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The Sol Ascendancy
HUMANITY HAS MADE FIRST CONTACT
On a sunny, cloudless day, a massive starship descends from the sky and hovers above the United Nations building in New York City. As jet fighters advance, it quickly retreats to one of the deep maria on the far side of the Moon, going dormant. The public dubs this ship “Ivan.”
MORE ALIENS ARE COMING
After two years and developing a plan for sending a workable drone to the Moon to make contact with Ivan, MEO (the Mars Express Orbiter) detects a wrecked ship and two stranded creatures in the Amanthes Quadrangle on Mars.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS FILLING UP
Just as Captain Trent Ramsey, Commander Cassandra Gomez, and the rest of their crew launch aboard the Space Shuttle Eternity to investigate these new neighbors, a satellite passing Jupiter detects a large colony developing on Io, Jupiter’s volcanic moon.
AN INTERSTELLAR MYSTERY COMES TO OUR DOORSTEP
Massive, ten-mile-wide objects are detected by Hubble coming out of the Oort Cloud that surrounds the Solar System. Long, chevron-shaped ships are detected low in the atmosphere of Titan, the only moon in the Solar System with an atmosphere. What do they all want? Are all these aliens fleeing something? If so, have they led it here, to Earth’s doorstep?
On a sunny, cloudless day, a massive starship descends from the sky and hovers above the United Nations building in New York City. As jet fighters advance, it quickly retreats to one of the deep maria on the far side of the Moon, going dormant. The public dubs this ship “Ivan.”
MORE ALIENS ARE COMING
After two years and developing a plan for sending a workable drone to the Moon to make contact with Ivan, MEO (the Mars Express Orbiter) detects a wrecked ship and two stranded creatures in the Amanthes Quadrangle on Mars.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS FILLING UP
Just as Captain Trent Ramsey, Commander Cassandra Gomez, and the rest of their crew launch aboard the Space Shuttle Eternity to investigate these new neighbors, a satellite passing Jupiter detects a large colony developing on Io, Jupiter’s volcanic moon.
AN INTERSTELLAR MYSTERY COMES TO OUR DOORSTEP
Massive, ten-mile-wide objects are detected by Hubble coming out of the Oort Cloud that surrounds the Solar System. Long, chevron-shaped ships are detected low in the atmosphere of Titan, the only moon in the Solar System with an atmosphere. What do they all want? Are all these aliens fleeing something? If so, have they led it here, to Earth’s doorstep?
459 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 5, 2015
18 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
couldnt-finish
June 24, 2016I read the first 5% but found it too slow and too full of jargon and too many acronyms.
The story read like it was being read out by a news reader, not being told as a story.
It could be that the content was too scientific for me, but it felt like too much hard work.
The writing is a little rough, another pass through by an editor would help.
A couple of things I noticed:
3% - ...so what's(space)taking so long?
4% - ...was Ivan relate(d) to Ray and Brad?
The story read like it was being read out by a news reader, not being told as a story.
It could be that the content was too scientific for me, but it felt like too much hard work.
The writing is a little rough, another pass through by an editor would help.
A couple of things I noticed:
3% - ...so what's(space)taking so long?
4% - ...was Ivan relate(d) to Ray and Brad?
September 23, 2020
I really enjoyed this story. It keeps you reading, no periods of boredom that I found. The main characters are well developed, although there are a few lesser characters that I think could have benefited with more fleshing out.
If I was to criticize this book it would be for: 1. Quite often we would find out after the fact the adventures that some of the main characters went through just from them relating a summary, or report. I feel some of these could have made complete stories in and of themselves. 2. There is room for improvement in the editing. I found several missing words, misused words and just bad grammar. It did not detract from the story, just the reading flow of a nit-picker like myself.
Overall, I found this to be a great read and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good Sci-Fi yarn.
If I was to criticize this book it would be for: 1. Quite often we would find out after the fact the adventures that some of the main characters went through just from them relating a summary, or report. I feel some of these could have made complete stories in and of themselves. 2. There is room for improvement in the editing. I found several missing words, misused words and just bad grammar. It did not detract from the story, just the reading flow of a nit-picker like myself.
Overall, I found this to be a great read and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good Sci-Fi yarn.
April 16, 2021
A "hard" Sci-Fi novel that tries to keep the technology close to today at least for Earth. It offers a fairly realistic depiction of humanity's reactions to the unknown, and gives a unique premise that keeps you reading. Full of scientific, military, and political intrigue that occur when we find out we aren't alone in the universe.
The novel does have a bunch of players and factions and perspectives that can be a struggle to keep track of if you are not used to that style of writing. Even though I am used to that style there were perhaps a few too many for the author to manage in just one book. The various acronyms, abriviations and nicknames didn't help they clarity.
Overall a great novel and one that stands one its own in traditional Sci-Fi, wanting more but also having enough to let your brain run wild with the fantasy.
The novel does have a bunch of players and factions and perspectives that can be a struggle to keep track of if you are not used to that style of writing. Even though I am used to that style there were perhaps a few too many for the author to manage in just one book. The various acronyms, abriviations and nicknames didn't help they clarity.
Overall a great novel and one that stands one its own in traditional Sci-Fi, wanting more but also having enough to let your brain run wild with the fantasy.
July 11, 2017
What an excellent book. It is rare to find a "hard" science fiction book nowadays. The story is well thought out, and the science not too bad. If I have a few quibbles, they include that in the ebook version I have there are many typos. It would benefit from the attention of a good proofreader, but that does not spoil the story.
July 7, 2015
Pleasantly surprised by this book.
I'm not a huge fan of aliens. Not a fa not all really, and yet I still enjoyed this book. It was entertaining, exciting, fun and even funny at times.
I have read one of the authors previous books, which I liked, yet this one felt like something completely different. Like an entirely different style, and I liked it.
The characters were well developed. Not under developed, and not full of needless boring detail. It was well done.
It's clear the author has an interest in space and technology, and the way that information is shared and conveyed in this book did two things for me. First, it quickly and easily explained things that I would have no understanding of. It seamlessly explained various science and technology in a way anyone could understand, in simple terms, and I appreciated that.
Secondly, I feel it added to the book in a certain way. It reminded me of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in that regard. That book was written as if it were real, and it intertwined real events with fiction in a masterful way. I feel like something similar is accomplished in Sol Ascendancy through the authors telling of the story, and use of science AND fiction together really does create the best sci-fi.
I'm not a huge fan of aliens. Not a fa not all really, and yet I still enjoyed this book. It was entertaining, exciting, fun and even funny at times.
I have read one of the authors previous books, which I liked, yet this one felt like something completely different. Like an entirely different style, and I liked it.
The characters were well developed. Not under developed, and not full of needless boring detail. It was well done.
It's clear the author has an interest in space and technology, and the way that information is shared and conveyed in this book did two things for me. First, it quickly and easily explained things that I would have no understanding of. It seamlessly explained various science and technology in a way anyone could understand, in simple terms, and I appreciated that.
Secondly, I feel it added to the book in a certain way. It reminded me of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in that regard. That book was written as if it were real, and it intertwined real events with fiction in a masterful way. I feel like something similar is accomplished in Sol Ascendancy through the authors telling of the story, and use of science AND fiction together really does create the best sci-fi.
September 6, 2015
Original and intriguing!
A great balance between political intrigue, military action, and personal narratives. Presented in a fast paced fashion that Huksins has mastered. A lot going on at once but is scripted in a way that the reader can follow. Looking forward to a sequel, hopefully.....
A great balance between political intrigue, military action, and personal narratives. Presented in a fast paced fashion that Huksins has mastered. A lot going on at once but is scripted in a way that the reader can follow. Looking forward to a sequel, hopefully.....
August 16, 2015
Sol Ascendancy
Just finished the book and I really liked it it was very well written and a lot of the science was based on what is possible.The action was fast and furious with heroes not always coming out without some sort of real feelings.
Just finished the book and I really liked it it was very well written and a lot of the science was based on what is possible.The action was fast and furious with heroes not always coming out without some sort of real feelings.
August 19, 2015
A fair read. The editing isn't the best and detracts somewhat from the overall quality of the book.
November 28, 2015
"This is Independence Day on crack..."
I loved it.
I loved it.
February 3, 2016
Very clever plot premise, but I thought it plodded.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews