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Empire Rising #1
The Void War
It’s the year 2465, two hundred years since the stars were opened to humanity by the invention of the shift drive. So began the First Interstellar Expansion Era, catapulting humanity into a deadly race for the limited resources of navigable space.
Now tensions between the human nations are threatening to boil over into open hostility. Into this maelstrom steps the exiled Commander James Somerville of the Royal Space Navy. Banished from London to the survey ship HMS Drake he is about to make a discovery that may change his fortunes and throw Britain into a deadly war with its closest rival.
The Void War is a military science fiction novel and first book by new author D. J. Holmes
Now tensions between the human nations are threatening to boil over into open hostility. Into this maelstrom steps the exiled Commander James Somerville of the Royal Space Navy. Banished from London to the survey ship HMS Drake he is about to make a discovery that may change his fortunes and throw Britain into a deadly war with its closest rival.
The Void War is a military science fiction novel and first book by new author D. J. Holmes
440 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 18, 2015
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724 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
September 17, 2016
About as Dumb an eBook As it Gets
"The Void War, Empire Rising Book 1," is a badly conceived, poor constructed, and ineptly written wannabe space opera homage to the "olde and goodie" Pax Britannica.
The author is apparently enamored with Victorian, Edwardian, and all of British aristocracy. It's as if "Colonel Blimp," wrote the eBook, without any of the satire or comedy.
The inane storyline concept has Earth's major countries, four (4) centuries in the future, engaged in a mad "land grab," of interstellar planetary colonization. The UN is the quasi-world governmental body that sets the parameters of how things are supposed to play out. China and the Brits are the main players, with lots of elbows and jabs being thrown. FTL travel is possible through "shift" technology, threading void space between dark matter and gravitational fields. The aristocracy of Britain has exponentially expanded, and altruistically rules, with the obsequious consent of the populace.
At 20% into the eBook, I gave up and bailed-DNF. The story was written by an sycophantic Anglophile of delusional intelligence. Normally willing to give a storyline a chance to develop, this one was so ridiculously inane, I could not continue. Additionally, the writing was amateurish and incompetent to the nth degree. Never has the word "Yet...," been used so frequently in writing. The broken syntax, improper grammar, run-on sentences, convoluted speech, tortured narratives, repetitive passages, and boring plots are annoying to the point of being obnoxious.
An adroit editor with a chainsaw, would have difficulty in salvaging a readable story from this morass of drivel. The writing is among the lowest level of ANY eBook I have come across, and we all know there is a lot of bad ones out there.
The eBook is NOT recommended and was accessed via Kindle Unlimited.
"The Void War, Empire Rising Book 1," is a badly conceived, poor constructed, and ineptly written wannabe space opera homage to the "olde and goodie" Pax Britannica.
The author is apparently enamored with Victorian, Edwardian, and all of British aristocracy. It's as if "Colonel Blimp," wrote the eBook, without any of the satire or comedy.
The inane storyline concept has Earth's major countries, four (4) centuries in the future, engaged in a mad "land grab," of interstellar planetary colonization. The UN is the quasi-world governmental body that sets the parameters of how things are supposed to play out. China and the Brits are the main players, with lots of elbows and jabs being thrown. FTL travel is possible through "shift" technology, threading void space between dark matter and gravitational fields. The aristocracy of Britain has exponentially expanded, and altruistically rules, with the obsequious consent of the populace.
At 20% into the eBook, I gave up and bailed-DNF. The story was written by an sycophantic Anglophile of delusional intelligence. Normally willing to give a storyline a chance to develop, this one was so ridiculously inane, I could not continue. Additionally, the writing was amateurish and incompetent to the nth degree. Never has the word "Yet...," been used so frequently in writing. The broken syntax, improper grammar, run-on sentences, convoluted speech, tortured narratives, repetitive passages, and boring plots are annoying to the point of being obnoxious.
An adroit editor with a chainsaw, would have difficulty in salvaging a readable story from this morass of drivel. The writing is among the lowest level of ANY eBook I have come across, and we all know there is a lot of bad ones out there.
The eBook is NOT recommended and was accessed via Kindle Unlimited.
October 5, 2016
I'd have given it 4 stars but the writing kept knocking me out of the story.
Whenever a ship exited slip space, it "excited slip space."
The officer on the ship was not a purser, but a "pursuer."
"throughout known space there was five shift passages."
Don't misunderstand, I'm not angry about reading this book. I recognize that authors have styles and sometimes what might be a cultured English writer strikes me as an Ozark redneck bashing a keyboard. It happens. The frequency of mangled English led me to believe that an editor would have despaired of changing the author's voice by trying to force this square book into a round language.
I would agree with other reviewers that the story is more or less derivative, but space opera is a simple genre: get a lot of ships and missiles and fly to a lot of places and use them on the other guys. I am glad we weren't buried under a giant pile of numbers, for instance. I'm counting my blessings.
I'll read the next book, if I can.
Whenever a ship exited slip space, it "excited slip space."
The officer on the ship was not a purser, but a "pursuer."
"throughout known space there was five shift passages."
Don't misunderstand, I'm not angry about reading this book. I recognize that authors have styles and sometimes what might be a cultured English writer strikes me as an Ozark redneck bashing a keyboard. It happens. The frequency of mangled English led me to believe that an editor would have despaired of changing the author's voice by trying to force this square book into a round language.
I would agree with other reviewers that the story is more or less derivative, but space opera is a simple genre: get a lot of ships and missiles and fly to a lot of places and use them on the other guys. I am glad we weren't buried under a giant pile of numbers, for instance. I'm counting my blessings.
I'll read the next book, if I can.
September 15, 2016
The overarching story is fine, if very tired, been done a million times before. There are a few attempts to inject some originality, but unfortunately a series of errors due to lack of research and lack of thought in how the various threads have been brought together (or not) means chunks of the story are jarring and often ridiculous. Clearly not much though has been given over to integrating the various ideas.
The characters are unconvincing. In military sci-fi I expect the military aspects to be at least somewhat realistic, and this can often require a bit of research into military history, procedures, language and such. Sadly in this case, we got as far as the history and called it a day. All the military dialogue in this book is far too conversational, taking twice as many words to say half as much. A cursory check of military conventions would inform you of why this is unconvincing.
The entire romance sub-plot is a ridiculous waste of time. It harks back to an attitude from the C18th without making any effort to really gel it with a story set in the C25th. Linked to this is the entire sub-plot about the role of the nobility in this story. It is unconvincing in it's explanation of how it got to this position, which is basically the view of the most stereotypical American when looking at British class system. Was this written for a US market?
I understand the desire to create a new story and the juxtaposition of futuristic space exploration with the past of the C18th has been around for a while now, so I'd have expected a bit of effort to have been put into making that combination believable. Why this effort was not made, I do not know, but the end result is two stories with no relation to each other running in parallel. It is easiest to just ignore the whole royalty sub-plot, you miss nothing of substance and the book become marginally more believable.
This book really needed more research and a real effort to merge two very different time periods into a convincing whole. As it is, it's an ok draft, but no more.
The characters are unconvincing. In military sci-fi I expect the military aspects to be at least somewhat realistic, and this can often require a bit of research into military history, procedures, language and such. Sadly in this case, we got as far as the history and called it a day. All the military dialogue in this book is far too conversational, taking twice as many words to say half as much. A cursory check of military conventions would inform you of why this is unconvincing.
The entire romance sub-plot is a ridiculous waste of time. It harks back to an attitude from the C18th without making any effort to really gel it with a story set in the C25th. Linked to this is the entire sub-plot about the role of the nobility in this story. It is unconvincing in it's explanation of how it got to this position, which is basically the view of the most stereotypical American when looking at British class system. Was this written for a US market?
I understand the desire to create a new story and the juxtaposition of futuristic space exploration with the past of the C18th has been around for a while now, so I'd have expected a bit of effort to have been put into making that combination believable. Why this effort was not made, I do not know, but the end result is two stories with no relation to each other running in parallel. It is easiest to just ignore the whole royalty sub-plot, you miss nothing of substance and the book become marginally more believable.
This book really needed more research and a real effort to merge two very different time periods into a convincing whole. As it is, it's an ok draft, but no more.
March 10, 2022
(B-)71% | Acceptable
3.5/5 Stars
It took me a while to decide whether I liked this book or not. The overall plot I found interesting, however the execution was... lacking. There were a large amount of grammatical errors, as well as a noticeable amount of spelling errors. Multiple times throughout the book I found myself confused because of a sudden change of perspective in the middle of a chapter without warning. But, probably the most egregious fault of all, is the author not being able to follow their own continuity.
Unfortunately the combat was lacking, it essentially followed the same scheme almost every time; allies fire missiles, enemy fires missiles, repetitive explanation of how all the different countermeasures fire on the incoming missiles, uninteresting explanation of the ships that were destroyed. There were times within the same battle that it felt I was reading the same sentence over and over with the only difference being the number of incoming and/or the number of destroyed missiles.
Overall I felt like the book and the series in general had potential, so I will continue on and see where the next installment takes me.
**Edit**
One thing I forgot to mention; why in the world do their missile tubes have to be facing their target? Why can't the missiles be fired from all tubes and maneuver themselves towards the target? This isn't the 1800's where ships have to line up their broadside to fire at the enemy. So why in the world is that the case in a 4D environment?
Also, the author does a terrible job at making this feel like it's actually in space, not once do I get the feeling of the 4 dimensions.
You know what? After this mini rant it is enough for me to change my rating.
(C)63% | Disappointing
2.5/5 Stars
3.5/5 Stars
It took me a while to decide whether I liked this book or not. The overall plot I found interesting, however the execution was... lacking. There were a large amount of grammatical errors, as well as a noticeable amount of spelling errors. Multiple times throughout the book I found myself confused because of a sudden change of perspective in the middle of a chapter without warning. But, probably the most egregious fault of all, is the author not being able to follow their own continuity.
Unfortunately the combat was lacking, it essentially followed the same scheme almost every time; allies fire missiles, enemy fires missiles, repetitive explanation of how all the different countermeasures fire on the incoming missiles, uninteresting explanation of the ships that were destroyed. There were times within the same battle that it felt I was reading the same sentence over and over with the only difference being the number of incoming and/or the number of destroyed missiles.
Overall I felt like the book and the series in general had potential, so I will continue on and see where the next installment takes me.
**Edit**
One thing I forgot to mention; why in the world do their missile tubes have to be facing their target? Why can't the missiles be fired from all tubes and maneuver themselves towards the target? This isn't the 1800's where ships have to line up their broadside to fire at the enemy. So why in the world is that the case in a 4D environment?
Also, the author does a terrible job at making this feel like it's actually in space, not once do I get the feeling of the 4 dimensions.
You know what? After this mini rant it is enough for me to change my rating.
(C)63% | Disappointing
2.5/5 Stars
January 17, 2016
A new author I haven’t read before. He obviously must be from the United Kingdom which is very much evident in his book, “The Void War”. I know Britain once had a magnificent sailing Navy and a lot of this story comes from that past. Only this time, the ships are starships and they plough through space. And, the space they do fly through has to devoid of dark matter and any other large gravimetric objects, such as stars, planets, moons or even asteroids. By use of the shift drive, starships could go many times the speed of light and therefore cross vast distances of space. Yet, most of that vast space was comprised of dark matter. In order to safely use the shift drives, someone had to survey the areas of dark matter that would cause havoc with starship attempting to use their shift drive.
So, our initial leading character, Commander James Somerville, Captain of the HMS Drake, finds himself doing the boring job of surveying nebulas of dark matter in a tiny British Royal Space Navy ship. His and his ships current assignment was as far as possible away from Earth. Commander Somerville is also British royalty. He is the Duke of Beaufort, but that title wasn’t worth much right now. You see, he was very definitely on the King’s bad list and had been banished from Earth in order to keep him away from the King’s daughter, Princess Christine. So that’s the love story plot.
Yet, the real story involves the discovery of a large “void” in space where there exists several galactic systems with habitat planets that is devoid of dark matter. This has never happened before. His ship, the HMS Drake, just happened to have stumbled on he greatest discovery since mankind started traveling the stars. This void, would create a vast amount of wealth for the nation or nations that controlled it. And so far as Commander Somerville knew, the British had discovered it first. Unfortunately, he later finds out that the Chinese have actually been in another part of the void, but they have not announced their discovery to the Interplanetary Council which they were required to do. Failing to do so negates their claim and they stand to lose a lot of wealthy space. So why had they not announced their discovery. What would they do if they found James’ ship wondering around in the void?
As you read the book, you find that China and Britain are not going to peacefully settle their differences on their claims for the void. War breaks out and Commander Somerville is caught right in the middle. As luck would have it, our leading character is actually a pretty good commanding officer. Although he is royalty, he wants to “earn a living” and has chosen to be in the RSN. He must try and do his duty while keeping the King off his back. Not an easy task.
I found this book an easy read with a lot of action. The characters are pretty well developed and the storyline seems well thought out except I’m not so sure Britain could actually go toe to toe with China. I think China would have way too many starships for Britain to handle. Also, the method to attain peace involving Princess Christine and a Chines Politician seems real ludicrous. I look forward to more stories if this develops into a series.
So, our initial leading character, Commander James Somerville, Captain of the HMS Drake, finds himself doing the boring job of surveying nebulas of dark matter in a tiny British Royal Space Navy ship. His and his ships current assignment was as far as possible away from Earth. Commander Somerville is also British royalty. He is the Duke of Beaufort, but that title wasn’t worth much right now. You see, he was very definitely on the King’s bad list and had been banished from Earth in order to keep him away from the King’s daughter, Princess Christine. So that’s the love story plot.
Yet, the real story involves the discovery of a large “void” in space where there exists several galactic systems with habitat planets that is devoid of dark matter. This has never happened before. His ship, the HMS Drake, just happened to have stumbled on he greatest discovery since mankind started traveling the stars. This void, would create a vast amount of wealth for the nation or nations that controlled it. And so far as Commander Somerville knew, the British had discovered it first. Unfortunately, he later finds out that the Chinese have actually been in another part of the void, but they have not announced their discovery to the Interplanetary Council which they were required to do. Failing to do so negates their claim and they stand to lose a lot of wealthy space. So why had they not announced their discovery. What would they do if they found James’ ship wondering around in the void?
As you read the book, you find that China and Britain are not going to peacefully settle their differences on their claims for the void. War breaks out and Commander Somerville is caught right in the middle. As luck would have it, our leading character is actually a pretty good commanding officer. Although he is royalty, he wants to “earn a living” and has chosen to be in the RSN. He must try and do his duty while keeping the King off his back. Not an easy task.
I found this book an easy read with a lot of action. The characters are pretty well developed and the storyline seems well thought out except I’m not so sure Britain could actually go toe to toe with China. I think China would have way too many starships for Britain to handle. Also, the method to attain peace involving Princess Christine and a Chines Politician seems real ludicrous. I look forward to more stories if this develops into a series.
June 7, 2019
Worth a read
Pros
1) Interesting universe
2) The main character is developed enough
3) There are no glaring deus ex machina plot twists that i can recall
Cons
1) Some typos and grammatical errors that would be absent if the book was properly edited.
2) The love for the Brit monarchy/aristocracy is a bit too rampart and juvenile. Even the queen's most faithful groupies probably don't believe aristocracy equals meritocracy...
3)I had some issues with the science as well.
e.g One can't have so finely tuned gravimetric sensors without a deeper understanding of the field. There should be more applications described if they had that tech level.Instead the ship systems were a patchwork of different tech levels.
4) The main character came out of a YA novel. He is emotionally 15 years old at most.
Despite the cons i kept reading. Hopefully the next installment is better.
Pros
1) Interesting universe
2) The main character is developed enough
3) There are no glaring deus ex machina plot twists that i can recall
Cons
1) Some typos and grammatical errors that would be absent if the book was properly edited.
2) The love for the Brit monarchy/aristocracy is a bit too rampart and juvenile. Even the queen's most faithful groupies probably don't believe aristocracy equals meritocracy...
3)I had some issues with the science as well.
e.g One can't have so finely tuned gravimetric sensors without a deeper understanding of the field. There should be more applications described if they had that tech level.Instead the ship systems were a patchwork of different tech levels.
4) The main character came out of a YA novel. He is emotionally 15 years old at most.
Despite the cons i kept reading. Hopefully the next installment is better.
June 30, 2016
Different from what was expected.
I found this to be a pretty decent read. Different from a Star Wars/ Star Trek universe. The physics seem to be anchored more to what would be probable if we were to enter space as technology stands today. Missiles taking twenty or thirty minutes to reach their target would definitely make for some suspenseful and stressful moments aboard a spacecraft. How are they not all alcoholics? Good back story with the main characters. Overall I enjoyed the read . Seemed to be quite a few typos though. I don't know if this author is using British English or American English. This could be cause for what I see as typos in the writing. I would consider reading more from this author.
I found this to be a pretty decent read. Different from a Star Wars/ Star Trek universe. The physics seem to be anchored more to what would be probable if we were to enter space as technology stands today. Missiles taking twenty or thirty minutes to reach their target would definitely make for some suspenseful and stressful moments aboard a spacecraft. How are they not all alcoholics? Good back story with the main characters. Overall I enjoyed the read . Seemed to be quite a few typos though. I don't know if this author is using British English or American English. This could be cause for what I see as typos in the writing. I would consider reading more from this author.
August 27, 2017
Summary: Classic space opera, some politics, plenty of action. Odd to have Great Britain as a major space power and I don't know what the author has against the Chinese, but ignoring that it makes for a great mini-war space conflict story. Book 2 here I come.
Plotline: Sort of a series of short stories strung together, each well thought out although a bit more subtlety would have been good
Premise: Not particularly detailed but the 'shift drive' seems to work
Writing: Simple descriptive, the reader is right their in the midst of the action
Ending: Well complete British victory ... what else ?
Pace: Never a dull moment!
Plotline: Sort of a series of short stories strung together, each well thought out although a bit more subtlety would have been good
Premise: Not particularly detailed but the 'shift drive' seems to work
Writing: Simple descriptive, the reader is right their in the midst of the action
Ending: Well complete British victory ... what else ?
Pace: Never a dull moment!
October 11, 2016
Great read
What a great start, l have enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more. We see the British fleet stand toe to toe with the Chinese fleet. A new area of space has been discovered, Britain has made a claim. but the Chinese who also have visited the area want it, and are willing to go to war for it. A young commander who has been banished by the king is first on scene, he and his crew find themselves in the thick of it. But there is more to the commander.
What a great start, l have enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more. We see the British fleet stand toe to toe with the Chinese fleet. A new area of space has been discovered, Britain has made a claim. but the Chinese who also have visited the area want it, and are willing to go to war for it. A young commander who has been banished by the king is first on scene, he and his crew find themselves in the thick of it. But there is more to the commander.
January 12, 2018
Excellent
Best traditions of military sci fi. Kept my attention and I started to care for the main characters. Struggled to put it down. Now going straight on to downloading the next book.
Best traditions of military sci fi. Kept my attention and I started to care for the main characters. Struggled to put it down. Now going straight on to downloading the next book.
September 18, 2016
Loved the book
Obviously I love these kind of adventures. They bring out the feeling that good things can happen. Take time of from cynicism... Just for now
Obviously I love these kind of adventures. They bring out the feeling that good things can happen. Take time of from cynicism... Just for now
September 25, 2022
3/5 liked
Finished 100%
The space combat was satisfying and there was a lot of it. The
Disclaimer: My ratings reflect my enjoyment of the book unless stated otherwise. The scale from 1 through 5 is disliked, okay, liked, greatly liked, and loved. The scale is not set with 3 as 'okay' because preserving a normal distribution and "using the whole scale" while reviewing is more important to me than aesthetics (also Goodreads recommends this scale). (webnovels aren't normally distributed, and center closer to 2/5 instead of 3/5. oh well.)
Characters: 2/5 okay
These were okay characters. Some of the "character development" and descriptions were very tell-don't-show, which I did not appreciate. However, coming from months of reading translated webnovels (some of them even machine traslated), my standards are very low. I wouldn't read this for the characters though.
Main character characterization: male, lucky, officer, exiled nobility, handsome, capable
World: 2/5 okay
It's fine. This is science fiction, and things are happening almost entirely on space warships. However, the science is very hand-wavy. Propulsion is achieved using "new technology" which means that ships do not have to worry about delta V. Weapons are for some reason plasma guns of some sort (they are constantly referred to as turrets or guns, so I don't remember what type they are) and (railgun?)-accelerated missiles. For some reason, the main killer weapon of ships are ultimately missiles. However, most missile accelerators only fire to the side of a ship. In addition, ships do not have much armament facing in the same direction the engines are pointing. In addition, ships for some reason cannot launch missiles in any way other than through accelerators which take minutes to "load" between shots, meaning that missile output even on large ships is laughable compared to the total number of missiles stored on board. "Revolutionary innovations" of flak guns to counter missiles, small missile-carrier ships, and using established principles of the FTL engine to communicate FTL somehow took hundreds of years to invent after humanity mastered advanced FTL technology. Also the good guys use long-available "stealth technology" to regularly beat the snot out of the bad guys, but despite the bad guys having the technology as well, they never punish the good guys with it. The good guys also don't take reasonable precautions against it. The whole setup is hackneyed and basically wants very much to be a sail-age historical fantasy novel. I guess space ships were cooler? Also, the political setup is very wish-washy. It is not clearly realistic. The only reason why I am not giving this a one-star is because I am still used to utter drivel that is literally written by google translate, and so am able to ignore much stupidity.
Story: 3/5 liked
The fights were entertaining. I liked that. The actual character interactions were nothing to write home about, and I will not be continuing the series since the good guys win just because the bad guys are obviously dumb. That is never a nice way to have a story written.
In my mind I want to give this one star, but it was entertaining and if I'm giving by webnovels three stars because I like them even though they suck, then I should give this three stars because I liked it.
Finished 100%
The space combat was satisfying and there was a lot of it. The
Disclaimer: My ratings reflect my enjoyment of the book unless stated otherwise. The scale from 1 through 5 is disliked, okay, liked, greatly liked, and loved. The scale is not set with 3 as 'okay' because preserving a normal distribution and "using the whole scale" while reviewing is more important to me than aesthetics (also Goodreads recommends this scale). (webnovels aren't normally distributed, and center closer to 2/5 instead of 3/5. oh well.)
Characters: 2/5 okay
These were okay characters. Some of the "character development" and descriptions were very tell-don't-show, which I did not appreciate. However, coming from months of reading translated webnovels (some of them even machine traslated), my standards are very low. I wouldn't read this for the characters though.
Main character characterization: male, lucky, officer, exiled nobility, handsome, capable
World: 2/5 okay
It's fine. This is science fiction, and things are happening almost entirely on space warships. However, the science is very hand-wavy. Propulsion is achieved using "new technology" which means that ships do not have to worry about delta V. Weapons are for some reason plasma guns of some sort (they are constantly referred to as turrets or guns, so I don't remember what type they are) and (railgun?)-accelerated missiles. For some reason, the main killer weapon of ships are ultimately missiles. However, most missile accelerators only fire to the side of a ship. In addition, ships do not have much armament facing in the same direction the engines are pointing. In addition, ships for some reason cannot launch missiles in any way other than through accelerators which take minutes to "load" between shots, meaning that missile output even on large ships is laughable compared to the total number of missiles stored on board. "Revolutionary innovations" of flak guns to counter missiles, small missile-carrier ships, and using established principles of the FTL engine to communicate FTL somehow took hundreds of years to invent after humanity mastered advanced FTL technology. Also the good guys use long-available "stealth technology" to regularly beat the snot out of the bad guys, but despite the bad guys having the technology as well, they never punish the good guys with it. The good guys also don't take reasonable precautions against it. The whole setup is hackneyed and basically wants very much to be a sail-age historical fantasy novel. I guess space ships were cooler? Also, the political setup is very wish-washy. It is not clearly realistic. The only reason why I am not giving this a one-star is because I am still used to utter drivel that is literally written by google translate, and so am able to ignore much stupidity.
Story: 3/5 liked
The fights were entertaining. I liked that. The actual character interactions were nothing to write home about, and I will not be continuing the series since the good guys win just because the bad guys are obviously dumb. That is never a nice way to have a story written.
In my mind I want to give this one star, but it was entertaining and if I'm giving by webnovels three stars because I like them even though they suck, then I should give this three stars because I liked it.
December 3, 2018
Third time is a charm. This is the third book that I picked in my little drive to find something new to read. I have kind of felt stuck with a bunch of long running series from the same authors for a while and wanted something new. My two previous attempts, A.I. Destroyer and Supercarrier turned out to be a fairly big letdown. This one however turned out to be almost spot on for me.
The story itself is not bad at all. It is another take on the, perhaps not so new anymore, idea of monarchies in the future. In particular the book focuses on the British monarchy (the good guys) and the Chines who are still stuck in a communist dictatorship. Obviously the latter are the bad guys.
One thing that struck me from the start is that this book, unlike the two previously mentioned books, has a good and solid world building. The author starts off with the basics and gradually builds up an understanding of the world. He is being reasonably detailed without it becoming boring.
The science is quite okay. It is not hard core science and wormholes and stuff for faster than light travel is kind of just assumed to exist but at least it is coherent and not just thrown at the reader as it becomes necessary to fix the story. The military part of the science is quite good indeed and the strategy and tactics used are plausible.
I definitely liked the combat parts which was well done with a plausible combination of stealth in space, pre-battle tactics and, of course, the actual combat.
I also quite liked the main protagonist as well as most of his entourage. Something that is fairly important for me. There is actually only one person on the side of the good guys that I really did not like. Unfortunately this person is a rather important one.
The bulk of the book is about a (armed) conflict between the British monarchy and the Chinese communists. This, together with the initial world building, could of course have been enough material for an entire series but this book actually has a beginning, middle and an end with a conclusion. The book of course hints where the story will go from there and I am quite interested to see how the main story arc continues. The fact that this is the first book from this author and I really liked it fills me with hope.
So far so good. However there was one story element that I intensely disliked. Of course it is related to the previously mentioned unlikable person. Trying to avoid spoilers I will only say that it involved an arranged wedding. It was so very un-enjoyable to read and, for me, the entire concept was simply revolting. To me it dragged down the book a lot. Before this I was actually considering five stars but after having read that crap I was tempted to go for three stars instead.
In the end I settled for four out of five stars since I truly liked most of the book.
The story itself is not bad at all. It is another take on the, perhaps not so new anymore, idea of monarchies in the future. In particular the book focuses on the British monarchy (the good guys) and the Chines who are still stuck in a communist dictatorship. Obviously the latter are the bad guys.
One thing that struck me from the start is that this book, unlike the two previously mentioned books, has a good and solid world building. The author starts off with the basics and gradually builds up an understanding of the world. He is being reasonably detailed without it becoming boring.
The science is quite okay. It is not hard core science and wormholes and stuff for faster than light travel is kind of just assumed to exist but at least it is coherent and not just thrown at the reader as it becomes necessary to fix the story. The military part of the science is quite good indeed and the strategy and tactics used are plausible.
I definitely liked the combat parts which was well done with a plausible combination of stealth in space, pre-battle tactics and, of course, the actual combat.
I also quite liked the main protagonist as well as most of his entourage. Something that is fairly important for me. There is actually only one person on the side of the good guys that I really did not like. Unfortunately this person is a rather important one.
The bulk of the book is about a (armed) conflict between the British monarchy and the Chinese communists. This, together with the initial world building, could of course have been enough material for an entire series but this book actually has a beginning, middle and an end with a conclusion. The book of course hints where the story will go from there and I am quite interested to see how the main story arc continues. The fact that this is the first book from this author and I really liked it fills me with hope.
So far so good. However there was one story element that I intensely disliked. Of course it is related to the previously mentioned unlikable person. Trying to avoid spoilers I will only say that it involved an arranged wedding. It was so very un-enjoyable to read and, for me, the entire concept was simply revolting. To me it dragged down the book a lot. Before this I was actually considering five stars but after having read that crap I was tempted to go for three stars instead.
In the end I settled for four out of five stars since I truly liked most of the book.
April 11, 2021
I like The Void War: 3 bill-stars, worthy.
This book falls in the military sci-fi category, and it's chockful 'o action. In fact, much of the book resembles an action movie. There are lots of battles out in space, then some filler, and then more action. Frankly, that's enough to keep this humble (and immature male) reader satisfied. Just like an action movie.
Second, there isn't really all that much other than action to talk about. The characters are just okay. This book would be much better with a wee bit of humor. It's really surprising how low-tech everything is 400 years from now. Ships are firing regular, old missiles and plasma guns at each other. It takes days/weeks to communicate. The ships are from the UK and China; there aren't any new species involved in the mayhem. Action movies don't really require tons of creativity to succeed though as long as stuff keeps blowing up.
QOTD
Before Zu could call out any orders the twin plasma bolts covered the distance between the two ships and blew through the valstronium armor of his cruiser. By chance they managed to knock out the communication links between the bridge and the central firing control for the cruiser’s plasma cannons. The order to return fire never made it to Yang Wei’s weapons officer. Within seconds two more plasma bolts ravaged the Yang Wei and then two more burst right through the ship causing her to explode in one more dramatic fireball.
- some action in The Void War
There are many reference to British naval battles and history, which is okay. This is a self-published book, so you get a few typos here and there. That doesn't really bother me too much.
The Void War is a good read. This is the first book in the Empire Rising series. I expect I'll read the next one somewhere down the line. You can't watch too many action movies. (ha)
thanks...yow, bill
May 22, 2021
So, an interesting, play on how Humanity has expanded to the stars based on the competing nation states on Earth. It is British centric, and It has an interesting play on British culture where the class system is back. Effective colour of your skin is less important than your connections and the school you went to which defines your place in the system (so not that different from today). Ironically as this was written a long time ago before Brexit was a thing it's not too far off the Brexit supporters utopic dream for a Britain of the future. I guess I mean by that, we are kind of looking at British society based on the Empire era of the 1920s, with no more immigration, but for those who had ethnic ties to other counties, they had been broken so you are absolute British to the core regardless of background.
With that background you then move into a classic space opera with fleet battles over colonies. The leaders of the British fleets are all very capable people running things with a stiff upper lip wining battles against the odd with superior leadership and ships. So in some ways a homage to the history of the Royal Navy in the Nelson mould.
I personally love the series as it’s well written, with battles described in great detail using consistent physic ( within the realms of this series universe) As I’m a Brit I kind of see how I’d fit into that world (sadly at the bottom lol) which makes it have another layer for me. Definitely worth reading and I having read the rest of the series I think it plays out well as the books go on.
With that background you then move into a classic space opera with fleet battles over colonies. The leaders of the British fleets are all very capable people running things with a stiff upper lip wining battles against the odd with superior leadership and ships. So in some ways a homage to the history of the Royal Navy in the Nelson mould.
I personally love the series as it’s well written, with battles described in great detail using consistent physic ( within the realms of this series universe) As I’m a Brit I kind of see how I’d fit into that world (sadly at the bottom lol) which makes it have another layer for me. Definitely worth reading and I having read the rest of the series I think it plays out well as the books go on.
July 24, 2017
Four and a half stars. I had to take off half a star for "shock waves in space". This is a terrific balance of well paced action and richly developed characters. There are plenty of battles and they set a nice pace for action, but it is the characters that really make this story shine.
I have read other reviews that compare this to Hornblower. While the characters are good, they aren't that good (at least not yet). I could see this compared to the later Hornblower series "Flying Colours" and later but not to the early works where Horatio is rising through the lower ranks.
Holmes does a great job of building drama and thinking through technological problems. He has built an interesting universe and has obviously carefully considered how the technology would effect tactics on both a small and large scale. It is this serious tactical consideration that almost makes me believe there could be shock waves in space. I also appreciate the perspective from the Chinese adversaries. It makes them seem more real to see there motivations and considerations. They are not "evil" just tied to their culture and goals for development. It makes them seem more realistic.
A strong start to a potentially great series.
I have read other reviews that compare this to Hornblower. While the characters are good, they aren't that good (at least not yet). I could see this compared to the later Hornblower series "Flying Colours" and later but not to the early works where Horatio is rising through the lower ranks.
Holmes does a great job of building drama and thinking through technological problems. He has built an interesting universe and has obviously carefully considered how the technology would effect tactics on both a small and large scale. It is this serious tactical consideration that almost makes me believe there could be shock waves in space. I also appreciate the perspective from the Chinese adversaries. It makes them seem more real to see there motivations and considerations. They are not "evil" just tied to their culture and goals for development. It makes them seem more realistic.
A strong start to a potentially great series.
August 10, 2019
I am a fan of the genre of Napoleonic era British naval fiction written by authors such as Patrick O’Brien, Dudley Pope, and CS Forrester and frankly ran out of material years ago, so I have switched to reading space opera type books searching for a similar experience.
This book is a great early effort by an author whom I hope continues to write a future version of a Napoleonic Pax Britannica. I am surprised by the harshness of some reviewers - this is obviously an early effort, yes there are many typos and grammatical errors that a copy of Grammerly would solve, but look past that and there is a good story here with all the seeds of a long and satisfying journey. I particularly liked the clever use of dark matter as a limiting obstacle to navigation coupled with a lack of instant “subspace” communications capability, which results in naval forces having to operate independent of central command.
If you enjoy a blend of 18th century Royal Navy with future military sci-fi - I invite you to read this book.
This book is a great early effort by an author whom I hope continues to write a future version of a Napoleonic Pax Britannica. I am surprised by the harshness of some reviewers - this is obviously an early effort, yes there are many typos and grammatical errors that a copy of Grammerly would solve, but look past that and there is a good story here with all the seeds of a long and satisfying journey. I particularly liked the clever use of dark matter as a limiting obstacle to navigation coupled with a lack of instant “subspace” communications capability, which results in naval forces having to operate independent of central command.
If you enjoy a blend of 18th century Royal Navy with future military sci-fi - I invite you to read this book.
February 21, 2021
Entertaining but flawed and the flaws win.
While.the author has a good story to tell, science fiction is definitely NOT his strength. Continuing to use fission and fusion interchangeably is almost as inexcusable as having ships drift to.A halt when losing engine power and inter-mixing acceleration and speed as equivalent. Treating a 3D environment as 2D where ships are apparent unable to roll.and all maneuvers are in the exact same plane and not an exhaustive list of what quickly gets in the way of what would be an entertaining story but are by far the most aggreious. The first 7 chapters are a case.study for.up and coming authors on the value of an editor with homonym errors and missed key typos that a spell check doesn't catch. (made vs mad, you vs your, ate vs art, etc.)
I feel generous with giving a 2nd star because this would have been a fairly good tale of courage, redemption, and the maturing of an unseasoned commander if it had been placed in a 19th century wet navy environment.
While.the author has a good story to tell, science fiction is definitely NOT his strength. Continuing to use fission and fusion interchangeably is almost as inexcusable as having ships drift to.A halt when losing engine power and inter-mixing acceleration and speed as equivalent. Treating a 3D environment as 2D where ships are apparent unable to roll.and all maneuvers are in the exact same plane and not an exhaustive list of what quickly gets in the way of what would be an entertaining story but are by far the most aggreious. The first 7 chapters are a case.study for.up and coming authors on the value of an editor with homonym errors and missed key typos that a spell check doesn't catch. (made vs mad, you vs your, ate vs art, etc.)
I feel generous with giving a 2nd star because this would have been a fairly good tale of courage, redemption, and the maturing of an unseasoned commander if it had been placed in a 19th century wet navy environment.
March 31, 2024
This is an old school space opera going back to the days of EE ‘Doc’ Smith and Isaac Asimov, and given its limitations was an enjoyable read, but with a few issues.
My first problem with the book is the idea that Britain would become the major ‘space’ power, however I just assumed the author wanted to follow in the footsteps of C S Forester and Patrick O'Brian etc and just decided to use Royal Navy traditions as part of his story and this was the easiest way of doing this.
However, I soon found his attachment to the ‘Nobility’ quit annoying and this only got worse the further into the book, becoming almost medieval.
The earlier big space battles were interesting, but the author had problems with the difference between a traditional sea battle and a battle in space. In the end it was easier just to ignore the inconsistencies and go with the flow.
Unfortunately the battles did tend to degenerate into a ‘slug fest’ towards the end of the book.
Overall, even though the story is clichéd and the writing style is a bit clunky, I still found it an enjoyable read.
My first problem with the book is the idea that Britain would become the major ‘space’ power, however I just assumed the author wanted to follow in the footsteps of C S Forester and Patrick O'Brian etc and just decided to use Royal Navy traditions as part of his story and this was the easiest way of doing this.
However, I soon found his attachment to the ‘Nobility’ quit annoying and this only got worse the further into the book, becoming almost medieval.
The earlier big space battles were interesting, but the author had problems with the difference between a traditional sea battle and a battle in space. In the end it was easier just to ignore the inconsistencies and go with the flow.
Unfortunately the battles did tend to degenerate into a ‘slug fest’ towards the end of the book.
Overall, even though the story is clichéd and the writing style is a bit clunky, I still found it an enjoyable read.
May 23, 2018
The Tech is extraordinary
This is a serious glimpse to the future the first couple chapters took a minute to process there is so much info.I'll be reading them again.but my God once you get into it the story I'd absolutely like a page from a history book.incredible. I commend you D.J. Question? Are you English?sure the answer is in there somewhere it's just that your knowledge of royalty lead me to believe it is more than an American pass time. Or your just brilliant as is this work of art.
Bravo Zulu.
That's a little piece of American naval history. Not so historic tho since I'm still alive and i earned a few during my time in Lebanon. Something for you to look up!!
Thanks again can't wait to read on!
Respectfully
RM3 D.L. Warren
USS Guam LPH-9. 1984-1987
This is a serious glimpse to the future the first couple chapters took a minute to process there is so much info.I'll be reading them again.but my God once you get into it the story I'd absolutely like a page from a history book.incredible. I commend you D.J. Question? Are you English?sure the answer is in there somewhere it's just that your knowledge of royalty lead me to believe it is more than an American pass time. Or your just brilliant as is this work of art.
Bravo Zulu.
That's a little piece of American naval history. Not so historic tho since I'm still alive and i earned a few during my time in Lebanon. Something for you to look up!!
Thanks again can't wait to read on!
Respectfully
RM3 D.L. Warren
USS Guam LPH-9. 1984-1987
June 21, 2019
I give the author 10:10 for writing and having the belief to self publish his work, however there are reasons why an editor and qualified proofreader are required. They can turn an average book into something quite readable.
This book contains so many grammatical and spelling mistakes that it takes you away from the enjoyment of reading the book. The story is a little too simple in its approach and execution l, the characters are very one dimensional.
Tried hard to finish it but had to give up but as it only cost £3.84p off an online warehouse I cannot complain.
Hats off though to the author for his attempt I hope his other works have improved, alas I won’t be buying anymore.
This book contains so many grammatical and spelling mistakes that it takes you away from the enjoyment of reading the book. The story is a little too simple in its approach and execution l, the characters are very one dimensional.
Tried hard to finish it but had to give up but as it only cost £3.84p off an online warehouse I cannot complain.
Hats off though to the author for his attempt I hope his other works have improved, alas I won’t be buying anymore.
May 24, 2021
I was surprised but this is quite excellent!
It's always difficult when you've exhausted a favorite author's bibliography. Searching for something new is always fraught with potential disappointment.
Well, have no fear here. This is an excellent blend of hard sci-fi space battles with a fair bit of intricate but not confusing political scenes that basically are a setup fit the "good stuff". I have only read this single book which honestly could be taken on it's own but I greatly look forward to the remainder of the series. Thank you D.J. (can't call you Mr Holmes sorry 😉), you've made my life better for having read it.
It's always difficult when you've exhausted a favorite author's bibliography. Searching for something new is always fraught with potential disappointment.
Well, have no fear here. This is an excellent blend of hard sci-fi space battles with a fair bit of intricate but not confusing political scenes that basically are a setup fit the "good stuff". I have only read this single book which honestly could be taken on it's own but I greatly look forward to the remainder of the series. Thank you D.J. (can't call you Mr Holmes sorry 😉), you've made my life better for having read it.
July 16, 2019
This story is like Honor Harrington was in the 1st book. Before Webber made the universe mega complicated and massively overblown. I think I may like this series better. This book doesn't have a doctoral thesis worth of phony science to explain the dynamics of how every single thing works. Simply stating the ship has space engines and the plasma guns fire is more appealing to me. The main thing is the flavor of Hornblower and Aubrey/Maturin is rich and flavorful. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Maybe a 6 legged.......nah.
February 16, 2022
according to Kindle unlimited I have read this book, it’s a shame I did not leave a review.
Good first book in a series. So far I enjoy the main protagonist Commander Somerville, interested to see how his career path grows. According to Kendall I have already read this book but did not review it. Anyway the battles of fast paced for space to space battles, some good ground combat not as much as I would like. Will go on and read the next book and see where I left off and series, very enjoyable.
Good first book in a series. So far I enjoy the main protagonist Commander Somerville, interested to see how his career path grows. According to Kendall I have already read this book but did not review it. Anyway the battles of fast paced for space to space battles, some good ground combat not as much as I would like. Will go on and read the next book and see where I left off and series, very enjoyable.
June 11, 2017
Love Lost Career Gained
James is a hero with the emotional deficits of a man who realizes he Will be unable to be with the love of his life. He is a sympathetic realistic character. I really like the military and political science aspects of the story. The battle scenes make me feel like I am right on the bridge of the ship with James. The ending leads us right into the next book which I will get into soon.
James is a hero with the emotional deficits of a man who realizes he Will be unable to be with the love of his life. He is a sympathetic realistic character. I really like the military and political science aspects of the story. The battle scenes make me feel like I am right on the bridge of the ship with James. The ending leads us right into the next book which I will get into soon.
July 21, 2023
Action Packed.
Whilst the first few chapters are a little documentary heavy it soon picks up speed and turns into an action packed page turner, with well fleshed out characters and believable storylines this is a great start to the series. Its difficult to say much about the main plot without massive spoilers, suffice it to say that if you like old school sci fi with epic space battles and non stop action then this is for you, Baz.
Whilst the first few chapters are a little documentary heavy it soon picks up speed and turns into an action packed page turner, with well fleshed out characters and believable storylines this is a great start to the series. Its difficult to say much about the main plot without massive spoilers, suffice it to say that if you like old school sci fi with epic space battles and non stop action then this is for you, Baz.
July 5, 2018
I was pleasantly surprised by this book so much so that I have downloaded the second one of the series straight away.
The store has a lot of substance and the characters are loveable and progressively grow.
The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because it took me a while to get used to the writing style. The grammar didn't seem right to me but after a while, I got used to this
The store has a lot of substance and the characters are loveable and progressively grow.
The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because it took me a while to get used to the writing style. The grammar didn't seem right to me but after a while, I got used to this
July 8, 2019
I am giving this 3 stars even though the writing is pretty erratic. There is a really good story struggling to come out. If the author could work with an editor I think that he would have a good future. As it is, the spelling, grammar and somewhat simplistic (infrequent thank goodness) twists hold this book back.
September 13, 2020
The author needs a better editor to address some recurring word choice errors and a pattern of what I believe are run-on sentences. Nonetheless, overall a fun story. I especially enjoyed the new (to me) approach to FTL travel and the structure of the universe. I'm interested to see where the story goes from here.
August 13, 2021
Good, not great
I enjoyed the majority of this book and I don't regret reading it. However, I deaded the romance portions. When they occurred it almost seemed like a YA novel where the main characters were in high school.
I'm not sure if I'll read the next book yet. I liked the foreshadowing of aliens and the history snippets at the beginning of the chapters, so we'll see.
I enjoyed the majority of this book and I don't regret reading it. However, I deaded the romance portions. When they occurred it almost seemed like a YA novel where the main characters were in high school.
I'm not sure if I'll read the next book yet. I liked the foreshadowing of aliens and the history snippets at the beginning of the chapters, so we'll see.
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