Samart

Fourth Fleet Irregulars #13

by S.J. MacDonald

610 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2026

About the author

I am a primary school teacher living in Cardiff, Wales, UK. I live in a tiny house full of books, animals, rocks and fossils.

I love travelling by myself because you get to meet more local people that way. My favourite trips so far have been ice fishing in the arctic circle, the Canadian Rockies in winter and camping with my sister in Devon (Every bit as adventurous!)

I have been writing stories since I was a kid but have only recently taken the plunge into publishing. I've also recently started a science fiction review site http://www.starshipsandaliens.com which is nearly as much fun as writing.

Reviews

[Mike Hanford]

I have read, and, enjoyed this entire series of books. I confess, though, this was disappointing. It is as though the author had some unpublished short stories, or ideas for sub-plots; and, decided to mash them together. The principal character was - at best - annoying and winging. On the one hand, she made her own way, accumulated ratings and experience. She qualified as both pilot and captain. A notable achievement. On the other hand, we have to hear, endlessly about her totally boring family and her need to be reassured of their love. The Commodore and the crew we know get bit parts and are mostly irrelevant to what passes for the plot. Almost gave up several times. Finished it and very unsatisfactory.

[Deborah]

Love all the Stories by this Author

There are some missing parts to the backstory about the Allianzi and Lundane and the Chethari. The one thing I did miss in this story was the lack of Alex's Life aboard the Ship or even his Romantic life with Foebe. I miss Buzz and wonder why he was removed from the storyline? The addition of Juniper was nice but I expected more activity between Silvie, Alex, Shion.
Otherwise Love all the Stories about Alex and the Fourth.
Now we wait until the Next book. Ms. MacDonald either get a facebook page or become Active on Goodreads again.

[Tony Hisgett]

The author has always liked using lots of words, but she has overdone herself with the last few books. Some of the descriptions and discussions were definitely over long. However the biggest problem with the book was the majority of it was about 'Juniper' who at first  sight seems like she might be an interesting character, but it didn’t take long for me to find her quite irritating.

[Mike Goodman]

Awesome Stuff Again

This story of a elite space fleet who regularly do the impossible things helping some planets destroy some rogue drones was a fascinating read.