From Hugo- nominated, bestselling Amazon science fiction author David VanDyke come three Plague Wars: Alien Invasion/Stellar Conquest novelettes in one volume of 125 pages.
Steel's First Temper: Jill "Reaper" Repeth must complete a tough rescue mission on a Meme asteroid base while beginning to train a new protégé, Joseph "Bull" ben Tauros.
A Hotter Forge: Bull and Reaper are assigned to capture one of the Pure Race, but a Blend throws a monkey wrench into their plan, forcing them into a no-win battle.
What Price Humanity? Vincent "Vango" Markis awakes to find himself blind and helpless. Soon it become apparent that he and his fellow pilots are trapped in a situation with no choices and only one way out. A slightly shorter version was previously published in Jerry Pournelle's anthology There Will Be War X.
Plague Wars: Decade One - The Eden Plague - Reaper's Run - Skull's Shadows - Eden's Exodus - Apocalypse Austin - Nearest Night
Plague Wars: Alien Invasion - The Demon Plagues - The Reaper Plague - The Orion Plague - Cyborg Strike - Comes the Destroyer - Forge and Steel
Plague Wars: Stellar Conquest - First Conquest - Desolator - Tactics of Conquest - Conquest of Earth - Conquest and Empire
David VanDyke is a former Army Airborne soldier and later, an Air Force officer. He lives in the Tucson area with his wife and three dogs. Look him up at davidvandykeauthor.com
This book is composed of three novelettes: Steel’s First Temper, A Hotter Forge and What Price Humanity?*. Having not read all of the authors Plague Wars series and none of the Plague Wars: Stellar Conquest series I'm not certain which series these stories fit into. But I don't really think that matters. All of the stories fit into the Space Opera sub genre. Although the stories mention the Eden Plague, it is not necessary to have read the plague war books before reading these staoreis.
The first two stories center on a new Space Marine lieutenant Joseph “Bull” ben Tauros. and a somewhat mysterious character, Jill “Reaper” Repeth . These are great action pieces in a well constructed universe as humanity battles an ongoing war with aliens called Memes. There is great interplay as Bull goes on his first official mission and Reaper guides him to understand her experience as he learns to lead.
These two stories want me to read more about this pair of warriors but also, I want to read more about who Reaper is, her history and development .
The last is a Vincent “Vango” Markis story. This is set further in the future than the previous stories. Based on information from A Hotter Forge, I thought I knew where this story was going. VanDyke had me fooled. Not quite as action packed as the prior stories, it was still a good and fast read. Now I want stories on Vango and how he became the person he is in What Price Humanity?.
All of these stories also drive home the the cost of battle without going on a diatribe, Great action and fast paced reads. I rate them 4.5 out of 5.
Your a fighter pilot who wakes up in thinking you are recovering from battlefield injuries. But something just isn't right. This is the beginning of David Vandyke's latest adventure. Join our hero as he tries to figure out just what is going on. Great read, will you figure it out before our hero or will you be just as shocked as he is. Loved the mix of mystery and sci fi in this story.