Alien Hunters

Alien Hunters #1

by Daniel Arenson

The skelkrins. Predators from deep space. Creatures of claws, fangs, and unending malice. They swarm across the galaxy, slaying all in their path. Planets burn in their wake. And now they're heading to Earth. Raphael "Riff" Starfire commands the Alien Hunters, a group of scruffy mercenaries. Galactic pest controllers, they mostly handle small critters--aliens that clog up your engine pipes, gnaw on your hull, or burrow through your silos. Riff and his crew have never faced anything like the skelkrins before. As these cosmic killers invade our solar system, will Riff be the one hunting aliens...or will aliens hunt him?

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fantasy, Fiction, Amazon, Aliens, Humor

310 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2014

About the author

Daniel Arenson is a bookworm, proud geek, and USA Today bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction. His novels have sold over a million copies. The Huffington Post has called his writing "full of soul." He's written over forty novels, most of them in five series:

EARTHRISE — They came from deep space. They came to destroy us. Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win. Start reading with Earth Alone, the first novel in this military science fiction series.

REQUIEM — Welcome to Requiem, an ancient kingdom whose people can grow wings and scales, breathe fire, and take flight as dragons. Requiem is explored in six trilogies, which can be read in any order. If you're new to Requiem, you can start reading with Requiem's Song (you can download it for free). For fans of dark, gritty fantasy like A Game of Thrones.

MOTH — Discover Moth, a world torn between day and night—its one half drenched in eternal daylight, the other cloaked in endless darkness. For fans of classic fantasy worlds such as Middle Earth and Narnia. Start reading with Moth, the first novel in this epic fantasy saga.

ALIEN HUNTERS — Got trouble with aliens? Call the Alien Hunters. A group of scruffy mercenaries, they'll remove the pest for you. Low rates. No questions asked. Start reading with Alien Hunters, the first book in this space opera series. For fans of Star Wars, Firefly, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

KINGDOMS OF SAND — Enter a world of sand and splendor, a world where gladiators battle in the arena, where legionaries and barbarians fight for glory, and where empires rise and fall.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly?

There's an amusing juxtaposition of fantasy stereotypes writ large upon a standard Space-Opera.

Sure, I love the musician gig, the chase, the big ship reveals, the wild assortment of strange characters especially a certain little gas-guzzling demon, the big pincers on the big evil alien spacecraft....

But it's all kinda... standard? I love my stereotypes, but this one is pretty much what I think of when I think of Standard Space-Opera. Like it might have been a pretty good and traditional flashy Sci-Fi movie that I'd pretty much forget after having a pretty good time.

Fun and flashy and gone? Pretty much. Fast-paced, clear, and amusing.

Let's have some fun!

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed something funny, light and entertaining and this really did fit the bill. No doubt that it was science fiction since they were buzzing around the universe in space ships, but there were magicians, halflings and knights in armor added to the mix. It was all a lot of fun and passed a few hours very nicely thank you.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hitchhiker Through the Galaxy meets The Fifth Element, with a little Star Trek and Tolkien thrown in. Fairly silly set-up, but fun to read. Nothing Earth shattering, just light, entertaining space opera.

Whatever you do, remember to never go hunting aliens without duct tape!

Free give-away by the author, thank you very much!

[Sacha Valero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's be clear, the author is primarily a fantasy writer and he should stick to that. The science in this sci-fi novel is just about nonexistent. Rarely does a book put me off so much that if I decide to stop reading I feel compelled to leave a review. I could only get through three chapters and I almost canned it in the first.

In the first chapter we have a small ship being pursued in hyperspace by another, larger ship filled with bad guys. Not so bad, right? The small ship is called a "starjet". A jet? In space? I wasn't aware there was air in space.

Next, the pilot of the starjet realizes she can't out run her pursuers so she yanks on the joystick and turns around to play chicken. Wait a sec... aren't they in hyperspace? And she just turned around?

The large enemy ship is described as having spikes and claws on it. Oh, and it's made of iron. Yes, iron. And it has headlights.

It only got worse.

I'm guessing this guy's writing is way better in his fantasy because he's a USA Today best seller. It has to be because along with the tragic illiteracy of basic physics the writing is jerky and stilted.

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hackneyed 2 star maybe 2.5 DNF at 50%

So take all the stereotypes, and clichés, add a whole bundle of metaphors and similes, then throw it all at a wall and see what sticks. Hated the start, but even with the failing musician trope, and the 1970’s RPG vibe, I still kind found myself almost enjoying the space opera romp. Or at least, suspended disbelief didn’t get in the way for a while.
Internal consistency failures were common, but I lost it when this motley crew of adventurers (elves, halfling, dwarf, a demon, and a sword-wielding fallen knight. Don’t forget the android a la Andromeda Ascending) found themselves owning a rusted tug of a starship, which looked like a dragon, and included an alien hunting business wrapped in. So, short of fuel and no cash, they fly to a mining colony, run out of fuel and crash on the landing strip. But then they find the unwanted alien and have enough fuel to drag it into space before they get paid and restock on fuel.
Meh.

[Kevis Hendrickson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm very disappointed with this book. It started off fairly well and in spite of some silly science, it was exciting to read. But shortly afterward, the story started to go downhill. Fast. The story plays out like a bad RPG where the hero spends the first part of the book assembling his team (or band of merry men as I like to call them). Then the reader is bombarded with every tired cliche and stereotype you can think of from various scifi tv shows and movies. All the while I felt my IQ dropping as I got further along. I know the author's forte is in writing fantasy books. But, since he couldn't leave the fantasy baggage behind, it worked against this story.

I could barely stomach that there were whip-wielding elves and chivalrous knights who still fought with medieval swords in this story. But once the equivalent of dwarves and halflings with the stereotypical sounding fantasy names like Twig and Piston Bergelgruf showed up as the mechanics that serviced a spacehip that looks like a dragon, I was through. Why all the fantasy creatures and themes in a space opera book? Worse, the story came to a grinding stop every time a new character was introduced or there was an action scene. So around the 30% mark, I decided to call it quits. Even if there is a good tale to be had here, I'll never know. Sad, because it seemed promising.

[Nathaniel]

Okay... I enjoyed this story. It was entertaining. Daniel Arenson has a fun writing style.

Here were my problems!
- the ship was shaped like a dragon
- the main character was falling in love with a robot
- there was a demon on the ship
- the demon drank the fuel
- when the ship ran out of fuel, the demon peed into the fuel tank and they flew
- oh, and they flew the ship with a refrigerator motor

So yeah, lots of stuff that I couldn't overlook. This book also had a lot of visual humour that's usually left for movies. For example, they go to a ship yard and the guy shows them a ship. It mentions that as they're looking, the ship tilts over and breaks. Those are jokes usually left for the screen. I have never read a book that incorporates things like that.

I would read the next book because I'm curious as to what these guys are going to do next. I would not spend money on the second book.

[Mick Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a interesting start

This first book of what I am sure will be a interesting series, started with the readers getting to know the main players. They are a odd bunch of characters, forced together when Riff, is attacked. His father has sent a fleeing alien to him for help. But trouble is never far away.

[Teri Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love the character Midnight! I'm hoping somewhere in the future of this series we get to read about the history of her people, her planet, and their demise.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a little funny, loads of action and very predictable. If it was longer, it would have fallen flat. Simply written.

[Michael Penmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy in space

A failed musician, outcast knight, alien princess turned gladiator, a halfling, a space dwarf, a Japanese android, and a demon from hell fly a dragon-shaped ship and save the universe from a host of bad guys. Well-written and entertaining light read. I’ll pick up the sequel.

[Sean Bai · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book starts off from the perspective of an alien woman who is told a prophecy. Then we see the story from the perspective of a man who has thugs after him. These thugs believe some aliens are their saviors. Sounds okay. Not good or bad. My immersion was broken by the inaccurate science in this series.

Some of the aliens alluded to in the series are monks. The alien enemies don't fit the technical description, because monks are religious people who take vows of celibacy and poverty, or something like that. The alien enemies should be called a cult instead, and the wording used to describe them is off.

In one scene, starjets that were capable of atmospheric entry were destroyed by electric whips and plasma fire from pistols. Any vessel that is capable of atmospheric entry must have some sort of protection against atmospheric burn, and should not be destroyed by conventional firearms, let alone electric whips. This just broke my suspension of disbelief.

In another bit of exposition, the author refers to humans who lived on an alien planet for thousands of years, who gained catlike and warrior characteristics, and grew pointy ears. The author said they "evolved". First of all, evolution takes millions of years, or at least hundreds of thousands of years. The term he was looking for was "adapted".

This book also had the Star Wars "Stormtrooper effect". When the starjets chased the main characters, they missed all their shots, while all the heroes managed to shoot their enemies, even when they were shooting badly and missing.

Keep in mind, I liked Daniel Arenson's Earthrise series - the first six books at least. He started writing book 1 of that series a year after he wrote this, and I feel like the characters, plot, and writing were vastly superior in the Earthrise book. I bought these books because I thought they sounded intriguing, especially coming from one of my favorite authors, but if you liked the Earthrise series, you won't like this.

Some of the reviews said this series seemed like Young Adult. I agree with that, but I'm not giving this a low review because of that. My one star rating has to do with inaccurate science and broken suspension of disbelief.

Other negative reviews said the Earthrise series by Daniel Arenson was too violent and depressing, but I think that was the series' strength. So if you're looking for a good read, I recommend you check out that series because the author learned a lot about writing military science fiction with aliens from the mistakes in this series.

Note: I bought the first three books in a boxed set for 99 cents, but I'm returning them. What you're seeing above is my review of the first book. I only managed to read about 5% of that before I got too frustrated to continue. I'm going to delete this from my Kindle account but rest assured, I did try my best to read this before I gave this review.

[Barb McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A GREAT GALAXY AND CAST OF CHARACTERS!

As always, Author, Daniel Arenson has delivered a well written and exciting book. I love all the characters and am happily plotting on how to wipe out the really bad guys. I really enjoyed this book from cover to cover and am going to go get the second book in the series right away.

Sometimes heroes show up in the most unlikely people. If you enjoy alien races and galaxy exploration you will simply love this world that Arenson has created.

A simple plot of good versus evil with subplots, twists and turns. There is a wonderful balance in this book of love, thrills, danger, action, adventure, suspense and science fiction.

This book is good for young adults, adults and seniors. I am happy to give it a 5 star rating and wish I could give it more. KUDOS Mr. Arenson on a tale well told.

[Larry B Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alien Hunters by Daniel Arenson is a great sci-fi space opera that I really enjoyed reading. This novel offered a fun and entertaining break in my usual heavy reading. AND, at the time of this writing it is FREE on Amazon (click below).

The author did a great job of developing a storyline that was fast past and full of plot twist and turns which kept me glued to the story. Even with the pace and twist I found it easy to read and most important, it was easy to get into the story.

Daniel Arenson has put together a group of characters that are awesome. They are very real to life and actually seem like normal people you would know. I really like watching them grow and develop as a team, even with all their idiosyncrasy.

I really liked Alien Hunters by Daniel Arenson and highly recommend this book to all readers.

[Adam Windsor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rag tag bunch of misfits must confront an evil empire in order to protect a young woman with special powers and save the universe. That all sounds a lot like someone's home D&D campaign and frankly that's how the book reads. Despite its nominally science fiction setting, this is pretty obviously a fantasy novel that's been re-skinned. There are even straight up analogues for elves, dwarves and halflings across the cast.

The adventure itself is a reasonably fun one, but the book's tone varies wildly, from some silly (and quite irritating) "comedy" involving what may or may not be an actual demon, to occasional stabs at tragedy. These extremes don't mesh well, and hurt the overall product.

[Jefrois · Rating 3 out of 5]

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I picture Kurt Russell in the lead role olf “RIFF.”

So anything that has to do with Riff, just imagine Kurt Russell.

https://i.pinimg.com/474x/b7/1b/8b/b7...

A silly book with silly, forgettable, trite, overused, IMPROBABLE, absurd, ridiculous, dumm, stoopid characters, and a silly story-line.

“… Steel gazed at his brother. He reached out and clasped Riff's shoulder. ‘My honor demands it, brother. There is a damsel in distress within their vessel. Our ship is crippled. I will go fight for her with sword and chivalry.’ Riff slapped his forehead. ‘Steel! Damn it! This isn't a game anymore. You're not back on Earth in your fake castle. You can't pretend to be some knight anymore like from the fairy tales. This is real battle, Steel. And the fate of the cosmos itself hangs in the balance….’”

AND THEN THERE’S:

“…But I need to reach Cirona. I need to find answers. The Cosmians, the skelkrins, my dad . . . all want Midnight. A woman who can destroy the universe. I have to find her. He took a deep breath. "Giga, we're ready. Engage hyperdrive engines…."

“…Riff Starfire, his gun in his holster, his jeans torn but his head held high. Steel Starfire, clad in armor, a massive mustache covering his lip and a massive sword at his waist. Nova the ashai gladiator, swaying in her golden uniform, her electric whip crackling in her hand. Piston, gruff and burly, a hunk of muscle with a beard and a hammer large enough to shatter worlds. Twiggle Jauntyfoot, small and quick, a deadly electric wrench in her hand, the pockets of her cargo pants jangling with screws and bolts. Finally, struggling to keep up, Romy the demon, her hair a living torch, her fangs gleaming, her wings wide, a pitchfork and teddy bear in her hands.…”

“…I still love you, Nova, he thought, gazing at her freckled face, green eyes, pointy ears, hair like molten gold…..”

“… He sucked in air. Humans were weak. Humans were pathetic. Humans could lose their arms to the fire, lose their faces, lose half their insides. Grotter looked down at his body, a body more machine than flesh now. Skin, muscle, veins, all fused with tubes, metal plates, screws, gears, moving parts. A body both frail and strong. A clockwork worm.…”

“… Riff sighed and turned toward the coffeepot, hoping for a refill, only to see Romy holding the pot up with both hands, guzzling down the dark brew. The demon's throat bobbed, her tail wagged, and her wings flapped with every gulp. Her hair of fire crackled, casting its light upon her red skin….”

AND OH! I WISH I WERE A FEMALE!!!! (Maybe I could be gay or a trans???)

“…Skrum turned to stare at the female. He didn't care much for females, especially not on field missions. Yet even he had to admire Hotak's sheer strength. Muscles coiled across her long, crimson limbs. Her white eyes blazed like molten stars. Her tongue reached out from her jaws to lick her fangs. She stood eight feet tall, almost as tall as Skrum. Like him, she wore a black breastplate studded with spikes. Like him, she served Emperor Lore, the greatest of the skelkrin warriors….”

Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite
Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite
Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite
Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite Trite, trite, trite….

…BUT:

VERY GOOD WRITING AT TIMES:

“… All sorts of sleaze filled the club most nights. Smugglers and bounty hunters sat at the back tables, faces scruffy and hair greasier than the burgers the Blue Strings served. Boozehounds hunched over the bar, their office clothes ruffled, their faces flushed and their cups going from empty to full and back again. Old men in corduroy sat closer to the stage, smoking….”

“… Thousands of people clogged the streets, heading toward the arena. Almost all were men, a sort so rough they made even the Blue Strings' patrons seem gentlemanly. Riff had never seen so many hairy shoulders, scruffy beards, and beer can hats in one place. The smoke of cigarettes and cigars stung his eyes. The smell of cheap booze infiltrated Riff's nostrils; at least half the men here were drinking home brew from paper bags. There wasn't even any decent blues playing.…”

“… The arena's insides made the exterior look downright classy. Tiers of iron bleachers rose in a circle, the metal stained with years of spit, gum, cigarette ash, and spat-up hot dogs. Thousands of people filled the place, their shirts just as stained—at least those who wore shirts….”

“… The alley was a narrow, filthy tunnel like the intestine of a Carinian stone-beast. Scraps of newspaper, Styrofoam cups, and empty beer bottles rolled across the ground. Laundry hung between the windows of the apartment towers that rose all around him. A homeless man lay by a trash bin, drinking spirits from a bottle in a paper bag. Muffled blues wafted from ahead, discordant wailing like dying cats.…”

HAS IT’S HIGH POINTS (moments):

“… Riff drew his gun from his holster. He stared at them all, one by one. ‘I don't care who we used to be. I don't care if we were failed musicians, gladiators, outcast knights, outcast demons, refugees, or relics. Right now, here, today—we are Alien Hunters.’ They nodded. They pinned on their badges. ‘Alien Hunters,’ they whispered, one by one, and their eyes gleamed.…”

AND A RIP-SNORTIN’ ENDING !!!!


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[Katya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't even bring myself to finish the book. The whole concept for the story looked like it has taken all the science "facts" from movies, rather than taking any time to actually read a proper scientific book or a study. The characters were rather...stereotypical, with not much of a real backbone to them; all had some sort of sob story attached to them, but that seemed to be it - nothing else from their past has defined them save for that one moment of "Oh, the woe is me!". There was a lot of backstory that has been repeated on more than one occasion, giving the reader "Alright, we get it already." moments.

[Gregoire · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 étoiles pour cet ebook gratuit

j'ai passé un vrai bon moment, distrayant, des dialogues drôles et tout plein d'actions même si franchement caricatural ...

Premier opus d'une série avec tout plein d'aliens plus ou moins méchants et/ou bizarres et un groupe de personnalités attachantes qui va constituer l'équipe d'Alien Hunters (comme une équipe de dératiseurs hahaha)

Bref, sans aucune prise de tête (pas d'idées de génie ou de fond futuriste, quelques scènes un peu violentes pour pimenter mais toujours avec humour) Une fois dedans, ça se lit sans difficulté comme une bonne BD

Je lirais les suites

[M Beal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this from the author to R/R.
Daniel Arenson has again written an amazing book.I Loved it! There were so many times I laughed out loud my husband thought something was wrong with me. It is different from his fantasy novels, in a very good way. I can't wait to see what will come next.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good. I was thoroughly impressed with the science fiction in this book. I loved the attention to detail.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gonzo. I suspect playing in an RPG run by the author would be a lot of fun but for a book there's far too much going on, a lot of it is fairly cliched, and the tone shifts all over the place.

[Don Viecelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review Number 155:

This review is on Alien Hunters Book One by Daniel Arenson. It is the first Sci-Fi stories I have read by this popular author.

The story starts with a Pirilian girl alien named Midnight trying to escape from terrifying captors called the Skelkrin. Midnight is the last of her kind and the Skelkrin want to use her special powers for their own evil purposes. Midnight’s only hope is to escape to a place called Earth.

The main character in this story is a man named Raphael “Riff” Starfire. He is a blues musician working in a dive bar in the dregs of Cog City on Earth. Earth has seen better days. Now it is in a downward spiral with little hope of regaining its long past glory. Apparently, Riff has a big problem with a group called the Cosmians who hero worship the Skelkrin, none of which are a good thing.

In particular, a Cosmian named Grotter has been tasked by the Skelkrin to find the alien Midnight and thinks Riff knows where she is. Riff, however, doesn’t have a clue and in fact hates Grotter because Grotter killed his mother thirty years ago and his father disappeared some time after. That’s another story.

Riff and Grotter get into a fight in the bar and Riff has to flee for his life. He has nowhere to go except to his ex-girlfriend named Nova who he hasn’t seen in two years. Now, Nova is the most dangerous person on Earth. She fights aliens for a living in a place called the Alien Arena. Naturally, she is not pleased to see Riff show up. Things go from bad to worse when Grotter finds them and tries to kill them both.

Soon, Riff and Nova team up with an unlikely group of characters. Riff finds his younger brother named Steel who is old-fashioned and fancies himself a knight and man of honor who lives in a small castle. To escape the Cosmians, Riff buys an old starship called the HMS Dragon Huntress. It comes with a strange crew of aliens. Piston Bergelgruf is a gruffle. Also onboard is a halfling alien called Twig, who keeps the ship running. Piston reluctantly introduces Romy who is a young fire breathing dragon who likes to drink starship fuel. The AI android that controls the starship is called Giga. She wears a kimono. Piston explains the HMS stands for Humanoid Mercenary Starship. The Dragon Huntress and its crew are Alien Hunters.

Riff takes on Alien Hunter jobs to pay his crew and operate the old starship. His real mission is to find his missing father and the alien called Midnight who may be able to save the universe from the Skelkrin. It is a dangerous mission and the chances of success are small.

I give this book Five Stars because the story is entertaining, interesting, fast paced and action packed. The characters are original and slightly quirky. They remind me of the crew from The Guardians of the Galaxy. The plot moves quickly from scene to scene. The writing and dialogue are very good. I look forward to reading the next book in the series to see what happens to the characters in this story.

Keep reading good science fiction and let me know when you find an interesting novel or author.

[Helena Trooperman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intergalactic Pest Control, at your service!
Canadian author. Narrated by: Jack R. R. Evans, 8hrs 4min

This is an awesome story of how the Alien Hunters form. I love origin stories, don’t you? I have already re-read this story, which usually means a five star review, however, the start of book one put me off a bit which is misleading because the book, the series is awesome! The crew's story kept me reading. FIVE star performance from Jack R. R. Evans. Vocal range is impressive and helps you to warm to the characters immediately.

More... For anyone that loves fast-paced mashups, this could be for you. Mostly, space opera and light hearted awesomeness. The magic side of the story is associated with Midnight and Riff’s father, although overall we don’t learn too much about that. The horror is the skelkrin and how they treat their captives. The unique concept of pest controllers in space is brilliant storytelling and makes for a unique spin on space opera. If you like found family adventures. A crew all from different planets, richly drawn and super entertaining. It’s a fantastic series to get stuck into. Plenty of action and yet not blood thirsty. There’s a good amount of humour woven in, too. A great combo.

[Ian Massey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book, which I downloaded as part of a free offer, on my Kindle for some time and finally got round to reading it while on holiday.

Truth be told, I shouldn't like it.

It seems to be aimed at young adults and features what could best be described as a generic D&D troupe of characters - cleric, warrior, dwarf, elf, etc. - in an SF tale that is, perhaps unintentionally, humorous. It's a romp. It's cliched. There are parts that desperately need an editor - I can't remember the detail, but do remember being told the same piece of information three times in the opening chapter... - and it's slightly off-the-wall.

But, you know what? I actually really enjoyed it. I give scores to reflect how much I enjoyed a book, rather than how good a book is (I'm not qualified to score the latter) and I think four stars adequately shows my enjoyment of this book. It had me chuckling in places and also brought a tear to my eye in a couple of places.

This is the first book in the offer - all first novels in a sequence - that I have even considered continuing with the rest of the series.

[Red Tide · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad and lazy writing

I got bored with the writing by the five percent mark and bailed. It begins with a description of a space chase, almost worthy of a Star Wars scene. It was worse. The pursuing ship fired with cannon spouting smoke and flame? The villain does a Snidely Whiplash exposition? The heroine bounces around the captured ship using magic, that she doesn't use logically and fails to kill villain but does kill his henchman and henchwoman. The air rushed out of a opening airlock but the villain isn't blown out by explosive rush of air? You can see how sciencey the story is so far.

The next chapter opens with a character named So and So "Riff" So and So. I don't know what hack started that "Insert cool nickname here" stupidity but this is some lousy writing technique. I gave up by the end of that page. Bad prose, poorly described background for opening scene, poorly described action in the first chapter, confusing introduction to the background universe and includes "Space Opera" in the title.

[Suki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Captain, my captain

What a riot this book turned out to be. Much more fun than I expected. And yes, very much a nod to various fandoms, particularly Firefly - there are plenty of easter eggs to satisfy the most ardent fan, without letting the nods take over the story.

Quirky, weird crew, reminiscent of Firefly and the Wayfarer? Check. The Dragon Huntress is certainly a home, like Serenity, with nods to the best ship in the 'verse in her design. And let's not forget the sky references to LotR, Princess Bride, Star Trek, and others.

Riff can be a bit annoying, but thankfully the story isn't always told from his point of view. Yes, it's more a novella than a novel, but entertaining despite its length.

Is it going to win awards? No. Is it going to choke you up, make you worry about the crew, entertain you with quips and space battles and David vs Goliath scenes, make you chuckle and grin? Indeed.

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it seems that fantasy fiction is just scifi set way before its time, and prophesies the future of human species rather than some form of its past. At least this is the premise of this book. An interesting twist (and perhaps a question about whether such ideas indeed represent a pre-historic memory of multi-human speciation?) The story involves humans, hobbits, dwarves and fairies, with the futuristic allowing for cyborgs as well. Coming together in a chaotic swirl of circumstance, they fly away to battle evil forces and problematic inconveniences. But will they find a way to win against all odds? This is ultimately a silly story, with self-deprecating humour and little depth as a serious scifi and I'm unlikely to read the next unless it's free. But it's a good enough story for filling in time on crowded train cummutes.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Alien Hunters to be a quick, highly entertaining read. The main character had many similarities to Han Solo, while a secondary character had many similarities to the same type of character from Star Trek. In some ways this added to the joy of reading this story. However, a little part of me wondered if the characters were too similar.

I also had some reservations towards having instilled a knight and a demon into what is mainly a space story. It almost felt like the author was branching out into too many sci-fi/fantasy directions with one story. However he does seem to make the story work. In fact I enjoyed the story enough to want to try another story of his to continue to see how the characters develop.

I would recommend Alien Hunters to fans of both Star Wars and Star Trek. I think they will both find some enjoyment in this book.

[Wicked · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wonderful sci-fi adventure for everyone

What a nice and fun read, a good book filled with great adventures, some fun and laughter and a great ride. Personally it's hard to find these kinda stories in most media, it was nice to find this little hidden gem.

This book series falls into the rag-tag team category, much like Firefly and Guardians of the Galaxy and borrows slightly from those mediums and gives it a few good spins. From the characters to the comedy, this book decorates the scenes and it's backstories for them very well. (From a small problem with myself with a little bit too many characters displayed ) This was a nice smooth read, no one should have a problem following the plot and its characters.

After reading this book, I can't wait to read the sequel and hope more books are on the way!

[Julie Abbott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a hard time getting into this one but I persevered since it’s next month’s book club. Then when I finished I had to check to see if the author is a 15-year-old boy. So many sexist tropes I stopped counting. At the end, when the Hero is bringing a bunch of unspecified mechanics aboard to fix stuff he says, “let’s go, boys,” that was the last straw for me.

Why, why, why do all the female-presenting characters like this guy? Their attractive qualities are well described but he doesn’t appear to have any.

A cute little fantasy romp of the 1950s-white-male-placed-centuries-ahead- in-space-and-time-but-behaving-exactly- like- a-mid-20th-century-man variety. Best if not analyzed too closely.