Eric Olafson : Space Pirate

Eric Olafson Series

by Vanessa Ravencroft

It's the year 5021 and the Milky Way Galaxy is teeming with life and exotic species. The majority of the known civilisations have formed a multi-cultural mega organization called the United Stars of Galaxies. This Union is protected by the brave men and women of the United Stars Space fleet against external threats.

Eric Olafson, born and raised under harsh conditions of the traditional and inward looking society of Nilfeheim, left his planet to fulfil his dreams of becoming a Starship captain.

When Eric gets kidnaped by an unknown organization and brought to Sin4, he slowly starts to discover his central role in an ancient conflict of cosmic proportions.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, LGBT, Space, Military Science Fiction, Ebooks, Queer

Unknown Binding

Published February 8, 2017

Reviews

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really wanted to like this. To understand why, let me share with you the following quote from the original cover blurb:

"Eric Olafson, struggling with a secret desire to be female, leaves the traditional and inward looking society of Nilfeheim to fulfil his dreams of becoming a Starship captain."

A transgender starship captain! That sounds pretty awesome, am I right? Sadly, for some reason, the publisher has removed all reference to that fact from the current cover blurb, which is a shame as I would not have read it otherwise.

Although I did not realize it at the time, Eric Olafson, Space Pirate was originally self-published by Vanessa Ravencroft about 6 years ago. According to the FictionPress website, it is actually the 9th book in her Galactic Chronicles and the 5th book in her Olafson Saga, which explains some of my confusion with things it felt as if we are already expected to know, but which adds a whole other element of confusion regarding the writing. I did finish this (it took me a while), and I did have some fun with it, but I did not find it to be particularly well-written or well-edited. Not to be overly critical but I would expect a little more refinement in style over 9 books, and I do hope a professional editor gets their hands on it before finished copies hit the shelves. I am sorry, but this was sometimes painful to read.

As a Young Adult B-grade homage to the days of pulp science fiction, this was an alright story, even if I suspect it may not have been intended as such. The story is light on detail, with dialogue that borders between juvenile and cheesy, and names that are even worse (Moistpromise and Wetmouth immediately come to mind). As for Eric, he is an awkward character, a man with a feminine side (named Freya) who never actually comes across as either transvestite or transsexual. Gender-fluid, perhaps, but the question of gender is never explored deeply enough to give it meaning. I wanted to love him, and wanted his struggle to mean more, but it felt more like a plot device than a genuine expression of the transgender experience - which is a shame, because I have see YA novels tackle the issue beautifully.

As reviewed by Sally at Bending the Bookshelf

[James Grieme · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I received my copy of this book, I was wondering if I would be at a supreme disadvantage because this book subtitles itself as Galactic Chronicles Book IX.

I had no problems whatsoever following the story.

This story begins in a unique and for me, far differently from any previous science fiction or fantasy book I have read. Yet even though there was a momentary off-putting because of the unusual nature of this story’s beginning, the plot unfolds into an extremely complex character who is obviously struggling to understand his place in his world.

It is the world in which Olafson exists that is extremely astounding. The complexity of the universe which the main character Eric lives is an intricately constructed, meticulously detailed existence. Even though I had no experience with this book’s series, Ravencroft’s skills as the creator of both Eric and his existence is demonstrated admirably.

The story begins—after a prologue which grants the reader a context on which to hand this story—in media res. While many writers exercise this tool to speed up the introduction of characters and situation, Ravencroft uses this tool with phenomenal expertise. The main character is placed in an unenviable situation yet conducts himself in an admittedly melodramatic bravado—yet the reader actually likes it!

Space Pirate moves rapidly through an odyssey which at first seems to be a continual illustration of moving “from the fry pan into the fire.” Too many authors either rush this, and in the process creating a very flat story with no tension and pacing, or they unnecessarily elongate this process and emotionally exhaust the reader. Yet somehow Ravencroft walks the very fine line necessary that holds the reader’s leash taught yet doesn’t allow them to choke themselves in frustration.

The story is not, however, without flaws. The main character discovers there exists some internal emotional and psychological struggles, which in themselves are incredibly substantial, yet they are concluded too easily. True, this is a work of fiction. Within the pages of this story the reader gladly suspends disbelief; willingly so. Still, there is a limit to which disbelief can be deferred.

While Ravencroft demonstrates incredible skill as a writer in knowing what the reader can countenance and what the limits of their attention and their imaginations are, I believe she committed a critical faux pas. Far too often the temptation to design a reality which usurps the reality in which we all live, ends up causing the reader’s cessation of disbelief to unceremoniously disintegrate.

Even though I found the resolution of the main character’s struggle somewhat objectionable, I do not believe most readers would find it so. While I believe the conditions of the plot to be so far outside of a realistic expectation as to approach fantasy, I do not desire to disparage the talents of the writer or the grandeur of this story.

Eric Olafson: Space Pirate is a complex, fast-moving story with incredible detail of the surroundings; both Eric’s universe and the characters who are his friends. While there exists a short period about two-thirds the way through the book where the pacing becomes lethargic, this story rapidly improves and by its end, the reader finds no reason to taste anything unsavory.

Great read. Be sure to allow time to consume it. While it’s a good book, it is certainly not a short one!

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is great sci fi with wonderful world building, fascinating characters and plenty of action! My Rating 4.75.

Eric Olafson is a creative midshipman who has always longed to become a Starship captain in the Union fleet that protects the numerous allies against unfriendly threats. Right now Eric is hoping to pass graduation in a few weeks – if he can stay out of trouble and live that long! It seems that trouble follows Eric… or he finds it. Fortunately, he has an unusual group of classmates who are usually nearby to help him face trouble with their remarkable skills. As one of the Admirals explains to Eric midway through the book: “You and your friends are not the average cadets and midshipman.”

Har-Hi is an extreme fighter – that’s what he loves. Wetmouth is a science whiz. Krabbel is an arachnoid (spider) who loves hugging and is ‘handy’ to have around. Narth is a from a planet of psi-mind readers who used to keep to themselves. But he has developed a bond with Eric and is determined to stay by his side and learn and share all the feelings humans have. Cirruit is a cyberunit who adds his own techno skills and subtle humor to the group. He is longing for the upgrade that will allow him to experience things like taste and other senses. The friends repeat, on more than one occasion, how important their friendship is and how their lives are enriched by knowing each other. They fear being separated when given their new assignments.

The first third of the book focuses on Eric as he is kidnapped and forced to escape and survive on a hostile planet. Eric has to dodge hostiles until he is aided by Mother Superior, a leader of a society of women who are shape shifters, extreme courtesans and sometimes spies. Eric is the first male allowed to enter their community, learn many of their secrets and train under the master teaching of the leader.

Eventually Eric is reconnected with his ship and warmly welcomed by his companions. After a short R&R they are sent on special assignment on a distant station base. It appears that nothing is going on and that prior accidents have been due to extreme boredom. But we know how appearances can be wrong! Once again, the action picks up as Eric and friends attempt to stop pirates from accessing supplies on the base.

The pattern of the story runs with fast paced action and a short R&R before the “Olafson team” faces another unexpected assignment. I love the "team" and how they contribute their talents to face the enemies. Now you might question why the titles says “Space Pirate” – what does that mean? It’s creative and lots of fun with a few horrorific situations. The world building is wonderful with a great variety of characters and surprises all along the way. There are some social points made by the author through the story and I also appreciated that the story has minimal rough language.

This is apparently part of a series and alludes to prior adventures. This one works as a stand-alone but makes me interested in reading the back stories to discover more about Eric’s meeting and becoming friends with these many alien creatures. I strongly recommend this to readers who enjoy science fiction with detailed world building, creative characters and lots of action.

I received an ARC from Inkitt for an honest review.

About the Author

[Valerie Roberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. This is a 5 star book in my opinion and anybody who loves a good Sci-Fi, would love this book. There are many factors that make this a 5 star book in my standards. First, the author starts you out at the Forward, giving you background and up to date information on the book. Since it is the ninth book in the Galactic Chronicles and fifth in the Olafson Saga, you are coming in right smack in the middle of a series. This filled me in so much, that when I started the first chapter, I did not feel like I was out in left field and not knowing what was going on. This right here earned a star from me. Being that I haven't read the rest of the series, it was nice to have some background. This also sucked me into the book and I was hooked.
Second point that earned the 5 stars is the Prologue. This explained that the person telling the story was the author and these were accounts that really happened in his life. I had to stop and remind myself that this was fictional and not real. At the end of the Prologue, I was so deep into this book, that I read until my eyes went blurry.
Third point that earned this book 5 stars, is the storyline. Fabulous! If you take Star Track, War of the Worlds, Star Wars and a little of Space Balls mixed in, then this just about gives you an idea of what this book is like. It doesn't exactly live up to it's name. Yes it is all about Eric Olafson and his adventures and yes it is kissed with space pirate, but it is so much more. You will see what I mean when you read it.
And that brings me to my fourth point that earned this book 5 stars. The history that Eric learned along the way. It was so fascinating and I loved every word of it! Mother Superior told the history of each planet as they landed. It was a history class that was way more fun then in High School. I found that each planet, some how over the thousands of years, all connected together. Fascinating! I think that was my favorite part of the book.
Now this brings me to my fifth reason I would give this book 5 stars. The characters are amazing! Never would I have thought that all these aliens being brought together would work. You are talking about humans, robots, spiders, giants and so many more. But the author did phenomenal job with that. Eric's secret was handled with love and care, not something you expect in a pirate story. How his friends became so close to him and respected him to no end and how they all knew his secret before he had the guts to say anything and stood by him when he did. Each character was so different in it's own species way, but added so much to the story. Eric and his main friends blew me out of the water and made me wish people here in real life would do the same as his friends, maybe there would be less bullying.
Now you know my reasons for giving this book 5 stars. It lived up to many standards, that it deserves at least 10 stars.
Vanessa Ravencroft is a new author to me and I'm so honored to be asked to give an honest review. I enjoyed the story way more than I thought I would. Vanessa is a very talented author. She sucked me in and held me there to the end, which the Epilogue prepares you for the next book in the series. She wrote this as a series, but this book could've been a stand alone book. Now I have to get the next book to see what happens and you will want to also.

[Aoife · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from Inkitt Press in exchange for an honest review.

Eric Olafson is about to graduate from space academy when he is abducted and almost killed. What follows is a sci-fi space adventure where Olafson has to don a number of different disguises, battle slave traders, man his own crew and just try and keep himself alive.

This book was pitched to me as a stand alone novel but it's actually the fifth book in the Eric Olafson series. Despite this, I did find myself almost able to keep up with everything though tehre were definite things mentioned such as past events and characters that the reader was evidently suppose to already know about and I didn't.

I have to be honest here, and it's a shame I feel this way because this book was kindly sent to me for review. This book is not good. It's badly edited and even more badly written. The book, in my opinion, needs several more rounds of editing before it's even fit to be read by a wider audience and while I expect some mistakes in proof copies (I'm not even sure if the copy I have is a proof as it doesn't state on it) but this was jam-packed full of grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors that had me cringing. But not even all the editing in the world could fix what is, in the end, a badly written story - most sentence structure was off, the conversations didn't seem realistic and neither did a lot of character reaction.

However, DESPITE ALL THE BAD, kept reading this book until the end and that says something. This is a book I would normally DNF after a few chapters given the state of the writing and the more than a little confusing world and I probably would have DNF'd if it was a Kindle book but there was something about the story that kept my interest peaked and I wasn't ready to let go of it yet. So I read it all. Even though the writing in this book is terrible, I think the bones of the story are actually full of potential. It just needs a lot, a lot , of work.

Eric Olafson is one of these characters I hate and love at the same time. He's brave, loyal and kind and I have to love that but he's one these characters that always has something happen to them but always miracuously gets out of it and is the best at everything while doing it. And that gets a bit boring after a while. There was also a lot of mentions of Eric's dual sexuality. He seems to struggle a bit in the book and keeps mentioning this female side that comes to the forefront when, in several points during the book, he has to disguise himself in a female body. I'm not sure if this was a play on transgender issues, or gender fluidity and while I like that it was touched on, I don't think it was developed enough and just left me feeling a bit confused about the whole thing. There was also something a bit misogynistic said at one point in the book - I think by a female character - that had me feeling all sorts of wrong. "Sadly, ninety-nine percent of all women can't separate their emotion from their rational thoughts and that's why women still struggle for equality in terms of perception even in the 51st Century." What?

At the end of the day, unfortunately this is a book I cannot recommend to anyone. The only reason this is a two-star instead of a one-star is the fact that I actually wanted to finish the book rather than just DNF-ing it.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all I have to say that I was contacted and given a copy of the book in return I was to give an honest review. All the opinions in this review are mine and I am going to try and avoid any sort of spoilers that I can and still try to give a good quality review.

Admittedly jumping in to this book was kind of like being thrown right into the deep end of a pool and barely being able to swim because this book is part of a larger series, and I mean a large series. Without reading any of the other books I was pretty much drowning right away, all the characters flooded me and I was tying to keep them separate and it was beyond a struggle. I hadn't read any of the other instalments so everything was overwhelming and hard to process as I was reading and trying to establish a clear image.

I struggled and continue to struggle with identifying and analysing how I feel towards all of the characters involved in the plot. I mean Eric is our main character and he wants nothing more than to fulfil his dream of becoming a starship captain. He end sup kidnapped and then basically from there on out I'm pretty much rolling down a hill it was that hard to keep track of everything that was happening. As much as I really wanted to connect with Eric and the other characters, I feel as though that my lack of knowledge on them due to not reading any of the other books really effected that and the only link between me and them was the fact they were in the story, I was nowhere near feeling any emotion or connection between myself and them. I will hopefully be able to put time aside in the future to read the series from the start in hopes of gripping the larger picture and establishing some sort of understanding and connection with the book and characters.

For what I understood and managed to keep a hold on, I loved. The action really pleased me and the level of detail was really awesome. At points the amount of detail was annoying but for the most part its use really helped to get me immersed. At points the level of detail did end up actually pushing me from the book and I found myself unable to read the book for a few hours just because the detail felt overpowering, like the author had tried so hard to immerse the readers and create a believable setting that it just ended up being too much and became overwhelming, almost so detailed and needing to be gripping that you could tell it was a work of fiction, I'm trying to say that at points the level of detail it had stopped it being immersive, so detailed it was obviously nowhere near real.

I must keep it clear that this book is great for those who love Sci.fi action and have time to read all of the other books or have a great ability to follow stories that are really sort of in the middle of a series without reading the others. I can 100% see why people who have read the book and series love it and love Vanessa, I can 100% see why Inkitt published this book. I just really wished I had caught wind of the series a long time ago so I could have followed it all the way and gotten a real addiction to it. However it wasn't meant to be and I was drowning the moment I begun reading but I loved what I read for the most part and I wish Vanessa continued luck with the series. Its a 3.5 out of 5 and I hope that my opinion and view does in no way deter you from embarking on the journey through the series.

[Lora Shouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s never a dull moment with Eric and the Olafson gang.

This is an earlier book in the Eric Olafson series, apparently coming right before the Eric Olafson: Captain Black Velvet book I reviewed earlier. This is another delightful romp through space – again mostly in and on the edges of Freespace. Could use better editing though.

In the beginning, Eric and his friends are still Midshipmen in the Union Navy, although they are nearing graduation. They are in a competition for something called the Reagan Trophy when suddenly Eric’s battlesuit malfunctions. When he wakes up sometime later, he finds he has been kidnapped. He spends about the next third of the book escaping from that situation. Every time he escapes from one danger, he and in some cases, those helping him, encounter a new threat.

Eric finally returns to a Union base at the edge of Freespace only to have it violently attacked by pirates while he is waiting to be reunited with his friends and receive his orders for his next assignment. When they finally arrive after the pirates are driven away, Eric and his friends are sent to an understaffed new base as a temporary assignment. Here they have little to do except extending their training for a while – until the base commander turns out to be a traitor.

Once the cadets have taken care of him and his pirate co-conspirators, the commanders of the fleet show up, declare them graduated, and give them their own spaceship (on a temporary basis, of course). It is the same Tigershark/Silver Streak they are using to impersonate a pirate ship in Captain Black Velvet. They are given the mission of impersonating pirates and immediately set out on further adventures.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of this book.

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have wanted to read a book by Vanessa Ravencroft since some time now. So I was lucky enough to be considered as a reviewer for this great story. Imagine how happy I was when I saw her name 

The story is very very complex. It has a lot of characters, it has a very well developed universe. I absolutely loved how detailed it was, even in the most unimportant facts. I can easily state that the praise that our author has received is well deserved. I believe this is what actually makes this book fabulous. There are a lot of different species and the way they were introduced in the story, gave this natural feel. Like it’s normal to discuss with my alien friend from planet YZ. I loved that too.

The plot is as well quite enjoyable. I must say this is a generous book, as it has quite a number of pages. But at any time I did not feel bored or tired. It kept me in there until the end. It starts with Our main character, struggling to understand who wanted him so bad as to stage his death. We go right into the story from here, while Eric’s friends try to uncover the mysteries surrounding his supposed death.

Although I am quite fond of the book (and the author), there are some small items I was not very comfortable with. One of them is the alternation between the POVs. On one side, we have Eric, who narrates his own story, and the scenes in which he appears, and on the other we have all his friends, whose perspective is narrated at the third person. While this is an interesting approach, it made me confused at times. Same goes for the increased number of characters. At the beginning, it was hard for me to remember who was who and from where.

All in all, I enjoyed the story very much and I am so happy to have read it. Vanessa Ravencroft is a great writer and for sure I will read some of her other stories as well. Enjoy 

[SerialReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eric Olafson, Space Pirate is not the kind of book you can finish in a day. It took me a while to get into the story and the myriad of characters but -to my pleasure and surprise- I have to admit that this is exactly what makes this book so fascinating. After the first few chapters (what it takes to get acclimated to the futuristic environment) you are literally teleported into a universe of mystery, adventure and non-stop action.

Vanessa Ravencroft has a spectacular imaginary world inside her own head and Eric Olafson, Space Pirate takes you right there where adventure, action and excellent characters reside.
First in a series, this book could be read as a stand-alone...but if you're curious about the future (literally) just keep an eye on Vanessa Ravencroft.

*This book was kindly sent to me by Inkitt in exchange for an honest review*

[Randall Mccoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sci-fantasy

I'm not a fan of fantasy sci-fi, but this story kept me interested. The editing was weak in places. I did enjoy the story telling style. I don't think the story ended. It just stopped.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my type of book. Good old fashioned sci-fi at its best. As Eric's adventures continue you just want more. The characters are well developed by this point and still there is more you want to know about them. I would say this is a great set of books to get into. They are hard to put down.

[Pat Klug · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be a great series if this book didn’t start in the middle of it. I was constantly irritated by references of people and relationships that were in the past. It was not made clear that other books preceded this one, and had pertinent information to this storyline.
I finally gave up.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story wish there was more to the series. Thank you for an excellent read

[Charles Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric Olafson, from the traditional Viking world of Nilfeheim, left his home world to fulfill his dream of becoming a space ship captain. He joined the space fleet of the United Stars of the Planets and began an adventure that took him to some of the farthest stars. When he’s kidnapped and taken to a lawless planet, he finds himself embroiled in an ancient conflict that will test him to his very limits.
Eric Olafson: Space Pirate by Vanessa Ravencroft is a young adult space adventure a la ‘Space Cadets,’ packed with interesting and esoteric characters and taking place in worlds that could only be created by an author who has dreamed of venturing into universes unknown. The action is non-stop. The only criticism of this book is the complexity of the situations Olafson finds himself in—sometimes switches are so abrupt, I had to go back and re-read several paragraphs to reorient myself. That having been said, it was still an entertaining read; perfect for teen and young adult sci-fi fans, or fans-to-be.

[Rob Colavito · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book feels like the second or third book of a series. You are dropped into the action immediately and none of the characters are introduced. names are dropped and the reader is expected already know the character. I actually checked to see if the author had published something before this.

The pace is frantic, but there is no real direction. At the end I couldn't tell if the crew were any closer to stopping the bad guy, then at the beginning.

[Nate Thern · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to be obsessive about making sure I start at the beginning of a series - be it the internal chronology beginning or the publication order beginning. In this case I somehow chose to jump right into a middle-of-the-series book, skipping over "Eric Olafson: Earthbound Rebel" and "Eric Olafson: Atmospheric Mercenary".

I honestly don't know how this book found it's way to the top of my TBR list; the experience was somewhat like mistaking the name of one movie for something else and then realizing you're watching a low-budget cheesefest and then being fascinated by the onscreen chaos someone chose to call a film. The literary sins ranged from a continuously deus-ex-machina driven plot to having a main character who is supernaturally gifted in all talents known to mankind (and alien-kind). I was also constantly being introduced to yet another of "This is Eric's best friend who is the most powerful/rich/sexy being in the universe and whose life Eric saved in Eric Olafson: Low Earth Orbit Ass-Kicking Cadet".

And the prose! This book didn't need an editor, it needed a high-school English teacher. Every single sentence in the book needed a corrected verb tense or an arrow to move a prepositional phrase or a split into multiple sentences or a ... the list goes on and on. The book was almost certainly dictated and then read through only once to throw in some punctuation before publication.

The book also had this strange quality of overtly embracing a hardcore 1950's male chauvanism while at the same time being LGBTQ friendly. My perception of the target audience constantly swung back and forth between "sensitive and enlightened white male" and "misogynist pig white male".

On the plus side: a pell-mell action driven story that kept me reasonably engaged. The universe setting is also pretty interesting. Getting past the flaws was like listening to an audiobook narrator who has some annoying verbal tendencies - after about 1/2 hour you're used to it and can just get into the story. I've had my fill of Eric Olafson, though; I don't think I will read any of his backstory or move on to "Eric Olafson: Extradimensional Dictator"

[Charles W Zopfi Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

Wonderful story, exciting combat, a Viking in space, and an epic tale that should be read by all. Truly a great read. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Benjamin]

***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLISHER***
I'll admit that I'm sometimes a glutton for punishment, but even I have my limits. About a quarter of the way through this book, I had to give up. I couldn't suffer through reading it anymore. There were a number of factors for this decision. First, this was apparently a book in the midst of a larger series and it was even an entry of its own, sub-series. I had not read any books from either series, so I was quite lost when it came to the characters and other pieces of information that might be considered "common knowledge" by this point in their respective series.

Secondly, I could not stand the constant stream of proofreading errors. Every time they came up, I was immediately pulled out of the story. What strikes me as odd in this second aspect is the publisher of this work: Inkitt. On their website, they tout that they only publish the best works determined by popular demand and some computer algorithm. Once the stories are vetted, they are given a cover by a talented artist and a review by an editor. I was directly approached by the Publishing Manager of Inkitt to review this story, along with two others ( Esper Files , and Esper Files: The Sky Cult ). What really struck me with all three of these books is that they REALLY needed an editor. Clearly, this is a service that Inkitt does not provide.

While the concept behind Inkitt is intriguing to me as an aspiring author, I don't know if I want to be associated with these works that haven't really been given a good vetting by an editor. Perhaps an editor would have noticed that this story was often repetitive in its information and that it lacked a clear goal (I hadn't figured out what the eponymous main character was trying to do in a whole 1/4 of the book). Maybe I was only given advanced reader copies of these stories and their numerous errata were fixed before publishing, but having read at least one of these stories in paperback form, I doubt it.

An unpolished work that was probably rushed out the door by the publisher, I cannot give Eric Olafson, Space Pirate a rating.

For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit www.benjamin-m-weilert.com

[Arlene Arredondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action filled adventure with a diversity of characters that makes it entertaining and fun.
This is definitely a must read for any YA enthusiast.
Teenage approved, this story has some interesting settings and unforgettable characters.
It could be read as a Standalone without any problems.
Would love to see more work from this author in the future.

[Joe Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one's fun. It's an old-school story with an irascible Han Solo / Captain Tightpants-style hero and a motley crew on a spaceship, and they fight bad guys. There ain't a thing wrong with such a thing, and this one hits the right notes.

It's fun to write and read about that kind of thing and Ravencroft nails the feeling and the tone precisely. Give this one a shot.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the Olafson books, I simply could not put it down, from start to finish it really held my attention. Love the rich variety of races in the universe of the Union and how even though they mostly get a long there are still issues and racial tensions. I hope we survive long enough as a spices to find such a rich galaxy full of life.

[Myron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vanessa's writing is imaginative, thought provoking, very entertaining, and extremely hard to put down. I have read and reread the unedited versions and am excitedly waiting to read the finished ( hope it never ends) polished version.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it

Eric is an interesting personality, with male and female drives and an explosive temper, the book was good. I would recommend it

[Francois · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good pizza, for me, is comfort food. Don't get me wrong, I do like a 7 course meal once in a while, with wine pairing and all, but I always go back to pizza at one point. It's simple, easy to make and to eat, and it's got cheese. This book is like a pizza.

It doesn't have extensive descriptions, it doesn't have self-doubting characters (think David Weber, plot developments are somewhat on the simpler side, but it's a heck of a wild ride with nice ideas thrown in the mix. It's not perfect, but it's entertaining.

If you like pizza, can drink a beer from the bottle, can enjoy a car ride even if the car is a beat-up old rusted piece of crap, read this book. If on the other hand any meal needs to have at least three courses, you drink tea in a china mug with your pinky raised, you only enter a vehicle that's got leather seats with a working A/C, you probably shouldn't read it.

PS: Read the other reviews for an idea on what it contains, I wanted to keep mine on the simpler side. I don't like long detailed reviews.

PPS: I got this book for free (the author gave 100 away the day of publishing), but nobody asked me to review it. The kindle version is only 3$ btw.....

PPPS: Sorry for all the metaphors!

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of sci-fi, the naval adventures of Horatio Hornblower and Richard Bolitho, and anything Viking, I found Eric Olafson: Space Pirate a very enjoyable read. The author has an incredible imagination. Early on the great diversity of species, locales, ships, and weapon systems made the story a bit difficult to follow, especially considering the dual personalities of some characters, but the more I read, the more engaged I became. I look forward to reading more of the adventures of Eric and his band of friends in the authors next book.