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Splintered Galaxy #1
Celestial Ascension
Extraterrestrials exist. Not all of them come in peace.
Two mighty galactic Empires, The Radiance Union and The Hashmedai Empire throw Earth into a tug of war conflict. The Radiance Union wishes to experiment and conduct tests amongst the Human population, while the Hashmedai Empire wishes to subjugate humanity.
US Marine Chloe Vaughan was about to enjoy some much needed leave time with her friends and family in New York City. On one fateful afternoon, she receives a phone call that will change her life forever.
Canadian Army soldier turned drifter, Jake “Jazz” Johnson has one mission, turn his life around, start anew. All of that changes when an assassin duo from another world steps out of the shadows, tossing his life into chaos and fight for survival. A mysterious woman he met in Las Vegas holds the answers.
The human race is about to enter a historic moment in their evolution... Provided they can survive the trials which lay ahead. Only Chloe and Jazz and their ragtag group of acquaintances can lead humanity to victory - Too bad Chloe and Jazz don’t work well together.
Celestial Ascension is the first book of the Splintered Galaxy series a dark, sexy, provocative and gritty space opera for adults.
Note: Contains violence, mature language and sexual content.
Two mighty galactic Empires, The Radiance Union and The Hashmedai Empire throw Earth into a tug of war conflict. The Radiance Union wishes to experiment and conduct tests amongst the Human population, while the Hashmedai Empire wishes to subjugate humanity.
US Marine Chloe Vaughan was about to enjoy some much needed leave time with her friends and family in New York City. On one fateful afternoon, she receives a phone call that will change her life forever.
Canadian Army soldier turned drifter, Jake “Jazz” Johnson has one mission, turn his life around, start anew. All of that changes when an assassin duo from another world steps out of the shadows, tossing his life into chaos and fight for survival. A mysterious woman he met in Las Vegas holds the answers.
The human race is about to enter a historic moment in their evolution... Provided they can survive the trials which lay ahead. Only Chloe and Jazz and their ragtag group of acquaintances can lead humanity to victory - Too bad Chloe and Jazz don’t work well together.
Celestial Ascension is the first book of the Splintered Galaxy series a dark, sexy, provocative and gritty space opera for adults.
Note: Contains violence, mature language and sexual content.
- GenresEbooks
430 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 13, 2016
92 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Eddie R. Hicks
39 books18 followersEddie R. Hicks is a Canadian science fiction author of the Splintered Galaxy series. Although he enjoys his work in the culinary arts industry over the last few years, his true passion since he was a very young age has always been story telling.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 26, 2017
Deceptive description.
This book is a sprawling ensemble in which the two purported protagonists are barely afterthoughts.
This book is a sprawling ensemble in which the two purported protagonists are barely afterthoughts.
March 21, 2017
Well damn, the book synopsis really doesn't do this book justice, after finishing I thought to myself well there really is two sides to every story. This was a really well written sci fi story, not too long and not short. It took a bit to get into the meat of it, maybe about 1/5 through is when it really got going - and by then I couldn't put it down.
We have the Humanity on the brink of discovering that we aren't alone in the universe with the introduction of the Radiance Union and the Hashmedai Empire coming onto the scene. One thing I loved about this book was, you can see the good and bad from both sides. There are several POVs that really allow you to see how each side perceives the other, who's right and who's in the wrong? Quite often, its all perspective. But yeah, stuck in the middle of this is Earth - and as always in galactic empires you have a little mysterious organization that has their own plans.
Great action scenes written well and with so many characters, never did any two give the feel of being a copy paste of another. Each has their own voice, their own reasons for doing what they do. My boy, the silent warrior - Zhinbryo Braver - he doesn't say much, but when you need someone to cover your flanks in the gritty melee war that happens on space ships, he's the one you want. Loved him.
With so many characters its sometimes hard to follow as you are jumping around different POVs, but that wasn't the case here. The writing flows so well that it never feels jarring when switching POVs - one thing I wish for was a glossary of all the characters, with the various races involved, different types of troops, it'd be nice to flip to the back for a quick check on who's who and what not. But again, it doesn't distract you since it reads so well and the characters have their own personalities that you know exactly who's chapter you are reading. Great ending as well, no cliff hangers leaving you angry and wanting the next book right away. This one has an ending while providing you a small glimpse of what's to come.
Looking forward to the second book and if you are a fan of Timothy Ellis, Thomas Wright or just enjoy a nice sci fi in the lines of Mass Effect, Firefly, etc. Pick this up, give it a read, check it out, see if you like it.
We have the Humanity on the brink of discovering that we aren't alone in the universe with the introduction of the Radiance Union and the Hashmedai Empire coming onto the scene. One thing I loved about this book was, you can see the good and bad from both sides. There are several POVs that really allow you to see how each side perceives the other, who's right and who's in the wrong? Quite often, its all perspective. But yeah, stuck in the middle of this is Earth - and as always in galactic empires you have a little mysterious organization that has their own plans.
Great action scenes written well and with so many characters, never did any two give the feel of being a copy paste of another. Each has their own voice, their own reasons for doing what they do. My boy, the silent warrior - Zhinbryo Braver - he doesn't say much, but when you need someone to cover your flanks in the gritty melee war that happens on space ships, he's the one you want. Loved him.
With so many characters its sometimes hard to follow as you are jumping around different POVs, but that wasn't the case here. The writing flows so well that it never feels jarring when switching POVs - one thing I wish for was a glossary of all the characters, with the various races involved, different types of troops, it'd be nice to flip to the back for a quick check on who's who and what not. But again, it doesn't distract you since it reads so well and the characters have their own personalities that you know exactly who's chapter you are reading. Great ending as well, no cliff hangers leaving you angry and wanting the next book right away. This one has an ending while providing you a small glimpse of what's to come.
Looking forward to the second book and if you are a fan of Timothy Ellis, Thomas Wright or just enjoy a nice sci fi in the lines of Mass Effect, Firefly, etc. Pick this up, give it a read, check it out, see if you like it.
April 22, 2018
Fashionistas unite?
The book is a journal of who's hot and who's not. Every human character is described in some attractiveness scale that should have nothing to do with the story. Meanwhile I don't understand the motivation for the action scenes and the interaction between the various alien races.
The characters are empty, the dialogue is bleh, the plot is something. The story seems to be a struggle between GQ and Glamour magazines. There is a vague military action developing, Earth may get alien tech or may be invaded. Neither is made clear. I dropped the book at Pg 32, as it was a hot mess and promised to continue on that path.
The book is a journal of who's hot and who's not. Every human character is described in some attractiveness scale that should have nothing to do with the story. Meanwhile I don't understand the motivation for the action scenes and the interaction between the various alien races.
The characters are empty, the dialogue is bleh, the plot is something. The story seems to be a struggle between GQ and Glamour magazines. There is a vague military action developing, Earth may get alien tech or may be invaded. Neither is made clear. I dropped the book at Pg 32, as it was a hot mess and promised to continue on that path.
December 25, 2017
Too many characters
There were too many characters. Hard to keep straight who was who and which side, of three sides, they were on. Difficult to reestablish the plot after stopping then picking it up later to continue reading.
There were too many characters. Hard to keep straight who was who and which side, of three sides, they were on. Difficult to reestablish the plot after stopping then picking it up later to continue reading.
April 5, 2017
Received this book from Book Cartel in exchange for an unbiased review.
Wow. And that isn't a good 'wow'. The only reason I'm giving this book 3 stars and not less is because it is original and the plot itself is intriguing. The ideas Hicks puts out there in this book are really pretty cool. The world building is fairly decent. The character development is pretty good. The plot is intricate and keeps your interest. But really, Hicks has bitten off a rather large morsel with this novel. Unfortunately, he chokes on it. It isn't because his ideas are too far out there. It isn't because he tries to weave a more complicated story than he can handle as a writer. It isn't because the book isn't interesting, because it definitely is. It is because his writing is terrible. No flow. No rhythm. No feel. Choice of adjectives and adverbs are questionable throughout the entire book. They just made me scratch my head and think to myself "it would have presented so much better if he said it this way" quite a lot. That is not something I normally do -- put my own words in someone else's mouth. But really, Hicks absolutely needs to work on his sentence structure and choice of words.
After all that complaining, I'm going to say yes, I did like this book. If the writing was better I would have no problem giving 4 or more stars. I will definitely read the next one in the series. I just hope (please!) that Hicks puts more effort into wordsmithing, because if he does, this will be a popular series.
Wow. And that isn't a good 'wow'. The only reason I'm giving this book 3 stars and not less is because it is original and the plot itself is intriguing. The ideas Hicks puts out there in this book are really pretty cool. The world building is fairly decent. The character development is pretty good. The plot is intricate and keeps your interest. But really, Hicks has bitten off a rather large morsel with this novel. Unfortunately, he chokes on it. It isn't because his ideas are too far out there. It isn't because he tries to weave a more complicated story than he can handle as a writer. It isn't because the book isn't interesting, because it definitely is. It is because his writing is terrible. No flow. No rhythm. No feel. Choice of adjectives and adverbs are questionable throughout the entire book. They just made me scratch my head and think to myself "it would have presented so much better if he said it this way" quite a lot. That is not something I normally do -- put my own words in someone else's mouth. But really, Hicks absolutely needs to work on his sentence structure and choice of words.
After all that complaining, I'm going to say yes, I did like this book. If the writing was better I would have no problem giving 4 or more stars. I will definitely read the next one in the series. I just hope (please!) that Hicks puts more effort into wordsmithing, because if he does, this will be a popular series.
May 4, 2017
Author has created a believeable sci-fi scenario; the human race is NOT ALONE in the universe! Conflict, war, psionics got it all. The only reason for not giving the book a higher rating is there is too much going on to figure out good guy versus bad guy! Is it the radiance union , the hashimedi , the heretic's or the "gods" that speak thru the red jewels! Why is humanity the pivot point?
July 4, 2017
3.5 stars. Celestial Ascension is the first book in the Splintered Galaxy series. This should not be read as a standalone. If you are going to read this series, you must start with this book so the rest of the books make sense. There is a lot of violence, it is a Alien military thriller, so it might not be suitable for more sensitive readers. This is a military thriller so much of the storyline revolves around fighting and military tactics.
The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat all of that info here. This is a military thriller filled with humans and aliens, with multiple alien races trying to control events and power. It starts off slowly but builds speed from there so stick with it. Be prepared for some confusion over all the time and location changes - this is not a chronological order book. As usual, everything and everyone is not as it seems. I look forward to reading more of this series.
The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat all of that info here. This is a military thriller filled with humans and aliens, with multiple alien races trying to control events and power. It starts off slowly but builds speed from there so stick with it. Be prepared for some confusion over all the time and location changes - this is not a chronological order book. As usual, everything and everyone is not as it seems. I look forward to reading more of this series.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews