Apogee

Aurora Rhapsody #4.5

by G.S. Jennsen

"Its leaders believe the Alliance is powerful enough to be both--a democracy on election days and a dictatorship on every other day--but they're wrong. No government should be so powerful. It's time someone demonstrates the error in their thinking."
The Earth Alliance rules 82 worlds, controlling an empire that spans a third of the Milky Way. But when its leaders stray too far from the democratic principles on which it was founded, one colony--one group of daring rebels--will risk everything in order to reclaim their freedom.

Set a quarter century before STARSHINE: Aurora Rising Book One (Aurora Rhapsody #1), APOGEE tells the story of the fateful decisions and critical opening moves of the First Crux War between the Earth Alliance and the Senecan Federation, the repercussions of which will ripple forward across decades and shape the world of Aurora Rhapsody forever.
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APOGEE was initially published in The Galaxy Chronicles (The Future Chronicles)

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Space Opera

34 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2016

About the author

G. S. Jennsen is a speculative and science fiction author, as well as a futurist, geek, gamer, programmer and editor. She has become an internationally bestselling author since her first novel, Starshine, was published in March 2014. She has chosen to continue writing under an independent publishing model to ensure the integrity of her series and her ability to execute on the vision she’s had for it since its genesis.

While she has been a lawyer, a software engineer and an editor, she’s found the life of a full-time author preferable by several orders of magnitude.

When she isn’t writing, she’s gaming or working out or getting lost in the mountains that loom large outside the windows in her home. Or she’s dealing with a flooded basement, or standing in a line at Walmart reading the tabloid headlines and wondering who all of those people are. Or sitting on her back porch with a glass of wine, looking up at the stars, trying to figure out what could be up there.

Reviews

[E.J. Fisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot going on in the Aurora Rising series, and sometimes it's really fun to go back and learn about things that happened before all of the events from the main stories. Apogee in particular was interesting because it involves the events that, in a way, sparked the rest of the main plot. Not only does it answer questions, but it gives us a deeper look at certain characters that have only been mentioned in the books. It was a fun read, but it's also important. It should definitely be read between Sidespace and Dissonance.

Great work, as always!

[Mayhem-RW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stefan Marano is a family man, and this morning he had to leave his home and family at an early hour. It was because he had orders to carry out, and if he was successful, he will have started an interstellar war between Senecan and Earth. Stefan traveled to the military base and met with some important people and the pilot of the craft he was to use for his mission. They launched in the first of its kind of craft. The ship was sleeker, faster, and stealthier than any ship the Earth Union made. If everything went right, no one would know they were ever there.

This short read is another prequel to the series starter Starshine novel. This starter goes back twenty-five years to when Senecan first declared its independence from Earth. It tells of what actions and plans the Senecans undertook at that time to get the desired outcome. The world-building is done well, and the author filled in the character’s backgrounds for them to interact very well.
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If you like science fiction, you just may enjoy this short read. I give it five stars out of five stars.

[Billysboutin]

Too technical to be enjoyable

This book felt like a derivative of a star wars story. Fights of the oppressed against an overwhelming force. My problem with its execution was the amount of technical information provided that distracted from the enjoyment of reading the book. Much of the technical information seemed contrived with made up words that did not help the reader to understand the story line. Is it important or not? That lead to rereading sections over and over but ending up not helping to understand the story line.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful space opera listening 🎶😯

Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi adventure thriller short story by G. S. Jennsen about an alliance rebelling against the federation and the beginning of the war of independence. I would recommend this novella and author to readers of fantasy Sci-Fi space opera novels. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of eye issues and damage. 🏡🔰👒⏰ 2022

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The speech has been ready for years, waiting on the proper moment for its delivery to arrive.


Awkward and stiff phrasing. One dimensional exploration of ideas. Will likely appeal to people who are fairly anti-government - or who have a romanticized ideal of the American Revolution.

[Herschel Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Quick Read

If you like military/revolutionary SF you will love this story. The main character was very well crafted, especially for a short story. How would you have handled the moral dilemma he faced?

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The start

Having already read the first three books I found it interesting to read about the start of the animosity between the Alliance and the federation. Civil war often starts with civilian casualties.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story about the start of the war between the Alliance and Federation and provides some background on the parents of a few of the characters in the series. It won’t make much sense if you haven’t read the first books in the series.

This story is part of a series.

[Graham R Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and well drafted story.

There's scope and imagination in these books. A thoroughly good read! Very difficult to put down as the story keeps you engaged. My best recommendation is that I bought the rest of the books in the series...

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

The government of Seneca decides to rebel against Earth's rule - even though it means that innocents will die. An engaging story even though very short.

[Dinnl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good short story. Fits in nicely with the longer novels.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this short story today. It is a background story on Caleb's father and the beginning of the first was that predates Starshine. Good story.

[Marianne Boutet · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much of this was already described in the series books that this was just a closer look at the event.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starting a war by framing the other side in order to manipulate the population of surrounding areas.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

great prequel about the very beginnings…

Of the earth alliance / Senecan war. Loving these novellas that help flesh out the back story of the aurora resonant series

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting look at how Seneca and Earth came to be at odds. It's hard to write too much about this as this whole short story would be a major spoiler for those that haven't gotten this far in the series yet. I had a vision in my mind on how this all would have unfolded so it's neat to read all the little tidbits on this specific event. I think this was a key moment and therefore a great part of the story to pull out and explore with a little more depth. It was also interesting to get a small glimpse of Stefan Marano and Helena Lekkas. We get to know their offspring throughout the series and there were a few references to these two characters.

[T.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good little prequel to the Aurora Rising series. It was interesting to see how some of the major underlying conflicts for the series came about in here and to see some of the important characters and what their role was in that conflict. It works well as a standalone short story, too, so even if you haven't read any books in the main series or don't know what it's about, this is a good read anyway.

[Y.I. Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Beginning...

After having read the Aurora Rising trilogy, reading this story about the opening salvo of the First Crux War was a delight. I'd read this once before in an anthology, but now the plot and characters really came together for me.

I am genuinely enjoying this universe which G.S. Jensen has so painstakingly and effectively created.

[gary whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

Wonderful,well written and a very good read! Good characters and a solid plot cannot wait to get the full novels