Outsystem

Aeon 14: The Intrepid Saga #1

by M.D. Cooper

Someone is out to stop the GSS Intrepid, an interstellar colony ship, from being completed on schedule and beginning its journey to 82 Eridani. When anti-colonial activist groups are suspected, Major Tanis Richards, wrongfully disgraced officer in the field of military intelligence and counter insurgency, is brought on board with all due haste.

Events in Tanis's past have motivated her to leave Sol and start a new life elsewhere. She soon discerns that more than simple activist groups are arrayed against the ship and its crew. There are corporations and governments that have a vested interest in ensuring that the Intrepid never leaves the Sol System.

Tanis tightens security and fights political red tape while running up against assassins and mercenaries sent to the stop her and the Intrepid at every turn. The new friends and relationships she forges strengthen her resolve to protect the ship and keep its crew and colonists safe as they endeavor to head outsystem.

Narrated by Khristine Hvam

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Military Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Space

Audiobook

First published July 2, 2012

About the author

Malorie Cooper likes to think of herself as a dreamer and a wanderer, yet her feet are firmly grounded in reality.

A ‘maker’ from an early age, Malorie loves to craft things, from furniture, to cosplay costumes, to a well-spun tale, she can’t help but to create new things every day.

A rare extrovert writer, she loves to hang out with readers and people in general. If you meet her at a convention, she just might be rocking a catsuit, cosplaying one of her own characters, or maybe her latest favorite from Overwatch!

She shares her home with a brilliant young girl, her wonderful wife (who also writes), a cat that chirps at birds, a never-ending list of things she would like to build, and ideas…

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outsystem (The Intrepid Saga #1) by M.D. Cooper is a space opera far into the future with a kick ass female lead character and fun space toys. Lots of action, adventure, high tech space toys and weapons, cool things that is fun to believe could be real, intrigue, suspense, touch of romance, and futuristic AI interface in your head! How cool is that? I found it a lot of fun, I got the audio narration so I could do things and read at other times. Narration was good and added to the story. Will follow this series.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, this reads like a pretty good checklist for story items that seem to be very popular these days, all or mostly encapsulated in the flashy cover:

Hot Chick who's a Badass. A couple of thousand years in the future, with all the military hardware that'll bring. Terrorism. Military life. Spaceships. Snarky AIs. Fast-plot, episodic, steady increase, new challenges, cliffhanger.

If it hadn't been for the fact that it was a fine read, I'd also say it was pure boilerplate. I mean, it basically has all the checklist I'd look for in a grand 'ole space opera done to today's specifications, and so it is. It seems to be popular, too.

So why didn't I give it 5 stars? Because while it was entertaining and fast and popcorn fiction, there wasn't really anything to it that screamed originality.

Fun. Yes. Stand-out? I don't really think so. Fine to waste a lazy afternoon, but nothing I'd scream at people to read as if this is the second coming of whatever. Still, it's flashy and fast and snarky and that is the name of the game these days.

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Longest 324 page book ever + TSTL, Mary Sue heroine who is the poster girl for figurative masculinity (I 💕lurves💕 it when male authors write their female characters as if they were men with vaginas) + clichéd as fish characters everything + supremely yawn-worthy fights and battles (which kinda sorta sucks considering this is supposed to be military SF) + Super Extra Juvenile Dialogues (SEJD™) + only the bad guys die deadly dead (this book could have done with some serious Good Guys Spring Cleaning à la Glen Cook, if you ask me) + poor-as-a-dispossessed-barnacle world-building + nonsense here, nonsense there, nonsense everywhere (there might have been some nonsense somewhere, too) + more acronyms than in the entirety of all my crappy non reviews combined (scary as shrimp, isn't it?) + Pathetic Cliffhanger of Doom and Destruction (PCoDaD™) =

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 1 out of 5]

***I'm a couple of chapters into this and I'm "||" this close to pitching it aside. the protagonist is supposed to be a major in counter insurgency and military intelligence but sometimes she reads like a teenybopper. She vacillates from super-person to idiot. I'm giving it a little more room/time to see if it turns a new leaf (maybe explains the inexplicable actions of our heroine). ***

Okay, sorry to all you who hate it when I give a book I didn't finish a 1 star rating...but it just seems to me that if I don't care for a book enough to finish it...it must be a 1 star read, for me.

I tried to like it.

I started to get very disenchanted with the book during an action sequence where our protagonist was trying to stop some nefarious types from blowing up a ship. She proceeds along shooting the bad guys she meets and then...she comes upon the two bad guys with a nuke. One is a man programming the nuke and a woman. She rushes in and says the equivalent of, "hold it!".

Now why didn't she at least take down the guy programming the nuke? We've already learned that her AI can deploy nanobots that can pretty much do anything (and they do indeed stop the nuke). Instead she sets up a confrontation where she (and of course her AI) almost die and the nuke will be set off. It simply made no sense. Also the dialog gets very juvenile here in at least a couple of places.

I went on to her arrival at the colony ship and her taking over and I just couldn't get involved in the book. I'm actually sorry about that as I haven't found a good military sci/fi I can get lost in for a while.

So 1 star in a subjective rating while I know many of you will probably like this I just didn't get involved enough to put my time into it.

Sorry.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Outsystem (The Intrepid Saga #1)” is not lesfic, but features terrific women characters as key and secondary characters in a military SciFi space opera.

I first read of Tanis Richards in “Destiny Lost”, which is technically book #4 of this series. In book #4, and even in books #2&3, Tanis is a more multidimensional person. In “Outsystem” she’s a more cardboardy hard-nosed SciFi military person. There’s lots of action, and lots of cool uses of future SciFi tech (modifying the body, AI, nanotech etc).

The book ends with a cliffhanger, which isn’t surprising since it’s a multi-part series. This is a very enjoyable book, but I did enjoy book #4, with it’s better banter and more interesting secondary characters even more. I’m enjoying binge listening to the series and watching the author continue to create his expanding Aeon 14 universe. Recommended with 4*

[Denisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A really fun, fast-paced series.


This series is really worth reading. Loved the writing style, the plot, the characters.

It was fast-paced and a really good Space Opera, if you're into this type of thing. If you're not, and you just wanna branch out a bit and try this genre, then there are other, better SF books out there.

For all you SF lovers out there: this author is worth a try!

Why not more stars here:
- it's pretty forgettable (I'm writing this review after about 2 months of finishing the book and frankly, I had to read the blurb to remember the plot). But I do remember I really enjoyed it at the time. So, pizza-book, anyone?

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

"Sorry, I can’t help it. I think the armor is giving me a god complex."
{I don’t think it’s the armor.}

I did enjoy this space opera, and liked most of the characters- but as the case with these kind of stories there was a lot going on, and trying to remember who was who kept me from flying thought this one.

There were a lot of names, designations, different ranks, acronym operations (TSF, ChoSec, MOS, STR, GSS ect) you get the gist. So I'll be honest in that this 300+ book felt like a bit longer for me because I personally like to speed read and kept getting tripped up on the mass amount of characters.

Also, at no point did I feel that Tanis wasn't going to come out on top. Like, if there was any random problem ever at any point in the story- no worries Tanis will somehow always know the answer, and is already a step ahead.

Yeah, it makes her seem like a badass extraordinaire...but... maybe it was in the way the tension was written that I wasn't wholly invested, or maybe it was giving me the lead character is too OP so this is a bit anti-climactic kinda vibes.

All in all I did enjoy the story and may read on to the next one!

[J. Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got to about 70% of this book and finally gave up, I couldn't force myself to read further because I didn't care about the ending. The writing was very good, won't knock that at all, very few mistakes for an indie book and that is a very good thing. My disappointment was the characters weren't that interesting and at times downright boring. Tanis Richards felt two dimensional and her developing love interest felt like it was added just so that she could have a love interest without having enough of a personality to fall in love. I also felt that the vast use of 3 letter agencies was ridiculous. Every time TSF GSS MOS ABC DEF came up I would have to try and figure out what it stood for, some were explained much later in the book, some not at all, or at least I could not recall them ever being explained.

The book started out fast and had a strong and intriguing start, enough that I was eager for the next turn of the page, then that speed, that flow, came to a screeching halt. The author did a fantastic job of painting a picture of the MOS and the Intrepid.

Others may enjoy the book, I just can't say that I did.

[Gillian Murrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled to get into this book I know a lot of people love it but there are a lot better sci fi books out there than this. I guess if you are into American Military language you would love it but the use of so may acronyms spoilt this book for me.

[Yoly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acronyms, bad guys, pew pew pew, AI, interesting story, more acronyms, Mary Sue protagonist, more AI, pew pew pew, more acronyms, cool tech, more bad guys, even more acronyms, MOAR PEW PEW PEW.

Sounds like a weird way to describe a book but I loved it! I was entertained and that's what I wanted. I would've appreciated a little more world building (no, I don't consider just mentioning lots of places excellent world building) and more character development, but there are more books in the series and from what I've read it seems it gets better (at least in the character development department), so we'll see. It was a very fun read, the story was interesting and I liked all the cool tech he described. Lots of women so it wasn't a dude fest, that was refreshing.

I will read the others soon :)

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

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Strong. Cold. Militant. Soldier. Woman.

Meet Major Tanis Richards.



She kicks some serious ass.

She is also the reason why I picked up this novel to review. I am not a science fiction fan, normally. I am quite choosy with that genre and tend to navigate more towards fantasy. Mainly because science fiction writers have a much greater imagination than I could ever hope to have of my own. In fact, science fiction writers blow me away. I wish I could see into their minds and visualize along with them. I would enjoy the stories so much more, I think. Left to my own meager devices, my imagination sometimes fails to give me a picture of what all the gadgetry, ships, and biological or non-biological beings walking around in said story, look like! But I figured, since I love strong kick ass heroines, I would be satisfied reading about Tanis, even if everything going on around her maybe didn't make much sense to me... or so I hoped.

It took me a while to figure out that 'humans' are not quite fully human in this world that author Michael Cooper created. They are altered with technology. They have AI's and all sort of gadgets installed that sound quite cool, but were challenging to me in getting the visual. But I think that if I were to imagine her character, the above pic feels pretty good. And she definitely rocked it in this book, and kicked so much butt that Chuck Norris would be jealous.

I wasn't disappointed. The action in this novel is off the charts!

I grasped enough of what was going on to follow along. Cool mission protecting a colony ship, lots of fire power, lots of cool military stuff happening, some great space suits with crazy tech that I wish existed and I owned, and a large amount of tentacles floating about.

I even walked into a wall while reading one of many awesome fight scenes. That's what you get for walking and reading in your house. I should really learn to hit the off button, and hit the on once I reach my destination... such a challenge.

I gave it a 3 star rating, which means 'I Liked It!'. To some folks 3 stars may mean 'meh'. But for me, who can honestly say came across only two science fiction novels that I can say I loved, in all my years of reading... 3 stars is a testament that this book was great, and I imagine will rock the socks off science fiction fans.

*I received a eBook copy of this book for free to review from the author; this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own.*

[Jill Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must first state that I do not usually read SciFi novels because I find the technical facts and figures to be too much for me. It isn't just that it's boring, it's that I don't understand it.

When I first started OutSystem I was afraid it would be filled with stuff that would make my brain fry and I am happy to say, that there is the perfect balance in this novel with the technical and the characterization and suspense. There is just enough technical jargon necessary for the story to work and I didn't have to spend a lot of time memorizing key facts and figures to follow along.

As for the story, it was a harrowing adventure that made me want to bite my nails. Tanis Richards is a strong flawed heroine. She's not flawed in her military career, but in her relationships and how she approaches them. Outside of work she's very vulnerable underneath, but still got the job done without being bitchy or mean to her fellow officers. Her relationship with Angela, the AI who is implanted in her mind, is one of my favorite part of the book. There relationship is loving more than all business and there is a lot of great dialogue and quips to keep you reading even through the down time.

There is of course the romantic interest in Joe, the space jockey pilot and Joe fits the bill perfectly. He's sexy, supportive, funny, and romantic. He wants Tanis even though if he was in his right mind, he shouldn't. But he does, and more importantly Tanis needs him, even when she doesn't realize she does.

The plot is epic and larger than life. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but basically Tanis is leaving SOL and heading to a new colony on a colony ship. She thinks she's there to head up security for the trip, but it turns out someone doesn't want the Intrepid to arrive to the colony and is attempting to sabotage it every step of the way.

Tanis' life just got more complicated as she tries the thwart them and control the crew, even those that resent her presence. Tanis is a fine military officer, but her record has recently been tarnished, and it follows her everywhere.

The ship and the infrastructure of the planet systems she visits are told with great detail, so that you are able to see everything clearly. OutSystem is a clear space adventure and for those who enjoyed playing games like Mass Effect, or Knights of the Old Republic (even though the tech is different) would be at home with Outsystem.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

I've been looking for a good space opera series to sink my teeth into and I think the Aeon 14 universe by M.D. Cooper is it.

This was a rip-roaring tale with cool tech and lots of action. I am looking forward to reading more!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review: https://girlswithguns.org/outsystem-m...

The storyline tends to get bogged down at times, in an alphabet soup of organizational structure. It seems as if the Major spends as much time in meetings, as actively hunting down the bad guys: it almost turns her into the world’s first bureaucratic action heroine. There are frustratingly incomplete hints at her past, with an incident which caused her to be tagged “The Butcher of Toro“. Though it’s suggested this is an unfair sobriquet, the incident – whatever it was – appears to have played a significant role in her decision to apply to become a colonist. Such an important piece of character motivation likely should not be swathed in such mystery, though it’s possible the details are revealed in one of the later volumes in this three-book arc.

Re-reading the above, this all seems highly negative, more so than it deserves – though I note Cooper recently released an expanded version of this and its sequel, which does suggest he was perhaps not satisfied with the first version. Still, despite flaws, such as a supporting cast who could have used more fleshing out (particularly Joe, the uninteresting romantic interest), I found the pages turned at a a solid rate, and the action sequences generally hit the spot. The version I read included the first couple of chapters of part two, A Path in the Darkness, and it possesses a good enough premise to make me consider going forward. Less is likely more, and the smaller-scale setting of the Intrepid is perhaps a better fit for Cooper’s voice, which isn’t strong enough to populate the entire solar system here.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books of military Science Fiction that I've read since discovering Hammer's Slammers.

Good character development, although later chapters of the book introduced characters that were trusted seemingly far too easily. Strange bedfellows, for sure. The book could have been a third longer, to fill in some of the ancillary characters and background. Would have liked some closure for the villains in the story, but that's my own sense of justice that needs appeasing, it was not a flaw in an excellent story, well told.

Great action and attention to detail. Well edited, few instances in this edition (included in a box set) of grammar or spelling errors, which is all too common in books included in boxed sets. These usually take me right out of the story and spoil the continuity, but I really can't remember even one time that it happened, possibly because the story was so engaging. I am looking forward to buying the next in the series and have found a new favorite author to follow.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw an advertisement for "Outsystem" on Goodreads. It sounded like the type of novel I would really enjoy, so I was eager to dig into it.

SUMMARY
In the year 4123, humanity is still constrained by the speed of light. The solar system has been thoroughly colonized, as have planets at nearby stars by means of slower-than-light colony ships.

The Intrepid is a massive colony ship bound for an ideal world, if it can be completed and launched before corporate and political enemies destroy it. Major Tanis Richards, an experienced combat soldier and intelligence operative, is charged with maintaining security for the Intrepid, and is also slated to escape her violent life by becoming a colonist.

It won't be an easy job though. Those who would like to see the Intrepid destroyed or delayed are numerous, and they have the funds to do nearly anything. Major Richards finds herself surrounded by hosts of enemies and few friends as she tries to determine who is masterminding the attacks.


OVERALL: 2.6 out of 5
I actually liked this book quite a bit; I think the problem was that I went in expecting something else.

"Outsystem (Aeon 14)" is really a 1930s style cliffhanger, told in episodes, filled with action, and solid science fiction. What it lacks, in my opinion, is a stronger human element in the characters and an appropriate threat. There are no Nazis here, no doomsday cults, no big villain that feels insurmountable.

I like a book that tells me a complete story. There are a ton of threads here that I think must be meant for the sequel; the entire ending, a dodgy officer nobody likes (but who isn’t mentioned until the end, and never does anything to earn the reader's distrust), there is an unnamed colonel in suspended animation who has implied importance, and a mysterious package that is never explained. In fact, the presence of several important-but-background characters aboard the colony mission isn't explained either.

If there had just been one string or two for the next novel, I would have been happy. The ending, which basically is real cliffhanger in a novel of cliffhangers, just made me disappointed rather than excited. I would have rather had a neat, well-written finish, and then the excitement could start back up in the next novel.

Overall, I will check out the sequel and definitely keep my eye on M.D. Cooper. I don't mean to savage his work by any means, and I think that we probably have a lot in common in terms of what we like and look for.


RATINGS BY CATEGORY
CHARACTERS: 3 out of 5
Tanis is the primary viewpoint character. I don't hate her, but I didn't like her. She is always in control, always smooth, always knows what she is doing (except in a few brief romantic parts), and never has that "Oh, I'm screwed now" expression that I like in my heroes. She is a perfect example of the modern, Angelina Jolie-inspired "I always knows what I'm doing" type.

Most of the other characters play their roles, but no one really shined for me. Major Evans is a hot shot space fighter pilot, but he never really gets to show off. A girl named Trist is basically a punk cyber-thief who is introduced halfway through the novel, and the primary antagonist, a terrorist named Trent, is appropriately evil (like all the villains; and willing to do ANYTHING to achieve his goal). Staff Sergeant Williams, a tough marine, is interesting, but his dialogue is predictable.

My Cast
Tanis Richards: Mira Sorvino
Joseph Evans: Josh Dallas
Captain Andrews: Anderson Cooper
Admiral Sanderson: Billy Dee Williams
Trent: Adrien Brody

PACE: 3 out of 5
I thought the pace of this book was fast and it has a traditional layout of chapters, but it is episodic in nature. Tanis confronts one challenge after another, each not necessarily related to the previous one. Normally I like episodic fiction, but presented in this book format and unaware of what I was getting into, the story felt slow at times.

STORY: 2 out of 5
I was expecting something different. The advertisement led me to believe that without a solution to the speed of light problem, human society in the solar system had overpopulated the entire solar system, and thus decayed. A colony ship was a "last ditch effort" to rebuild civilization; maybe I was expecting something closer to the "Blade Runner" vibe. However, the human society in this book is generally an extension of modern day Western civilization if nothing much changes except technology.

That isn't unwelcome though. I love "optimistic sci-fi". My problem with the story lies mostly in wasted potential. While I admire the simplicity of what the author was trying to do, the colonists aboard the Intrepid are leaving behind everything- family, friends, the cradle of life; and the human element is only existent in short bits and pieces between the immediate characters. As a result, some of the majesty of the colonization project is lost.

I also thought the threat was not well defined earlier in the book, and then felt let down when I realized how predictable (to the characters) and mundane the final threat was. It's possible the author means to offer more explanation in the sequel, but I like concise, self-contained books, even when they're in a series.

Another problem I have are the laughable extents the villains go to. Tanis is surrounded by enemies and unhelpful parties (the reader definitely questions why the Intrepid is being built at Mars in the first place, where the authorities are so corrupt or inept that they all but roll out a welcome mat to terrorists). The villains seem to have no other existence except to derail this project, and they put themselves into extreme legal danger and mortal death, all while using massive amounts of money to defeat one person.

DIALOGUE: 2 out of 5
Judging the dialogue is among the hardest things to do in this book. Most of the conversations aren't difficult to understand, and the author doesn't try to impress me with fancy accents or "tricks" to account for the science fiction setting (tons of new words, mingling dialogue with other languages to create a population mixing effect, etc.)

However, there is a TON of jargon that I didn't understand (reading the Kindle edition, I wasn't aware there was a glossary of terms at the back), and I am a military science fiction reader. There is also a lot of cliché dialogue, particularly of the military nature. Officers give orders, sergeants bark, villains all but squeal with glee when they think they have the hero where they want them, and regular soldiers load up on "sir, yes, sir" at the military dialogue salad bar.

STYLE/TECHNICAL: 3 out of 5
The book is generally well written; most of the problems I had were typos and missing words that weren't caught in editing. Most of the action is clear, and I like the episodic nature of events (although it isn't what I was expecting).

The author does spend too much time casually referring to different parts of massive space stations (and defining what is "up" and what is "down"), but that may be a danger of writing something like this; when you're looking at a story that is two thousand years in the future, I am sure many structures humanity has built (assuming we're still around) will be quite daunting.

There are some disjointed areas too. The villain Trent is the viewpoint character in one or two parts, as are other people, but besides Tanis (the primary viewpoint character), the others are semi-regulars. Making only one appearance, offering his side of the story, didn't shed any light on his character or motivations.

Excerpts that Jumped Out at Me:
"Mmmm?" Tanis said around a mouthful of sticky goo.
-Quite possibly the worst line I've ever read in a book.

"Conversation was getting redundant," Tanis muttered and killed the connection;
-In the next paragraph, Tanis says, "Cause they're melting through the hatch and we'll be having tea with them in no time." Han Solo, anyone?

The train's closest stop to the SouRing commons was the sort of place that made people with death wishes deploy protective nano; Sue let out a veritable cloud.
-So she has a death wish? Maybe this was a typo, but also, the last sentence is a real gasser.

[Doc Opp · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you like action sequences, and you don’t really care about anything beyond that, you will like this book. If you like sensible plot or memorable characters or proofread writing or anything remotely thought provoking, look elsewhere.

The book opens in a fight scene. It is never explained why that battle is happening, and the fight is entirely unrelated to the rest of the plot, but it’s a pretty good fight scene. From then on, it's basically fight scene to fight scene, with occasional filler which mostly connects them. The main protagonist’s primary skill seems to be always coincidentally being in the right place to have another fight. Terrorists attack a ship? She happens to be a passenger. Militants attack a party? She’s at the party. There are also fight scenes that she’s not involved in, usually involving one of her friends/teammates. I'm pretty sure that every protagonist is introduced through a fight scene, and that none of those fight scenes are actually related to the central plot aside from involving the protagonist.

I’ll give it to the author, he’s good at describing fight scenes. But I need more from a book than that, in order to enjoy it. And he’s clunky when it comes to anything else – especially political intrigue. I won’t be reading anything else in this series.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very exciting. Pretty much non-stop action. Tanis Richards is one tough lady. She kicks butt, pulls no punches, and isn't apologetic about it. She does what she needs to to get the job done. While she is most comfortable doing her security job, we get to see her stray from her comfort zone and start making friends and maybe even start a romantic relationship. Lots of good characters here.

The audio production narrated by Kristine Hvam is very good. She does a solid job with the voices and pacing.

Glad I found this series and gave it a try. I will definitely be checking out book two, especially since book one ended with a bit of a teaser of what is to come.

[Serena.. Sery-ously?]

Sono al 20% e non ho ancora capito di cosa stiamo parlando, forse non è il suo momento.

[M Hamed]

abandoned at 50%

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demoted by the military and torn apart by the media for an incident (the particulars of which were never made public) that earned her the little flattering moniker "The Butcher of Toro", Major Tanis Richards has had enough of the Sol System. To get out, she applies to join a colony mission due to leave on the massive state of the art colony ship Intrepid, currently under construction at the Mars Outer Shipyards. When her application is accepted, the military puts her in charge of the Intrepid's security, which has been plagued by sabotage and increasingly vicious attacks. Someone has a vested interest in preventing the ship from launching and will go to extreme lengths to ensure she never leaves the shipyard. It's up to Tanis to stop them and ensure that the mission will go ahead as planned.

Exactly how I like my military sci-fi: A fastpaced thrillride full of suspense and explosive action that doesn't get bogged down with too much technical detail to be enjoyable. Tanis is a brilliant character who truly kicks ass and whom I'm very much looking forward to spending more time with - especially after that cliffhanger the book ends on.

[Cesar Felipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 Stars

Outsystem to me stands out as a unique MilSF book, with a lot of fun and smart elements to enjoy within the genre, though they sometimes clash or overwhelm the narrative, and don't always fit into a coherent whole.

I curiously find myself having trouble not describing this book as I would a video game. And it may be because much like a video game, it has a lot of action and fast-paced scenes that quickly transition from one set piece to the next. And obviously, there's the fact that the main character, Major Tanis Richards, is permanently accompanied by her personal AI Angela, often in ring-shaped space stations, elements which on the surface mimic the Halo franchise. Thankfully, this similarity is just surface deep. The AI, only one of several in fact, have a complex history and a status very close to human beings, which makes their interactions very unique and fascinating. (This is the first of several hints that there's a lot of world-building in this universe already, and the dozens and dozens of books in this franchise that exist at this point seals that point.)

The story absolutely hinges on its main character Tanis, and she is quite something. She starts out as a pariah among her military peers, and quickly asserts her sense of responsibility and honor as she immediately has to deal with attacks threatening the planetary stations and the massive ship she's in charge of. Her sass and smartass-ness are in full display, though the book is very aware of this and has fun calling her out on it. This is on par with a very sassy cast of characters, who it feels never stop sassing each other out, during both calm and serious moments. It never reaches the point of annoyance, but it is definitely non-stop. (This curiously includes the AIs, too.)

I can't really go into detail about the plot, simply because it involves a lot of moving parts and factions that I just can't remember properly. There's basically a complex political struggle between several planetary governments (though the act more like corporations with armies and navies than anything else), and the authorities of the massive stations that ring every planet and moon in the system. Tanis is in charge of security in the Mars ring station (which is so massive that apparently has more surface area than the entirety of Earth??), but because it's involved with several factions and corporations from other planets her authority is challenged by other entities and whatnot. A series of "terrorist" attacks begin to occur, and chaos ensues with factions blaming each other for them.

This is where the first signs of silliness come up. Tanis keeps finding herself dealing with all-out terrorist attacks, but after they happen most higher-ups involved insist that everything is fine and that she's exaggerating when she insists that security should be hardened. This keeps happening OVER AND OVER. It's one thing to have people in charge be incompetent or even corrupt in order to ignore what's happening right on their noses, but it's another thing when NOBODY demands consequences for them, and for allowing these life-threatening attacks to KEEP occurring. It's like a bureaucratic nightmare where nobody gets the blame, and is more an excuse for Tanis to have to deal with more and more attacks non-stop.

Which beings me to the action scenes, of which there are, of course, several. Being a big fan of action in my MilSF, I praise the amount of action that I found here (even if they come from dubious plot elements). The action is fast and exciting, with futuristic technologies clashing with each other. Energy weapons dealing with different types of armor, nanobot swarms fighting each other and glitching systems, AIs synchronizing squads and overpowering systems, starship squadrons fighting across space ports in sync with a hive mind.... oh my. This is what makes Outsystem stand out the most for me. I've hardly seen this level of MilSF sophistication elsewhere. The action is breathtaking, and perhaps worth the admission alone.

But there is a problem with the action as well. Perhaps stemming from Tanis's outstanding sassiness, she seems to acquire very convenient suit technologies that allow her to single-handedly defeat scores of enemies she encounters. The first time, she gets hold of an invisibility suit, which makes her almost unstoppable during a fight. Not too terrible in practice, even though she just forgets to use it ever again after that, for no discernible reason. The second time is... much worse though. She gets a FULL, LITERAL INVINCIBILITY SUIT that makes her impervious to ANY weapon shot at her. And of course, as soon as she does she just happens to be captured by the big bad guy. So, of course she gets to dial up her sass to eleven once she reveals right in front of her nemesis that she's basically unstoppable and proceeds to kill everyone in the room. And after that, well, SHE ALSO NEVER WEARS IT AGAIN. The COMPLETE INVINCIBILITY suit. Like... WHY?

(Technically it's not a suit but some liquid thing that covers her naked body... the only reason I can imagine she wouldn't want to wear it again is because she needs to keep wearing clothes?? But as a member of the military, why WOULDN'T you choose to be naked AND INVINCIBLE, over not being naked??)

This raises so many more questions. Why does she just not keep using these suits, any one of them?? But also, if she could get a hold of these suits, why can nobody else, especially her enemies?? Why doesn't she get more suits for her soldier buddies?? Why are these technologies not used anywhere else if they are portable like that?? Giving the main character such powerful items simply breaks the world as a whole.

And this is where the book dangerously edges Mary Sue territory. It's a reasonable criticism, for the reasons I've written already. But... I feel it doesn't quite the Mary Sue level. For one thing, Tanis is a flawed and sometimes insecure character that legitimately needs to struggle to achieve her goals. She keeps getting roadblocked by superiors, and she figures out clever ways to bypass them. And for another thing, even when she gets to use these over the top technologies to fight, it's messy and not straightforward. Part of the brilliance of the action is that she uses her brain to find an edge in battle, and it's not just about her shooting more or being faster and never getting hit. There's a tactical brilliance in her actions, both in action scenes and out. She is a military expert and it thankfully shows, especially when handling multiple squads. When she wins a fight, it's because she outsmarted her enemy, rather than being luckier or more powerful (for the most part anyway). Plus, her AI is constantly critical of her actions and keeps her grounded, AND she even has to refuse the advances of her love interest out of military commitment. And all this is why I never felt she was a Mary Sue. (It got close though.)

There's a final doubt I have about the universe. How the hell did they construct such massive, planet-sized space stations and moon-sized spaceships?? Where did they get the material, or the energy, to do so? Again, one of the many stations is said to have an area larger than the whole of Earth, and that seems to be the norm for these stations. What miraculous technology did they use to accomplish this? There is only the mention of Molecular Decoupler technology, but that is used to break molecular bonds for terraforming, rather than for construction. I'm sure there's an answer somewhere in one of the dozens of dozens of books that this franchise has at this point, but the question is left open here.

Overall, this is an entertaining MilSF story, set in a fascinating universe with likable characters and decent action pieces. Though it is clever in many different ways, it also feels like a dumb popcorn summer action flick at times. As long as you have some tolerance for that, you'll find Outsystem an enjoyable MilSF read.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good space opera. A few amazingly unbelievable scenes, but that's space opera for you. In fact, that's opera... [For instance, the scene where the protagonist convinces an assassin to give up her advantage so that they could have a fair fight...]

Despite crediting both an editor and at least one beta reader, an awful lot of stuff that shouldn't have got through the editing process did. Really, spell checkers do work: check every word that the spell checker thinks is wrong, and if it belongs, add it to a local dictionary! What's left (e.g., "Cruthine") is wrong. When unusual words are used, check them! A colloquium (or colloquiums, or even colloquia, which I would have said was the plural of colloquium) is not the same thing as a colloquialism! By a long shot! And I'd really expect a 42 century AI to know that. A debtor owes, not "is owed", money. And then there was more than one sentence that just didn't parse at all.

The appendix was full of stuff that was irrelevant to this story. I presume it's relevant to other stories in the series, but that makes it less useful for this one. For instance, nowhere in this book is Tritium mentioned (and for the record, Tritium is ³H or just T, not T3 or 3H; Deuterium is ²H or D).

I really hate cliff-hanger endings. The last chapter just shouldn't have existed.

Also, though the cover blurb did draw me in, it's wrong!

'Someone is out to stop the "GSS Intrepid"… from … beginning its journey to 82 Eridani.' That could even be where they're going, but nowhere in this story is it called 82 Eridani. "Tanis tightens security and fights political red tape…" No she doesn't. If there's any red tape, she just ignores it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy space operas and kick ass females then Outsystem is the book to grab!

Outsystem is a quickly paced thrilling ride that follows Major Tanis Richards as she takes over the military security of the Intrepid, a ship bound to lead the Sol system for a new colony. This is a future were very things are not possible. We have people who are practically immortal thanks to surgeries and cybernetics, and cosmetic surgery so drastic that some no longer even look human. It’s a future where the only limits are those set by your own morals, and it’s kind of cool. Some of the tech is really out there and I really love that it’s advanced to the point of allowing absolute biological freedom. I also love seeing AI being used, not just as ‘servants’ but as fully “independent” AI that works more as partners.

Tanis Richards is all kinds of a badass. When the book starts out she already has a history within this universe and a reputation for being someone who can get things done even if the means sometimes outshine the ends. Admittedly she is a bit stiff and lacking in personal connections, but I forgave it because it’s a legitimate decision that she has made and we do see that change over the course of the story though slowly. The only times we see her really let loose are in combat situations, and she is fairly sarcastic which is always a plus. Angela is Tanis’ AI, and she’s like a sassy and more opinionated version of Jiminy Cricket. I really like the pair these two make, and it almost makes me wish I had an AI to make rude quips when I do something stupid.

This turned out to be an excellent story for audio, and the narrator Khristine Hvam was fantastic. She really captured Tanis and Angela’s personalities perfectly.

I’m looking forward to diving into the rest of this series in the future and other books that M.D. Cooper has written!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

First disclaimer, I work with the author and it's unlikely that the book would have to my attention without that connection as I tend not to reach much "military" Science Fiction.

With that disclaimer out of the way I'll add, that would have been a real shame. I tend to avoid military SF because it all too often suffers from Tom Clancy-itis, that is a love of the technology and associated buzzwords at the expense of strong plot and good characterization.

Neither of those flaws are present in Outsystem. The characters are well drawn and relate-able. Additionally, I found them admirable which, while not a requirement, is certainly a pleasant change of pace from the all shades of gray anti-heroes that seem to be plaguing fiction these days.

The dialog is snappy and the interactions between the protagonist, Tanis, and her embedded AI, Angela, is a lot of fun. The pacing is well done an d the story flows extremely well. I often found myself in the position of saying one more page (or virtual page as I read this on my Kindle).

The futuristic Sol system that Cooper has created is interesting and complex and it is extremely clear, despite the cliffhanger (be warned of this), that there is a lot more to explore both in the stories Sol system origin as well as the New Eden destination.

I look forward to discovering more in future books.

[Hollie Aldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit: This is now my 3rd or 4th time rereading. Tanis and the gang have become one of those friends you turn to when things are rough. I love the strength in intelligence and physical prowess while still letting me see human vulnerability. I have altered my rating according to the new information and given it the 5 stars it deserves in my book. I could say more..... but it would be gushy and I hate gushy.

Oringinal:
This is my absolute favorite Scifi series EVER! The reason this did not get a 5 star review was because of the learning curve (not a fault of the author or book). There is so much world building, charecter development, plot set-up and the like that there are quite a few wtf moments where the reader has to look at the companion material or reread to get the acronyms and terms correct. This is usually par for a good scifi series where the author is truly inventive.....but it is hard when you are first starting out as the consumer of the material as the flow is interrupted.

Tanis, Angela, Joe and the rest make me so happy. This is an action packed tale that leaves the reader on the edge. I love Cooper's imagination ♡

[Hildegart · Rating 3 out of 5]

First-reads book. The premise was good- a military intelligence and counterinsurgency major and a space vessel destined for a planet to colonize. There were some grammatical errors that interrupted the flow of the book for me. There were appendixes that helped with terms, places and names. What would have been more helpful for me is a list of the acronyms found throughout the story. Some of the acronyms remained a mystery until a couple pages later because they weren't in an appendix. The book was enjoyable but definitely not a favorite. It took me a few days to finish it because it wasn't one of those can't-put-down books. It ended with a cliffhanger that makes you want to tell the author, hurry up and finish the next book with Lt.Col. Richards.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh. no character development, and the main character seemed to just get new abilities whenever it was convenient. world building consisted of telling you about how large some new space habitat was. (taking a look at the masses of the solid bodies in our solar system, i have a suspicion that the author went a bit overboard with providing the masses of things, and used up more metal in the construction of the Callisto habitat than is actually available in the solar system.)

[Alejandro · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's lots of love for this novel but I honestly don't get it. The military jargon is over the top and unnessary and the main character feels like a man's idea of a "strong woman" (a.k.a. written as a man but with a vagina). It reads like a parady of an action flick, it's that cliche and over the top.

There was no character growth or development. I was disappointed, to say the least, but it was cheap on Amazon. meh.

[Karl Griffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mary Sue syndrome

It would have been an amazing book if the author had not made the protagonist perfect at everything. It really detracted from a good story. Oh well it was part of the Kindle Unlimited subscription so no harm done but I won't be reading the rest of the series