Auberon

Jessica Keller Chronicles #1

by Blaze Ward

Jessica Keller has a reputation as a maverick commander. It almost got her court martialed. Now it has gotten her a new command in an obscure sector, with orders to ignite a new front in the eternal war.

But her old nemesis, Imperial Admiral Emmerich Wachturm, stands in her way.

Worlds will fall before their feud ends, but only if she can forge her crew of strangers into a weapon. Otherwise, disaster looms.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Military Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Fiction, Space

229 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2015

About the author

Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe as well as The Collective. He also write fantasy stories with several characters and series, from an alternate Rome to epic high fantasy in the desert. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, here, and other places.

Blaze’s works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors (Kobo, Amazon, and others). His newsletter comes out quarterly, and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions—even ones about his books!

Reviews

[Laz the Sailor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is similar to the HH, Kris, and even Vatta series. If you liked them, you'll like this.

In this series, the author skips the entire apprenticeship and development process and introduces us to an experienced ship captain who knows how to get the best from her people, and how to pull a rabbit out of her hat when necessary. There are over-arcing politics which will drive the series.

One part I liked is that more than half of the characters are women. There are some cultural legacies to overcome, but once in uniform, gender doesn't come into play. Very nice.

With both Longknife and Vatta off on tangents, I think I'll read a few more of these to see where they lead.

[Debrac2014 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good action packed space opera!

[Carolyn F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! Loved the battle scenes, we got glimpses of some of the main characters, including the fabulous captain, Jessica. So good! I'm requesting the rest of the series from the library. They bought this book quickly so maybe they'll get the rest quickly too. I would recommend this book for any sci-fi fans.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little skeptical of this book at first. It seemed it was just going to be a pale imitation of On Basilisk Station. But I kept with it and enjoyed it quite a bit. Sure it echoes Honor Harrington, but I suspect that many authors borrow inspiration from others. Auberon doesn't quite measure up to David Weber, but it was a very enjoyable, and gripping, adventure. The characters and the world building still lack a little flesh, and history, but that may be rectified in future volumes of the series. The plot was pretty good. I was engaged enough to read it in two days.

[Wyrdness · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had a bunch of elements I should have enjoyed (a crew featuring multiple intelligent & capable women, political intrigue, space battles, and a rivalry between enemies trying to strategically out-think each other), and yet it never managed to connect with me.

I spent the first 40% of the book wondering when anything was going to happen. Which isn't strictly fair. There was stuff going on, but it amounted to little more than info-dumps introducing the major protagonists and antagagonists of the series, and it didn't flow as well as it could have if these characters and their interactions had come up organically as the story progressed.

For example, Loncar would have been a much more credible political threat to Jessica's career if we hadn't first had the dismissed court martial scene and then him acting like an entitled, petty, lecherous buffoon in the noble's club. If he'd just been a shadowy background figure pulling the strings and leaving the Senate Chairman to take the fall later, he'd have seemed much more powerful and intimidating.

I'd have found myself much more intrigued with a random man briefly pointed out in the crowd looking unusually furious as the First Lord of the Fleet and Senate Leader stormed in, but having quietly disappearing without trace by the time the hammer fell. Then I'd be wondering "who was he? Why does he want Jessica to be taken down? Is he an enemy agent?"

The story is full of moments like this where just a little twist to what was actually written, a little more attention to detail without simply spelling it out, would have really hooked me in and begun to get me invested.

At 60% I made the mistake of putting the book down for a moment and it took me 4 days to convince myself to pick it back up to finish the less than 100 pages left. Which I did only because I didn't have anything better to read at the time.

I don't think this was a truly awful book, but it lacked a feeling of depth and tension to the writing that failed to spark any enthusiasm or interest for the events within. There was no element of genuine surprise or mystery for me to anticipate and so everything felt very flat and one-note.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

ry. However, I found it rather poorly implemented.

The first couple of books where quite alright. Keller was introduced, there was quite a bit of nice space combat and overall it looked promising. They never managed to reach above the 3 out of 5 stars mark though. Later in the series, quite a few books never managed to reach above 2 out of 5 stars for me.

There were quite a bit of political asshattery in these first books as well but luckily during the course of the series the asshats where given the ass whooping they deserved.

However, in book 4 the author started to cater for certain segments of readers and the political bullshit and poorly hidden preaching took a turn for the worse.

From then on the series became very uneven, to me at least. Strange politics where intermixed with the good parts for the story and the good parts where not really that good to begin with. The military action, world building and strategy is very far indeed from the upper echelon of authors like David Weber, Doug Dandridge or Christopher G. Nuttall just to mention a few.

When the “real” enemy was introduced later in the series some of the actions, like “diplomatic” missions to enemy worlds and the reaction of the people on these worlds just became nonsensical. Doug Dandridge made a much better job of introducing and fighting this particular kind of enemy for instance.

So unfortunately this series was a bit of a downer for me.

[astaliegurec · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading a book that turned out to be a spin-off of Blaze Ward’s “Jessica Keller” series and decided I really needed to read this series before continuing the spin-off. In general, I’m pleased with his 2015 novel "Jessica Keller, Book 1: Auberon." The universe is interesting, the writing good, the plot fast-paced, and, mostly, the characterizations fine. I’d like to say that, occasionally, the space operaness gets a bit excessive. But, that would be silly of me. Unfortunately, my one significant issue is that a few of the characters ARE just silly. Specifically, there are a couple of engineers the protagonist uses for “dirty tricks” that just come across as childish. And, no engineer on a naval space vessel should ever be characterized like that. Other than that, the only other thing I can come up with is that the prose tends to go a bit over-the-top with unnecessary (and actually counter-productive) descriptions. Officially, I’m rating the book at a Very Good 4 stars out of 5. If I could, I’d drop it half a star to 3-1/2 stars. A light, easy, fast read.

[Eric Cooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Start of a SciFi pulp

This is the first book of the Keller series.
It starts at the point our heroine just saved her republic's rear. Already a captain she is given an assignment to harass the RAN her nation enemy.

It has a feel like the Honor Harrington books. This is a good start, but not as good as David Weber's series. Don't get me wrong, this is a good series by a pretty good author. Just not someone yet at the height of their capabilities. I look forward to seeing the series grow.

This had some really good humor especially by her mischief engineers. In that respect I look forward to seeing it grow.

[Steve Wratten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I generally don’t like or read military fiction. However, Ward’s well-crafted prose and character development overcome my aversion to the subject matter. I grew to really like the characters, especially Jessica Keller. Now there’s a little nagging voice in the back of my mind nagging that nobody gets every decision right. There’s a hint that she and her crew mates took a beating in a battle that predates this novel, so maybe in subsequent books in the series she’ll step back from being a goddess and become a mere mortal.

[Paul Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ladies in space kicking ass! Actually its ladies and gents in space kicking ass. However with most of the scifi that I read having such a poor gender balance for the main characters, having so many women (ie a 50/50 balance) as main characters really stood out. The story was also quite good. This was obviously a setup for a longer arc space-opera but the story holds it's own and I really enjoyed the read.

More please.

[Don Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cross between Captain Picard and Honor Harrington

A natural leader with strategic instincts. The book introduces Jessica, a nonconformist, hard driving captain in her element with little oversight and a target rich environment. Enjoyable reading. Could have used additional background on ideologies and the source of the long war. There were probably a dozen typos a careful editor would have caught.
Highly recommend reading this book.

[William Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice

A tasty mil-sf novel. Good characters, well considered plot, clean writing.

A minor quibble: science officer? Sounds too much like Star Trek when really it was either intel or sensors doing the job. The concept of 'military' seemed thin at times.

I am going to buy the sequel right now. Strongest recommendation I can give.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Military SF with woman authors and/or characters is very much my jam, and this book pushed the buttons without actually being an extremely good book? It had tight plotting and only a few cringey characters. It's a little too male-gaze-y for me, really, and the worldbuilding isn't super duper, but was it fun? Were there cool space battles and stuff? Yes!

[Jerry D Skelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely worth your time.

Space opera at its best. Blaze is an author who delivers. This series is excellent, leading you on a superb journey with a truly grand cast of characters that you easily visualize into a story that you will want to follow with abandon. Love it. Highly recommend this story and, this writer.

[Charl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it! It had the same "feel" as Weber's Harrington stories, while still being fresh.

Other reviewers complained about Keller being a "Mary Sue", but I didn't see it. Either it's not really there, or it's not obvious to me.

I'll be reading more of the series.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big fan of this series

If you like strong female leads in a somewhat lighter military space opera then you are in the right place. Think Kris Longknife without a famous family or as many resources. Bootstrap leader

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice space war book with a strong female lead. Honor Harrington fans will probably enjoy it.

[Aaron Hubble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this books. Interesting space battle tactics that engaged my imagination. A little on the serious side, with not much comic relief, but that's my only complaint.

[Volpot · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Pretty good beginning to a series about a female space captain a la Harrington

[Tom Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Space Navy at it's best.

I don't give 5 stars, but I did this time, As good as Gorden R. Dickson, Robert Heinlein and David Drake. Watch out Honor Harrington and LT O'Leary.

[Brent Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Read

Kinda reminded me a bit of Horatio Hornblower - just a bit over the top. Mostly fun, but hard to swallow with be straight face. Don't look for Admiral Harrington here...

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, but paint by numbers. It's told competently enough, but the story and characters are very clichéd. If you've read some other military sci-fi books you've seen it all before.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually liked this. It's science fiction at its best, and now look forward to the rest of this series.

[Malcolm McLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent space opera!

Going back to this series after some time, appreciating the parallel with Honor Harrington. Also appreciating crisp effective clear writing.

[John Steadman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blaze ward delivers

I haven't read a bad book by this man. Tight stories, great action. Love the characters. I am reading this all out of order and still enjoying every word.

[Deborah Gebhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. This book was my introduction to Blaze Ward and the war between the Republic of Aquitaine Navy (RAN) and the Freiburg Empire, and I would like to know more about this. Auberon was a fast, easy, exciting read. I'll now have to read Auberon's two sequels.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like military science fiction this is a pretty good read. The dynamics on the ship were well written as were the politics behind the scenes. I like the main character and I like that she has her own mentor and support. I would have liked a little more perspective from the enemy hero as it was like a showdown between two brilliant officers. I was also expecting a little more fallout and was disappointed that it ended almost too easily. I'm hoping there will be more books to follow and we'll get to see some conflict between Jessica and those that are her enemies in her own world. I think it would make for an exciting read.

[Anne Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a war book and I was disappointed. I expected something different, with so many women involved in that ship... but no, it's only a war book. The strategy Jessica uses is unclear, as anyway the ways she has to use it do not exist. Jessica, as a character, does not have anything special. Neither does her nemesis, Emmerich.
I checked a lot of military sites... A woman officer is to be called Madam, never Sir. I was surprised by the names too. A lot of them are yugoslavian, a surprising amount. How come?

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blaze Ward has two star empires at war. Jessica Keller is assigned command of a small flotilla headed by the Auberon (ebook from Amazon) to make trouble in the outskirt systems of their enemy. While the systems are lightly defended, they have to make enough noise to cause a stir in that empire. Luckily she has some smart people working for her. Edge of the seat excitement with some neat mischief ploys to bring a laugh. Add in politics and you have a wonderful tale. Review printed by Philadelphia Weekly Press

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After winning book three of this series as a Goodreads First Read, I decided I should read the previous two books first, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Auberon is a thoroughly enjoyable space adventure, with battles reminiscent of Ender's Game and a good smattering of politics and personalities to keep it engaging. I enjoyed seeing Keller work and enjoyed getting to know the cast. Definitely worth a read.