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Expansion Wars Trilogy #2
Iron & Blood
The Black Fleet Saga continues... A human planet has been invaded. The enigmatic Darshik have landed troops on a frontier world and have begun subduing major cities even as their blockade repels all attempts by the fledgling United Terran Federation to mount a counteroffensive. The Federation's military command is desperate and with their fleet still in tatters they make a last ditch effort to free the planet: They pull Captain Jackson Wolfe out of retirement and put him in command of a ship they hope can get past the defending armada and provide support to the beleaguered Marines and civilians fighting on the surface of the contested world. There is no reasoning with this enemy. If the Terran Federation wants their planet back, they will have to pay the price. Iron & Blood is the second book of The Expansion Wars Trilogy and the fifth book of the Black Fleet Saga.
362 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
March 7, 2017
excellent follow up read
Once again Josh has give us the readers a excellent follow up book in the Expansion wars series. Once again we have Senior Captain Wolfe going into battle, but this time he is not on the bridge of a warship. But he knows how to get the job done, but can he get his task done and keep the crew safe?
Once again Josh has give us the readers a excellent follow up book in the Expansion wars series. Once again we have Senior Captain Wolfe going into battle, but this time he is not on the bridge of a warship. But he knows how to get the job done, but can he get his task done and keep the crew safe?
February 7, 2017
Joshua Dalzelle just keeps getting better and better. I'm completely hooked on this series! Can't wait for the next book to come out!
May 12, 2023
The Lone Wolfe Returns
The Black Fleet universe has been an entertaining source of spaceship combat wrapped into a tightly plotted package, but after five novels, I’ve finally grasped a fundamental difference between what I expect, versus what the author wants to deliver. The author wants to focus about a tale of a single spaceship during historic events. Unfortunately, the prose often oversteps its bounds and promises more than it’ll deliver.
With a title like “Expansion Wars”, I’m expecting fleet combat consuming star systems, an empire ablaze and the fate of billions callously ignored by corrupt politicans. What Joshua Dalzelle delivers instead are singular ship actions and the galactic equivalent of border skirmishes. There’s a thematic disconnect between what’s promised and the actual events. The author tells a tale about an Age of Sail-style Captain having to operate far from comms and support, but I’m sold on humanity’s last stand against “the enigmatic Darshik.”
This leads to Jackson Wolfe’s return, who takes up so much of the page count that the previous ensemble cast is back to their supporting roles. Instead of having their own subplots that expand the scope of the space opera, everything done ultimately impacts Wolfe’s story. It feels like only one thing is happening in the universe. This is in contrast to New Frontiers, where Wolfe took a step back and Wright, Pike, and Markham had to up their game.
Iron & Blood is a return to the author’s safe place: writing about Wolfe overcoming enemies foreign and domestic. It’s entertaining and well-paced. But the author can do better, just look at the last novel.
Recommended with reservations.
The Black Fleet universe has been an entertaining source of spaceship combat wrapped into a tightly plotted package, but after five novels, I’ve finally grasped a fundamental difference between what I expect, versus what the author wants to deliver. The author wants to focus about a tale of a single spaceship during historic events. Unfortunately, the prose often oversteps its bounds and promises more than it’ll deliver.
With a title like “Expansion Wars”, I’m expecting fleet combat consuming star systems, an empire ablaze and the fate of billions callously ignored by corrupt politicans. What Joshua Dalzelle delivers instead are singular ship actions and the galactic equivalent of border skirmishes. There’s a thematic disconnect between what’s promised and the actual events. The author tells a tale about an Age of Sail-style Captain having to operate far from comms and support, but I’m sold on humanity’s last stand against “the enigmatic Darshik.”
This leads to Jackson Wolfe’s return, who takes up so much of the page count that the previous ensemble cast is back to their supporting roles. Instead of having their own subplots that expand the scope of the space opera, everything done ultimately impacts Wolfe’s story. It feels like only one thing is happening in the universe. This is in contrast to New Frontiers, where Wolfe took a step back and Wright, Pike, and Markham had to up their game.
Iron & Blood is a return to the author’s safe place: writing about Wolfe overcoming enemies foreign and domestic. It’s entertaining and well-paced. But the author can do better, just look at the last novel.
Recommended with reservations.
February 25, 2024
Hard learned lessons, exceedingly slowly
After the experiences of the first book, an intelligent species would have quickly adapted to the harsh new lessons that are attributed to the ancient Roman Publius Flavius Vegetius: Si vis pacem, para bellum. The unfortunate fact is that politicians and Admirals/Generals are often not truly intelligent.
So yet again the politicians fail to realize that danger exists & that the Admiralty allows petty hatred to prevail over intelligent behavior. Therefore they take Jackson Wolfe out of the command of a serious fighting ship to make him the Captain of an old, painfully slow vessel incapable of protecting itself, much less projecting power over adversaries. But being the man he is, he refuses to accept the failure of his mission when he knows that lives are at stake with no one else either willing or capable of providing the badly needed help if he fails.
After the experiences of the first book, an intelligent species would have quickly adapted to the harsh new lessons that are attributed to the ancient Roman Publius Flavius Vegetius: Si vis pacem, para bellum. The unfortunate fact is that politicians and Admirals/Generals are often not truly intelligent.
So yet again the politicians fail to realize that danger exists & that the Admiralty allows petty hatred to prevail over intelligent behavior. Therefore they take Jackson Wolfe out of the command of a serious fighting ship to make him the Captain of an old, painfully slow vessel incapable of protecting itself, much less projecting power over adversaries. But being the man he is, he refuses to accept the failure of his mission when he knows that lives are at stake with no one else either willing or capable of providing the badly needed help if he fails.
December 8, 2021
Recenziu pre Fandom.sk napísala Valéria Scholtzová:
V knihe sa striedajú rozprávačské pohľady Jacksona Wolfa, Celesty Wrightovej, agenta Pikea a pozemných vojenských síl na povrchu planéty Juwel. Pozornosť sa väčšinu času zameriava na boj vo vesmíre. Tak ako v predošlých dieloch tejto série, aj v Železe a krvi podstatnú časť textu vypĺňajú technické prepočty a rozkazy.
Oživením je pohľad na situáciu priamo na napadnutej planéte. Sledujeme osud mladého lovca Emila, ktorý sa s domobranou snaží zastreliť toľko Daršikov, koľko sa mu podarí. Neskôr ich objaví mariňácky seržant Barton a Emil sa k jeho jednotke pridá ako ostreľovač. Ku koncu knihy sa však celý dej okolo Emila vytratí a sústredí sa opäť len na všeobecný postup, teórie a záchrancov z vesmíru...
Celú recenziu nájdete na Fandom.sk https://www.fandom.sk/clanok/recenzia...
V knihe sa striedajú rozprávačské pohľady Jacksona Wolfa, Celesty Wrightovej, agenta Pikea a pozemných vojenských síl na povrchu planéty Juwel. Pozornosť sa väčšinu času zameriava na boj vo vesmíre. Tak ako v predošlých dieloch tejto série, aj v Železe a krvi podstatnú časť textu vypĺňajú technické prepočty a rozkazy.
Oživením je pohľad na situáciu priamo na napadnutej planéte. Sledujeme osud mladého lovca Emila, ktorý sa s domobranou snaží zastreliť toľko Daršikov, koľko sa mu podarí. Neskôr ich objaví mariňácky seržant Barton a Emil sa k jeho jednotke pridá ako ostreľovač. Ku koncu knihy sa však celý dej okolo Emila vytratí a sústredí sa opäť len na všeobecný postup, teórie a záchrancov z vesmíru...
Celú recenziu nájdete na Fandom.sk https://www.fandom.sk/clanok/recenzia...
January 8, 2020
Very Good soft Sci-fi Yarn...past the Terrible Science
Very good sense of action suspense. Good character development for military action context and large number of repeating character appearances. True no in depth biographical on characters but again its largish cast and its action, not philosophical reflection or family therapy theme.
This book and the series have a couple minor weaknesses and one major. First continuity of details is not great at times ( e.g. are there 3 or just 2 enemy ships being tracked on sensors within a few pages and its not fog of war issue) and occasionally the change would seem to influence likely outcomes. But that is going happen in rapid fire writing where income does not justify the cost or delay of full author review or independent dedicated proofreader. Another is a bit too much copying of features, procedures and military design from recent military history to the point you wonder how much is just rewriting WWII battle reports. Again probably just a result of the author's interests and education in military history.
But the greatest weakness injection of cartoon physics explanations when simply skipping why or being super vague would have been better. While occasionally the author picks up some surprisingly accurate stuff, the book is dominated by lack of simple physics understanding. For instance, the series ship have both artificial gravity control and regular space drives capable of hundreds of Gravity acceleration for days or weeks. But yet many key tactical battles center only the most extreme ships of the series being able to climb from a planet without long orbits tobuild up speed. Reality is the any ship able to countergravity or accelerate at over 1 G can climb straight out from the planet. Today's shuttles and rockets are not thrust limited but do the orbits due to lack of fuel to sustain that level of thrust. Even more, today's spacecraft spends lot of time orbiting to check whether a rough atmospheric ascent damaged delicate systems and to confirm complex math for a one shot attempt to leave earth orbit.
The author also shows his a physics weakness everytime he has relativistic combat flight off fusion reactors...as at even 0.1 c the ships energy-mass increases more due to relativistic effects than the mass of fuel carried (the ship gains more mass than when it started - no conservation of mass energy - where does extra mass energy come from). Worse yet interplantery space is not a good vacuum. It has thin plasma of solar wind and leaking planet atmospheres, comet vapors and trillions of tiny sand sized asteriods. Modern long duration space probes actually experience mild erosion at speeds only 10Ks or 100K kilometers per hour. At relativistic speeds a grain of sand packs the equivalent of kiloton explosive into tiny area. It would go through scores of feet of steel armor. At high enough speeds those interplanetary vapors would act like planetary atmosphere on badly shaped plane trying to break sound barrier ...friction heating and huge pressures. Most SyFy acknowledges that in vague way by giving high speed ship navigational shields (unexplained science but an acknowledgement). But this author stuck with what is proposed for near future Mars flight at 10K kmph ballpark speeds - a little armor and a few lasers to burn any tiny objects approaching at speeds well under 10 kmps (and there is severe doubt that detection/reaction time allows practical use even then).
Very good sense of action suspense. Good character development for military action context and large number of repeating character appearances. True no in depth biographical on characters but again its largish cast and its action, not philosophical reflection or family therapy theme.
This book and the series have a couple minor weaknesses and one major. First continuity of details is not great at times ( e.g. are there 3 or just 2 enemy ships being tracked on sensors within a few pages and its not fog of war issue) and occasionally the change would seem to influence likely outcomes. But that is going happen in rapid fire writing where income does not justify the cost or delay of full author review or independent dedicated proofreader. Another is a bit too much copying of features, procedures and military design from recent military history to the point you wonder how much is just rewriting WWII battle reports. Again probably just a result of the author's interests and education in military history.
But the greatest weakness injection of cartoon physics explanations when simply skipping why or being super vague would have been better. While occasionally the author picks up some surprisingly accurate stuff, the book is dominated by lack of simple physics understanding. For instance, the series ship have both artificial gravity control and regular space drives capable of hundreds of Gravity acceleration for days or weeks. But yet many key tactical battles center only the most extreme ships of the series being able to climb from a planet without long orbits tobuild up speed. Reality is the any ship able to countergravity or accelerate at over 1 G can climb straight out from the planet. Today's shuttles and rockets are not thrust limited but do the orbits due to lack of fuel to sustain that level of thrust. Even more, today's spacecraft spends lot of time orbiting to check whether a rough atmospheric ascent damaged delicate systems and to confirm complex math for a one shot attempt to leave earth orbit.
The author also shows his a physics weakness everytime he has relativistic combat flight off fusion reactors...as at even 0.1 c the ships energy-mass increases more due to relativistic effects than the mass of fuel carried (the ship gains more mass than when it started - no conservation of mass energy - where does extra mass energy come from). Worse yet interplantery space is not a good vacuum. It has thin plasma of solar wind and leaking planet atmospheres, comet vapors and trillions of tiny sand sized asteriods. Modern long duration space probes actually experience mild erosion at speeds only 10Ks or 100K kilometers per hour. At relativistic speeds a grain of sand packs the equivalent of kiloton explosive into tiny area. It would go through scores of feet of steel armor. At high enough speeds those interplanetary vapors would act like planetary atmosphere on badly shaped plane trying to break sound barrier ...friction heating and huge pressures. Most SyFy acknowledges that in vague way by giving high speed ship navigational shields (unexplained science but an acknowledgement). But this author stuck with what is proposed for near future Mars flight at 10K kmph ballpark speeds - a little armor and a few lasers to burn any tiny objects approaching at speeds well under 10 kmps (and there is severe doubt that detection/reaction time allows practical use even then).
July 29, 2017
I listened to this as an audiobook.
Darnit! Two days and I've already finished the book! I was hoping to take my time and savor the story. But nope! I completely lost myself in the book and only realized that it was early morning when my eyes started hurting. I stopped the book and put it away, intending to save it for when I was on the road. But again, nope. I woke up thinking about the story and ended up finishing the book in that day.
I won't get into details, but I will say that Senior Captain Wolfe is not brought back into the fleet the way I expected. And it made for a great and gripping story. Also, the new characters and new scenarios kept me riveted.
This book is REALLY not a rehash of the previous books. In this one, we see the war from a few different angles from before. And it's outstanding.
I again have to give my complements to Mark Boyett. His pace, emotion, and voicing are excellent. A great performance for a great story.
Highly recommended!
Darnit! Two days and I've already finished the book! I was hoping to take my time and savor the story. But nope! I completely lost myself in the book and only realized that it was early morning when my eyes started hurting. I stopped the book and put it away, intending to save it for when I was on the road. But again, nope. I woke up thinking about the story and ended up finishing the book in that day.
I won't get into details, but I will say that Senior Captain Wolfe is not brought back into the fleet the way I expected. And it made for a great and gripping story. Also, the new characters and new scenarios kept me riveted.
This book is REALLY not a rehash of the previous books. In this one, we see the war from a few different angles from before. And it's outstanding.
I again have to give my complements to Mark Boyett. His pace, emotion, and voicing are excellent. A great performance for a great story.
Highly recommended!
August 14, 2017
Again, this is not a book. Just like the first book, this is 1/3 of a book. Dalzelle writes one good big story, divides it into 3 pieces, and calls it a Trilogy. But this is a fine installment, and continues the ongoing saga quite well. It's a little tidbit of a story, with mostly the same characters, a new field of battle, and some new pieces of the puzzle filled in at the end. I'll happily ready book 3. And then the "trilogy" he writes after that, as the story continues. My guess is he will publish at least 3 trilogies in the story, which should have been one trilogy. Hell, some authors would have put all 9 books in a single book. One book by Brandon Sanderson is bigger than 9 books by Dalzellse. But he's a good marketer and promoter, so who am I to criticize.
February 27, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. It encapsulated all the best parts of the first series: the fleet battles, the characters struggling to adapt, and the grind of the time those battles take.
In some ways, Im a little sad to see the new drive tech that will replace the marathon fleet actions with much more fast paced actions.
The new, green crew given to Wolfe in a ship that's not a destroyer, is the perfect backdrop. The rapid paced character development of that crew as they struggle through the mission is outstanding. I hope some of them will make appearances in the 3rd book of the series.
In some ways, Im a little sad to see the new drive tech that will replace the marathon fleet actions with much more fast paced actions.
The new, green crew given to Wolfe in a ship that's not a destroyer, is the perfect backdrop. The rapid paced character development of that crew as they struggle through the mission is outstanding. I hope some of them will make appearances in the 3rd book of the series.
February 17, 2018
New Frontiers gave us an introduction to the new Human Race, still reeling from the impact of the Phage war, and the loss of so many lives and worlds, not to mention the loss of so many military assets. Humanity is still trying to pull itself together when it encounters yet more aliens. The new Aliens come with both an Ally, asking for help, and an enemy, a threat to the other Aliens, and to Humanity as well. Although not as powerful as the Phage, they have found their new enemy to be a dangerous threat. This is what makes these books such an interesting series, the detailed scope of the Universe we live in, the Political chessboard that Dalzelle has created, and the Military ramifications that result from the fallout. In the middle of all of this of course, is Dalzelle’s exceptional character’s, with Wright, Wolfe, Marcum, Pike just to name a few, and so many more.
In this book, Wolfe is returned to command, and we get to see him in all his glory. Whilst there is still some political intrigue, some diplomatic games, there is a lot less of the manoeuvring that we saw in book 1.
In this story, although Wolfe has been returned to command, the leadership desperate for the Political points it will win them when he is painted at being back out in the field, however, due to political games, he is given the Captain’s chair of an older Assault Class Frigate, rather than a Destroyer, leaving him with little in the way of options.
He is then tasked with the impossible, to land his Assault Forces on a planet that is being laid siege to by the Darshik (the enemy Alien race), in a system that they currently have power over, both on the surface, and with superior forces in space. Numerous ships have already smashed against the blockade trying to get much needed resources to the surface. If Wolfe can’t do it, it is all over for Millions on the surface. To make matters worse, his escort, originally to be the one and only Celeste Wright, is changed at the last minute to a lesser commander who has very little actual combat experience, and refuses to listen to Jackson, again more politics with no thought at all for the Military ramifications. The brilliance of this is, that Dalzelle writes this so well, making this such a realistic story.
What ensues is a totally gripping and captivating end game, as ‘The Lone Wolfe’ tries desperately to not only keep himself alive, he has to keep his crew, and that of the Assault force alive as well, and more importantly, he has to deliver them, for the fate of the entire planet rests on his shoulders now, possibly more, if the planet falls, it could be a staging area into the core next.
The change from book 1 of the original series, in which Jackson Wolfe was a derided ‘Earther’, whom everyone loathed and hated, to the Legend he has become is fascinating to watch and read. The way the people on the planet react to hearing his name, and instantly fight that much harder, because the Legend of the Wolfe is here, the inspiration he brings, even that of Celeste Wright. Dalzelle has created these amazing characters, and they are not Gods are anything silly, they are figureheads, those kind of legends that people rally behind in times of war, that tales get told about (and exaggerated – Wolfe killed an Alpha with his bare hands…), but it is these legends that turn the tides of wars, battles and make the difference. It is obvious that Dalzelle has done his homework (or has a good understanding himself), of these concepts, as he writes them so well. It gives his stories such depth of character that you just don’t see in some others, making this all the better for it.
This is a brilliant read, this series only continues to get better, and you should definitely get into it if you aren’t already.
In this book, Wolfe is returned to command, and we get to see him in all his glory. Whilst there is still some political intrigue, some diplomatic games, there is a lot less of the manoeuvring that we saw in book 1.
In this story, although Wolfe has been returned to command, the leadership desperate for the Political points it will win them when he is painted at being back out in the field, however, due to political games, he is given the Captain’s chair of an older Assault Class Frigate, rather than a Destroyer, leaving him with little in the way of options.
He is then tasked with the impossible, to land his Assault Forces on a planet that is being laid siege to by the Darshik (the enemy Alien race), in a system that they currently have power over, both on the surface, and with superior forces in space. Numerous ships have already smashed against the blockade trying to get much needed resources to the surface. If Wolfe can’t do it, it is all over for Millions on the surface. To make matters worse, his escort, originally to be the one and only Celeste Wright, is changed at the last minute to a lesser commander who has very little actual combat experience, and refuses to listen to Jackson, again more politics with no thought at all for the Military ramifications. The brilliance of this is, that Dalzelle writes this so well, making this such a realistic story.
What ensues is a totally gripping and captivating end game, as ‘The Lone Wolfe’ tries desperately to not only keep himself alive, he has to keep his crew, and that of the Assault force alive as well, and more importantly, he has to deliver them, for the fate of the entire planet rests on his shoulders now, possibly more, if the planet falls, it could be a staging area into the core next.
The change from book 1 of the original series, in which Jackson Wolfe was a derided ‘Earther’, whom everyone loathed and hated, to the Legend he has become is fascinating to watch and read. The way the people on the planet react to hearing his name, and instantly fight that much harder, because the Legend of the Wolfe is here, the inspiration he brings, even that of Celeste Wright. Dalzelle has created these amazing characters, and they are not Gods are anything silly, they are figureheads, those kind of legends that people rally behind in times of war, that tales get told about (and exaggerated – Wolfe killed an Alpha with his bare hands…), but it is these legends that turn the tides of wars, battles and make the difference. It is obvious that Dalzelle has done his homework (or has a good understanding himself), of these concepts, as he writes them so well. It gives his stories such depth of character that you just don’t see in some others, making this all the better for it.
This is a brilliant read, this series only continues to get better, and you should definitely get into it if you aren’t already.
December 19, 2022
The Expansion Wars Trilogy, which could stand alone, is a continuation of the Black Fleet Trilogy by the same author and I recommend reading that series first. Captain Wolf is back trying to complete an impossible mission. He finds himself captaining an assault carrier trying to bring troops and supplies to an alien occupied planet. This book in my opinion was more entertaining than its predecessor because another side of the alien invasion is portrayed – land occupation. There is a nice mixture of ground and space battles as well as the back room political dealings which are a hallmark of JD’s books. Many characters return from the Black Fleet Trilogy series. This is another fast, page-turning read.
★★★★★ Great book! Can’t wait to read it again (and I will).
★★★★☆ Good book. I am glad I read this.
★★★☆☆ OK book. Nothing special but not bad.
★★☆☆☆ Not good. Why did I waste my time?
★☆☆☆☆ Lousy. I didn’t finish.
If for whatever reason, I go back and reread a good book, I will change the rating to five-star because I read it again.
★★★★★ Great book! Can’t wait to read it again (and I will).
★★★★☆ Good book. I am glad I read this.
★★★☆☆ OK book. Nothing special but not bad.
★★☆☆☆ Not good. Why did I waste my time?
★☆☆☆☆ Lousy. I didn’t finish.
If for whatever reason, I go back and reread a good book, I will change the rating to five-star because I read it again.
August 8, 2017
"The Next Sequel Cannot Be Published Soon Enough"
Where does Iron & Blood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
One of the top in terms of the performance and narration; certainly another excellent addition to my library.
What did you like best about this story?
The performance. Mark Boyette could read a grocery list, and I'm sure by the end I'd be thrilled by way he rattled off all the fruits and vegetables. This guy could even make a local DMV come alive.
Have you listened to any of Mark Boyett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
All of the ones he's done for Dalzelle's books, and all of them have been outstanding.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Captain Kirk's grumpy uncle saves humanity again.
Any additional comments?
I blaze through these books faster than just about all others. The characters are terrific, compelling, and engage me regardless of the plots, which are also well-done.
Where does Iron & Blood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
One of the top in terms of the performance and narration; certainly another excellent addition to my library.
What did you like best about this story?
The performance. Mark Boyette could read a grocery list, and I'm sure by the end I'd be thrilled by way he rattled off all the fruits and vegetables. This guy could even make a local DMV come alive.
Have you listened to any of Mark Boyett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
All of the ones he's done for Dalzelle's books, and all of them have been outstanding.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Captain Kirk's grumpy uncle saves humanity again.
Any additional comments?
I blaze through these books faster than just about all others. The characters are terrific, compelling, and engage me regardless of the plots, which are also well-done.
November 25, 2019
The Captain is back, even if he was reluctant to return. Placed on an old Carrier, that's slow and its teeth dulled from age, he is once more pressed into service as the Darchik invade and invade actual planets.
With the Eastern Block having split off, and still reeling from the last war, they are low on ammo, and humanities leaders are leery of moving a fleet to assist. Still, the public wants action, and who better to send than Jackson Wolf Hero of the Paige war?
He is already to go, Celesta Wright, in the newly modifed powerful Icarus, he is certain to have a chance at running the alien blockaid, and getting support to the new Marines on the planet. But even as those Marines struggle to fend of the landing force of Aliens, Jackson and Celesta get a surprise, She won't be going with him.
Another HIT for Joshua Dalzelle he just keeps getting better.
With the Eastern Block having split off, and still reeling from the last war, they are low on ammo, and humanities leaders are leery of moving a fleet to assist. Still, the public wants action, and who better to send than Jackson Wolf Hero of the Paige war?
He is already to go, Celesta Wright, in the newly modifed powerful Icarus, he is certain to have a chance at running the alien blockaid, and getting support to the new Marines on the planet. But even as those Marines struggle to fend of the landing force of Aliens, Jackson and Celesta get a surprise, She won't be going with him.
Another HIT for Joshua Dalzelle he just keeps getting better.
December 3, 2018
The war between the spacefaring human civilization and two alien species continues. The aliens have invaded a human planet and the battle is joined. Our main characters converge on the battle space in an attempt to thwart the aliens. After some twists and turns, the humans discover the truth of who the aliens really are.
Another "sorta book" that does not stand on its own. The idea is pretty straightforward. The humans and aliens fight for a planet. The action is interesting and linear. This happens then that happens then that happens. Its fun, feel-good stuff. I'm not going to continue reading the series as I'm pretty sure I can see where it is going and I like a little more complexity. Fun read though.
Recommend.
Another "sorta book" that does not stand on its own. The idea is pretty straightforward. The humans and aliens fight for a planet. The action is interesting and linear. This happens then that happens then that happens. Its fun, feel-good stuff. I'm not going to continue reading the series as I'm pretty sure I can see where it is going and I like a little more complexity. Fun read though.
Recommend.
July 31, 2021
Good book, characters need a little bit more personality.
Great storyline. I like the fact that some of the fighting took place on a planet and included Marines. It seems sometimes ships fighting in space is a little bit slower paced. Sometimes you need to visceral action fighting on the ground. I know this Siri‘s has been out for a while but if the author goes back to read some reviews I wish she had given his characters more personality. They seem A little bit like robots. People who fight bleed and die together should be a little bit closer not romantically but affectionately like brother and sisters. That’s the way it is in the real military. Going on to read the next book in the series very well done.
Great storyline. I like the fact that some of the fighting took place on a planet and included Marines. It seems sometimes ships fighting in space is a little bit slower paced. Sometimes you need to visceral action fighting on the ground. I know this Siri‘s has been out for a while but if the author goes back to read some reviews I wish she had given his characters more personality. They seem A little bit like robots. People who fight bleed and die together should be a little bit closer not romantically but affectionately like brother and sisters. That’s the way it is in the real military. Going on to read the next book in the series very well done.
July 20, 2017
For his "twilight cruise" before retirement, Phage War hero Jackson Wolfe is assigned as program manager for a major space intelligence development project. After a sudden attack by renegade aliens he is returned to active duty as captain of the TFS Aludra Star to deliver reinforcing troops and supplies to the Juwel world. When his escorting destroyers transition to a far different orbital position, Wolfe and the TFS Aludra Star are forced to develop new tactics "on-the-fly". The unexpected appearance of the TFS Icarus, commanded by Wolfe's former executive officer, Celesta Wright proves to be a blessing, but will it be enough to salvage the mission.
September 7, 2018
Please note this is the second book of an offshoot of the author’s Black Fleet trilogy. You will need to have read that trilogy in order first, then the first title of this offshoot series, or the characters and background won’t make much sense to you.
This installment of the series continues the story of Captain Wolfe, Celeste Wright, Agent Pike and others and I enjoyed it. Without having a spoiler, if you enjoyed the Black Fleet series I am sure you will enjoy this one, also. I read this with my Kindle Unlimited subscription vs. paying the full price of $3.99 and certainly received more than $3.99 worth of entertainment value.
This installment of the series continues the story of Captain Wolfe, Celeste Wright, Agent Pike and others and I enjoyed it. Without having a spoiler, if you enjoyed the Black Fleet series I am sure you will enjoy this one, also. I read this with my Kindle Unlimited subscription vs. paying the full price of $3.99 and certainly received more than $3.99 worth of entertainment value.
May 4, 2017
Marines! This book takes all the action of the series and then tosses Marines into the mix. Dalzelle stated that this series was supposed to focus on Senior Captain Celesta Wright but this story centers on Jackson Wolfe again, not a bad thing, but not the change I had expected. One nice bit was that we see a lot more into the life of Pike.
Lots of action, some nice character development and Marines!
Lots of action, some nice character development and Marines!
May 13, 2017
A great fast read
Love the fact he keep the original people made new ones , the book is great the people are great and infuriating at the same time , most as you think about your own government how they suck blow money and throw people's live away, but the people who are there trying to do good with out the bureaucracy that want to help, down side to much technology mofo I never remember it and just skip the pages,great book anyway ,can't wait for the next.
Love the fact he keep the original people made new ones , the book is great the people are great and infuriating at the same time , most as you think about your own government how they suck blow money and throw people's live away, but the people who are there trying to do good with out the bureaucracy that want to help, down side to much technology mofo I never remember it and just skip the pages,great book anyway ,can't wait for the next.
February 11, 2018
I sure burned through this book series fast. What a ride. If you love space battles this is an excellent read. Problem was putting the books down, think I lost a ton of sleep. Really should have saved this for a long plane trip where the time lost would have been a bigger benefit. Nice use of AI in this book showcasing good vs. evil (in the prior series the AI was a rogue weapons system kind of like Terminator on a universal scale). Really enjoyed it!
February 24, 2019
Joshua, I owe you an apology
In my review of the fourth book I was kinda hard on you. I’d had trouble getting into it and thought you might have been better off ending the series with the first trilogy. Not only that, I called you Jason and misspelled your last name. My bad. I like the battle for the planet and found this book to be a nice break from the entire storyline so far. Now I’m really looking forward to the next book. Forgiveness asked for, hopefully received. Cheers
In my review of the fourth book I was kinda hard on you. I’d had trouble getting into it and thought you might have been better off ending the series with the first trilogy. Not only that, I called you Jason and misspelled your last name. My bad. I like the battle for the planet and found this book to be a nice break from the entire storyline so far. Now I’m really looking forward to the next book. Forgiveness asked for, hopefully received. Cheers
June 10, 2022
A head above water.
After meeting a new alien race and beginning difficult diplomatic meetings, the new United Terran Federation is attacked in its capital system. A third race attacks and destroys part of the alien diplomatic mission as well as prime Terran targets within the system. How to respond?
Page turning suspense and sharply changing plots make this a great sequel. A definite winner.
After meeting a new alien race and beginning difficult diplomatic meetings, the new United Terran Federation is attacked in its capital system. A third race attacks and destroys part of the alien diplomatic mission as well as prime Terran targets within the system. How to respond?
Page turning suspense and sharply changing plots make this a great sequel. A definite winner.
July 12, 2017
Love the series
Great pace to all of the books so far and this trilogy is right on pace. Particular like the characters both old and new with Lt. CMDR Beck looking very promising going forward. I thought this specific book brought some excellent story lines across several intriguing characters tying them nicely together over one major battle. Great read!
Great pace to all of the books so far and this trilogy is right on pace. Particular like the characters both old and new with Lt. CMDR Beck looking very promising going forward. I thought this specific book brought some excellent story lines across several intriguing characters tying them nicely together over one major battle. Great read!
April 19, 2018
Simply done but odd
A nice workman like job, with a plot flaw that was only apparent from the endnotes. Why is there not more Sturm and drang associated with the disintegration of the Federation? As we watch countries disintegrate around the world it is apparent that much drama is involved and that an alien invasion is not needed to support the plot.
A nice workman like job, with a plot flaw that was only apparent from the endnotes. Why is there not more Sturm and drang associated with the disintegration of the Federation? As we watch countries disintegrate around the world it is apparent that much drama is involved and that an alien invasion is not needed to support the plot.
February 27, 2019
Great military sci-fi
Iron and Blood has turned out to be one of my favorite books in the Black Fleet universe. It’s full of intense moments along with strategic planning elements that I’ve found familiar with this author. Ground war elements are tense and exciting, as well. Can’t wait to start the next book...and the next trilogy that rounds out the Black Fleet universe.
Iron and Blood has turned out to be one of my favorite books in the Black Fleet universe. It’s full of intense moments along with strategic planning elements that I’ve found familiar with this author. Ground war elements are tense and exciting, as well. Can’t wait to start the next book...and the next trilogy that rounds out the Black Fleet universe.
November 30, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. The middle of the second trilogy held closer to the archetype of the “darkness before the dawn” as Wolfe overcomes insurmountable odds, to conclude with a glimpse of a positive conclusion.
Any series lives or dies on the strength of its characters, and Dalzelle has breathed life into the likeable cast.
Any series lives or dies on the strength of its characters, and Dalzelle has breathed life into the likeable cast.
October 6, 2025
VS. the previous books I felt the author stepped up story telling game. I still wish he focused on deeper character development while still enjoying the story he's telling.
I do like that he's breaking the stories into trilogies and sticking to it - vs. milking a story far past its meaningful end.
Overall Mr. Dalzelle is a good author and worth your reading time.
I do like that he's breaking the stories into trilogies and sticking to it - vs. milking a story far past its meaningful end.
Overall Mr. Dalzelle is a good author and worth your reading time.
February 1, 2017
First class book
Mr. Dalzelle is an excellent outer space author. He uses enough physics and geometry to make things more authentic. The characters are engaging, although the human heavies are a caricature.
I look forward to the next installment.
Mr. Dalzelle is an excellent outer space author. He uses enough physics and geometry to make things more authentic. The characters are engaging, although the human heavies are a caricature.
I look forward to the next installment.
April 14, 2017
Another Great Read
Never tire of JZ's stories or style. This is one of the best. Many of the characters we have come to know and love are here but with fresh content and storyline twists.
Never tire of JZ's stories or style. This is one of the best. Many of the characters we have come to know and love are here but with fresh content and storyline twists.
May 8, 2017
Still A good story
Lots of action. Good characters. Enough scientific evidence but not to overboard with it. No obvious editorial glitches. Excited to read the next one in the series when it comes out.
Lots of action. Good characters. Enough scientific evidence but not to overboard with it. No obvious editorial glitches. Excited to read the next one in the series when it comes out.
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