What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fear Saga #3
Fear the Future
A predator hunts the skies over Earth. Its intent is peaceful, and its mission is essential, but it is the deadliest machine humanity has ever created.
Piloted by a six-year-old girl, the godlike Skalm guards the Districts of TASC. Her family is long dead. Her adopted father is a synthetic copy of an alien, her nanny an artificial mind, connected via subspace to every part of the globe, feeding the young girl information, finding prey to satiate her growing thirst.
But the young girl is but an innocent, a victim, one of millions the war has already claimed. Her innocence has been sacrificed by a man with singular purpose: a man who will stop at nothing in order to prepare earth for the coming conflict.
For the armada is approaching, its far off engines now bright as stars in the night sky. They mean to kill us. They have the power to do so. And as oblivion’s maw opens up to engulf us, we brace ourselves for battle.
We will fight to the last. Live or die, we will leave a scar upon our attackers that will last an age, even if we, ourselves, do not.
Piloted by a six-year-old girl, the godlike Skalm guards the Districts of TASC. Her family is long dead. Her adopted father is a synthetic copy of an alien, her nanny an artificial mind, connected via subspace to every part of the globe, feeding the young girl information, finding prey to satiate her growing thirst.
But the young girl is but an innocent, a victim, one of millions the war has already claimed. Her innocence has been sacrificed by a man with singular purpose: a man who will stop at nothing in order to prepare earth for the coming conflict.
For the armada is approaching, its far off engines now bright as stars in the night sky. They mean to kill us. They have the power to do so. And as oblivion’s maw opens up to engulf us, we brace ourselves for battle.
We will fight to the last. Live or die, we will leave a scar upon our attackers that will last an age, even if we, ourselves, do not.
439 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 22, 2014
225 people are currently reading
703 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Moss
4 books442 followersStephen Moss was born in England, but spent time as a child in wildly diverse places, including several years in Brazil, Belgium, and Malaysia.
He eventually settled in New York, but still travels avidly, something he uses as inspiration and input to his writing. Stephen is a fan of Hard SF by masters such as Iain M. Banks, Orson Scott Card, Peter F. Hamilton and the many other fantastic writers creating masterpieces every year.
His first novel, Fear the Sky, combines his passions for science fiction with a solid, realistic foundation, with his passion for travel. The novel takes place across the globe, from London, to Brussels, to DC, to the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the back streets of Tel Aviv. The few places in the book which Stephen hasn't been to in person, he researches avidly, wanting to put his characters into the reality of their surroundings, and knowing that the settings for his stories are as important as the individuals he then paints into them.
While Fear the Sky is Stephen's first published work, the second book in the series, Fear the Survivors, is nearly finished, and the third and final installment is already well in hand. If you would like to know more, and know when the next installment is available, you can find Stephen on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheFearSaga, or you can send an email to TheFearSaga@gmail.com.
He eventually settled in New York, but still travels avidly, something he uses as inspiration and input to his writing. Stephen is a fan of Hard SF by masters such as Iain M. Banks, Orson Scott Card, Peter F. Hamilton and the many other fantastic writers creating masterpieces every year.
His first novel, Fear the Sky, combines his passions for science fiction with a solid, realistic foundation, with his passion for travel. The novel takes place across the globe, from London, to Brussels, to DC, to the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the back streets of Tel Aviv. The few places in the book which Stephen hasn't been to in person, he researches avidly, wanting to put his characters into the reality of their surroundings, and knowing that the settings for his stories are as important as the individuals he then paints into them.
While Fear the Sky is Stephen's first published work, the second book in the series, Fear the Survivors, is nearly finished, and the third and final installment is already well in hand. If you would like to know more, and know when the next installment is available, you can find Stephen on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheFearSaga, or you can send an email to TheFearSaga@gmail.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 200 reviews
February 5, 2016
Well I liked it. But this author is the kind of guy who reviews his own books, so I wouldn't trust him.
January 21, 2016
Spoilers ahead.
I really liked this series, but I was very disappointed in this last installment.
I really liked this series, but I was very disappointed in this last installment.
March 12, 2023
I loved the first two books, so I was both surprised and disappointed to end up with such mixed feelings about this final chapter of the Fear saga. Perhaps it was the strangely anti-climactic fights. Perhaps it was the uneven pacing. Perhaps it was my own frustration with earth's leaders who continued to selfishly focus on their own political aims and power grabs instead of coming together for the survival of the human race. And perhaps it was the occasionally irrelevant segues into the activities taking place aboard the alien craft speeding towards our planet.
I didn't hate it. I did still like it, just not to the extent that I had expected and wanted to. And perhaps I'll feel more charitably towards the story when I've had more time to dwell on it. To be fair, it was a lot to take in - Moss ambitiously dips his toe into many a moral, philosophical, and technological flight of fancy. But too often I felt myself wanting to skip some of the longer ramblings and over-descriptive moments (pacing!).
It is a series that I would still recommend, despite my ambivalence about the third novel, as the first two books received whole-hearted 5-star ratings from me.
SPOILERS BELOW
And now, let me rant a little. Fighting with one hand tied behind your back is not how wars are won, especially on the scale required in the Fear Saga. And ruling by committee is even worse when you need to get something important done in a hurry, because everyone is usually only thinking about their own hides, so the end result gets watered down trying to appease the whole group.
So here we are, with the human race on the cusp of forced extinction, but repeatedly people need to be dragged kicking and screaming towards a chance for survival. There's no room for limp-wristed bureaucracy when you're preparing for interstellar war against a far more technologically advanced opponent. Yet one of the biggest struggles was how concerned people were with their own political and religious power. Aliens that are coming to kill you don't give a crap about what the Pope has to say about it. It was frustrating to watch world leaders drag their feet at every step. This leads me to my next point.
Neal sweated blood to save humanity - it was all he ever seemed to think about - and it is only through his laser-focused leadership that the defense efforts were able to reach the level that they did. Was he cold at times? Yes. Cold, but never unnecessary. I never once got the impression that he enjoyed what he was doing, or relished the power he held. He was never needlessly cruel. And that's why the coup against him felt like the ultimate betrayal to me. I nearly rage-quit when it was revealed that Jim's treachery was actually successful to the point that TASC was now being led by committee (headed by Jim, of course). I have to wonder, how much of what Jim did was driven by jealousy? How long did it take him to put the poison pill to the ears of the others? And why did Madeline, who was with Neal from the beginning, never TALK to him if she really felt that he had too much power? Instead we have a sophomoric clique whispering and plotting in their own little corner of cyberspace instead of actually confronting the man who considers them all to be his friends. No, instead they waited until Neal had overseen all of the truly important work and the defense program would be on auto-pilot from then on out (it was just "assembly line" manufacturing of the fleet at that point), then decided to take him out of the picture.
Then, when Minnie caught their plotting asses, Jim gave a very pretty speech claiming that the coup was about retaining their "humanity," but it even sounded false to his own ears. And how hypocritical was it all in the end? They harshly judged Neal's actions as war crimes, yet went on to use his methods and the incredibly skilled orphan pilots that his program created because Neal's methods were the only thing that could bring them even close to victory - even going so far as to do the same thing to Banu! But it's okay, you know, because they did it by committee or something? Right? Pot, meet Kettle.
There wasn't much information given about the depths of what Ayala did, and we're left to imagine the worst about her clandestine actions, so I can't say what she did or didn't deserve as punishment. But I can say for damn sure that Neal didn't deserve the ending he got, to be imprisoned and brushed aside as an afterthought.
Okay, done ranting now.
I didn't hate it. I did still like it, just not to the extent that I had expected and wanted to. And perhaps I'll feel more charitably towards the story when I've had more time to dwell on it. To be fair, it was a lot to take in - Moss ambitiously dips his toe into many a moral, philosophical, and technological flight of fancy. But too often I felt myself wanting to skip some of the longer ramblings and over-descriptive moments (pacing!).
It is a series that I would still recommend, despite my ambivalence about the third novel, as the first two books received whole-hearted 5-star ratings from me.
SPOILERS BELOW
And now, let me rant a little. Fighting with one hand tied behind your back is not how wars are won, especially on the scale required in the Fear Saga. And ruling by committee is even worse when you need to get something important done in a hurry, because everyone is usually only thinking about their own hides, so the end result gets watered down trying to appease the whole group.
So here we are, with the human race on the cusp of forced extinction, but repeatedly people need to be dragged kicking and screaming towards a chance for survival. There's no room for limp-wristed bureaucracy when you're preparing for interstellar war against a far more technologically advanced opponent. Yet one of the biggest struggles was how concerned people were with their own political and religious power. Aliens that are coming to kill you don't give a crap about what the Pope has to say about it. It was frustrating to watch world leaders drag their feet at every step. This leads me to my next point.
Neal sweated blood to save humanity - it was all he ever seemed to think about - and it is only through his laser-focused leadership that the defense efforts were able to reach the level that they did. Was he cold at times? Yes. Cold, but never unnecessary. I never once got the impression that he enjoyed what he was doing, or relished the power he held. He was never needlessly cruel. And that's why the coup against him felt like the ultimate betrayal to me. I nearly rage-quit when it was revealed that Jim's treachery was actually successful to the point that TASC was now being led by committee (headed by Jim, of course). I have to wonder, how much of what Jim did was driven by jealousy? How long did it take him to put the poison pill to the ears of the others? And why did Madeline, who was with Neal from the beginning, never TALK to him if she really felt that he had too much power? Instead we have a sophomoric clique whispering and plotting in their own little corner of cyberspace instead of actually confronting the man who considers them all to be his friends. No, instead they waited until Neal had overseen all of the truly important work and the defense program would be on auto-pilot from then on out (it was just "assembly line" manufacturing of the fleet at that point), then decided to take him out of the picture.
Then, when Minnie caught their plotting asses, Jim gave a very pretty speech claiming that the coup was about retaining their "humanity," but it even sounded false to his own ears. And how hypocritical was it all in the end? They harshly judged Neal's actions as war crimes, yet went on to use his methods and the incredibly skilled orphan pilots that his program created because Neal's methods were the only thing that could bring them even close to victory - even going so far as to do the same thing to Banu! But it's okay, you know, because they did it by committee or something? Right? Pot, meet Kettle.
There wasn't much information given about the depths of what Ayala did, and we're left to imagine the worst about her clandestine actions, so I can't say what she did or didn't deserve as punishment. But I can say for damn sure that Neal didn't deserve the ending he got, to be imprisoned and brushed aside as an afterthought.
Okay, done ranting now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2023
Hands down, the most poorly written conclusion to any series I have ever read.
The behaviour of our main protagonist (Neal) towards the end is so completely out of character, it is simply character assassination. In a few small paragraphs the “decision” he makes renders the investment in the whole series to nothing short of worthless and places it at the bottom of my never to read again Sci-fi pile.
Moss was obviously going for: "Oh no...!" As shocked hands leap to mouths, but instead he managed to get: "Eh!!!"
Following this revelation I completely lost interest in the rest of the book, and snorted derisively at the absurdity of the finale.
Considering the first 2 novels (and first Half of this one), the quality of writing and obvious talent of the author, this is a real head scratcher!
Take hied budding authors, if you want to teach yourself how NOT to wrap up a novel or series, this is the book for you.
The behaviour of our main protagonist (Neal) towards the end is so completely out of character, it is simply character assassination. In a few small paragraphs the “decision” he makes renders the investment in the whole series to nothing short of worthless and places it at the bottom of my never to read again Sci-fi pile.
Moss was obviously going for: "Oh no...!" As shocked hands leap to mouths, but instead he managed to get: "Eh!!!"
Following this revelation I completely lost interest in the rest of the book, and snorted derisively at the absurdity of the finale.
Considering the first 2 novels (and first Half of this one), the quality of writing and obvious talent of the author, this is a real head scratcher!
Take hied budding authors, if you want to teach yourself how NOT to wrap up a novel or series, this is the book for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2015
I was had at books 1 & 2 ( fantastic character development through their trials and tribulations)
3rd Book - SPOILER ALERT!
1) Then you changed the arc for the two main protagonists that you spent 2 books making very likable.
2) You made politicians the heroes at the end - despised them in the beginning, didn't like them any better.
3) Did not care about the politics of the aliens, skipped entire chapters because of that - boring, at least make it shorter and intro in book 1 first if you're going this route.
4) Dissatisfied with the third book, though it was the conclusion of the trilogy - maybe a 4th book? Or start a new trilogy?
5) As you can tell, I like the main protagonists - and not the politicians as the saviors.
1&2 5 stars , book 3 - meh!
Just sayin'
3rd Book - SPOILER ALERT!
1) Then you changed the arc for the two main protagonists that you spent 2 books making very likable.
2) You made politicians the heroes at the end - despised them in the beginning, didn't like them any better.
3) Did not care about the politics of the aliens, skipped entire chapters because of that - boring, at least make it shorter and intro in book 1 first if you're going this route.
4) Dissatisfied with the third book, though it was the conclusion of the trilogy - maybe a 4th book? Or start a new trilogy?
5) As you can tell, I like the main protagonists - and not the politicians as the saviors.
1&2 5 stars , book 3 - meh!
Just sayin'
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2017
If I could give this book a rating based on disappointment, it would have like a 1.5. I would give this 2.5 overall just because he did such a damn good job with the previous 2 books that I was SUPER INVESTED.
This book was a disappointment for me personally, and I hate that. All of a sudden, introducing the factions of the Mobilei, introducing politics into it, introducing the events that happened to Ayala and Neal, seemingly from nowhere for no apparent reason, was ludicrous.
Neal and Ayala were the driving forces behind the whole thing, and to end like it did for them...A scandal. Birgit was a legend to the end and beyond, as was Minnie.
I feel like Stephenson got the pacing wrong, got the styling wrong, got a lot of it wrong in this book. In the end, I wasn't sure what was going on as it was described in a way where I felt I struggled to keep the picture in my head, which was never the case in the first 2 books.
The conclusion was sub par, some really significant characters were sacrificed and I felt like I didn't even care, I was that out of touch with this book.
The driving force for me up to this book was the involvement, the characterisation and how integrated into the group I felt as reader. This was definitely not the case in this book.
I will still recommend it because it's so damn good and others may like what I didn't, but there you have it.
I can only recommend this based on the strength of the story before it, not on it's own merits.
This book was a disappointment for me personally, and I hate that. All of a sudden, introducing the factions of the Mobilei, introducing politics into it, introducing the events that happened to Ayala and Neal, seemingly from nowhere for no apparent reason, was ludicrous.
Neal and Ayala were the driving forces behind the whole thing, and to end like it did for them...A scandal. Birgit was a legend to the end and beyond, as was Minnie.
I feel like Stephenson got the pacing wrong, got the styling wrong, got a lot of it wrong in this book. In the end, I wasn't sure what was going on as it was described in a way where I felt I struggled to keep the picture in my head, which was never the case in the first 2 books.
The conclusion was sub par, some really significant characters were sacrificed and I felt like I didn't even care, I was that out of touch with this book.
The driving force for me up to this book was the involvement, the characterisation and how integrated into the group I felt as reader. This was definitely not the case in this book.
I will still recommend it because it's so damn good and others may like what I didn't, but there you have it.
I can only recommend this based on the strength of the story before it, not on it's own merits.
August 23, 2017
Such a disappointing conclusion to the trilogy. This book is everything the first two are not - slow, boring, and far from intelligent. While things seem to happen at breakneck (and unbelievable) speeds for the characters, the author focuses on telling the story in the most boring way, focusing on technology advancements instead of character and long non-interesting scenes (aliens doing a boat race, really????) instead of important story points (the actual war, hello??).
The ending is also somewhat of dues ex-machina, which is really disappointing.
Shame really. I think a good editor would have made this work better.
The ending is also somewhat of dues ex-machina, which is really disappointing.
Shame really. I think a good editor would have made this work better.
March 23, 2020
Notes:
RC Bray was great!
Trilogy:
- Too much going on to make it cohesive or personal. I ended up not caring about 80% of the series because events were told as mini-summaries or info dumps.
- Characters Human/Alien + Plot were interesting but the way it was pieced out ended up distant & not engaging.
- Story would have been better if it followed 4 or less characters. Author tried to show ALL sides of the events: alien, human, different countries, many characters, etc. It was too ambitious and ended up not establishing anything well except to tell the reader what's going on in mostly detached manner.
Either cut down on POVs or make the series longer to give each event enough space to be shown.
RC Bray was great!
Trilogy:
- Too much going on to make it cohesive or personal. I ended up not caring about 80% of the series because events were told as mini-summaries or info dumps.
- Characters Human/Alien + Plot were interesting but the way it was pieced out ended up distant & not engaging.
- Story would have been better if it followed 4 or less characters. Author tried to show ALL sides of the events: alien, human, different countries, many characters, etc. It was too ambitious and ended up not establishing anything well except to tell the reader what's going on in mostly detached manner.
Either cut down on POVs or make the series longer to give each event enough space to be shown.
March 21, 2018
This book was absolutely awful. How can an author who did so well on the previous two installments of this trilogy fail so miserably on the final installment. Ignoring the lack of editing (spelling errors, grammar, etc), the story itself was a mess. Introducing new characters for no purpose, meandering side stories (just to increase page count?), and a complete disconnect from the prior two books with the main characters.
Perhaps the most egregious had to do with the characters. After spending so much time developing the protagonist, he was simply written off with an implausible story-line that did not fit the character. Honestly if this was a TV series, this would seem like an attempt to write of an actor (main character) who left the show unexpectedly, and still in that medium would have done a poor job.
The ending reminded me of a student writing a paper who realized it was due in about 5 minutes and just made something up completely out of place from the entire set of books. All of the build-up to an event that no matter what the genre was done that prevented any suspension of disbelief. I wish I would have known how bad the third book was going to be, and then I would not have wasted so much time reading the prior two books. As it stands I do not think I will ever read another book by this author in the future.
Perhaps the most egregious had to do with the characters. After spending so much time developing the protagonist, he was simply written off with an implausible story-line that did not fit the character. Honestly if this was a TV series, this would seem like an attempt to write of an actor (main character) who left the show unexpectedly, and still in that medium would have done a poor job.
The ending reminded me of a student writing a paper who realized it was due in about 5 minutes and just made something up completely out of place from the entire set of books. All of the build-up to an event that no matter what the genre was done that prevented any suspension of disbelief. I wish I would have known how bad the third book was going to be, and then I would not have wasted so much time reading the prior two books. As it stands I do not think I will ever read another book by this author in the future.
February 26, 2017
I liked book 1 but by the end of book two it was starting to drag. By the end of book three I was kind of relieved it was over. Perhaps I would have enjoyed the series more if I'd read it rather than listened to it.
I often found myself wanting the author to just get on with it. There were parts that just didn't help move the plot forward and I feel like we could have done without. Related to that, as some other reviews pointed out, the end was kind of disappointing because so much of the build up throughout the books didn't transition into an impact on the outcome. Why did we spend so much time hearing about various characters, situations, etc, if they didn't have an impact on the outcome that the author wanted to share with readers?
I often found myself wanting the author to just get on with it. There were parts that just didn't help move the plot forward and I feel like we could have done without. Related to that, as some other reviews pointed out, the end was kind of disappointing because so much of the build up throughout the books didn't transition into an impact on the outcome. Why did we spend so much time hearing about various characters, situations, etc, if they didn't have an impact on the outcome that the author wanted to share with readers?
November 2, 2017
(Entering in books that I read over summer/fall)
I LOVED the first book, I felt the tension building with the second, and was soooooo ready to jump into this conclusion. Cue worst let down ever :( after I was done listening to this audiobook I seriously regretted all the time I spent listening to this series. I can't remember the specific complaints that I had (besides wtf happened to Neal?!? What a weird way for that character to end up) but I do remember being absolutely distraught. It all felt so bleh, especially after all the buildup. I don't know what could have made it better, but for me it just was not a recipe for enjoyable storytelling. RC Bray was, of course, a flawless narrator but ultimately could not save the story for me. Very disappointing.
I LOVED the first book, I felt the tension building with the second, and was soooooo ready to jump into this conclusion. Cue worst let down ever :( after I was done listening to this audiobook I seriously regretted all the time I spent listening to this series. I can't remember the specific complaints that I had (besides wtf happened to Neal?!? What a weird way for that character to end up) but I do remember being absolutely distraught. It all felt so bleh, especially after all the buildup. I don't know what could have made it better, but for me it just was not a recipe for enjoyable storytelling. RC Bray was, of course, a flawless narrator but ultimately could not save the story for me. Very disappointing.
April 28, 2019
Not a very satisfactory ending to the trilogy. The main protagonists are written off in very unsympathetic and almost perfunctory way.
The alien ‘intervals’ are boring and unnecessary and can be skipped without really losing anything.
The final (what should be) climactic battles are dealt with almost as an afterthought.
The typos and errors found in the earlier books are still there.
I wondered if Mr Moss was perhaps getting a bit bored with it all and wanted to move on.
Read it if you’ve read the first two, mainly to complete your trek but don’t bother otherwise.
The alien ‘intervals’ are boring and unnecessary and can be skipped without really losing anything.
The final (what should be) climactic battles are dealt with almost as an afterthought.
The typos and errors found in the earlier books are still there.
I wondered if Mr Moss was perhaps getting a bit bored with it all and wanted to move on.
Read it if you’ve read the first two, mainly to complete your trek but don’t bother otherwise.
December 15, 2015
Excellent! Give me another one.
I love this book, I can't wait for another one that takes place in this world. I enjoyed the character development but not some of the things that happened to them. Please don't leave this book as open ended as you did.
I love this book, I can't wait for another one that takes place in this world. I enjoyed the character development but not some of the things that happened to them. Please don't leave this book as open ended as you did.
July 5, 2018
A bad story poorly told.
I'm certain this book had a net negative cultural impact. There are people that decided to read fewer books after reading this. There are people that, after reading Fear the Future, decided not to write, just in case their work turned out this bad.
I'm certain this book had a net negative cultural impact. There are people that decided to read fewer books after reading this. There are people that, after reading Fear the Future, decided not to write, just in case their work turned out this bad.
September 15, 2016
I liked the first two books in the series more.
December 15, 2023
Great series - by the end of this book I was fully invested in all of the main characters.
I appreciate Mr. Moss' ability to understand - and more importantly, to explain - some of the complex technical concepts he uses in these books. I can't fully understand them all, but I can appreciate how he uses them and explains them in a way that people as dumb as I am can grasp at least the general idea of what he's going for. This last book in the series, though, got just a touch too technical, and I lost the thread a couple of times. That's the only real criticism I have for this; otherwise, the book was excellent, and for the most part wrapped up well the story lines that I've been following all year as I listened to this series.
If you like SciFi, with the potential of the elimination of the people of earth by an advanced alien race (think Independence Day), then you should enjoy this series. Characters are well-rounded, some lovable, some not.
I appreciate Mr. Moss' ability to understand - and more importantly, to explain - some of the complex technical concepts he uses in these books. I can't fully understand them all, but I can appreciate how he uses them and explains them in a way that people as dumb as I am can grasp at least the general idea of what he's going for. This last book in the series, though, got just a touch too technical, and I lost the thread a couple of times. That's the only real criticism I have for this; otherwise, the book was excellent, and for the most part wrapped up well the story lines that I've been following all year as I listened to this series.
If you like SciFi, with the potential of the elimination of the people of earth by an advanced alien race (think Independence Day), then you should enjoy this series. Characters are well-rounded, some lovable, some not.
May 28, 2018
The third part was too much politics for me. The ending was not as good either. The epic last battle was short and not really exciting. The book series falter a bit due to its numerous characters, some even with the same name as another character, but all in all it is good.
September 9, 2019
The promise of this trilogy was worth the effort to see it realized. There is enough here to entertain, but the ending is disappointing.
March 2, 2021
Well here we are at the end of this trilogy and in true modern style... are we really at the end of this trilogy or is this going to be more of a series of books? Loose ends need wrapping up, the status of everyone involved and still alive post alien-engagement is going to have a new job (I can only assume) and probably new challenges in a galaxy in which we know we are no longer alone.
The hardest part to 'buy' in terms of suspending my disbelief for a sci-fi adventure was that the Earth was able to defend itself. The alien tech was just too good and ... I guess I've seen one too many games where the hail mary pass at the end goes into the stands and the day is not saved. Plots that require a collection of hail mary passes can make one's eyes roll.
The sciencey part of the sci-fi was credible, however. The locations and military jargon was well researched; really well. The whole book does read like an as-it-happened history book which helps one to ignore (at least a little) the series of implausible happenstances.
The hardest part to 'buy' in terms of suspending my disbelief for a sci-fi adventure was that the Earth was able to defend itself. The alien tech was just too good and ... I guess I've seen one too many games where the hail mary pass at the end goes into the stands and the day is not saved. Plots that require a collection of hail mary passes can make one's eyes roll.
The sciencey part of the sci-fi was credible, however. The locations and military jargon was well researched; really well. The whole book does read like an as-it-happened history book which helps one to ignore (at least a little) the series of implausible happenstances.
February 9, 2016
My original Fear the Future audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
This is the third and final volume of the Fear Saga. The Earth must somehow increase its defenses, all while crushing its own internal power struggles. Neil, now de facto dictator of the world, has focused the world on building great weapons for the coming battle. He may have also lost his humanity and will ultimately pay a great price for it, but doesn’t see any another option to saving the Earth.
The story switches back and forth between the coming Mobili armada and the Earth. The alien political struggles mirror our own in many ways. Indeed the struggle for power is the main theme of this series. We are introduced to many new Mobili characters, some sympathetic to the plight of humanity. The question is, will they be willing to sacrifice their own people to help an alien race.
Moss stretches his imagination here, introducing many intriguing ideas: can artificial intelligences, through logic and experience, actually become more human than their creators? How far does a species go for survival, when do the ends not justify the means? If a reality construct in the mind is real to the participant, can we simply call it reality? When is the body a hindrance to be discarded, would you? Can technology and humanity coexist? And many more.
It is a long and thoughtful novel, full of ideas and political intrigue. The action, as in the previous novels, is brief and somewhat anticlimactic. There is much more attention paid to the events leading up to the battles, than the battles themselves. The characters are well developed by now and the listener will have his or her own favorites, flaws and all. There are a handful of loose ends, but life is kind of like that too, people we get to know, but disappear from our lives. It is not a neatly wrapped bundle, but concludes well enough. Don’t skip the short story at the end. It is really a second epilogue.
R.C. Bray continues with his outstanding performance. It needs to be said again just how enjoyable he is to listen to, one of the best audio performers working today.
You’ve read or listened to volume one and two of the Fear Saga, you can’t possibly stop now. Find out if the Earth prevails, or if humanity is wiped clean from its own world for an alien race so similar to our own. Is it possible to go too far to survive, giving up our own humanity in the process? You’ll just have to listen to this highly entertaining conclusion of the Fear Saga to find out.
Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher
This is the third and final volume of the Fear Saga. The Earth must somehow increase its defenses, all while crushing its own internal power struggles. Neil, now de facto dictator of the world, has focused the world on building great weapons for the coming battle. He may have also lost his humanity and will ultimately pay a great price for it, but doesn’t see any another option to saving the Earth.
The story switches back and forth between the coming Mobili armada and the Earth. The alien political struggles mirror our own in many ways. Indeed the struggle for power is the main theme of this series. We are introduced to many new Mobili characters, some sympathetic to the plight of humanity. The question is, will they be willing to sacrifice their own people to help an alien race.
Moss stretches his imagination here, introducing many intriguing ideas: can artificial intelligences, through logic and experience, actually become more human than their creators? How far does a species go for survival, when do the ends not justify the means? If a reality construct in the mind is real to the participant, can we simply call it reality? When is the body a hindrance to be discarded, would you? Can technology and humanity coexist? And many more.
It is a long and thoughtful novel, full of ideas and political intrigue. The action, as in the previous novels, is brief and somewhat anticlimactic. There is much more attention paid to the events leading up to the battles, than the battles themselves. The characters are well developed by now and the listener will have his or her own favorites, flaws and all. There are a handful of loose ends, but life is kind of like that too, people we get to know, but disappear from our lives. It is not a neatly wrapped bundle, but concludes well enough. Don’t skip the short story at the end. It is really a second epilogue.
R.C. Bray continues with his outstanding performance. It needs to be said again just how enjoyable he is to listen to, one of the best audio performers working today.
You’ve read or listened to volume one and two of the Fear Saga, you can’t possibly stop now. Find out if the Earth prevails, or if humanity is wiped clean from its own world for an alien race so similar to our own. Is it possible to go too far to survive, giving up our own humanity in the process? You’ll just have to listen to this highly entertaining conclusion of the Fear Saga to find out.
Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher
May 8, 2020
A decent conclusion
Many other reviews panned the politics and scenes from the alien ships, but I enjoyed them. This felt like a fitting conclusion to the series.
Many other reviews panned the politics and scenes from the alien ships, but I enjoyed them. This felt like a fitting conclusion to the series.
August 27, 2017
The first book was incredible. It was so exciting, with so much suspense. The second one was still interesting and paced right, had its novelty and even if not as original as the first book - I still read it with pleasure and rated it 5/5. However, the third one felt rushed and poorly thought. There were a couple of things that made it particularly hard to finish.
The way Neal & Ayala were judged. Seriously? Humanity is awaiting its potential annihilation. It is expected (or implied) that in the coming battle millions or billions could die and the main drivers of the effort to stop the alien armada are imprisoned because they put orphans saved from North Korea in a military training program. Orphans that love the training program and the ability to fly in their virtual reality more than anything and in the end actually play a crucial role to save Earth - so without such a program, Earth wouldn't stand even that chance. In the context of that probably during the same time, when all economies are spending everything they got towards the war effort, there are millions of orphaned and unorphaned children around the globe starving, this part of the book felt so absurd.
Another thing that I did not like or believe was how little role the Mobiliei agents had in 3rd book and how emotional they were. In first book these are the machines making impossible feats, doing millions of decisions in split second, managing to carry a complex fight between each other in a matter of seconds and now one of the agents is against letting orphaned children fight - is crying for his daughter, does not want to lose her, while he has sentenced to death either million of his own kind or billions of Earths'. Yes, these agents have personalities but they also were supposed to be pragmatic and realistic.
It might be just me, but it all felt absurd on how many occasions in this book, so much value is put in a single or few lives and on next page, it's reiterated that it's likely that the entire planet is going to be cleansed from humanity.
I'm sorry Stephen Moss, I feel like this trilogy started on a high but ended on a low.
The way Neal & Ayala were judged. Seriously? Humanity is awaiting its potential annihilation. It is expected (or implied) that in the coming battle millions or billions could die and the main drivers of the effort to stop the alien armada are imprisoned because they put orphans saved from North Korea in a military training program. Orphans that love the training program and the ability to fly in their virtual reality more than anything and in the end actually play a crucial role to save Earth - so without such a program, Earth wouldn't stand even that chance. In the context of that probably during the same time, when all economies are spending everything they got towards the war effort, there are millions of orphaned and unorphaned children around the globe starving, this part of the book felt so absurd.
Another thing that I did not like or believe was how little role the Mobiliei agents had in 3rd book and how emotional they were. In first book these are the machines making impossible feats, doing millions of decisions in split second, managing to carry a complex fight between each other in a matter of seconds and now one of the agents is against letting orphaned children fight - is crying for his daughter, does not want to lose her, while he has sentenced to death either million of his own kind or billions of Earths'. Yes, these agents have personalities but they also were supposed to be pragmatic and realistic.
It might be just me, but it all felt absurd on how many occasions in this book, so much value is put in a single or few lives and on next page, it's reiterated that it's likely that the entire planet is going to be cleansed from humanity.
I'm sorry Stephen Moss, I feel like this trilogy started on a high but ended on a low.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2019
The first book was great, the second was alright, this one was a waste of time. I wouldn't read it if I didn't read the previous ones. The author can write well about a handful of people and about their stories, but when he gets to the big scale, it gets slow and tedious. In the end it felt as if the author couldn't come up with a good way to end the saga
January 7, 2019
Like many others I really loved the first two books which was the only reason I toughed through and finished this book. This last one just seemed as though the author got completely bored and threw out a bunch of unrelated chapters to fill the last book. I think I would have been fine if he simply did this as a short story. Perhaps from Part 5 on, which seemed to be the only part that I could somewhat pay attention to. The other thing that I didn't like was how many people (and random animals) he threw into this which made it even harder to follow.
April 2, 2016
The third installment of a good sci-fi thriller. The story seemed to loose touch with the main characters but pushed forward some themes about what it means to be human in a way that I liked. Worth reading. Lots of action and things blow up. That's always a plus. Recommended.
Deeper than you might think.
Deeper than you might think.
September 13, 2023
One of the best sci fi stories I have ever read. Love it was only 3 books, love the ending, love the story love the twists and turns and just every thing everything everything about this book and series!!!!! Highly recommend for Sci fi fans!!! Best series of 2022 for me so far, and I have read some good stuff.
January 26, 2017
YES YES YES
July 29, 2023
I should be giving a 5 Star review to this book, what happened? Stephen Moss happened. I don't know if this guy was getting paid by the word, if he didn't have an editor, or if he was just so far up his own ass that he didn't realize he was ruining his book. And it's not just this book, he was guilty of this horseshit in the other books.
Moss has a tendency to give you several chapters of absolutely inane details that he just thinks are sooooo interesting for the reader. I get it, you thought up a lot of detail, but not all of it is interesting. A lot of it is just plain tedious. "Witchiepoo" outright pissed me off, what did he let a 3 year old write a chapter or something? In the second book there was a section where a spy gets trapped behind enemy lines, he commandeers a fishing vessel in Turkmenistan and you're introduced to the captain, he then commandeers an Azerbaijani fishing vessel, you meet that captain, YOU GET THAT CAPTAINS PERSPECTIVE ON STURGEON POACHING IN THE CASPIAN SEA, and what is it all worth? "One of our assets leaving Turkmenistan saw some suspicious looking planes" THAT WAS IT. THAT WAS THE WHOLE RELEVANCE OF THE SEVERAL WASTED CHAPTERS OF THAT GUY. HE SAW A PLANE.
Now that that rants out of the way, why is it such a big deal? Because he spent sooooo much time with nonsense like that that he simply ignored the alien invasion and battle for earth that was supposed to happen. 3 books and the "battle" is like a total of 20 pages and the solution is such a cop-out Deux Ex Machina I want to spit. What an absolute waste of time. I think the guy was more looking to write a book about punishing the cliche "enemies of the west" than an alien invasion. Who were the bad guys? Not really the aliens. It was Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, wooooow what a unique take on the world he has. And of course the whole world bows to the feet of a computer geek, that's likely.
Moss has a tendency to give you several chapters of absolutely inane details that he just thinks are sooooo interesting for the reader. I get it, you thought up a lot of detail, but not all of it is interesting. A lot of it is just plain tedious. "Witchiepoo" outright pissed me off, what did he let a 3 year old write a chapter or something? In the second book there was a section where a spy gets trapped behind enemy lines, he commandeers a fishing vessel in Turkmenistan and you're introduced to the captain, he then commandeers an Azerbaijani fishing vessel, you meet that captain, YOU GET THAT CAPTAINS PERSPECTIVE ON STURGEON POACHING IN THE CASPIAN SEA, and what is it all worth? "One of our assets leaving Turkmenistan saw some suspicious looking planes" THAT WAS IT. THAT WAS THE WHOLE RELEVANCE OF THE SEVERAL WASTED CHAPTERS OF THAT GUY. HE SAW A PLANE.
Now that that rants out of the way, why is it such a big deal? Because he spent sooooo much time with nonsense like that that he simply ignored the alien invasion and battle for earth that was supposed to happen. 3 books and the "battle" is like a total of 20 pages and the solution is such a cop-out Deux Ex Machina I want to spit. What an absolute waste of time. I think the guy was more looking to write a book about punishing the cliche "enemies of the west" than an alien invasion. Who were the bad guys? Not really the aliens. It was Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, wooooow what a unique take on the world he has. And of course the whole world bows to the feet of a computer geek, that's likely.
July 20, 2018
Overall Fear Saga is one of the best sci fi stories I have ever read. Amazing characters, incredibile story building with complex ramifications.
But the entire trilogy and especially the third book prepares you for the epic battle that humanity has to face. Everything is built to make the reader crave for the armada to arrive and feel the war between the two races. But when it finally comes almost nothing happens. The major event of the battle, the fight of the Skums is completly ignored and everything we are given is the statistics of what remained alive after the clash. We only get the numbers of the enemy Skums still flying.
We don't see Banu in action even though the entire book we see her living for the opportunity to get into the Skum and into the action. We don't know anything about the orphans, about how they fought.
When the brief fight is over I would have enjoyed to see princess' Lamatte reaction to the fact that they lost the war, to the fact that she is to live her remaining life in shame and in exile. I would have liked to feel her frustration and anger to the fact that she can do nothing. Probably for the first time in her life she is powerless.
In the final hours of the book I had the impression that Stephen Moss simply wanted to end the book as quickly as possible. He simply didn't give the reader what he had promised and what he had so beautifully built.
He tried something with the short story "The Orpahns' End" but not nearly enough.
With that said The Fear Saga remains one of the best sci fi stories I have ever listened to.
I also want to congratulate RC Bray for his astonishing and amazing talent of narrating. He would make even the worst and boring stories seem good.
But the entire trilogy and especially the third book prepares you for the epic battle that humanity has to face. Everything is built to make the reader crave for the armada to arrive and feel the war between the two races. But when it finally comes almost nothing happens. The major event of the battle, the fight of the Skums is completly ignored and everything we are given is the statistics of what remained alive after the clash. We only get the numbers of the enemy Skums still flying.
We don't see Banu in action even though the entire book we see her living for the opportunity to get into the Skum and into the action. We don't know anything about the orphans, about how they fought.
When the brief fight is over I would have enjoyed to see princess' Lamatte reaction to the fact that they lost the war, to the fact that she is to live her remaining life in shame and in exile. I would have liked to feel her frustration and anger to the fact that she can do nothing. Probably for the first time in her life she is powerless.
In the final hours of the book I had the impression that Stephen Moss simply wanted to end the book as quickly as possible. He simply didn't give the reader what he had promised and what he had so beautifully built.
He tried something with the short story "The Orpahns' End" but not nearly enough.
With that said The Fear Saga remains one of the best sci fi stories I have ever listened to.
I also want to congratulate RC Bray for his astonishing and amazing talent of narrating. He would make even the worst and boring stories seem good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2020
By the time I finished this book I was covered in goosebumps. I had no idea how it was going to end and there was no respite as the conclusion drew near. As I had mentioned in the first two books, this was not your typical alien invasion story. The tumult, the struggles, the costs, and the sacrifices are well illustrated as is the loss of morality in order to achieve the larger goal. More than once did I find myself thinking, if this is the expense, is it worth it to preserve humanity? This is what a book should do. Entertain while making you think. Stephen Moss certainly succeeds on both counts.
In this final chapter, we know the aliens are almost here, we know we have thrown a monkey wrench into their plans, but we also know this has taken an enormous toll. In the face of this, does the world deserve to survive? This question gets raised more than once. By the same token, we get a peek into the invading species' minds and the same questions are asked. This takes me full circle to the first book. I had a quibble that the aliens seemed too human in their motivations and behaviors. I now believe this was intentional in order that we could understand their own failings and ambiguities. If they were truly alien, I do not think we would have been able to appreciate that. I kept finding myself going back to Stephen Hawking's assertion that a superior civilization will always dominate and eradicate an inferior one. The issue here becomes, which civilization is superior?
While not as action packed as the previous books, this volume does not need to be. It is a long burn to a climactic explosion and it is a well contested affair at that. There is loss and there is redemption. All in all, a damn fine read. This was an inspired trilogy and was worth every penny.
In this final chapter, we know the aliens are almost here, we know we have thrown a monkey wrench into their plans, but we also know this has taken an enormous toll. In the face of this, does the world deserve to survive? This question gets raised more than once. By the same token, we get a peek into the invading species' minds and the same questions are asked. This takes me full circle to the first book. I had a quibble that the aliens seemed too human in their motivations and behaviors. I now believe this was intentional in order that we could understand their own failings and ambiguities. If they were truly alien, I do not think we would have been able to appreciate that. I kept finding myself going back to Stephen Hawking's assertion that a superior civilization will always dominate and eradicate an inferior one. The issue here becomes, which civilization is superior?
While not as action packed as the previous books, this volume does not need to be. It is a long burn to a climactic explosion and it is a well contested affair at that. There is loss and there is redemption. All in all, a damn fine read. This was an inspired trilogy and was worth every penny.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 200 reviews