Draxius Redeemed: A Gateway Novella

Gateway #n1

by Brian Dorsey

“‘Move,’ she said to herself, reluctantly stepping over the girl’s body toward the door. In the few steps between the dead youth and the exit, the disgust that hung over her suddenly transitioned to a spark and then an inferno of rage. She had to complete the mission—and the mission was just.”


Her ship Draxius—destroyed. Her platoon—scattered, captured, or killed. Her enemies—numerous and powerful. Stranded in the icy swamps of planet Golf 2, deep in the Neutral Quadrant—better known as the Dark Zone—Lieutenant Emily Martin stands on the verge of becoming one more body among the countless casualties in the covert war between the Xen Empire and the Terillian Confederation.


Despite the destruction of her ship and the deaths of her fellow Guardsmen, despite the threat of enemy warriors slinking through the hostile landscape, the mission remains: rescue her captured brothers in arms and find out what the Terillians are up to on this isolated, inhospitable rock.


With few resources and few allies, the odds are mightily stacked against Lieutenant Martin. But that’s never stopped her before.

Genres: Science Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2015

About the author

Brian Dorsey is a retired Naval Officer and writer of horror, science fiction, and fantasy books, comics, and screenplays.
www.mountaineerwest.com

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Draxius Redeemed is freaking brutal and wonderful. Such an excellent read, I thought it was freaking awesome!!! Please be sure to read Draxius Lost first. ;)

There was a particular part at which I thought "I've never seen this before, it's disturbing, but so incredibly cool!".

Very good at showing the bad that sometimes has to be done in order to do good. That is certainly something that a lot of people don't understand... sometimes good people have to do bad things.

[Amanda Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like to see a main character—of either gender—kick ass and take names, Draxius Redeemed is for you. If you’re especially into the kind of story where a female character does the aforementioned kicking of ass (your Buffys, your Black Widows, etc.) then what are you waiting for? Lieutenant Emily Martin is cast from this mold, and she takes and gives beatings as necessary in service of her duties to her post, her comrades, and her mission. Hardly a page goes by in this compact novella that doesn’t feature Martin engaged in serious combat—and the other pages have her planning to engage in serious combat.

Actually, though, you should probably wait for one thing: Read Draxius Lost, the first of two novellas (Draxius Redeemed is the second) that together serve as a kind of prequel to Dorsey’s novel Gateway, released last year. It’s possible to catch up by starting with Draxius Redeemed—and I credit Dorsey’s skills as a storyteller in making this novella, which is really a third installment of sorts, accessible without bogging down his plot. So you can start here—especially if you flip to the glossary at the end—but you’ll get twice the action if you start with Draxius Lost, because the first chapter literally picks up right where that novella ends.

Both books feature nonstop action and combat, but Draxius Redeemed really doubles down on the dark places. Martin’s badass credentials remain unassailable, and those fight sequences are nail-biters even when you’re pretty confident she’s going to prevail. At the same time, you get to see Martin and some of the other characters do some ugly and disturbing things in order to survive and complete the mission, and what makes this work is how you see each of them struggling with these choices in a kill-or-be-killed situation. Their actions weigh on them, and even in open combat you can see they have a kind of respect for their opponents and enemies. So as a reader you end up coming for the action and staying for the dilemmas that the struggle for survival during wartime can place on good people.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed veering off the main Gateway story to get a little deeper glimpse at the character of Emily Martin. There was so much about this book that I liked. First of all, the action was non-stop which always makes for an exciting read. The author did a fantastic job of depicting some of the horrors of war. Not just the usual fear of dying and watching comrades die, but beyond that, dealing with situations that force one to compromise morals or personal beliefs in order to just survive. I enjoyed the dynamics of the characters, particularly seeing how the experienced sergeant takes a hand in molding a young lieutenant. And I can't help it, I really hope Martin and Stone are able to get back on the same page eventually as I love how he picks her for his team and becomes something of a mentor. I love the gritty, and somewhat volatile nature of Martin. My only complaint is that she comes off as a little too super human in this story. In my opinion she recovers too quickly from serious injuries that a simple bit of congealing agent seems to cure. With knife and gunshot wounds I'd be expecting at least some internal damage of some sort...not the kind of thing one simply jumps up from quickly. At the very least I would have expected a little more struggle in that regard and certainly a strong need for some serious medical treatment. Still though, it was a great military science fiction read and I can't wait until the next in the Gateway series is out.