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Aegis Colony #1
The Sands of Osiris
Planets that don't kill you are hard to find.
Starving and locked in a war with hostile aliens, the Terran Empire needs fresh real estate or humanity will face extinction.
Jaeger Orleans is sent by the mysterious Farseer Cartel to steal a blueprint for a sustainable human colony on the ice world Solitude.
A chance for humans to leave a long history of mistakes behind and begin again.
Sent to a brutal desert prison for withholding the information from the Terran Corps, Jaeger is in a race against time to find Solitude and lead humanity to a brighter future.
Starving and locked in a war with hostile aliens, the Terran Empire needs fresh real estate or humanity will face extinction.
Jaeger Orleans is sent by the mysterious Farseer Cartel to steal a blueprint for a sustainable human colony on the ice world Solitude.
A chance for humans to leave a long history of mistakes behind and begin again.
Sent to a brutal desert prison for withholding the information from the Terran Corps, Jaeger is in a race against time to find Solitude and lead humanity to a brighter future.
298 pages, ebook
First published January 25, 2015
116 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 11, 2016
Super Hero Mick Jagger takes on impossible odds in the land of Crouton and single handedly without weapons conquers two vast technologically advanced armies. Then, unfortunately captured with the secret hidden treasure trove of information is marooned on an uninhabitable dessert planet where daytime temperatures are in the mid to high 100's and goes weeks without drinking or eating. Then he orchestrates a stunning escape from Desert Alcatraz against even more impossible odds than the first time, only to find himself wandering aimlessly across the uninhabitable desert without food or water. Days later, on the brink of death, his little band of merry men are stumbled upon by a well fed and well armed scavenger creature in a really nice Winnebago, who they quickly overpower and outmaneuver taking him hostage. Luckily, due to Stockholm Syndrome the scavenger joins Robin Hood and heads to the single habitable place on the uninhabitable planet where they easily overwhelm the waiting battalions. Mick Jagger takes a very short and inexplicable break from the action to locate and murder his father who finally confesses that Mick Jagger's mother is non-human which accounts for Mick's otherwise inexplicable ability to breath under water. Then, after destroying the only inhabitable place and killing most of the hapless civilians living there Mick Jagger heads off in a luxury space craft to confront his employers whose fault all of this is. Against more impossible odds, they randomly tell him everything he wants to know, which does him no good whatever. Mick Jagger is a super hero who thrives on impossible odds that are so overwhelmingly impossible that it seems kind of stupid actually.
February 27, 2016
A little hard
To understand, and keep up with, A little hard to fathom the storyline, in some of the chapters. Maybe it's me.
To understand, and keep up with, A little hard to fathom the storyline, in some of the chapters. Maybe it's me.
October 26, 2017
This one was interesting. Visions of dune (what with the world wide desert), (well, ok, not entirely world wide, but close enough). Borrowed planet building from other books I've read too, but overall, a good weaving of plot and adventure to keep the story moving along. The author (currently) offers the whole trilogy for free if you sign up for his news letter, so I expect I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy shortly. :)
April 20, 2023
I read the whole book, but skipped over some of the sillier parts. Like most unlimited books, the writing is undisciplined, with much too much repeated idiom and other unnecessary words.
The action, while rousing, was frustratingly implausible. The operative word in "science fiction" is science. OTOH, I'm a long-time SF reader and an engineer, so perhaps have a different level of appreciation for intellectual rigor.
The action, while rousing, was frustratingly implausible. The operative word in "science fiction" is science. OTOH, I'm a long-time SF reader and an engineer, so perhaps have a different level of appreciation for intellectual rigor.
December 14, 2016
I sort of liked the main character, but he was a bit too clever and able to outsmart everyone. The 'love story' was totally unnecessary and uncomfortable
August 1, 2017
Great read!
This was my kind of book.. Aliens, strange planets, and a strong protagonist made for an adventure worth having. Well done!
This was my kind of book.. Aliens, strange planets, and a strong protagonist made for an adventure worth having. Well done!
August 25, 2017
Enjoyed the story, liked some of the characters, found it compelling but not sure if I am invested enough for the second book.
March 19, 2020
Interesting
Lots to take in and try and make sense of. Good character development and a plot that moved along and was understandable.
Lots to take in and try and make sense of. Good character development and a plot that moved along and was understandable.
March 23, 2017
lots of violence. lots of action. fast paced. just ended and guess what? there is another book and probably a third. hate that. also some gratuitous sex that seemed to be added just because.
October 8, 2016
The Sands of Osiris (Aegis Colony 1) by Steven J. Shelley
2 – Stars
Let's start with the good.
I was drawn to the MC at first because he was a dark and strange character, an Associate of the Farseer Cartel. He has extensive training in withstanding torture, hand to hand combat, and battlefield weapons and tactics.
Humans are at war with a species known as Yeneri. Both sides are desperate to colonize new worlds for resources necessary to sustain themselves. The associate is sent to a planet to find Aegis, ancient technology that can turn the tide of the war (the Farseers have no side in the war) and as it happens there are humans there looking for the same thing. He's captured, tortured, and forced into battle where he finds the Yeneri on the planet aren't military, they're civilian colonists in stasis. The human Admiral orders the death of all the aliens, a large portion of which are children which will bring upon the wrath of the technologically more advanced Yeneri.
The Associate has the Aegis technology embedded in his spine and when the Admiral attempts to beat it out of him, it unpacks into his brain. Now the Admiral has few choices to obtain the tech and sends the Associate to a prison on the planet Osiris, the Associates home world.
Osiris is a desert world and the descriptions are vivid and quite good. The writer has a good knack for world building. However, it is here where I find myself more interested in the companions he finds. First is a lizard who's trust he obtains by handing over some precious plasma. Second is a female trooper (guard), her eight year old daughter, and a mutant scavenger.
Now to the bad.
Firstly, this book is in dire need of editing. Not SPAG. This book is littered with auto correct choosing the wrong word and nobody having the desire to simply give it a once and final read through. That's just a sign of laziness.
Second, the MC is supposed to be some kind of real tough guy with all this superior training and yet he's constantly getting the snot beat out of him. Also, he seems unable to go a day without voiding his bowels in his clothing. It's just a bit too much.
SPOILER:
Third, by the time the book ended, I had very little interest in the MC, especially after he murdered his own father for no reason whatsoever.
2 – Stars
Let's start with the good.
I was drawn to the MC at first because he was a dark and strange character, an Associate of the Farseer Cartel. He has extensive training in withstanding torture, hand to hand combat, and battlefield weapons and tactics.
Humans are at war with a species known as Yeneri. Both sides are desperate to colonize new worlds for resources necessary to sustain themselves. The associate is sent to a planet to find Aegis, ancient technology that can turn the tide of the war (the Farseers have no side in the war) and as it happens there are humans there looking for the same thing. He's captured, tortured, and forced into battle where he finds the Yeneri on the planet aren't military, they're civilian colonists in stasis. The human Admiral orders the death of all the aliens, a large portion of which are children which will bring upon the wrath of the technologically more advanced Yeneri.
The Associate has the Aegis technology embedded in his spine and when the Admiral attempts to beat it out of him, it unpacks into his brain. Now the Admiral has few choices to obtain the tech and sends the Associate to a prison on the planet Osiris, the Associates home world.
Osiris is a desert world and the descriptions are vivid and quite good. The writer has a good knack for world building. However, it is here where I find myself more interested in the companions he finds. First is a lizard who's trust he obtains by handing over some precious plasma. Second is a female trooper (guard), her eight year old daughter, and a mutant scavenger.
Now to the bad.
Firstly, this book is in dire need of editing. Not SPAG. This book is littered with auto correct choosing the wrong word and nobody having the desire to simply give it a once and final read through. That's just a sign of laziness.
Second, the MC is supposed to be some kind of real tough guy with all this superior training and yet he's constantly getting the snot beat out of him. Also, he seems unable to go a day without voiding his bowels in his clothing. It's just a bit too much.
SPOILER:
Third, by the time the book ended, I had very little interest in the MC, especially after he murdered his own father for no reason whatsoever.
June 17, 2017
"Judging from the encrusted strands of hair over his eyes, he’d rolled into his shit while he slept."
From its vulgar opening this is nothing more than an action / adventure story. There is not much in the way of plot or character development. It is, basically, going from one life and death struggle to the next.
It is the story about a lone wolf (Jaeger) who survives despite the odds against him. It starts off with him in a jail cell, badly beaten and covered in shit.
His precarious circumstance continues with him leading a prison attack force in a suicidal mission against an alien enemy. This culminates with him having a strange (is it supposed to be a ‘zen’ moment?) fight sequence between him and an alien, in which he proves his 'honor' by defeating the alien, which rewards him with a valuable artefact.
The book will appeal to those who like their heroes pummelled to within an inch of their lives, but manage to come out on top anyway. Heroes who are never given enough chance to fully recover, but, somehow, being given something as simple as a sip of water seems to renew their strength and determination to survive. Heroes whose sole purpose is to be a whipping boy at every step in their journey.
There are some sex scenes, so not PG friendly, a lot of violence (some of it quite brutal), so, again, not PG friendly.
There are also a number of typos and inconsistencies in the story.
Some quotes from inside:
“Ethical men make good corpses.”
“He’d endured too much over the past two weeks”
“Adrenalin could only take a man so far and he had serious injuries to his ribs and cheekbone.”
“Schuss cracked into his ribs, breaking two, possibly three, before throwing him against the wall. The man was a fucking wrecking ball. Jaeger wouldn’t last long in this environment.”
“The courage shown by these men was remarkable, especially for violent criminals driven to cannibalism to stay alive.”
“The world was pain, and Jaeger was floating in it.”
“The Terran Corps were not known for mercy. Luckily he’d seemed exotic enough to retain for questioning. After a good beating of course.”
From its vulgar opening this is nothing more than an action / adventure story. There is not much in the way of plot or character development. It is, basically, going from one life and death struggle to the next.
It is the story about a lone wolf (Jaeger) who survives despite the odds against him. It starts off with him in a jail cell, badly beaten and covered in shit.
His precarious circumstance continues with him leading a prison attack force in a suicidal mission against an alien enemy. This culminates with him having a strange (is it supposed to be a ‘zen’ moment?) fight sequence between him and an alien, in which he proves his 'honor' by defeating the alien, which rewards him with a valuable artefact.
The book will appeal to those who like their heroes pummelled to within an inch of their lives, but manage to come out on top anyway. Heroes who are never given enough chance to fully recover, but, somehow, being given something as simple as a sip of water seems to renew their strength and determination to survive. Heroes whose sole purpose is to be a whipping boy at every step in their journey.
There are some sex scenes, so not PG friendly, a lot of violence (some of it quite brutal), so, again, not PG friendly.
There are also a number of typos and inconsistencies in the story.
Some quotes from inside:
“Ethical men make good corpses.”
“He’d endured too much over the past two weeks”
“Adrenalin could only take a man so far and he had serious injuries to his ribs and cheekbone.”
“Schuss cracked into his ribs, breaking two, possibly three, before throwing him against the wall. The man was a fucking wrecking ball. Jaeger wouldn’t last long in this environment.”
“The courage shown by these men was remarkable, especially for violent criminals driven to cannibalism to stay alive.”
“The world was pain, and Jaeger was floating in it.”
“The Terran Corps were not known for mercy. Luckily he’d seemed exotic enough to retain for questioning. After a good beating of course.”
September 1, 2016
Cut to action. The associate in the middle of a conflict on a some planet, seeking out an alien artifact of some kind with inter-species war imminent. So began the free copy I uploaded of this book. I think it was my first venture into bookbub, a daily email advertising cheap or free ebook deals. The rest of the story reads fairly well, although as usual I zoned out during the action scenes detailing intricate maneuvers, but everything keeps moving. It felt like a fantasy fiction in plot, the main man picking up, and losing, companions as he tries to fight and guile his way through the factions opposing him, and learning more about his true identity along the way. The characters are also fantasesque, some both stereotypical and original, each with their own backstories which build some sympathy/depth.
As with many of these free scifis that I've read in recent years, this was not unenjoyable, but I don't feel compelled to read the next installments. In this case the style is not one I connect strongly with.
As with many of these free scifis that I've read in recent years, this was not unenjoyable, but I don't feel compelled to read the next installments. In this case the style is not one I connect strongly with.
June 13, 2016
The author has delivered a very well done space adventure with this first Aegis Colony book. The general setting is reminiscent of Dune, but easily kept it's own vibe and style throughout. The story and characters are interesting, well paced, full of action and the writing style is clean and easy-to-follow. M. Shelley was able to constantly sprinkle small amount of background/world-building information throughout the story without affecting the flow of the book and that takes some serious skills. As my reference to Dune, The Sands of Osiris is more planetside adventure than spaceship action and to my surprise there was lots of (superbly written) hand-to-hand figthing scene involving human vs aliens. After a heavy dose of military Sci-Fi, I was pleasantly surprise with this gritty space adventure (with a dash of golden age sensibilities).
July 2, 2015
The Sands of Osiris(Aegis Colony 1)
This was perhaps the best SF adventure novel I have ever read! And I've been reading them for over 50 years. I've read Clarke,and Asimov, Anderson, Silverberg, and Burroughs. They all gave me that "sense of wonder". I haven't had that in many years. This book brought it back in spades! Shelley has a wonderful talent for description and setting. When the next one is published,sign me up and get out of my way! Absolutely GREAT stuff!
This was perhaps the best SF adventure novel I have ever read! And I've been reading them for over 50 years. I've read Clarke,and Asimov, Anderson, Silverberg, and Burroughs. They all gave me that "sense of wonder". I haven't had that in many years. This book brought it back in spades! Shelley has a wonderful talent for description and setting. When the next one is published,sign me up and get out of my way! Absolutely GREAT stuff!
September 4, 2015
A solid narrative, good characters and plot
This was a nice surprise, I got it essentially because I could not find anything new from my favorite authors. This was good, readable.
Enough science fiction to make it out there, but grounded enough in everyday to make it very enjoyable.
Aside from the authors scatological fixation (sorry, but there were just too many references to ignore) it is enjoyable and eminently readable.
Look forward to the rest of the series.
This was a nice surprise, I got it essentially because I could not find anything new from my favorite authors. This was good, readable.
Enough science fiction to make it out there, but grounded enough in everyday to make it very enjoyable.
Aside from the authors scatological fixation (sorry, but there were just too many references to ignore) it is enjoyable and eminently readable.
Look forward to the rest of the series.
December 12, 2020
It's a rip-snorter, kinda gross, a bit gritty like the desert planet. The characters are a little one-dimensional, they don't evolve much or have much of a personality. Although, this seems a bit mercenary, an army on a planet about to be taken over by another government, I didn't have any feelings for anyone. Apathetic to the end. There were some exciting scenes, but it was just cold, dead, and felt like nothing in the writing.
July 3, 2016
The plot is OK for modern space-style adventure story.
However, the text is full of detailed descriptions of kills, gore, sex, as well as swearing almost on every page. Their use can be accepted, considering the idea of the author to display the harsh reality of the novel. But here it was just too much.
However, the text is full of detailed descriptions of kills, gore, sex, as well as swearing almost on every page. Their use can be accepted, considering the idea of the author to display the harsh reality of the novel. But here it was just too much.
February 4, 2015
A fast-paced sci-fi adventure with a cast of intriguing and amusing characters. The world created is vivid and exciting and I highly recommend it for fans of Dune or Star Wars. A very entertaining read.
July 17, 2015
This was a good one! I enjoyed it from start till about 2 pages from the end. I could tell the end was coming and I knew there was no way that he could finish everything up. I hate that. So anyway... I'm off to purchase book 2! Woohoo!!
August 8, 2015
Worth the read
I chose this rating based on the action an new twists involved in the story. I did not like the sexual parts of the story but the action was well placed. Worth the read for the most part.
I chose this rating based on the action an new twists involved in the story. I did not like the sexual parts of the story but the action was well placed. Worth the read for the most part.
October 13, 2015
A nice read
Not a bad story or plot. I liked the characters and plot line. He could have explained or described what some other the places were a little better. The grammatical errors really hurt the story. Overall I would recommend this book.
Not a bad story or plot. I liked the characters and plot line. He could have explained or described what some other the places were a little better. The grammatical errors really hurt the story. Overall I would recommend this book.
January 30, 2016
Deeply satisfying!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's sometimes hard to connect to another alien world, but this book is able to pull you in quickly, I love how REAL the Author is!! Don't pass by! Very great escape!!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's sometimes hard to connect to another alien world, but this book is able to pull you in quickly, I love how REAL the Author is!! Don't pass by! Very great escape!!
Read
August 31, 2016The ebook has 4 or 5 grammatical errors - wrong (similar sounding), extra or repeated words. It also has a few sections that are PG-13 or R rated. I recommend that readers are 13+ yrs old.
As for the story, it was interesting. I liked it an will likely read books 2 and 3.
As for the story, it was interesting. I liked it an will likely read books 2 and 3.
July 19, 2015
High action SciFi
One of the more enjoyable sci-fi action novels I've read in a long time. Interesting characters. Lots of action. I will read the next book in the series.
One of the more enjoyable sci-fi action novels I've read in a long time. Interesting characters. Lots of action. I will read the next book in the series.
July 30, 2015
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Google now is the time to be on my way home now and I have a good day at work and
August 11, 2015
Very well written
The book was well written and kept me wanting to keep reading. The characters are believable. Waiting for next book
The book was well written and kept me wanting to keep reading. The characters are believable. Waiting for next book
October 26, 2015
Good
A little bit too gritty for my taste. Good strong characters though. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series
A little bit too gritty for my taste. Good strong characters though. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series
December 19, 2015
Engaging enough to pick up the next book in the series.
January 1, 2016
I got hooked from the beginning. Can't wait to read the next book.
February 9, 2016
Quite a wide ranging set of scenes and planets. Some of the plot twists are totally unexpected. Follow on books should be good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews