Outward Frontier

by Dana Epperson

By the year 2177, humanity has left the bounds of Earth's solar system, called the Home Sector, and settled amongst the stars. In that time, no government has discovered any intelligent life in the hundreds of light years travelled from Earth through the vast sections of space. Man is a creature slow to change, and as a result the governments on Earth and other worlds still fight brutal wars and compete for precious resources. Without warning, a beautiful and idyllic French Frontier world called Lorraine is attacked and occupied by an alien civilization. The nations of the Earth have agreed to put aside their differences to fight the new race the Chinese Empire has named Mo Tian, loosely translated as "demons from heaven." Follow the adventures of an untested American Army officer as he prepares for the invasion of Lorraine, a Seattle based corporate mercenary who will do anything for money and power, and a New Zealand ranching family on a primitive world in the farthest reaches of space called the Outward Frontier. Their fates are woven together with one of America’s leading scientists as they scramble to execute a desperate plan for the salvation of not only the United States, but for Earth and its numerous this is the second edition of Outward Frontier. This edition contains an updated cover, more dialogue, a music playlist and a sample of Book 2: ALAMO.

Genres: Science Fiction

390 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2015

Reviews

[LeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farout

I enjoyed reading about the concept of space travel, finding new habitable planets mixed with military operations, futuristic spacecraft, transportation technology and alien beings made for a good read. Plus I wanted to see if my previous Commander was a good writer. 4 stars.

[Richard Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outward Frontier grew steadily on me as I read through it. It consists of several different sections, each with a characteristic individual voice. You probably won't like all the voices, and that is part of the point of Dana's choice. The effect is to give the reader the sense that the steadily building crisis - an alien invasion - is progressively drawing all kinds of people into its vortex. Whether you like them or not, these are the people who you are thrown into close contact with.

Of course, the different voices and stories begin to overlap and blend as the action progresses. Strands of the story which initially appear quite separate are tied together. Dana seems to have a great enthusiasm for acronyms, especially military ones, but there is a helpful glossary if you get lost.

I liked Dana's depiction of a group of worlds which still retain a lot of the original Earth society which settled them. The several planets whose lifestyle is drawn for us differ in many ways, and old alliances and rivalries have a way of resurfacing. It is, I think, all too likely that our current national differences will not disappear overnight just because we discover feasible interstellar travel.

Outward Frontier is only the first book, and it is clear that the saga will continue at some stage. However, it comes to a satisfying conclusion, at which the reader is left with the sense that although the immediate crisis has been weathered, there is a great deal more conflict, intrigue, and discovery to take place.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so this could use additional editing and another round with a proofreader, and I simply don't care. The opening was an info dump, and once past, I didn't care about that, either. The characters were confusing, with too many similar names (Sellers, Sanders, Vickers, etc.) and I don't care about that, either. The ending approaches cliffhanger status and — guess what? — I don't care.

This is a fun read. Yes, it could be tightened and improved, but you could say that about any book. What you can't fake or edit into a story is the adrenaline of an author who clearly enjoys the writing process. As you read, you feel the author's fun, and share in it.

If you're looking for a perfect read, consider looking elsewhere. If you want to enjoy a story, consider this one. IMO, it's well worth the price. We'll call it four stars, and put author Dana Epperson on the keep-an-eye-on-this-one list.

[Al Imboden]

Dana,
After you recommended the book to me I went ahead and finished it. I don't know what to tell you man. The pace is weird, the thematic elements are kinda harsh for recreational reading and the plot devices come from way out in left field (aren't built out of the nature of the characters or the action.)
You definitely have skills in writing. Your characters were plenty interesting if not fully 3-d and I even got attached to the ones who only showed up for a short time. Dig up some tips and tricks on natural plot development and things will go better.
The biggest problem I see is with the world view of the story. If man can overcome then there must be instances in your writing where he overcomes. If man cannot overcome without help from outside the box, then there must be some small victories depicted with such help. If man cannot overcome at all then I have little reason to read book 2.
Hope that wasn't too harsh.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of the book, done is short narrative, felt choppy and a hard slog to get through. Once through those 'survivor' stories and into the meat of the book, the story flows into a nice cohesive plot line.

There is a believable amount of human fragmentation to an alien threat, struggle to get caught up, and find a solution to hold the line. The misfits group to troubleshoot and find answers in parallel to the alien war is a nice touch.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not Bad

With a lot of jumping around and some slow moments, the action scenes and the alien element makes up for it. Enough so that I will want to read the second book to find out what happens. Seems our aliens have surprises and I'd like to.know if the humanity I'm aware of comes out victorious.

[VMom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enthusiastic first novel. The author obviously had great fun world-building.
I would have liked to see a lot of trimming though - there was too much info-dumping and there was a need for tighter story-telling.
I have a full length review on my blog
http://www.bookhorde.org/2016/01/outw...

[Charlie Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read. Can't wait for the next one. Dana you hit a homerun. Great storyline and really like the characters..


When is the next on? How can the aliens be defeated? What are the signs on little George? What's next?

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts a bit slow but soon becomes a terrific sci-fi story of a future human civilization that has colonized the stars getting invaded by a merciless alien race. Part one of a planned series.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I will recommend this book to any one who loves space base military action with land base future battles. Love it