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Fallen Empire #8
End Game
Alisa Marchenko has reunited with her daughter, and even though she hasn’t figured out how to get Jelena to accept Leonidas yet, she dreams of the three of them starting a new life together. They can return the Star Nomad to its original purpose of running freight and staying out of trouble (mostly).
Before that can happen, Alisa must fulfill the promise she made to Jelena: that she and her crew will retrieve young Prince Thorian, the boy who has become Jelena’s best friend. But Thorian was kidnapped by the rogue Starseer Tymoteusz, the man who wants to use the Staff of Lore to take over the entire system—and the man who may have the power to do it. Alisa doesn’t know why he kidnapped Thorian, but Tymoteusz once promised to kill the prince, so she fears they don’t have much time.
Unfortunately, Tymoteusz hasn’t left a trail of breadcrumbs. Finding him will be difficult, and even if they’re successful, facing him could be suicidal. To have a chance of surviving, Alisa will have to come up with her greatest scheme yet.
Before that can happen, Alisa must fulfill the promise she made to Jelena: that she and her crew will retrieve young Prince Thorian, the boy who has become Jelena’s best friend. But Thorian was kidnapped by the rogue Starseer Tymoteusz, the man who wants to use the Staff of Lore to take over the entire system—and the man who may have the power to do it. Alisa doesn’t know why he kidnapped Thorian, but Tymoteusz once promised to kill the prince, so she fears they don’t have much time.
Unfortunately, Tymoteusz hasn’t left a trail of breadcrumbs. Finding him will be difficult, and even if they’re successful, facing him could be suicidal. To have a chance of surviving, Alisa will have to come up with her greatest scheme yet.
363 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 27, 2016
347 people are currently reading
835 people want to read
About the author
Lindsay Buroker
195 books6,225 followersI'm a full-time indie fantasy and science fiction author. When I'm not writing, I'm ferrying my dogs to hiking trails for adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews
July 25, 2021
*** 4.44 ***
This was a fun science fiction romance series 😃👍. This author tells a great story and I am sure most fans of the genre will enjoy it for one or more reasons. The books were full of action, adventure, some magic and some sci-fi. The one thing that got a bit too much was the constant obsession with the cyborg's genital function or lack of, but there was enough chemistry between the two main characters to make up for it. I enjoyed some of the side characters as well, but couple were very cardboardy-like and I thought Ms. Buroker mailed it in a bit... Overall, I still love her storytelling and I am going to continue reading anything she comes out with 🙂
This was a fun science fiction romance series 😃👍. This author tells a great story and I am sure most fans of the genre will enjoy it for one or more reasons. The books were full of action, adventure, some magic and some sci-fi. The one thing that got a bit too much was the constant obsession with the cyborg's genital function or lack of, but there was enough chemistry between the two main characters to make up for it. I enjoyed some of the side characters as well, but couple were very cardboardy-like and I thought Ms. Buroker mailed it in a bit... Overall, I still love her storytelling and I am going to continue reading anything she comes out with 🙂
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December 2, 2016And the last volume of this space opera series comes to a thoroughly satisfactory close.
I loved the banter, the action as well as the reflective scenes. I loved the way Buroker managed to make a mom an action hero in a believable way, juggling anxiety over her kid with her breakneck-paced plans. I also loved the relationship with Leonidas, whose character evolution was complex and believable. Finally I adored how Alisa and Leonidas went into battle at the end side by side, though the odds were impossible.
Extra points for the banter with engineer Mica, and with Beck's entire career arc. The kids were adorable, and believable, especially their emotional vulnerability. And I really, REALLY . I would love to follow that plot thread as well as the Star Nomad's further adventures.
I loved the banter, the action as well as the reflective scenes. I loved the way Buroker managed to make a mom an action hero in a believable way, juggling anxiety over her kid with her breakneck-paced plans. I also loved the relationship with Leonidas, whose character evolution was complex and believable. Finally I adored how Alisa and Leonidas went into battle at the end side by side, though the odds were impossible.
Extra points for the banter with engineer Mica, and with Beck's entire career arc. The kids were adorable, and believable, especially their emotional vulnerability. And I really, REALLY . I would love to follow that plot thread as well as the Star Nomad's further adventures.
July 1, 2020
It's a review for the whole series.
This series is a decent space western, with a really solid emphasis on plot driven action, instead of character driven storytelling. Also, despite qualifying these books as a subgenre of science fiction, there's really no science - even the author herself acknowledges this without any problem. The last point is, that quite unexpectedly for me, this series turned out to be a YA'ish read. Sure, the characters are not your typical YA teens, but the way they talk and behave, well, does not strike me as very mature people.
Besides all those points, this series is quite readable if you are looking for something light and with a "no strings attached" vibe to it. Just don't expect too much. 3*.
This series is a decent space western, with a really solid emphasis on plot driven action, instead of character driven storytelling. Also, despite qualifying these books as a subgenre of science fiction, there's really no science - even the author herself acknowledges this without any problem. The last point is, that quite unexpectedly for me, this series turned out to be a YA'ish read. Sure, the characters are not your typical YA teens, but the way they talk and behave, well, does not strike me as very mature people.
Besides all those points, this series is quite readable if you are looking for something light and with a "no strings attached" vibe to it. Just don't expect too much. 3*.
October 12, 2021
This is the last book in the series, and it wrapped everything up pretty neatly. I had the same issues with this book that I had with previous ones in the series. Too much emphasis on the main character's love life, and too many innuendoes. It was almost every page. A little of it was amusing, but the amount of it added to these books almost completely ruined the series for me. Luckily, I enjoyed the other aspects of the books enough to keep reading.
Needless to say, what started out as a good solid space opera with some edge of your seat moments in the first 2 books, ended up becoming "swoon and lust over the cyborg" at every turn. Also, Abelardus's actions were never taken seriously enough or dealt with. He constantly invaded Alisa's privacy by reading her thoughts, and everyone else's too.
Alisa ended up being a rather weak character in many aspects. She was the captain of the ship but could never get a handle on anything the crew did. They walked all over her. This was done to some comic effect with the chickens and the duck pond, and that was ok to a point, but like the romance and innuendos, it went too far. Overall, I would give the series 3 stars. I do like the author's writing style when she doesn't devolve into too much of one thing, and I would like to try reading another one of her series eventually.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
Needless to say, what started out as a good solid space opera with some edge of your seat moments in the first 2 books, ended up becoming "swoon and lust over the cyborg" at every turn. Also, Abelardus's actions were never taken seriously enough or dealt with. He constantly invaded Alisa's privacy by reading her thoughts, and everyone else's too.
Alisa ended up being a rather weak character in many aspects. She was the captain of the ship but could never get a handle on anything the crew did. They walked all over her. This was done to some comic effect with the chickens and the duck pond, and that was ok to a point, but like the romance and innuendos, it went too far. Overall, I would give the series 3 stars. I do like the author's writing style when she doesn't devolve into too much of one thing, and I would like to try reading another one of her series eventually.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
June 17, 2020
End Game is the eight and final book in the Fallen Empire series. I was excited to see how this series would be wrapped up. I am happy to say this was a great ending to the series. I was afraid the tone of the series might change and get might get more dark in this book, but I shouldn't have worried as Lindsay Buroker pulled it off somehow to have this final book have the same tone as the rest. The stakes are higher, but the tone and vibe of the book feels the same.
There's is plenty going on in this book and a good build-up to the final confrontation scene, which was pretty well done. There are a few twists I hadn't expected and plenty of fun scenes. There are some tense scenes and some action and some happy uplifting and funny ones as well. Although I am a bit sad at a certain event, I won't spoil what happens and it made sense, but it's still sad. I was wondering how certain plot lines would be resolved, but all in all I am quite happy how things got resolved and what happened to certain plot lines. A few plot lines are left slightly open, but most of the big things get resolved. And there is a spin-off series, so that might answer a few of the left open questions.
I liked how we got to see a bit of Jelena as well as how Alisa and Jelena interact together. The author struck a nice balance between showing their slight awkwardness and weirdness due to them not havign seen each other for a while, but at the same Jelena and Alisa still were obviously mother and daughter. Jelena sure has a similar personality. I liked seeing Alisa have the chance to be a mother to Jelena and also how Jelena very slowly warmed up a bit to Leonidas.
At the start I was a bit frustrated with the romance. Not only does Leonidas behave like a horny teenager at times, which honestly felt a bit weird and off to me. I mean he is a soldier and very disciplined in most things, even with the effort of adjusting, I couldn't quite wrap my head around him behaving that way. And it just felt a bit off to me. Then there is the whole thing of them not being together because of Jelena, which was a weird reasoning that also didn't make sense. I mean Jelena could just as easily read their minds about past scenes or feelings or daydreams and figure out what was going on. Later on in the book they resolved it and I liked how they finally give in to their feelings and there are some great scenes where they work together.
To summarize: This was a great ending to the series. I liked seeing how the main plot lines got resolved and in a way that made sense and was satisfying to read. There are a few minor things left open, but that might be answered in the spin-off series. This book has the same tone as the previous books even with the higher stakes. I liked seeing a bit more of Jelena in this book and how Alisa and Jelena interacted. The romance could be a bit frustrating at times with Leonidas acting like a horny teenager at times and them staying apart for reasons. I did like how it got resolved and seeing them work together in this book. All in all this is a solid sci-fi series and I enjoyed reading it.
There's is plenty going on in this book and a good build-up to the final confrontation scene, which was pretty well done. There are a few twists I hadn't expected and plenty of fun scenes. There are some tense scenes and some action and some happy uplifting and funny ones as well. Although I am a bit sad at a certain event, I won't spoil what happens and it made sense, but it's still sad. I was wondering how certain plot lines would be resolved, but all in all I am quite happy how things got resolved and what happened to certain plot lines. A few plot lines are left slightly open, but most of the big things get resolved. And there is a spin-off series, so that might answer a few of the left open questions.
I liked how we got to see a bit of Jelena as well as how Alisa and Jelena interact together. The author struck a nice balance between showing their slight awkwardness and weirdness due to them not havign seen each other for a while, but at the same Jelena and Alisa still were obviously mother and daughter. Jelena sure has a similar personality. I liked seeing Alisa have the chance to be a mother to Jelena and also how Jelena very slowly warmed up a bit to Leonidas.
At the start I was a bit frustrated with the romance. Not only does Leonidas behave like a horny teenager at times, which honestly felt a bit weird and off to me. I mean he is a soldier and very disciplined in most things, even with the effort of adjusting, I couldn't quite wrap my head around him behaving that way. And it just felt a bit off to me. Then there is the whole thing of them not being together because of Jelena, which was a weird reasoning that also didn't make sense. I mean Jelena could just as easily read their minds about past scenes or feelings or daydreams and figure out what was going on. Later on in the book they resolved it and I liked how they finally give in to their feelings and there are some great scenes where they work together.
To summarize: This was a great ending to the series. I liked seeing how the main plot lines got resolved and in a way that made sense and was satisfying to read. There are a few minor things left open, but that might be answered in the spin-off series. This book has the same tone as the previous books even with the higher stakes. I liked seeing a bit more of Jelena in this book and how Alisa and Jelena interacted. The romance could be a bit frustrating at times with Leonidas acting like a horny teenager at times and them staying apart for reasons. I did like how it got resolved and seeing them work together in this book. All in all this is a solid sci-fi series and I enjoyed reading it.
December 18, 2018
Since this series really has to be read all the way through and in order, I’m writing this review about the WHOLE SERIES, not just this single book. So there will be BIG SPOILERS if you read below the BIG SPOILER notice below. But for those who want a spoiler-free, overall opinion of the series, this next paragraph is for you.
I loved it! It has a very Firefly-esque-ness to it (yeah, that’s totally a word). The characters are fantastic, and the action scenes pulled me in. I kept wondering how the hell they were going to get out of the predicaments they were in, but somehow Alisa always figured out a way.
Probably the best thing about this series was the banter between characters. It’s probably the best banter I’ve ever read in a book, and for that reason alone, it’s worth reading. I also loved the post-imperial politics. I like how there wasn’t a clear good or bad side, and that the characters had emotional scars from the war.
The whole series was very fast paced. It did come a bit predictable after eight books though. Alisa and the gang traveled through space and reached their destination, and some big bad dude was there to tractor beam in the Nomad. They escape, travel through space again, and someone shows up to tractor beam them in. Travel again, and an ambush they have to escape. Very predictable. And I think this is why I wish this series had been six books instead of eight. I was ready for the characters to accomplish something, not just escape enemies over and over again.
I ended up skimming much of books 5-8 for that reason. I’m not sure if I would have skimmed is much if I hadn’t read the books back to back. I think I finished all eight books in about two weeks, so that was a ton of reading. But I would have been too frustrated and unsatisfied if I had to wait for the next books to release. *shrugs*
I give this series a very strong 4 stars, and definitely recommend it. There were a few things I didn’t love about it. Example, for two or three books right smack dab in the middle of the series, it seemed like the author forgot how to use contractions. It made the writing feel unnatural, and it was confusing because I didn’t notice a lack of contractions in the first books. When I got to end of the series, I realized the author was using the contractions again, so it read much more smoothly. So…maybe she had a different editor for the middle books?
Alright. The rest of my thoughts will be below and with spoilers, so if you don’t want spoilers, you should stop reading NOW.
BIG SPOILERS BELOW
Thing #1 that bothered me: I didn’t love the fact that Leonidas’s quest turned out to be what it was. Buroker dropped enough hints throughout the first few books, so I suspected it. I was just hoping I was wrong because it was a major disappointment. I mean, his big motivation in the book is to find a way to get laid? Or worse, start a family (gag!)? It was just weird since everyone else had important, universe-impacting goals. Plus, I was ready for a bunch of kissing, and a bunch of kissing didn’t happen much in the series. That disappointment is on me, though, not the author. I was fully aware that I was reading a Science Fiction/Space Opera type of novel, and not a romance. It’s my fault that I always want romance as a big subplot.
Thing #2 that bothered me: they found Jelena. Of course they had to. It would have been an unhappy ending if they didn’t, but my interest in the series took a major dip as soon as she boarded the Nomad. There’s nothing wrong with Jelena. She’d be fine if this was a book about her, but this book is about Alisa, her mom, and as soon as Jelena comes into the story, Alisa changes. Oh, the banter is still there, and I still love her and Leonidas and the gang, but she goes into mom mode, thinking about what her daughter will think about things, questioning whether she should take risks, and Jelena’s bedtime is a big worry. And this of course came at a time when Leonidas achieved his goal, so even when he and Alisa hooked up, it was weird. *I* felt awkward for them, even when they were caught up in the moment. *I* couldn’t get Jelena out of my thoughts.
So, yeah. I would have preferred the series to be six books, and for Alisa to find Jelena in the epilogue of the last book. lol
I loved it! It has a very Firefly-esque-ness to it (yeah, that’s totally a word). The characters are fantastic, and the action scenes pulled me in. I kept wondering how the hell they were going to get out of the predicaments they were in, but somehow Alisa always figured out a way.
Probably the best thing about this series was the banter between characters. It’s probably the best banter I’ve ever read in a book, and for that reason alone, it’s worth reading. I also loved the post-imperial politics. I like how there wasn’t a clear good or bad side, and that the characters had emotional scars from the war.
The whole series was very fast paced. It did come a bit predictable after eight books though. Alisa and the gang traveled through space and reached their destination, and some big bad dude was there to tractor beam in the Nomad. They escape, travel through space again, and someone shows up to tractor beam them in. Travel again, and an ambush they have to escape. Very predictable. And I think this is why I wish this series had been six books instead of eight. I was ready for the characters to accomplish something, not just escape enemies over and over again.
I ended up skimming much of books 5-8 for that reason. I’m not sure if I would have skimmed is much if I hadn’t read the books back to back. I think I finished all eight books in about two weeks, so that was a ton of reading. But I would have been too frustrated and unsatisfied if I had to wait for the next books to release. *shrugs*
I give this series a very strong 4 stars, and definitely recommend it. There were a few things I didn’t love about it. Example, for two or three books right smack dab in the middle of the series, it seemed like the author forgot how to use contractions. It made the writing feel unnatural, and it was confusing because I didn’t notice a lack of contractions in the first books. When I got to end of the series, I realized the author was using the contractions again, so it read much more smoothly. So…maybe she had a different editor for the middle books?
Alright. The rest of my thoughts will be below and with spoilers, so if you don’t want spoilers, you should stop reading NOW.
BIG SPOILERS BELOW
Thing #1 that bothered me: I didn’t love the fact that Leonidas’s quest turned out to be what it was. Buroker dropped enough hints throughout the first few books, so I suspected it. I was just hoping I was wrong because it was a major disappointment. I mean, his big motivation in the book is to find a way to get laid? Or worse, start a family (gag!)? It was just weird since everyone else had important, universe-impacting goals. Plus, I was ready for a bunch of kissing, and a bunch of kissing didn’t happen much in the series. That disappointment is on me, though, not the author. I was fully aware that I was reading a Science Fiction/Space Opera type of novel, and not a romance. It’s my fault that I always want romance as a big subplot.
Thing #2 that bothered me: they found Jelena. Of course they had to. It would have been an unhappy ending if they didn’t, but my interest in the series took a major dip as soon as she boarded the Nomad. There’s nothing wrong with Jelena. She’d be fine if this was a book about her, but this book is about Alisa, her mom, and as soon as Jelena comes into the story, Alisa changes. Oh, the banter is still there, and I still love her and Leonidas and the gang, but she goes into mom mode, thinking about what her daughter will think about things, questioning whether she should take risks, and Jelena’s bedtime is a big worry. And this of course came at a time when Leonidas achieved his goal, so even when he and Alisa hooked up, it was weird. *I* felt awkward for them, even when they were caught up in the moment. *I* couldn’t get Jelena out of my thoughts.
So, yeah. I would have preferred the series to be six books, and for Alisa to find Jelena in the epilogue of the last book. lol
December 5, 2016
Not a Happy Reader
I am not a happy reader my favorite science fiction book serious just ended. I know other would be thrilled with eight books, but I'm not. It should be known I'm still pissed Firefly was canceled too. Well since I obviously can't 'kidnap' the author and use my starseerers mind control on her I will have to be happy as she provided me with a vastly entertaining series with both snark and plenty of heart. The series and this last book wrapped up everything, plus I got my needed hot time between Leonidas and Alisa! This series was more than a space drama as friendship and family really held the series together. I was surprised and disappointed in parts of the epilogue, but not because of the writing but my own personal preference of the perfect HEA. Maybe Buroker will give me a twenty year into the future spin off.
I read the entire series via kindle unlimited and the series on a whole gets five stars.
I am not a happy reader my favorite science fiction book serious just ended. I know other would be thrilled with eight books, but I'm not. It should be known I'm still pissed Firefly was canceled too. Well since I obviously can't 'kidnap' the author and use my starseerers mind control on her I will have to be happy as she provided me with a vastly entertaining series with both snark and plenty of heart. The series and this last book wrapped up everything, plus I got my needed hot time between Leonidas and Alisa! This series was more than a space drama as friendship and family really held the series together. I was surprised and disappointed in parts of the epilogue, but not because of the writing but my own personal preference of the perfect HEA. Maybe Buroker will give me a twenty year into the future spin off.
I read the entire series via kindle unlimited and the series on a whole gets five stars.
August 22, 2021
Definitely the best of the bunch. We finally, finally got what we wanted. Chapter 17 and 18 were absolutely brilliant, and I don't have any particular qualms with anything that happened after that point. Honestly, I'm just so happy that we finally acknowledged Jonah's death properly (even if it should have been done far earlier and the way it was done was kinda minimum effort). Yeah, I'll admit it, I cried.
In regards to this series as a whole...it was decent. I'm not all that impressed. It was fine. I can just think of so many things that would make this 100 times better. Some of the books felt like they didn't give us anything, didn't develop the plot in any significant way. There are a lot of things I could complain about, but there's no changing anything now so I'll just leave it as it is.
I plan on reading some a the add-ons to this series, hopefully they'll give me some of the goodness I'm looking for.
In regards to this series as a whole...it was decent. I'm not all that impressed. It was fine. I can just think of so many things that would make this 100 times better. Some of the books felt like they didn't give us anything, didn't develop the plot in any significant way. There are a lot of things I could complain about, but there's no changing anything now so I'll just leave it as it is.
I plan on reading some a the add-ons to this series, hopefully they'll give me some of the goodness I'm looking for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2025
4 1/2
Great ending to the overall over arch but there are a lot of directions many of the characters could go we have a solid ending. With those and really all the other characters, I kind of would like an epilogue book.
Great series.
Great ending to the overall over arch but there are a lot of directions many of the characters could go we have a solid ending. With those and really all the other characters, I kind of would like an epilogue book.
Great series.
September 20, 2017
http://delivreenlivres.blogspot.fr/20...
Et voila enfin la fin de cette série. Décidément je l'ai vraiment lu très rapidement, car chaque tome était un plaisir. Mais j'étais quand même vraiment contente d'arriver enfin à la fin, car si les personnages étaient vraiment très sympathiques à suivre, les péripéties commençaient à devenir un peu répétitives à force.
Je sais que je me répète (mais sur une série aussi longue c'est obligé) mais pour moi la grosse réussite de cette série se sont les personnages. Et ça m'a limite rendu triste de voir toutes ses intrigues et les relations entre eux prendre fin.
Bien sur il y a des évolutions par rapport au tome précédent. Notamment l’interaction entre Jelena et Leonidas, qui doit vraiment se développer depuis zéro, avec en plus le fait qu'elle a été élevée pendant un temps avec des Starseers qui sont les ennemis des cyborg du coup tout ça part très froidement.
D’ailleurs je pense que l'auteur c'est vraiment bien amusé à imaginer la confrontation de cette petite fille avec ce grand bonhomme taciturne et sérieux. Il y a des scènes qui m'ont fait à la fois pleurer de rire et pleurer tout court (bon j’exagère un peu mais vous imaginez la chose). Finalement ils vont très bien ensemble !
Je pense qu'ils vont tous me manquer au moins un peu, même si je sais qu'il y a d'autres livres dans l'univers ou on les retrouve aussi.
Au final ce dernier tome est vraiment à l'image de la série, plein de fun, d'action et finalement il fini de façon très ouverte et positive. On imaginerais bien leurs aventures continuer car en dehors du fait qu'ils ont tous rempli leurs objectifs, la fin n'est pas différente de celles des tomes précédents.
Elle n'est pas particulièrement grandiose mais il se passe quand même vraiment pas mal de choses avant d'en arriver au bout.
Un bon dernier tome d'une série que je ne regrette pas du tout d'avoir commencé.
16.5/20
Et voila enfin la fin de cette série. Décidément je l'ai vraiment lu très rapidement, car chaque tome était un plaisir. Mais j'étais quand même vraiment contente d'arriver enfin à la fin, car si les personnages étaient vraiment très sympathiques à suivre, les péripéties commençaient à devenir un peu répétitives à force.
Je sais que je me répète (mais sur une série aussi longue c'est obligé) mais pour moi la grosse réussite de cette série se sont les personnages. Et ça m'a limite rendu triste de voir toutes ses intrigues et les relations entre eux prendre fin.
Bien sur il y a des évolutions par rapport au tome précédent. Notamment l’interaction entre Jelena et Leonidas, qui doit vraiment se développer depuis zéro, avec en plus le fait qu'elle a été élevée pendant un temps avec des Starseers qui sont les ennemis des cyborg du coup tout ça part très froidement.
D’ailleurs je pense que l'auteur c'est vraiment bien amusé à imaginer la confrontation de cette petite fille avec ce grand bonhomme taciturne et sérieux. Il y a des scènes qui m'ont fait à la fois pleurer de rire et pleurer tout court (bon j’exagère un peu mais vous imaginez la chose). Finalement ils vont très bien ensemble !
Je pense qu'ils vont tous me manquer au moins un peu, même si je sais qu'il y a d'autres livres dans l'univers ou on les retrouve aussi.
Au final ce dernier tome est vraiment à l'image de la série, plein de fun, d'action et finalement il fini de façon très ouverte et positive. On imaginerais bien leurs aventures continuer car en dehors du fait qu'ils ont tous rempli leurs objectifs, la fin n'est pas différente de celles des tomes précédents.
Elle n'est pas particulièrement grandiose mais il se passe quand même vraiment pas mal de choses avant d'en arriver au bout.
Un bon dernier tome d'une série que je ne regrette pas du tout d'avoir commencé.
16.5/20
March 26, 2017
I have been bad about reviews recently, my fall kind of got away from me. This was a nice light space opera that I found enjoyable. There is a lot of action and the characters were interesting and quirky. The spaceship even has a flock of chicken on board, much to the captain’s consternation. If you are in need of some funny light entertainment this is a great series to pick up.
January 24, 2018
Great ending! Looking forward to the spin-off.
Merged review:
This was adorable. I'm kinda bummed Thorian didn't stay though.
Merged review:
This was adorable. I'm kinda bummed Thorian didn't stay though.
May 10, 2019
A 'Must read' series. Fell for the characters big time, and the humour is wicked.
Outstanding series that had me hooked from the first book.
Outstanding series that had me hooked from the first book.
September 14, 2021
In the Fallen Empire series book 8, Captain Alisa Marchenko must fulfill a promise she made to her daughter when they were reunited. She has vowed to rescue Prince Thorian from the evil Starseer who kidnapped him. Can they survive another encounter with the powerful being who wields the Staff of Lore? Or will they all be destroyed in the process? Dodging Alliance warships and mafia craft, Alisa tracks the Starseer to Alcyon Station and the rift between dimensions. The radiation coming from this site is bad enough, but will her crew and her Cyborg lover be strong enough to fight past the androids and miners subjugated to the Starseer’s will? Is Thorian even still alive? Alisa will need one of her clever schemes to get ahead in this desperate rescue. “End Game” will have you rapidly turning pages to see if she’ll succeed. Exciting and fast-paced!
May 13, 2025
I said I'd stop after book one, yet here I am, eight books deep. This series is a ridiculous space opera, addictive like fairy floss—pretty bad, but hard to quit. It follows the slow burn romance/ adventures of a neutered ex-imperial cyborg and a scrappy ex-alliance pilot turned freighter captain as they search the system for her kidnapped daughter and the Staff of Lore. There are battles with pirates, star seers, androids—and even space bears. It's witty, the characters are charming, and yes, I had to stick around to see if the cyborg's... situation got resolved. Now I’m hate-reading the spin-off about her daughter rescuing abused animals with whom she can psychically communicate. It was only 99 cents on Amazon. Send help.
August 14, 2017
Fantastic series! I'm so happy with how it ended.
April 6, 2024
Great ending to a great series. Everything gets tied up and finished. Well worth reading. I loved it
July 22, 2023
While not exactly a literary masterpiece, I really enjoyed this series. It was described as a Firefly-like action adventure and it did exactly what it said on the tin. The story was fast paced and interesting, and the dialogue between the crew had me laughing throughout.
February 13, 2017
Oh, what a satisfying ending to this series. I mean, I'd gladly join Alisa, Leonidas and the rest of the crew on more adventures, but the ending of the overall arc made me happy. I like when things go boom. And other things come together (like the loins of our two beleaguered former adversaries.) (Actually, adversaries might be too strong a word. They were on different sides. Let's leave it at that.)
Anywho. As far as Alisa goes, getting her daughter back is only the first step. Jelena is wary of Leonidas and not ready to see her mom canoodling with someone other than her dad. Alisa isn't thrilled with some of the Starseers aboard and is battling mom-guilt as she tries to reconnect with her daughter.
Plus, there's the constant danger the Nomad seems to end up in. Alisa certainly has a knack for being in the middle of things as they blow up around them.
Seriously, I'm going to miss these guys. They're snarky and a little crazed and there's never a dull moment with this crew. From what I can see, there are plenty more adventures waiting for a pilot who doesn't understand the word no and a cyborg who now has the universe at his fingertips.
(And, yes, I will ABSOLUTELY be reading the spin-off series.)
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
Anywho. As far as Alisa goes, getting her daughter back is only the first step. Jelena is wary of Leonidas and not ready to see her mom canoodling with someone other than her dad. Alisa isn't thrilled with some of the Starseers aboard and is battling mom-guilt as she tries to reconnect with her daughter.
Plus, there's the constant danger the Nomad seems to end up in. Alisa certainly has a knack for being in the middle of things as they blow up around them.
Seriously, I'm going to miss these guys. They're snarky and a little crazed and there's never a dull moment with this crew. From what I can see, there are plenty more adventures waiting for a pilot who doesn't understand the word no and a cyborg who now has the universe at his fingertips.
(And, yes, I will ABSOLUTELY be reading the spin-off series.)
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
January 30, 2017
One of my favourite things about this series is the way that Lindsay Buroker managed to take a large variety of characters who were virtually enemies and put them together to make a cohesive group that just worked, without having any of the characters sacrifice any of their beliefs. AKA the characters that started out as Imperials stayed Imperials and the same with the Alliance ones. I think this shows really well that people are just people, no matter how they are labeled, which is a really strong message that more people should get through their thick skulls.
Now that I am done philosophizing I would like to mention the other things I loved about this series.
1: The HUMOR-- Oh my goodness I kid you not I nearly died from laughter at some points throughout this series, the banter between these characters was up to par with Buroker's usual writing and I could not be more pleased. Alisa's sass with other captains and Mica and Leo...well her sass with everyone was highly commendable. I would actually be a strong advocate of Lindsay Buroker writing TV shows/movies because I have no doubt that they would be explosion and banter filled, which would be amazeballs.... but anyway that was just a side note :P
2: The characters-- I touched on it above but I just wanted to mention again how diverse and strong each of the characters were in this series. There were definitely no uninteresting characters here. No Sir.
3: The romance-- I am a large fan of the hate-to friends-to lovers trope and so this series really hit the nail on the head for that. I approve.
However as a side note-- I was really hoping to see Alisa and Leo have a child or just Alisa get pregnant... I think there could have been some very funny and touching scenes with that.
4. The plot/world-- I think that Lindsay Buroker took fairly common plot devices/ world building and using her genius made them into something very hard to put down. So good job there too.
Alright I think that might be enough praise from me now. I am off to go daydream about my own Cyborg filled adventure.
Now that I am done philosophizing I would like to mention the other things I loved about this series.
1: The HUMOR-- Oh my goodness I kid you not I nearly died from laughter at some points throughout this series, the banter between these characters was up to par with Buroker's usual writing and I could not be more pleased. Alisa's sass with other captains and Mica and Leo...well her sass with everyone was highly commendable. I would actually be a strong advocate of Lindsay Buroker writing TV shows/movies because I have no doubt that they would be explosion and banter filled, which would be amazeballs.... but anyway that was just a side note :P
2: The characters-- I touched on it above but I just wanted to mention again how diverse and strong each of the characters were in this series. There were definitely no uninteresting characters here. No Sir.
3: The romance-- I am a large fan of the hate-to friends-to lovers trope and so this series really hit the nail on the head for that. I approve.
However as a side note-- I was really hoping to see Alisa and Leo have a child or just Alisa get pregnant... I think there could have been some very funny and touching scenes with that.
4. The plot/world-- I think that Lindsay Buroker took fairly common plot devices/ world building and using her genius made them into something very hard to put down. So good job there too.
Alright I think that might be enough praise from me now. I am off to go daydream about my own Cyborg filled adventure.
May 10, 2021
Entertaining, Interesting subplots, But....
This is the second series I've read from this author. Another that I stopped reading early because of the same issues here but worse. I don't read porn and the series that I dropped, she probably lost focus and didn't realize she was venturing into xxx.
My opinion, the author is a good writer and that just makes it shame on what she's capable of but won't achieve. Her focus detracts, turns the stories into YA for girls. Characters are interesting, subplots that get you curious and involved. The first, and second, books of any of her series are generally very good.
Make no mistake, however, there's only one major plot and all else are subplots. It's a romance, usually between two unlikely and diverse people. Characters think, romantize, articulate, discuss and fantasize about romance. Stories after her first series -- romance and sex. Evidently, the author has evolved by writing with more intimacy, erotica(which I don't care for) and sexually explicit wording.
Over time in a series, the content related to sex and romance climbs. Probably over 20%, maybe more and I start skimming and lose interest. Little ridiculous and demeans good ideas and writing. Life n Death situations and people are thinking about sexy butts. ?
What a shame to have talent and not using it.
This is the second series I've read from this author. Another that I stopped reading early because of the same issues here but worse. I don't read porn and the series that I dropped, she probably lost focus and didn't realize she was venturing into xxx.
My opinion, the author is a good writer and that just makes it shame on what she's capable of but won't achieve. Her focus detracts, turns the stories into YA for girls. Characters are interesting, subplots that get you curious and involved. The first, and second, books of any of her series are generally very good.
Make no mistake, however, there's only one major plot and all else are subplots. It's a romance, usually between two unlikely and diverse people. Characters think, romantize, articulate, discuss and fantasize about romance. Stories after her first series -- romance and sex. Evidently, the author has evolved by writing with more intimacy, erotica(which I don't care for) and sexually explicit wording.
Over time in a series, the content related to sex and romance climbs. Probably over 20%, maybe more and I start skimming and lose interest. Little ridiculous and demeans good ideas and writing. Life n Death situations and people are thinking about sexy butts. ?
What a shame to have talent and not using it.
April 25, 2017
Brain candy. Each book is a new adventure, but all the books tie together. The plot isn't deep or engrossing. Just an easy read. My mind wandered some.
One major quibble is that the main protagonist, freighter pilot Captain Alyssa Marchenko, thinks too much about sex, and if she's not thinking about sex, she's making some supposedly witty comment about it. Or Abelard was telepathically discussing sexy stuff. That got very old and cost a point.
Characters include humans, androids, mages (starseers) and cyborgs — which are humans with upgrades. The characters introduced in book 1 continue through the series. At times, they felt recycled, almost a caricature: Beck, the gourmet security guard. Mica, the pessimistic engineer. Yumi, the flower child /science teacher. Etc. But they are all likable, and I'm happy they got a happy ending.
Contents: Some swearing. Some death. One sex scene, not graphic. Lots of vague references to sex via jokes and innuendos.
Entertaining space opera series ends here, but there will be a spin-off series featuring the daughter, Jalena, and the boy Thorian.
One major quibble is that the main protagonist, freighter pilot Captain Alyssa Marchenko, thinks too much about sex, and if she's not thinking about sex, she's making some supposedly witty comment about it. Or Abelard was telepathically discussing sexy stuff. That got very old and cost a point.
Characters include humans, androids, mages (starseers) and cyborgs — which are humans with upgrades. The characters introduced in book 1 continue through the series. At times, they felt recycled, almost a caricature: Beck, the gourmet security guard. Mica, the pessimistic engineer. Yumi, the flower child /science teacher. Etc. But they are all likable, and I'm happy they got a happy ending.
Contents: Some swearing. Some death. One sex scene, not graphic. Lots of vague references to sex via jokes and innuendos.
Entertaining space opera series ends here, but there will be a spin-off series featuring the daughter, Jalena, and the boy Thorian.
June 30, 2017
I've just finished all 8 books in the Fallen Empire series and I must say I love the way this author writes. Because the focus is on the characters who are quirky, alive, always bantering, always fighting and coming together like one big loving dysfunctional family. The kind of family that works because it is kept together by loyalty, by choice, by sweat and danger. We have the lippy captain of a derelict freighter who cannot keep her mouth shut, always gets into trouble, is resourceful and does not giving up on what she thinks is right; the dour brilliant mechanic, always pessimistic, always prepared to blow things up, always grumbling but coming along on all the mad captain's schemes; the handsome, (in)famous cyborg who struggles to get back his human (and manly) parts while trying to stay loyal to his past, his emperor, his duty and his conscience; the cook/bodyguard with a mafia problem, always trying to sell his barbecue sauces while in the middle of running for his life. Let's not forget mad escapes, telepathy and other supernatural strengths, politics, love and crazy action. Brilliant!
December 15, 2016
Usual fast pace, lots of action and adventure and some amusing bits. I did like how resistant to authority Jelena was – very like her mother. Nice ending to the series although I was expecting
December 8, 2016
A fun end to a very fun and adventurous series!
December 19, 2020
Whatever you do – don’t crash into this series here. By now far too much has happened, and as this book picks up pretty much where Perilous Hunt left off, you’ll be floundering in a welter of names and places, before you figure out who is doing what to whom. Besides, it would be a crying shame to so short-change such a funny, entertaining series by such a talented author.
I really liked how finding Jelena has switched Alisa’s priorities. Her burgeoning romance with hunky cyborg Leonidas pretty much slides to a halt, as they are both aware that Jelena’s telepathic abilities could read their frustrated longing for each other, and as Jelena is only eight and already afraid of Leonidas, that would prove to be… awkward. Not that is the only thing Alisa has to focus on. Once again, Star Nomad, her clunky little freighter, finds itself up to its star drives in more trouble than it can cope with – so ditto the crew. I love the way that in the middle of all the risk of imminent death and destruction, there are still laugh-aloud moments of humour. Mica, Alisa’s long-suffering engineer is particularly hilarious.
But given that this is the final book in the series, the burning issue has to be – does it satisfactorily bring all that angst, romantic longing, humour and page-turning adventure to a fitting conclusion? Absolutely. Buroker nails it. As I haven’t read her books before, I am so impressed at how she managed to tie everything up without making it seem too tidy, or unrealistically cosy – yet at the same time not leaving any stray strands waving in the wind to niggle at me. It takes skill and experience to achieve such an outcome – and means I’ll certainly be looking out for this author, again. It’s one thing to bring a single book to a satisfying ending – it takes another order of ability to do the same with an eight-book series. Highly recommended for fans of action-packed space opera with a splash of humour and romance thrown in for good measure.
9/10
I really liked how finding Jelena has switched Alisa’s priorities. Her burgeoning romance with hunky cyborg Leonidas pretty much slides to a halt, as they are both aware that Jelena’s telepathic abilities could read their frustrated longing for each other, and as Jelena is only eight and already afraid of Leonidas, that would prove to be… awkward. Not that is the only thing Alisa has to focus on. Once again, Star Nomad, her clunky little freighter, finds itself up to its star drives in more trouble than it can cope with – so ditto the crew. I love the way that in the middle of all the risk of imminent death and destruction, there are still laugh-aloud moments of humour. Mica, Alisa’s long-suffering engineer is particularly hilarious.
But given that this is the final book in the series, the burning issue has to be – does it satisfactorily bring all that angst, romantic longing, humour and page-turning adventure to a fitting conclusion? Absolutely. Buroker nails it. As I haven’t read her books before, I am so impressed at how she managed to tie everything up without making it seem too tidy, or unrealistically cosy – yet at the same time not leaving any stray strands waving in the wind to niggle at me. It takes skill and experience to achieve such an outcome – and means I’ll certainly be looking out for this author, again. It’s one thing to bring a single book to a satisfying ending – it takes another order of ability to do the same with an eight-book series. Highly recommended for fans of action-packed space opera with a splash of humour and romance thrown in for good measure.
9/10
May 10, 2017
And so we come to the (aptly named) end game - concluding the Fallen Empire series by Lindsay Buroker.
Opening with everyone still reeling from the massive conclusion to the previous book, you can't help but feel that this story has a LOT of ground to cover before it can hope to finish the series. And so it does - this is a busy book, taking us back to Cleon Moon, into an undercover catering mission aboard a mafia ship, and further. With Jelena now safe and sound aboard the Space Nomad, you would think that Alisa can finally take a break from all the space battles, however she's made a promise - to rescue Jelena's best friend Thor... also known as Prince Thorian.
Unsurprisingly this leads her back into the path of all sorts of chaos and calamity - including her evil uncle, Terrible Tym. I've made a few comments throughout all of my reviews for this series that they're pretty episodic and can be something of a stretch - but that's pretty much the definition of a Space Opera, and there's really still a lot to love about this series.
While I don't think it ever reaches the same emotional notes as Lindsay Buroker's Emporer's Edge series (that one had a bit more weight to it, taking itself, the politics, and its characters more seriously) this was still a fun ride, and had a few key messages to convey along the way.
If you're looking for a fun romp where everything works out ok in the end, then I can recommend this one. There are some cute bits of dialogue and some very silly moments that had me giggling away. Just don't go into it expecting too much logic and science. While the plot feels plausible as you're reading it, too much reflection afterwards will lead to a few head scratches.
I'm looking forward to reading the continuation of this series, as we follow Jelena's adventures in Rogue Prince.
Opening with everyone still reeling from the massive conclusion to the previous book, you can't help but feel that this story has a LOT of ground to cover before it can hope to finish the series. And so it does - this is a busy book, taking us back to Cleon Moon, into an undercover catering mission aboard a mafia ship, and further. With Jelena now safe and sound aboard the Space Nomad, you would think that Alisa can finally take a break from all the space battles, however she's made a promise - to rescue Jelena's best friend Thor... also known as Prince Thorian.
Unsurprisingly this leads her back into the path of all sorts of chaos and calamity - including her evil uncle, Terrible Tym. I've made a few comments throughout all of my reviews for this series that they're pretty episodic and can be something of a stretch - but that's pretty much the definition of a Space Opera, and there's really still a lot to love about this series.
While I don't think it ever reaches the same emotional notes as Lindsay Buroker's Emporer's Edge series (that one had a bit more weight to it, taking itself, the politics, and its characters more seriously) this was still a fun ride, and had a few key messages to convey along the way.
If you're looking for a fun romp where everything works out ok in the end, then I can recommend this one. There are some cute bits of dialogue and some very silly moments that had me giggling away. Just don't go into it expecting too much logic and science. While the plot feels plausible as you're reading it, too much reflection afterwards will lead to a few head scratches.
I'm looking forward to reading the continuation of this series, as we follow Jelena's adventures in Rogue Prince.
October 23, 2023
Series Review
I decided to wait until I finished the entire series as my review for each novel is essentially the same.
Pros: Ms. Buroker's storytelling is pretty good. She has good instincts with structure, conflict, and fight scenes.
Cons: I understand that by using only one POV you can't dive more into the support characters. Unfortunately, that limits their dimensionality. I found Beck and Alejandro tedious. I wanted more from/about Mica, Yumi, and Abelardus. And I kept stumbling over Abelardus' name. I honestly couldn't figure out how to pronounce it consistently. That would pull me out of the story unless I just skipped over trying to say his name in my head.
I have a major complaint regarding her description of hair and skin color for non-white characters. She seemed to have one description which is bronze skin and wiry hair. Please understand, we don't all look alike. We have various shades of skin, and various types of hair.
I believe that if Ms. Buroker didn't rush to put out many novels each year, she could take her time with better pacing, character depth, and learn better descriptors for POC.
Ms. Buroker's choice of one point of view character in this series limited character depth and the emotional impact of certain scenes in novels seven and eight.
I decided to wait until I finished the entire series as my review for each novel is essentially the same.
Pros: Ms. Buroker's storytelling is pretty good. She has good instincts with structure, conflict, and fight scenes.
Cons: I understand that by using only one POV you can't dive more into the support characters. Unfortunately, that limits their dimensionality. I found Beck and Alejandro tedious. I wanted more from/about Mica, Yumi, and Abelardus. And I kept stumbling over Abelardus' name. I honestly couldn't figure out how to pronounce it consistently. That would pull me out of the story unless I just skipped over trying to say his name in my head.
I have a major complaint regarding her description of hair and skin color for non-white characters. She seemed to have one description which is bronze skin and wiry hair. Please understand, we don't all look alike. We have various shades of skin, and various types of hair.
I believe that if Ms. Buroker didn't rush to put out many novels each year, she could take her time with better pacing, character depth, and learn better descriptors for POC.
Ms. Buroker's choice of one point of view character in this series limited character depth and the emotional impact of certain scenes in novels seven and eight.
February 4, 2017
Captain Alisa Marchenko has promised her daughter they will recover Prince Thorian, who was taken by her evil uncle Tymoteusz after she and her crew finally found the children. The promise might be hard to keep, especially with the Alliance warning her to stay out of the way as they mount a mission to recover the Staff of Lore, and battle Tymoteusz and the group of mafia who have banded together to help him take over the whole system. If they can pull off this latest mission, Alisa can finally realize her dream of a normal life running freight with her daughter Jelena and Leonidas, the cyborg she loves. If only she can get Jelena to think of Leonidas as a friend and not be frightened of him. Maybe allowing her to put stickers on his armor will help, especially if they’re kitten and puppy stickers. This was such a great series, I’m really sad to see it end because I’ve enjoyed it so much. But with all the excitement, it was great to see everything resolved satisfactorily, where I know all these characters I liked so much are going to be happy. Even if Alisa can’t stay out of trouble, she’ll have her friends around to help her get out of it.
May 14, 2020
I enjoyed the story. Listening to the audible version was not the best idea because I don’t like the way it was read as I pointed out in previous reviews of the series.
I also did not care for some of the characters in the story line, like the mechanic, she was to crabby for my taste.
Alisa was in my opinion NOT a good mother...she’s immature, selfish, basically lacks the ability to be an authority figure in a child’s life... But it isn’t necessary for characters to be perfect, and it sounded like she was going to have help raising her child, who was sadly turning out to be just like her.
I also didn’t like the constant argument over politics... Leonidas & Alisa are going to have problems..with him believing in order, structure and authority...her believing in freedom and complete disregard for authority (explains the parenting issues) I foresee a rocky home life with Leonidas making most if not all of the concessions.
My favorite characters were Abalardous (spelling?) and Leonidas. They were both funny. And Abalardous could be very selfless even though he tried to hide behind a facade of careless self righteousness.
I also did not care for some of the characters in the story line, like the mechanic, she was to crabby for my taste.
Alisa was in my opinion NOT a good mother...she’s immature, selfish, basically lacks the ability to be an authority figure in a child’s life... But it isn’t necessary for characters to be perfect, and it sounded like she was going to have help raising her child, who was sadly turning out to be just like her.
I also didn’t like the constant argument over politics... Leonidas & Alisa are going to have problems..with him believing in order, structure and authority...her believing in freedom and complete disregard for authority (explains the parenting issues) I foresee a rocky home life with Leonidas making most if not all of the concessions.
My favorite characters were Abalardous (spelling?) and Leonidas. They were both funny. And Abalardous could be very selfless even though he tried to hide behind a facade of careless self righteousness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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