Planetstrider

Ganog Wars #0

by Chris Fox

Entire worlds fall before a single Planetstrider

Legions are burned to ash. Mechs are torn apart like toys. Their cannons are powerful enough to destroy dreadnaughts in orbit.

Now the Vkash clan has brought three of those beasts to a remote, worthless world, and a disgraced warrior will do anything to find out why--and anything to stop them.

T'kon of the Azi clan undertakes the impossible to right the injustice inflicted upon his people, and to restore his honor. If he succeeds, the ghosts of the fallen will finally rest. If not, he will die disgraced, and unmourned.

Planetstrider is the prequel to the novel Behind the Lines, Book 1 of The Ganog Wars.

Genres: Science Fiction

ebook

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

By day I am an iPhone developer architecting the app used to scope Stephen Colbert’s ear. By night I am Batman. Ok maybe not. One can dream though, right?

I’ve been writing since I was six years old and started inflicting my work on others at age 18. By age 24 people stopped running away when I approached them with a new story and shortly thereafter I published my first one in the Rifter.

Wait you’re still reading?

Ok, the facts I’m supposed to list in a bio. As of this writing I’m 38 years old and live just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the beautiful town of Mill Valley. If you’re unsure how to find it just follow the smell of self-entitlement. Once you see the teens driving Teslas you’ll know you’re in the right place.

I live in a tiny studio that I can cross in (literally) five steps and don’t own an oven. But you know what? It’s worth it. I love developing iPhone apps and if you want to work in San Francisco you accept that rent for a tiny place costs more than most people’s mortgage.

If you and about 2 million other people start buying my books I promise to move out of Marin to a house in the redwoods up in Guerneville. No pressure. Wait that’s a lie. Pressure.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fox's writing is very fast-paced, and quite a change from my most recent reading (Tolkien). The action drives this story forward with almost no time for dwelling on little descriptions of the setting. So much so, that when a short description is given, it feels strangely excessive! The story gets quite captivating once you're into it. There are a few errors which still need to be edited out (the/to and table/cable, were two I noticed).

Knowing the writing process for this book, I am again encouraged that it is truly possible to produce decent quality in a short amount of time, with the approach of completing a story without needing to embellish each scene. Fox gives good advice in his other books and youtube videos, and so it's nice to see some of the pudding's proof. Still, I do think this one needs another round of editing, which would include some logical/cohesion fills.

[A.A. Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this this fast paced prequel to Fox's Ganog War trilogy. The action was brisk, the characters surprisingly well developed for such a short piece, and the ideas and concepts on display were breath-taking. And the Whalorians... freaking hysterical! For a free series starter, I have zero complaints about this book!

[Jas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story that introduces us to T’Kon, a Ganog who plays a major role in the Ganog Wars series. This short, although in the actual timeline is book 0.5 as such, is actually best read after you have finished reading part 1, “Behind the Lines”, as you will have a better situational awareness of all the characters, how they fit into things, and when you read this story, although you will know what is going to happen to some extent because of spoilers you will have read in Book 1, it actually adds more to this story than taking away from it.
Planetstrider not only introduces us to T’kon, but it also introduces us to Aluki, another character in the main series. This is kind of some back story for these characters, filling in some gaps that are hinted at in Book 1, but not fully explained, until now.
For a short story, there is a lot packed into it. Not only do we get the back stories of Aluki and T’Kon, but we also get the story of how T’Kon learns about the Planetstrider control room, we get more background on the Planetstriders, the Ganog themselves as well as the introduction to the battle that leads into Book 1.
This is an action packed read with some fantastic and masterful world building for such a short story, showing you don’t need a full length novel to tell a great story, just a great writer. The character work is exceptional, T’Kons character is just brilliant in this book, and Aluki is not only funny as he is in the other books, but he is wise and incredibly captivating, you just have to know more about him.
If you reading the series, are a fan of the series, have read the series, or just want a fun read about a brave warrior trying to save his people, this is a must read.

[Paul Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read overall. A bit too fast-paced with not much character building and rushed descriptions which was why I had to lower the score slightly. Also, not sure if it was just my version or not, but the formatting was a bit wonky and off at times.

Will check out more of the Ganog Wars at some point in the future.

[Kieran McLoughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot more than Techmage. Of course, I imagine Chris wrote this a little more recently, it really shows in the writing. So much better. Indeed, had this been a little longer I wouldn't have hesitated to give this 4 stars. It's just purely because it's such a short story, more a scene than a fully fledged story. However, from what I've read here I'm definitely going to get into the series. On a side note, the covers are some of the best I've ever seen! I look forward to delving into the main series.

[Erik Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another prequel to yet another one of Mr. Fox's series, although as I understand it the Ganog Wars are set in the same universe as his Void Wraith series. This is all pretty much set up, but the description of the Planetstrider was vague enough that I can't really picture it in my head. I'm intrigued enough, however, that I want to read the series, and that's exactly what a prequel is supposed to do. Mission accomplished.

[Y.I. Washington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting prequel.

This story introduces new aliens into the series. I do hope that several of the questions this story brought up will be addressed in Behind The Lines.

I ended up confused about some of the aliens. I was only able to figure two of them out. However, seeing that the Void Wraith Trilogy was pretty awesome, I have good feeling about the rest of this series.

[Daniel Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fairly good book, I read it a little later than I should have. I finished the Void Wraith series two years ago!

But it was nice to have some context to the beginning of the fourth book in that series.