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Line of Battle #1
First Command: Line of Battle No. 1
Kim Morden should be elated. Not only has her fleet commander promoted her to captain, but he’s given her command of the RAS Verdun, a great honor for any up-and-coming officer, especially one whose career had such a rocky, deadly start. However, no honor can conceal Morden’s disappointment when she discovers that her first assignment will be a routine mission to search for missing cargo ships in Derek’s Triangle, a worthless, backwater sector outside Alliance control. Such a mundane mission is hardly appropriate for a ship of the line when the Milipa Empire is closing in around the Alliance, and Morden wonders whether command has forgotten or forgiven her past after all.
Morden’s irritation grows when she discovers that her new second-in-command is none other than Emma Holsey, an old friend turned enemy. Morden hasn’t seen Holsey in ten years, but the hatred and blame between them flares back to life. Holsey fights Morden’s every decision, hell-bent on making her first mission as miserable as possible. But when the search takes a terrifying turn and uncovers a sinister threat in the Triangle, Morden and Holsey must put their personal feud on hold if they’re to stand any chance of getting themselves and their crew home alive...
Morden’s irritation grows when she discovers that her new second-in-command is none other than Emma Holsey, an old friend turned enemy. Morden hasn’t seen Holsey in ten years, but the hatred and blame between them flares back to life. Holsey fights Morden’s every decision, hell-bent on making her first mission as miserable as possible. But when the search takes a terrifying turn and uncovers a sinister threat in the Triangle, Morden and Holsey must put their personal feud on hold if they’re to stand any chance of getting themselves and their crew home alive...
- GenresScience Fiction
330 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 7, 2017
4 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
W.P. Brothers
3 books1 followerI have been in love with science fiction since before I can remember. Consuming a steady diet of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Babylon 5, I filled my imagination with stories of adventure, courage, and heroism in outer space and on strange, unexplored worlds. Like any self-respecting American child, I turned entertainment into inspiration and spent countless hours drawing spaceships, creating heroes and villains, and putting them through many outrageous escapades with my two brothers, Alec and Benjamin. As I got older, I began to write these stories down. In middle school, while my peers were confiding to their diaries, I was keeping a Trek-inspired captain's log. Nerd? No, my friend. Dedicated.
As a young man in high school and college, I began to wonder if I could take these stories to the next level and share them with others in the form of short stories or books. You see, if science fiction was one of my great loves, reading was another. Whether I was reading J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit, Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby, or Robert Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky, I was happy if I had my nose buried in a book. I loved the ability of fiction to transport readers to exotic places and teach lessons about life. Could I combine my childhood adventures with my passion for reading and turn it into something worthwhile?
While attending Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, I developed my creative skills with a B.S. in Cinema and Photography and graduated with a head full of stories and fierce determination to share them. Today, I write military science fiction novels while living and working in the beautiful, colorful state of Colorado. First Command, the first novel in my Line of Battle series, is the start of what I hope will be a long line of the kind of exciting books I always love to read. Of course, there's more to life than reading and writing. My other passions include photography, fine cooking, competition target shooting, military history, and hiking and camping with my friends and family in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
I love to hear from readers. You can reach me on my website, or you can connect with me on Facebook. Until then, happy reading!
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWPBrot...
Want a free preview sign up or my mailing list!
http://wp-brothers.com/index.php/free...
As a young man in high school and college, I began to wonder if I could take these stories to the next level and share them with others in the form of short stories or books. You see, if science fiction was one of my great loves, reading was another. Whether I was reading J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit, Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby, or Robert Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky, I was happy if I had my nose buried in a book. I loved the ability of fiction to transport readers to exotic places and teach lessons about life. Could I combine my childhood adventures with my passion for reading and turn it into something worthwhile?
While attending Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, I developed my creative skills with a B.S. in Cinema and Photography and graduated with a head full of stories and fierce determination to share them. Today, I write military science fiction novels while living and working in the beautiful, colorful state of Colorado. First Command, the first novel in my Line of Battle series, is the start of what I hope will be a long line of the kind of exciting books I always love to read. Of course, there's more to life than reading and writing. My other passions include photography, fine cooking, competition target shooting, military history, and hiking and camping with my friends and family in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
I love to hear from readers. You can reach me on my website, or you can connect with me on Facebook. Until then, happy reading!
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWPBrot...
Want a free preview sign up or my mailing list!
http://wp-brothers.com/index.php/free...
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 2, 2017
NetGalley.com kindly supplied this book to me.
Would beneefit greatly from losing 100 pages. There is some strange WW-2 technology in use througWould benefit greatly from losing 100 pages. There is some strange WW-2 technology in use throughout the book. Very weird. This is 1,000 years in the future yet electronics and mechanics seem archaic.
Tons of unnecessary descriptions and dialogue which wreck the pacing and tension. The editor of this book did a lazy job.
The plotting is generally okay, but the behaviour of characters is like high school, and actins are often warped to service a creaky plot. Lazy Hollywood style.
No one behaves like this in any military ship. Gave up at 60%
Notes -
29.0% ".... to sacrifice reason just to service the plot is very Hollywood lazy, or stupid."
28.0% "... you could easily cut 100 pages from this book, and make it much better."
16.0% "... WW-2 again, it seems ... "A radio headset and microphone, stowed on a hook on the side of the chair, allowed the executive officer to maintain contact with all parts of the ship during combat and feed the captain’s orders down to fire control.""
15.0% "... This far-future spaceship seems to feel more like a WW-2 battleship, with "old cracking speakers" and "British breakfast teas""
14.0% "... all ahead full Cap'n. Not bad for a first-time author. Seems a bit overly virile and concerned with romantic potentials"hout the book. Very weird. This is 1,000 years in the future yet electronics and mechanics seem archaic.
Tons of unnecessary descriptions and dialogue which wreck the pacing and tension. The editor of this book did a lazy job.
The plotting is generally okay, but the behaviour of characters is like high school, and actins are often warped to service a creaky plot. Lazy Hollywood style.
No one behaves like this in any military ship. Gave up at 60%
Notes -
29.0% ".... to sacrifice reason just to service the plot is very Hollywood lazy, or stupid."
28.0% "... you could easily cut 100 pages from this book, and make it much better."
16.0% "... WW-2 again, it seems ... "A radio headset and microphone, stowed on a hook on the side of the chair, allowed the executive officer to maintain contact with all parts of the ship during combat and feed the captain’s orders down to fire control.""
15.0% "... This far-future spaceship seems to feel more like a WW-2 battleship, with "old cracking speakers" and "British breakfast teas""
14.0% "... all ahead full Cap'n. Not bad for a first-time author. Seems a bit overly virile and concerned with romantic potentials"
Would beneefit greatly from losing 100 pages. There is some strange WW-2 technology in use througWould benefit greatly from losing 100 pages. There is some strange WW-2 technology in use throughout the book. Very weird. This is 1,000 years in the future yet electronics and mechanics seem archaic.
Tons of unnecessary descriptions and dialogue which wreck the pacing and tension. The editor of this book did a lazy job.
The plotting is generally okay, but the behaviour of characters is like high school, and actins are often warped to service a creaky plot. Lazy Hollywood style.
No one behaves like this in any military ship. Gave up at 60%
Notes -
29.0% ".... to sacrifice reason just to service the plot is very Hollywood lazy, or stupid."
28.0% "... you could easily cut 100 pages from this book, and make it much better."
16.0% "... WW-2 again, it seems ... "A radio headset and microphone, stowed on a hook on the side of the chair, allowed the executive officer to maintain contact with all parts of the ship during combat and feed the captain’s orders down to fire control.""
15.0% "... This far-future spaceship seems to feel more like a WW-2 battleship, with "old cracking speakers" and "British breakfast teas""
14.0% "... all ahead full Cap'n. Not bad for a first-time author. Seems a bit overly virile and concerned with romantic potentials"hout the book. Very weird. This is 1,000 years in the future yet electronics and mechanics seem archaic.
Tons of unnecessary descriptions and dialogue which wreck the pacing and tension. The editor of this book did a lazy job.
The plotting is generally okay, but the behaviour of characters is like high school, and actins are often warped to service a creaky plot. Lazy Hollywood style.
No one behaves like this in any military ship. Gave up at 60%
Notes -
29.0% ".... to sacrifice reason just to service the plot is very Hollywood lazy, or stupid."
28.0% "... you could easily cut 100 pages from this book, and make it much better."
16.0% "... WW-2 again, it seems ... "A radio headset and microphone, stowed on a hook on the side of the chair, allowed the executive officer to maintain contact with all parts of the ship during combat and feed the captain’s orders down to fire control.""
15.0% "... This far-future spaceship seems to feel more like a WW-2 battleship, with "old cracking speakers" and "British breakfast teas""
14.0% "... all ahead full Cap'n. Not bad for a first-time author. Seems a bit overly virile and concerned with romantic potentials"
March 28, 2017
I was recommended this book by one of my Facebook groups, and when I learned some of the backstory of the author, I was actually looking forward to reading it. However, the book ended up leaving me a bit underwhelmed.
My biggest complaint about this story was its overwhelming attention to detail. It made the story unnecessarily verbose and ultimately ended up bogging down the plot, giving the actual story an extremely slow start. This detail attention even slowed the action sequences down and broke the flow of the situations, effectively jarring me out of "readerspace".
In addition to the plot issues, the characters seemed either obsessed with their pasts or tacked on, and all the characters seemed a bit 2 dimensional in general. Alongside that, character development as the story went on felt somewhat predictable, making it difficult for me to care about them or form a connection with them.
By this point, you may be wondering why the book earned a 3 star rating from me, when I've got all these issues with the book overall. What I ultimately enjoyed about the book was the themes presented in the story. This was a story of redemption, pride, and self-discovery. The idea of redemption was the theme that resonated the most with me, as if despite any personal tragedy or disaster that happened could be recovered from. It was something I really needed to hear at this point in my life!
All things considered, this was a decent first effort from the author, and I would be interested in seeing how this author refines their craft in further installments.
My biggest complaint about this story was its overwhelming attention to detail. It made the story unnecessarily verbose and ultimately ended up bogging down the plot, giving the actual story an extremely slow start. This detail attention even slowed the action sequences down and broke the flow of the situations, effectively jarring me out of "readerspace".
In addition to the plot issues, the characters seemed either obsessed with their pasts or tacked on, and all the characters seemed a bit 2 dimensional in general. Alongside that, character development as the story went on felt somewhat predictable, making it difficult for me to care about them or form a connection with them.
By this point, you may be wondering why the book earned a 3 star rating from me, when I've got all these issues with the book overall. What I ultimately enjoyed about the book was the themes presented in the story. This was a story of redemption, pride, and self-discovery. The idea of redemption was the theme that resonated the most with me, as if despite any personal tragedy or disaster that happened could be recovered from. It was something I really needed to hear at this point in my life!
All things considered, this was a decent first effort from the author, and I would be interested in seeing how this author refines their craft in further installments.
May 15, 2017
A common theme that does have a few twists. A new captain with a problem. Often it is the crew but this time it is a new first officer. Another common theme is the fact that the mission should be a milk run but turns out to be anything else. I liked the characters but there was just to much detail. I found myself skimming over a lot of the action and reading only the high points. This is a first book and the first book in the series. It has promise. People who love detail will rate this higher and people like me will give it three stars.
May 5, 2017
Fabulous first novel
Great characters. Amazing battle scenes. Science fiction at its best.
As I read each chapter I was eager to find out what would happen next. Mr Brothers kept me guessing.
Looking forward to the next book in the series which is due out soon.
If you appreciate a well written story with real characters you should definitely read this one.
Great characters. Amazing battle scenes. Science fiction at its best.
As I read each chapter I was eager to find out what would happen next. Mr Brothers kept me guessing.
Looking forward to the next book in the series which is due out soon.
If you appreciate a well written story with real characters you should definitely read this one.
October 29, 2017
I really enjoyed this. Sci fi with strong female characters in the lead - STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS, PEOPLE! - is an absolute delight to me. Believable backstory, tons of tension (both personal and situational), super suspenseful but well balanced with interesting details about daily life on the ship. The author has a real gift for painting the scene - it ran like a movie through my head the whole time I was reading. In fact, it would make an excellent movie! I wish someone would pick it up. In the meantime, I'm 90% of the way through book two and happily looking forward to the rest of the series.
July 15, 2017
I received a free copy via netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
A good Military space opera, although the story line is fairly standard.
The characters are interesting with great action scenes.
One drawback is there too much detail in places slowing the story down.
A good Military space opera, although the story line is fairly standard.
The characters are interesting with great action scenes.
One drawback is there too much detail in places slowing the story down.
February 11, 2018
I received this free from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.
I love sci-fi space opera with a strong female lead and this book has it. The battle scenes are gritty. My only problem is that the weaponry used on the ships is archaic considering the fact that they are on starships, bullets just don't seem like something that would be used in the future. Despite that I am looking forward to the next book.
I love sci-fi space opera with a strong female lead and this book has it. The battle scenes are gritty. My only problem is that the weaponry used on the ships is archaic considering the fact that they are on starships, bullets just don't seem like something that would be used in the future. Despite that I am looking forward to the next book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews