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Eternal Frontier #1
Eternal Frontier
Humanity has avoided interstellar war for centuries.
It was a time of peace, prosperity, and exploration. But when an unexpected attack cripples a scientific vessel, the SRES Argo, it appears that time has come to an end.
Chief Medical Officer Tag Brewer is the ship’s only survivor. He is alone in the far reaches of space. To survive he must restore and protect the downed vessel from its unknown attackers on a planet as deadly as it is mysterious. He vows to do everything in his power to seek justice for his fallen crew.
When Tag uncovers a sinister secret about those who attacked the Argo, he realizes far more is at stake than just his survival. Something more powerful, more technologically advanced, and more ruthless has emerged from the darkest voids of the galaxy. It’s up to Tag to survive long enough to warn humanity and stop the dawn of a new war.
It was a time of peace, prosperity, and exploration. But when an unexpected attack cripples a scientific vessel, the SRES Argo, it appears that time has come to an end.
Chief Medical Officer Tag Brewer is the ship’s only survivor. He is alone in the far reaches of space. To survive he must restore and protect the downed vessel from its unknown attackers on a planet as deadly as it is mysterious. He vows to do everything in his power to seek justice for his fallen crew.
When Tag uncovers a sinister secret about those who attacked the Argo, he realizes far more is at stake than just his survival. Something more powerful, more technologically advanced, and more ruthless has emerged from the darkest voids of the galaxy. It’s up to Tag to survive long enough to warn humanity and stop the dawn of a new war.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 10, 2016
352 people are currently reading
401 people want to read
About the author
Anthony J. Melchiorri
102 books361 followersAnthony J Melchiorri is a scientist with a PhD in bioengineering. Originally from the Midwest, he now lives in Texas. By day, he develops cellular therapies and 3D-printable artificial organs. By night, he writes apocalyptic, medical, and science-fiction thrillers that blend real-world research with other-worldly possibility. When he isn't in the lab or at the keyboard, he spends his time running, reading, hiking, and traveling in search of new story ideas.
Read more at http://anthonyjmelchiorri.com and sign up for his mailing list at http://bit.ly/ajmlist to hear about his latest releases and news.
Read more at http://anthonyjmelchiorri.com and sign up for his mailing list at http://bit.ly/ajmlist to hear about his latest releases and news.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
December 22, 2016
DNF
A disappointing, cliched, novel or collection of tropes, with an unpleasant and unbelievable hero and and an author with a cliffhanger obsessed breathless writing style not helped by editing errors.
A disappointing, cliched, novel or collection of tropes, with an unpleasant and unbelievable hero and and an author with a cliffhanger obsessed breathless writing style not helped by editing errors.
February 7, 2017
I started off enjoying this book and I really liked the description of the other world. However, I was not a huge fan of the main character; I found him whiny and judgmental. I actually really liked all of the side characters and wish I got to know them better.
I also got a bit bored of the major battle scenes - basically three major battles or escape scenarios each took up about 30% of the book and covered a total time of 30 minutes in their time. The rest of the week or so took up less than 10% of the book. I guess I'm more of a fan of character development than action. If you like lots of action, this book is probably for you.
I also got a bit bored of the major battle scenes - basically three major battles or escape scenarios each took up about 30% of the book and covered a total time of 30 minutes in their time. The rest of the week or so took up less than 10% of the book. I guess I'm more of a fan of character development than action. If you like lots of action, this book is probably for you.
September 15, 2017
Eternal Frontier was... ok. The patchwork crew that was assembled by the end was enjoyable, and the technology/setting was interesting, but there were a few things that kept me from loving this book.
First and foremost is the pacing. This whole book was one action scene following another. I enjoyed the few reprieves we got, but for the most part it felt we went from "Everything is on fire!" to "Fire's out, thank goodness... Omg another fire!" Rinse and repeat. There didn't feel like there was a good ebb and flow to the action, which doesn't leave much room for character/plot development.
I would say a good book has an "All hope is lost" moment, followed by heroics. It seemed to me like this book tried to jam one of these moments into every chapter. By then end, it was a bit tiring.
There were points where it felt like the main character's emotions swung pretty violently. He would react too strongly to some event, or say something that had me thinking, "Woah, where did that come from?"
First and foremost is the pacing. This whole book was one action scene following another. I enjoyed the few reprieves we got, but for the most part it felt we went from "Everything is on fire!" to "Fire's out, thank goodness... Omg another fire!" Rinse and repeat. There didn't feel like there was a good ebb and flow to the action, which doesn't leave much room for character/plot development.
I would say a good book has an "All hope is lost" moment, followed by heroics. It seemed to me like this book tried to jam one of these moments into every chapter. By then end, it was a bit tiring.
There were points where it felt like the main character's emotions swung pretty violently. He would react too strongly to some event, or say something that had me thinking, "Woah, where did that come from?"
March 18, 2020
It’s so badly written that I can’t even...
November 12, 2021
Military Sci fy with abatle tested crew of human android and aliens!
Great first book in series with Medical Officer forced to take command as highest ranking survivor. Tag gathers his Android with a synthetic/human brain another human and an alien as crew. Can he fashion them into a crew yo survive an army of drones?
Great first book in series with Medical Officer forced to take command as highest ranking survivor. Tag gathers his Android with a synthetic/human brain another human and an alien as crew. Can he fashion them into a crew yo survive an army of drones?
September 12, 2017
I liked this book well enough, but it seemed like the author was either a non native english speaker, or this book was translated from another language. I mean, vessels every time the author wanted to say veins? Really? There were other minor glitches in wordage, but overall, it didn't detract too much from the enjoyment of the book. If there are more in this series, I'd certainly not mind reading them, this one definitely was done well enough to make reading the others worthwhile. Other than those minor irritations in what I'm assuming was translation, (veins wasn't the only one, just the most prominent), it wasn't bad enough to turn me off to the rest of the series, as sometimes happens when glaring errors show up in the storyline. I recommend this one to any average user who likes adventure or science fiction, it did a good job of holding my attention, and I can't complain about the story itself, it was pretty well done.
December 21, 2020
If you want nonstop action, look no further. There's not a moment in this book where the main character wasnt ALMOST killed in some way. But.... The story was a little too fantastic for me. A medical officer flawlessly outsmarts and outfights legions of a technologically superior enemy with a ramshackle team composed of an anthropologist, an engineer, and a droid with a human brain. Mind you, the rest of the human military is completely incompetent against the same foe and handily gets its ass beat at each encounter. Not my cup of tea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2016
What a great story!
Well worth 5 stars as it is so exciting that I couldn't put it down.
Tag is a great lead in this space adventure and gains an eclectic crew who we get to know well as the story develops.
The action is intense and practically non stop, with vivid scenes that make you feel like you are there with them.
I can't wait to see where their next mission takes them.
Well worth 5 stars as it is so exciting that I couldn't put it down.
Tag is a great lead in this space adventure and gains an eclectic crew who we get to know well as the story develops.
The action is intense and practically non stop, with vivid scenes that make you feel like you are there with them.
I can't wait to see where their next mission takes them.
November 8, 2016
Interesting beginning
Well reading this book was very interesting, we see the CMO of the SRE ship Argo becoming the only member of the crew left alive. His ship is attacked with out warning by an new alien force. Tag Brewer, must first take back control of his ship.
Well reading this book was very interesting, we see the CMO of the SRE ship Argo becoming the only member of the crew left alive. His ship is attacked with out warning by an new alien force. Tag Brewer, must first take back control of his ship.
April 25, 2021
I would give this book 3 1/2 stars if I could. It kept my attention throughout even though I found the story somewhat mystifying at times. No doubt I was supposed to be mystified in order for the author to create those twists and turns that keep a reader's interest. However, the fact that I noticed the author was doing that simply drew me out of the story.
The story: the science vessel SRES Argo is on a mission to pick up an anthropologist and then find a lost colony ship when the Argo is suddenly set upon by what must be pirates. Chief Medical Officer Tag Brewer manages to survive the attack, take control of the Argo and escape to the surface of the planet where the no doubt unsuspecting anthropologist (a woman) is awaiting pickup. Just as he seems to be getting hold of the situation, yet another challenge awaits him. He is a medical officer, not a captain, commando, nor diplomat, yet he must fulfill these roles to get his ship away in order to warn the Fleet of a secret danger... and the danger might be his own Fleet.
Any problems with this story? Other than the confusing twists and turns, it seemed impossible that a man trained primarily in medical procedures would be able to handle an entire ship in battle on his own.
The anthropologist seemed like a reasonable character as far as such scientists go, but just when the Argo needed a pilot, guess what? The anthropologist used to be a fighter pilot. What were the odds? Eh?
Any modesty issues? I can't think of any. The anthropologist was an obvious love interest in the story, but nothing was suggested more than simple admiration for her skills as a pilot and with her language skills which came into play.
Perhaps I'm making too much of this. Sometimes I get into a mood. I will probably revisit this book and give it another chance to wow me. For now, it seems like a reasonable start of a series.
The book ended with big space battle, very exciting, and a big opening for the sequel. I'll definitely read the sequel, "Edge of War."
The story: the science vessel SRES Argo is on a mission to pick up an anthropologist and then find a lost colony ship when the Argo is suddenly set upon by what must be pirates. Chief Medical Officer Tag Brewer manages to survive the attack, take control of the Argo and escape to the surface of the planet where the no doubt unsuspecting anthropologist (a woman) is awaiting pickup. Just as he seems to be getting hold of the situation, yet another challenge awaits him. He is a medical officer, not a captain, commando, nor diplomat, yet he must fulfill these roles to get his ship away in order to warn the Fleet of a secret danger... and the danger might be his own Fleet.
Any problems with this story? Other than the confusing twists and turns, it seemed impossible that a man trained primarily in medical procedures would be able to handle an entire ship in battle on his own.
The anthropologist seemed like a reasonable character as far as such scientists go, but just when the Argo needed a pilot, guess what? The anthropologist used to be a fighter pilot. What were the odds? Eh?
Any modesty issues? I can't think of any. The anthropologist was an obvious love interest in the story, but nothing was suggested more than simple admiration for her skills as a pilot and with her language skills which came into play.
Perhaps I'm making too much of this. Sometimes I get into a mood. I will probably revisit this book and give it another chance to wow me. For now, it seems like a reasonable start of a series.
The book ended with big space battle, very exciting, and a big opening for the sequel. I'll definitely read the sequel, "Edge of War."
October 3, 2020
Tag Brewer is the medical officer on a Solar Republic ship. It wasn’t his first choice for career but at least traipsing about the edges of known space isn’t very exciting. So, Tag has plenty of time to study and experiment on cutting edge AI science. But their routine mission to pick up a lone researcher studying a primitive species is about to get a whole lot more exciting. There’s a second alien species visiting this system. An advanced alien race. If actions speak louder than words, then their sneak attack just spoke volumes about their intentions.
The brutal attack leaves Tag as the last survivor of his crew. Aliens are in control of his ship and he’ll have to take it back to make it out alive. This is no time to sit around like a space potato, you know a spud-nik.
Anthony creates a classic space opera world. Human empire encounters a hostile alien species and they’re more advanced than we are. Tag is a clever mix between action hero and guile hero. The characters have depth and different agendas. There are a number of plot twists to keep the story interesting and engaging. 5 out of 5 stars.
The brutal attack leaves Tag as the last survivor of his crew. Aliens are in control of his ship and he’ll have to take it back to make it out alive. This is no time to sit around like a space potato, you know a spud-nik.
Anthony creates a classic space opera world. Human empire encounters a hostile alien species and they’re more advanced than we are. Tag is a clever mix between action hero and guile hero. The characters have depth and different agendas. There are a number of plot twists to keep the story interesting and engaging. 5 out of 5 stars.
June 29, 2020
Attacked at the beginning of their mission, the Argo discovers two new races!
Lt. Commander Tag Brewer serves as Chief Medical Officer aboard the Solar Republic of Earth Ship Argo. SRES Argo is a scientific exploration vessel, its first mission to retrieve to retrieve a scientist from the frozen world Eta Five. When the Argo reached Eta Five they were attacked by an unknown alien vessel. The Argo was quickly overwhelmed and soon Tag was the only crew member left alive.
Pulse pounding action kept me glued to the pages of my Kindle as Tag and his motley crew blasted their way across the galaxy seeking answers and trying to make their way to the SRES Montenegro, the capital ship stationed 10 light years away. They'll have to fight their way there.
The super fast action sequences drive a complex storyline populated with endearing characters. Discovery of two new alien races adds allies and foes. The medical knowledge of the author enabled Tag's skills to be easily understood. A great beginning, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!
Lt. Commander Tag Brewer serves as Chief Medical Officer aboard the Solar Republic of Earth Ship Argo. SRES Argo is a scientific exploration vessel, its first mission to retrieve to retrieve a scientist from the frozen world Eta Five. When the Argo reached Eta Five they were attacked by an unknown alien vessel. The Argo was quickly overwhelmed and soon Tag was the only crew member left alive.
Pulse pounding action kept me glued to the pages of my Kindle as Tag and his motley crew blasted their way across the galaxy seeking answers and trying to make their way to the SRES Montenegro, the capital ship stationed 10 light years away. They'll have to fight their way there.
The super fast action sequences drive a complex storyline populated with endearing characters. Discovery of two new alien races adds allies and foes. The medical knowledge of the author enabled Tag's skills to be easily understood. A great beginning, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!
February 28, 2024
Cons: story lacked imagination. A battle lasted 12 chapters at least and we can’t find out the purpose or who they are?
No comic relief.
Simply using sci fi words like warp drive and shields and jump is not good enough.
I feel like this writer was just going through the motions and his/her heart wasn’t in the writing. Very unfortunate.
Protagonist was oversimplified. The monotonic warnings of the ship had more emotion than the character.
The battle, which at least lasted 12 chapters, was way too long and nothing else of substance was happening. I quickly lost interest. I might as well be reading a battle in galleons and frigates from the early 1800s.
The book felt uninspired. If you ran out of stuff to listen to i guess the is is ok but even the battle was so dull that it could put you to sleep.
How unfortunate. A ton of other sci fi books are a lot better.
I am not going to read anything else from this author
No comic relief.
Simply using sci fi words like warp drive and shields and jump is not good enough.
I feel like this writer was just going through the motions and his/her heart wasn’t in the writing. Very unfortunate.
Protagonist was oversimplified. The monotonic warnings of the ship had more emotion than the character.
The battle, which at least lasted 12 chapters, was way too long and nothing else of substance was happening. I quickly lost interest. I might as well be reading a battle in galleons and frigates from the early 1800s.
The book felt uninspired. If you ran out of stuff to listen to i guess the is is ok but even the battle was so dull that it could put you to sleep.
How unfortunate. A ton of other sci fi books are a lot better.
I am not going to read anything else from this author
February 25, 2021
On the plus side there are a couple of good ideas in this story. BUT, the writing seems to have recycled every cliché known to the human race. If I had to read "his fingers danced across the keyboard" one more time I would have tossed my cookies. AND, non-stop action to an exhausting degree. Any character development was shoe-horned into the action scenes, of which each one was more unrealistic than the last. People are continually getting shot, then quickly patched up by their space suits, then getting clobbered again, then getting blown out of the sky and crashing, then popping back up, each time by the slimmest of margins against hopeless odds, ad nauseam.
I'm afraid I'm too tired to follow up with the next books in the trilogy.
I'm afraid I'm too tired to follow up with the next books in the trilogy.
October 24, 2024
The Eternal Frontier Book 1 by author Anthony J Melchiorri is one of those books that tend to leave you breathless most of the time, trying to hold your breath for the number of times the main characters are engaged in fighting for their lives against horrendous odds.
It is especially Tag Brewer that seems to be the all time best escape artist ever. He is basically a medic with some fingers in medical research that ended up the sole survivor on a spaceship nearly destroyed by aliens near ETA -Five, a frozen planet you would never have thought could
sustain life. Least of all, intelligent alien life.
But Tag is intelligent. And hardy. And determined beyond call. And that is what the Eternal Frontier would demand for survival.
Enjoy.
It is especially Tag Brewer that seems to be the all time best escape artist ever. He is basically a medic with some fingers in medical research that ended up the sole survivor on a spaceship nearly destroyed by aliens near ETA -Five, a frozen planet you would never have thought could
sustain life. Least of all, intelligent alien life.
But Tag is intelligent. And hardy. And determined beyond call. And that is what the Eternal Frontier would demand for survival.
Enjoy.
May 14, 2017
I loved this book and am so glad I didn't give up on it partway through - I almost did. The Forest of Light parts with the Forinths and alien creatures were giving me an Avatar vibe and I almost bailed ... but I persisted and ended up really loving this book which is full of engaging and diverse characters, suspenseful storylines, perilous situations and thought-provoking concepts.
Also, the bromance forming between Tag and Coren of the M'jar Emtoradajo (a.k.a. the Mechanics) is beyond awesome. Reading book 2 now and loving it. This author is amazing. I started reading this series because he cliff hangered me with his Tide series.
Also, the bromance forming between Tag and Coren of the M'jar Emtoradajo (a.k.a. the Mechanics) is beyond awesome. Reading book 2 now and loving it. This author is amazing. I started reading this series because he cliff hangered me with his Tide series.
August 20, 2017
A stretch in the battles.
The plot would have been more believable if it weren't like star wars where the heroes never got shot. Hard to believe that they could have gone through everything they did and still come out relatively unscathed. Other than that I enjoyed the book and deducted a star only for the stretch of the battle casualties, heroes vs enemies. Like the original Star Trek, where the untouchable main crew could wear blue uniforms and the ones who could die wore red, here only their allies could die once the story was set up. Enjoyed it and it was worth the read though.
The plot would have been more believable if it weren't like star wars where the heroes never got shot. Hard to believe that they could have gone through everything they did and still come out relatively unscathed. Other than that I enjoyed the book and deducted a star only for the stretch of the battle casualties, heroes vs enemies. Like the original Star Trek, where the untouchable main crew could wear blue uniforms and the ones who could die wore red, here only their allies could die once the story was set up. Enjoyed it and it was worth the read though.
January 23, 2018
Wishful thinking!
A medical officer, Tag, outa only be concerned with medical stuff but life has habit of curving in da space lanes occasionally. As luck would have it, it’s been several occasional outa da box experiences now. The nano crisis is kinda spread over a few shoulders he has charge of. His current erstwhile crew comprising of a rescued anthropologist, a lone individual of the same compromised race by the nanites, plus his creation, AI in training. His mission, to find the evildoers enslaving this race into mind-bots. Tag has a friggin full plate.
A medical officer, Tag, outa only be concerned with medical stuff but life has habit of curving in da space lanes occasionally. As luck would have it, it’s been several occasional outa da box experiences now. The nano crisis is kinda spread over a few shoulders he has charge of. His current erstwhile crew comprising of a rescued anthropologist, a lone individual of the same compromised race by the nanites, plus his creation, AI in training. His mission, to find the evildoers enslaving this race into mind-bots. Tag has a friggin full plate.
January 8, 2021
Its ok, the author's use of descriptors and appealing scifi visuals is good, but it doesn't differentiate much compared what a Traveller Game master comes up every weekend.
A great case study if you want to avoid common pitfalls. The strength is his visualization, the weakness is the structure (believability) of the story. If you don't like technical detail in scifi and like a pulp adventure this would be a good book for you.
the naming needs work. he has a term called Drone Mechanic that becomes very confusing.
A great case study if you want to avoid common pitfalls. The strength is his visualization, the weakness is the structure (believability) of the story. If you don't like technical detail in scifi and like a pulp adventure this would be a good book for you.
the naming needs work. he has a term called Drone Mechanic that becomes very confusing.
August 4, 2023
This books feels like just a sequence of not very interesting nor very plausible action sequences. There's some vague semblance of a plot (we got attacked! Now we have to go there! Now we got attacked again!) that is just an excuse for more action sequences. The characters (a grand total of four in the entire book) barely have any thoughts or dialogue, or character, except for the main character who is constantly busy thinking about how to shoot the next wave of enemy drones/space ships/faceless aliens.
It was easy to read but I didn't care about any of it.
It was easy to read but I didn't care about any of it.
February 26, 2019
If you're looking for aliens and exploration you've found it.
There are several alien species described in this book, as well as some intriguing concepts I haven't seen in many other science fiction books. There is a good amount of combat, and I'm glad I don't have to read about humans humans fighting humans, as that is boring to me. If you're going to write science fiction space operas you might as well go all out and make up alien species and cultures, and this author has done that.
There are several alien species described in this book, as well as some intriguing concepts I haven't seen in many other science fiction books. There is a good amount of combat, and I'm glad I don't have to read about humans humans fighting humans, as that is boring to me. If you're going to write science fiction space operas you might as well go all out and make up alien species and cultures, and this author has done that.
February 16, 2021
Chief Medical Officer on a research spacecraft becomes captain when the crew is murdered by a newly discovered alien race called Mechanics. But most of the Mechanics, including the murderers have been infected by something that makes them drones bent of wiping out every lifeform in the Universe. Good characters in the crew and the good Mechanic revealed in the fight to save the Mechanic race as they try to discover who made them into killer drones.
July 11, 2024
DNF 32%
This book wore me out. It was a combination of bad science and histrionic prose.
I'm not going to go on a nerd rant about the author's lack of understanding of A.I., or momentum, or the pointlessness of kinetic rounds in a ship-to-ship battle... there are just too many issues. I could have lived with it but... the breathless overuse of extreme adjectives for every action was exhausting.
Melchiorri and I are just a bad fit I'm afraid.
This book wore me out. It was a combination of bad science and histrionic prose.
I'm not going to go on a nerd rant about the author's lack of understanding of A.I., or momentum, or the pointlessness of kinetic rounds in a ship-to-ship battle... there are just too many issues. I could have lived with it but... the breathless overuse of extreme adjectives for every action was exhausting.
Melchiorri and I are just a bad fit I'm afraid.
December 15, 2020
Loved every minute of this book. I often struggle to stay engaged with books because many fail to hold my attention. Not this one! from beginning to end I was hooked. can't wait to read the next book in this series, or any book by this author. Tagg Brewer is just the kind of main character and ships Captain/medical office I needed. Hats off to the author for weaving such an incredible story.
November 23, 2021
A good yarn.
This is a good yarn. In science-fiction the worst flaw is to employ inconsistent physics; one must define a set of materials and then be consistent within them. A similar principle goes for the protagonist; his abilities should either have backstory or be developed.
This novel does well on those fronts and retains my interest.
This is a good yarn. In science-fiction the worst flaw is to employ inconsistent physics; one must define a set of materials and then be consistent within them. A similar principle goes for the protagonist; his abilities should either have backstory or be developed.
This novel does well on those fronts and retains my interest.
June 24, 2017
A don't think too much about it space action story. Light on the realism, big on fun explosions and general fun.
Perfect if work is stressful and you want to unwind or you want some easy holiday reading.
Perfect if work is stressful and you want to unwind or you want some easy holiday reading.
April 4, 2020
A good engaging story, with almost constant battles. A few times I expected there to be some female-male interplay or at least some banter. Seems lacking in this department, but overall, a good read, worth the time spent. Onwards to book 2.
October 3, 2020
Just finished reading this book and found it really enjoyable, it's not easy to find a good SF book but this one kept me reading till the end, (2 days) will look forward to Edge of War the second book, this author did a good job.
January 19, 2021
If not for the first 1/3 of the book being such a rough start I would have given this 4 stars. I have to hand it to the author for making things work well at the end and creating some a crew and some characters that started to feel real and that you could care about.
July 25, 2021
A very nice mix of technology, people, species, and conflict. I enjoyed the focus of the main character pressing pass boundaries with a motivation to help others. A focus on how to best lead in this futuristic setting was very well done. I had a hard time putting this story down.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews