stated, it's a bit of a double-edged sword for those of us who never served.
The second much larger issue is the typos. Loller needs to hire a professional to iron out his work with a keen editorial eye. The cover was excellent, the beginning of the book was edited well but it starts to fall off the rails just as we get going. This was frustrating for me personally because I wanted this to be as good as it initially promised.
My final issue is that this isn't a fantasy book, and I'm a fantasy book reviewer. While I've read my fair share of science fiction over the years, I struggled here as I was expecting the more fantastical elements to creep in and take over the tale. While there were fantastical concepts, they augmented the tale rather than imposing themselves.
Three stars from me is a solid rating, meaning that with a redraft and a bit of editing Forged By Battle could please fans of military science fiction. I wouldn't recommend it to the fantasy crowd though, unless you're prepared to switch up genres and move out of your comfort zone.
I look forward to reading what Loller comes up with next. In spite of the rockiness of this début there are some quality moments and it's solidly written for the most part. While I can't give it any glowing praise, there's lots to be positive about with this tale.
March 29, 2015
In the nature of full disclosure, I was provided an ARC of Patrick J. Loller’s novel, "Forged by Battle (WarVerse Book 1)." The author contacted me because of a review I wrote for another sci-fi book, Scott Jucha’s "The Silver Ships."
Patrick Loller has written a creatively wild story that marries technologically-advanced and colorful aliens with technologically-adept humans on star ships, warring against shape-shifters who fight with magically enhanced bows and arrows. It has anticipated space travel jumps and the not-so-normal shimmering space portals. The story’s arc provides many divergent points of view, representing all sides on the battle field.
The early chapters felt a little disjointed, but the reader is quickly brought up to speed. As the heat of the battle explodes, the pace of story is dramatically increased. Before you realize it, the author’s hook has been set deeply into your cheek, and you’re being reeled along for the ride.
Mr. Loller’s military and medical experience can be recognized throughout the tale, as I found the structure of the story and development of characters believable. Ground pounders and fly-boy acrobatics abound. I held my breath as the Gs forced me deep into my seat.
Although I’m not into “Dungeons and Dragons” or magical mystery tours through space and time, I found the mix of events quite interesting and absorbing. You’ll be introduced to a lot of characters, though, and even after finishing the book, I’m still not sure which characters are the allies and which are the foes. It seemed easy enough to initially figure that out, but seeds of suspicion have been planted, which will carry me through to the next book in the series. After all, dark shadows and secret weapons don’t simply vanish into thin air.
On the negative side, the story line is difficult to accept as being merely three decades into the future. But I guess a lot can happen when the only civilization you’ve ever known wakes up to the likes of multi universes the author imagined for us.
"Forged by Battle" is an excellent debut novel. I recommend it for lovers of sci-fi, military suspense, and magic potions. Congratulations on a really good read, Patrick J. Loller. Cheers! And now, on to "Rebirth by Fire."
Patrick Loller has written a creatively wild story that marries technologically-advanced and colorful aliens with technologically-adept humans on star ships, warring against shape-shifters who fight with magically enhanced bows and arrows. It has anticipated space travel jumps and the not-so-normal shimmering space portals. The story’s arc provides many divergent points of view, representing all sides on the battle field.
The early chapters felt a little disjointed, but the reader is quickly brought up to speed. As the heat of the battle explodes, the pace of story is dramatically increased. Before you realize it, the author’s hook has been set deeply into your cheek, and you’re being reeled along for the ride.
Mr. Loller’s military and medical experience can be recognized throughout the tale, as I found the structure of the story and development of characters believable. Ground pounders and fly-boy acrobatics abound. I held my breath as the Gs forced me deep into my seat.
Although I’m not into “Dungeons and Dragons” or magical mystery tours through space and time, I found the mix of events quite interesting and absorbing. You’ll be introduced to a lot of characters, though, and even after finishing the book, I’m still not sure which characters are the allies and which are the foes. It seemed easy enough to initially figure that out, but seeds of suspicion have been planted, which will carry me through to the next book in the series. After all, dark shadows and secret weapons don’t simply vanish into thin air.
On the negative side, the story line is difficult to accept as being merely three decades into the future. But I guess a lot can happen when the only civilization you’ve ever known wakes up to the likes of multi universes the author imagined for us.
"Forged by Battle" is an excellent debut novel. I recommend it for lovers of sci-fi, military suspense, and magic potions. Congratulations on a really good read, Patrick J. Loller. Cheers! And now, on to "Rebirth by Fire."
March 30, 2015
This was my second venture into sci-fi world after god knows how many epic/high fantasy books, and i must say i was not wrong in doing so.
WarVerse takes you into a world, well universe, filled with both magic and technology. It's a unique blend of fantasy and sci-fi, sort of like watching an awesome mecha anime, always making you want to watch next episode or read next manga chapter.
Patrick did a marvelous job, book is filled with excitement, suspense it keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you want to know whats going to happen next, how will Vincent handle this situation? Who is Ele, what have they done to her? Will the Condemned survive? Epic battles in both space and on ground? This was a refreshing experience and one i thoroughly enjoyed.
I really enjoyed it, it couples two of my favorite genres. I always read stuff i could get from my local book shop, i was a paper freak, always insisting on reading something i can actually touch and feel, but since i traversed that line and got into digital book world and got access to many of the indie authors i must say there are some great authors and writers among them and i wish them all the best.
I can't wait for the sequel and hopefully we will see more of the elf background, more gnomes on the front :) And how Condemned fare out in the vastness of the 'verse.
WarVerse takes you into a world, well universe, filled with both magic and technology. It's a unique blend of fantasy and sci-fi, sort of like watching an awesome mecha anime, always making you want to watch next episode or read next manga chapter.
Patrick did a marvelous job, book is filled with excitement, suspense it keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you want to know whats going to happen next, how will Vincent handle this situation? Who is Ele, what have they done to her? Will the Condemned survive? Epic battles in both space and on ground? This was a refreshing experience and one i thoroughly enjoyed.
I really enjoyed it, it couples two of my favorite genres. I always read stuff i could get from my local book shop, i was a paper freak, always insisting on reading something i can actually touch and feel, but since i traversed that line and got into digital book world and got access to many of the indie authors i must say there are some great authors and writers among them and i wish them all the best.
I can't wait for the sequel and hopefully we will see more of the elf background, more gnomes on the front :) And how Condemned fare out in the vastness of the 'verse.
March 31, 2015
The author requested I review this book and I was happy to do so.
I had a hard time getting into this book at first..the first few chapters were confusing and a bit dry. There was no real references to anything I would be familiar with and no background to explain what was going on. It was a difficult few chapters to read but I pushed through.
The story itself was interesting and the writing was done well. Once I plowed through the first few chapters the book became more interesting and the characters more real to me. It took time though. And I was still a bit confused at times over what was happening and who the players in the story were and how they related to the main characters. Like I said...no background at all. There was no real explanation of who the "elves" were or the other alien races they talked about. I had no idea why they were fighting or what caused the conflict to begin with. I wish the author would have spent some of those pages in the book explaining things a bit more. It helps to have a point of reference in a science fiction story that helps relate what is happening to something you can actually understand.
I did enjoy the book overall. The story was different and intriguing, if a bit short on explanation.
I had a hard time getting into this book at first..the first few chapters were confusing and a bit dry. There was no real references to anything I would be familiar with and no background to explain what was going on. It was a difficult few chapters to read but I pushed through.
The story itself was interesting and the writing was done well. Once I plowed through the first few chapters the book became more interesting and the characters more real to me. It took time though. And I was still a bit confused at times over what was happening and who the players in the story were and how they related to the main characters. Like I said...no background at all. There was no real explanation of who the "elves" were or the other alien races they talked about. I had no idea why they were fighting or what caused the conflict to begin with. I wish the author would have spent some of those pages in the book explaining things a bit more. It helps to have a point of reference in a science fiction story that helps relate what is happening to something you can actually understand.
I did enjoy the book overall. The story was different and intriguing, if a bit short on explanation.
March 24, 2015
This is a very intense military scifi book. There is constant action, with a lot of characters and sub-plots, but nothing to allow the reader a moment of relaxation. The setting is the year 2042 and aliens are trying to take over earthling inhabited space research colonies. The aliens come in several variations, but almost all of them are "shapeshifters" who can morph into almost any configuration they wish (remember Odo in Star Trek--Deep Space Nine). The defense of these colonies is basically "boots on the ground" with some air support with capabilities like the 'Transformers'. Add in some almost supernatural elements, and you have the makings of a very interesting story. The wide range of weaponry used by both sides might stretch the imagination a bit--from the basic 'magazine fed automatic shoulder weapon' to a lasers, and the high energy 'rail gun'. The rail gun is a bit problematic, going from a massive, experimental naval vessel mounted weapon today, to being man-portable in 25 years. The ending is a bit nebulous, as only one of the goals set by the leading characters is finally achieved. Volume #2 is due out later this year.
March 23, 2015
As is typical when introducing multiple characters in a book the first few chapters (or 20%) are spent introducing the main characters, which makes it a little hard to feel connected to at first. But once I became familiar with the characters I was fully immersed in the story. This book is a bit of sci-fi and fantasy as well as military drama. It is obvious while reading that the author, Patrick J. Loller, is familiar with the way the military hierarchy works as well as how one would operate with "boots on the ground". He weaves a great story that has characters I found myself liking, as much as I disliked their counterparts.
I really enjoyed the storyline and the way it developed as the characters, previously introduced separately, came together to take part in the battle at the end of the book. Of course, as all good authors go, Patrick left off at a point where I found myself wanting the second book in hand so that I could find out what happens next. That, to me, makes this a book worth reading. I congratulate the author for creating such an excellent work of fiction that could easily become the next "Insurgent" or "Hunger Games".
I really enjoyed the storyline and the way it developed as the characters, previously introduced separately, came together to take part in the battle at the end of the book. Of course, as all good authors go, Patrick left off at a point where I found myself wanting the second book in hand so that I could find out what happens next. That, to me, makes this a book worth reading. I congratulate the author for creating such an excellent work of fiction that could easily become the next "Insurgent" or "Hunger Games".
May 15, 2015
Wow. I picked this up after hearing the basic premise: sci-fi world clashes with medieval fantasy world. That's all it took. Honestly, I started with a healthy dose of skepticism. I really didn't expect much and the first 10% didn't do much to impress me. After a few weeks of letting the novel sit on my Kindle, I decided to revisit the title. I'm really glad that I did. After a bit of boring exposition and background that didn't hold my attention, Forged by Battle really came to life. The story follows a Battlestar Galactica-style space fighter pilot and his Battlestar Galactica-style Battlestar to a research planet where a portal has emerged. What's on the other side of the portal? A medieval fantasy kingdom replete with elves! Loller blends high-tech science with classic magic effortlessly. While reading, I couldn't help but think of Warhammer 40,000 being speckled with the beautiful space combat of BSG and the primal fury of Conan the Barbarian. The plot is rather straightforward with only a few twists and turns, but it certainly doesn't disappoint.
~Stuart Thaman, www.stuartthamanbooks.com
~Stuart Thaman, www.stuartthamanbooks.com
April 15, 2015
Disclaimer: I received my copy of this book from the author for my review.
Patrick Loller does several things very well. He writes action sequences that are gripping and fluid while being entirely comprehensible. He paces a sometimes very complex with energy, keeping the plot moving and the reader engaged. He knows how to end a chapter.
The plot follows four characters through a series of events, and sadly the characters never seem to have any agency of their own, other than Rodrom, whose arc is very short and late in the book. This whole book seems like an excerpt of a larger story, as it its the beginning of a (series? trilogy?) but events prior to the story are mentioned but never satisfactorily explained.
Mr. Loller is a new author and has many strengths to build on. I look forward to the next book.
A side note - Even though this published by an independent publisher, it's a well-designed edition, with better production than many a large publishing house furnished its titles.
Patrick Loller does several things very well. He writes action sequences that are gripping and fluid while being entirely comprehensible. He paces a sometimes very complex with energy, keeping the plot moving and the reader engaged. He knows how to end a chapter.
The plot follows four characters through a series of events, and sadly the characters never seem to have any agency of their own, other than Rodrom, whose arc is very short and late in the book. This whole book seems like an excerpt of a larger story, as it its the beginning of a (series? trilogy?) but events prior to the story are mentioned but never satisfactorily explained.
Mr. Loller is a new author and has many strengths to build on. I look forward to the next book.
A side note - Even though this published by an independent publisher, it's a well-designed edition, with better production than many a large publishing house furnished its titles.
December 19, 2014
Spoilers at your own risk...
I gave this a full star review because it really deserves it. Why you ask? Great story, filled with unique and wonderful characters. Also, the world building draws you in. We have troops and starships filled with humans and aliens fighting against creatures from another universe who invade via portals. On one side, elves and magic, with their were creatures and dragons. On the other side, humans, mecha, fighters, and the whole arsenal of high tech gizmos. You'd think that guns would trump bows and arrows. Instead, we get hints that earth has long since fallen, and the colonies are facing the same threat. While both sides are fighting each other, the Shadow makes its play. When I say Shadow think Mordor and Sauron type of bad guys. So yes, do yourself a favor and grab this book. The author makes science and magic work.
I gave this a full star review because it really deserves it. Why you ask? Great story, filled with unique and wonderful characters. Also, the world building draws you in. We have troops and starships filled with humans and aliens fighting against creatures from another universe who invade via portals. On one side, elves and magic, with their were creatures and dragons. On the other side, humans, mecha, fighters, and the whole arsenal of high tech gizmos. You'd think that guns would trump bows and arrows. Instead, we get hints that earth has long since fallen, and the colonies are facing the same threat. While both sides are fighting each other, the Shadow makes its play. When I say Shadow think Mordor and Sauron type of bad guys. So yes, do yourself a favor and grab this book. The author makes science and magic work.
August 1, 2015
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the author in exchange for a fair review.
My first thought, fantasy and military sci fi together....HMMM, not so sure. But it worked.
The story moved quickly.
Elves and magic vs. Humans and machines (with some other fantasy elements thrown in.) It shouldn't work, but it does. Clearly Mr. Loller drew upon his military past. I suspect many of his characters resemble many people he knew in his military career. It makes the characters more believable.
I'd like to give it 5 stars, but there is a lot of story, and a lot of back story that isn't covered. It made it just a bit hard to follow in places. I'd have like a bit more information on the fantasy characters, I think it would have made the story easier to follow.
Had I paid for it, it would have been money well spent.
All in all, a great first effort.
My first thought, fantasy and military sci fi together....HMMM, not so sure. But it worked.
The story moved quickly.
Elves and magic vs. Humans and machines (with some other fantasy elements thrown in.) It shouldn't work, but it does. Clearly Mr. Loller drew upon his military past. I suspect many of his characters resemble many people he knew in his military career. It makes the characters more believable.
I'd like to give it 5 stars, but there is a lot of story, and a lot of back story that isn't covered. It made it just a bit hard to follow in places. I'd have like a bit more information on the fantasy characters, I think it would have made the story easier to follow.
Had I paid for it, it would have been money well spent.
All in all, a great first effort.
April 4, 2015
The story begins with a starship battle around a planet between "us" and "them". Both sides are humans with addition of aliens. But aliens don't come from different galaxy, but rather a dimension accessible through multiple portals. Due to similarity to earthly lore they are described as elves, gnomes, there's mention of dragons, shapeshifters etc. In addition there's an experimental human fighters squadron.
It takes a few chapters to get all that and to know the main characters and their story lines. The farther the story progresses the more clear and captivating it becomes.
The sci-fi/fantasy mix works here - the fantasy is not just swords and magic and sci-fi is advanced technology in space and on ground. It's interesting to see how both sides view each other in magic vs technology.
It takes a few chapters to get all that and to know the main characters and their story lines. The farther the story progresses the more clear and captivating it becomes.
The sci-fi/fantasy mix works here - the fantasy is not just swords and magic and sci-fi is advanced technology in space and on ground. It's interesting to see how both sides view each other in magic vs technology.
April 3, 2015
This mash-up of High Fantasy and Space Opera is a thrilling shot into some uncharted territory. With a wide selection of fantasy analogs scattering themselves across the universe being a part of a brand new effort to join humanity in one cause a new dark demonic force rises up to involve itself in a battle between the humans and the elven forces. The story was very reminiscent of Warhammer 4000 but without the constant overwhelming feeling of futility they seem to imbue their works with. There might not be a lot of hope in the storyline but there is some, and it doesn’t seem like the world is filled with nothing but anti-heroes. If you enjoy Warhammer or Warmachine, or the old Spelljammers, or maybe you just want to read something different, try this series.
April 7, 2015
The author of this story provided me with a copy of the book for review in the lead up to the release of the second in the series. Having read one of my previous reviews he though I might like the story and he was quite right.
The story itself is pure sci-fi with heavy nods towards the fantasy genre even though it is made clear that it is just different technology... This approach certainly makes for a refreshing read. This book has introduced the characters and some very cool tech at the end but it seems to me that the story will truly open up in the next instalments and I will certainly be reading them.
To summarise, spaceships, space battles and mystic creatures of "magic"... how can that not sound like a book you want to read?!
The story itself is pure sci-fi with heavy nods towards the fantasy genre even though it is made clear that it is just different technology... This approach certainly makes for a refreshing read. This book has introduced the characters and some very cool tech at the end but it seems to me that the story will truly open up in the next instalments and I will certainly be reading them.
To summarise, spaceships, space battles and mystic creatures of "magic"... how can that not sound like a book you want to read?!
May 29, 2015
The main problem I had with this book was the lack of explanation. The author attempts to create a world where fantasy and science-fiction mix together but none of it really makes sense. On the plus side this leaves a world rich in imagination but sadly it also leaves the reader with tons of questions. If you can get past this though the story itself isnt bad at all. I liked most of the characters and I enjoyed the action scenes (of which there are many). If in the next books the author can balance out his story a bit more and if a bit more of the technology can be explained this could end up being a very enjoyable series
April 7, 2015
This was an interesting mix of fantasy and sci-fi, a future war zone where elves, goblin etc now work on battleships and fly space fighters. The characters worked well, but it took me a long time to start caring about them. There are a lot of fights, but to start with it just seems like going through the motions. The back story of how all the faerie creatures come to be in our universe is only touched on here and there and this book could have better by spending more time on the back story.
December 3, 2014
This debut novel is a fun blend of sci-fi and fantasy. I've never read a book quite like this one and was superbly impressed with its style. Loller does a great job keeping you emotionally involved with the characters without at all sacrificing story. The characters are all unique and the world in intriguing. I can't wait to read the next one!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews