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Star Guild Saga #0.5
Veiled
This is an updated cover edition and title of B01KF8BE60.
In 1849, British archaeologist, Austin Henry Layard, uncovered over 20,000 clay tablets in the Ancient Sumerian city of Nineveh, in an area now known as Iraq. The tablets told of an ancient race that had come before humans, arriving on Earth long ago and bringing with them untold technologies, and a mass genetic breeding program that the tablets claimed to have brought forth the creation of humankind.
And then these Beings left, taking with them everything they had, except the human race.
The problem is, they took some of us. And, those whom were taken have not returned, and have all but forgotten about their past and that these Beings had ever existed.
These humans are now thriving someplace else...alone.
Or, so they thought.
They are about to be in for a rude awakening.
In 1849, British archaeologist, Austin Henry Layard, uncovered over 20,000 clay tablets in the Ancient Sumerian city of Nineveh, in an area now known as Iraq. The tablets told of an ancient race that had come before humans, arriving on Earth long ago and bringing with them untold technologies, and a mass genetic breeding program that the tablets claimed to have brought forth the creation of humankind.
And then these Beings left, taking with them everything they had, except the human race.
The problem is, they took some of us. And, those whom were taken have not returned, and have all but forgotten about their past and that these Beings had ever existed.
These humans are now thriving someplace else...alone.
Or, so they thought.
They are about to be in for a rude awakening.
- GenresScience Fiction
Kindle Edition
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About the author
Brandon Ellis
74 books106 followersBrandon Ellis was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up on the outskirts of the city in a little town known as Gladstone, where he graduated high school and moved on to college. After studying Therapeutic Bodywork at East-West College of the Healing Arts, he excelled in his field, becoming one of the Pacific Northwest's leading Therapeutic teachers and bodywork professionals. After several years, the love for writing tugged at his heart so much that he decided to put things aside and live his passion - write. He's now fashioning story after story, creating imaginative worlds of inspiration and art.
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The PureLights of Ohm Totem
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 20, 2017
Veiled: Prequel to the Star Guild Saga
by Brandon Ellis
I like reading prequels to see if I am going to like the series. The blurb for this talks about clay tablets, a breeding program, untold technologies, and a mass genetic breeding program and more. None of this was in the book I read! Maybe I got a different book? Reading other people's reviews some have that is a prequel and some say no, it is not a prequel. Maybe we all got different books! It is a short book and it is a fairly good book regardless. It ends abruptly. I am willing to try out the next book and see what the series is really about.
by Brandon Ellis
I like reading prequels to see if I am going to like the series. The blurb for this talks about clay tablets, a breeding program, untold technologies, and a mass genetic breeding program and more. None of this was in the book I read! Maybe I got a different book? Reading other people's reviews some have that is a prequel and some say no, it is not a prequel. Maybe we all got different books! It is a short book and it is a fairly good book regardless. It ends abruptly. I am willing to try out the next book and see what the series is really about.
February 25, 2019
Well written and interesting but unfulfilling because there is no ending. I realize this is a prequel, but the book literally just stops.
July 24, 2018
I enjoyed the story idea, it reminds me a bit of Buck Rogers without the time jump. Mr. Ellis needs a really good editor though and I hope he has one for the series.
Read it.
Read it.
November 2, 2017
NOTE: The author graciously gave me a copy of this book and asked me to write a review.
A good prequel accomplishes one of two purposes. Either it serves as an introduction to the later books in the series and sparks the interest of readers to learn more about its characters, theme, and storylines in the later books, or it serves as a bonus for readers of the later books, giving them some additional insight into the people and events that led up to the subsequent volumes. Veiled, by Brandon Ellis, is a 100-page prequel to his Star Guild novels, none of which I have read. Unfortunately, as a prequel, it completely failed to induce me to want to read any of those later books, and I find it hard to imagine anything in this book providing much enrichment for those who have already read the other books in the series.
The plot of Veiled is rather veiled, as it were. It appears that humans (presumably from Earth, although the author only drops a vague clue to this effect late in the story) are part of something known as the Star Guild, and live in space ships or colonies in space, mining certain planets for the raw materials they need. In a prequel to the prequel, some 18 years earlier, one spaceship ventured beyond the boundaries of the Star Guild territories and ran into a whole bunch of hostile ships before presumably being blasted to smithereens. Now some 18 years later, a military officer Admiral Byrd, who had a relative on the vanished ship (in fact, most of the named characters in Veiled seem to be related to Byrd), thinks that there’s something fishy going on in outer space. So, he sends a hot shot pilot on a secret mission to find out what’s going on. The pilot winds up in the middle of what may or not be the same fleet that was out there years earlier and then…. the book simply ends.
The above plot synopsis may seem vague, but it’s actually fairly accurate. After reading the 100 pages of Veiled, readers will learn almost nothing about the Star Guild or the nature of the futuristic society in which it exists or about any of the half dozen or so named characters that couldn’t be summed up in a single sentence. From reading the blurbs for later books in the series, I gather that Admiral Byrd is a major character in the series, but nothing revealed about him or any of his relatives in this book would seem to be interesting news for readers of the later books.
Nor do readers learn much about the invaders in Veiled. Based on the description here, they could be Klingons, or Imperial Stormtroopers, or Cylons or pretty much anything hostile. Normally, it would be a spoiler to reveal that there were a whole lot of space ships getting ready to attack the protagonists, but author Ellis pretty much gives that away when he titles his chapters “18 Years before the Attack,” “Six Months before the Attack,” and so forth. The author does drop hints that the alien invaders are somehow tied into some of the people in power in the Star Guild, but, without knowing more about the characters, it’s hard for readers to become engaged in the story.
It’s certainly possible that the later books in this series are more interesting than Veiled. But this prequel must be judged on its own merits, and those merits are sorely lacking. The book, although reasonably well written, simply isn’t very interesting. There’s only the barest semblance of a plot, and the relations among the various characters is murky at best. Nor is there anything about the Star Guild or the futuristic society portrayed here that is very interesting. Further, there’s little real action in the book; in fact, just when it looks like there might be some big time space battles brewing, the author cuts away rather abruptly.
After reading Veiled, I came away with almost nothing that would interest me in future books in the series, and I was rarely if ever entertained or intrigued by anything that takes place in this one. While it’s possible that completist fans of the series might find some entertainment value here, most readers will find lifting the veil to this book to be more boring and confusing than enlightening.
A good prequel accomplishes one of two purposes. Either it serves as an introduction to the later books in the series and sparks the interest of readers to learn more about its characters, theme, and storylines in the later books, or it serves as a bonus for readers of the later books, giving them some additional insight into the people and events that led up to the subsequent volumes. Veiled, by Brandon Ellis, is a 100-page prequel to his Star Guild novels, none of which I have read. Unfortunately, as a prequel, it completely failed to induce me to want to read any of those later books, and I find it hard to imagine anything in this book providing much enrichment for those who have already read the other books in the series.
The plot of Veiled is rather veiled, as it were. It appears that humans (presumably from Earth, although the author only drops a vague clue to this effect late in the story) are part of something known as the Star Guild, and live in space ships or colonies in space, mining certain planets for the raw materials they need. In a prequel to the prequel, some 18 years earlier, one spaceship ventured beyond the boundaries of the Star Guild territories and ran into a whole bunch of hostile ships before presumably being blasted to smithereens. Now some 18 years later, a military officer Admiral Byrd, who had a relative on the vanished ship (in fact, most of the named characters in Veiled seem to be related to Byrd), thinks that there’s something fishy going on in outer space. So, he sends a hot shot pilot on a secret mission to find out what’s going on. The pilot winds up in the middle of what may or not be the same fleet that was out there years earlier and then…. the book simply ends.
The above plot synopsis may seem vague, but it’s actually fairly accurate. After reading the 100 pages of Veiled, readers will learn almost nothing about the Star Guild or the nature of the futuristic society in which it exists or about any of the half dozen or so named characters that couldn’t be summed up in a single sentence. From reading the blurbs for later books in the series, I gather that Admiral Byrd is a major character in the series, but nothing revealed about him or any of his relatives in this book would seem to be interesting news for readers of the later books.
Nor do readers learn much about the invaders in Veiled. Based on the description here, they could be Klingons, or Imperial Stormtroopers, or Cylons or pretty much anything hostile. Normally, it would be a spoiler to reveal that there were a whole lot of space ships getting ready to attack the protagonists, but author Ellis pretty much gives that away when he titles his chapters “18 Years before the Attack,” “Six Months before the Attack,” and so forth. The author does drop hints that the alien invaders are somehow tied into some of the people in power in the Star Guild, but, without knowing more about the characters, it’s hard for readers to become engaged in the story.
It’s certainly possible that the later books in this series are more interesting than Veiled. But this prequel must be judged on its own merits, and those merits are sorely lacking. The book, although reasonably well written, simply isn’t very interesting. There’s only the barest semblance of a plot, and the relations among the various characters is murky at best. Nor is there anything about the Star Guild or the futuristic society portrayed here that is very interesting. Further, there’s little real action in the book; in fact, just when it looks like there might be some big time space battles brewing, the author cuts away rather abruptly.
After reading Veiled, I came away with almost nothing that would interest me in future books in the series, and I was rarely if ever entertained or intrigued by anything that takes place in this one. While it’s possible that completist fans of the series might find some entertainment value here, most readers will find lifting the veil to this book to be more boring and confusing than enlightening.
April 19, 2020
Will the Truth Kill You?
This is a propitious beginning to a space opera based on the premise that humans long ago had been made slaves and were kept dumbed-down and ignorant. The repeating cycle ends when humans begin to see through the veil. They are destroyed and a new cycle of engineered humans is started.
The current cycle is ending a little differently. Humans, led by a few who seem destined for something more, are aided by magical and mythological creatures. The story is fast-paced and nicely combines sci-fi with fantasy.
It takes a while to start understanding this world. But then, that is also what's happening to the human protagonists.
This is a propitious beginning to a space opera based on the premise that humans long ago had been made slaves and were kept dumbed-down and ignorant. The repeating cycle ends when humans begin to see through the veil. They are destroyed and a new cycle of engineered humans is started.
The current cycle is ending a little differently. Humans, led by a few who seem destined for something more, are aided by magical and mythological creatures. The story is fast-paced and nicely combines sci-fi with fantasy.
It takes a while to start understanding this world. But then, that is also what's happening to the human protagonists.
June 17, 2017
This is a true prequel to the star guild series. It is not written as a prequel to introduce readers to a new series. It reads more like a diary of sorts, meaning it covers blocks of time leading up to book 1. I felt it intended to give background information leading up to book 1 to people who have read the series. Plus I found it to be well written in itself. That being said, I am one of those who HAS NOT read the series, but I was intrigued enough that I am putting it on my list to check out in the future. Blurb for book one sounds interesting.
July 13, 2017
This is really a prequel to the Star Guild Saga Series. A fast paced military sci-fi thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Well written with a strong story line and engaging characters. I have not read any of the series and was able to follow along, but it would be better to have read some of the other books first. Lots of drama, suspense, an alien invasion based around what is now Iraq. I rarely read Sci-Fi and I enjoyed this book. I received an advance copy and voluntarily chose to write a review.
May 19, 2018
A Good Start to a sci-fi military space opera.
I've always liked reading prequels as they help me decide whether I will take a chance on a new author and their book's.
"Veiled" held my interest with each page-turning click, and now I'm ready for more.
Not a bad start, hopeful that Bk1, "The Veil Rising" will be a 5 Star read.
Recommend you check out this prequel and decide for yourself.
Pretty good so far Mr Brandon Ellis.
I've always liked reading prequels as they help me decide whether I will take a chance on a new author and their book's.
"Veiled" held my interest with each page-turning click, and now I'm ready for more.
Not a bad start, hopeful that Bk1, "The Veil Rising" will be a 5 Star read.
Recommend you check out this prequel and decide for yourself.
Pretty good so far Mr Brandon Ellis.
March 23, 2021
Quick Read
Very quick enjoyable read. Action and description put me into the center of the action. Reminder me of a couple of WWII stories my dad told me including the Battle of the Bulge.
Very quick enjoyable read. Action and description put me into the center of the action. Reminder me of a couple of WWII stories my dad told me including the Battle of the Bulge.
May 7, 2017
Good read
This was a good book that gave you all of the information on the storyline and has some action to go with it . Very well done.
This was a good book that gave you all of the information on the storyline and has some action to go with it . Very well done.
June 21, 2017
Intriguing developments and characters described and hinted at. Great for growing appetite for the series.
December 31, 2019
Interesting book, easy to read, fast paced space adventure. Searching for aliens. Mining. Finding out there is more to the universe then what you know.
Read
March 21, 2017Bleh.
February 5, 2017
Recommended for approval.
Brandon Ellis was right this is a fantastic way to read as an t.v. series. With no commercials. A new fan.
Brandon Ellis was right this is a fantastic way to read as an t.v. series. With no commercials. A new fan.
April 24, 2017
Preview of Star Guild
This novella length story is basically a preview of the beginning of the series.
It's a bit disjointed and could use some cleaning up of wording, but it's still good.
This novella length story is basically a preview of the beginning of the series.
It's a bit disjointed and could use some cleaning up of wording, but it's still good.
July 13, 2017
Veiled is a prequel to the Star Guild Saga series. I wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by the storyline. This is the kind of SciFi Military Thriller that I love to read. The book should not be read as a standalone. There is violence.
The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat all of that info here. The author did a good job of giving readers an overview of what the series is about. While the story might seem somewhat disjointed, it overall makes sense. Even though this prequel is short, there are a lot of twists and turns written in the storyline. I really enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read more of this series.
The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat all of that info here. The author did a good job of giving readers an overview of what the series is about. While the story might seem somewhat disjointed, it overall makes sense. Even though this prequel is short, there are a lot of twists and turns written in the storyline. I really enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read more of this series.
March 17, 2018
I read this story, because I wanted to read something else for a change. Sci-Fi isn't a genre I have read much. I thought a prequel would be a great place to start and I was right.
After a few pages I was hooked. There is so much going on in the background that you keep turning the pages to find out what is really happening. Great starter for a series!
After a few pages I was hooked. There is so much going on in the background that you keep turning the pages to find out what is really happening. Great starter for a series!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews