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Blachart
Truthfully, d’Angelo found himself unsurprised that the engines had finally packed up. Weaver – like his predecessors – had been a kind of starship ‘backyard mechanic’ and at the time of the explosion, the stardrive was all but held together by bits of wire and duct tape. Weavers mistake cost him the stardrive – and Fuller and Jang their lives. “Blown up” seemed a little inadequate to describe what really happened, but the engines were now spread over the last light-year or so behind him. Now that really made his calendar cycle.
Life hardly ever turns out the way we expect it to, and for Mykl d’Angelo it had just taken a bad turn for terrible. Stranded in deep space, he is handed a chance to redeem the other shipwrecks in his life – his lost career in the Imperial Starfleet and a lost chance at a relationship with the girl of his dreams.
Life hardly ever turns out the way we expect it to, and for Mykl d’Angelo it had just taken a bad turn for terrible. Stranded in deep space, he is handed a chance to redeem the other shipwrecks in his life – his lost career in the Imperial Starfleet and a lost chance at a relationship with the girl of his dreams.
ebook
First published June 2, 2006
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About the author
Christina Engela
117 books44 followers"Christina Engela is a South African editor and author of horror, fantasy and science fiction novels. Her books are never short of suspense, adventure and humor, while her colorful characters and thought-provoking settings take readers into another world, making her one of the most gifted and creative storytellers. A firm supporter of the LGBT community, Christina believes that Sexual and Gender Minority characters aren’t reflected enough by authors due to a number of reasons. As such, Christina's writing isn’t stereotypical, and her characters aren’t stereotypes, regardless of their sexuality or gender." - Booksradar.com, June 21, 2021. You can find out more on ChristinaEngela.co.za
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 29, 2020
While Fantasy is my primary love in literature, I have always enjoyed a good science fiction yarn and when this one came to me via the narrator I figured it may just satisfy an itch I'd been having of late.
Sheesh, where to start with this book? Simply put, it has everything! There's adventure, space battles, fistfights, pirates and, of course. romance.
The story revolves around Mykl, ex-combat pilot turned down-on-his-luck cargo captain who begins the book afloat in space after most of his crew, for reasons unknown, mutiny and fly off in the ships sole shuttle. Shortly afterwards the starships drive explodes, killing his two remaining crew and leaving his marooned in deep space with no hope of survival. That is, until a ship full of marines rescues him from certain death only to then get into a battle with a ship full of space pirates, Mykl has to rely on his military training to survive and capture the dreaded Blackhart!
It's only now that things really start to get bad when his military contract is reactivated and he's tasked with a critical, a possibly suicidal mission into enemy territory.
Every primary character in the book, from Mykl himself to Ripley and Blackhart himself are extremely well fleshed out, interesting and fantastically voiced by Nigel Peever, each given a real sense of identity and more than a little snark. In addition to the reading, there is the addition of sound effects and some incidental music which is just enough to add atmosphere without distracting from the reading like often can happen with this in audiobooks.
There's so much in this story that I could talk about but I don't want to spoil anything but do strongly suggest that, if you like Buck Rogers, Firefly or Pirate stories you give this book a go as I thoroughly enjoyed everything it had to offer.
Sheesh, where to start with this book? Simply put, it has everything! There's adventure, space battles, fistfights, pirates and, of course. romance.
The story revolves around Mykl, ex-combat pilot turned down-on-his-luck cargo captain who begins the book afloat in space after most of his crew, for reasons unknown, mutiny and fly off in the ships sole shuttle. Shortly afterwards the starships drive explodes, killing his two remaining crew and leaving his marooned in deep space with no hope of survival. That is, until a ship full of marines rescues him from certain death only to then get into a battle with a ship full of space pirates, Mykl has to rely on his military training to survive and capture the dreaded Blackhart!
It's only now that things really start to get bad when his military contract is reactivated and he's tasked with a critical, a possibly suicidal mission into enemy territory.
Every primary character in the book, from Mykl himself to Ripley and Blackhart himself are extremely well fleshed out, interesting and fantastically voiced by Nigel Peever, each given a real sense of identity and more than a little snark. In addition to the reading, there is the addition of sound effects and some incidental music which is just enough to add atmosphere without distracting from the reading like often can happen with this in audiobooks.
There's so much in this story that I could talk about but I don't want to spoil anything but do strongly suggest that, if you like Buck Rogers, Firefly or Pirate stories you give this book a go as I thoroughly enjoyed everything it had to offer.
November 10, 2020
Enjoyable action-packed original space sci-fi
Christina Engela delivers with this action packed tale that introduces the Galaxii series; an expansive world of Imperial space fleets, distant planets, space pirates and beyond. Utilizing her unique, fun and strong narration style we meet ‘Mykl d’Angelo’ who serves firstly as a mystery man seemingly marooned alone in space until the authorities take him in and learn he is trustworthy. His brutal back story becomes apparent and as a reader you naturally side with him. Whether it be for his quick witted one liner’s or ability to deal with most situations and seemingly get out of them; the Imperial space fleet soon employ d’Angelo. He even reconnects with an old flame in the form of ‘Ripley Jones’ who vouches for him.
The real threat in Engela’s deep space Galaxii universe and much like many of her other books are the Corsairs – a mystery group of pirate types who appear to ravage any civilisation they can. Soon enough d’Angelo’s rescuing ship comes across another vessel manned by them and so the action, drama and deception begins. In order to fully intercept the Corsair world, they must align with an unexpected ally.
While this tale is wholly original there are some fun references throughout from old school weaponry, pirate slang terms and even a hilarious fast food reference. From shootouts to car chases this book has everything fans of sci fi action could want. It’s imaginative, highly readable and fun much like many of Christina Engela’s works which I highly recommend!
Christina Engela delivers with this action packed tale that introduces the Galaxii series; an expansive world of Imperial space fleets, distant planets, space pirates and beyond. Utilizing her unique, fun and strong narration style we meet ‘Mykl d’Angelo’ who serves firstly as a mystery man seemingly marooned alone in space until the authorities take him in and learn he is trustworthy. His brutal back story becomes apparent and as a reader you naturally side with him. Whether it be for his quick witted one liner’s or ability to deal with most situations and seemingly get out of them; the Imperial space fleet soon employ d’Angelo. He even reconnects with an old flame in the form of ‘Ripley Jones’ who vouches for him.
The real threat in Engela’s deep space Galaxii universe and much like many of her other books are the Corsairs – a mystery group of pirate types who appear to ravage any civilisation they can. Soon enough d’Angelo’s rescuing ship comes across another vessel manned by them and so the action, drama and deception begins. In order to fully intercept the Corsair world, they must align with an unexpected ally.
While this tale is wholly original there are some fun references throughout from old school weaponry, pirate slang terms and even a hilarious fast food reference. From shootouts to car chases this book has everything fans of sci fi action could want. It’s imaginative, highly readable and fun much like many of Christina Engela’s works which I highly recommend!
January 28, 2021
It is a great sci-fi adventure. I am hungry for book two. I got a copy from the narrator and this is my honest and voluntary review.
November 29, 2022
Received as an audio review copy from the narrator, Nigel Peever, this is an honest review. Blachart is a gorgeous, wickedly smart adventure and it's not just the story or the amazing vocal performance by Mr. Peever that makes this audiobook so memorable. The journey is enhanced by music and sound effects that only deepens the intensity of Mykl d’Angelo story as the skipper and owner of the loderunner Pegasus suffers the harsh losses of this crew and in desperate need of rescuing. Rescued by the Antares, Mykl d' Angelo sees getting back into the Space Fleet as the way of having a future once again; he could never imagine becoming a pain to a very dangerous Corsair, known as Blachart the bloody whom had left behind a path of death. As d'Angelo comes to get to know the man faces the conflicts of how to view the man; leading to some of the best encounters this book has to offer. Grab this book, ebook or audiobook and become immersed in one heck of a world. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews