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The Spiral Wars #2
Drysine Legacy
The legendary battle-carrier UFS Phoenix is on the run in Outer Neutral Space. Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande and Major Trace Thakur are determined to use neutral territory to broker a peace between humanity's warring factions, away from Fleet's strong arm. But as machinations in Fleet Command send a legendary warrior from Trace's past on a sworn path to kill her, there arises in the territory of an insectoid foe an ancient enemy from the nightmares of Spiral history, bent on Phoenix's destruction....
492 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 2015
624 people are currently reading
494 people want to read
About the author
Joel Shepherd
28 books775 followersJoel Shepherd is an Australian science fiction author. He moved to Perth, Western Australia with his family when he was seven, where he later studied film and television arts at Curtin University. He now lives in Adelaide.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
May 16, 2016
One of my favorite things about reading a series -- especially a series like this where I've grown to really love the characters -- is revisiting those characters. I was attached to them after just a few pages in Renegade, and even though I started this book almost immediately after completing the first, it still felt like I was being reunited with old friends whom I hadn't seen in years.
Erik and Trace continue to be wonderfully complex and well-written characters, and I absolutely love their banter and the way they bounce off one another. Erik's relationship with his spacer crew and Trace's relationship with her marines are both humorous yet realistic and powerful. As a whole, the crew of the Phoenix really is one big family, a theme that is revisited several times throughout the book. I also loved how so many of the other characters got a chance to shine too. In the first book, the only POV characters were Erik, Trace, and Lisbeth, but many of the secondary characters still made a valuable contribution. Now some of those characters have become POV characters, and I absolutely love the way this was handled. They probably wouldn't have been able to carry these scenes in Book 1 because the readers didn't know them well enough. But like I said, now they're like old friends.
Erik and Trace are both essentially trying to figure out who they are and where they belong, and events in the series have been such that they're both getting pushed in directions neither of them expected to go when the whole story started. We see Erik take a big step at the end of this book, even more so than in Renegade. The jury is still out on Trace, though we're seeing hints of her inner conflict as she tries to figure out what she believes in. Her development is more of a slow burn, but if it happened any faster, it wouldn't be realistic for her character.
I also enjoyed seeing a bigger variety of alien species in this story. All the political/diplomatic aspects of the relationships between all of these civilizations help give the world (or should I say universe) a lot more depth. As with Renegade, it gave me a lot of Mass Effect vibes, and I love that.
In terms of story, there was a lot of building on events and plot points from Book 1 that I'd either forgotten about or that seemed insignificant at the time. In Renegade it's established that there's something big going on behind the scenes, and in Drysine Legacy all the clues finally start to make sense and come together to form a bigger picture. I shouldn't spoil anything, but...sentient machine race that's been lying dormant for thousands of years? Yes please. This is a story about alliances, secrets, camaraderie, and trust, all with awesome combat sequences (which I'm pretty sure contributed to an absolutely insane dream I had the other night). The tension in the last several chapters of the book left me exhausted.
All in all this was an excellent second installment in this series. I'm not sure if I liked it quite as much as the first one, ergo my actual rating is more like 4.5 stars -- parts of it moved a little slow and I had hoped Colonel Khola would play a larger and more threatening role. But of course there's still a third installment coming, one that will likely contain a variety of highly-anticipated final showdowns, and even when the plot moves a little slow, the characters are still consistent. I can't wait to find out what happens next!
Erik and Trace continue to be wonderfully complex and well-written characters, and I absolutely love their banter and the way they bounce off one another. Erik's relationship with his spacer crew and Trace's relationship with her marines are both humorous yet realistic and powerful. As a whole, the crew of the Phoenix really is one big family, a theme that is revisited several times throughout the book. I also loved how so many of the other characters got a chance to shine too. In the first book, the only POV characters were Erik, Trace, and Lisbeth, but many of the secondary characters still made a valuable contribution. Now some of those characters have become POV characters, and I absolutely love the way this was handled. They probably wouldn't have been able to carry these scenes in Book 1 because the readers didn't know them well enough. But like I said, now they're like old friends.
Erik and Trace are both essentially trying to figure out who they are and where they belong, and events in the series have been such that they're both getting pushed in directions neither of them expected to go when the whole story started. We see Erik take a big step at the end of this book, even more so than in Renegade. The jury is still out on Trace, though we're seeing hints of her inner conflict as she tries to figure out what she believes in. Her development is more of a slow burn, but if it happened any faster, it wouldn't be realistic for her character.
I also enjoyed seeing a bigger variety of alien species in this story. All the political/diplomatic aspects of the relationships between all of these civilizations help give the world (or should I say universe) a lot more depth. As with Renegade, it gave me a lot of Mass Effect vibes, and I love that.
In terms of story, there was a lot of building on events and plot points from Book 1 that I'd either forgotten about or that seemed insignificant at the time. In Renegade it's established that there's something big going on behind the scenes, and in Drysine Legacy all the clues finally start to make sense and come together to form a bigger picture. I shouldn't spoil anything, but...sentient machine race that's been lying dormant for thousands of years? Yes please. This is a story about alliances, secrets, camaraderie, and trust, all with awesome combat sequences (which I'm pretty sure contributed to an absolutely insane dream I had the other night). The tension in the last several chapters of the book left me exhausted.
All in all this was an excellent second installment in this series. I'm not sure if I liked it quite as much as the first one, ergo my actual rating is more like 4.5 stars -- parts of it moved a little slow and I had hoped Colonel Khola would play a larger and more threatening role. But of course there's still a third installment coming, one that will likely contain a variety of highly-anticipated final showdowns, and even when the plot moves a little slow, the characters are still consistent. I can't wait to find out what happens next!
February 21, 2016
The first book in the series was an excellent action adventure / space opera, with a marine woman commander who really knew her tactics and her strategy, and how to use all the necessary weapons. This one is so blah that I gave it up today in favor of other, better book on my sidetable.
May 29, 2021
Information about characters, places, events, etc. can be found at the FANDOM Wiki page for SPIRAL WARS: https://spiral-wars-shepherd.fandom.c...
Very good! Even better than book 1. Amazing and desperate scenes at Joma Station and at the peanut-shaped asteroid and at the huge ship-building "city" dubbed Tartarus. Good chemistry between Erik and Trace, but I hope the author lets the sexual tension merely simmer. No need to fill the pages with it. This series has plenty going for it already. And I like to keep guessing.
Very good! Even better than book 1. Amazing and desperate scenes at Joma Station and at the peanut-shaped asteroid and at the huge ship-building "city" dubbed Tartarus. Good chemistry between Erik and Trace, but I hope the author lets the sexual tension merely simmer. No need to fill the pages with it. This series has plenty going for it already. And I like to keep guessing.
April 23, 2019
It's a beautiful universe, with aliens that are worth seeing. The story is great, but the writing is poor.
It would be an excellent book if it was 250 pages long. Alas, we get lost in interminable chatter, in incomprehensible descriptions, in boring monologues to die. Overall the characters are not endearing, except maybe the Koshi. This book looks like a very long staff meeting interspersed with some action scenes, not necessarily successful though.
I will not have the courage to continue, this kind of extended prose exhausts me. And it makes me angry because I will not know the rest of the story!
It would be an excellent book if it was 250 pages long. Alas, we get lost in interminable chatter, in incomprehensible descriptions, in boring monologues to die. Overall the characters are not endearing, except maybe the Koshi. This book looks like a very long staff meeting interspersed with some action scenes, not necessarily successful though.
I will not have the courage to continue, this kind of extended prose exhausts me. And it makes me angry because I will not know the rest of the story!
April 23, 2020
The UFS Phoenix under the command of Erik Debogande with the strong support of Major Trace Thakur has left human-controlled space and is trying to settle the brewing human civil war and the potential threat of a resurgent AI civilization. But in the neutral space they find themselves, the alien barabo are shifting their political focus away from the tavali, whom humanity has just defeated in a century long war, towards humans, hoping for some protection against another rising power: the sard, an insectile math-obsessed warrior race. But Phoenix also has some unexpected allies, and the sard may not be alone either.
This expands the universe created in Renegade in the most interesting ways: expanding the detailed multi-species galaxy with a deep history and exploring the sociopolitical interfaces between the various alien species. Notable is the much more in-depth exploration of the hacksaws, ancient AI races that used to dominate the space now inhabited by the species in this part of the Spiral.
That's on top of lots of character development of Phoenix crew, concentrating on Erik and Trace, but with elements for the entirety of the Phoenix crew and touching on a few of their new allies.
This continues to be a great military SF series, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it will go.
This expands the universe created in Renegade in the most interesting ways: expanding the detailed multi-species galaxy with a deep history and exploring the sociopolitical interfaces between the various alien species. Notable is the much more in-depth exploration of the hacksaws, ancient AI races that used to dominate the space now inhabited by the species in this part of the Spiral.
That's on top of lots of character development of Phoenix crew, concentrating on Erik and Trace, but with elements for the entirety of the Phoenix crew and touching on a few of their new allies.
This continues to be a great military SF series, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it will go.
June 22, 2017
This took way too long to get going, once it did, it was OK. Ended well. Good setup for the final book.
November 10, 2016
Thought the first book in the series not particularly memorable, but good enough to read further. Quit the second book halfway though - just got worse and worse, and eventually I decided to stop wasting my time. Basically, a bad David Drake novel. And made me realize why Drake doesn't include aliens in his Honor Harrington novels - he can't write them, and knows it. Shephard can't either, but unfortunately doesn't know that. Most of the aliens aren't alien at all - just humans in costume.
I started highlighting particularly bad bits for future reference (as an aside, always a really bad sign - and probably to some extent a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy). A few:
"Captain Jen [an alien] nodded, intensely serious. Erik had never met a barabo quite so intensely serious."
"Skah answered reluctantly, the very picture of a boy being told to be good and work hard even if he didn't want to." [Which is particularly horrible because Skah is an alien child, but apparently one that acts just like a human boy.]
"There was real fear in his dark eyes. But not cowardice, because this fear was not fear for himself."
"So long ago it makes my brain hurt to think of it."
[As a (female) marine Sargent, apologizing for several crew deaths that were to some extent her fault, leaves the acting captain's quarters]: "'Good, now get.' And [he] gave her a whack on the backside as she departed, because it was what the Captain had always done to crew feeling sorry for themselves." [Seriously, WTF? Jumped up Lieutenant slaps a marine officer on the ass, telling her to get back to work?]
Really, it's just bad. And I say that having read and enjoyed his prior Cassandra Kresnov series - which I now realize shared some of the shortcomings found here. Eg, the protagonist there, even though an AI, seemed no different (other than super competency and ability) from any human. I think it didn't bother me there because part of the story was that she was so advanced she was basically human - but in actuality I suspect was largely because Shephard isn't an advanced enough writer to write convincingly from an alien perspective (which I appreciate probably isn't an easy task).
I started highlighting particularly bad bits for future reference (as an aside, always a really bad sign - and probably to some extent a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy). A few:
"Captain Jen [an alien] nodded, intensely serious. Erik had never met a barabo quite so intensely serious."
"Skah answered reluctantly, the very picture of a boy being told to be good and work hard even if he didn't want to." [Which is particularly horrible because Skah is an alien child, but apparently one that acts just like a human boy.]
"There was real fear in his dark eyes. But not cowardice, because this fear was not fear for himself."
"So long ago it makes my brain hurt to think of it."
[As a (female) marine Sargent, apologizing for several crew deaths that were to some extent her fault, leaves the acting captain's quarters]: "'Good, now get.' And [he] gave her a whack on the backside as she departed, because it was what the Captain had always done to crew feeling sorry for themselves." [Seriously, WTF? Jumped up Lieutenant slaps a marine officer on the ass, telling her to get back to work?]
Really, it's just bad. And I say that having read and enjoyed his prior Cassandra Kresnov series - which I now realize shared some of the shortcomings found here. Eg, the protagonist there, even though an AI, seemed no different (other than super competency and ability) from any human. I think it didn't bother me there because part of the story was that she was so advanced she was basically human - but in actuality I suspect was largely because Shephard isn't an advanced enough writer to write convincingly from an alien perspective (which I appreciate probably isn't an easy task).
June 10, 2016
Worthwhile and Fast Paced SciFi Adventure Read
"Drysine Legacy," Book 2 of "The Spiral Wars" series, continues a fast paced, entertaining and much better than average, SciFi storyline.
In the future, humanity is involved in numerous interstellar struggles with organic and AI alien races. There is also the struggle within humanity-spacers vs worlders, the human division created by the near genocide inflicted by aliens and the destruction of Earth as humanity's home. A human warship, "Phoenix," is caught in the center of the competing human, alien and AI interests.
The writing is crisp, fluid-this eBook author actually knows how to write. There are plot and science issues that might trouble some readers, but compared to the vast majority of SciFi eBooks, the flaws are few and infrequent. Only minor need for editing is required.
This book and the prior one are recommended.
"Drysine Legacy," Book 2 of "The Spiral Wars" series, continues a fast paced, entertaining and much better than average, SciFi storyline.
In the future, humanity is involved in numerous interstellar struggles with organic and AI alien races. There is also the struggle within humanity-spacers vs worlders, the human division created by the near genocide inflicted by aliens and the destruction of Earth as humanity's home. A human warship, "Phoenix," is caught in the center of the competing human, alien and AI interests.
The writing is crisp, fluid-this eBook author actually knows how to write. There are plot and science issues that might trouble some readers, but compared to the vast majority of SciFi eBooks, the flaws are few and infrequent. Only minor need for editing is required.
This book and the prior one are recommended.
February 28, 2016
Second book of the series. This is not a stand-alone book, and having read "Renegade" is necessary if ones want to make sense of it. More characters are introduced, and some unlikely friends are met. The story is well built and internally consistent. Characters make sense, except maybe for Fleet Command machinations which are a bit far-fetched. I don't know, I understand that bad guys are sometimes necessary to build up a story, but there's need to be a reason...
Joel Shepherd remains an excellent author of SF, and this book is well worth reading. Looking forward the next and presumably final book.
Joel Shepherd remains an excellent author of SF, and this book is well worth reading. Looking forward the next and presumably final book.
October 14, 2020
This is the second book in the series and I am beginning to learn that if I want to keep reading these books I just have to accept that the author over-describes nearly everything and doesn’t use one word when he can use a dozen. He also loves repetitive circular arguments that just seem to fill page after page.
In my review of the previous book I said; “the author doesn't want you to know what is really going on, the whole book just has a haphazard feel to it”. The same is true for a lot of this one, with incidents just happening at random, at times it really felt like the author was making things up on the spur of the moment. It was nearly three hundred pages into the book before I began to feel the story was going somewhere.
The last third of the book was certainly more interesting, but I couldn’t help thinking the author really got carried away and the big assault towards the end was quite difficult to follow at times.
In my review of the previous book I said; “the author doesn't want you to know what is really going on, the whole book just has a haphazard feel to it”. The same is true for a lot of this one, with incidents just happening at random, at times it really felt like the author was making things up on the spur of the moment. It was nearly three hundred pages into the book before I began to feel the story was going somewhere.
The last third of the book was certainly more interesting, but I couldn’t help thinking the author really got carried away and the big assault towards the end was quite difficult to follow at times.
March 15, 2016
A little talkier than the opener, I think, but still top drawer military SF--with great action scenes, pacing, character chemistry, and widening of the overall stakes. Unlike the first episode, there is also some acknowledgement that ammo and other supplies actually need to be replenished. The cast of aliens is strongly reminiscent of that in C.J. Cherryh's CHANUR series--one type even speaks in pidgin like the Mahendo'sat--and Shepherd's prose, particularly when describing battles, is similar too. Hope he can keep up the pressure in future episodes, because it's been a fun ride so far.
April 25, 2019
I can't get enough of this series. No romance in this one either but the world building and characters are so interesting. Love the adventure with aliens. Unfortunately I really need to get my TBR pile down so I will be throttling my next purchases of this series....trying to fight the addiction!
September 16, 2023
Still very enjoyable, though for me it's more about life on the Phoenix and the camaraderie of the crew than about the plot, which can be a bit over the top even for space opera. This one is also more carefully edited than the first book in the series. 3.5 stars again, and I may just end up diving straight into book 3.
September 30, 2019
Quite good. On to the next book. 2019 re-read: Still very good!
November 8, 2021
What a difference a narrator makes
I was less than impressed with Renegade , but noticed that a lot of the positive reviews of it mentioned the audiobook version narrated by John Lee (Perdido Street Station, Revelation Space and One Hundred year of Solitude) so i decided to give it a second chance.
The writing is still not brilliant and it's still rather repetitive, but it's also quite a good story, told entertaining with a lot of fast paced action.
So maybe military sci-fi for me just has to be audio only for it to work.
Anyway I will continue the series with john Lee.
I was less than impressed with Renegade , but noticed that a lot of the positive reviews of it mentioned the audiobook version narrated by John Lee (Perdido Street Station, Revelation Space and One Hundred year of Solitude) so i decided to give it a second chance.
The writing is still not brilliant and it's still rather repetitive, but it's also quite a good story, told entertaining with a lot of fast paced action.
So maybe military sci-fi for me just has to be audio only for it to work.
Anyway I will continue the series with john Lee.
November 4, 2024
Ikke et mesterverk men lettlest og spennende til sin type sjanger! Koste meg med denne!
August 15, 2022
It retains the quality of the first book and drives the story forward in a meaningful way.
The ending feels more satisfying than the ending of the first book.
The ending feels more satisfying than the ending of the first book.
January 29, 2024
I gave this book the same rating as the first in the series, but it is actually a significant improvement. Eric, the commander, is not perfect. Phoenix, the ship, is not the greatest thing in the universe. Humanity, the race, is not top dog. Where everything was 'perfect' in book one, the flaws presented in this book make for a much more believable (if that matters in space fiction) and engaging plot.
The take on AI, and it's interaction/place in the galaxy is very engaging as the story progresses and becomes one of the primary plot drivers by the end of this book.
There was something that really bugged me in the first book, but I had a hard time putting my finger on it. In this book it jumped to center stage and really did a lot of damage to the science of this book. We have AI that have been around for tens of thousands of years (of continuous advancement). We have humanity, fast forward into the future, and all the technological progression that suggests. AND YET!: The ships are not steered by any kind of computer or computer assistance. They are manipulated by humans using PlayStation controllers from our era. I look at how Blue Origin and SpaceX don't even have pilot controls.... yet this book in the far future is still using a game stick. ???
The take on AI, and it's interaction/place in the galaxy is very engaging as the story progresses and becomes one of the primary plot drivers by the end of this book.
There was something that really bugged me in the first book, but I had a hard time putting my finger on it. In this book it jumped to center stage and really did a lot of damage to the science of this book. We have AI that have been around for tens of thousands of years (of continuous advancement). We have humanity, fast forward into the future, and all the technological progression that suggests. AND YET!: The ships are not steered by any kind of computer or computer assistance. They are manipulated by humans using PlayStation controllers from our era. I look at how Blue Origin and SpaceX don't even have pilot controls.... yet this book in the far future is still using a game stick. ???
July 23, 2020
Very enjoyable. Book 2 of “The Spiral Wars” has a somewhat different theme from Book 1 but is still rife with sentient creatures, manipulative governments, space battles and good vs. evil. In Book #1, the crew of the spaceship Phoenix rebel and battle a corrupt government. In the second book, we are introduced to 2 types of artificial intelligence. There are many questions but few answers about their purpose and whether they are controlled by others or are masters themselves. I suspect the dangers posed by AI will be explored more in later books. I am looking forward to that. Book 2 asks you to give some thought to governments and governing. Below are some of the timelier excerpts from book 2.
• “Human politics will always be there, and will always be hard“.
• “Science is a cultural institution of asking questions and using reason and experiments to challenge established norms”.
• “If you refuse to even try and clear an obstacle, then you become the obstacle”.
And a personal favorite that relates to the individual, “never let the perfect be the enemy of the good”.
• “Human politics will always be there, and will always be hard“.
• “Science is a cultural institution of asking questions and using reason and experiments to challenge established norms”.
• “If you refuse to even try and clear an obstacle, then you become the obstacle”.
And a personal favorite that relates to the individual, “never let the perfect be the enemy of the good”.
May 13, 2019
Joel does a fair job of bringing readers up to speed on what the story is about if you haven't read the first book, but probably not enough to appreciate what is going on and why. Don't get me wrong, the main theme and action of the story is fine as a stand alone, but I felt that picking this book up without reading the first would leave some huge gaps for readers. As in book one, Joel did a great job of making me fall in love with the characters all over again. In this book, he did seem to centralize on less characters, which, worked well. I was actually amazed at how he was able to make me like and hate more than twenty characters in the first book, but this one centralized on about a half dozen main characters throughout. I also liked that the book picked up right where the previous book left off. Even legendary authors have had sequels that started hundreds of years later, which was a big turn off for me. I’ve already grabbed book three and can’t wait to see what happens.
June 16, 2019
A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:
It only gets better!
Set a bit after the first book ends, the Phoenix has some decisions to make. Try to make peace between spacers and worlders? Or accept a pardon and get back to normal life? In typical Phoenix fashion, the decision is made for them with the introduction of some new characters and twists.
It's not a spoiler to let you know that this book is heavy in the AI side of the universe. Some of the crew was already worried about a possible Alo and Deepynine alliance, plus the Phoenix is carrying around a "dead" drysine queen. So, yeah, all that factors in (and more!).
There is plenty of action and your favorite characters continue to grow and gain depth. As with the first book, there are some slow parts, but not as many. This story seems to jump from one crisis to the next, which is great for us, but probably sucks for the crew! :)
Read it!
It only gets better!
Set a bit after the first book ends, the Phoenix has some decisions to make. Try to make peace between spacers and worlders? Or accept a pardon and get back to normal life? In typical Phoenix fashion, the decision is made for them with the introduction of some new characters and twists.
It's not a spoiler to let you know that this book is heavy in the AI side of the universe. Some of the crew was already worried about a possible Alo and Deepynine alliance, plus the Phoenix is carrying around a "dead" drysine queen. So, yeah, all that factors in (and more!).
There is plenty of action and your favorite characters continue to grow and gain depth. As with the first book, there are some slow parts, but not as many. This story seems to jump from one crisis to the next, which is great for us, but probably sucks for the crew! :)
Read it!
October 13, 2023
As with the first book I really enjoyed this, it's that simple. It's a good read, exciting with great world building and nice characterisation, solid prose and the story is both exciting and never predictable.
But... There's just an itch in my head with this series that it could be a little more, a little better. The writing at times is just a little off and jumps about oddly without thoughts or scenes being finished. Whilst I like all the characters and their motivations are logical and enjoyable I find them more as plot devices than real people, probably the best of the bunch, the most believable is Tif, I really enjoy her arc. The fighting, and there's a lot, is crunchy but I just feel there's a little missing to make it really land.
The above sounds like a lot of complaints but honestly they are niggles taking away from greatness as opposed to faults ruining the book.
Already purchased the third, roll on!
But... There's just an itch in my head with this series that it could be a little more, a little better. The writing at times is just a little off and jumps about oddly without thoughts or scenes being finished. Whilst I like all the characters and their motivations are logical and enjoyable I find them more as plot devices than real people, probably the best of the bunch, the most believable is Tif, I really enjoy her arc. The fighting, and there's a lot, is crunchy but I just feel there's a little missing to make it really land.
The above sounds like a lot of complaints but honestly they are niggles taking away from greatness as opposed to faults ruining the book.
Already purchased the third, roll on!
May 12, 2025
a worthy successor to book one
So the plot thickens. As the story progresses we find that Fleet had greater reason to have it in for Captain Padilla and the Phoenix. The duplicity of high command in Fleet is mind boggling but not unexpected as with politics everywhere, many in command are more interested in themselves than humanity. I love how Eric is developing. Trace is the most amazing women. All the central characters are getting richer and more fully developed. Our view of some of the aliens and the battles change as the story progresses. The storyline changes as we go along. The battle scenes are still fantastic but it’s not one of theee books where the battle scenes overwhelm everything else. I can’t wait to read book three to see where we are heading now. Oh and the writing and editing is excellent. No grammatical or spelling mistakes. No sticking in a lot of adjectives to show you have a great vocabulary. Enjoy.
So the plot thickens. As the story progresses we find that Fleet had greater reason to have it in for Captain Padilla and the Phoenix. The duplicity of high command in Fleet is mind boggling but not unexpected as with politics everywhere, many in command are more interested in themselves than humanity. I love how Eric is developing. Trace is the most amazing women. All the central characters are getting richer and more fully developed. Our view of some of the aliens and the battles change as the story progresses. The storyline changes as we go along. The battle scenes are still fantastic but it’s not one of theee books where the battle scenes overwhelm everything else. I can’t wait to read book three to see where we are heading now. Oh and the writing and editing is excellent. No grammatical or spelling mistakes. No sticking in a lot of adjectives to show you have a great vocabulary. Enjoy.
June 17, 2025
Great work
Joel: excellent, As usual. I have 1 pet peeve with science fiction authors that I'd like to discuss with you And that is the practice of reffering to extra-Solar Planetary/star systems As " solar systems."
I hate to sound picky but the scientist in me rebels At the lack of distinction. As far as I know there is only 1" Solar system "In the known galaxy and we live in it. Unless of course Mainly in civilization somewhere out in the spiral Lives in system And has named their primary " Sol"As that is why we are The Solar system. It doesn't seem right to me 2Refer to alpha centauri and its satellites as a solar system it Is the Alpha Centauree System.
Otherwise I find your work flawless. You are so right about science fiction needing to be Intense and fun and your character development is unequal and makes this fun Please keep writing. Professionally Yours WJ cross
Joel: excellent, As usual. I have 1 pet peeve with science fiction authors that I'd like to discuss with you And that is the practice of reffering to extra-Solar Planetary/star systems As " solar systems."
I hate to sound picky but the scientist in me rebels At the lack of distinction. As far as I know there is only 1" Solar system "In the known galaxy and we live in it. Unless of course Mainly in civilization somewhere out in the spiral Lives in system And has named their primary " Sol"As that is why we are The Solar system. It doesn't seem right to me 2Refer to alpha centauri and its satellites as a solar system it Is the Alpha Centauree System.
Otherwise I find your work flawless. You are so right about science fiction needing to be Intense and fun and your character development is unequal and makes this fun Please keep writing. Professionally Yours WJ cross
January 18, 2024
This book was fine
But what I really came here to say is:
The author goes to great lengths in this book and the first book, Renegade, to establish that the "kuhsi" - an alien catlike race - are absolutely unable to pronounce m's (supposedly their long teeth get in the way). So when the two main kuhsi characters, Tif and her son Skah, speak in English, they say things like "nah-ny" (Mommy), "nore" (more), etc. It's all quite cute.
However, in the Tif POV section of Chapter 34, there's much made of the difference between the "fear of the hunter" - hekgarh in kuhsi, and the "fear of the prey" - muhkgarh. Notice the "m".
Just a minor oversight, but wondering if I'm the first to notice - certainly the author or editors didn't.
But what I really came here to say is:
The author goes to great lengths in this book and the first book, Renegade, to establish that the "kuhsi" - an alien catlike race - are absolutely unable to pronounce m's (supposedly their long teeth get in the way). So when the two main kuhsi characters, Tif and her son Skah, speak in English, they say things like "nah-ny" (Mommy), "nore" (more), etc. It's all quite cute.
However, in the Tif POV section of Chapter 34, there's much made of the difference between the "fear of the hunter" - hekgarh in kuhsi, and the "fear of the prey" - muhkgarh. Notice the "m".
Just a minor oversight, but wondering if I'm the first to notice - certainly the author or editors didn't.
April 14, 2025
The story continues as Phoenix and her crew ventures ever further from human space in order to track down evidence of an ever-vaster seeming conspiracy against the current order. Old and terrifying ghosts from ancient history, in the form of the Hacksaws, machine intelligences that once dominated the spiral, are found to be very much still a presence. The mysterious and advanced alo race, ostensibly humanity’s allies, seem connected to the Hacksaws, somehow.
The second instalment takes the series more into an adventure direction, as the story itself solidifies into a quest. The crew must track down clues and ancient mysteries, whilst navigating a complex network of shifting loyalties and alliances. The action scenes remain excellent, and the characterisations are solid.
https://www.books.rosboch.net/2025/04...
The second instalment takes the series more into an adventure direction, as the story itself solidifies into a quest. The crew must track down clues and ancient mysteries, whilst navigating a complex network of shifting loyalties and alliances. The action scenes remain excellent, and the characterisations are solid.
https://www.books.rosboch.net/2025/04...
March 14, 2018
Outstanding reading entertainment. I enjoyed reading this book too much ... Numerous nights staying up until the early AM. So good. I have no idea how Joel keeps all this information organized while writing, but whatever method he's using, it's working.
Heavy hitting action and adventure. Science Fiction Overdose. God forbid the new captain meet a girlfriend ... he'll be toast. LOL!
I must add, that as an artist (digital illustrator, graphic designer, art director), I'm incredibly inspired by the characters in Joels books. I slip right into the book like well worn battle armor and my imagination takes flight. Love it!
Heavy hitting action and adventure. Science Fiction Overdose. God forbid the new captain meet a girlfriend ... he'll be toast. LOL!
I must add, that as an artist (digital illustrator, graphic designer, art director), I'm incredibly inspired by the characters in Joels books. I slip right into the book like well worn battle armor and my imagination takes flight. Love it!
March 22, 2018
This is a good second step in the story of the Spiral Wars. Since we already know the main characters, we jump right into what happens next. And what a jump.
I like stories that have layers. Here, I’m thinking one direction for how things are interconnected and wham, I got hit with something far bigger. We get more depth to the various alien races, both good and bad. More of the history is hinted at. I like the intersection of old and new, how the old can come back to haunt the present.
Tif rocks. She represents all that is good in the universe.
I’m looking forward to pulling the third in the series off of the shelf. This is solid space opera.
I like stories that have layers. Here, I’m thinking one direction for how things are interconnected and wham, I got hit with something far bigger. We get more depth to the various alien races, both good and bad. More of the history is hinted at. I like the intersection of old and new, how the old can come back to haunt the present.
Tif rocks. She represents all that is good in the universe.
I’m looking forward to pulling the third in the series off of the shelf. This is solid space opera.
March 22, 2018
The Spiral Wars continue and even improve as The Phoenix and crew learn of treachery at the highest levels and find an ancient Drysine Queen - one of the thought long dead synthetic machine sentients and begin a quest to locate and retrieve proof that the Alo has aligned with the Deepynines - a different machine AI synthetic intelligence. That proof will expose the leadership of the fleet as complicit in allying the humans with the wrong team serving to make the humans the unwitting accomplice in a Deepynine - Alo conspiracy to have their natural enemies eliminate each other.
This is a great series.
This is a great series.
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