Archangel is the second installment of the explosive, pulse-pounding Spectre War science fiction series. An enemy you can't kill. A soldier who can't fight. An interstellar war that can't be won—until now. As a soldier of the Celestial Expanse, Guardian First Class Michael Sorenson knows better than anyone that when the Spectres invade, there are only two options—run or die. However, his defensive war takes on a whole new spin when he's recruited into Division 7, a research and development facility with the ultimate to create a large-scale weapon that can kill Spectres en masse. Here Michael joins a team of military elite who have the daring—and dangerous—task of taking new weapons prototypes out into the field for testing on enemy troops. Yet the closer they come to developing a working WMD, the more it becomes there's a saboteur in R&D. With all signs pointing to a massive Spectre attack brewing on the...
Second in a five book series, this fast-paced, angst-ridden space opera with a YA feel takes up with Michael Sorenson, who is still dealing with the emotional fallout from the previous novel. New readers will catch up fast: humankind is up against horrific aliens who can't be fought in that they are pretty much airborne parasites who, when they attach to humans, use them as hosts to breed millions more of their kind before killing the host painfully. Oh, and forcing them to murder their own kind before they die.
Michael is a guardian, a soldier, who gets hired for an experimental program of high danger. He's got relationship issues centered around Not Talking About It. Action and angsty emotions keep the pages turning in this second installment of Fortune's series.
As a soldier of the Celestial Expanse, Guardian First Class Michael Sorenson knows better than anyone that when the Spectres invade, there are only two options. Run or die. However, his defensive war takes on a whole new spin when he’s recruited into Division 7, a Research & Development facility with the ultimate mission: to create a large-scale weapon that can kill Spectres en masse.
Here Michael joins a team of military elite who have the daring—and dangerous—task of taking new weapons prototypes out into the field for testing on enemy troops. Yet the closer they come to developing a working WMD, the more it becomes clear: There’s a saboteur in R&D.
With all signs pointing to a massive Spectre attack brewing on the horizon, the creation of a new weapons system yields an opportunity to end the threat once and for all. As the days count down toward its launch, Michael must hunt down the saboteur...before the saboteur hunts down him.
After reading Nova, the first book in this series, I was under the impression that more years would go by between books, so I thought the characters would be older. I was wrong. The main character is around 18 here. I was a bit disappointed in that even though it makes more sense for the series if the characters stay YA age. Michael was the love interest in the first book and I really wanted to see how he would handle what had happened in that book, and how that would mold him into the person he would later become. Unfortunately I didn't care for the way his character lingered on it and even put blame in places he shouldn't have. I did like other aspects of the book though. The fight to defeat the Spectres continues. And although this type of enemy is nothing new in sci-fi or space opera, the Spectre are still an interesting concept to me.
Overall I liked this enough to give it 3 stars and I'm mildly interested in reading more if more books are published.
I was really looking forward to this book release, as I thoroughly enjoyed Nova. To me, the last half of this book is where it finally picks up & it made me look forward to the 3rd book, which will hopefully be written from Teal's perspective. I did not enjoy the first half or middle so much. Perhaps it was the repetitive, whiney nature of Sorenson. It just made it a little difficult to get through. All in all, I am looking forward to the ongoing saga.
Roughly a year after the events of Nova, Michael Sorenson is now a soldier, working to evacuate people from stations and planets overrun by ghouls and squatters (humans infected by ghouls). When he’s offered a job working for research and development, he believes he’s helping save the human race from the alien threat. Then he uncovers signs of sabotage on the station. He searches for the saboteur even as the scientists search for a way to eradicate the ghouls, once and for all.
This is book 2 in the Spectre War series, and while you can read this volume without reading book 1, a lot of Michael’s motivations come down to what happened at the end of Nova. This book has a very different feel, being entirely about the military and how to attack and defend yourself against an incorporeal opponent. While there’s camaraderie, there’s no romance and I was astonished at how willing the author was to show that war means loss.
You don’t learn as much about Michael’s compatriots as I’d have liked, but they are an interesting bunch. The power play interludes between the Chairman, the Admiral, and the Doctor, were also great in terms of showing what was happening with the war outside R&D.
Though a lot of the science goes unexplained (like how ships travel the vast distances of space between planets and stations) there’s some great world-building. Though mentioned only briefly, the Order of the Spectre horrified me, but unfortunately didn’t surprise me as a religious belief system. The planet where R&D is stationed sounded quite beautiful, and I’d have loved to visit, ghouls notwithstanding.
The plot takes several interesting turns, and the ending, though not as shocking as that of Nova, was still unsettling in its implications. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I debated all day about whether to finish or DNF Archangel. I think it's a great read for someone looking for an action-focused sci fi novel. Think of the Illuminae Files without the romance, for example. Unfortunately, I want the romance, like in book one. No matter how good an author is at world building and plot, I show up for characters and the relationships between them, and there's almost none of that here. I feel like Fortune relies on what you know of Michael from Nova but I read it years back, and that's just not enough, especially since she aimed to make each book in the series stand alone.
Basically all I know about Michael is that he's been completely fucked up by Lia's death, and that he is a good soldier who wants to save people to make up for the one he couldn't save. He also uses quite a lot of exclamation points for a soldier, even if he is seventeen.
The other aspect convincing me to put this book down is the opening. Michael and his team are evacuating people from a planet beset by aliens. His female friend and compatriot sacrifices herself so the ship can get away safely. I'm not about fridging. That woman dies so that Michael will be upset enough to sign up for the special force without thinking too hard. Sure, is a dramatic opening scene, but I'm not about that life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
“Archangel” eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Margaret Fortune (https://margaretfortune.wordpress.com). Ms. Fortune has published two novels, both in her “Spectre War” series, this being the second book in the series.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. Because of the age of the primary character, this might be considered a Young Adult novel, but the story content is pretty vivid. The story is set in the far future. Mankind has spread out through the stars and have finally encountered an extraterrestrial life form that seems bent on their destruction. The primary character is seventeen year old Celestial Expanse Guardian First Class Michael Sorenson.
The Celestial Expanse has been at war with the Tellurian Alliance. Suddenly they find themselves faced with a far deadlier enemy, the Spectres. The Spectres have wiped out the Tellurian Alliance and is now slowly gaining ground against the forces of the Celestial Expanse. They are invisible to the eye, drifting about but able to take over a human’s mind, then breed new Spectres to infect others.
Sorenson is recruited to a secret R&D facility within the Celestial Expanse. He and his colleagues are the front line in testing and evaluating new weapons to be used against the Spectres. Slowly Sorenson begins to find clues that there is a traitor at work within the R&D facility. No evidence is strong enough to involved his chain of command. As the R&D facility rushes towards testing a new weapon which they think will kill off the Spectres, there is also concern that the Spectres are about to mount some kind of offensive of their own.
Will Sorenson identify the traitor? Will the new weapon finally succeed in killing Spectres? Will humanity survive what ever the Spectres have planed?
I enjoyed the nearly 13 hours I spent reading this 461 page Science Fiction novel. While this is the second in the series, it read well as a stand-alone novel. I liked the way the characters were developed and the plot itself. The cover are is reasonable showing Sorenson in his battle armor. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.
While I really enjoyed the story there were some issues and a surprise that some readers won't welcome.
1) I like my main characters to be engaged and solving problems. For the first 200 pages or so "life happens" to Michael Sorenson with the only evidence of initiative on his part being the jump into the trees and trying to stop a teammate from making a mistake.
2) I wish the book had a glossary, particularly as I read the hardcover edition. As it's a military science fiction the author constantly uses abbreviations. At one point an "OP" is mentioned and I'm thinking "OP?" I look for a glossary, and then start flipping back looking for where "OP" had been defined. Oh yeah, Orbital Platform, though I can't find the spot that explains its purpose.
3) It's a much longer story, 451 pages for Archangel vs 320 for Nova. I wish this had been nipped and tucked into the 320 page range. For example, while part three is 119 pages of fairly interesting and exiting stuff, and one of the few areas where Michael Sorenson regularly shows initiative, it could have been reduced to a single paragraph.
The first book in the series, Nova was largely a 16 year old girl trying to figure out who she is and the flirting plus initial stages of a romance between her and a 16 year old boy. This book surprises the reader by swerving the story line into hard military science fiction with no romance other than brief flirts that often end with just thinking about flirting but not even making a pass. To its credit we get to experience some of Michael Sorenson's personal growth as he deals with the loss of Lia. With Nova the science fiction aspect was largely in the background. In Archangel you can't escape that it's a military story with training, waiting, snarky posturing, and battles set in a very science fictional universe.
I think this book series is intended to be targeted at the YA group, but other than the fact that the main character is a (older) teen, this is not a YA book in my opinion. The situation is really all adult and there is not any feel for the growth and inner conflicts associated with being a teen growing into adulthood. There is not even conflict with the hero being belittled just for their age. I thought that some about the first installment of this series, but figured it was just my misunderstanding of what a YA book is all about.
Parts of this story did drag a bit for me, but the action was pretty good. (Okay, our inexperienced YA hero doesn't always make the best decisions. He is mostly reacting to the situation and not always taking command of the situation, much as you would expect of a YA.) There is not a lot of hard science in this story.
It does start and stop as a middle chapter of a larger story. It seems to be a logical continuation of the first installment. You could read this without the first part and still be satisfied. But of course, since it is a middle story, you need to come back for the next book to get the whole story. I would suggest you just wait for the third part to come out and binge read the trilogy (assuming it is only a trilogy).
I'm an old fashioned reader - meaning I was raised back when English (something like 12 years of it, plus at least two more in college) was a required subject. Poor grammar, syntax, or misused words or phrases just jump off the page at me (not to mention misspelled words, although in most books, those are the result of timelines and tired author eyes). So, for me to say that from an English text perspective, this book has been nearly flawless. I can't recall a single issue I've had with the writing from a technical perspective. I'm also a widely read person, boasting some thousands of titles that have fallen prey to my perusal (fancy way of saying, man do I love to read, and I've done a bunch of it!). Moreover, I'm a big fan of space operas, science fiction, and scifi military fiction. So, this book hits on just about all my hot buttons. It's an imaginative work from start to finish (and, to be truthful, I read books these days in dribs and drabs between hours and hours of working from home - thanks, Pandemic! - but am only about halfway through). I also enjoy a good mystery, but am not a bonafide mystery buff. This book, though, is definitely piquing my inner bloodhound. Can't wait to find out "who dunnit!" Also, looking forward to finding a copy of "Nova" so I can fill in the beginning of this story. Ms. Fortune, keep the great work coming! You have a new fan!
Human worlds are invaded by invisible beings, the spectres, who merge with a human, gestate inside him to breed more spectres. They cannot be killed or contained. Michael Sorenson, a Guardian soldier of the Celestial Expanse (made me think of the Expanse in the TV series ‘Enterprise’) is recruited to a special research station to test new weaponry against the spectres. A grand weapon is created that would supposedly kill every spectre in Celestial space, but it is a conspiracy. I won’t say any more in case you want to read this book yourself.
Archangel is a mixture of ‘Starship Troopers’, ‘Old Man’s War’ series, ‘The Lost Fleet’ series, and other shoot-em-up books, except that Margaret Fortune doesn’t pull it off. It is long book filled with many repetitive action scenes that don’t really do anything for the story, and Sorenson is a young man with a huge chip on his shoulder who seems to have a purpose in life, but is really carried along with events he doesn’t actually understand. It was difficult to get into the book and relate to Sorenson as a character. I found the ending particularly dissatisfying as it failed to resolve anytning. I am not surprised at the many negative reviews this book has had.
This is, of course, the second book in the series and it has taken some really unexpected turns. I will be interested in the third book to see where things are going. Unfortunately, the lead character just turned 18 in this book, plus the military rules preclude any interaction amount team members, so there is not even a whiff of sex in the book. It is a good read!!!
No idea why this series isn't more popular but the second book had me seriously hooked. While the first one had a lot of teenage angst, the second one is a SciFi thrill-ride set during war times and on a secret science base. Lots of great characters, mystery and suspense.
This is a DNF for me. And I hate doing that. Maybe I wasn't in the mood because I knew I had two other books I really wanted to read or it just wasn't grabbing me. I can't rate it because...I just couldn't get into it.
I couldn't follow parts of the storyline because like her first book, there's a big mystery unfolding and no way to guess how it will end. I got lost in the details and have a ton of unanswered questions. But I don't care- couldn't put it down and CAN'T WAIT for the next book!!
This took me a long time to read. Not because of the well crafted character or the plot that exploded at the end but because Michael is grieving and angry and I'm not always in a place to read that. But now that I am done, I have jumped into the next book. This was a well written book.
This book caught my attention on the Kindle "you might like page" damn but that is right more than wrong. Michael Sorenson has already lost too much even before volunteering as a soldier in a war that cannot be won fighting alien invaders who are invisible and intangible they have only one goal to infect a human host and breed more Spectres. Michael gets offered a chance to make a real difference in the war when he is recruited to be part of the ultra secret R & D arm of the military. He Moves to the very front lines of the war. And soon learns that there are other forces he must fight. Because not every one on his side is fighting for the same thing. This book was captivating. I read it in one long sitting across a Sunday. The character of Sorenson is gripping in the way that few are. Wonderful and intense this book demanded that I buy it read it Right Goddamn now.
5 minutes later: Continued on the solid concept of the last novel with a solid perspective and particularly strong, if limited (justified) character development.
It has its troubles but many of them can be passed over by the main character being an unreliable narrator.
And then we get the telegraphed cliffhanger at the end which made the story feel particularly incomplete.
Dont know if ill read the next one, but it honestly wont be because this one was bad. YMMV.