Soldier of Charity

The Harvesters #0.5

by Luke R. Mitchell

He's got a powerful weapon, and he's not sure why to use it.

It's been six years since the bombs fell. Jarek's managed to survive thanks to a one-of-a-kind exosuit, a cheeky AI companion, and a healthy habit of keeping his head down. Then he meets her.

When Jarek reveals the power of his suit to save a life, it isn't long before a well-meaning militia boss shows up looking to recruit. But in a ruined world, what's really worth fighting for?

If he doesn't decide, someone will for him. And he might not like where those decisions lead.

No one ever said growing up in the apocalypse was easy . . .



Soldier of Charity is a prequel novella to the Harvesters Series, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure complete with blood-sucking aliens, power armor, and energy-bending arcanists. If you like Star Wars, Halo, or the likes of Neal Asher, E.E. Knight, and Michael Anderle, you'll love this series for its epic conflicts, lovable characters, and (occasional) wit.

Genres: Science Fiction, Vampires, Fantasy, Dystopia, Novella

86 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2016

About the author

Luke is a storyteller whose dreams include learning the ways of the Force, becoming a sentient robot, and maybe even one day growing up. Also, lots of zombies… Don't ask.

After studying engineering science at Penn State and neuroengineering at Drexel, Luke finally decided to throw in the towel on actually building a working Iron Man suit, opting instead to simply make things up and write them down. Boy, is he having more fun now.

When he's not holed up in his cave trying to string words together, he can often be found powerlifting, video-gaming, reading, and/or drinking the darkest, most roasty beers he can get his mitts on.

You know what? Enough about Luke. He's not that interesting. But if you'd like to say hi to him for whatever reason, he'd probably be glad to hear from you. Contact him at luke@lukermitchell.com (kind of a silly email address, right?) with questions, critiques, or just a friendly hello!

Also, be sure to swing by at lukermitchell.com to sign up for his reading group and receive a free eBook!

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soldier of Charity (The Harvesters Series, #0.5) by Luke R. Mitchell is a pretty good prequel. Lots of action, cool armor-suit, and the AI with it. I really am about done with reading so many dystopian books but this one was good. Not a bunch of zombies or monsters, the only monsters were some of mankind losing their humanity.

[Meenaz Lodhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apocalyptic sci story, a teen with a golden heart with a super exo suit, and his extraordinary AI, Earth invaded by aliens, the Resistance are not what they seem, non stop action.... a great prequel to a great series!

[Mandy Walkden-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an author to note.

A really intriguing glimpse into this post-apocalyptic world that young Jarek Slater inhabits. Totally enamoured of the suit, Fela, and the AI, Alfred.

Well written, with great characters. Fast paced and plenty of action that kept the pages turning swiftly.
Humour sprinkled throughout.

A coming of age story that provides a solid background to both Jarek's character and his motivations, which leads nicely into the events that occur in the first book of the Harvesters series, Red Gambit, which begins some years after these events.

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a little bit of everything, even some humor amidst everything else, much the same as in real life. Enjoyed and will look for the books following due to be out.Sorta space opera, sorta dystopian, sorta apocalyptic, sorta humorous, sorta just read it already all right.

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
 



Author freebie on May 21, 2021  (currently $2.99 as of writing this post)
Overall rating 4.11 with 148 ratings and 35 reviews
 

I was thrilled to get Soldier of Charity from an author newsletter just a day or so before I planned to start reading the series.  Also a prequel and a short novella, it helped me see more of the background of what I presume will be a main character in the series.

A dystopian world with a fight to survive is always an appealing story for me.  We learn about the dark side of those surviving.  Some will do horrible things and others are just willing to look the other way when horrible things are done.  The starvation and the killing by those to get what they want are part of it.  But there are also those who are trying to improve things.

I really enjoyed the characters.  The main character Jarek is young so his perceptions are well, young or a bit naive considering the dystopian survival world he has lived in for awhile. I appreciated the fact he was able to gather a few allies even in this harsh world. Jarek also seems a bit lucky.

His primary companion is Al,  the AI in his ecosuit.  I love technology and Al's pithy comments do lighten the mood in the dark world.  I hope he can keep Jarek safe and I worry about if the suit needs repairs at some point. It allows Jarek to take on things well beyond what his capability should be.  It's exciting since Jarek has a conscience but also terrifying.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great free book to introduce me to this author. What a wonderful way and now I'm hooked for more. Action, even a bit of humour.

[Aviar Savijon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Excellent high action sci fi fantasy book. I loved it!

[Renee Kamenszki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jarek Slater has been living on the streets trying to find enough food to keep himself alive. Ever since the Catastrophe and the long winter has set in, food is harder to find. Homesteaders are unable to grow many crops with the cold constant weather. As he searches through abandoned houses and a promising dumpster he hears voices, sounds like three men and then he detects the crying of a girl. As he peeks around the container he hears the men arguing in favor of using the girl now. Jarek recognizes her as the girl from the Inn she and her father run. As he approaches them he intends to just scare them off. Logically, he thought he could handle the three men with Fela's armor if needed. Being just sixteen was not an obstacle with Fela's armor and Al's advice in his ear. Jarek shoved one man away from Rose and he sailed about ten feet across the alley. The other, Cooper raised his gun but Jarek grabbed onto his hand and squeezed until he heard bones break and the gun fell from his hand. Cooper and the third man ran off down the alley. As long as Rose was safe he could return her to her father's Inn. When Frank. Roses' father heard what had happened he offered Jarek a warm safe place to sleep and some food. It felt so good to be full and have people to talk to but he really was looking forward to a shower and sleep. He was unable to sleep after he removed Fila to take his shower, he felt naked after wearing the suit for so long. The next morning as he walked down the stairs in Fela's comfort he heard Frank talking to two men. After being able to view the situation he deducted that the men were not friends of Frank's, they were hard looking. As Jarek continued down the stairs one of the men stated, "that's one hell of a get-up you have on." You must be the guy we are looking for, you killed one of my guys and scared the other two off. Janek asked, "Those were men employed by you? They were going to rape Rose." Conner states they no longer work for him, that is not what we do. This world is messed up and we are trying to help the people who want to rebuild it. We work as mercenaries for the sharecroppers, kept their lands safe from marauders and they pay us with crops to feed our team. We are the Iron Eagles and we want to talk to you since you faced down three trained armed men to save an innocent girl. Where did you get the suit? Jarek figured he would tell them as little as he could get away with. He explained his father helped design it before the catastrophe. Conner informed Jarek that he was the type of person they were looking for and invited him to go along tomorrow morning to an escort job and he can see what they do to decide if he wants to be a part of it.
The next morning there is a dark SUV waiting for him. The driver said, "Well I guess they weren't kidding when they described your get up." I'm Mark Adams and Jarek shook his hand, both he and Al felt okay with this guy. Everything seemed as he was told. The convoy picked up food from some farms and the three trucks returned to headquarters. Jarek was enabled to view the entire operation and everything looked to be as he was told.
Looks can be deceiving as Jarek soon discovered. Enjoy your read.

[Vanessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel bad complaining when I got this book for free, but reading this as a woman was just not it. Like the plot was alright I guess and I get that things weren't fleshed out because it was short, but the fact that there was only one female character with a name and the fact that every single female character existed to be a damsel in distress for a sixteen-year-old boy to rescue was a bad vibe. Like women literally only existed to be SAed or almost SAed so that he could play the hero. And the whole the girl he was interested in being super into him for no discernable reason when they barely spoke wasn't great, especially when she was literally just there to almost get SAed, get saved by him, and then exist exclusively to kiss him and be someone who sits at home. She barely even showed up in the story which was gross but at the same time any time she was there I was mad about how she was being written so maybe I'm better off not seeing more of her being the damsel in distress that exists just to make him feel better about himself and to be a body for him to get with. And then the "dozens" of nameless women that got to do literally nothing other than be tied up only existed to be human trafficked and be like victim objects. Also, why am I supposed to root for the guy that repeatedly uses excessive force and almost kills people because he's too violent on whatever mission he is? Especially when he goes on about how he made a tiny mistake but he's still such a good guy? RED FLAG. Also, another big old red flag was when he was thinking about the human trafficker like aw I'm sad I had to kill him, he seemed like such a kind-hearted guy and I bet some of him was still decent :/

This story might have been okay if it didn't feel like it was written as a man's fantasy while reading as a woman's nightmare. This definitely lost at least a star and a half for the way women barely exist in it but it also manages to make me actively uncomfortable with the way it portrays women in what little it shows of them.

[Kent Dao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually came across this book by accident while browsing the iBook store. The title of this novella really caught by attention. At first I thought it was ‘Clarity’ but then realize Charity (hmm, might as well give it a try, I thought to my self). To add more to my surprise, it was free (who gives free novella that worth reading nowadays so please forget me for being skeptical at that time). Here are the few things that I love while reading the piece.


I LOVE how the Luke named the AI system of the Fela Alfred (Al), it just make sense. Is there a Batman reference here? But he seems like an Uncle or a stepdad to Jarek and a close friend at the same time (who would just casually describe how the “flashlight” pokes against the pelvic plate of the suit which they both share).

Jarek’s personality was EXACTLY how I felt when coming through puberty as a boy (not to mention, coming through it on your own while nearly the entire population of Earth was gone). How he felt needed to belong to a ‘cool kids’ group (Iron Eagles in this case I guess). Also how he felt when finding out the the group he adored so much turned out to be the exact opposite of what he thought they were).

Rose’s role in this part of the story was quite minor but enough to allow readers to understand the feeling of ‘first love’ and how it affects your decision making.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading from the author.

I thought it was well written. It had a steady pace to keep the story moving along. It had an “Iron Man”, “Into the Badlands”, “Jericho”, and little of “Walking Dead” type feeling to it, plus some others. The story has some parts that made me think of the shows. I loved the shows and finding I am really liking this story.
I like some of the characters, Jarek and Alfred is my top like. There was some I was a little worried about. Red flags went up saying watch your back on them. The feelings were spot on, dang, I was hoping to be wrong.
I loved the world the author made for the characters and loved how the story played out. I kept saying don’t take the suit off, but he didn’t hear me.
I love shows or books that can show you glimpse of what can happen to our world if this really happened. How people can act from such a big change on living. Makes one wonder what side would you pick, to survive the chaos that goes on.

Got for an honest review.
Thank you for sharing your book with me.

[Dennis Crotts · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first it was a bit dry as the story got going it really loosen up and made the read so much better. How much better well I just bought the whole series of books. Have read many books were the world as ended by being blown up and also nuked. This is the first book to be written about a underage kid trying to survive with only one advantage his gift from his father before he died and it was exso-sckelton (misspelled) that protected him from harm till he came to age were he had learned and grown into the suit and knew what he could do with the help of the suit but at the same time the harm it could do to others.
Now I leave it to you to read and learn what happens and I am sure you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been a big fan of science fiction writing, but Mr. Mitchell's series is written in a way that combines sci-fi, fantasy, and dystopian fiction in an appealing manner. I started out listening to Red Gambit, which is the official first book in the series, but then remembered that I had an e-book of Soldier of Charity, and decided to sate my curiosity regarding Jarek's beginnings and how he met Jay Pryce. The story moves smoothly and swiftly, and so many questions are answered regarding Jarek's worldview and his relationship with Pryce. This is an excellent prequel novella, and well worth a read.

[Selena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the introduction of Jarek and Al. It is on from the beginning with Jarek and Al coming up on a woman who is about to be "tarnished" by two men who are dragging her through an alley. He is able to save her, Rose, and is soon taken to her father's house to be given food and a place to rest.

Soon Jarek meets the men's boss, who claims to be in a group that is intent on saving as many as possible due to the food shortage. He decides to join their group which may or may not be the best for his future.

I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series! I'm glad I read this one first to have the background for the rest. I give this book five stars!

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - 9% in, so maybe it gets better but the writing is pretty poor and the sexist language so messed up that I'm not going to bother. Seriously dude - she's either a "girl" (i.e. prepubescent female) or a woman. You do not describe thugs attempting to rape a "girl" and then in the next paragraph describe how your character recognises and has lusted after that same "girl". Even creepier given you haven't done anything to eatablish her age at this point in time. God - are you trying to be sexist or just gross?

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soldier of Charity is a wonderfully written dystopian short story that uses a few unique twists from the standard end of the apocalypse tale. The characters are very well developed and I was pulled into their world from the first page.

I am excited about reading the next book in this series. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[al reasoner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action

It started out innocent enough, but got to rolling pretty quickly after he ran into the eagle gang. His pure innocence got crushed when he thought his "friends were trying to help but were evil . Did Not want to put the book down!!! Can't wait to read the next book.. Good read

[Georganne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right vs wrong. Jarek is a young man who is out to save the world and thinks others want the same thing. The world around him is desolate and full of desperate people looking to survive any way they can. Each man for himself. But Jarek wants a better world and tries to save others. His hope for a better world is his way of surviving. A great addition to your library.

[Gary Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began the Harvester series and really enjoyed the first book. This is a backstory/prequel based on on one of the main character Jarek.

I enjoyed learning about some of what let up to the series and seeing more of the character building of Jarek.

I would recommend this book if you've begun the series or wanting to start.

[Tony Hinde · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn't much to this one and I wasn't drawn into the story. The AI was disappointing, all it seemed to do was caution and warn of what was behind Luke. I get that a teenager might not realize the benefit of planning or recon, but shouldn't the AI?

It just seemed like little effort was put in by the author for this prequel.

[emarel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept of the story and how a young man with some amazing tech could take it upon himself to do the right things for the right reasons... I sincerely hope Luke will develop this storyline and continue on with further adventures of this young hero. Great read

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soldier of Charity, my first read from author Luke R. Mitchell, is in every sense of the word, a thriller. Well-written with well-developed characters and a storyline that continually develops throughout the length of the book. A very good read I look forward Mitchell’s next book.

[Steven Mastroyin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this after the series proper. It was a bit of a let-down because I expected a bit more complicated backstory for the "Soldier of Charity" quip/action. Anyway, quick fun read, but I did want more.

[Karl Hakimian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good intro to the series. Despite we author suggesting that it should be read after red Gambit, I believe this one would be better read before. It does not give you any spoilers but it does give you some background. And being a short story it is not as deep as the novel that follows.

[Faith Hakimian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Having just finished the Harvesters series, I was itching for more with the characters, and I definitely wanted to know more about Jarek's history. And this story did just that, and it did it with so much heart. This was a great, tight story, and so much fun to read. I highly recommend it.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the book. An interesting origin story and a great prequel for the series.

[Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Promising start

The author titles himself a storyteller, I would agree. The story is set up for action and adventure. Good start.

[Kristin Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

This was an interesting start to a new series. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing introduction to this series!

[Jason Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good series