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Blood Empire #1
Constellation: A Space Opera in the Classic Tradition
A powerful battlecruiser lost to the stars. Will her high-stakes salvage operation spark an intergalactic war?Indy Jackson longs to blast her father’s killer to ashes. But when her latest shady interplanetary deal goes bad, the bold space smuggler is forced to go on the run, framed for an alien massacre. And when her brutal blackmailer demands she recover an abandoned fabled warship, she heads into dangerous territory…
Desperate to return to her black-market trades and hunt down her father’s murderer, Indy teams up with a ragtag crew of mercenaries. But as she confronts the impossible task and uncovers a shocking truth, any misstep could bring a fragile galactic sector to its knees.
Can one daring pirate outsmart ruthless factions and play deadly politics to pull off the coup of the century?
Constellation is the first book in the action-packed Blood Empire space opera trilogy. If you like rebellious heroines, classic sci-fi battles, and planet-loads of hidden agendas, then you’ll love Robert Scanlon’s plasma-fueled leap into danger.
Buy Constellation for a thrilling interstellar adventure today!
Desperate to return to her black-market trades and hunt down her father’s murderer, Indy teams up with a ragtag crew of mercenaries. But as she confronts the impossible task and uncovers a shocking truth, any misstep could bring a fragile galactic sector to its knees.
Can one daring pirate outsmart ruthless factions and play deadly politics to pull off the coup of the century?
Constellation is the first book in the action-packed Blood Empire space opera trilogy. If you like rebellious heroines, classic sci-fi battles, and planet-loads of hidden agendas, then you’ll love Robert Scanlon’s plasma-fueled leap into danger.
Buy Constellation for a thrilling interstellar adventure today!
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 17, 2016
123 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Robert Scanlon
19 books19 followersBorn in Australia, Robert was whisked back to England where he spent his childhood. After many years complaining about the weather, he did the only sensible thing, and moved back to Australia. Queensland actually. Where he enjoys walks along the beach with his wonderful family.
(Pssst. He still complains about the weather if it gets too cold!)
He's studied chemistry; worked in the music industry; sold handbags; taught yoga; raced motorcycles; and trained thousands of people in Presentations Skills, Train-the-Trainer, Negotiation Skills ... and more.
Mostly though he loves to read.
And read and read. His father was a science-fiction fan, so Robert grew up on a voracious diet of all the top-notch sci-fi writers (there's a list below!), eventually discovering he had read the entire science-fiction section of his local library. But nowadays he writes books and runs websites. Which is fun, and nothing like work at all.
A Reader asks: "What do you like to read?"
My dad loved Sci-Fi, so that was a big influence. I loved John Wyndham, Philip K Dick, Robert Heinlein and I have a soft spot for Isaac Asimov (who had great non-fiction books about space that I loved). So I still love Sci-Fi, but also like Fantasy; Thrillers and some Action. I also enjoy Young Adult books hugely. I mean, who doesn't like Harry Potter? (If you don't, I feel for you, I really do haha!)
(Pssst. He still complains about the weather if it gets too cold!)
He's studied chemistry; worked in the music industry; sold handbags; taught yoga; raced motorcycles; and trained thousands of people in Presentations Skills, Train-the-Trainer, Negotiation Skills ... and more.
Mostly though he loves to read.
And read and read. His father was a science-fiction fan, so Robert grew up on a voracious diet of all the top-notch sci-fi writers (there's a list below!), eventually discovering he had read the entire science-fiction section of his local library. But nowadays he writes books and runs websites. Which is fun, and nothing like work at all.
A Reader asks: "What do you like to read?"
My dad loved Sci-Fi, so that was a big influence. I loved John Wyndham, Philip K Dick, Robert Heinlein and I have a soft spot for Isaac Asimov (who had great non-fiction books about space that I loved). So I still love Sci-Fi, but also like Fantasy; Thrillers and some Action. I also enjoy Young Adult books hugely. I mean, who doesn't like Harry Potter? (If you don't, I feel for you, I really do haha!)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 13, 2017
Loved it. A very exciting sci-fi with Indy Jackson as main protagonist, a very feisty young lady/space pirate. There were times when I lost track of who was who as there are a lot of characters in this book but all becomes clear. Indy manages to stay alive and tries not to kill anyone else (most of the time). This looks set to be an excellent series.
September 23, 2023
Where's My Daddy👴?🚀💫🌏
Military style sci-fi space opera🚀💫💪🔫🗡💥 and mystery💀
I enjoyed this Pirate style space opera🚀💫 Quite a bit.
There are places where it probably isn't technically correct But it's a fun read about a young woman💃 who has her own ship and sets out in space to find her father, who has disappeared..
The only things I disliked about the book was that it was written in 1st person and The book ends in a cliffhanger.
I got this e-book from Amazon📚 with Kindle unlimited.
Onwards to book 2.
Military style sci-fi space opera🚀💫💪🔫🗡💥 and mystery💀
I enjoyed this Pirate style space opera🚀💫 Quite a bit.
There are places where it probably isn't technically correct But it's a fun read about a young woman💃 who has her own ship and sets out in space to find her father, who has disappeared..
The only things I disliked about the book was that it was written in 1st person and The book ends in a cliffhanger.
I got this e-book from Amazon📚 with Kindle unlimited.
Onwards to book 2.
September 23, 2023
Top notch military sci-fi
The first book in the series touched all the bases in hitting a home run. India seeks info on what happened to her missing father. Each draws hers deeper into interstellar intrigue, where old foes become new friends and old friends turn her in for the reward. India relies on her father's training to stay ahead of her enemies.
The first book in the series touched all the bases in hitting a home run. India seeks info on what happened to her missing father. Each draws hers deeper into interstellar intrigue, where old foes become new friends and old friends turn her in for the reward. India relies on her father's training to stay ahead of her enemies.
March 9, 2018
Constellation is a rather fascinating book, and was thoroughly enjoyable. It follows India ‘Indy’ Jackson, a light-weight Pirate Captain, who you can’t miss in a crowd at 1.9metres with flaming red hair. She is just wrapping up a mission on a high gravity planet called Rykkamon, when she sees a group of thugs about to hurt a Rykkamon female. She goes to her aid, and saves her from what would have been a very bad incident, and the female, her name is Aktip, tells her that she now owes her a life debt.
In the meantime, she finds out that her brother (Mitch), has been kidnapped by a loathsome crime boss Sloper, who wants Indy to find a missing starship, a Battle Cruiser that has been missing for years, but is legend for its capabilities and power – The Constellation. If the can find it, and bring it to Sloper, her brother lives.
Of course, no one has ever found it, or if they have, they have never returned from the derelict. Sloper promises her a ship and a crew of mercenaries to help her.
What follows is a fascinating tale as Indy sets off on her Mission. The ‘Mercenaries’ are actually a bunch of ex-soldiers and are a very honourable set of people, 3 men and a woman with all the required skills. Her ‘team’, along with Aktip, who is still with her because of her life-debt to Indy, become involved in not only finding the ship, but also involved in a huge political arena as the galaxy is slowly moving closer to war.
With multiple syndicates trying to find the ship, Sloper’s group, another run by a shadowy figure called ‘Scorpion’, and an alien race set to invade their galaxy again, Indy finds that she is running out of time, not just for her brother, but for everybody.
This is an exceptionally well written story, fast paced action, political and military intrigue, some awesome technology, fascinating alien cultures (Scanlon takes us on a journey in different parts of the books through the Rykkamon culture, which he has fully detailed, giving us this incredible look into their world).
On top of that, his characters are very well written, each with their own individuality, a lot of depth and personality, so as you read the story, you get to know each of the crew, especially Indy and her team, as well as Aktip who is just fascinating in her mannerisms and speech and the way she engages the rest of the crew.
It is hard to fully go into the book without giving too much away, and that is the last thing I want to do, this is a book that you should definitely read.
Constellation is an outstanding start to this new series and is well worth the read!
In the meantime, she finds out that her brother (Mitch), has been kidnapped by a loathsome crime boss Sloper, who wants Indy to find a missing starship, a Battle Cruiser that has been missing for years, but is legend for its capabilities and power – The Constellation. If the can find it, and bring it to Sloper, her brother lives.
Of course, no one has ever found it, or if they have, they have never returned from the derelict. Sloper promises her a ship and a crew of mercenaries to help her.
What follows is a fascinating tale as Indy sets off on her Mission. The ‘Mercenaries’ are actually a bunch of ex-soldiers and are a very honourable set of people, 3 men and a woman with all the required skills. Her ‘team’, along with Aktip, who is still with her because of her life-debt to Indy, become involved in not only finding the ship, but also involved in a huge political arena as the galaxy is slowly moving closer to war.
With multiple syndicates trying to find the ship, Sloper’s group, another run by a shadowy figure called ‘Scorpion’, and an alien race set to invade their galaxy again, Indy finds that she is running out of time, not just for her brother, but for everybody.
This is an exceptionally well written story, fast paced action, political and military intrigue, some awesome technology, fascinating alien cultures (Scanlon takes us on a journey in different parts of the books through the Rykkamon culture, which he has fully detailed, giving us this incredible look into their world).
On top of that, his characters are very well written, each with their own individuality, a lot of depth and personality, so as you read the story, you get to know each of the crew, especially Indy and her team, as well as Aktip who is just fascinating in her mannerisms and speech and the way she engages the rest of the crew.
It is hard to fully go into the book without giving too much away, and that is the last thing I want to do, this is a book that you should definitely read.
Constellation is an outstanding start to this new series and is well worth the read!
March 14, 2017
Absolutely Great Military/Political Space Opera
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS ABSOLUTELY GREAT, ENJOYABLE SPACE OPERA READ!
Robert Scanlon has created an imaginative universe (or at least a galaxy) as the setting for this enjoyable tale. The only reason I don't give it FIVE stars is that for some reason, he decided to write it in a first-person, present-tense style. I am glad to see that he intends to continue and expand this into a series. I look forward to reading it...even more so if he goes with a third person past tense like most authors...LOL
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS ABSOLUTELY GREAT, ENJOYABLE SPACE OPERA READ!
Robert Scanlon has created an imaginative universe (or at least a galaxy) as the setting for this enjoyable tale. The only reason I don't give it FIVE stars is that for some reason, he decided to write it in a first-person, present-tense style. I am glad to see that he intends to continue and expand this into a series. I look forward to reading it...even more so if he goes with a third person past tense like most authors...LOL
August 27, 2021
In this sci-fi action thriller, we follow India “Indy” Jackson, a sassy space pirate who I simply could not not picture as Merida from Brave, only in spaaaaaace. And shit, what the fuck’s wrong with that? Nothing, that’s what. Anyway, we follow her from planet to planet as she attempts to unfold the mystery behind and avenge the death of her father, rescue her brother, put up with her unbearably saucy ex-boyfriend and basically survive in a galaxy that, as I believe young people said back in 2010 or so, be cray. And it’s great!
My immediate thought on opening this book was uggghhh, not first person present tense – but that’s a me problem. It’s fine. Once I got used to it, I found it worked nicely.
The twists and turns and revelations just keep coming. I won’t go into them too far but very little is what it seems and the simple space pirate life of space heists and space deals (and spacetoast, I had a genuine LOL at that) soon turns into a struggle on an interstellar scale as whole civilisations square up and struggle for supremacy. And in the meantime the Blood Empire, headed by the very satisfyingly space elven (dare I say, sci-fae? I do. I do dare. Did I just make up a new sub-genre? A quick google assures me I did not. But fuck it, it’s great) warlord Oberon, is looming on the space horizon.
I really enjoyed the way human and alien cultures and characteristics interwove. The aliens were nicely alien, the humans were nicely human, and the comparative alienness of both was really cleverly handled in the story and dialogue. I would not want to be an alien forced to deal with humans. I was a little puzzled (okay, more than a little) by the idea that if you save a Rykkan’s life, they need to serve you essentially forever or else kill themselves. Aktip saves Indy’s life at least twice before they even get started, and it doesn’t cancel her debt until she damn near dies saving her life for the third or fourth time. Still, it all serves the story and I’ll allow it.
The stakes are always clear and the action and scene-changes are well-outlined. We know what Indy wants, what the Scorpion wants, what Aktip wants, what Sloper wants. I do want to brag a little about figuring out the real deal between Sloper and Indy’s father, at least in the broad strokes, from Sloper’s first appearance … but suffice to say, things are more complicated than we are led to believe and it’s a lot of fun getting from start to finish.
The Constellation itself is great, by no means a McGuffin – and I would even say a character in its own right. I dig that stuff. And like I said, Oberon and the Blood Empire represent a cool and mysterious big bad alluded to just enough to not seem extraneous in this first book, but posing a legitimate and persistent threat. The politics, espionage and corporate / cultural clashes are nicely balanced with character work.
I really did hope Indy and Plexi would end up as a couple, they really seemed to have cute chemistry on the page and you don’t see that very often. But oh well.
Sex-o-meter
This is another story where there wasn’t much sex because sex wasn’t the point. The Rykkan mercenaries have a strong gang-rape and sex trafficking subculture going on but (thankfully) we don’t see much of it. Indy is sexy and confident and manages to get herself into a skin-tight black leather outfit and sci-fi high heels (dare I say, sci-heels? Did I just create another subgenre? I’m not googling it) at least once, but it’s all in service of the plot and didn’t strike me as lascivious (for better or worse). Also since I was picturing her as Merida, her Scottish accent was hot. According to the sex-o-meter this books gets a Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen out of a possible Montero by Lil Nas X.
Gore-o-meter
Not a lot of gore in this sci-fi adventure. Some alien dismemberment and some shooting, but most of the violence was ship-to-ship with a little bit of mobster beating and torture and deprivation of liberty thrown in. But the Blood Empire is coming! Two flesh-gobbets out of a possible five for this one.
WTF-o-meter
This book delivers a lot of quality WTF for your buck. Quite aside from the Blood Empire and the considerable mysteries of Indy’s father and his creations, there’s the entire Rykkan species and their ability to basically read minds but then also apparently be completely vulnerable to an extremely compelling life-debt tradition that I’m frankly stunned more humans haven’t taken advantage of. In this story alone it is a major motivation for both Aktip and the Chief. I initially wondered if there was some kind of elaborate alien joke happening, or if there was more to it like maybe the Rykkan mercenaries were being ‘hired’ by use of this system, and there may still be more here to examine in later books, but … yeah, for something that Indy didn’t even know about at the start of the story, it sure does seem like a huge part of Rykkan culture and you’d think it would be more widely known. Furthermore, their lie-detector abilities are conveniently worked-around at some point and you’d think that would also have been a priority for shitty humans to learn about. Anyway, there was plenty of good WTF in here. I’ll give Constellation a Montero by Lil Nas X out of a possible Kiss Me More by Doja Cat.
My Final Verdict
Four stars for a very cool launch into new series! The SPSFC is doing terrible things to my to-read and to-buy pile, as I read the first books of so many great stories I want to see more of. This one is no exception, and well worth a look.
My immediate thought on opening this book was uggghhh, not first person present tense – but that’s a me problem. It’s fine. Once I got used to it, I found it worked nicely.
The twists and turns and revelations just keep coming. I won’t go into them too far but very little is what it seems and the simple space pirate life of space heists and space deals (and spacetoast, I had a genuine LOL at that) soon turns into a struggle on an interstellar scale as whole civilisations square up and struggle for supremacy. And in the meantime the Blood Empire, headed by the very satisfyingly space elven (dare I say, sci-fae? I do. I do dare. Did I just make up a new sub-genre? A quick google assures me I did not. But fuck it, it’s great) warlord Oberon, is looming on the space horizon.
I really enjoyed the way human and alien cultures and characteristics interwove. The aliens were nicely alien, the humans were nicely human, and the comparative alienness of both was really cleverly handled in the story and dialogue. I would not want to be an alien forced to deal with humans. I was a little puzzled (okay, more than a little) by the idea that if you save a Rykkan’s life, they need to serve you essentially forever or else kill themselves. Aktip saves Indy’s life at least twice before they even get started, and it doesn’t cancel her debt until she damn near dies saving her life for the third or fourth time. Still, it all serves the story and I’ll allow it.
The stakes are always clear and the action and scene-changes are well-outlined. We know what Indy wants, what the Scorpion wants, what Aktip wants, what Sloper wants. I do want to brag a little about figuring out the real deal between Sloper and Indy’s father, at least in the broad strokes, from Sloper’s first appearance … but suffice to say, things are more complicated than we are led to believe and it’s a lot of fun getting from start to finish.
The Constellation itself is great, by no means a McGuffin – and I would even say a character in its own right. I dig that stuff. And like I said, Oberon and the Blood Empire represent a cool and mysterious big bad alluded to just enough to not seem extraneous in this first book, but posing a legitimate and persistent threat. The politics, espionage and corporate / cultural clashes are nicely balanced with character work.
I really did hope Indy and Plexi would end up as a couple, they really seemed to have cute chemistry on the page and you don’t see that very often. But oh well.
Sex-o-meter
This is another story where there wasn’t much sex because sex wasn’t the point. The Rykkan mercenaries have a strong gang-rape and sex trafficking subculture going on but (thankfully) we don’t see much of it. Indy is sexy and confident and manages to get herself into a skin-tight black leather outfit and sci-fi high heels (dare I say, sci-heels? Did I just create another subgenre? I’m not googling it) at least once, but it’s all in service of the plot and didn’t strike me as lascivious (for better or worse). Also since I was picturing her as Merida, her Scottish accent was hot. According to the sex-o-meter this books gets a Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen out of a possible Montero by Lil Nas X.
Gore-o-meter
Not a lot of gore in this sci-fi adventure. Some alien dismemberment and some shooting, but most of the violence was ship-to-ship with a little bit of mobster beating and torture and deprivation of liberty thrown in. But the Blood Empire is coming! Two flesh-gobbets out of a possible five for this one.
WTF-o-meter
This book delivers a lot of quality WTF for your buck. Quite aside from the Blood Empire and the considerable mysteries of Indy’s father and his creations, there’s the entire Rykkan species and their ability to basically read minds but then also apparently be completely vulnerable to an extremely compelling life-debt tradition that I’m frankly stunned more humans haven’t taken advantage of. In this story alone it is a major motivation for both Aktip and the Chief. I initially wondered if there was some kind of elaborate alien joke happening, or if there was more to it like maybe the Rykkan mercenaries were being ‘hired’ by use of this system, and there may still be more here to examine in later books, but … yeah, for something that Indy didn’t even know about at the start of the story, it sure does seem like a huge part of Rykkan culture and you’d think it would be more widely known. Furthermore, their lie-detector abilities are conveniently worked-around at some point and you’d think that would also have been a priority for shitty humans to learn about. Anyway, there was plenty of good WTF in here. I’ll give Constellation a Montero by Lil Nas X out of a possible Kiss Me More by Doja Cat.
My Final Verdict
Four stars for a very cool launch into new series! The SPSFC is doing terrible things to my to-read and to-buy pile, as I read the first books of so many great stories I want to see more of. This one is no exception, and well worth a look.
January 3, 2022
CONSTELLATION by Robert Scanlon is an adult space opera written in 1st person, present tense, which you don’t see too often, but Scanlon pulls it off.
I LOVE a good space opera—space pirates, ragtag crews and clandestine salvage missions—so this story definitely hit a sweet spot for me!
Overall, CONSTELLATION is well-written with high stakes and good pacing. I found Indy highly likable—a no nonsense woman who has a deep love and sense of duty for blood family and found family alike. Speaking of found family, I enjoyed Aktip’s character and the world-building for her home planet of Rykkamon. The Rykkan life-debts also leant an interesting angle to the story.
There are a bunch of unsavory characters with ever-changing loyalties, so there’s a lot of double-crossing. A few times I struggled to understand certain character’s motivations, and a couple of events in the book left me scratching my head. Like, why didn’t Garnek try to get his ship back? Why did he give up power so easily when everyone wanted it? This is by no means a deal breaker. If anything, it kept me reading in the hopes that more information would be revealed to help me understand why????
If you love space operas, ragtag crews, cool world-building, questionable loyalties, and an MC that is always coming up with a new plan, then you will love CONSTELLATION!
I LOVE a good space opera—space pirates, ragtag crews and clandestine salvage missions—so this story definitely hit a sweet spot for me!
Overall, CONSTELLATION is well-written with high stakes and good pacing. I found Indy highly likable—a no nonsense woman who has a deep love and sense of duty for blood family and found family alike. Speaking of found family, I enjoyed Aktip’s character and the world-building for her home planet of Rykkamon. The Rykkan life-debts also leant an interesting angle to the story.
There are a bunch of unsavory characters with ever-changing loyalties, so there’s a lot of double-crossing. A few times I struggled to understand certain character’s motivations, and a couple of events in the book left me scratching my head. Like, why didn’t Garnek try to get his ship back? Why did he give up power so easily when everyone wanted it? This is by no means a deal breaker. If anything, it kept me reading in the hopes that more information would be revealed to help me understand why????
If you love space operas, ragtag crews, cool world-building, questionable loyalties, and an MC that is always coming up with a new plan, then you will love CONSTELLATION!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2023
It's not often that I stop reading a space opera book half way but, unfortunately, this was the case here... The book seems to a bit cartoonish, with a similar level of character development and depth. The setting of the plot and constant references to events and details not previously mentioned or described in the story made me to have a "wait, is this really the first book in the series?" moment several times. I know that sometimes half of the fun of reading a new book is to create and discover a mental map of the universe depicted but the experience with the Constellation was rather annoying. Finally, the plot seems to be disjointed, with the book seeming to be a collection of loosely connected episodes and things just happening. To summarize, if you're looking for a well-written military space opera, perhaps Marko Kloos' "Frontline" or "Palladium Wars" series may be the better choice. Also, most of the John Scalzi works would also combine humour and space opera in a far, far better way than the "Blood Empire" does.
August 24, 2023
Excellent, exciting space opera!
I’m new to reading the very talented and creative author, Robert Scanlon But, I am extremely pleased that I took the plunge! I loved every second of this well-written and intense story. The universe is well described by, not overly so and the characters are fantastic. I’ve become deeply invested in their future adventures. I’m looking forward to reading the prequel and book 2 of this series and I truly hope Scanlon is already working on books 3-20! I highly recommend it.
Kindle Unlimited
I’m new to reading the very talented and creative author, Robert Scanlon But, I am extremely pleased that I took the plunge! I loved every second of this well-written and intense story. The universe is well described by, not overly so and the characters are fantastic. I’ve become deeply invested in their future adventures. I’m looking forward to reading the prequel and book 2 of this series and I truly hope Scanlon is already working on books 3-20! I highly recommend it.
Kindle Unlimited
May 22, 2024
Classic is right….
This is an enjoyable space adventure with the flavor of Han Solo’s mix of bad and good luck. There are random events that the author uses to good purpose later on. Several characters die, and the stakes get higher as the story unfolds. The protagonist is savvy, sassy, and spunky, and she is loyal to those she cares about.
The book could use some additional editing, mostly comma errors and a few grammar mistakes, but otherwise it’s very well written. There are tense action scenes and exciting plot reversals. This would make an enjoyable movie.
This is an enjoyable space adventure with the flavor of Han Solo’s mix of bad and good luck. There are random events that the author uses to good purpose later on. Several characters die, and the stakes get higher as the story unfolds. The protagonist is savvy, sassy, and spunky, and she is loyal to those she cares about.
The book could use some additional editing, mostly comma errors and a few grammar mistakes, but otherwise it’s very well written. There are tense action scenes and exciting plot reversals. This would make an enjoyable movie.
August 29, 2023
This reads almost like "Hunt for Red October" in space - the thrill, the action, the combat. I like how the author didn't fully introduce the individual characters and let us learn about them bit by bit as the story unfolded. That the connected-vignette style of writing kept me reading. This was an exciting read and I am looking forward to the rest of the series (because this is clearly not a standalone novel).
I received an ARC from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received an ARC from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 24, 2019
I’m afraid I gave up on this book about halfway through.
The way the different elements of the story are put together feels quite clumsy, things just happen, with very little or no explanation. At times it’s almost just a collection of random incidents and quite a lot doesn’t bear close examination, in fact it just doesn’t make sense.
The way the different elements of the story are put together feels quite clumsy, things just happen, with very little or no explanation. At times it’s almost just a collection of random incidents and quite a lot doesn’t bear close examination, in fact it just doesn’t make sense.
July 17, 2020
Its so nice to have a female captain/lead of a space series rather than it all being male leads.
Story of searching for the cause of her fathers death and the person who did it along the way rescuing her brother, discovering the Constellation ship and the surprises that build to be come a leader to the oncoming Blood Empire.
Looking forward to the next in the series.
Story of searching for the cause of her fathers death and the person who did it along the way rescuing her brother, discovering the Constellation ship and the surprises that build to be come a leader to the oncoming Blood Empire.
Looking forward to the next in the series.
October 24, 2023
I typically enjoy space/science fiction books. This was at times hard to follow. It was hard to keep all the players “in order” and remember who was who… other than the main few actors and the back stories were muddy for la k of a better term. I did finish it, but won’t read the remaining books in the series.
September 26, 2023
It's all a bit simplistic. Indy is multi-talented and her brother Mitch isn't. With every opportunity she "has an idea", no matter how far fetched. The reading was easy and I romped through it, but in the end I felt I was not going to read book 2. not yet anyway!
October 27, 2024
Really a 4.5 but that’s not a legal ranking.
A flaming redheaded pirate captain hunting for the villain who murdered her extremely brilliant pun loving father find more questions than answers in her search of her sector of the galaxy.
A flaming redheaded pirate captain hunting for the villain who murdered her extremely brilliant pun loving father find more questions than answers in her search of her sector of the galaxy.
November 25, 2016
Fast paced space opera. The heroine goes from one crisis to another without any pause time. You need to read this book quickly. Much like a very involved spy novel
May 18, 2017
Sooooo good. Was worth losing a bit of sleep staying up late to read this hard to put down space opera. Looking forward to the next in the series which I'm sure will be at least as good.
October 22, 2018
2 stars. DNF. Unrealistic and bland story and characters didn't capture my attention
September 17, 2023
Pretty good space opera! Light and fun!
November 11, 2023
I hate not to finish a book but sometimes it is better to use time on something er.. better. With all due respect to fellow Queenslander classic space opera this is not!!!
September 6, 2024
Absolutely brilliant start to what promises to be a great space opera. Plenty of nonstop action from start to finish. Great characters fantastic scenes definitely recommend
July 20, 2017
Available in kindle unlimited, which I have but no room to add in, got as a freebie from one of my books sites probably. There is a prequel, called “A Bar Room Brawl on Ganymede” which is free if you go to his website or his facebook page. I did guess a couple of things right, but then again I read and listen and watch a LOT of sci-fi, but it was one of the best books I have read in this genre, though not quite sure what sub-genre it would be considered.
A Bar Room Brawl on Ganymede
{An Altercation in Rykkamon is one of the stories in Glimpse: A New World, and should come after Bar Room but before Costellation}
Constellation (Blood Empire Book 1)
“Nebula” - Book Two in the Blood Empire series coming soon.
Sarina's Nightmare: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles Book 1)
The Dream Killer: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles Book 2)
Moon Zero: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles Book 3)
The Dreamer Chronicles (3 Book Series)
Indy is framed for an alien massacre, forced to go on the run to clear her name and attempt something no one has done before, find Constellation, the Sector's fabled battlecruiser, missing in action believed to be destroyed in the last Great War, it is the only warship capable of defending the Sector against their worst enemy, the Blood Empire.
A Bar Room Brawl on Ganymede
{An Altercation in Rykkamon is one of the stories in Glimpse: A New World, and should come after Bar Room but before Costellation}
Constellation (Blood Empire Book 1)
“Nebula” - Book Two in the Blood Empire series coming soon.
Sarina's Nightmare: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles Book 1)
The Dream Killer: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles Book 2)
Moon Zero: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles Book 3)
The Dreamer Chronicles (3 Book Series)
Indy is framed for an alien massacre, forced to go on the run to clear her name and attempt something no one has done before, find Constellation, the Sector's fabled battlecruiser, missing in action believed to be destroyed in the last Great War, it is the only warship capable of defending the Sector against their worst enemy, the Blood Empire.
February 19, 2017
Space-pirate Indy Jackson cares about 2 things, delivering her illicit cargo to stay alive and finding and killing the man responsible for her father's murder. Things start to go sideways when she's blamed for a diplomat's son is injured and later dies. In order to prove her innocence, she has to undertake an exploratory mission to find the galaxy's biggest myth, find the lost Battleship Constellation for her father's killer or her brother dies! Two space criminal, a pirate hacker; and a crime syndicate all stand in her way!
When you do reviews, you can get stale writing a variation of the same theme. Robert Scanlon's Constellation is one of those stories you really want to read, to cleanse your palette of the vampires, fae and sword & sorcery and sink your metaphorical teeth into a good old fashioned space story. The elements are the same as a typical fantasy story but with laser swords instead of broadswords. Scanlon does a masterful job of hooking you and reeling you in.
When you do reviews, you can get stale writing a variation of the same theme. Robert Scanlon's Constellation is one of those stories you really want to read, to cleanse your palette of the vampires, fae and sword & sorcery and sink your metaphorical teeth into a good old fashioned space story. The elements are the same as a typical fantasy story but with laser swords instead of broadswords. Scanlon does a masterful job of hooking you and reeling you in.
December 4, 2016
Captain Indy Jackson, a space pirate with a well-earned reputation, lands her lightCruiser, surrounded immediately by a large group of armed Rykkan thugs. Then she and Jordi disembark to “negotiate” with the annoyed Rykkan Chief. This is supposed to be a quick in-and-out deal. But with a tornado heading toward them, the Chief tries to change the terms of their agreement since they are under pressure to quickly finish the transaction and get off the planet. Instead, Indy bluffs, saying she has 4 drones with lasercannons and he must complete the deal or lose his munitions area. But by now the tornado is here and it is too late to leave. She now has to go into town to complete another deal she has in progress that may give her a temporary reprieve until she can collect her full payment on the illegal cargo.
The twists and turns of the story keep the excitement level at a constant high! She gets herself into trouble trying to do a good deed, and is faced with some difficult decisions. How will she get out of all these troubles?
The reader will love the heroine immediately! She is snarky and likeable right from the start! She uses her wits to deal with whatever comes her way. I loved the storyline and the constant adrenaline rush! I can’t wait for the next installment! Highly recommended – you will not regret reading this terrific book!
The twists and turns of the story keep the excitement level at a constant high! She gets herself into trouble trying to do a good deed, and is faced with some difficult decisions. How will she get out of all these troubles?
The reader will love the heroine immediately! She is snarky and likeable right from the start! She uses her wits to deal with whatever comes her way. I loved the storyline and the constant adrenaline rush! I can’t wait for the next installment! Highly recommended – you will not regret reading this terrific book!
February 8, 2017
This was an interesting start to a series although I did find there were quite a few really convenient scenarios that would just pop up to help the story along. I didn't mind the characters but their interactions felt a little rushed and underdeveloped in some cases. For example, Danielli and group were quick to give allegiance to a pirate even though they were hired by someone else. Overall, I did enjoy the story but would have like more detail and development of characters and background events.
November 26, 2016
"I like it when there's no pressure"
Just how much trouble can one woman get herself into? Indy only intended to make a (very) quick visit to the Rykkan homeworld to sell her cargo (illegally) to an old (and dangerous) gang leader but gets delayed by a cyclone, pressured into an apparently impossible task by the man who murdered her father in order to save the life of her (only) brother and finds herself also wanted for dis-arming (literally) one the the socially superior Rykkan. And she hasn't even started yet: real trouble is yet to come. Plots, counter plots and betrayals. If this book were more exciting, it's pages would burst into flame.
There is no way I would (or could) give any further outline of this non stop action story without spoiling it. Suffice to say it's one very feisty space pirate lady with her small group of friends and one big spaceship up against, well, pretty well everyone else. Terrific fun, great 3 dimensional characters, visually written, great fight scenes up close and personal, and even sometimes funny.
Highly recommended to all S.F.fans
Just how much trouble can one woman get herself into? Indy only intended to make a (very) quick visit to the Rykkan homeworld to sell her cargo (illegally) to an old (and dangerous) gang leader but gets delayed by a cyclone, pressured into an apparently impossible task by the man who murdered her father in order to save the life of her (only) brother and finds herself also wanted for dis-arming (literally) one the the socially superior Rykkan. And she hasn't even started yet: real trouble is yet to come. Plots, counter plots and betrayals. If this book were more exciting, it's pages would burst into flame.
There is no way I would (or could) give any further outline of this non stop action story without spoiling it. Suffice to say it's one very feisty space pirate lady with her small group of friends and one big spaceship up against, well, pretty well everyone else. Terrific fun, great 3 dimensional characters, visually written, great fight scenes up close and personal, and even sometimes funny.
Highly recommended to all S.F.fans
January 25, 2017
Quick, Low, Low-Brow, Comic Book Level Space Romp
"Constellation," is a quick reading, low, low-brow space romp. If a reader is willing to suspend all credulity, it might appeal to you.
The author's book description, suffices as a synopsis. The writing is decent by the author, Mr. Robert Scanlon. The storyline, plots, characters, just about everything else however, are breathless, one-dimensional, first person, comic book level utterances. The heroine (MC), "Indy," is an Amazonian Warrior space pirate princess, who can do no wrong, and never fails. She is "...the divine one...," "...invincible...." The villains are "dastardly," and almost comical in their evilness. It is basically the kind of mindless fun, you might want to enjoy as a movie, when you just want to "zonk out," and not think. As a book, it doesn't achieve much. Maybe it will in the young teen SciFi niche (violent content not withstanding), but it is not for grown ups.
"Constellation," is not recommended for adults with working gray cells. It was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.
"Constellation," is a quick reading, low, low-brow space romp. If a reader is willing to suspend all credulity, it might appeal to you.
The author's book description, suffices as a synopsis. The writing is decent by the author, Mr. Robert Scanlon. The storyline, plots, characters, just about everything else however, are breathless, one-dimensional, first person, comic book level utterances. The heroine (MC), "Indy," is an Amazonian Warrior space pirate princess, who can do no wrong, and never fails. She is "...the divine one...," "...invincible...." The villains are "dastardly," and almost comical in their evilness. It is basically the kind of mindless fun, you might want to enjoy as a movie, when you just want to "zonk out," and not think. As a book, it doesn't achieve much. Maybe it will in the young teen SciFi niche (violent content not withstanding), but it is not for grown ups.
"Constellation," is not recommended for adults with working gray cells. It was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.
November 25, 2016
This book grabbed me from the first sentence and was pure fun until the end. A kick ass space pirate in a kick ass story that had the feeling of Firefly without being like it. That might not make a lot of sense except that Firefly has everything I like in my space operas, great plot and excellent writing, good banter and comradery, and situations that you can't see the crew being able to pull off - and then you are ecstatic when not only do the pull it off, but the author has done it well enough to leave you cheering. The crew in Constellation is small but it just allows you to fall in love with Indy and Aktip that much faster!
My only complaint is that at the moment I am writing this the book is priced at 99 cents. Normally I skip those books for fear of quality issues. This one was already on my radar so grab it while you can. I can't see the author leaving it at that price point for long!
My only complaint is that at the moment I am writing this the book is priced at 99 cents. Normally I skip those books for fear of quality issues. This one was already on my radar so grab it while you can. I can't see the author leaving it at that price point for long!
December 13, 2016
What a great start
This book looks like the start of a interesting series. We are introduced to Indy Jackson and her small team. She is expecting a quick and easy delivery, but things don't go that way. She finds herself and her crew expected to find and return the biggest warship in space. But that is when the action begins, plots and more plots. Looking forward to the next book.
This book looks like the start of a interesting series. We are introduced to Indy Jackson and her small team. She is expecting a quick and easy delivery, but things don't go that way. She finds herself and her crew expected to find and return the biggest warship in space. But that is when the action begins, plots and more plots. Looking forward to the next book.
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