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Argonauts #1
Bug Hunt
Starting an interstellar security consulting company was supposed to be easy. Rade got his ex-military teammates together and they pooled their savings to buy a ship and six mechs. The Argonauts were born. But it wasn't easy. Ruthless bankers breathing down their necks, vengeful warlords promising to pursue them across the galaxy, and now a mysterious new client who wants Rade and his Argonauts to escort her to a frontier planet. Problem is, the new client won't reveal her cargo. It's probably something illegal. Well, Rade needs the money, so a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. They arrive to find the frontier colony strangely deserted. When the shit hits the fan and the Argonauts face a possible alien infestation, it's time to pull out the big guns. Because if there's one thing Rade and his Argonauts really love, it's a good bug hunt. And this one looks to be the hunt of a lifetime.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 27, 2017
681 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Hooke
102 books508 followersIsaac Hooke is the best-selling author of the Ethan Galaal series of thriller novels, as well as the SF-themed ATLAS trilogy. When Isaac isn't writing, publishing, and blogging, he's busy cycling and taking pictures in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has a degree in Engineering Physics.
You can follow Isaac on Twitter @IsaacHooke and his website http://IsaacHooke.com.
You can follow Isaac on Twitter @IsaacHooke and his website http://IsaacHooke.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
September 28, 2017
I fully admit that I purchased Bug Hunt because of the title. It popped up in the “Customers who bought this item also bought” queue for another book I was buying. It had a high rating and a lot of rave reviews from MilSF fans. It was advertised as book 1 of a new series by the author, called Argonauts, so it had the potential to become my new cheesy space action addiction.
I usually have pretty decent self-control when it comes to avoiding impulse buys. 9 times out of 10 I can walk past the ice cream freezer at the grocery store without buying anything. Likewise, 9 times out of ten I can stop myself from hitting the “1-click” option on amazon that tends to just leave you with a backlog of ebooks in your kindle carousel that you’re never going to read.
But it was literally called Bug Hunt; I mean, the title is basically the logline, right? Like, it’s going to be a whole book comprised of only the good parts of Starship Troopers. Space soldiers shooting space bugs! Hunting them first of course, you know, for suspense and stuff, but then shooting them. And lo and behold, I could also sync it with the audiobook, narrated by the excellent Luke Daniels, if I just checked the “add narration” box. So, yeah, I checked. And I clicked.
After the first few chapters I realized I was reading a sequel, despite the “Book 1” claim on the cover. Hooke doesn’t even bother with minimal character development, he just expects that you are already familiar with these people – who are more or less a hodge-podge of standard SF adventure archetypes who obviously know each other very well because all they do is tell each other dick-and-fart jokes - and moves on. Argonauts, it turns out, is a sequel series to Hooke’s Alien War Trilogy, though the sneaky fuckers at Amazon don’t mention that in the ad copy for the book. And for some reason neither did any of the customer reviews, so either none of those readers thought it worth mentioning, or they genuinely had no idea they were reading a sequel series and today’s run-of-the-mill MilSF fan considers dick-and-fart bantering an adequate substitute for character delineation. Back in my day we had a better class of MilSF fans. I swear, some people’s kids.
Really though, Luke Daniels is a terrific voice actor. I do most Kindle/Audible combos by listening to the narration in my car on my way to and from work, and read the kindle version on my breaks, but with this one I stopped reading the Kindle version early on and stuck to the narration. The writing wasn’t bad or anything, it was just a lot better with Daniels reading it. I also regularly listen to Daniels’ narration of Marko Kloos’ Frontline series, so I know he has a special knack for rattling off jarhead jargon and hard SF action. Hooke is pretty good at writing those things too (not as good as Kloos, but good enough to pass the smell test).
The dick-and-fart aspect of the novel, which takes up way more real estate than it should, is sadly not his forte. Verily I say unto thee, Isaac Hooke hath not met a dick-and-fart joke that he could not drag out interminably beyond the point of it not being nearly as funny as he thought it was to begin with. Poor Luke Daniels really had to put on his game face for that nonsense.
But the bug hunting! Awesome, right? Well, sort of. I did the math and the actual bug hunting takes up about 25% of the novel, and all of that 25% is concentrated into one sequence in the exact MIDDLE of the book. So instead of the carapace-shattering, goo-splattering space bug apocalypse that should occupy the climax of a novel LITERALLY CALLED BUG HUNT, the last third of the book is the crew of Serenity I mean Argonaut chasing down the dickweed responsible for the bugs and there’s a hostage to rescue and a stupid bomb or whatever and zzzzzzzzzzzzz………….
That one bug hunting sequence, though, is pretty dope. The space bugs are cool and a little different than the usual space bugs and super hard to kill. All of Hooke’s plus skills as a writer are firing on all cylinders during that one-fourth of the book, so I guess I’ll take what I can get.
As far as what the rest of the series has in store, Commander Exposition has a monologue in the last chapter that hints at the possibility of more space bug action, but sorry Isaac Hooke I’m not giving you more money so you can dole out wee bits of bug attacks in little paper cups like a volunteer at a methadone clinic. None of the titles of the other books in the series have the word “bug” in them, though I must admit that Robot Dust Bunnies (I shit you not) raises an eyebrow, and the last book in the series is called Mechs vs. Dinosaurs. Tell me though, how much of that book is actually comprised of mechs fighting dinosaurs? Not gonna happen, Mr. Hooke. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I usually have pretty decent self-control when it comes to avoiding impulse buys. 9 times out of 10 I can walk past the ice cream freezer at the grocery store without buying anything. Likewise, 9 times out of ten I can stop myself from hitting the “1-click” option on amazon that tends to just leave you with a backlog of ebooks in your kindle carousel that you’re never going to read.
But it was literally called Bug Hunt; I mean, the title is basically the logline, right? Like, it’s going to be a whole book comprised of only the good parts of Starship Troopers. Space soldiers shooting space bugs! Hunting them first of course, you know, for suspense and stuff, but then shooting them. And lo and behold, I could also sync it with the audiobook, narrated by the excellent Luke Daniels, if I just checked the “add narration” box. So, yeah, I checked. And I clicked.
After the first few chapters I realized I was reading a sequel, despite the “Book 1” claim on the cover. Hooke doesn’t even bother with minimal character development, he just expects that you are already familiar with these people – who are more or less a hodge-podge of standard SF adventure archetypes who obviously know each other very well because all they do is tell each other dick-and-fart jokes - and moves on. Argonauts, it turns out, is a sequel series to Hooke’s Alien War Trilogy, though the sneaky fuckers at Amazon don’t mention that in the ad copy for the book. And for some reason neither did any of the customer reviews, so either none of those readers thought it worth mentioning, or they genuinely had no idea they were reading a sequel series and today’s run-of-the-mill MilSF fan considers dick-and-fart bantering an adequate substitute for character delineation. Back in my day we had a better class of MilSF fans. I swear, some people’s kids.
Really though, Luke Daniels is a terrific voice actor. I do most Kindle/Audible combos by listening to the narration in my car on my way to and from work, and read the kindle version on my breaks, but with this one I stopped reading the Kindle version early on and stuck to the narration. The writing wasn’t bad or anything, it was just a lot better with Daniels reading it. I also regularly listen to Daniels’ narration of Marko Kloos’ Frontline series, so I know he has a special knack for rattling off jarhead jargon and hard SF action. Hooke is pretty good at writing those things too (not as good as Kloos, but good enough to pass the smell test).
The dick-and-fart aspect of the novel, which takes up way more real estate than it should, is sadly not his forte. Verily I say unto thee, Isaac Hooke hath not met a dick-and-fart joke that he could not drag out interminably beyond the point of it not being nearly as funny as he thought it was to begin with. Poor Luke Daniels really had to put on his game face for that nonsense.
But the bug hunting! Awesome, right? Well, sort of. I did the math and the actual bug hunting takes up about 25% of the novel, and all of that 25% is concentrated into one sequence in the exact MIDDLE of the book. So instead of the carapace-shattering, goo-splattering space bug apocalypse that should occupy the climax of a novel LITERALLY CALLED BUG HUNT, the last third of the book is the crew of Serenity I mean Argonaut chasing down the dickweed responsible for the bugs and there’s a hostage to rescue and a stupid bomb or whatever and zzzzzzzzzzzzz………….
That one bug hunting sequence, though, is pretty dope. The space bugs are cool and a little different than the usual space bugs and super hard to kill. All of Hooke’s plus skills as a writer are firing on all cylinders during that one-fourth of the book, so I guess I’ll take what I can get.
As far as what the rest of the series has in store, Commander Exposition has a monologue in the last chapter that hints at the possibility of more space bug action, but sorry Isaac Hooke I’m not giving you more money so you can dole out wee bits of bug attacks in little paper cups like a volunteer at a methadone clinic. None of the titles of the other books in the series have the word “bug” in them, though I must admit that Robot Dust Bunnies (I shit you not) raises an eyebrow, and the last book in the series is called Mechs vs. Dinosaurs. Tell me though, how much of that book is actually comprised of mechs fighting dinosaurs? Not gonna happen, Mr. Hooke. Fool me twice, shame on me.
April 8, 2017
I don't necessarily need a book to be perfect to be enjoyable, but this series is just bad. The characters are all painfully one-dimensional, and half of them only exist to spout unimaginative insults at each other in an attempt to sound like soldiers bantering. The plot's serviceable, though nothing special, but the writing all around is pretty lackluster. Combined with the poor characters, it winds up being painful.
I read a few more of the books to see if things get any better, and it doesn't. I have no idea how Isaac Hooke has as many decent reviews as he does, both here and on Amazon, but I'm a little suspicious that there might be some vote trading among a local writer's group or something similar.
I read a few more of the books to see if things get any better, and it doesn't. I have no idea how Isaac Hooke has as many decent reviews as he does, both here and on Amazon, but I'm a little suspicious that there might be some vote trading among a local writer's group or something similar.
January 26, 2018
Sci-Fi, military action, again this January, I am starting something new here, short books(???!!), I was quite surprised that I finished this over five days........
Okay, Argonauts a group of Ex-Moth's(no I have no idea who or what they are except maybe some sort of space marines??? They do ride some battle suits ala Robotech not the Valkyrie types though), who do security consultations(newest term for mercs or security personnels, according to this story though) headed by Rade Galaal, they start of the story. escaping from a human trafficker and from there goes into the main story, escorting a new client into achieving said client's goal, therein lies the twist and turn to this narrative, I maybe missing some books here since most of the time, there are references to something I truly have no idea (ummmm hardpoints, the mechs/battle suits they use, the war that they came from before establishing this particular consultation group), still the minor lack of information did not hinder me from enjoying the story.
SO!!! On to book two!!!
Okay, Argonauts a group of Ex-Moth's(no I have no idea who or what they are except maybe some sort of space marines??? They do ride some battle suits ala Robotech not the Valkyrie types though), who do security consultations(newest term for mercs or security personnels, according to this story though) headed by Rade Galaal, they start of the story. escaping from a human trafficker and from there goes into the main story, escorting a new client into achieving said client's goal, therein lies the twist and turn to this narrative, I maybe missing some books here since most of the time, there are references to something I truly have no idea (ummmm hardpoints, the mechs/battle suits they use, the war that they came from before establishing this particular consultation group), still the minor lack of information did not hinder me from enjoying the story.
SO!!! On to book two!!!
April 10, 2019
I wasn’t sure what this new series by one of my favorite authors was going to be about. Then, right off, I see that it’s about Rade Galaal. He’s one of my favorite characters. I’ve followed him all the way through MOTH (MObile Tactical Human) training through most of his career as a MOTH and up to Chief. He’s even shown up in “The Captain’s Curcible” series. One of the great things about this character was his purpose for fighting. He was a member of the United Systems Navy and fought for freedom and their way of life. Now, that’s all changed. He’s out of the Navy, no longer a MOTH (althought they say, “Once a MOTH, always a MOTH”). I don’t believe he retired because he doesn’t seem that old yet. Still, not being in the Navy means he’s something else, a “Security Consultant” which kind of translates into mercenary! That didn’t set well with me, at first.
It also seems that his entire former MOTH team has left the Navy also and joined Rade’s security consulting firm, including Shaw. If you remember, Shaw was an astronavigator on one of the ships that carried the MOTHs on a mission. She and Rade got together and heated up the ship something terrible. Yet, Shaw didn’t think their relationship could last the Navy. So she made a point to avoid Rade as much as possible until she almost got killed on one mission that brought them together. Now, both are out of the Navy and apparently nothing is keeping them apart, even clothes! Yeah, they heat up the place in this book too. I won’t go into naming all the other team members because they’re the same one’s as before, now altogether doing whatever it takes to get paid. Shaw seems to have bankrolled the purchase of a small ship, the “Argonaut” and that’s how they get around.
So, they are flying from one place to another, trying to do some work that isn’t illegal or not obviously so. They aren’t real successful in finding clients. There seems to be a lot of mercenaries available to do worse things that Unlimited Universe Consulting Incorporated will not do. They just started a job only to find out their client was into human trafficking and Rade couldn’t let that stand. So after freeing the slaved humans and almost tearing his employers palace down and then getting away without too much damage, he’s looking for a new client. Oh, and he didn’t get paid by the last client, of course! Then they meet Ms. Emilia Bounty, Green Systems, and she has a job for Rade’s company. Where this job takes them is very, very interesting and could lead to bigger and better things, if they can survive!
This is the start of a great series. Although I liked it better when the MOTHs where part of the Navy, this might work. Still, they are now worried about the cost of all their equipment more so then the cost of their lives. Rade’s supposed to be in-charge, which he definitely is, but he’s suffering a bad case of PTSD! In fact, most of his team probably has a bad case of PTSD, but they fight through it, but it does effect Rade’s performance sometimes. I would be leery about relying on him in some situations. Then there’s Shaw and him. If there’s one thing I don’t like about this book is that Shaw and Rade are just too much in love! They can’t think of practically anything but each other, especially Rade of Shaw. It could easily get him killed and he will obviously let the team go to hell if Shaw were in danger. Heck, he even decided to rescue Shaw and not try and save two-million people instead. I think the author went overboard with the Shaw and Rade romance thing. They are a danger to every mission because they can’t get their heads on straight from worrying about each other.
Still, this looks like a great beginning to a new series. The ending of this book kind of sets the stage for the next three which I think the author has already written and published. I know book two, “You Are Prey”, is out and I have it already. I suggest you get this book and start reading.
It also seems that his entire former MOTH team has left the Navy also and joined Rade’s security consulting firm, including Shaw. If you remember, Shaw was an astronavigator on one of the ships that carried the MOTHs on a mission. She and Rade got together and heated up the ship something terrible. Yet, Shaw didn’t think their relationship could last the Navy. So she made a point to avoid Rade as much as possible until she almost got killed on one mission that brought them together. Now, both are out of the Navy and apparently nothing is keeping them apart, even clothes! Yeah, they heat up the place in this book too. I won’t go into naming all the other team members because they’re the same one’s as before, now altogether doing whatever it takes to get paid. Shaw seems to have bankrolled the purchase of a small ship, the “Argonaut” and that’s how they get around.
So, they are flying from one place to another, trying to do some work that isn’t illegal or not obviously so. They aren’t real successful in finding clients. There seems to be a lot of mercenaries available to do worse things that Unlimited Universe Consulting Incorporated will not do. They just started a job only to find out their client was into human trafficking and Rade couldn’t let that stand. So after freeing the slaved humans and almost tearing his employers palace down and then getting away without too much damage, he’s looking for a new client. Oh, and he didn’t get paid by the last client, of course! Then they meet Ms. Emilia Bounty, Green Systems, and she has a job for Rade’s company. Where this job takes them is very, very interesting and could lead to bigger and better things, if they can survive!
This is the start of a great series. Although I liked it better when the MOTHs where part of the Navy, this might work. Still, they are now worried about the cost of all their equipment more so then the cost of their lives. Rade’s supposed to be in-charge, which he definitely is, but he’s suffering a bad case of PTSD! In fact, most of his team probably has a bad case of PTSD, but they fight through it, but it does effect Rade’s performance sometimes. I would be leery about relying on him in some situations. Then there’s Shaw and him. If there’s one thing I don’t like about this book is that Shaw and Rade are just too much in love! They can’t think of practically anything but each other, especially Rade of Shaw. It could easily get him killed and he will obviously let the team go to hell if Shaw were in danger. Heck, he even decided to rescue Shaw and not try and save two-million people instead. I think the author went overboard with the Shaw and Rade romance thing. They are a danger to every mission because they can’t get their heads on straight from worrying about each other.
Still, this looks like a great beginning to a new series. The ending of this book kind of sets the stage for the next three which I think the author has already written and published. I know book two, “You Are Prey”, is out and I have it already. I suggest you get this book and start reading.
April 16, 2017
Okay so this was my first try using Alexa to read a book to me. And it was a roaring success. On the Alexa side. On the book side... meh
So bug hunt was fine, I wince so much at the author casually dropping in a few slave girls at the start, then as soon as they were rescued shacking up with some of the crew, 'cause a traumatic experience is totally what gets me in the mood >_>.
Other than that the book was fine, you standard implausible romp through space. The AIs were fun, and I got the impression this resided in a universe that I hadn't read before, so I was missing bits and pieces of lore.
Basically a fine action filled run through space. Slightly on the silly eye-rolling side, but if that's what you're in the mood for, go for it. I'll probably read the next one when I'm in that sort of mood myself. Great literature, it was not.
So bug hunt was fine, I wince so much at the author casually dropping in a few slave girls at the start, then as soon as they were rescued shacking up with some of the crew, 'cause a traumatic experience is totally what gets me in the mood >_>.
Other than that the book was fine, you standard implausible romp through space. The AIs were fun, and I got the impression this resided in a universe that I hadn't read before, so I was missing bits and pieces of lore.
Basically a fine action filled run through space. Slightly on the silly eye-rolling side, but if that's what you're in the mood for, go for it. I'll probably read the next one when I'm in that sort of mood myself. Great literature, it was not.
March 26, 2017
Oh the clichés
Yeah there are about ten words in here that are not some form of a tired military cliché. PTSD afflicted vet refusing care, cuz he's just fine! Even tho he's demonstrably not even close. But still got to protect his girl from the bad situations normal in their chosen profession. Total heart of gold crew, don't get paid for six months yet can still support families and booze fueled hooker parties. And shall we just skip the sweat drenched sexy times, I did. I just wanted some good old alien hunting. Dropped it about 1/2 through.
Yeah there are about ten words in here that are not some form of a tired military cliché. PTSD afflicted vet refusing care, cuz he's just fine! Even tho he's demonstrably not even close. But still got to protect his girl from the bad situations normal in their chosen profession. Total heart of gold crew, don't get paid for six months yet can still support families and booze fueled hooker parties. And shall we just skip the sweat drenched sexy times, I did. I just wanted some good old alien hunting. Dropped it about 1/2 through.
July 8, 2017
This was crap! I made it to page 40 of 240. It started out with crappy stereotypical characters, and then got worse! When I hit the line “It’s all about the bling, bitch!”, I stopped. This takes place several hundred years in the future, with the human race spread out to the stars, and the same crass, cultural crudities of today survived?! Do not waste your time!
June 5, 2017
A resounding meh
It wasn't a bad book by any stretch, but I really felt as though some more background information was sorely needed. I also felt that the main characters PTSD and love interest didn't really add anything, and detracted if anything. It bugged me.
It wasn't a bad book by any stretch, but I really felt as though some more background information was sorely needed. I also felt that the main characters PTSD and love interest didn't really add anything, and detracted if anything. It bugged me.
February 21, 2019
2.5 to 3 stars Ah, it was okay, nothing ground breaking but I did like the ending but it took a long time to get there. Not sure if I will continue with this series.
Read
May 15, 2022Rubbish. Refused To Finish. Binned It. Rating: -2
It wasn't memorable, which makes it bad.
I scribbled the quick note above because i was in a rush. When I came back to this review, the above had actually received 2 likes. Obviously I am a bit more demanding than most english speaking (american, of course) members.
Since I watch YouTube more now, if these readers are interested in a medium that is less taxing of their reading skills, ignore the sites that spell book and go to the rest, these are some favorites
UA Courage, Some More News, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Brittany the Bibliophile, John Michael Godier, Hello Future Me, Books and LaLa, Books with Chloe, Books with Emily Fox, Merphy Napier, Peruse Project, Irish reader, Serena Skybourne, Katie Colson, Lady of the Library, Petrik Leo, Christy Anne Jones, Jack in the Books, A Clockwork Reader, Autumn's Boutique, Austin McConnell, Elliot Brooks, Second thought, Prof. Richard Wolff, Rebecca Watson, Atun Shei, Noah Sampson, Tara Mooknee, Munecat, Narrowboat Pirate, Cruising Alba, Northern Narrowboaters, Beau of the fifth column, Ash Sarkar, Knowing Better, the Gravel Institute, BrandonF, Battle Order, vMilitary Aviation History, Tank Chats, Spacedock, The Armchair historian and World War Two.
See my review of a piece of libertarian drivel called "Powers of the Earth", the comments and other reviews. If you consider my experience acceptable or that looking away is the healthy response, please do not read my reviews beginning now. It really does take a communist to take issue with pro slavery sentiments among americans.
Having discovered that most americans support white nationalists, National Socialism, etc and cgr710/Claes Rees, Jr speaks for you, and according to your Fox, Putin is a hero, I say.
GLORY TO UKRAINE !
If you are human, I want that you have a glorious morning, a magnificent afternoon, a brilliant evening and a splendid night. Hope is sometimes misplaced but is never lost.
It wasn't memorable, which makes it bad.
I scribbled the quick note above because i was in a rush. When I came back to this review, the above had actually received 2 likes. Obviously I am a bit more demanding than most english speaking (american, of course) members.
Since I watch YouTube more now, if these readers are interested in a medium that is less taxing of their reading skills, ignore the sites that spell book and go to the rest, these are some favorites
UA Courage, Some More News, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Brittany the Bibliophile, John Michael Godier, Hello Future Me, Books and LaLa, Books with Chloe, Books with Emily Fox, Merphy Napier, Peruse Project, Irish reader, Serena Skybourne, Katie Colson, Lady of the Library, Petrik Leo, Christy Anne Jones, Jack in the Books, A Clockwork Reader, Autumn's Boutique, Austin McConnell, Elliot Brooks, Second thought, Prof. Richard Wolff, Rebecca Watson, Atun Shei, Noah Sampson, Tara Mooknee, Munecat, Narrowboat Pirate, Cruising Alba, Northern Narrowboaters, Beau of the fifth column, Ash Sarkar, Knowing Better, the Gravel Institute, BrandonF, Battle Order, vMilitary Aviation History, Tank Chats, Spacedock, The Armchair historian and World War Two.
See my review of a piece of libertarian drivel called "Powers of the Earth", the comments and other reviews. If you consider my experience acceptable or that looking away is the healthy response, please do not read my reviews beginning now. It really does take a communist to take issue with pro slavery sentiments among americans.
Having discovered that most americans support white nationalists, National Socialism, etc and cgr710/Claes Rees, Jr speaks for you, and according to your Fox, Putin is a hero, I say.
GLORY TO UKRAINE !
If you are human, I want that you have a glorious morning, a magnificent afternoon, a brilliant evening and a splendid night. Hope is sometimes misplaced but is never lost.
January 18, 2021
The book started well, but it soon went downhill. I’m afraid the main characters irritated me quite quickly. The banter was annoying, but what really put me off the book was the crew’s mercy mission (The main character makes it clear they aren’t being paid, but are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts).
They rescue a group of traumatised kidnapped women who were going to be sold as sex slaves, within minutes of getting them on their ship, several of them are then used for sex by members of the ’kind hearted’ crew.
They rescue a group of traumatised kidnapped women who were going to be sold as sex slaves, within minutes of getting them on their ship, several of them are then used for sex by members of the ’kind hearted’ crew.
November 15, 2018
I couldn’t finish. The writing is very stilted and choppy. It has bizarre graphic sex scenes thrown in at random. There is a lot of weird testosterone laden interactions and calling everyone a “pussy”. Not for me.
June 16, 2017
Despite the good reviews for this book, I found it to be almost like a children's cartoon with one-dimensional characters and poorly plotted.
Read
July 23, 2017To begin, I cannot give this book a rating.
The story is simple and standard, but in a fun, cheap-read kind of way. This is a book for when you're looking for pure action with not a lot to think about. If I were to judge it strictly on the main story, it would be five stars hands down.
But there were a couple problems that killed it for me. The first were the characters. The cast is diverse, but everyone is either a stereotype (ie. the black guy who wears gold chains, has gold teeth, and actually says "it's all about the bling"), or they're diminished in some way (the generic "Asian"-American in a universe where bad or potentially hostile Asians are identified more specifically - the "Japanese warlord" or the shadowy "Sino-Koreans;" or the "Navajo" who has to remind the leader they're equal partners in the business, then finds himself surprised when he learns that leader has arranged a new job and he's been left out of the loop again).
That by itself doesn't kill the book. I could chalk it up to having read this at the wrong time, reading too much into it, or simply enjoy the rest of the story once getting past those set-ups. It's the sexism that goes above and beyond, and I think that's what heightened my awareness for the other, smaller things.
I can pretty much sum it up with a scenario from the opening chapters: You decide to betray your client when you learn he's running a human smuggling ring, turning helpless women into sex slaves and selling them on the black market. You take such a moral high ground that you decide to throw the job away when you're desperate for the cash, it could result in the bank taking your ship, and your team mates will be forced on public assistance. You're barely away from the villain when you realize some of your team has vanished . They're already below seducing the very women you just rescued, and trying to get them into their own beds. What do you do?
A) Rush down there and smack them around before they abuse these women further.
B) Blame the women for the behavior of the men ("He also realized it was more than likely the passengers had done the seducing, or at least played an equal part, given the way the women had behaved during the weeks leading up to their rescue.")
C) Plan to dock their pay for the behavior, then wish more of your crew would join in on the abuse so you could save even more money ("With luck, more of his crew would misbehave in the coming weeks.")
D) B & C
Sadly, this is just the beginning. Our main character treats the only woman on his team (coincidentally his girlfriend) as if she's some delicate thing that needs protecting. Even she complains of this attitude, so I have to give points for the counterbalance. However between missions, we're given a couple sequences to demonstrate that she is in fact weak. The two of them are weightlifting with the Navajo, and there is strange bit about having to reduce the weight when it's her turn. Next we see the two "sparring" with strength-enhancing exoskeletons. He's afraid to hurt her, so he has his suit turned down to minimum strength, letting her win each round. She eventually gets upset and calls down the black guy to replace him as her sparring partner. Maybe I was tainted by the first scenario, because it seemed he was a little too happy to have a go at her and beat the crap out of her. One thing that wasn't a mistake was his decision to call her a bitch at her lowest point in their match. In the moment of redemption, that's the straw where she finally finds her strength and beats the crap out of him, but instead of learning a lesson, that's only the first time we hear him toss that word around.
Later in the piece, the main character convinces her to stay behind on the ship when the main mission of the story gets underway. And of course the villain flies up and takes control of the ship. There's a moment where he faces off with her, and I was certain the call back to the sparring match would prove to be a pay-off, but instead, it's another case of her getting the crap beat out of her. What's worse, her biggest concern is not for her life, but for her looks. "She noticed a pool of blood underneath her where her face had lain on the ground. She touched her features, searching for the source, and felt a sharp pain when she touched her cheek. The bone was shattered, she thought. The notion saddened her. Rade had always said she had the cutest cheeks. The cutest dimples."
To be fair, I once enjoyed one story where the racism was overt - the author entered into full blown diatribes. I got to thinking about why that was when I certainly didn't agree with the attitude or the argument. For one, in that case, the attitudes were isolated; the author would make his case and go back to the story, where as here, every time it looked like I could forget about it, the black guy pops up to randomly call someone a bitch, or an extremely lewd conversation springs up out of nowhere to constantly pull me back into that. Secondly, the other book had a strong counterbalance to the racist attitudes: the salvation of the main characters came only because they teamed up with a minority group and worked together. Here, in the main story, the female character's moment came only as a brief escape so she could fire off the ordinance and prevent the bad guy from blowing away the gate that allowed her boyfriend to follow them - beyond that she was the epitome of the damsel in distress. Thirdly, the racist author expressed the views as part of some social commentary. I did not agree with his assessment in the least, but at least he was trying to get a conversation going...instead of tuning out and dismissing it because of the racism, it was something that got me thinking what the true reasons for the problems rising in that book might be. The idea of allowing hate speech here in the US is not to allow idiots a mouthpiece, but rather to initiate some rather tough discussions that the PC culture almost forces us to ignore.
The reason I can't 1-star this piece is that it did get me thinking about the issue of sexism in entertainment. There are a lot of hyper-masculine books and movies that pull off this macho, chauvinistic society without the sexual and physical abuse coming from the heroes. There are a lot of stories that create these kinds of societies and create the "realism" while leaving us some kind of hope. Bringing Stella Home by Joe Vasicek has a young woman captured by space barbarians and added to the leader's harem. It is a world that is every bit as vile, and when she gets a chance to escape it, she makes the decision to stay. It is weird that she would choose to stay on as the barbarian leader's sex object, but throughout her ordeal, she learns how to subtly manipulate the situation, and by the moment of choice, she faces a difficult reality that she can bend the leader and potentially save lives. It's not an easy decision for her, but it's a moment of sacrifice; that something good can come from all the evil.
Ultimately, this book did get me thinking, and that is, after all, the point of science fiction. For that reason, I can't come up with a rating, but this was an issue that overshadowed everything for me.
The story is simple and standard, but in a fun, cheap-read kind of way. This is a book for when you're looking for pure action with not a lot to think about. If I were to judge it strictly on the main story, it would be five stars hands down.
But there were a couple problems that killed it for me. The first were the characters. The cast is diverse, but everyone is either a stereotype (ie. the black guy who wears gold chains, has gold teeth, and actually says "it's all about the bling"), or they're diminished in some way (the generic "Asian"-American in a universe where bad or potentially hostile Asians are identified more specifically - the "Japanese warlord" or the shadowy "Sino-Koreans;" or the "Navajo" who has to remind the leader they're equal partners in the business, then finds himself surprised when he learns that leader has arranged a new job and he's been left out of the loop again).
That by itself doesn't kill the book. I could chalk it up to having read this at the wrong time, reading too much into it, or simply enjoy the rest of the story once getting past those set-ups. It's the sexism that goes above and beyond, and I think that's what heightened my awareness for the other, smaller things.
I can pretty much sum it up with a scenario from the opening chapters: You decide to betray your client when you learn he's running a human smuggling ring, turning helpless women into sex slaves and selling them on the black market. You take such a moral high ground that you decide to throw the job away when you're desperate for the cash, it could result in the bank taking your ship, and your team mates will be forced on public assistance. You're barely away from the villain when you realize some of your team has vanished . They're already below seducing the very women you just rescued, and trying to get them into their own beds. What do you do?
A) Rush down there and smack them around before they abuse these women further.
B) Blame the women for the behavior of the men ("He also realized it was more than likely the passengers had done the seducing, or at least played an equal part, given the way the women had behaved during the weeks leading up to their rescue.")
C) Plan to dock their pay for the behavior, then wish more of your crew would join in on the abuse so you could save even more money ("With luck, more of his crew would misbehave in the coming weeks.")
D) B & C
Sadly, this is just the beginning. Our main character treats the only woman on his team (coincidentally his girlfriend) as if she's some delicate thing that needs protecting. Even she complains of this attitude, so I have to give points for the counterbalance. However between missions, we're given a couple sequences to demonstrate that she is in fact weak. The two of them are weightlifting with the Navajo, and there is strange bit about having to reduce the weight when it's her turn. Next we see the two "sparring" with strength-enhancing exoskeletons. He's afraid to hurt her, so he has his suit turned down to minimum strength, letting her win each round. She eventually gets upset and calls down the black guy to replace him as her sparring partner. Maybe I was tainted by the first scenario, because it seemed he was a little too happy to have a go at her and beat the crap out of her. One thing that wasn't a mistake was his decision to call her a bitch at her lowest point in their match. In the moment of redemption, that's the straw where she finally finds her strength and beats the crap out of him, but instead of learning a lesson, that's only the first time we hear him toss that word around.
Later in the piece, the main character convinces her to stay behind on the ship when the main mission of the story gets underway. And of course the villain flies up and takes control of the ship. There's a moment where he faces off with her, and I was certain the call back to the sparring match would prove to be a pay-off, but instead, it's another case of her getting the crap beat out of her. What's worse, her biggest concern is not for her life, but for her looks. "She noticed a pool of blood underneath her where her face had lain on the ground. She touched her features, searching for the source, and felt a sharp pain when she touched her cheek. The bone was shattered, she thought. The notion saddened her. Rade had always said she had the cutest cheeks. The cutest dimples."
To be fair, I once enjoyed one story where the racism was overt - the author entered into full blown diatribes. I got to thinking about why that was when I certainly didn't agree with the attitude or the argument. For one, in that case, the attitudes were isolated; the author would make his case and go back to the story, where as here, every time it looked like I could forget about it, the black guy pops up to randomly call someone a bitch, or an extremely lewd conversation springs up out of nowhere to constantly pull me back into that. Secondly, the other book had a strong counterbalance to the racist attitudes: the salvation of the main characters came only because they teamed up with a minority group and worked together. Here, in the main story, the female character's moment came only as a brief escape so she could fire off the ordinance and prevent the bad guy from blowing away the gate that allowed her boyfriend to follow them - beyond that she was the epitome of the damsel in distress. Thirdly, the racist author expressed the views as part of some social commentary. I did not agree with his assessment in the least, but at least he was trying to get a conversation going...instead of tuning out and dismissing it because of the racism, it was something that got me thinking what the true reasons for the problems rising in that book might be. The idea of allowing hate speech here in the US is not to allow idiots a mouthpiece, but rather to initiate some rather tough discussions that the PC culture almost forces us to ignore.
The reason I can't 1-star this piece is that it did get me thinking about the issue of sexism in entertainment. There are a lot of hyper-masculine books and movies that pull off this macho, chauvinistic society without the sexual and physical abuse coming from the heroes. There are a lot of stories that create these kinds of societies and create the "realism" while leaving us some kind of hope. Bringing Stella Home by Joe Vasicek has a young woman captured by space barbarians and added to the leader's harem. It is a world that is every bit as vile, and when she gets a chance to escape it, she makes the decision to stay. It is weird that she would choose to stay on as the barbarian leader's sex object, but throughout her ordeal, she learns how to subtly manipulate the situation, and by the moment of choice, she faces a difficult reality that she can bend the leader and potentially save lives. It's not an easy decision for her, but it's a moment of sacrifice; that something good can come from all the evil.
Ultimately, this book did get me thinking, and that is, after all, the point of science fiction. For that reason, I can't come up with a rating, but this was an issue that overshadowed everything for me.
March 8, 2017
Wow, loved it.
Started off a little confusing as I had a time with the names. Great read full of all kinds of trouble for crew and captain, I think you will enjoy the book.
Started off a little confusing as I had a time with the names. Great read full of all kinds of trouble for crew and captain, I think you will enjoy the book.
April 4, 2017
Very mediocre not recommended.
April 18, 2017
Made a good read, but too predictable and shallow characters .
July 20, 2018
Well... that was different. It felt like it was written by a kid or young adult. The for shadowing was a bit clumsy. I liked the story. Reader was fantastic.
April 23, 2021
I liked this book even though it had sexual subjects that were a little more detailed than I am used to. It fit in with soldiers and how they talk and what they might do in their off time. There was also some romance going on in this novel. I don't think the author quite captured that essence. I've seen better.
The Story: Raid (what a name) is ex-military and so are the rest of the Argonauts. They'd follow him anywhere, including a certain woman who can break a man's arm if it suited her. (She is not as strong as a man, but it doesn't take much to shoot.) They have just finished a mission of mercy... a freebie rescue... and they are now short on cash. Raid can't make the payments on the space ship they bought and he can't pay his men at the same time. It is one or the other and either way they are out of business unless their new client, Bounty, comes through with a big advance and a big payoff. But Bounty refuses to tell Raid what the job is other than escort duty for her space ship and possible ground duty (that's extra pay). With a cash advance big enough to pay off his immediate debts, Raid and the Argonauts are off to the edge of known space. But when they get to the planet it looks deserted. There are domed cities but no one seems to be living in them, and when Bounty goes down to collect whatever it is she is looking for, all Hell breaks loose.
Any problems with this story? I mentioned those in the first paragraph.
Any modesty issues? Yes. The F-word was used and there was one sexual scene near the beginning that established that Raid's girlfriend "likes it rough". I didn't like it, but it was mercifully short and was not repeated. There was also mention of rescuing what were essentially prostitutes and their gratitude for being rescued. Since this was against orders, Raid docked them half a month's pay.
The ending was weird but interesting. The bad guy got his, and an amazing partnership was offered between Raid and Bounty... a business partnership... that, no doubt, set up adventures for the rest of the series. The next book in the series is "You Are Prey."
If the next book is as good as this one, I might read this book again.
The Story: Raid (what a name) is ex-military and so are the rest of the Argonauts. They'd follow him anywhere, including a certain woman who can break a man's arm if it suited her. (She is not as strong as a man, but it doesn't take much to shoot.) They have just finished a mission of mercy... a freebie rescue... and they are now short on cash. Raid can't make the payments on the space ship they bought and he can't pay his men at the same time. It is one or the other and either way they are out of business unless their new client, Bounty, comes through with a big advance and a big payoff. But Bounty refuses to tell Raid what the job is other than escort duty for her space ship and possible ground duty (that's extra pay). With a cash advance big enough to pay off his immediate debts, Raid and the Argonauts are off to the edge of known space. But when they get to the planet it looks deserted. There are domed cities but no one seems to be living in them, and when Bounty goes down to collect whatever it is she is looking for, all Hell breaks loose.
Any problems with this story? I mentioned those in the first paragraph.
Any modesty issues? Yes. The F-word was used and there was one sexual scene near the beginning that established that Raid's girlfriend "likes it rough". I didn't like it, but it was mercifully short and was not repeated. There was also mention of rescuing what were essentially prostitutes and their gratitude for being rescued. Since this was against orders, Raid docked them half a month's pay.
The ending was weird but interesting. The bad guy got his, and an amazing partnership was offered between Raid and Bounty... a business partnership... that, no doubt, set up adventures for the rest of the series. The next book in the series is "You Are Prey."
If the next book is as good as this one, I might read this book again.
September 17, 2017
The Argonaut Flies Again! 🚓
More of the Adventures of Rade!
In this book, Rade🐺🔫🍌🌋 is busy rescuing some women💋 enslaved in a harem on a distant planet. He brings his girlfriend Shaw💋💕 along because he needs her to infiltrate into the palace where the women were being held. The crew and the freed women barely escape in a shuttle back to the Argonaut.
Rade's new security company is in trouble from lack of funding. The crew, all ex MOTH, pooled money to buy the Argonaut but they need clients. They need paid!
Sexual innuendos abound between Rade🐺🍌🌋🔫 and Shaw💋💕. There are some xxx scenes ! Inbetween all these goings on, Rade🐺🍌🌋💪 suffers from a bad case of PTSD. Their new client also thinks they are expendable!
This book for 18 years old and up.
YEHAW! Ride em Bareback🍌, Cowgirl!🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎
More of the Adventures of Rade!
In this book, Rade🐺🔫🍌🌋 is busy rescuing some women💋 enslaved in a harem on a distant planet. He brings his girlfriend Shaw💋💕 along because he needs her to infiltrate into the palace where the women were being held. The crew and the freed women barely escape in a shuttle back to the Argonaut.
Rade's new security company is in trouble from lack of funding. The crew, all ex MOTH, pooled money to buy the Argonaut but they need clients. They need paid!
Sexual innuendos abound between Rade🐺🍌🌋🔫 and Shaw💋💕. There are some xxx scenes ! Inbetween all these goings on, Rade🐺🍌🌋💪 suffers from a bad case of PTSD. Their new client also thinks they are expendable!
This book for 18 years old and up.
YEHAW! Ride em Bareback🍌, Cowgirl!🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎
July 12, 2017
Modern space opera. Retired military team buys a space ship and sells their services as Security Consultants. This is the first book in a series, and I believe either uses characters from an earlier series or is at least set in the same universe as there are several reverences to things that have gone on in the past. You don't need to be familiar with the past books to read this one. Good pacing, some interesting angles on how androids are treated, and action.
The book opens with what sounds like an operation gone bad. But it's just a lead in to introduce the characters and their abilities. The team is hired for escort service to a distant colony. Needless to say when they get there things are not what was expected and quickly start going from bad to worse.
The book opens with what sounds like an operation gone bad. But it's just a lead in to introduce the characters and their abilities. The team is hired for escort service to a distant colony. Needless to say when they get there things are not what was expected and quickly start going from bad to worse.
May 30, 2019
Honestly, it was good to catch up with Rade and Co on their new endeavour and missions. The book overall was pretty good, solid story - however - my massive gripe with it is the Rade & Shaw relationship. It detracts from the atmosphere of the book and I could not stand it. Their silly flirtations, teasing and sex just does not fit in with this book. I really cannot stand Shaw. Rade, although a spec-ops guy, would easily endanger everyone, his friends, the galaxy etc just for Shaw. I'm writing this after reading just over half of book 2 and I can barely stomach the Shaw and Rade thing. It's horrid.
June 22, 2021
Good fun novel about a crew that fights robots and aliens. The dialogue is supposed to be a bunch of fun guys interacting, but the it ends up being too generic. Sorry, can't give it 5 stars until the interactions are much more fun to read, since they need to both be fun, but also be a welcome break from the action. The action, itself, is great; drones vs Mechs, armoured bugs vs Mechs, it's the good stuff. My one complaint; for an audiobook, there need to be better descriptions for what device/robot is what. It can get confusing.
May 23, 2022
An entertaining story and colourful characters... If you can look past the fact that elite soldiers really aren't this misogynic and prone to call everything and everyone b*tch and p*ssy. Nor do they have officers screaming at them for motivation.
It is clear that the author learned what he knows about soldiers from watching movies about the Marines (who are not even close to elite troopers).
If you can look past this, it is an entertaining book and, although exaggerated and somewhat stuck in the 80's, the characters are interesting albeit a tad stereotypical.
It is clear that the author learned what he knows about soldiers from watching movies about the Marines (who are not even close to elite troopers).
If you can look past this, it is an entertaining book and, although exaggerated and somewhat stuck in the 80's, the characters are interesting albeit a tad stereotypical.
April 12, 2024
A fun, fast read sci-fi action read - a small mercenary group of ex soldiers takes on a client and action much beyond what they expected takes place.
While probably 'realistic' to real world there are a couple of the characters who's primary mode of communication is cursing and name calling which doesn't add anything to the story and doesn't really make it more "real". Just makes it more "adult" which adds nothing as far as I'm concerned. Take out that dialog and I'd tell my kids they'd enjoy it.
While probably 'realistic' to real world there are a couple of the characters who's primary mode of communication is cursing and name calling which doesn't add anything to the story and doesn't really make it more "real". Just makes it more "adult" which adds nothing as far as I'm concerned. Take out that dialog and I'd tell my kids they'd enjoy it.
June 16, 2017
"Serenity" Reincarnated
Take a small group of ex-mi!itary, put them in a small older ship constantly in need of upgrading and send them around the universe doing questionably moral/legal deeds and you have the basic storyline of the "Firefly" series. This author has, nonetheless, an actionable creative universe in which this band of rogues can make the universe safe and stable.
Take a small group of ex-mi!itary, put them in a small older ship constantly in need of upgrading and send them around the universe doing questionably moral/legal deeds and you have the basic storyline of the "Firefly" series. This author has, nonetheless, an actionable creative universe in which this band of rogues can make the universe safe and stable.
February 12, 2024
Rade and crew go private and get hired by someone you'd never expect. I would give this a solid 4.5 if I could.
The story is cool and fun. It's not as hardcore military as the previous series' involving the same characters and, honestly, that was kind of running out of steam, especially after Titan...Mech simply didn't hold my interest in the least....
But now, this new and refreshed book? It's rekindled my interest.
Looking forward to the next one!
The story is cool and fun. It's not as hardcore military as the previous series' involving the same characters and, honestly, that was kind of running out of steam, especially after Titan...Mech simply didn't hold my interest in the least....
But now, this new and refreshed book? It's rekindled my interest.
Looking forward to the next one!
February 1, 2019
Not bad at all. At the beginning it was a slow reading but eventually it created motion and got my attention and feed my hunger but at the end of the book when the story was in its highest climax it ended so abruptly, with a nice ending but it seemed ended in a rushed way. I cannot understand why it ended like this while a couple more of chapters it possibly rounded up the last part of the book
June 27, 2021
I keep bumping into Isaac hunts novels, and I can honestly say I enjoy each novel. I think Isaac doesn't write for new fans, just existing ones. I say that because he depends a lot on history I'm not familiar with. He is constantly dropping terms MOTH without explaining what that means and expects you to know a lot of their backstory.
September 2, 2021
3 Stars for me!
My rating range of this story... 2.5 - 3.25
If significant, why?
Main Character Ratings...
H = 7/10
h = 5/10 - 7/10
Was there so much sex or unrealistic sex that you rolled your eyes and/or skipped forward? No
Final Notes... The story was OK but the battle scenes were really drawn out.
My rating range of this story... 2.5 - 3.25
If significant, why?
Main Character Ratings...
H = 7/10
h = 5/10 - 7/10
Was there so much sex or unrealistic sex that you rolled your eyes and/or skipped forward? No
Final Notes... The story was OK but the battle scenes were really drawn out.
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