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Dragonfire Station #3
Coalescence
Zen DiPietro is a lifelong bookworm, dreamer, writer, and a mom of two. Perhaps most importantly, a Browncoat Trekkie Whovian. Also red-haired, left-handed, and a vegetarian geek. Absolutely terrible at conforming. A recovering gamer, but we won't talk about that. Particular loves include badass heroines, British accents, and the smell of Band-Aids.
- GenresScience FictionLGBT
270 pages, Paperback
First published February 6, 2017
About the author
Zen DiPietro
44 books163 followersZen DiPietro is a lifelong bookworm, writer, and dreamer. Perhaps most importantly, a Browncoat Trekkie Whovian. Also red-haired, left-handed, and uber geek. Absolutely terrible at conforming. A recovering gamer, but we won’t talk about that. Particular loves include badass heroines, British accents, and the smell of Band-Aids. You can sign up for her newsletter at www.zendipietro.com.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 21, 2018
Logical ending
The writer handles some things very well and others not so much. The plot is weak but it feels as if she hadn't thought it through. The idea that four operatives would overthrow the bad guys didn't work for me. The bad guy consisting of a few henchmen and one rogue admiral didn't work for me. The command station being made operational by same admiral and no technical or engineering crew didn't work for me.
The structure of the PAC is incomplete. If there is only a ruling military council, fine. But how does one rogue admiral pull off a coup, out of all the admirals a fleet of galactic spread must have. If the ruling council can consider surrendering power to this nutjob, the galaxy is in serious trouble. That they allowed this crisis to develop doesn't say much for a ruling group of despots who are in control of a galactic power. There are many other problems with a purely military ruling class on both the economic and social fronts.
If there is a non-military ruling class, it is invisible. So above. She handles writing people and about people and their relationships really well but the structure that surrounds their stories is too thin. Why in the far future would you train only 18 year olds to become killers. I assume lifespan must be longer than today. The only explanation is the creation of high functioning sociopaths to enforce military rule. These are people who of necessity are amoral and so right and wrong which are always relative, shouldn't determine their decision making. The rogue admiral fits right into that scenario as someone willing to cause a trans-galactic? war just because the relative power of his military society is slipping. He's a patriotic nutjob, who does what the rulers want but are too timid to do.
The writer has excused the admiral, who states that he just wants to leave a legacy of human? supremacy. The soldiers who are so honorable admit to killing whomever they are tasked to kill with no moral judgement. What makes the bad guys different, unless it's because the good guys had the guns pointed at themselves. The social support for this military structure baffles me.
The military controls PAC space but only one warship is available to support retaking their fleet command station. Mercenaries are just doing a job, so avoid killing them if possible (The main character says this). Yet killing members of their own military by the crowd is OK and without a thought, because they are following what seems to me be the orders of a legitimate admiral. There are so many other contradictions.
Basically, she creates interesting characters, develops them and then builds a galaxy spanning backdrop for them. It's just too big a canvas for such a small cast of characters. Better maybe, that they should be in a setting similar to that of "Deep Space Nine", "Babylon 5" or "Firefly".
The idea of a small screen vs big screen story is something that just occurred to me. I know that thousands of other people must have written about it but I've never had that idea before. If not, It's probably a junk idea but maybe I can still grow at this late date or maybe I'm just pathetic. Yay, me.
The writer handles some things very well and others not so much. The plot is weak but it feels as if she hadn't thought it through. The idea that four operatives would overthrow the bad guys didn't work for me. The bad guy consisting of a few henchmen and one rogue admiral didn't work for me. The command station being made operational by same admiral and no technical or engineering crew didn't work for me.
The structure of the PAC is incomplete. If there is only a ruling military council, fine. But how does one rogue admiral pull off a coup, out of all the admirals a fleet of galactic spread must have. If the ruling council can consider surrendering power to this nutjob, the galaxy is in serious trouble. That they allowed this crisis to develop doesn't say much for a ruling group of despots who are in control of a galactic power. There are many other problems with a purely military ruling class on both the economic and social fronts.
If there is a non-military ruling class, it is invisible. So above. She handles writing people and about people and their relationships really well but the structure that surrounds their stories is too thin. Why in the far future would you train only 18 year olds to become killers. I assume lifespan must be longer than today. The only explanation is the creation of high functioning sociopaths to enforce military rule. These are people who of necessity are amoral and so right and wrong which are always relative, shouldn't determine their decision making. The rogue admiral fits right into that scenario as someone willing to cause a trans-galactic? war just because the relative power of his military society is slipping. He's a patriotic nutjob, who does what the rulers want but are too timid to do.
The writer has excused the admiral, who states that he just wants to leave a legacy of human? supremacy. The soldiers who are so honorable admit to killing whomever they are tasked to kill with no moral judgement. What makes the bad guys different, unless it's because the good guys had the guns pointed at themselves. The social support for this military structure baffles me.
The military controls PAC space but only one warship is available to support retaking their fleet command station. Mercenaries are just doing a job, so avoid killing them if possible (The main character says this). Yet killing members of their own military by the crowd is OK and without a thought, because they are following what seems to me be the orders of a legitimate admiral. There are so many other contradictions.
Basically, she creates interesting characters, develops them and then builds a galaxy spanning backdrop for them. It's just too big a canvas for such a small cast of characters. Better maybe, that they should be in a setting similar to that of "Deep Space Nine", "Babylon 5" or "Firefly".
The idea of a small screen vs big screen story is something that just occurred to me. I know that thousands of other people must have written about it but I've never had that idea before. If not, It's probably a junk idea but maybe I can still grow at this late date or maybe I'm just pathetic. Yay, me.
December 17, 2019
Eh. It was fine, I guess, but by this point in the series I’m sufficiently annoyed at the author that I can’t fully suspend disbelief. Like... sure, Fallon has a big ego because that’s a necessity in her line of work, ok, but I felt like *all* of the characters just assumed that more capable people were *better.* And I know that’s a background assumption in our culture as well, so the fact that it was noticeable to me in this book suggests that it’s a much stronger background assumption in the PAC. And there’s nothing wrong artistically with making that choice; it’s just not enjoyable for me to read.
April 19, 2020
Nice Closing to a Great Trilogy
This final book in the Dragonfire Station trilogy provides a satisfying conclusion. The story has enough twists and turns to keep the story arc and the conclusion less than obvious. The ending was a little post-climax but there were a lot of loose ends.
Fallon takes on the reins of leadership and guides the Avian Unit and its latest augmentation on a quest to fix what is wrong with PAC and BlackOps. The writing captures the fast pace of battles along with the tedium of the time between battles.
I enjoyed this book and the entire trilogy. I recommend them all and strongly suggest they be read in sequence.
This final book in the Dragonfire Station trilogy provides a satisfying conclusion. The story has enough twists and turns to keep the story arc and the conclusion less than obvious. The ending was a little post-climax but there were a lot of loose ends.
Fallon takes on the reins of leadership and guides the Avian Unit and its latest augmentation on a quest to fix what is wrong with PAC and BlackOps. The writing captures the fast pace of battles along with the tedium of the time between battles.
I enjoyed this book and the entire trilogy. I recommend them all and strongly suggest they be read in sequence.
July 6, 2018
Fallon, Wren & Raptor
Fallon continues to recover from her memory loss. She struggles with her feelings for both Wren and Raptor. Ross, a former Academy instructor has temporarily joined her Blackout team, Peregren, Hawk, and Raptor. Fallon and Ross agree that the apparent evidence against Adm Krazinski doesn't make sense, and they set out to get to the bottom on things.
Excellent plotting and characterization.
Fallon continues to recover from her memory loss. She struggles with her feelings for both Wren and Raptor. Ross, a former Academy instructor has temporarily joined her Blackout team, Peregren, Hawk, and Raptor. Fallon and Ross agree that the apparent evidence against Adm Krazinski doesn't make sense, and they set out to get to the bottom on things.
Excellent plotting and characterization.
June 15, 2020
As with most of Zen’s books that I have read, I became invested in the characters and their relationships over the course of the series as you feel like a part of their team. There are enough plot twists and turns to keep you from figuring out the ending, but some of the end pieces are a bit abrupt and leave you wanting some more clarification. That being said, I still loved the series. I am looking forward to the related stories and am hoping Zen adds to this series.
February 23, 2018
Awesome end to this trilogy with more story arcs to come! The author has created a universe with characters you want to keep associating with — as often as possible. I’m on to the next Dragonfire Station story!
May 4, 2017
You can read my review of “Coalescense” at my web site.
September 5, 2017
Good w.
This was a satisfying conclusion although the author has left room for more stories in the Dragonfire universe. Looking forward to reading more from this author.
This was a satisfying conclusion although the author has left room for more stories in the Dragonfire universe. Looking forward to reading more from this author.
March 20, 2017
Awesome!!!
Phenomenal series! Unique and exciting. Definitely worth the read! Hope we haven't seen the last of Dragonfire station and her crew!!
Phenomenal series! Unique and exciting. Definitely worth the read! Hope we haven't seen the last of Dragonfire station and her crew!!
March 2, 2017
The Good: I knew that I’d like Coalescence since I enjoyed Fragments and Translucid. Fallon’s pansexual relationships with Raptor and Wren are an interesting look into fluid sexuality. The chapters in Coalescence were a bit on the longer side, but not nearly as bad as Translucid.
The Bad: Some of the villainous acts committed by Blackout against the PAC seemed rather counter-intuitive. Parts left me scratching my head. It seemed as if the villains were the villains just to push the story along. The fall of the PAC that would incite galactic war wasn’t fully explained, and I didn’t feel as if I cared about the completion of Avian Unit’s mission other than to stop the bad guys from doing bad things. I guess I just wasn’t invested in the galaxy.
The Beautiful: Like Fragments and Translucid, there was a lot of action with enough going on that I just had to keep reading. I found some of the ancillary characters rapidly becoming my favorites, including a certain lizard doctor.
The Final Word: If you’ve read books one and two, then you will not be disappointed with this third book. If you’d a fan of Firefly, Deep Space Nine or The Expanse, you’ll totally grok this series. With the short story, The Cost of Business being free, and all three parts of the trilogy free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers, you simply cannot go wrong reading this series. Even the nine bucks is an easy sale. Get the series and read it. I look forward to more from Zen DiPietro in the future. Like the previous two stories, Coalescence is 4.5 stars.
The Bad: Some of the villainous acts committed by Blackout against the PAC seemed rather counter-intuitive. Parts left me scratching my head. It seemed as if the villains were the villains just to push the story along. The fall of the PAC that would incite galactic war wasn’t fully explained, and I didn’t feel as if I cared about the completion of Avian Unit’s mission other than to stop the bad guys from doing bad things. I guess I just wasn’t invested in the galaxy.
The Beautiful: Like Fragments and Translucid, there was a lot of action with enough going on that I just had to keep reading. I found some of the ancillary characters rapidly becoming my favorites, including a certain lizard doctor.
The Final Word: If you’ve read books one and two, then you will not be disappointed with this third book. If you’d a fan of Firefly, Deep Space Nine or The Expanse, you’ll totally grok this series. With the short story, The Cost of Business being free, and all three parts of the trilogy free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers, you simply cannot go wrong reading this series. Even the nine bucks is an easy sale. Get the series and read it. I look forward to more from Zen DiPietro in the future. Like the previous two stories, Coalescence is 4.5 stars.
March 5, 2017
Fresh approach
I really enjoyed this trilogy. Kicmass heroine. Good potting suspense. And s I fi. What is not to o e?
I really enjoyed this trilogy. Kicmass heroine. Good potting suspense. And s I fi. What is not to o e?
April 23, 2017
This series gets better with every book
Em Fallon is on the verge of discovering who she can trust when the PAC headquarters space station Jamestown is found abandoned, the crew disappeared or dead. Once again Zen DiPietro leaves the reader wanting more of her imaginative storytelling.
Em Fallon is on the verge of discovering who she can trust when the PAC headquarters space station Jamestown is found abandoned, the crew disappeared or dead. Once again Zen DiPietro leaves the reader wanting more of her imaginative storytelling.
May 1, 2017
This is a satisfying wrap-up to the trilogy, with plenty left open to allow a return to this world. There's always going to be more work for Fallon and her team (which has grown quite a bit since the first book) to do. I hope we will get many more books with them doing that work because I enjoy these characters and this world very much!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews