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Blood on the Stars #1
Duel in the Dark
The Confederation has fought three wars against the forces of the totalitarian Union. Three generations of its warriors have gone off to war, held the line against the larger, more powerful enemy. Now the fourth conflict is imminent, and the Confederation’s navy is on alert, positioned behind the frontier, waiting for the attack it knows is coming.
The battleship Dauntless has spent the past ten months patrolling the border, deployed far forward of the main fleet, a forlorn hope, an advance guard positioned to give the warning of invasion. But no attack has come. Her crew is exhausted, and the aging battleship needs maintenance. With the fleet mobilized and the forward bases overloaded beyond capacity, she is sent clear across the Confederation, to a planet along the quiet and peaceful far frontier. Her crew is looking forward to a rest, and Dauntless herself is scheduled for a long-overdue maintenance session.
But the quiet frontier isn’t what it seems… and when a distress call is received from one of the mining colonies on the edge of Confederation space, it falls to Captain Tyler Barron to take Dauntless forward, to find out what is happening, and to put a stop to it.
Barron and his crew have their ship—and each other—but they can expect no other help. Suspicion is strong that Union deceit is at play, that the attack is some sort of diversion, intended to draw Confederation forces from the disputed border. The orders are clear. No ships will be transferred from the prospective battle line. Stopping whatever is happening on the rim is Barron’s responsibility, and his alone.
Barron is the grandson of the Confederation’s great hero, the father of the modern navy. His family name has always carried privilege with it, and crushing responsibility. And now he must prove that he has inherited more from his famous grandfather than name and privilege. He must face the enemy, and win the victory… before the Confederation is caught between two enemies and destroyed.
The battleship Dauntless has spent the past ten months patrolling the border, deployed far forward of the main fleet, a forlorn hope, an advance guard positioned to give the warning of invasion. But no attack has come. Her crew is exhausted, and the aging battleship needs maintenance. With the fleet mobilized and the forward bases overloaded beyond capacity, she is sent clear across the Confederation, to a planet along the quiet and peaceful far frontier. Her crew is looking forward to a rest, and Dauntless herself is scheduled for a long-overdue maintenance session.
But the quiet frontier isn’t what it seems… and when a distress call is received from one of the mining colonies on the edge of Confederation space, it falls to Captain Tyler Barron to take Dauntless forward, to find out what is happening, and to put a stop to it.
Barron and his crew have their ship—and each other—but they can expect no other help. Suspicion is strong that Union deceit is at play, that the attack is some sort of diversion, intended to draw Confederation forces from the disputed border. The orders are clear. No ships will be transferred from the prospective battle line. Stopping whatever is happening on the rim is Barron’s responsibility, and his alone.
Barron is the grandson of the Confederation’s great hero, the father of the modern navy. His family name has always carried privilege with it, and crushing responsibility. And now he must prove that he has inherited more from his famous grandfather than name and privilege. He must face the enemy, and win the victory… before the Confederation is caught between two enemies and destroyed.
370 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 28, 2016
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October 14, 2019
5 Big fat Stars! I tell you!
So normally I do not write my reviews with details of the actual story, as most of my GR friends all ready know that the story is about. Rather, I focus on what my personal feelings are about the book. I am going to change that a bit for this one, as it is not yet a widely read book in my circles and I think that needs to change.
So here goes:
There are three super powers:
The Alliance, a warrior breed who escaped slavery 2 generations ago and have been doing nothing but building war ships and training everyone to become a cog in the great war machine. They are small compared the other two super powers but have global domination on their minds and as soon as they pick off a planet, they subjugate the population into slavery and make them work to build more military products.
The Union, who make the Alliance sound nice. A conniving, back stabbing faction, the largest of the three, who have slavery as a norm and if you aren't in the ruling class, then you are dirt. These people would be the worst to join up with.
Andgood old USA. The Confederate. Who are in the middle of the two hell bent on domination. The confederate whilst large have a democracy and A MARINE CORP. They have been fighting with those Unionists for a long time.
So now you know who is who in the Zoo. Everyone see the Confederates as weak as they are a democracy and the people do not live in fear.
Premise of the story is that the Union want the Alliance to sneak attack the Confeds. The Alliance doesn't want to risk the Union beating the Confed and taking all their planets as they would become a Super Super Power and would take on the Alliance next.
So that is the first Chapter. The rest of the story is one of the best space battles between two ships that I have ever read. Seat of the pants stuff. There was certainly stages where I just could not put the book down. Massively exciting, fast paced and brilliantly written.
The characters in the book are well written and believable. Whilst this is a military scifi, it is not hard SciFi, it isn't all about war and just shooting the shit out of each other. It is two freaking huge space destroyers, kilometers in length, playing cat and mouse with each other in a thoroughly enjoyable tense battle. They take damage, they have to limp around and put blue tack in holes. None of this "100% power to forward shields Captain" or "Scotty, I need maximum warp in 8 seconds". It's more like "Captain, I can give you a laser at 20% and 8% thrust, oh and a lot of our crew are venting through the holes we are having blown in the ship"
Loved it! Read it, lot of fun!
So normally I do not write my reviews with details of the actual story, as most of my GR friends all ready know that the story is about. Rather, I focus on what my personal feelings are about the book. I am going to change that a bit for this one, as it is not yet a widely read book in my circles and I think that needs to change.
So here goes:
There are three super powers:
The Alliance, a warrior breed who escaped slavery 2 generations ago and have been doing nothing but building war ships and training everyone to become a cog in the great war machine. They are small compared the other two super powers but have global domination on their minds and as soon as they pick off a planet, they subjugate the population into slavery and make them work to build more military products.
The Union, who make the Alliance sound nice. A conniving, back stabbing faction, the largest of the three, who have slavery as a norm and if you aren't in the ruling class, then you are dirt. These people would be the worst to join up with.
And
So now you know who is who in the Zoo. Everyone see the Confederates as weak as they are a democracy and the people do not live in fear.
Premise of the story is that the Union want the Alliance to sneak attack the Confeds. The Alliance doesn't want to risk the Union beating the Confed and taking all their planets as they would become a Super Super Power and would take on the Alliance next.
So that is the first Chapter. The rest of the story is one of the best space battles between two ships that I have ever read. Seat of the pants stuff. There was certainly stages where I just could not put the book down. Massively exciting, fast paced and brilliantly written.
The characters in the book are well written and believable. Whilst this is a military scifi, it is not hard SciFi, it isn't all about war and just shooting the shit out of each other. It is two freaking huge space destroyers, kilometers in length, playing cat and mouse with each other in a thoroughly enjoyable tense battle. They take damage, they have to limp around and put blue tack in holes. None of this "100% power to forward shields Captain" or "Scotty, I need maximum warp in 8 seconds". It's more like "Captain, I can give you a laser at 20% and 8% thrust, oh and a lot of our crew are venting through the holes we are having blown in the ship"
Loved it! Read it, lot of fun!
May 1, 2017
Marking this as spoilers even if I tried to avoid them, enough slipped through.
A relative generic Military Science Fiction book. And comparative weak and inconsistent on the science parts.
Pretty much the entire plot was telegraphed from the very beginning, who couldn't tell how everything would end (including that one "important" character death) within the first 50 pages must be new to this genre.
Writing it in detail from both sides might have given insight into the enemy character, but at the same time took a lot of tension out of the book. The reader always knows just what the other side is up to.
There is also the very generic naming of the political entities. An Alliance, a Union and a Confederation. Those are shorthands, but we are never told full names, even in places where it would have been appropriate. Also the naming itself. A good Confederation facing of a bad Union - maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it's a bit iffy to me, as a non-American who knows a little bit about their civil war. Ironically we get the least on the Confederation aside from some generic Space-America vibes, but that might be down to the Authors own experience instead of deliberate. Again I might be reading too much into this, but the Union seems to include some of those "corrupt socialists" vibes that one finds so often in this genre. We see very little of them however.
What we get the most background on is the Alliance. A pseudo Roman, though it's mostly in the naming conventions than anything else, completely militarized society. We are told they are the result of a slave uprising succeeding. Their government seems to be modeled on the Imperial Roman one, leading to the question of Alliance of what. They are clearly an Empire and it is stated that they grew out from their one planet by conquest, never mentioning a second partner. So Alliance of what?
The author likes to repeat himself. Especially in the first few chapters. I'm pretty certain that that Alliance "background" wasn't just mentioned at least four times in detail, but only a couple chapters apart repeats itself verbatim.
Generic character backstories. We only really get more in depth ones for the two captains, but those are so generic one could nearly exchange them for each other. Navy background, long walks and fishing with heroic father/grandfather, who then died on duty while the captains were still young. All with the generic high expectations and transferred hero worship, that borders on the ridiculous.
We also get various cocky fighter jocks, miracle worker engineers, a first officer that come up from a lowly gunner and is still the best shot in the fleet aside from being extremely competent at everything else she touches and looks stunning as well... Oh, and spoiler, the one who gets sent pictures of his newborn son dies. Big surprise there.
I also noticed that the point of view sometimes changed unpredictably. If you preface a chapter with a ship name I expect the point of view to from there, not from the other one. This happens quite a bit, and might have been avoidable if someone else proofread. There are also inconsistencies in a similar vein. First names change, ranks change, squadron names change, sometimes form one paragraph to the next. While some such errors could slip through they were a noticeable number of them. Especially those where things change from one paragraph to the next should not have made it through.
Now to get something more into the plot itself.
The very premise is odd. I know it is because of the story the author wants to tell, but I'll poke holes in a few plot points that felt particularly odd.
One: even if tensions are running high, you wouldn't pull all assets from everywhere else. That be like the US pulling the Navy from the Pacific and leaving defense there to the Coast Guard, because tensions were high elsewhere.
Also there seem to be patrol boats and battleships. Nothing in between. Also: sending your brand new flagship on a mission you might want to deny involvement in.
Second: Contingency planning of military garrisons. The Marines on the ground shouldn't have to make up plans on the fly, they should have preplanned such a scenario. Forgetting the primary reason an enemy might want to take a colony is pretty bad if you decide on playing scorched earth. Then you have Marines taking on 10-1 or something odds while the enemy has supplies, a base of operations, backup... and win. Because Marines!, it seems.
Third: That patrol boat got off sensor reading on first encountering the Invictus. At least as far as that chapter indicates. Yet Barron doesn't seem to be aware of those. A single line of "oh we are being jammed" and a notice that the second ship in system send the warning without more information might explain that, but that's not in the book.
Fourth: A main weapon that fails as soon as someone sneezes at it? It is said in the book that it was already deployed in the last war and during piracy suppression. If it was this temperamental few militaries in a constant threat environment would refit the whole fleet to this unreliable standard.
Fifth: And I'm going to draw parallels to Weber and his Honor Harrington series here (at least the early ones). The entire strategy of space combat seems to be some variation of get pounded to scrap until you can get off you last minute surprise to save the day.
Take the shot that is likely to destroy the enemy? No let's take out the engines and come back for round two... Take the reasonable long range shot while everything is working or risking further damage to patched up systems in order to get a close range shot at a time the main weapon is likely to no longer work? "Drive me closer, I want to hit them with my sword" seems to be an appropriate sentiment there. And it works because plot.
With Weber he always gave good reason to risk damage and casualties. Reinforcements, weapon systems that only work at close range, surprise... Here it seems to boil down to all-or-nothing instead of do what we can to avoid casualties and damage while maximizing it for the enemy.
Sixth: The intelligence work and diplomacy. If the old enemy the Union goads the Alliance into attacking the Confederacy they should at least hand over their data on Confederacy ships. Instead the Alliance goes in blind. If you want to find state secrets like a secret aggression pact you don't insert a new agent into that nation to get it. It's likely to fail. The rookie might get lucky, but it's far more likely that a long standing asset comes through.
I could probably think of more things to poke holes into, but this is what came to mind quickly. So I'll leave at at this.
All in all a quick read, if you can overlook the flaws. It was good enough to spend a couple of hours on it, however not enough to convince me to buy any more books of this author.
A relative generic Military Science Fiction book. And comparative weak and inconsistent on the science parts.
Pretty much the entire plot was telegraphed from the very beginning, who couldn't tell how everything would end (including that one "important" character death) within the first 50 pages must be new to this genre.
Writing it in detail from both sides might have given insight into the enemy character, but at the same time took a lot of tension out of the book. The reader always knows just what the other side is up to.
There is also the very generic naming of the political entities. An Alliance, a Union and a Confederation. Those are shorthands, but we are never told full names, even in places where it would have been appropriate. Also the naming itself. A good Confederation facing of a bad Union - maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it's a bit iffy to me, as a non-American who knows a little bit about their civil war. Ironically we get the least on the Confederation aside from some generic Space-America vibes, but that might be down to the Authors own experience instead of deliberate. Again I might be reading too much into this, but the Union seems to include some of those "corrupt socialists" vibes that one finds so often in this genre. We see very little of them however.
What we get the most background on is the Alliance. A pseudo Roman, though it's mostly in the naming conventions than anything else, completely militarized society. We are told they are the result of a slave uprising succeeding. Their government seems to be modeled on the Imperial Roman one, leading to the question of Alliance of what. They are clearly an Empire and it is stated that they grew out from their one planet by conquest, never mentioning a second partner. So Alliance of what?
The author likes to repeat himself. Especially in the first few chapters. I'm pretty certain that that Alliance "background" wasn't just mentioned at least four times in detail, but only a couple chapters apart repeats itself verbatim.
Generic character backstories. We only really get more in depth ones for the two captains, but those are so generic one could nearly exchange them for each other. Navy background, long walks and fishing with heroic father/grandfather, who then died on duty while the captains were still young. All with the generic high expectations and transferred hero worship, that borders on the ridiculous.
We also get various cocky fighter jocks, miracle worker engineers, a first officer that come up from a lowly gunner and is still the best shot in the fleet aside from being extremely competent at everything else she touches and looks stunning as well... Oh, and spoiler, the one who gets sent pictures of his newborn son dies. Big surprise there.
I also noticed that the point of view sometimes changed unpredictably. If you preface a chapter with a ship name I expect the point of view to from there, not from the other one. This happens quite a bit, and might have been avoidable if someone else proofread. There are also inconsistencies in a similar vein. First names change, ranks change, squadron names change, sometimes form one paragraph to the next. While some such errors could slip through they were a noticeable number of them. Especially those where things change from one paragraph to the next should not have made it through.
Now to get something more into the plot itself.
The very premise is odd. I know it is because of the story the author wants to tell, but I'll poke holes in a few plot points that felt particularly odd.
One: even if tensions are running high, you wouldn't pull all assets from everywhere else. That be like the US pulling the Navy from the Pacific and leaving defense there to the Coast Guard, because tensions were high elsewhere.
Also there seem to be patrol boats and battleships. Nothing in between. Also: sending your brand new flagship on a mission you might want to deny involvement in.
Second: Contingency planning of military garrisons. The Marines on the ground shouldn't have to make up plans on the fly, they should have preplanned such a scenario. Forgetting the primary reason an enemy might want to take a colony is pretty bad if you decide on playing scorched earth. Then you have Marines taking on 10-1 or something odds while the enemy has supplies, a base of operations, backup... and win. Because Marines!, it seems.
Third: That patrol boat got off sensor reading on first encountering the Invictus. At least as far as that chapter indicates. Yet Barron doesn't seem to be aware of those. A single line of "oh we are being jammed" and a notice that the second ship in system send the warning without more information might explain that, but that's not in the book.
Fourth: A main weapon that fails as soon as someone sneezes at it? It is said in the book that it was already deployed in the last war and during piracy suppression. If it was this temperamental few militaries in a constant threat environment would refit the whole fleet to this unreliable standard.
Fifth: And I'm going to draw parallels to Weber and his Honor Harrington series here (at least the early ones). The entire strategy of space combat seems to be some variation of get pounded to scrap until you can get off you last minute surprise to save the day.
Take the shot that is likely to destroy the enemy? No let's take out the engines and come back for round two... Take the reasonable long range shot while everything is working or risking further damage to patched up systems in order to get a close range shot at a time the main weapon is likely to no longer work? "Drive me closer, I want to hit them with my sword" seems to be an appropriate sentiment there. And it works because plot.
With Weber he always gave good reason to risk damage and casualties. Reinforcements, weapon systems that only work at close range, surprise... Here it seems to boil down to all-or-nothing instead of do what we can to avoid casualties and damage while maximizing it for the enemy.
Sixth: The intelligence work and diplomacy. If the old enemy the Union goads the Alliance into attacking the Confederacy they should at least hand over their data on Confederacy ships. Instead the Alliance goes in blind. If you want to find state secrets like a secret aggression pact you don't insert a new agent into that nation to get it. It's likely to fail. The rookie might get lucky, but it's far more likely that a long standing asset comes through.
I could probably think of more things to poke holes into, but this is what came to mind quickly. So I'll leave at at this.
All in all a quick read, if you can overlook the flaws. It was good enough to spend a couple of hours on it, however not enough to convince me to buy any more books of this author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2017
In the genre of military scifi, this was a 5. I've come across a lot of military scifi books lately that are really space adventures that happen to have a gun fight or 2 embedded.
This book is militiary scifi and a good one at that. The book revolves around 3 distinct groups occupying various star systems. Each a neighbor of the other. You view from the perspective of each, the need to defend each group's interest through military, political and backroom means.
There is a nice blend of ship to ship combat (4 million ton, 3km long ships and their respective captains and crews playing a game of chess; starfighter to starfighter combat (space jocks and their fighters circling each other in a dance of death; and marine ground pounder combat (armored marines facing their foes from dug in positions, sometimes from afar and sometimes hand-hand).
If you are a fan of military scifi, this book will not disapoint. You may not love it (like me), but you will appreciate that it is a pure entry into the genre where the author gives you the perspective of multiple participants in a wide-ranging war where the perpsective of a ship captain feels real and distinct from the perspective of a marine or space jockey.
This book is militiary scifi and a good one at that. The book revolves around 3 distinct groups occupying various star systems. Each a neighbor of the other. You view from the perspective of each, the need to defend each group's interest through military, political and backroom means.
There is a nice blend of ship to ship combat (4 million ton, 3km long ships and their respective captains and crews playing a game of chess; starfighter to starfighter combat (space jocks and their fighters circling each other in a dance of death; and marine ground pounder combat (armored marines facing their foes from dug in positions, sometimes from afar and sometimes hand-hand).
If you are a fan of military scifi, this book will not disapoint. You may not love it (like me), but you will appreciate that it is a pure entry into the genre where the author gives you the perspective of multiple participants in a wide-ranging war where the perpsective of a ship captain feels real and distinct from the perspective of a marine or space jockey.
March 17, 2024
This is the audiobook review. Blood on the Stars series is epic in terms of sheer size, if not in imagination or literary style.
I would not even call it science fiction even though it is in set in space in a far, far off future. Neither would I call it military Sf for there is no tactics and strategy worth mentioning. The conflict depicted, the factions and nations embroiled in war, the character of the fighting, it all just so reminds me on WW2 merely set among the planets and stars. On top of that, much of the 5000 pages of the series is interceptor, fighter vs fighters battles, and some more. This is dangerously on the verge of getting too repetitive. Also, since I’m listening to the audiobook, I find the author’s choice of having some of the characters speaking with a strong accent, German, Russian, French, etc. rather quirky and out of place - I mean we are a 1000 years or more in the future. Be that as it may, despite that, the series of 11 books is a solid enough read.
The author is a passable storyteller and obviously the purpose of the series is simple entertainment. For that it deserves ⭐️⭐️ stars and not less.
I would not even call it science fiction even though it is in set in space in a far, far off future. Neither would I call it military Sf for there is no tactics and strategy worth mentioning. The conflict depicted, the factions and nations embroiled in war, the character of the fighting, it all just so reminds me on WW2 merely set among the planets and stars. On top of that, much of the 5000 pages of the series is interceptor, fighter vs fighters battles, and some more. This is dangerously on the verge of getting too repetitive. Also, since I’m listening to the audiobook, I find the author’s choice of having some of the characters speaking with a strong accent, German, Russian, French, etc. rather quirky and out of place - I mean we are a 1000 years or more in the future. Be that as it may, despite that, the series of 11 books is a solid enough read.
The author is a passable storyteller and obviously the purpose of the series is simple entertainment. For that it deserves ⭐️⭐️ stars and not less.
June 16, 2017
The book starts by following two different storylines, one onboard the Alliance ship Vindictus and the other on the Confederate battleship Dauntless. I really don’t like this way of starting a book, jumping backwards and forwards between two different stories. Eventually they merge as it becomes clear that there will be a showdown between the two main protagonists, Tyler and Kat.
It appears that many people like the way the author devotes equal space to these two leading characters, but I didn’t enjoy this, I found I was empathising with both of them when I would really prefer to support just one side.
We then come to the big battle. The fighters from each ship met first, but the whole battle made very little sense. I went back and carefully re-read the beginning of the battle, but the timings and positions just didn’t add up. In fact the whole battle had so many inconsistencies it just became irritating.
Finally I don’t particularly like ‘slug fests’ were nearly everybody you have got to know gets slaughtered, to be honest I found the whole book depressing. By the end of the book my first inclination was to give one star, but that was probably unfair.
It appears that many people like the way the author devotes equal space to these two leading characters, but I didn’t enjoy this, I found I was empathising with both of them when I would really prefer to support just one side.
We then come to the big battle. The fighters from each ship met first, but the whole battle made very little sense. I went back and carefully re-read the beginning of the battle, but the timings and positions just didn’t add up. In fact the whole battle had so many inconsistencies it just became irritating.
Finally I don’t particularly like ‘slug fests’ were nearly everybody you have got to know gets slaughtered, to be honest I found the whole book depressing. By the end of the book my first inclination was to give one star, but that was probably unfair.
July 21, 2018
Cliched story with democratic republic vs some communist style micro state. The politics in this book are black and white, and lack any nuance. Jerry Pournelle showed, years ago, that science fiction is better when the political environment is realistic.
The main characters are better; a decent attempt has been made to give them depth, but they still feel shallow. I suspect this has improved over the following 7 books in the series.
My biggest issue is that both of the main protagonists are presented as being the best of their respective star nations space navies. Yet their tactics are those an armchair general. This aspect destroyed any desire to continue reading past book 1.
The author has clearly put time and effort into this series, and the number of positive reviews suggests that there is an audience for this type of book. However if you are seriously interested in good military science fiction the I would suggest heading over to www.baen.com and checking out any of their authors - most have real military experience, and thus the tactics are much better.
As always, your mileage may vary. 😀
The main characters are better; a decent attempt has been made to give them depth, but they still feel shallow. I suspect this has improved over the following 7 books in the series.
My biggest issue is that both of the main protagonists are presented as being the best of their respective star nations space navies. Yet their tactics are those an armchair general. This aspect destroyed any desire to continue reading past book 1.
The author has clearly put time and effort into this series, and the number of positive reviews suggests that there is an audience for this type of book. However if you are seriously interested in good military science fiction the I would suggest heading over to www.baen.com and checking out any of their authors - most have real military experience, and thus the tactics are much better.
As always, your mileage may vary. 😀
July 24, 2017
A disappointing read
I don't write many reviews because I read a lot of books, but I read the reviews (everyone who gave it 4/5 stars) and the book is truly over-rated. I was probably about 70 pages in when I realized how unoriginal this work is, in fact (spoiler alert) the scene where the two captains face each other at the end before one self-destructs is straight out of the original Star Trek series where Capt. Kirk faces off against the Romulans (Balance of Terror). Of course if you want another parallel there is the Robert Mitchum film "The Enemy Below" a very good film. I was going to give it a three but towards the end of the book he had characters (experienced combat military leaders) making fundamental mistakes that struck me as more of a crutch to write himself out of a loosing situation.
I don't write many reviews because I read a lot of books, but I read the reviews (everyone who gave it 4/5 stars) and the book is truly over-rated. I was probably about 70 pages in when I realized how unoriginal this work is, in fact (spoiler alert) the scene where the two captains face each other at the end before one self-destructs is straight out of the original Star Trek series where Capt. Kirk faces off against the Romulans (Balance of Terror). Of course if you want another parallel there is the Robert Mitchum film "The Enemy Below" a very good film. I was going to give it a three but towards the end of the book he had characters (experienced combat military leaders) making fundamental mistakes that struck me as more of a crutch to write himself out of a loosing situation.
March 22, 2018
Amazon had a deal on the first six books in the series because the seventh one is coming out, and I like military scifi so why not?
Welcome to the future, a future of war! Galactic civilization has fallen after setting up a network of FTL routes, and the technology for building new ones have been lost. Three major powers have risen in the aftermath. The Confederation are our good guys, a democracy with an independent streak that is regarded as soft by the enemy, but which has survived three existential wars thanks to daring heroics and superior technology. The Alliance is our bad guys, a militaristic empire with a warrior aristocracy and Spartan/Roman overtones. And the ugly guys are the Union, a totalitarian empire with a fearsome secret police and purge-driven politics. The troops of the Union are the Foudre Rouge. Subtly is not Allan's strongpoint as an author, though compared to David Weber (Rob S. Pierre, folks!) he's doing okay.
So the plot. War between the Confederation and the Union is imminent, and Confederation battleship Dauntless is patrolling the frontier, when it gets pulled off for a refit at the rear of Confederation space. Except that the Union has convinced the Alliance to launch an attack as well, hoping to force the Confederation to fight on two fronts. The Alliance is skeptical, and in the midst of their own refit after a recent conquest, but they can dispatch their most advanced dreadnought, the Invictus, under the command of Kat, a staunch warrior who conceals her doubts about the Alliance, to take a distant refueling outpost. If the attack succeeds, the Alliance will press forward. If it fails, they'll deny everything. The fate of the Confederation rests on Dauntless, her crew, and her captain Barron, grandson of the Confederation's great hero.
Allan mixes action sequences and the rush to war with philosophical musings on combat and death, but this is very much war via John Wayne movies, a kind of pop-culture profundity. The space ships are Galactica style battlecruisers with laser and particle beam weapons, carrying a few squadrons of fighters armed with missiles and plasma torpedoes. There are some gestures towards Newton and vectors, but the style is "World War 2 in space" rather than a new, or even particularly cohesive take on war in space. There's a recurrent moment of ships hiding by orbiting behind a moon or planet, and as anyone who knows about orbital mechanics well tell you, the thing about orbits is that they go around a mass. You can't hide in orbit for very long. This is very much Extruded Space Opera product #7. There aren't any major flaws, but it is definitely a step down from The Lost Fleet or the good Honor Harrington books.
There was one thing that I couldn't tell if it a dumb oversight or actually clever. The Confederation has an emergency alert command "Omega One" which signals invasion of the Confederation. The Alliance has a command "Omega Zero" which triggers their self-destruct. Did Allan forget he used that name already, or it it a statement about what each side regards as their 'ultimate'? I'll probably read the rest of these between serious books, because I was entertained, but that's as far as I'll go.
Welcome to the future, a future of war! Galactic civilization has fallen after setting up a network of FTL routes, and the technology for building new ones have been lost. Three major powers have risen in the aftermath. The Confederation are our good guys, a democracy with an independent streak that is regarded as soft by the enemy, but which has survived three existential wars thanks to daring heroics and superior technology. The Alliance is our bad guys, a militaristic empire with a warrior aristocracy and Spartan/Roman overtones. And the ugly guys are the Union, a totalitarian empire with a fearsome secret police and purge-driven politics. The troops of the Union are the Foudre Rouge. Subtly is not Allan's strongpoint as an author, though compared to David Weber (Rob S. Pierre, folks!) he's doing okay.
So the plot. War between the Confederation and the Union is imminent, and Confederation battleship Dauntless is patrolling the frontier, when it gets pulled off for a refit at the rear of Confederation space. Except that the Union has convinced the Alliance to launch an attack as well, hoping to force the Confederation to fight on two fronts. The Alliance is skeptical, and in the midst of their own refit after a recent conquest, but they can dispatch their most advanced dreadnought, the Invictus, under the command of Kat, a staunch warrior who conceals her doubts about the Alliance, to take a distant refueling outpost. If the attack succeeds, the Alliance will press forward. If it fails, they'll deny everything. The fate of the Confederation rests on Dauntless, her crew, and her captain Barron, grandson of the Confederation's great hero.
Allan mixes action sequences and the rush to war with philosophical musings on combat and death, but this is very much war via John Wayne movies, a kind of pop-culture profundity. The space ships are Galactica style battlecruisers with laser and particle beam weapons, carrying a few squadrons of fighters armed with missiles and plasma torpedoes. There are some gestures towards Newton and vectors, but the style is "World War 2 in space" rather than a new, or even particularly cohesive take on war in space. There's a recurrent moment of ships hiding by orbiting behind a moon or planet, and as anyone who knows about orbital mechanics well tell you, the thing about orbits is that they go around a mass. You can't hide in orbit for very long. This is very much Extruded Space Opera product #7. There aren't any major flaws, but it is definitely a step down from The Lost Fleet or the good Honor Harrington books.
There was one thing that I couldn't tell if it a dumb oversight or actually clever. The Confederation has an emergency alert command "Omega One" which signals invasion of the Confederation. The Alliance has a command "Omega Zero" which triggers their self-destruct. Did Allan forget he used that name already, or it it a statement about what each side regards as their 'ultimate'? I'll probably read the rest of these between serious books, because I was entertained, but that's as far as I'll go.
January 19, 2018
Scary bad
For me the enjoyment from military science fiction comes from a solid description of the society that created and controls these militaries. I'm also drawn to the organization and technology of a military organization, as well as tactics and operational doctrine. Lastly, the people who live in these worlds and the lives they lead should be fascinating.
With this book, I was disappointed in all three areas but was greatly pleased by the genuine description of the uncertainty, tension and terror that must accompany all war, whether the good guys are winning or losing.
It's a sad universe and a poorly written one.
It's escapism and if you don't expect more then it might be entertaining.
For me the enjoyment from military science fiction comes from a solid description of the society that created and controls these militaries. I'm also drawn to the organization and technology of a military organization, as well as tactics and operational doctrine. Lastly, the people who live in these worlds and the lives they lead should be fascinating.
With this book, I was disappointed in all three areas but was greatly pleased by the genuine description of the uncertainty, tension and terror that must accompany all war, whether the good guys are winning or losing.
It's a sad universe and a poorly written one.
It's escapism and if you don't expect more then it might be entertaining.
August 26, 2019
Not good, but not god-awful. Still not good. 1 star is purely for making the Goodreads algorithm actually do its job, I'd give it 2 stars if I went along with the points system.
The plot, as others have pointed out, is a rehash of the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" (itself a rehash of the film "The Enemy Below"), which is not nearly as groundbreaking today as it was in 1966 or 1957. I was able to see the ending coming as soon as it was clear the ships would be fighting one on one. This wouldn't be an issue if the characters were worth anything, but more on that later.
The science part of the fiction was hit and miss. On one hand, ships traveled at such velocity they'd only have a few minutes to engage each other before they were out of range, and running out of fuel was a major issue for weapons and smaller ships. On the other, if the vaunted plasma torpedoes are so deadly to larger ships, why didn't larger ships carry their own torpedoes and missiles like the fighters do? Why even use fighters if their propulsion is so efficient? I couldn't stop wondering how this world's engineers and scientists didn't explore their options with their technology. Bomb-pumped lasers, a technology we might be able achieve today if someone had a bunch of nuclear bombs to spare, are wonder-weapons, yet these ships have fusion reactors that can effortlessly accelerate and accelerate into (slightly) relativistic speeds in a matter of hours? It just really bugged me.
The politics were duller than the Disney Star Wars movies. A Confederation that acts like a federal union is about to fight a Union that acts like a totalitarian empire, and an Alliance that acts like a totalitarian empire is trying to get in on the action. All we know is that the Confederation is Space America, the Union is Space USSR, and the Alliance is Space Rome. That's about all the information we ever get on them. I guess I was rooting for the Confederation because they didn't have slavery as a thing.
Now, the characters. Here's where this book lost me. A good story rests in its characters. You can have the most interesting plot or setting in the world and I won't care if I say "I don't care what happens to these people." Let's look at who we're given time with in this book:
-Tyler Barron, the self-doubting grandson of a hero, who of course overcomes his self-doubt and makes a legend for himself. The father of his crew, cares about everyone, everyone loves him. He had something of an arc so I didn't hate him.
-Kat, whose last name I already forgot, who goes from saying love has no place in the Alliance to fretting about taking her crew from their loved ones and worrying about the children she loved. It would have been really interesting if she surrendered after realizing her people's way of life is bullshit and that not all strength flows from the barrel of a gun and that sometimes having something to live for makes a person fight harder than someone ready to die, instead of going along with it and perpetuating the cycle (something she herself acknowledges, and she still blows herself up anyway). An interesting idea killed in its cradle, very sad, many such cases.
-Spunky female engineer on Barron's ship, Fritzie? Basically just Bel'anna Torres from Star Trek Voyager, with a hint of that girl from Firefly. Meme character.
-Sergeant Johnson copy #503, the Space American marine on the fuel planet, I was legitimately expecting some Halo quotes from him, but I didn't catch any. Pretty much all the marines were variations on him. Meme character and meme characters.
-Death flag'd family man, the one guy from the planet under threat of invasion, the one guy with a wife we meet, the one guy who has a kid we know of, ugh, the death flag was blatantly obvious from a mile away. Cheap emotional tricks like that don't work when we've seen them ten thousand times already, I would have been more surprised if he made it out alive. Did the author really think he was being clever? Meme character.
-Arrogant Nazi Stormtrooper, tortures civilians and then executes them all, underestimates his enemies again and again and again despite his internal monologue realizing he shouldn't underestimate them. Meme character.
What do I mean by meme character? I mean these aren't characters. They're memes. They're ideas we've seen time and again in science fiction, with no new twists, no new takes, no new themes or subversion or deconstructions. We see them, and we copy them, until we've seen the same characters over and over, just under new names and new appearances. But under the surface, it's the same idea, the same meme. This book is very guilty of that.
The writing itself was mostly good, actually. Allan can get across the atmosphere of a scene well. A shame about all the repetition he does early on. He also has a habit of characters entering a dialogue, then have a paragraph of exposition, then resume the dialogue, forcing me to go back and find out what the hell the characters were talking about to start with. There was quite a bit of exposition actually, not optimal.
Now, let's return to themes. There actually were some themes hidden in this book, despite the genericness of plot and lack of non-meme characters. I liked the themes. Allan presents a very grim future, where the strong prey on the weak, where might is right, where genocide and slavery are everyday occurrences few question. Except in the Confederation, of course, where Enlightenment liberalism still survives. The Union relies on enslaved clone troopers and mass-produced garbage to try and overwhelm the Confederation with numbers, the Alliance relies on slavery to fuel its military-industrial complex and believes totally in social Darwinism. They view the Confederation as soft and weak, full of corrupt politicians ruling over a cowardly people ready to fold. Yet, this supposedly rotten nation is filled with valor and patriotism. How do they beat the Union's hordes, how do they resist the Alliance's merciless training and tactics? It's like Sam said in the film of The Two Towers, the soldiers of the Confederation are holding onto something, and that it's worth fighting for. Death flag'd man knew that if he didn't act, everything he cared about was going to be destroyed. Sergeant Johnson #503 knew that if his handful of marines didn't do the impossible, everything they swore to protect would fall to ruin. Against all odds, the Confederation characters pull through, because their will to win and protect what they love from the darkness around them triumphs against indoctrination, fear, and the supposedly pragmatic cynicism of social Darwinism. If Allan had made these themes central to his narrative instead of incidental, and gave us some fully-fleshed out characters for us to realize them through, this would have been a great book.
But he didn't. Instead we got some (admittedly satisfying to this burgerlander) Ameriwank and a story we've seen a hundred times before with meme characters we've seen a hundred times before. I quote Chairman Stahl's final words to Admiral Orlock in Killzone 3 when I say of this book: "YOU'RE PREDICTABLE!"
The plot, as others have pointed out, is a rehash of the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" (itself a rehash of the film "The Enemy Below"), which is not nearly as groundbreaking today as it was in 1966 or 1957. I was able to see the ending coming as soon as it was clear the ships would be fighting one on one. This wouldn't be an issue if the characters were worth anything, but more on that later.
The science part of the fiction was hit and miss. On one hand, ships traveled at such velocity they'd only have a few minutes to engage each other before they were out of range, and running out of fuel was a major issue for weapons and smaller ships. On the other, if the vaunted plasma torpedoes are so deadly to larger ships, why didn't larger ships carry their own torpedoes and missiles like the fighters do? Why even use fighters if their propulsion is so efficient? I couldn't stop wondering how this world's engineers and scientists didn't explore their options with their technology. Bomb-pumped lasers, a technology we might be able achieve today if someone had a bunch of nuclear bombs to spare, are wonder-weapons, yet these ships have fusion reactors that can effortlessly accelerate and accelerate into (slightly) relativistic speeds in a matter of hours? It just really bugged me.
The politics were duller than the Disney Star Wars movies. A Confederation that acts like a federal union is about to fight a Union that acts like a totalitarian empire, and an Alliance that acts like a totalitarian empire is trying to get in on the action. All we know is that the Confederation is Space America, the Union is Space USSR, and the Alliance is Space Rome. That's about all the information we ever get on them. I guess I was rooting for the Confederation because they didn't have slavery as a thing.
Now, the characters. Here's where this book lost me. A good story rests in its characters. You can have the most interesting plot or setting in the world and I won't care if I say "I don't care what happens to these people." Let's look at who we're given time with in this book:
-Tyler Barron, the self-doubting grandson of a hero, who of course overcomes his self-doubt and makes a legend for himself. The father of his crew, cares about everyone, everyone loves him. He had something of an arc so I didn't hate him.
-Kat, whose last name I already forgot, who goes from saying love has no place in the Alliance to fretting about taking her crew from their loved ones and worrying about the children she loved. It would have been really interesting if she surrendered after realizing her people's way of life is bullshit and that not all strength flows from the barrel of a gun and that sometimes having something to live for makes a person fight harder than someone ready to die, instead of going along with it and perpetuating the cycle (something she herself acknowledges, and she still blows herself up anyway). An interesting idea killed in its cradle, very sad, many such cases.
-Spunky female engineer on Barron's ship, Fritzie? Basically just Bel'anna Torres from Star Trek Voyager, with a hint of that girl from Firefly. Meme character.
-Sergeant Johnson copy #503, the Space American marine on the fuel planet, I was legitimately expecting some Halo quotes from him, but I didn't catch any. Pretty much all the marines were variations on him. Meme character and meme characters.
-Death flag'd family man, the one guy from the planet under threat of invasion, the one guy with a wife we meet, the one guy who has a kid we know of, ugh, the death flag was blatantly obvious from a mile away. Cheap emotional tricks like that don't work when we've seen them ten thousand times already, I would have been more surprised if he made it out alive. Did the author really think he was being clever? Meme character.
-Arrogant Nazi Stormtrooper, tortures civilians and then executes them all, underestimates his enemies again and again and again despite his internal monologue realizing he shouldn't underestimate them. Meme character.
What do I mean by meme character? I mean these aren't characters. They're memes. They're ideas we've seen time and again in science fiction, with no new twists, no new takes, no new themes or subversion or deconstructions. We see them, and we copy them, until we've seen the same characters over and over, just under new names and new appearances. But under the surface, it's the same idea, the same meme. This book is very guilty of that.
The writing itself was mostly good, actually. Allan can get across the atmosphere of a scene well. A shame about all the repetition he does early on. He also has a habit of characters entering a dialogue, then have a paragraph of exposition, then resume the dialogue, forcing me to go back and find out what the hell the characters were talking about to start with. There was quite a bit of exposition actually, not optimal.
Now, let's return to themes. There actually were some themes hidden in this book, despite the genericness of plot and lack of non-meme characters. I liked the themes. Allan presents a very grim future, where the strong prey on the weak, where might is right, where genocide and slavery are everyday occurrences few question. Except in the Confederation, of course, where Enlightenment liberalism still survives. The Union relies on enslaved clone troopers and mass-produced garbage to try and overwhelm the Confederation with numbers, the Alliance relies on slavery to fuel its military-industrial complex and believes totally in social Darwinism. They view the Confederation as soft and weak, full of corrupt politicians ruling over a cowardly people ready to fold. Yet, this supposedly rotten nation is filled with valor and patriotism. How do they beat the Union's hordes, how do they resist the Alliance's merciless training and tactics? It's like Sam said in the film of The Two Towers, the soldiers of the Confederation are holding onto something, and that it's worth fighting for. Death flag'd man knew that if he didn't act, everything he cared about was going to be destroyed. Sergeant Johnson #503 knew that if his handful of marines didn't do the impossible, everything they swore to protect would fall to ruin. Against all odds, the Confederation characters pull through, because their will to win and protect what they love from the darkness around them triumphs against indoctrination, fear, and the supposedly pragmatic cynicism of social Darwinism. If Allan had made these themes central to his narrative instead of incidental, and gave us some fully-fleshed out characters for us to realize them through, this would have been a great book.
But he didn't. Instead we got some (admittedly satisfying to this burgerlander) Ameriwank and a story we've seen a hundred times before with meme characters we've seen a hundred times before. I quote Chairman Stahl's final words to Admiral Orlock in Killzone 3 when I say of this book: "YOU'RE PREDICTABLE!"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2020
Just made 4 stars...barely
The is a very standard military sci-fi story. Pretty cliche. However, there’s a real attempt at building a new, interesting universe. There are some very good ideas here. However, the story bogs down with a lot of unneeded dialog and there’s a lot of mushy “I’m proud of my crew, I’m bound to my duty, I respect my adversary”...too much of this stuff. In war there is conflict amongst comrades...there’s hate of the enemy. This story was just way too clean. It lacked the grit of true war. I’m giving this 4 stars for it’s potential. It’s my hope that the author begins to “mature the story” in the coming books and create something more than just a “feel good about war because we’re all such awesome people” military sci-fi.
The is a very standard military sci-fi story. Pretty cliche. However, there’s a real attempt at building a new, interesting universe. There are some very good ideas here. However, the story bogs down with a lot of unneeded dialog and there’s a lot of mushy “I’m proud of my crew, I’m bound to my duty, I respect my adversary”...too much of this stuff. In war there is conflict amongst comrades...there’s hate of the enemy. This story was just way too clean. It lacked the grit of true war. I’m giving this 4 stars for it’s potential. It’s my hope that the author begins to “mature the story” in the coming books and create something more than just a “feel good about war because we’re all such awesome people” military sci-fi.
March 9, 2017
Duel in the Dark is a good start of a new series, Blood on the Stars, from Jay Allan. It is an action filled story which essentially is a prelude to an all out war. It has good world building, enjoyable characters and plenty of action.
The underlying premise of the story is the all too common one, in fiction as well as in real life. The Confederation has beaten the enemy once, actually three times, and once the threat seemed to be gone dumbass politicians have let their defense forces slip. Why spend money on defending the nation when you can be shortsighted and use the money to buy votes for the next election. Of course the threat was not gone, at least not forever, and now the bad guys are knocking on the door once again. Invasion is imminent.
In this first book we focus on Captain Tyler Barron and his battleship the Dauntless. After 10 months on the front lines Dauntless is sent on a mission intended to be somewhat of a vacation for the crew. Well, there would not be a story worth reading if that was true would there? Political machinations and backstabbing abound and Barron finds himself face to face with a unexpected and ruthless enemy in the flagship of the enemies fleet. It’s clobbertime!
For the large part of the book we get to follow the Dauntless and her crew as they go head to head with the enemy. Battleship against battleship. We get to know Captain Barron and the enemy captain in pretty much equal parts. There is plenty of action, both on the surface of the planet that resides in the playing field of the duel and, of course, in space. It is a ruthless battle and both ships have more holes in them than a Swiss cheese towards the end.
Barron and his crew are quite likable and, surprisingly enough, the enemy captain becomes almost likable towards the end. There is a second book out already so it is really not much of a spoiler when I say that Dauntless survives if only just barely.
It is a well written military science fiction story. It is quite tense, moving forward at a brisk pace and the action as well as the parts of the story that glues the action together is definitely well done.
I have no hesitation about jumping on the next book in the series.
The underlying premise of the story is the all too common one, in fiction as well as in real life. The Confederation has beaten the enemy once, actually three times, and once the threat seemed to be gone dumbass politicians have let their defense forces slip. Why spend money on defending the nation when you can be shortsighted and use the money to buy votes for the next election. Of course the threat was not gone, at least not forever, and now the bad guys are knocking on the door once again. Invasion is imminent.
In this first book we focus on Captain Tyler Barron and his battleship the Dauntless. After 10 months on the front lines Dauntless is sent on a mission intended to be somewhat of a vacation for the crew. Well, there would not be a story worth reading if that was true would there? Political machinations and backstabbing abound and Barron finds himself face to face with a unexpected and ruthless enemy in the flagship of the enemies fleet. It’s clobbertime!
For the large part of the book we get to follow the Dauntless and her crew as they go head to head with the enemy. Battleship against battleship. We get to know Captain Barron and the enemy captain in pretty much equal parts. There is plenty of action, both on the surface of the planet that resides in the playing field of the duel and, of course, in space. It is a ruthless battle and both ships have more holes in them than a Swiss cheese towards the end.
Barron and his crew are quite likable and, surprisingly enough, the enemy captain becomes almost likable towards the end. There is a second book out already so it is really not much of a spoiler when I say that Dauntless survives if only just barely.
It is a well written military science fiction story. It is quite tense, moving forward at a brisk pace and the action as well as the parts of the story that glues the action together is definitely well done.
I have no hesitation about jumping on the next book in the series.
September 12, 2022
DNF at 50%. The writing was not at fault, but rather the lack of any depth development of these three factions at war by the halfway point of the novel left me without any reason to finish.
January 5, 2017
Average, Generic SciFi Space Saga Based On WW II Pacific Theatre
"Duel in the Dark: Blood on the Stars I," by Mr. Jay Allan, is a middle-of-the-road, average SciFi Space Saga. There is nothing special going on in the eBook, good or bad. It is an outgrowth of the author's "Crimson Worlds" series.
The storyline takes place a millennia in the future. Humanity has spread throughout the near galaxy, with three (3) main groups: Confederation, Union, and Alliance governments. The remaining settled systems are loosely described as the "Unaligned Worlds," buffer border zones, that are easy picking for the aggressive. Another war between the Confederation and Union is imminent. The Alliance has been expanding wherever it sees weakness. A Confederation warship, the "Dauntless," overdue for refit after a long patrol on the Confed-Union border, enters a shipyard far back from the disputed border. An Alliance warship, on a secret, first strike mission, acting as the tip of the spear in a potential Alliance invasion, attacks and occupies an outlying Confederation fuel refining colony. The "Dauntless," as the only Confederation capital warship within range, is sortied to confront the Alliance attack.A mano y mano, warship to warship running battle ensues, with associated ground combat, between the planet's meager Marine garrison, "Dauntless" Marines, and Alliance troops.
The author, uses the framework of WW II Axis aggression, (specifically the sadistic brutality of the Japanese Empire, falsely described as a respectable honorable code by both Mr. Allan, and too many other misinformed or ignorant apologists) as the storyline to plot his narrative around. Echoes of the Pacific Theater resound throughout "Duel in the Dark." The characters are mainly one dimensional. The main character is the hero captain of the "CFS Dauntless," an entitled scion of a legendary naval family, burdened and conflicted by his entitlement, being fully self-absorbed and unconvincingly drawn by the author as highly competent.
Mr. Allan is prone to needless repetition of large swaths of narrative, from a either a personal lack of his own reading comprehension, or a lack of faith in readers' comprehension. Further, the author has a propensity to lazily race through sections of the eBook, where proofreading becomes absent or left in autopilot, mistakes abounding, and in closing out the story, a repeated attention to the planet-bound Marines engaged in combat, suddenly is ended by just a few lines as an afterthought.
Certain real events and fictionalized ones (films especially) of WW II come to mind when reading "Duel in the Dark." Nevertheless, the eBook is recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.
"Duel in the Dark: Blood on the Stars I," by Mr. Jay Allan, is a middle-of-the-road, average SciFi Space Saga. There is nothing special going on in the eBook, good or bad. It is an outgrowth of the author's "Crimson Worlds" series.
The storyline takes place a millennia in the future. Humanity has spread throughout the near galaxy, with three (3) main groups: Confederation, Union, and Alliance governments. The remaining settled systems are loosely described as the "Unaligned Worlds," buffer border zones, that are easy picking for the aggressive. Another war between the Confederation and Union is imminent. The Alliance has been expanding wherever it sees weakness. A Confederation warship, the "Dauntless," overdue for refit after a long patrol on the Confed-Union border, enters a shipyard far back from the disputed border. An Alliance warship, on a secret, first strike mission, acting as the tip of the spear in a potential Alliance invasion, attacks and occupies an outlying Confederation fuel refining colony. The "Dauntless," as the only Confederation capital warship within range, is sortied to confront the Alliance attack.A mano y mano, warship to warship running battle ensues, with associated ground combat, between the planet's meager Marine garrison, "Dauntless" Marines, and Alliance troops.
The author, uses the framework of WW II Axis aggression, (specifically the sadistic brutality of the Japanese Empire, falsely described as a respectable honorable code by both Mr. Allan, and too many other misinformed or ignorant apologists) as the storyline to plot his narrative around. Echoes of the Pacific Theater resound throughout "Duel in the Dark." The characters are mainly one dimensional. The main character is the hero captain of the "CFS Dauntless," an entitled scion of a legendary naval family, burdened and conflicted by his entitlement, being fully self-absorbed and unconvincingly drawn by the author as highly competent.
Mr. Allan is prone to needless repetition of large swaths of narrative, from a either a personal lack of his own reading comprehension, or a lack of faith in readers' comprehension. Further, the author has a propensity to lazily race through sections of the eBook, where proofreading becomes absent or left in autopilot, mistakes abounding, and in closing out the story, a repeated attention to the planet-bound Marines engaged in combat, suddenly is ended by just a few lines as an afterthought.
Certain real events and fictionalized ones (films especially) of WW II come to mind when reading "Duel in the Dark." Nevertheless, the eBook is recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.
November 5, 2016
Great read
I have fully enjoyed reading this book, we see two battleships captains going head to head. On one can be the winner.
I have fully enjoyed reading this book, we see two battleships captains going head to head. On one can be the winner.
December 1, 2017
I liked it. Parts were overbearing and seemed heavy handed but a good yarn. With an editor this would be very good.
May 15, 2020
Duel in the dark.
I enjoyed the book and it’s characters. It kept my interest to where I had a hard time putting it down. Look forward to the next book.
I enjoyed the book and it’s characters. It kept my interest to where I had a hard time putting it down. Look forward to the next book.
November 13, 2018
For some reason, I was reluctant to get started on this new series. Jay Allan is one of my most favorite authors and I have read and reviewed a ton of his books. The thing about his books is that he is so heavily involved in character building. He is also a master at creating space battle scenes. When you read one of his books, be prepared to be worn out after every battle. He almost always places you in the Captain’s Chair on the bridge of whatever starship he’s writing about and you had better be ready!
In this book, I wasn’t sure who the good guy or gal was going to be until it was almost over. As hard as it may seem, your immediate enemy is not much different than you in that your are both “following orders” and expected to complete your mission, sometimes at all cost. As a military person, that’s your job. You didn’t create the political environment which caused your side to go to war, but once war has started, it’s your job to see that it ends in victory. That same concept goes for you enemy.
Katrine Rigellus is a product of the Alliance civilization. She is the perfect product of an extremely militant society that only knows duty and country. Her and those like her in the Alliance are bred from an early age to comply with the strict discipline and military training throughout their lives. They are fierce warriors that consider victory the only outcome of any conflict. They will give everything they have to ensure their mission results in a victory or die trying. While the Alliance is fairly small in size, they have been very successful in defeating other non-aligned civilizations around their borders. They have yet to experience defeat! Commander-Princeps Katrine Rigellus has just won a major victory for her Alliance. She is a citizen Hero! Her victory is celebrated thought the realm. Then she gets her new assignment. Not quite what she expected.
Captain Tyler Barron is a relatively new starship commander. He and his crew have been patrolling the boarder between the Confederation and the Union for quite some time. It is feared that war could breakout between the two at any time. His crew, while untested, is ready. They are also getting quite stressed having been on this patrol for a considerable length of time. Captain Barron knows that it’s his duty to patrol the border, but he feels that his crew needs a respite of some kind. He finally gets new orders and heads his ship for a much needed re-outfit at a relatively small starbase deep inside Confederation territory. It’s so deep, that he and his ship will be closer to the Confederation other border which has nothing whatsoever threatening it.
The Confederation is an entirely different civilization than the Alliance or the Union. They are a republic where the military is just one of many career choices open to their citizens. Their way of life demands freedoms unknown to those of the Union or Alliance citizens. Yet, the Confederation military is just as dedicated to protecting those freedoms as is the Union or Alliance. Still, Captain Tyler Barron and his crew is untested in battle.
So, without explaining everything further, you now know that Captain Barron and Commander-Princeps Rigellus will meet some where to do battle. The why and how come is in the book. Just make sure you’re well rested when it comes time for battle. Jay Allan has a way of thrusting his readers into battle and making you not to want to stop reading his books. This one is the same. I read long into the night on the two nights I read it. I’m now thoroughly sold on another series that I can’t wait to continue reading. But, for now, I will rest. I know I’ll need such rest in the coming battles!
The second book is titled, “Call to Arms” and it’s already been bought.
In this book, I wasn’t sure who the good guy or gal was going to be until it was almost over. As hard as it may seem, your immediate enemy is not much different than you in that your are both “following orders” and expected to complete your mission, sometimes at all cost. As a military person, that’s your job. You didn’t create the political environment which caused your side to go to war, but once war has started, it’s your job to see that it ends in victory. That same concept goes for you enemy.
Katrine Rigellus is a product of the Alliance civilization. She is the perfect product of an extremely militant society that only knows duty and country. Her and those like her in the Alliance are bred from an early age to comply with the strict discipline and military training throughout their lives. They are fierce warriors that consider victory the only outcome of any conflict. They will give everything they have to ensure their mission results in a victory or die trying. While the Alliance is fairly small in size, they have been very successful in defeating other non-aligned civilizations around their borders. They have yet to experience defeat! Commander-Princeps Katrine Rigellus has just won a major victory for her Alliance. She is a citizen Hero! Her victory is celebrated thought the realm. Then she gets her new assignment. Not quite what she expected.
Captain Tyler Barron is a relatively new starship commander. He and his crew have been patrolling the boarder between the Confederation and the Union for quite some time. It is feared that war could breakout between the two at any time. His crew, while untested, is ready. They are also getting quite stressed having been on this patrol for a considerable length of time. Captain Barron knows that it’s his duty to patrol the border, but he feels that his crew needs a respite of some kind. He finally gets new orders and heads his ship for a much needed re-outfit at a relatively small starbase deep inside Confederation territory. It’s so deep, that he and his ship will be closer to the Confederation other border which has nothing whatsoever threatening it.
The Confederation is an entirely different civilization than the Alliance or the Union. They are a republic where the military is just one of many career choices open to their citizens. Their way of life demands freedoms unknown to those of the Union or Alliance citizens. Yet, the Confederation military is just as dedicated to protecting those freedoms as is the Union or Alliance. Still, Captain Tyler Barron and his crew is untested in battle.
So, without explaining everything further, you now know that Captain Barron and Commander-Princeps Rigellus will meet some where to do battle. The why and how come is in the book. Just make sure you’re well rested when it comes time for battle. Jay Allan has a way of thrusting his readers into battle and making you not to want to stop reading his books. This one is the same. I read long into the night on the two nights I read it. I’m now thoroughly sold on another series that I can’t wait to continue reading. But, for now, I will rest. I know I’ll need such rest in the coming battles!
The second book is titled, “Call to Arms” and it’s already been bought.
April 24, 2018
To begin - this is an enjoyable read. I will continue to read the series, probably until I finish the entire thing. But, it isn't necessarily a quality read. I'll clarify; on the pro side, the story is a classic military sci-fi tale of combat, adventure, and entire systems at war. The cover of the book (two giant spaceships blasting each other at close range) actually occurs more than once in the story. The book never pretends to be more than it is - a generally entertaining science fiction novel.
That being said, this isn't a particularly great novel either. Thee characters (with the possible exception of the main one) are more-or-less flat. They don't really develop, and the author spends a bit too much time telling us how they feel rather than letting us deduce that from their actions. The plot is entirely predictable, the enemies one-dimensional, and the occasional "plot twist" that happens can be seen a mile away.
It's still a fun read, but in places it gets a bit boring because of the predictability. If the characters developed more, if the plot had some genuine twists, or if there was an actual sense of the unknown in the story, it might have been worthy of a higher rating. As it is, it's an unimaginative but solid, enjoyable but unremarkable military sci-fi adventure.
That being said, this isn't a particularly great novel either. Thee characters (with the possible exception of the main one) are more-or-less flat. They don't really develop, and the author spends a bit too much time telling us how they feel rather than letting us deduce that from their actions. The plot is entirely predictable, the enemies one-dimensional, and the occasional "plot twist" that happens can be seen a mile away.
It's still a fun read, but in places it gets a bit boring because of the predictability. If the characters developed more, if the plot had some genuine twists, or if there was an actual sense of the unknown in the story, it might have been worthy of a higher rating. As it is, it's an unimaginative but solid, enjoyable but unremarkable military sci-fi adventure.
September 18, 2018
2018 abandoned - what I used to grade as an F
The story started with a battle but instead of being interesting it was all from the POV of the captain’s introspections. The chapter ended with the main battle just about to start. We don’t learn the result until the middle of chapter three when the now honored captain is thinking about it in retrospect.
I almost gave up after chapter one but the second chapter is from another POV entirely. So I gave it a try. It does not have a battle, but is presented the same way except the paragraphs were longer. I started skimming over them.
The third chapter had full page paragraphs, maybe longer, it's hard to tell on a ebook. Like one and two it was all describing past events, introspections, characters, and examinations of various topics. It is almost all dissertation with minimal dialog. In other words, they are dull and I was skimming over them very quickly! I gave up at the start of chapter four.
Not recommended, even if free.
The story started with a battle but instead of being interesting it was all from the POV of the captain’s introspections. The chapter ended with the main battle just about to start. We don’t learn the result until the middle of chapter three when the now honored captain is thinking about it in retrospect.
I almost gave up after chapter one but the second chapter is from another POV entirely. So I gave it a try. It does not have a battle, but is presented the same way except the paragraphs were longer. I started skimming over them.
The third chapter had full page paragraphs, maybe longer, it's hard to tell on a ebook. Like one and two it was all describing past events, introspections, characters, and examinations of various topics. It is almost all dissertation with minimal dialog. In other words, they are dull and I was skimming over them very quickly! I gave up at the start of chapter four.
Not recommended, even if free.
November 12, 2019
Did not finish at 18%
Listen, when an uber strong military Alliance decides the best way to perform what sounds like a top secret stealth mission is to send their brand spankin' new gigantic battleship in, then you know the book is just shenanigans and makes no sense.
But really, I was trying to get into this. I really was. But, within the first few chapters, barely any plot moves along. Instead, you're saddled with massive infodumps on the world, on the wars and on the characters. I have no sense of the characters or who they are other than what the infodumps on their backgrounds and personalities tell me. 50-odd pages in and I don't care about either of them because the book doesn't give you anything to care about. It even misses what could have been an interesting space battle to set the mood of the book by skipping over it and letting a character think about it in retrospect.
Unfortunately, this series isn't for me so I'm going to peace out now.
Listen, when an uber strong military Alliance decides the best way to perform what sounds like a top secret stealth mission is to send their brand spankin' new gigantic battleship in, then you know the book is just shenanigans and makes no sense.
But really, I was trying to get into this. I really was. But, within the first few chapters, barely any plot moves along. Instead, you're saddled with massive infodumps on the world, on the wars and on the characters. I have no sense of the characters or who they are other than what the infodumps on their backgrounds and personalities tell me. 50-odd pages in and I don't care about either of them because the book doesn't give you anything to care about. It even misses what could have been an interesting space battle to set the mood of the book by skipping over it and letting a character think about it in retrospect.
Unfortunately, this series isn't for me so I'm going to peace out now.
August 13, 2017
Not one of Mr. Allan's best efforts
If you have seen the movie "The Enemy Below(1957) or the Star Trek episode " Balance of Terror(1966). You have the plot and tweaked characters representing Kirk and the Romulan commander from the Star Trek episode shamelessly represented. Also if you eliminated al the soul searching the major and some not so major characters do about their attitude toward war, the author would have a mediocre short story. The soul searching was a big part of what the antagonists in the above referenced shows. Though I realize there are a limited number of plots, the similarities between Duel in the Dark and the movie and Star Trek episode seems to be more than coincidental.
If you have seen the movie "The Enemy Below(1957) or the Star Trek episode " Balance of Terror(1966). You have the plot and tweaked characters representing Kirk and the Romulan commander from the Star Trek episode shamelessly represented. Also if you eliminated al the soul searching the major and some not so major characters do about their attitude toward war, the author would have a mediocre short story. The soul searching was a big part of what the antagonists in the above referenced shows. Though I realize there are a limited number of plots, the similarities between Duel in the Dark and the movie and Star Trek episode seems to be more than coincidental.
July 21, 2017
Five stars, except:
(1) Beginning of the book is confusing. Needs a list of major characters and the political entities they represent.
(2) Too many spelling errors, usually homonyms.
(3) Chapter titles, which indicate location of the nation (such as which space ship), have misleading errors.
Other than those three caveats, this is a great read. Unlike many space fleet novels, this one gives POV for both sides of the conflict and doesn't stint in describing the horrors of war.
(1) Beginning of the book is confusing. Needs a list of major characters and the political entities they represent.
(2) Too many spelling errors, usually homonyms.
(3) Chapter titles, which indicate location of the nation (such as which space ship), have misleading errors.
Other than those three caveats, this is a great read. Unlike many space fleet novels, this one gives POV for both sides of the conflict and doesn't stint in describing the horrors of war.
August 8, 2020
Telegraphed from the start, some paper-thin world-building and ok-ish characters. I wish it had more but played out war drama tropes. Description of battles wasn't engaging enough to justify the entire melodrama. But maybe it gets better later on in series?
February 14, 2017
i usually hate human Vs human war
but that wasn't half bad
but that wasn't half bad
October 17, 2024
A Duel in the Dark is your basic "two space ships enter, one space ship leaves" sort of story, probably best exemplified by On Basilisk Station. In this corner we have Dauntless, battleship of the basically American-Republic-esque Confederation, weighing in at 4 million tons and armed with particle cannons, captained by un-blooded but respected Captain Tyler Bannon (grandson of Confederation hero Rance Bannon); they're the home team, they've got a lot to prove, and they're not going down easy. ANNNND in the other corner we have Invictus the latest and biggest battleship of the ultra-militaristic Spartan/Roman-esque Alliance, weighing in at a little over 4 million tons and armed with lasers, captained by the veteran Commander Katrine Rigellus fresh off getting her last command blown to pieces in the Alliance's most recent conquest; they think might makes right, they're kind of crazy, and they've got an arrogant streak a mile wide. WHO WILL WIN!?!
In many ways this is basically the Star Trek: Original Series episode Balance of Terror but with less of a U-Boat theme. The Confederation and its arch-rival the Union are on the brink of war and the Union has approached the Alliance (on the other side of the Confederation's space) with a proposal to work together and split the Confederation between them. The Alliance leaders are intrigued (and fearful of what would happen if the Union beats the Confederation alone and gains all its tech and resources). Purportedly, pretty much the entire Confederation fleet is deployed to the Union border due to the impending war so theoretically it should be an easy conquest. However, there's one minor issue, the Alliance and Confederation don't share a direct border, there's one open route between their territory but operating a fleet through that would be a logistical nightmare... unless the Alliance can seize and hold a Confederation fuel refining station, so that's what the Alliance decides to do, they send one ship to seize the station and test the waters. If the Union is right and the Confederation is unable to send any substantial forces, the Alliance will walk in and grab what it can, but if the advance force is defeated, the Alliance can claim that it was a rogue element and write it off without facing war with the Confederation (which, when not at war with the Union is in an entirely different league from the Alliance in terms of military capability and technology). So Invictus is dispatched, led by a hero of the Alliance's most recent conquest and crewed by the cream of the Alliance's veterans. Unfortunately for them, a single Confederation battleship, on refit after a long patrol on the front just happens to be in the area and so the scene is set. Given the stakes, neither party can back down or wait for reinforcements, it's a fight to the death: a duel in the dark (I know, eye roll, but I just felt like being a tad melodramatic).
All in all, I'd say Duel in the Dark is enjoyably serviceable. I'd even go so far as to say I thought Jay Allan's characters are better than John Campbell's though not as good as David Weber's. Likewise, while I think the faction names are silly, I thought the setting was actually pretty interesting, kind of like in Foundation when everyone's picking up the pieces after the old order collapsed, and even though they all sprang from the same civilization, based on who came out on top and what tech base was left in their neck of the woods, the various powers vary widely in the capabilities and culture. The battle set-up makes sense in a realpolitik way and the battle scenes are enjoyable if a bit below what I'd expect from Campbell or Weber with a combat model that is more Star Wars-ish (battleships which are also carriers and with fighters playing an important part in the fighting, though no shield technology). It didn't blow me away, and parts I found predictable or overly-influenced by other sources (esp. the Star Trek episode Balance of Terror), but I did enjoy reading it, so a solid 7/10 rounded up to 4/5 stars, and I'll happily read the next book (oddly, I started another space warfare series not long ago and both series' second books are "A Call to Arms").
In many ways this is basically the Star Trek: Original Series episode Balance of Terror but with less of a U-Boat theme. The Confederation and its arch-rival the Union are on the brink of war and the Union has approached the Alliance (on the other side of the Confederation's space) with a proposal to work together and split the Confederation between them. The Alliance leaders are intrigued (and fearful of what would happen if the Union beats the Confederation alone and gains all its tech and resources). Purportedly, pretty much the entire Confederation fleet is deployed to the Union border due to the impending war so theoretically it should be an easy conquest. However, there's one minor issue, the Alliance and Confederation don't share a direct border, there's one open route between their territory but operating a fleet through that would be a logistical nightmare... unless the Alliance can seize and hold a Confederation fuel refining station, so that's what the Alliance decides to do, they send one ship to seize the station and test the waters. If the Union is right and the Confederation is unable to send any substantial forces, the Alliance will walk in and grab what it can, but if the advance force is defeated, the Alliance can claim that it was a rogue element and write it off without facing war with the Confederation (which, when not at war with the Union is in an entirely different league from the Alliance in terms of military capability and technology). So Invictus is dispatched, led by a hero of the Alliance's most recent conquest and crewed by the cream of the Alliance's veterans. Unfortunately for them, a single Confederation battleship, on refit after a long patrol on the front just happens to be in the area and so the scene is set. Given the stakes, neither party can back down or wait for reinforcements, it's a fight to the death: a duel in the dark (I know, eye roll, but I just felt like being a tad melodramatic).
All in all, I'd say Duel in the Dark is enjoyably serviceable. I'd even go so far as to say I thought Jay Allan's characters are better than John Campbell's though not as good as David Weber's. Likewise, while I think the faction names are silly, I thought the setting was actually pretty interesting, kind of like in Foundation when everyone's picking up the pieces after the old order collapsed, and even though they all sprang from the same civilization, based on who came out on top and what tech base was left in their neck of the woods, the various powers vary widely in the capabilities and culture. The battle set-up makes sense in a realpolitik way and the battle scenes are enjoyable if a bit below what I'd expect from Campbell or Weber with a combat model that is more Star Wars-ish (battleships which are also carriers and with fighters playing an important part in the fighting, though no shield technology). It didn't blow me away, and parts I found predictable or overly-influenced by other sources (esp. the Star Trek episode Balance of Terror), but I did enjoy reading it, so a solid 7/10 rounded up to 4/5 stars, and I'll happily read the next book (oddly, I started another space warfare series not long ago and both series' second books are "A Call to Arms").
August 25, 2020
I was excited to read this book as this author is often mentioned in one of my book groups. I don't know how well this book represents this author's work, but I was not impressed.
I was hoping for a new epic adventure, the beginning to a new series that I could dive into. Unfortunately, this is bland, predictable and follows every trope one can think of.
It's the future, where Earth is lost (trope 1). At this point, there are 3 groups, struggling for dominance. The Alliance, Union and the Confederation. The Alliance is some version of Ancient Rome, complete with silly ranks and belief in themselves (trope 2). The union is barely covered in this book, but seems to be some Soviet Union style place, with secret police, etc. And the Confederation is Space USA, complete with corrupt politicians, American military ranks, and capitalism works best always attitude. It's fairly clear who the "good guys" are.
The book opens on a Alliance battle, or rather a ships captain (or what ever her silly rank is), about to pull a suicide run an enemy. But before that happens, we cut to a Confederation captain bringing his ship into dry dock for service. We cut back to the Alliance AFTER the battle, where the attack was successful and medals are being handed out. Now, I don't know how this all works, but I understand in movies, sometimes expensive battles have to be left out or edited around, because of money. I'm not sure, however, how this would apply to a book. Why the author chose to forgo an epic, exciting battle, to rattle on about tedious world building I have no idea. This is, however, typical for this novel.
There is an adage I hear a lot, when reading/reviewing books, "Show, not tell". Can someone please pass this on to this author? Page after page after page of mindless detail, ranks, procedures, and hearing how the Alliance "isn't going to be slaves anymore" (even though they are still slaves and neither the characters nor the author seems to be self aware enough to realize it).
When we finally do get some action, it's the predictable budget Hollywood kind of main guns failing when needed (trope 3), extras getting killed for no story reason (trope 4), everyone else getting injured so a character with something to live for has to be put in certain death (trope 5), repairs being made just in the nick of time (trope 6), death of a friend causing characters to go berserk (trope 7), a 1 chance shot being missed, only to have a second shot (trope 8), love and respect for adversaries (trope 9), and basically every clichéd battle scene you can think of.
The characters are fairly 1 dimensional, as well. All the Alliance soldiers have the personality of a worker ant, do the job, don't question, "for the alliance!". The ships captain, is only slightly better, she knows she should behave differently, but doesn't. Both her and the Captain of the Confederation are prodigies (trope 10 and 11) and have to succeed for family honor. The Confederate soldiers are also little better than cookie cutter people. There's the engineer who can't do anything but save the ship, the second officer who is more than able to be captain. The doctor who wants every one to be cool and not do this fight stuff. The Engineering chief who is hard as nails, but also soft as marshmallow. Hot shot pilots, who are all trying to get first place in their little competitions. Not an original character type to be found.
The dialog isn't much better, with people constantly stating the obvious, but as the author repeats himself over and over, this seems to be just the way things are.
The narrator, Luke Daniels doesn't do a very good job here either. I love his work in Frontlines, but his work here is flat, uninteresting, little voice differentiation and no female voices. This books NEEDS something to bring it to life, and he definitely wasn't up to the challenge.
I'm told the series gets better, and the narrator is replaced. I say I'm told, because I have no interest in finding out. This book did not hold my attention, it was a struggle to finish, and I will not be going for book 2.
I was hoping for a new epic adventure, the beginning to a new series that I could dive into. Unfortunately, this is bland, predictable and follows every trope one can think of.
It's the future, where Earth is lost (trope 1). At this point, there are 3 groups, struggling for dominance. The Alliance, Union and the Confederation. The Alliance is some version of Ancient Rome, complete with silly ranks and belief in themselves (trope 2). The union is barely covered in this book, but seems to be some Soviet Union style place, with secret police, etc. And the Confederation is Space USA, complete with corrupt politicians, American military ranks, and capitalism works best always attitude. It's fairly clear who the "good guys" are.
The book opens on a Alliance battle, or rather a ships captain (or what ever her silly rank is), about to pull a suicide run an enemy. But before that happens, we cut to a Confederation captain bringing his ship into dry dock for service. We cut back to the Alliance AFTER the battle, where the attack was successful and medals are being handed out. Now, I don't know how this all works, but I understand in movies, sometimes expensive battles have to be left out or edited around, because of money. I'm not sure, however, how this would apply to a book. Why the author chose to forgo an epic, exciting battle, to rattle on about tedious world building I have no idea. This is, however, typical for this novel.
There is an adage I hear a lot, when reading/reviewing books, "Show, not tell". Can someone please pass this on to this author? Page after page after page of mindless detail, ranks, procedures, and hearing how the Alliance "isn't going to be slaves anymore" (even though they are still slaves and neither the characters nor the author seems to be self aware enough to realize it).
When we finally do get some action, it's the predictable budget Hollywood kind of main guns failing when needed (trope 3), extras getting killed for no story reason (trope 4), everyone else getting injured so a character with something to live for has to be put in certain death (trope 5), repairs being made just in the nick of time (trope 6), death of a friend causing characters to go berserk (trope 7), a 1 chance shot being missed, only to have a second shot (trope 8), love and respect for adversaries (trope 9), and basically every clichéd battle scene you can think of.
The characters are fairly 1 dimensional, as well. All the Alliance soldiers have the personality of a worker ant, do the job, don't question, "for the alliance!". The ships captain, is only slightly better, she knows she should behave differently, but doesn't. Both her and the Captain of the Confederation are prodigies (trope 10 and 11) and have to succeed for family honor. The Confederate soldiers are also little better than cookie cutter people. There's the engineer who can't do anything but save the ship, the second officer who is more than able to be captain. The doctor who wants every one to be cool and not do this fight stuff. The Engineering chief who is hard as nails, but also soft as marshmallow. Hot shot pilots, who are all trying to get first place in their little competitions. Not an original character type to be found.
The dialog isn't much better, with people constantly stating the obvious, but as the author repeats himself over and over, this seems to be just the way things are.
The narrator, Luke Daniels doesn't do a very good job here either. I love his work in Frontlines, but his work here is flat, uninteresting, little voice differentiation and no female voices. This books NEEDS something to bring it to life, and he definitely wasn't up to the challenge.
I'm told the series gets better, and the narrator is replaced. I say I'm told, because I have no interest in finding out. This book did not hold my attention, it was a struggle to finish, and I will not be going for book 2.
January 15, 2023
TL:DR = Duel in the Dark is the best of the series and Allan's writing becomes progressively more annoying. This is, ideally, the first and last book of the series that you read.
I loved Duel in the Dark. Good combat on a scale that is understandable, motivations of characters, internal consistency, effective world building.
If this were a stand alone novel, I would give it 5 stars, but I would like to use the review as a cautionary tale for you.
Allan's writing becomes unimaginative as the series progresses.
What happens when you defeat a foe? Well obviously the author needs to simply make up a stronger adversary. When that one is defeated? A stronger one still.
Luck is far to often the trope Allan employs to get the main characters...who all have hella plot armor...alive. There is no sense of drama, everything will work out ok. The books theme is basically always 1 - [People do people stuff. Let's hear some politics] 2- [Tyler Barron considers the problem and realizes he needs to be the best version of himself] 3 - [The good guys are about to lose. Tyler tells everyone to fight hard] 4 -[Fighting harder doesn't solve the problem] 5 [Luck happens and the good guys win] 6 - [Foreboding intrigue for the next book].
Allan repeats himself. Empire reborn could easily be 20% the length it currently is if Allan were to simply say the thing once. There are some instances where he states the same thing, three different ways, back t back. Book 18 is simply rambling. This has been growing in frequency since book 3.
The scale of conflict is to other worldly to make sense. I consume a lot of media. I've broken 100 books a year for the last 9 years and 2022 was my new high score of 151. I also watch all the scifi movies, shows, etc. I work with space assets. I say all that to say, I've never before not been able to grasp the scale of a fight. Between Ian Douglas using mega space constructs to Evan Currie's use of speed of light delays, I am right there. But Allan's work felt like watching a DC movie. He describes stellar systems like lanes to be transited in straight lines. In one of the books, one of the pilots has 7 torpedo's coming at her, she calculates a 50/50 of survival, and only survives when the last one is 5km away from her before running out of fuel. Also...it was important for Allan to tell the reader she was drenched in sweat. Because, the next time you read about this pilot, she now has 10 torpedo's coming at her, still giving her a 50/50 #MathDoesntCheck chance of survival, and the last one runs out a fuel seconds before slamming into her...but she sat there drenched in sweat for 20 seconds before realizing that she would survive.
The universe he built is wildly fascinating. It has history, mythos, coalitions. But those are almost undone by his unimaginative, repetitive writing. I don't read the book for the combat...I hate how he describes it. The space combat after Duel in the Dark has all the intrigue of a bowl of Jello and all the cunning of Lenie from Mice and Men. But the new groups of people he introduces, and where they came from...those are worth it. Despite Allan's best effort, he managed to create an interesting universe. But the writing on the micro scale is bunk. If his books were not at the library, I would not read them. I refuse to pay for his work with anything beyond my time.
I loved Duel in the Dark. Good combat on a scale that is understandable, motivations of characters, internal consistency, effective world building.
If this were a stand alone novel, I would give it 5 stars, but I would like to use the review as a cautionary tale for you.
Allan's writing becomes unimaginative as the series progresses.
What happens when you defeat a foe? Well obviously the author needs to simply make up a stronger adversary. When that one is defeated? A stronger one still.
Luck is far to often the trope Allan employs to get the main characters...who all have hella plot armor...alive. There is no sense of drama, everything will work out ok. The books theme is basically always 1 - [People do people stuff. Let's hear some politics] 2- [Tyler Barron considers the problem and realizes he needs to be the best version of himself] 3 - [The good guys are about to lose. Tyler tells everyone to fight hard] 4 -[Fighting harder doesn't solve the problem] 5 [Luck happens and the good guys win] 6 - [Foreboding intrigue for the next book].
Allan repeats himself. Empire reborn could easily be 20% the length it currently is if Allan were to simply say the thing once. There are some instances where he states the same thing, three different ways, back t back. Book 18 is simply rambling. This has been growing in frequency since book 3.
The scale of conflict is to other worldly to make sense. I consume a lot of media. I've broken 100 books a year for the last 9 years and 2022 was my new high score of 151. I also watch all the scifi movies, shows, etc. I work with space assets. I say all that to say, I've never before not been able to grasp the scale of a fight. Between Ian Douglas using mega space constructs to Evan Currie's use of speed of light delays, I am right there. But Allan's work felt like watching a DC movie. He describes stellar systems like lanes to be transited in straight lines. In one of the books, one of the pilots has 7 torpedo's coming at her, she calculates a 50/50 of survival, and only survives when the last one is 5km away from her before running out of fuel. Also...it was important for Allan to tell the reader she was drenched in sweat. Because, the next time you read about this pilot, she now has 10 torpedo's coming at her, still giving her a 50/50 #MathDoesntCheck chance of survival, and the last one runs out a fuel seconds before slamming into her...but she sat there drenched in sweat for 20 seconds before realizing that she would survive.
The universe he built is wildly fascinating. It has history, mythos, coalitions. But those are almost undone by his unimaginative, repetitive writing. I don't read the book for the combat...I hate how he describes it. The space combat after Duel in the Dark has all the intrigue of a bowl of Jello and all the cunning of Lenie from Mice and Men. But the new groups of people he introduces, and where they came from...those are worth it. Despite Allan's best effort, he managed to create an interesting universe. But the writing on the micro scale is bunk. If his books were not at the library, I would not read them. I refuse to pay for his work with anything beyond my time.
July 23, 2017
My Review Number 150:
This review is on Duel In The Dark, Blood On The Stars Book 1 by Jay Allan. I have read other great books by this author, but this is the first book I have read in this new series.
This story is the start of another great Space Opera series from a really good Sci-Fi Author. It is only appropriate Jay’s book is My Review Number 150, which I regard as a Milestone of Sci-Fi book reviews on Goodreads. This book is one of 169 Sci-Fi only reviews I have posted on Goodreads since 2011. I started reviewing Sci-Fi books over 15 years ago and posting them on my websites. Take a look if you want to find a really good Sci-Fi author or story to read.
Duel In The Dark starts out with an Excerpt from some historian regarding “The Rise and Fall of Civilization”. The inner worlds closest to Earth all fell to catastrophes over the centuries. Civilizations rose again out in the Fringe areas with interstellar nations that could be reached using the Schwerin transwarp lines. One of the new civilizations is the Confederation, which inhabitants live somewhat freely. The other civilizations are more restrictive and threatening war with each other.
The Year is now 58 (307 AC). Commander-Princeps Katrine Rigellus is on an Alliance warship called Vindictus heading toward a space battle. It will determine the fate of the Alliance and its warlike people. They are like the Spartans of old Greek history. Their motto is “the (Palatian) way is the way”.
Captain Tyler Barron is the son of a great war hero in the Confederation. He is commander of the warship CFS Dauntless out on patrol on the furthest borders of their frontier. A new war is coming with one or two of the nation states aligned against them.
When these two great commanders and their warships finally meet, an epic space battle begins and results in a duel to the death!
I give this book Five Stars because the story is a pulse pounding, suspenseful, action paced, character driven Sci-Fi space battle between two enemy warships and their crews. The main characters are believable and driven by their past histories. The battle scenes are exciting and full of action. The dialog is well written and easy to follow. The first book sets up the main characters, the conflicts and prepares the reader for what is to follow. I look forward to reading more books in this Blood On The Stars Series.
Keep reading good science fiction and let me know when you find an interesting novel or author.
This review is on Duel In The Dark, Blood On The Stars Book 1 by Jay Allan. I have read other great books by this author, but this is the first book I have read in this new series.
This story is the start of another great Space Opera series from a really good Sci-Fi Author. It is only appropriate Jay’s book is My Review Number 150, which I regard as a Milestone of Sci-Fi book reviews on Goodreads. This book is one of 169 Sci-Fi only reviews I have posted on Goodreads since 2011. I started reviewing Sci-Fi books over 15 years ago and posting them on my websites. Take a look if you want to find a really good Sci-Fi author or story to read.
Duel In The Dark starts out with an Excerpt from some historian regarding “The Rise and Fall of Civilization”. The inner worlds closest to Earth all fell to catastrophes over the centuries. Civilizations rose again out in the Fringe areas with interstellar nations that could be reached using the Schwerin transwarp lines. One of the new civilizations is the Confederation, which inhabitants live somewhat freely. The other civilizations are more restrictive and threatening war with each other.
The Year is now 58 (307 AC). Commander-Princeps Katrine Rigellus is on an Alliance warship called Vindictus heading toward a space battle. It will determine the fate of the Alliance and its warlike people. They are like the Spartans of old Greek history. Their motto is “the (Palatian) way is the way”.
Captain Tyler Barron is the son of a great war hero in the Confederation. He is commander of the warship CFS Dauntless out on patrol on the furthest borders of their frontier. A new war is coming with one or two of the nation states aligned against them.
When these two great commanders and their warships finally meet, an epic space battle begins and results in a duel to the death!
I give this book Five Stars because the story is a pulse pounding, suspenseful, action paced, character driven Sci-Fi space battle between two enemy warships and their crews. The main characters are believable and driven by their past histories. The battle scenes are exciting and full of action. The dialog is well written and easy to follow. The first book sets up the main characters, the conflicts and prepares the reader for what is to follow. I look forward to reading more books in this Blood On The Stars Series.
Keep reading good science fiction and let me know when you find an interesting novel or author.
October 28, 2017
I suspect your attitudes to this book may vary with how far you are from either the Golden Age of SF, or the possibly more accurate definition of that as being age 14.
Huge warships with ravening death rays reenact Napoleonic naval tactics, bold captains dismiss the advice from people they acknowledge as experts in their fields ( - and from memory they get it in each case), and Marines are straight from central casting.
That said, my inner 14 year old is somehow still alive despite my attempts to kill the little bugger with cynicism and alcohol, so I kinda felt OK about it. It varied between three and 3.5 stars depending on how dramatically things were going boom at the moment.
Huge warships with ravening death rays reenact Napoleonic naval tactics, bold captains dismiss the advice from people they acknowledge as experts in their fields ( - and from memory they get it in each case), and Marines are straight from central casting.
That said, my inner 14 year old is somehow still alive despite my attempts to kill the little bugger with cynicism and alcohol, so I kinda felt OK about it. It varied between three and 3.5 stars depending on how dramatically things were going boom at the moment.
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