Dire Steps

Sim War #3

by Henry V. O'Neil, Vincent H. O'Neil

The third installment in the action-packed Sim War series

The Step, a faster-than-light method of travel, is humanity's greatest advantage in its interstellar war with the Sims. Olech Mortas, Chairman of the Emergency Senate, believes the Step could be used to contact an alien entity that might tip the scales in the conflict. And he's willing to risk his life to prove it.

Olech's son, Lieutenant Jander Mortas, has recently survived his first battle as part of the elite Orphan Brigade. The Orphans' new mission is to investigate suspicious Sim activity on the jungle planet Verdur--but what they discover there is far worse than anything they could have imagined.

Meanwhile, Jander's sister Ayliss has gone to the war zone as the governor of a new colony made up of discharged veterans. Ayliss soon realizes that she and the colonists stand in the way of both the Sim enemy and a sinister mining corporation with powerful allies.

All three members of the Mortas family are about to step into dire situations.

Genres: Science Fiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2015

About the author

Henry V. O’Neil is the name under which Malice Award-winning mystery novelist Vincent H. O’Neil publishes his science fiction work. In 2017 HarperCollins released the fifth and final novel in his military science Sim War series (Glory Main, Orphan Brigade, Dire Steps, CHOP Line, and Live Echoes).

After graduating from West Point, he served in the US Army Infantry with the Tenth Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York and the 1st Battalion (Airborne) of the 508th Infantry in Panama. He holds a Master’s degree in International Business from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy.

In 2005 he won the St. Martin’s Press “Malice Domestic” writing award for his debut novel Murder in Exile. Murder in Exile was the first book in the Frank Cole/Exile series, and was followed by Reduced Circumstances, Exile Trust, and Contest of Wills.

He is also the author of the theater-themed murder mystery Death Troupe and two horror novels called Interlands and Denizens.

Reviews

[Robert Enzenauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

O'Neil continues with Book Three of The Sim War: DIRE STEPS. O'Neil's experience as a military veteran is clearly evidence is his exciting descriptions of future combat. His military sci-fi is as good as other published favorites, such as Dick Weber and Dan Craig and David Sherman. He certainly is close to my all-time favorite military Sci Fi- Starship Troopers, written by another military veteran of a different academy - Robert Heinlein. The authors is developing the three main characters is a very systematic and meaningful way - so the series is worth reading in order. The plot moves quickly. The battle scenes are very believable, and the future technology that the author has created is very imaginative - for example. sound dampening ear muffs in the combat helmet -the dampeners detecting "large sound waves a fraction of a second before their arrival, protecting the wearer's hearing and providing a moment's warning that something bid had just detonated nearby." Most significantly, O'Neil's military sci-fi can be viewed as "lessons" in small unit leadership - similar to Vietnam PLATOON LEADER by McDonough and WWII COMPANY COMMANDER by MacDonald. The author's view of leadership, as viewed through the eyes of the protagonist: "So many mistakes, so much lost, but my heart was always pure. Defend our people. Win the war. Look at me now, shit-scared again, but here by my own choice again, I do this willingly , for total strangers and the ones I love, because in the end that is all that is left......." I will order Book Four as soon as I see it on Amazon. Strong work.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Dire Steps continues the momentum of the first two books and opens up the mystery of the Sims a bit more. The series is now, for the most part, a 3-POV story of the Mortas family - patriarch Olech and his children Jander and Alyss. I still prefer Jander's POV but as the story progresses, it is obvious why O'Neil has chosen to broaden the scope. It allows Jander to stay a grunt LT. for the ground level perspective while Olech with Alyssa tackle the political and power struggle angles.

With Dire Steps, each Mortas will become embroiled in a struggle. Jander fighting Sims, Alyss attempting to stabilize a mining colony, and Olech risking his life to take decisive steps to contact the alien entity from the first book. O'Neil does a superb job of setting up the mystery and machinations so that by the time the battles break out in the end, each is extremely fascinating, intriguing, and riveting in their own way. I applaud the twists and turns, machinations, and reveals - they are intricate but also logical and perhaps even inevitable. O'Neil never strikes a false note and the plot unfolds organically.

I am greatly looking forward to the next book in this series. So much is yet unexplained and I am eager to see where O'Neil takes the characters next.

[John Lybrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding third book in the series. What makes this series special is the detail and realism given to the military situations. Of course, being science fiction, the technology is not real. However, it feels real. Even better is the attitudes and actions of the soldiers. As a former Army officer, this part really rings true to me. Even in the future, soldiers are soldiers. Of course, it's not just soldiers and tactics. There's a good story behind all this, and I can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to walk in an infantryman’s shoes, read this book. Far away on another planet, Lieutenant Jander Mortas chases down the enemy known as the Sims. He’s son of the Chairman of the Emergency Senate but isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Born to lead, he tracks Sim activity on the jungle planet and comes to a very unpleasant revelation about what’s really going on there. Not to be left out, his warrior sister Ayliss has her own new colony to whip into shape, but first they have to expel the evil mining corporation that controls the planet. Meanwhile, their father disappears in the Step, a mysterious wormhole-type method of travel. Nitty-gritty detail will have you feel like you’re on the ground with these siblings and their troops.

[Tessa in Mid-Michigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More complexity and further glimpses of the family members and the SAMs. Intriguing.

[Danny Barulli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. I can’t wait to read the next one.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got confused with all the jungle fighting that went on. Not having read the first two books also made it more challenging to really know about the opposition and the political turmoil.