What do you think?
Rate this book
Symphony of War
The Polema Campaign
Lieutenant Marcus Servus, officer and prisoner of the Penal Legion, serves on the desert world of Polema, the final bastion of the outer colonies. He and his soldiers, scum of the colonies, stand against insectoid boogeymen from another galaxy. Marcus has a gift. A curse. An edge against the he hears music. Songs in his head guide him, granting him knowledge and foresight, a weapon against the alien hordes. The music is his ally, but who plucks the strings? War rages on Polema, and Marcus's men hold the balance of power in their hands. Book one of the Symphony of War series.
- GenresScience Fiction
199 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 20, 2015
4 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
David Adams
54 books73 followersI've always been writing in my mind. I have way, way, way too many stories to tell and far too little time to tell them.
I've been involved in Star Trek roleplay-by-emails for a few years, where basically I learned my craft, but it's only last year that I actually started putting these thoughts to paper.
By day I'm a software engineer. But by night I write a little science fiction, a little fantasy, a little humour and comedy, and a little erotica under pen names.
I've been involved in Star Trek roleplay-by-emails for a few years, where basically I learned my craft, but it's only last year that I actually started putting these thoughts to paper.
By day I'm a software engineer. But by night I write a little science fiction, a little fantasy, a little humour and comedy, and a little erotica under pen names.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 14, 2016
A solid Sci-Fi space marine story held back by a plot that tries to be a little too smart for it's own good.
The military fiction side of this story is really well done. The concept of a squad of mostly criminals forming the Dirty Dozen of Space Marines is solid; and when they are on the ground doing their thing this book is highly entertaining. When it got away from that, sadly, some problems show up.
The book often chooses to focus on grittiness over pragmatism, which doesn't quite mesh with the military setting. For example, it goes in depth about how their squad is treated more poorly than normal squads but sometimes that poor treatment required more effort than the standard treatment. Which seems hypocritical to the tone the story seems to be going for which is that "This group is expendable".
Wasn't a big fan of the plot twist either because I thought it rendered much of what the book did well meaningless. Like the story built something nice only to burn it down. And maybe burning it down was the point but it seemed like a waste of potential to me.
The military fiction side of this story is really well done. The concept of a squad of mostly criminals forming the Dirty Dozen of Space Marines is solid; and when they are on the ground doing their thing this book is highly entertaining. When it got away from that, sadly, some problems show up.
The book often chooses to focus on grittiness over pragmatism, which doesn't quite mesh with the military setting. For example, it goes in depth about how their squad is treated more poorly than normal squads but sometimes that poor treatment required more effort than the standard treatment. Which seems hypocritical to the tone the story seems to be going for which is that "This group is expendable".
Wasn't a big fan of the plot twist either because I thought it rendered much of what the book did well meaningless. Like the story built something nice only to burn it down. And maybe burning it down was the point but it seemed like a waste of potential to me.
July 26, 2017
The last chapter ruined the whole book for me.
April 23, 2017
Didn't Like Ending
Overall, not a bad book -- easy read that goes fast. Author's podium on war was good, enjoyed reading what we preach.
Action was ok as well as characters, up to a point. Serial killer? Pedophile? Hard characters to like n get into. The interactions of characters was off for penal unit and people in it. In the good old days, prison or Army, USMC. We had some characters and much like author points out, they could fight. But you needed hard nose leadership style which story implies, but they go into combat n make Seals look bad.
Military Discrepancies can be ignored. LT for 10? M-16 exact how many years in future? Rapid training cycle n not sure what. Fire tms, squads, plt's ... If you're talking grunt, then talk it. Not just 10 guys put together. Starship Troopers, movie version.
MC was ok until end. Disappointed and not sure if I'll read next. Didn't have to introduce other race nor have MC begin as he did. Just a turn off for me, a little macabre despite banter at end with the bad guy leader.
Overall, not a bad book -- easy read that goes fast. Author's podium on war was good, enjoyed reading what we preach.
Action was ok as well as characters, up to a point. Serial killer? Pedophile? Hard characters to like n get into. The interactions of characters was off for penal unit and people in it. In the good old days, prison or Army, USMC. We had some characters and much like author points out, they could fight. But you needed hard nose leadership style which story implies, but they go into combat n make Seals look bad.
Military Discrepancies can be ignored. LT for 10? M-16 exact how many years in future? Rapid training cycle n not sure what. Fire tms, squads, plt's ... If you're talking grunt, then talk it. Not just 10 guys put together. Starship Troopers, movie version.
MC was ok until end. Disappointed and not sure if I'll read next. Didn't have to introduce other race nor have MC begin as he did. Just a turn off for me, a little macabre despite banter at end with the bad guy leader.
February 3, 2016
Interesting read
The book started slow for me but gradually drew me in as I wanted to learn more about the protagonist. An interesting take on a theme, I look forward to the next book in the series.
The book started slow for me but gradually drew me in as I wanted to learn more about the protagonist. An interesting take on a theme, I look forward to the next book in the series.
October 22, 2016
This story is filled with fighting by particularly nasty people against an extremely nasty foe, the twist at the end made it almost worth it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews