Asbaran Solutions

The Revelations Cycle #2

by Chris Kennedy

Nigel Shirazi was first in line for the chairmanship of Asbaran Solutions, one of the prominent “Four Horsemen” mercenary companies. First in line…until his drinking and temper caused him to fail out of college and get disinherited by the family.

Now he leads the life of a playboy, enjoying a stipend from the family to stay out of the way. But someone is out to get his family, and Nigel is all that stands between the hidden enemy and the destruction of Asbaran Solutions and the Shirazi family.

Nigel will have to learn to control himself if he’s going to take the reins of the company, figure out who’s behind the vendetta against Asbaran, and work out a way to stop them. But they’ve taken his sister hostage, and that makes him a very, very angry man!

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

A Webster Award winner and three-time Dragon Award finalist, Chris Kennedy is a Science Fiction/Fantasy author, speaker, and small-press publisher who has written over 50 books and published more than 400 others. Get his free book, “Shattered Crucible,” at his website, https://chriskennedypublishing.com.

Called “fantastic” and “a great speaker,” he has coached hundreds of beginning authors and budding novelists on how to self-publish their stories at a variety of conferences, conventions, and writing guild presentations. He is the author of the award-winning #1 bestseller, “Self-Publishing for Profit: How to Get Your Book Out of Your Head and Into the Stores.”

Chris lives in Coinjock, North Carolina, with his wife. Follow Chris on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ckpublishing/.

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Honestly, that’s why we’re probably destined to fail, too.”
“You don’t have any optimism at all?”
“No, sir, I don’t. I’ve recruited a company of troopers. Are they the best? No. Some are friends of mine, and they’re pretty good, but the rest aren’t. We barely have enough CASPers for everyone, and the ones we have are ancient. The dropships we have don’t have the latest electronics. I’m hoping you have some advantage you haven’t revealed yet that is going to turn the tide for us. Gods, I hope you do.”
“I’m sorry,” Nigel said. “I wish I had one too…but I don’t.”"

Have you read Book 1, Cartwright’s Cavaliers? https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Nigel is the Jim Cartwright of this adventure. His company, another mercenary force, is in trouble. No one thinks that Nigel is fit to be their commanding officer or leader. “Too smart? I’m the one that didn’t get to take over the company because I couldn’t graduate from university.”

Somehow, he’s put in that position and given some “helpful” perspective on his behavior. “It was never that you weren’t smart enough; you absolutely are. What I think is that you were too afraid you couldn’t measure up to your grandfather’s standards. I used to watch how you followed him around, taking in everything he did and said. When he died and you started to face up to the fact that you would someday have his place in the company, you got scared. I could see it in how you carried yourself. Your whole bearing changed. You didn’t want to be compared with him, so you did everything you could to prove you weren’t him. You became lazy. You got into fights. Anything so people wouldn’t say, ‘He’s almost as good as his grandfather.’ You idolized your grandfather and didn’t think you could do the job he did.”

The arc of this story is how Nigel gets out of his own way and learns how to do the thing that he was intended to do (sounds very much like Book 1 to me).
"“Have I convinced you to give up this stupid idea yet?”
“No, if anything, you’ve confirmed it’s the right thing to do.”
“And how the hell did you come to that conclusion?”
“It’s the only way the company can win.”
“You’re willing to bet everything this company stands for, and everything you own, even your life, on one throw of the dice?”
“I am…or I will be; I’m still shy a number of troops with combat experience, especially at the leadership level, and I’m going to have to use senior enlisted leaders in the company commander and executive officer slots; there just aren’t any officers available.”"
And we, the readers, are cheering him on.

3.5* for some well-choreograph battles and fire-fights, some imaginative alien cognition and plenty of sophomoric humor.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 63%.

Nope. Nuh-uh. I just can't.

I honestly had every intention of just finishing Asbaran Solutions, just to get it done so I could give a full accounting of everything that I felt was wrong with it. But even getting this far was a struggle, and I don't have enough free time to waste on a book I'm actively disliking.

And it's sad that I'm DNF'ing this. The first book in the series, Cartwright's Cavaliers, was a rather fun Sci-Fi mecha romp, with plenty of action and occasional heart and humor. The plotting was decent, the action and tactics were pretty sound, and the main character was pretty likeable.

But with Asbaran Solutions, everything just falls apart. The basic setup is the same as the first book; young college-aged man inherits his family business right before it goes under. The hero has to learn the business, lead the troops, and save the day, all while saving the company's bottom line. Like, I seriously just read this premise in the first book. There REALLY couldn't be a different setup? Whatever. I'll just buy into ANOTHER young kid with no experience coming to the rescue of a multi-billion dollar empire. But while Jim Cartwright was a relatively decent character, who was actually rather smart in the areas of finance and business management, the protagonist of this book, Nigel Shirazi, is kind of a womanizing douchecanoe who whines all the time and didn't make it through school because of partying and his temper. I really didn't care for his character at all. No, nix that. I thoroughly disliked his character. He's a complete idiot, until the book requires that he isn't, then all of a sudden he's a genius tactician with everyone’s best interests at heart. Because...reasons.

And it's not just the unlikeable lead character. Nothing in this book works. People just kind of show up at the most opportune of times, just when that person is needed the most, but without any explanation or fanfare. Oh, Nigel needs someone to lead his troops, and some super qualified dude just shows up from a different merc company. looking to lead his troops. Why does he want to leave his current employer and lead Nigel's troops on a suicide mission? Oh, a little later we find out it's because he's in love with Nigel's sister. Does this get expounded on? Do we learn that they secretly eloped or have been together for years, and have started a non-profit together with the humanitarian mission of saving homeless kittens or endangered trees or starving children? Nope. What we get is nothing at all. There is absolutely ZERO explanation or impact of this relationship. It's just a deus-ex-machina motivation right when it's needed. A little later on in the story, Nigel & co are in desperate need of two pilots for their suicide mission. Oh, guess what!? Some other merc company had some very seasoned pilots pull some really stupid stunt, and they need to get off-world for a while until the drama dies down. Tada, now we have two pilots...literally JUST when we needed some! And they don't care if it's a suicide mission. They are just happy to have something to fly. Hey, the heroes need someone super effective and crazy to help them take on some of the most dangerous aliens in the galaxy. But wait, they have a dude on the team (who tried to kill them earlier, but is now on the payroll and carrying weapons) who knows some other dangerous aliens (who just happen to be in the same bar!), and THOSE aliens are super effective and crazy, and they are also bored and looking for someone to fight. Tada! Instant plot progression! Right before I got to the point where I just said “fuck it” and stopped reading, our heroes needed to blow open a safe. Good thing one of the troopers on the mission just happens to carry around a HUGE amount of extra explosives. “I just like to blow stuff up,” is his casual response to why he has all that shit with him. Never mind the fact that this merc company is basically a paramilitary organization, and he wouldn’t have been allowed to deploy with unauthorized gear...because that’s what you have commanding officers and platoon leaders for. A basic infantryman doesn't get to pick what he brings on a mission, it gets picked for him and that's what he takes. This guy isn’t even an ordnance dude, he’s just some random rifleman who really likes bombs. Sigh.

And it's just more and more of this same thing, page after page, chapter after chapter. Everything happens right when it needs to, in just the way that it needs to. Nothing feels earned, and nothing feels organic. There is no tension, because you know they'll get what they need, right when they need it, without really having to try. And Nigel will complain about it regardless. Because that's what entitled douchecanoe's do.

And look, I get it. Pretty much every book has a moment of luck/serendipity/karma. It’s allowed in small doses. But when literally every event that happens in a book is because of this “luck”, it doesn’t work. Jesus, at least try to make it seem like good planning on the hero’s part.

And there's also...wait, you know what? Screw that. I really don't need to go any further. While Mark Wandrey gave the first book a true sense of conflict and danger, with enjoyable action and fun solutions to problems, Chris Kennedy just can't stick the landing. I don't understand all these 4 and 5 star reviews, but then again I don't have to. I'm glad it worked for those readers, but it in no way worked for me.

[J.R. Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
First, let me say that none of what I’ll say in this section couldn’t be found on the back copy of the novel. I wanted to provide a spoiler free review, so here goes nothing! Ultimately, this is a family saga, a tale of redemption and one mans journey to familial acceptance. One of the main characters, Nigel Shirazi was first in line for the chairmanship of Asbaran Solutions. It was to be his birth right, commanding one of the prominent “Four Horsemen” mercenary companies. That is until his maladaptive behavior cost him everything, ending in hedonist downward spiral. And finally, a rock bottom where he is disinherited. After being discarded by his birthright, he enjoys the life of a rich playboy until something happens to rock his world. An enemy gets to his family, and Nigel is all that stands between this hidden foe and the destruction of Asbaran Solutions and the Shirazi family line. In the end, the adventure is partially Nigel’s war within himself. If he can gain some self-control and self-discipline, he just might restore all that was lost. All he has to do is rescue his sister from an unbeatable foe, easy peasy.


Characters:
There are three main characters in this story; The Asbaran Solutions mercenary company, Nigel Shirazi and Thomas Mason.

Nigel Shirazi: He is the principle main character in this story, on a quest of personal redemption. By saving his sister, he seeks to save himself and prove his worth to the family who’d dismissed him so many years ago. At first, I really didn’t like the spoiled man-child that we met in the beginning of the story. However, as time went on he sort of grew on me as Nigel grew into himself. He had a definitive character arc, was flushed out and thoroughly described. You never felt like he was a blank shell, he was a character all on his own. If we met in real life, I’d either drink a beer with him and swap war stories or shoot him on sight. Would really depend on whether I met the Nigel from the beginning of this book or the one from the end. I deeply respected his love of family, and his sense of familial obligation. Blood really IS thicker than water, and it was nice to see that this was a sentiment Nigel understood.

Thomas Mason: He was your stereotypical soldiers soldier and helped guide and shape the path of the troubled Asbaran Solutions. He also has some personal reasons for going with Nigel on what appears to be a suicide mission, though I can’t go into that without giving some spoilers. He offers the military background, and serves as a foil to Nigel’s playboy ignorance. Overall, I really liked this character and would love to read more about him. I wouldn’t mind if he got his own book as well, giving him room to develop into an even more flushed out character.

Asbaran Solutions: This is the company that is at the heart of the adventures of Nigel and Mason. For Mason, it’s a job and a personal journey you’ll have to read about but for Nigel it’s so much more. For Nigel, it’s about saving his sister and his families honor. It’s a connection with his heritage and his forefathers. The special time he spent on his grandfather’s knee learning about the galaxy and the mercenary life that Earth provided to the sentient species whom inhabited it. With its mere existence, this company drives the plot and serves as the invisible puppet master pulling all the strings.


Plot:
Like most of the military science fiction I love to read, this was an action-packed novel. The beginning was a bit of a slow start, but once it took off it never really lagged. I wasn’t able to read this book from start to finish in one setting because of its length but I wanted too. I believed that the tactics worked for the novel, especially the aerial ones, but what do you expect from a naval aviator? The action on the ground was believable, though lacking in tactical sophistication and depth. However, when you had a bad assed mech like their CASPer’s you can get away with a run and gun strategy. The story flowed seamlessly from one plot point to another, which made it easy to read and follow. There were a few times where I was confused by what was going on, but this was likely because of my TBI. After I backtracked and re-read the part that got me it became very clear.


Worldbuilding:
This is the first book I’ve read by Chris Kennedy, but I’d heard good things and his reviews were solid. I wasn’t disappointed! This world was very flushed out, and left you curious about the world. Heck, I bought his book AND the other book in the universe after I read this one. While this is science fiction, and you definitely need to have some suspension of disbelief for the aliens [Chris Kennedy] invents, within the universe he builds they’re totally believable. I also found myself sympathetic to Nigel, as he struggles on his quest for redemption. [Asbaran Solutions] definitely had shades of the Prodigal Son, though with a metric butt ton more death and explosions. The one part I wasn’t thrilled about was the concept of Earth evolving into a system of the mercenary corporate planet, without any nation states, but it is a common trope in science fiction. Overall, this didn’t dissuade me from enjoying this story and I’m aware that many people LOVE those kinds of universe set ups. In a nut shell, the world building gets an A- from me, but only because of the lack of explanations on HOW we became a planet without nations.


Description:
This book was chalk full of visualization, and you could definitely imagine yourself in this world. It felt very flushed out, and there were times where you could even smell the aliens. I love it when a book is this immersive, where it takes you deeply into the world. For me, if a book isn’t described enough that I can imagine myself into the story. If a story is truly good, I often find myself imagining what happens when the book ends. That doesn’t work in books where the world wasn’t flushed out. In this category, Chris gets an A+++!


Overall:
I think that the easiest way for me to explain my thoughts, is to tell you how I received the novel. Like with the [Wraithkin] novel, I was given a free ARC (advanced reader copy) eBook a little over a week before the novel went live. In return, I was to post an honest review on Amazon for the author on the day it launched. I loved this book, it was definitely 5 out of 5 Grenades. Chris Kennedy had me hooked from the beginning, and kept it going throughout the whole novel. I went on to buy a copy, because I liked it enough that I wanted to support the author. I also went on to purchase the [Cartwright Cavaliers], another novel in the [Four Horsemen Universe]. It’s an amazing adventure, a look into [Chris Kennedy]’s twisted imagination, and leaves you wishing that his therapist has a therapist. This is a book I would happily recommend, and an author I will definitely read again. Heck, I would even recommend that you buy the novel! But hey, it’s easy to spend someone else’s money! This is definitely a novel worth buying, versus merely reading for free at the library.

[Joshua Chausse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book by Kennedy

Enjoyed this series and will now be reading the other 4 Horseman novels. Particularly liked the character development. Well done

[S T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Even in the Same League as Cartwright's Cavaliers

The book is well written from a grammatical, spelling, and technical point of view. The author is quite talented at writing and has a great editor. This is a very rare combination, especially with digital books. It is this skill and ONLY this skill that pulls this book up to a Two-Star Review.

This book is unenjoyable from the beginning. The main character had a chip on his shoulder for some reason that was never explained EXCEPT for a small backhanded reference that Humans are still racist despite all the aliens they we now know exist (in the series). The first book (which is written by a different author) showed the reverence, respect, and fear not just people but ALL races of the story have for the Four Horsemen. This book never comes near to capturing that feeling. As such, it falls flat and puts everything at odds with what was established in the first book. Both the good and the bad.

Nigel is one of the worst main characters I have ever read and I was actively rooting for his death around Chapter Five and he NEVER redeems himself. In a flimsy attempt for character growth, Nigel would make speeches, and plans and have genius combat, tactical, and strategic insights that were borderline clairvoyant. The author stacked the deck against him far beyond the character's capabilities and had him solve problems, issues, and plot holes that he logically couldn't do.

This entire series appears to be written by many different authors and it did not work in this case. If Book Two is this horrible, I can only imagine how bad it gets. Despite Book Three being written by the author of Book One, I will not keep reading the series or ever recommend it. I rather stop reading after this one and just write this off as a "good idea fairy" that did not succeed. Especially when Book Four is written by the same author as Book Two.

[David P. Duffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Limited SciFi Entertainment Value

"Asbaran Solutions (The Revelations Cycle Book 2)," is the author's, Mr. Chris Kennedy, latest installment of a near future, mech/mercenary driven SciFi series. Bluntly, it has limited entertainment value due to both the unskilled writing, and a farcical narrative.

The storyline continues a few centuries in the near future. One of the "Four Horseman," mercenary corporations, is on the brink of ruin, following the repeated, unsuccessful attempts at recapturing a captured garrison outpost. The main character (MC) Nigel, the sole remaining son of the family, a spoiled, lazy scion, who at best has rage issues, and at worse is psychotic, decides to rescue his kidnapped sibling, and save the corporation. The MC is partnered with another mentally deficient individual, his "top sergeant." Nigel overnight becomes a strategic savant, scrapes together an under-equipped, undermanned merc unit, and is off planet, wheeling-and-dealing.

It is impossible to like a character, who is totally reprehensible as Mr. Kennedy's MC, Nigel. The poor, little rich kid is loathsome. Further, the author reprises the theme from his early book in the series, of "damaged" young men, rising to success. It is banal, hackneyed, and fully contrived. The aliens, fantastical though they be, are more realistic and entertaining, than any of the human characters. Mr. Kennedy is incapable of writing a storyline, where humans are not one dimensional cartoon cutouts. Further, the casualty rate of the merc forces, throughout the entire story, is so high, as to approach near certain suicidal levels. Many of the aliens do prove engaging, especially the non-villains. The first quarter of the book is a slog, without much to like. As the story continues, there are glimmers of what a skilled and talented writer might have done with the base, meritorious concepts.

The book is narrowly recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.

[Jennifer Linsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have not read other books by Chris Kennedy. He has an impressive list of credentials, however, which leads me to believe that this book is an anomaly; that he simply took Mark Wandry's notes for Cartwright's Cavaliers and turned them into his own phoned-in entry in the universe. Like the Cavaliers, the Asbaran are broke, out of equipment, and in a serious pinch. Like the Cavaliers, they've got a young new Colonel who no one expects to succeed. And like the Cavaliers, they do, anyway.

And... that's about the end of the similarities, and is also a decent list of the book's good points. Oh, you could also add the action sequences, which are decent, but not as good as Wandry's.

Every single opportunity for character development was passed by without even a one-finger salute. A young man who at the beginning turns into a berserker when an English teacher gives him a bad grade and invokes a mocking childhood nickname, a chapter later is a cool, lean killing machine who can plan a campaign where his father and both his elder siblings failed miserably. The officer in prison doesn't even seem to think about being a self-rescuing princess until the very end of the book. And so on.

Honestly, I'd skip this volume and move straight on to Wandry's Winged Hussars. Oh, yeah, that brings up another point... we're told that the moniker "Four Horsemen" comes from the fact that these four companies of Human Mercenaries each had a horse in their company logos. Kennedy, however, tells us it's a Huma bird from Persian mythology. A Huma doesn't look even remotely like a horse; even in this book, people mistake it for a griffin, not a horse. Phoned-in and poorly coordinated.

[Cst · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book was okay, this one isn’t.

First there is the fact, that I don’t care about any of the characters. I read the first book, I expect the second to expand on that basis. It doesn’t, it tells basically the same story again, only with idiocy as setup. Unlike the first book it never manages to make me care about the characters, I never buy their motivations and never relate to their problems. Then the later half begins and I get the feeling I have been here before. I suspect whenever he writes a book, the author has a list with names he wants to put in the text and that is the second book of his I read which turns into an attendance record. Name after name is mentioned and then disposed of in a bid to create atmosphere. It doesn’t work.
The pacing is off in a way that made me think the two authors work simultaneously. Things that are explained in the first book are explained here again in a way that clearly shows the author hasn’t read the other book.

In a way this is interesting. Seeing how different takes on a basic plot work out is an interesting exercise. It just makes such dull reading.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

No spoilers review. This book wasn't terrible, but it felt like a first novel for a new author. The dialog was hokey and predictable. The author relied heavily on sterotypes for the characters rather than putting the effort of developing them. I really felt no connection for the main characters and frankly didn't like any of them.

It really felt like the author hadn't read the first novel, but had a fact sheet and a list of buzz words to use. The continuity of the universe was shakey. For example, no mention of nanites when they CLEARLY were needed and, in this universe, standard issue for all mercs.

All that being said, I didn't HATE the book, I just thought it missed the easy things that could have made it a great book.

I liked the story. It built an the over-arcing story line and has me wondering. If your a big fan of the first book, read this one, but don't expect the same style and quality.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't come close to being as good as the previous book.

The first disappointment was that I wanted to carry on the story from the previous book not start fresh with all new characters.

The second and longer lasting disappointment was that this is like a cheap knock off of the previous book. Similar storyline except that the main character in this is an arsehole. The whole book is just a bit crap compared to the first.

I'd recommend reading the first book and pretend it's a stand alone novel rather than part of a series. It's a shame because I'd love to read more about Cartwrights Cavaliers

[Terence Thirteen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book in the Revelations Cycle, Cartwright's Cavaliers, was written by Mark Wandrey and was a solid five stars, for anyone into Mech Sci-Fi. Asbaran Solutions, the second book, was written by Chris Kennedy and just doesn't measure up to the first book. Luckily, the third book, which should be released on Audible soon, is written by the original/first author and I have high hopes that it will be as good as Cartwright's Cavaliers.

My advice: read the first book in the series, skip this one and go straight to the third.

[Leslie Baptiste · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book may be a series killer for me, too depressing

This book was very depressing, everybody dies or almost everybody. We want our heroes to win not to die we read books for entertainment and we want our heroes to succeed, there is enough tribulation and trials in the world that we don’t want to have it in some of our books. This may be a showstopper for me but read it at your own risk.

[Joey Calvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

I thought this book was pretty good overall, but I liked Cartwright better. Don't let that put you off though, it is still an action packed space adventure in a well developed universe. Grab it!

[Luis Cifuentes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor follow up to the first book in the series

Poor writing, poor character development. Uninteresting plot. Simplistic writing. I ended up flipping fast through the last chapters to see if the ending had an intersting setup for the rest of the series. It didn't.

[Konain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crap. Juvenile. Tried to finish just for form's sake if nothing else....but just couldn't.

One dimensional and unlikeable characters. Juvenile language with artificially inserted wisecracks that fail miserably. Plot with holes the size of a Raknar. What an astounding waste of time!

[Phil Matthews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so good

Not as good as the first one. This author doesn't have the talent. Poorly plotted as well written. Needs editing.

[Pat Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Papa Pat Rambles has expanded and extended commentary on the book.
Mad props to the people who did the cover, Brenda Mihalko and Ricky Ryan. Great spooky mecha art, and a design that fits in with the rest of the series.

Nigel Shirazi has spent his recent life hating his name. He hates his first name because it has become a personal acronym for repeated failure: "Never Is Good Enough: Loser." When taunted, he lashes out, and lands in trouble, sometimes in jail, and the cycle is then repeated elsewhere.

He hates his last name because it means that he is an unwanted member of the family that owns Asbaran, one of the Four Horsemen, the mercenary companies who survived the initial rounds of contract warfare when the Earth was admitted to the Galactic Union, with nothing to offer in exchange for economy-wrecking technology except fighters.

And Nigel doesn't want to be a mercenary. Nobody else wants Nigel to be a mercenary, either. He gets paid off to be a dilettante, a remittance man, someone who will stay away and not bother the important people who are carrying on the important business.

And then a bad thing happens.

Several bad things, in fact. All of the male senior members of the Shirazi are killed, the single surviving female is captured, and some strange events in the trading of securities and equipment have resulted in the company going bankrupt.

There is no alternative but to bring Nigel the Loser out of the junkyard, and put him in charge. He immediately dashes to the Border of Insanity, a place he has lived most of his life, and resolves to use the limited resources remaining to Asbaran to complete the same mission that has crushed everyone else.

There's something bizarre going on, though. It doesn't make sense that Asbaran would have been offered the mission in the first place. It's a garrison mission; go here, take up positions, and defend it, until a specified time. That's NOT what Asbaran does; they are an assault company. Drop in, kill things, then go away to the next mission. There's something funny about this, and it isn't Monty Python.

Excellent book. Lots of exploding spaceships. Lots of room for character growth. Lots of Red Shirts. Lots of Bad Guys getting their just desserts. Buy it!

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It is the 2nd in The Revelations Cycle, but it also works as a stand-alone novel. The author does an excellent job of showing the actions of various characters in different situations that are all taking place at the same time. This freeze-frame story style is easy for the reader to follow and gives a view that not many authors can successfully achieve.

Chris Kennedy’s military experience is evident in his attention to detail, both with the equipment used and the actual battles themselves. “Asbaran Solutions” has lots of action and movement that keeps the reader engrossed.

As a side note, you can “join the Red Shirts” on the author’s website and be killed off in one of his books. There were lots of characters in this story--it would be interesting to know how many of these characters were Red Shirts.

[Ryan Ohashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off....and ended...

Unlike the first book this one was plain sad, as in sorrow. And made you feel like "what is the point and why even try" because three just was no high point, only lows, and personally I just don't enjoy books that only spiral down then end somewhat unfinished. The only thing that it did was that brothers and sisters in arms will give their lives for each other and I do understand that...

I just don't understand why this author would make it completely un-winnable, even a battle, one battle, but he did and it makes me leary about reading any other books he authored as it is too depressing, and ppl don't read science fiction only to be depressed...imho

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun adventure story following Cartwright’s Cavaliers. The initial set up— a powerful mercenary company falling into hard times— is a bit too much like CC for my taste, but it goes in a different direction, and Nigel is definitely not Jim Cartwright, but his own person. (And if a plot against the “four horsemen” is the point of these initial books, as I suspect, the complaint is moot anyways.)

I listened to the audiobook, and wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator, as his performance fell flat for me. But the story was still fun, and I found myself looking forward to my drive to and from work so I could listen to it.

[Mkittysamom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy Smorgasborg of death

Wow... this time I learned about the Asbaran Corp, one of the four horseman. So apparently feuds go back a long time and throughout this one super Merc Assignment that Asbaran was trying to complete ... took a lot and was shrouded in death and mystery. So sad!! I almost hate the Alien bugs too... wow definitely a solid part of history with a specific focus on a certain battle within the Four Horseman..an almost a bankruptcy but.. well you just have to read it ::wink wink::

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Same thing all over again.

I was disappointed to find that this second book in the Revelation series isn't a direct sequel to the first book in the series. It's set in the same universe, but with a whole new cast of characters. It may be personal preference, but I'd rather follow the same set of characters through the entire series.

After reading it for a while, I was even more disappointed to find the story was basically a copy of the story from the first book. I'm not sure now if I'll bother with the third book in this series.

[Scott Fry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!

Chris Kennedy does a masterful job with Asbaran Solutions. I'm not used to reading a series where different authors write the books. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this one.

I'm glad I was proven wrong. Asbaran Solutions was a great piece of work. The characters were realistic and fun to read. The action was smooth and the prose was powerful.

I'm going to have to keep moving forward with the Merc companies of Earth.

[David Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nigel's family business the Asbaran Solutions mercenary company has had a run of bad luck, which leaves him as the last surviving son. He is determined to lead the company and rescue his sister who is being held hostage. Nigel is somewhat of a screw up and hot head but is able to grow as a leader and accomplish stuff that his much revered family couldn't do. Don't fall in love with characters, lots of people dying pretty much non-stop in this story.

[Byron Kamimura · Rating 4 out of 5]

When reading this book, you must keep in mind that the main character, Nigel, is NOT a Jim Cartwright. The back stories are different, personalities are different, current events and opening main plot mission are different. Not to mention ending of the story.
I enjoyed both characters and the different approaches each took to pursue their goals.

I want to read the prequel series more now as these characters are 2nd - 3rd generation characters of this fictional universe's story.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun adventure, but it had the same depth and nuance as the first one--that is to say not much. I was hoping that the author would mature the characters and/or the world in the second book, but he didn't. He just picked another mercenary company and did a repeat of the story with minor changes (kid who is looked down on by others get a company that is failing and turns it around). Oh well.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a much better book. The action is more believable, the characters better written, and the flow of the story was significantly improved.

The thing I found annoying was that the author would spend the time to include the names/ranks of the squad .. just as they were blown apart. Incorporate that earlier in the book so it seems significant or not at all.

[Donald McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

War is death. This book shows this truth

A previous review stated this book was dark, it was. However, the subject of combat action is death. One truth throughout this book is that death is always there even for the characters you come to love. I do enjoy this series. This story was a slap in the face saying the reality of war in the future is the same as now.

[Victor Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good book, if not as good as the first in the series. This is a darker story in which the heroes are much less successful. Action is pretty good and the characters were likeable, even if some of the sidekicks were a little stereotypical. The universe, as before, is very well constructed and draws you in. The ending is confusing - it's not even clear if Asbaran Solutions still exists.

[Enrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sci-fi story

The second book of the Four Horseman series is a fast paced story that leads the reader in an exciting ride. The lead character must takeover his family's nerd company after it suffers multiple mission failures. The defeats are not what they seem and a larger threat exists. As I finished the book, I was ready to begin the third book if the series.