Defiance

The Spiral Wars #4

by Joel Shepherd

The UFS Phoenix is hunting for the long-lost drysine data-core. Within it lie the secrets to saving humanity from the resurgent deepynine machine-race. To recover it, Captain Erik Debogande must work together with the man who holds his sister hostage — the power-hungry parren leader Aristan. Aristan has sworn he will return Lisbeth Debogande once Phoenix grants him equal access to its prize. But now from the direction of hostile space comes word of a dark force hunting humans and parren alike, determined at all costs that the store of the lost Drysine Empire’s knowledge should be possessed by neither…

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

484 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2017

About the author

Joel Shepherd is an Australian science fiction author. He moved to Perth, Western Australia with his family when he was seven, where he later studied film and television arts at Curtin University. He now lives in Adelaide.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. I love this series! The Phoenix suffered grievous losses (boo hoo) but ultimately made huge gains in knowledge, resources, and tactical positioning. The Deepynines are getting desperate. Age-old historic falsehoods are unraveling.

The author tweeted that he would pronounce deepynine as dee-pie-nine (the narrator says dee-pee-nine, which felt intuitively right to me, also). The author's pronunciation makes me wonder if he means the second syllable (pie) to refer to the geometry sign, pi. That would make sense, as drysine is also resonant of a geometry term. And the C-9 language the deepynines spoke is a "real" computer language, I think.

I think the name ALO (the alo race) could actually be coded in deepynine language as ai-o, for “artificial intelligence - organic.” Hybrid. But deepynines wouldn’t merge with organics. So, it could be written a|o (the solid line is the dividing wall separating artificial synthetics from organics, in keeping with deepynine fanaticism). It’s possible, and if so, they morphed the solid dividing line to an L, changing it to alo, to fool the spiral. The question is, do the alo actually have synthetic brains inside their skins?

The crew needs a nice memorial service for the lost lives. A time of healing and rebinding. Some restful scenes, eating, planning, laughing, talking. Skah times.

That moon is too cold to support human life. Far colder than Pluto. No sun. How can any organic life exist there? Could plants grow, even in hydroponics — supposing they even have a hydroponics facility?
Humans need sunlight. The assassin bugs recharge on solar energy. How does Styx recharge? Kuhsi need meat to eat. Maybe a shuttle could somehow be cloaked so deepynines cannot detect it, and powered up with new tech for jump capability, so it could make brief visits to nearby planet or station.

I like the age and gender range we’ve seen so far, spanning from Skah / Furball (a child) to Commander Shahaim, (a matriarchal elder) and Kaspo, twice as old as Erik.

Still not sure how much we can trust Styx, but I do want to trust her. Tension and suspense! Easier to trust Hannachiam. Free Association.

Cool aquatic life on Cephilae — glowing, singing, remembering. Toulies. Lance Corporal Lani Graf (Egghead/Eggs) may have completely outsmarted Styx. Good scenes. Clever.

An officer needs a new arm. Give him a bionic arm? Or is it too early to trust? Styx could high-jack his brain. And in book 2 Doc Suelo said he could “synth a new leg” for private Herman.

The duel scenes. Clint Eastwood. “Go ahead. Make my day.” I laughed out loud when Trace....(spoiler). Even though these Elsium scenes felt out of sync and tone with the larger plot, they resolved at least one problem.

Cannot wait for book 5. Bring it on! Now! Reeh. Alo. DP9. Out on the edge, the Spiral rim, beyond even Croma space.

“The sard are bad,” said Romki. “The krim were worse. The reeh are worse again, and many times more powerful than the krim and sard at their very height combined .”

I do wonder what’s going on back in human space, on Homeworld.

[Choko · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 3.75 ***

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

After success at the Kantovan Vault, Erik Debogande and the UFS Phoenix now possess the lost Drysine data core that their ally Styx needs to restore her species. But as they head into parren space and a showdown with the parren faction run by Aristan that is holding Erik's sister Lisbeth hostage, it becomes apparent that Styx's increased visibility has attracted the worst kind of attention. With open warfare between parren factions, including a much more active role for Lisbeth, and open pursuit from Deepynine and sard, it all heads for a showdown at the ancient lost moon named Defiance.

This finishes an arc of the story that started in book two, with a small coda at the end leading into the next books in the series. Where this series shines is the world-building around the alien races and the space and ground battles and this entry has lots of both. The parren got some expansion in the previous book, but the exploration of their culture here works well, particularly with Lisbeth's role in events.

This is also the first book in the series where the Phoenix comes up against superior technology space forces, and that makes for an interesting dynamic. The Defiance system is also an interesting sort of backdrop for both ground and space battles.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series but holy cow, I think I'm going to need to re-read this one. I love how extensive the setting and the number of characters are but the politics in this one will require a notepad and a complex flow chart to keep track of. Or maybe it's just me. Admittedly my eyes tend to gloss over a bit when the explanations for how the history unfolded in this part of space, let alone the intricacies of several of the alien cultures. All I kept thinking was what an undertaking it must be to write something so vast and detailed. But aside from trying to keep up with it all, I really love the smaller moments. The interaction between characters. And given the large number of characters in this book, I feel like I've become attached to the whole Phoenix crew and it feels like it's real. I'm amazed at how the author is able to do this. My only real disappointment in this one is that I wanted to see more Trace's character. From the beginning, her and Erik were the big attraction to the story and definitely my favourites. We got to see a lot of Erik and really see him developing as a character. As well as a few others...Lisbeth in particular. In my opinion, Trace kind of sat on the sidelines most of the story...up until about the last third of the book and then, as she seems to do, kind of slides seamlessly through conflict without much muss or fuss. I keep waiting for her to encounter something that actually leaves a mark. But it's a testament to her character I guess. She is definitely the calm, steadfast type leader. This one has an exciting end. I can't wait until the next one is out. This series is an automatic buy for me.

[O.S. Prime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow and somewhat tedious as have been all previous volumes. Still, there's enough there there to keep me going. I would greatly appreciate the series ending with the next volume.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good, now the wait for the next book.

[Jordan Ricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entry in the wonderful Spiral Wars series adds some much needed emotional heft, as the crew of the USF Phoenix continue their hunt into the mysteries of the spiral’s past. The space battles continue to be the best in the genre, and the captain and major are becoming legendary sf characters. I would have appreciated a little more hinting at where the series is going from here, and as an audiobook listener, it is difficult to keep all of the secondary characters straight. Defiance is a solid entry in a great series.

[Arnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ērika Debogandes un viņa Fēniksa kosmoskuģa ceļš pa (Piena Ceļa) galaktikas spirāli turpina būt visvisādu citu citplanētiešu rasu piepildīts. Katra ar saviem gala mērķiem un iecerēm par tai labāku nākotni.

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[David P. Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, Solid Follow-On, With A Few Hiccups

Authored by Mr. Joel Shepherd, “Defiance: (The Spiral Wars Book 4),” is a solid follow-on in the series, with a few hiccups that prevent a good read, from being a very good or excellent read.

The story continues as indicated in the book’s synopsis, at point of sale, so no recap here. New readers to the series should be forewarned: “Defiance,” while a good book, cannot be considered a “stand alone.” The intricacies of the storylines and plots, are too complex and complicated, to fully comprehend in Book 4. Therein lies one of the “hiccups.” Mr. Shepherd has developed a very complex world, which is very entertaining. Unfortunately, he has taken his world building into the weeds, needlessly complicating the story arc, and sublimating the core story. Further, the quality of the writing, whether in dialogue, narrative, or plotting, is surprisingly inconsistent. The majority of Mr. Shepherd’s writing, is well above par. Yet, there are patches where it drops down considerably, making this reader wonder as to why? Was the author rushing a section, meeting a deadline? Or was the author just overtired, and failed to catch the blemishes during final edit?

“Defiance,” is recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are like a drug, Shepherd writes with some powerful hits of potent storytelling.

[Lars Dradrach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keeping up the pace, with one battle after another..

In this installment, of what now officially is one long story line with minor breaks between each novel , we follow the crew on Phoenix in a race to recover the Drysine knowledge from the datacore they retrieved in the previous novel.

We gain some more knowledge of the ancient history of the races including the AI's and an epic battle around Defiance

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, so wordy...but skipping and skimming renders up a fine military space opera with several terrific battles. At this point the subplot featuring Lisbeth and the Parren is pretty much channeling CJ Cherryh’s “Foreigner” series. Not sure where the larger story’s going, but the stakes are definitely escalating.

[Seamus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defiance. I actually think this is the best book yet in the series. On to Croma Venture for me!

[william carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Spiral Wars,of which "Defiance" is the fourth book, is so good on so many levels that I'm not sure where to start.The characterizations go well beyond the basics needed to carry the story.This area of the book could have been written by a Psychologist. The portions of the book dealing with the mechanics (and artistry) of space travel read like the work of an astrophysicist on steroids.But the real mastery is in the authors ability to hypothesize and then delineate the full range of motivations, actions and feelings of alien races encountered. All of this is handeled within the plots of stories full of action and the 'skin of your teeth' escapes. Just a great read.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I found the third novel in the series a bit of a slog through a high-tech bank heist, the fourth book, Defiance, picks up the pace again and was very enjoyable listen. The author continues to do a great job building a believable, complex and intriguing universe with a multitude of interesting alien races, but without going overboard with dozens of generic races. The cast remains a massive swarm of characters, but were well-managed and the pacing in action in this book were far better. As always, the narrator could read you the text off a cereal box and still have a riveted. Great narration and a great story. I eagerly await the next book in the series.

[Gary Storrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical great Joel Shepherd


I truly enjoyed Defiance. Part four of the Spiral Wars series is worthy of it's predecessors. Mr. Shepherd is one of the best writers of action I've read. He manages to convey that sensation of breathless barely-organized chaos that is combat. He compares very favorably with my favorite sci-fi author, David Weber. I can think of no higher praise. Combine that with diverse, engaging characters, both human and alien, and you have great writing. Can't wait for the next part. Chew slowly; it's the good stuff.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally fun extension of the story arch with some fun action and interesting character development. That said, "Eric" goes off on an autocratic character development path that I found jarring and out of character.

Though this 4th iteration of the series contains lots of exciting action, reveals interesting twists and turns regarding the alien races and historical backstory, it ultimately reads similarly to previous Spiral Wars volumes ... it's starting to feel like we're on a perpetual story glide path with no notion of closure or resolution in sight.

[Blossom378 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story the series just keeps getting better

This one as well gets a v Joel Shepherd Compares a very very favourably with Vaughn Heppner one of my favorite authors realistic great storytelling complicated a bit to PC in my opinion but the characters are believable enticing in the storyline is wonderful congratulations to him and worth your time

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! But I really want to read the next one. You have to read this series in order, it just keeps building.

[Sid Sidner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better the second time through

My bathwater gets cold. I neglect important duties. But, it's the Spirals Wars. It's worth it! I'll only live once in the Path to Ascension.

[Tom Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed the first two books in the Spiral Wars series. The third was far too political and had too many instances of hard-to-believe plot lines and Deus Ex Machina - which also are flaws in this book as well.

Defiance was a bit better in some ways, and also a bit worse in others. I really don’t like books that kill off too many characters. I don’t read Space Operas for their “literary toughness.” I read Space Operas to feel good. I want my heroes to be heroic and overcome odds and challenges while saving the day. I don’t want them and too many of their allies and friends to die. Defiance was a bit depressing.

Another big issue for me was the cryptic writing that left me often wondering what exactly is being said. I had a hard time understanding the implications of the final chapter and what it meant regarding several alien species. In fact, generally speaking, most of the intergalactic politics were too vague.

Finally, I really didn’t care for the whole Parren/Tavalai political games. I rarely felt like I had a good mental image of the surroundings.

What I DID like was the characters. Erik is a little annoying, but overall he is likable. Trace is also very likable. Lisbeth is VERY good as is Furball and Tif. The characters are a huge plus. The plot is also good. The details are often boring, but the overall story is interesting.

If you have been reading the series, then this is going to be a required reading. But I hope that the series will get a bit tighter and less tedious going forward.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had been a long time since I had dipped into The Spiral Wars series, so it took me a while to catch up -- Joel Shepherd doesn't spend a lot of time recapping the details of the various races and their previous interactions -- but once I did, it was another enjoyable book from the Australian author.

The Spiral Wars focuses on one renegade human warship, the Phoenix, which must navigate the shifting interstellar alliances and enmities, both interspecies and intraspecies, with the added detail of some hard science and complex battle scenes. The last is the most problematic, because space battles take place in three dimensions -- and even the key ground fight does as well -- and though Shepherd does his best, it's hard to keep track of who's where and what danger they're in. (Someday maybe there'll be a way to make a video of the battles, a 3-D map, if you will, but not yet.)

There are at least two more books in the series, and I'm on board -- but now I know I can't wait too long before starting "Croma Venture" or I'll spend 50 or so pages trying to figure out what's going on.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here I am, now four books deep into a very good space opera series. I had collected all four books and kind of did a binge read. I thought I had a lot of answers already figured out. Especially Styx. Let me tell you, a person who is either just finishing the 3rd book or about to start the fourth, the author turns things inside out. No spoiler there, but it is a grand thing to get smacked this far into a series. It is done well and without it feeling tacked on, just because.

Here it is the parren and Styx show. The author digs further into the weird society that is the parren. Styx is manipulating everyone, but to what end is unknown. There are hints in this book. But I could be completely wrong once again.

This is a fitting continuation of the Spiral Wars series. It sets up a 5th book, to which I will get once it is published. There is more to discover in the Spiral.

[Alex Mahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defiance continues Joel Shepherd’s Spiral Wars saga with the same high-octane momentum and immersive world-building that have defined the series so far. This instalment trades some of the political intricacy of earlier books for an action-heavy, fast-paced narrative that rarely lets up. The battles are intense, the stakes are higher than ever, and the sense of tension is expertly maintained throughout.

While it leans more into military engagements than the dense political manoeuvring seen in Kantovan Vault, Defiance still delivers rich character moments and thoughtful explorations of loyalty, strategy, and moral ambiguity. The expanding alien dynamics and cultural complexities continue to deepen the universe, keeping the story fresh even as the central conflict escalates.

A thoroughly entertaining continuation of the series, perhaps not quite as layered as its predecessors, but undeniably gripping and satisfying from start to finish.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine continuation in the series. I actually liked the plot/setting for this book better than its predecessor. The probability of a damaged/lost moon seems a little easier to believe as a 'desirable' location than the Vault was in the last book.

Lisbeth gets to shine in this spin, coming into her own and making a significant contribution, rather than just being a tag-a-long like she's been up to this point.

Styx and the drysines receive further development. Their back history is further developed, and their way forward becomes more clear both the the reader and to the internal book characters.

I like the way Joel Shepherd imagines potential AI development.

[Levi Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUTSTANDING SERIES OF BOOKS

I have read all four of the books in this series (so far). I truly appreciate the manner in which the author has composed each book. I sincerely hope that there are at least one or two more books of 'The Spiral Wars' series yet to come and I hope we don't have long to wait for their publication. Great Job.

[Elliot Jackman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The crew of the Phoenix really uncover a hornet’s nest mess of trouble in this book. I can easily say that I enjoyed this book much more than the Kantovan Vault. The way the story revolved around the inner workings of the Parren political hierarchy was very interesting, even it if was at times long winded.

Joel really did a great job telling this tale!

[Ken Woytisek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where was I

Well after reading 80% of this book I was totally dumb that I had no idea what was going on. All this crap about gravity wells and slopes, endless conspiracies, and lots of techno crap no one could understand, blah, blah, blah. What kept me at it was the character development but even that couldn’t keep me going.

[Dalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 for me, a solid entry in the series. Has some parts that drag, but also some good action set-pieces and plot development. I appreciate the further development of Erik and Lisbeth, along with putting some actual stakes to the action. Now I just need my local library to purchase the next couple books in the series.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This an exciting and enthralling series. In some ways, it seems to be a displacement of wars fought by the US throughout modern history. Shepherd uses the same ranks and nomenclature of our current Navy and Marine Corps. That detracts somewhat but not enough to lessen the intensity of space warfare.