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Radiation Angels #1
The Chimerium Gambit
When civil unrest strikes a planet, when invaders get past the navy and start their ground assault, when terrorist forces attempt to topple a government, you can call for help.
Planets contact the last vestige of ground soldiery: Mercenaries. As long as the mercenaries get paid, as long as everybody plays by the rules, everything is fine.
Captain Todd Rook is in charge of an elite fighting force: The Radiation Angels. Armed with searing plasma cannons, armor piercing railguns, or semi-smart explosives, these are the high tech warriors who get the dangerous jobs done. Though contracted to enter battle on Ashley 9, at every turn it appears that their employers are set on making their job as difficult as possible.
They were promised generous pay, an easy battle, and spoils of war. All these promises are broken. Faced with economic ruin, Rook decides to bet his life and the lives of the Angels on a long shot that will put them all in mortal peril. It's a gamble that will take them across the known universe to the most lawless planet in all the colonies: Mars.
Chased by cyborgs, enemy mercenaries, and an aerospace task force, Rook has bet that everything he cares about up... The Chimerium Gambit.
Planets contact the last vestige of ground soldiery: Mercenaries. As long as the mercenaries get paid, as long as everybody plays by the rules, everything is fine.
Captain Todd Rook is in charge of an elite fighting force: The Radiation Angels. Armed with searing plasma cannons, armor piercing railguns, or semi-smart explosives, these are the high tech warriors who get the dangerous jobs done. Though contracted to enter battle on Ashley 9, at every turn it appears that their employers are set on making their job as difficult as possible.
They were promised generous pay, an easy battle, and spoils of war. All these promises are broken. Faced with economic ruin, Rook decides to bet his life and the lives of the Angels on a long shot that will put them all in mortal peril. It's a gamble that will take them across the known universe to the most lawless planet in all the colonies: Mars.
Chased by cyborgs, enemy mercenaries, and an aerospace task force, Rook has bet that everything he cares about up... The Chimerium Gambit.
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2006
About the author
James Daniel Ross
41 books65 followersA native of Cincinnati, Ohio, James has been an actor, computer tech support operator, historic info-tainment tour guide, armed self defense retailer, automotive petrol attendant, youth entertainment stock replacement specialist, mass market Italian chef, low priority courier, monthly printed media retailer, automotive industry miscellaneous task facilitator, and ditch digger.
The Radiation Angels: The Chimerium Gambit is his first novel.
James Daniel Ross shares a Dream Realm Award with the other others in Breach the Hull, and an EPPIE award with the others appearing in Bad Ass Faeries 2.
Most people are begging him to go back to ditch digging.
The Radiation Angels: The Chimerium Gambit is his first novel.
James Daniel Ross shares a Dream Realm Award with the other others in Breach the Hull, and an EPPIE award with the others appearing in Bad Ass Faeries 2.
Most people are begging him to go back to ditch digging.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 22, 2011
You know you're going to enjoy a book when you have trouble putting it down after the first couple of pages. That was the happy dilemma I faced with James Daniel Ross's Radiation Angels: The Chimerium Gambit. The book is a fast-paced, gritty science fiction offering that entertains with equal parts futuristic combat action and colourful, dark wit.
The Radiation Angels, or Angels for short, are a team of mercenaries led by Captain Todd Rook. In this distant future, humans have migrated into space and inhabited many planets, creating a far-flung system of independent planetary governments. These regimes do not always coexist in peace, of course, owing to human nature. However, the mainstay of planetary armed forces is in space vessels: ships that can carry warfare to other worlds. Because of the great expense and resource allocations necessitated by the construction and maintenance of these interplanetary navies, governments are not usually able to afford a standing army of any significant size. They must turn to mercenary groups, like the Radiation Angels, to carry out their plans on the ground.
This is where we are introduced to Captain Rook and his team as the story begins. They have been hired to infiltrate a sprawling, underground citadel on planet Ashley 9 and apprehend a traitor to the government who has barricaded himself within the massive fortress. Because of the sheer scale of the citadel, a number of mercenary armies have been hired to complete the job.
Not long after the Angels enter the fortress, Captain Rook and his team begin to realize that things are not as they have been told. The Angels survive an ambush, and soon afterward it becomes obvious that their employer—Supreme Admiral Tomlinson—has sent all mercenaries in with identical orders. What this means is that each team, upon realizing their only chance to make a profit from this dangerous affair lies in being the first to locate and capture the traitor, will face the temptation to openly attack their rivals. Rook knows that many will easily choose the role of the aggressor.
Now facing both enemy soldiers and competing mercenary groups, Rook and the Angels continue on, desperate to locate their target. They are attacked by an infamous mercenary team known as the Tribe of Nine: cyborg warriors that are more machine than human. They are incredibly difficult to stop and carry devastating weapons, and the fact that they are few in number is little comfort to Rook and his fellows.
Battered and bruised, having lost a number of their brethren, the Angels survive, owing to the quick and heroic actions of several members, including Rook himself. Fortunately, the Tribe of Nine had located the traitor, which allows the Angels to secure the target and complete the mission.
Their elation is short-lived, as Tomlinson not only refuses to grant the Angels a number of items specified in their contract, but also manufactures a campaign to vilify them in the eyes of his planet's population. Rook and his mercenaries escape Ashley 9 with what Rook hopes is the key to a plan that will allow the Angels to redeem themselves and be rid of Tomlinson's treachery for good. The problem is that they've now become the targets, wanted on trumped-up charges of treason. Every rag-tag mercenary group in the vicinity is going to want a chance to strike at the Angels, as is one particular clan that has a score to settle.
Ross's writing style is well-suited to an action/adventure story such as this. He provides rich details about the universe he's created, from the motivations of individual characters to the complex science behind the weaponry and technology that these mercenaries depend on for their livelihoods. He weaves a tale that is, at once, believable and other-worldly. I highly recommend this entertaining story and I look forward to more from this author.
The Radiation Angels, or Angels for short, are a team of mercenaries led by Captain Todd Rook. In this distant future, humans have migrated into space and inhabited many planets, creating a far-flung system of independent planetary governments. These regimes do not always coexist in peace, of course, owing to human nature. However, the mainstay of planetary armed forces is in space vessels: ships that can carry warfare to other worlds. Because of the great expense and resource allocations necessitated by the construction and maintenance of these interplanetary navies, governments are not usually able to afford a standing army of any significant size. They must turn to mercenary groups, like the Radiation Angels, to carry out their plans on the ground.
This is where we are introduced to Captain Rook and his team as the story begins. They have been hired to infiltrate a sprawling, underground citadel on planet Ashley 9 and apprehend a traitor to the government who has barricaded himself within the massive fortress. Because of the sheer scale of the citadel, a number of mercenary armies have been hired to complete the job.
Not long after the Angels enter the fortress, Captain Rook and his team begin to realize that things are not as they have been told. The Angels survive an ambush, and soon afterward it becomes obvious that their employer—Supreme Admiral Tomlinson—has sent all mercenaries in with identical orders. What this means is that each team, upon realizing their only chance to make a profit from this dangerous affair lies in being the first to locate and capture the traitor, will face the temptation to openly attack their rivals. Rook knows that many will easily choose the role of the aggressor.
Now facing both enemy soldiers and competing mercenary groups, Rook and the Angels continue on, desperate to locate their target. They are attacked by an infamous mercenary team known as the Tribe of Nine: cyborg warriors that are more machine than human. They are incredibly difficult to stop and carry devastating weapons, and the fact that they are few in number is little comfort to Rook and his fellows.
Battered and bruised, having lost a number of their brethren, the Angels survive, owing to the quick and heroic actions of several members, including Rook himself. Fortunately, the Tribe of Nine had located the traitor, which allows the Angels to secure the target and complete the mission.
Their elation is short-lived, as Tomlinson not only refuses to grant the Angels a number of items specified in their contract, but also manufactures a campaign to vilify them in the eyes of his planet's population. Rook and his mercenaries escape Ashley 9 with what Rook hopes is the key to a plan that will allow the Angels to redeem themselves and be rid of Tomlinson's treachery for good. The problem is that they've now become the targets, wanted on trumped-up charges of treason. Every rag-tag mercenary group in the vicinity is going to want a chance to strike at the Angels, as is one particular clan that has a score to settle.
Ross's writing style is well-suited to an action/adventure story such as this. He provides rich details about the universe he's created, from the motivations of individual characters to the complex science behind the weaponry and technology that these mercenaries depend on for their livelihoods. He weaves a tale that is, at once, believable and other-worldly. I highly recommend this entertaining story and I look forward to more from this author.
June 1, 2014
The first in the Radiation Angels series, Ross paints a unique picture of a future populated by the results of a space based penal system. Main character, Rook, blends a voice that is strangely reminicient of some of the stronger works of Robert Heinlein with a more modern tone. A promising work that starts a strong series, and great things are sure to come in future works.
January 12, 2010
While the author seemed to have been picking up his stride with this book, it was another magnificent read that I could not put down.
The characters were well thought out, the action was described with vivid detail, and the world he created seemed utterly unique.
The characters were well thought out, the action was described with vivid detail, and the world he created seemed utterly unique.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews