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Bug Wars #1

Doomed Infinity Marine

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Kill All Bugs. Bang All Women

When Mark Ryder's latest mission turns into a bloodbath, he'll find himself alone on the shores of an alien moon hunted by insects the size of skyscrapers.

Now, if he wants to get off this rock alive, he'll have to cut a bloody swathe through the bug queen's elite army, rendezvous with the all-female Artemis squad, and blow the whole thing to Kingdom Come without getting killed.

WARNING: THIS DUDE HAS LOTS OF HOT SEX WITH MULTIPLE WOMEN AND KICKS LOTS OF ALIEN BUG ASS

428 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2017

229 people are currently reading
84 people want to read

About the author

J.A. Cipriano

92 books586 followers
When New York Times Bestselling author, J. A. Cipriano was in second grade, his teacher gave everyone in class a journal to write down whatever they wanted. Their first subject was to write about something they didn’t like. J. A. chose to write about why he didn’t like writing. His reasoning was simple. He had bad handwriting. Even then, he was destined to be an engineer due to his messy scrawl.

Unfortunately, he found through the course of this little adventure that he actually liked writing. That year was sort of the high point for his writing career because he won a writing contest for the state. He got to go to a big dinner and his teacher was all dressed up.

He kept writing little stories, year after year, and in sixth grade, won another contest. In seventh grade, he broke his arm and got the cast signed by both Dean Koontz and Stan Lee. It is, by far, the coolest cast he’s owned. That was about the time he found video games and anime. His writing turned mostly toward fanfiction until about ninth grade when he wrote his first novel, a small book about twenty thousand words called Revelations. In sophomore year, he wrote two more books to complete the trilogy because he saw Star Wars that year and learned trilogies were the cool thing to do.

He rewrote Revelations during his senior year, and his wife swears it is the best thing he’s written. J.A. is not so sure. Every time he reads it, he cringes, but then again, he hates everything he writes, so there is that.

It was about that time, he got heavily involved in a fanfiction writing group, but that isn’t one hundred percent accurate. It was a world based on a popular anime but everything was created especially for this world. It made it so that every story someone wrote was unique.

Imagine writing a Star Wars novel set 1,000 years after A New Hope, where everything that happened was a distant memory and you get the idea. You have the force, some distant memories of the past, and that’s pretty much it.

He wrote about a million words (863K to be exact) for them before he decided to do his own thing. He wrote another novel. He put it in a drawer. He wrote another one that eventually became the basis for The Hatter is Mad. His next novel was Kill It With Magic, his first real novel. It’s not bad, but it’s bumpy. This is unfortunate because the books get loads better as the series progresses.

Since then, he’s written six more novels, four of which are in the Lillim Callina Series, and one in the Abby Banks series. The other is stuck in a drawer for time undetermined. He’s writing his next book now which is about werewolves fighting mummies in Ancient Egypt. After that, he will move onto Abby Banks 2. The Spy Within will come out in June or July.

J.A. also has three chinchillas. Two of them are grey, and because of this, they are named Slate and Cadmium. The third is named Jet because he’s black, and Jet is old English for black. See, creative. He also has a cat named Turtle. This does pose problems for his two-year-old from time to time.

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5 stars
142 (34%)
4 stars
128 (31%)
3 stars
95 (23%)
2 stars
33 (8%)
1 star
13 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Montzalee Wittmann.
5,253 reviews2,350 followers
April 25, 2018
Doomed Infinity Marine
By: J. A. Cipriano, Conner Kressley
Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
This is a great science fiction, action packed, space adventure full of intelligent fighting giant bugs and a government that is not really too different than it is now, if soldiers really need to protect themselves...buy your own stuff! Lol. Our guy of the story if a real hero and happiness to meet up with the female counterpart of him. It takes her and her two soldiers and Mark try to work together.
The narrator was just right. Sounded like a real soldier! Made me feel like I was on the battlefield. Great job. Love this author's books anyway.
Profile Image for Mike.
35 reviews3 followers
October 1, 2017
Military sci fi plus some litrpg elements.

First off, it’s a solid military science fiction novel. If you like that genre, you will like this.
It does also have some basic litrpg elements in it, and that makes it fun as well.
There are more than a few spelling errors in the book, it could use a good comb over from that perspective. But the content is well written, the story is great, so it’s easy to overlook. I loved it.
4,499 reviews21 followers
October 14, 2017
An interesting space opera book told from the perspective of a veteran in the Marines who fights enemy bugs in the future. Reminded me of Starship Troopers but more snarky and covers just one mission in this story. Thought the system to reward the death of the enemy bugs was funny. It actually was a pretty clean story even when you consider the fight scenes with the bugs. I thought Mark's interactions with the all girl team was a bit funny too. I found it to be a well written, a little snarky, and a funny scene here and there. It also shows that no matter the time politicians and management are all the same - out for themselves. I thought it was a story more on the side of making fun of space opera and fighting bug stories but very entertaining.
Profile Image for Frank Bertino.
1,771 reviews20 followers
October 5, 2017
Killy, Killy, Bang, Bang, Bang

Mark Ryder is a hero, a cynical marine veteran, and an interesting character. His female counterpart is Mina John who is every bit as cynical and almost as capable as Mark. Both are celebrity heroes. They are marines in a war of survival against a very long lived alien insect race. They face a low chance of survival on most missions. I like the humor, the exploration of morality and seeming video game action. One alien queen looks a bit human and is kind of hot. Will Mark end up banging her too? I look forward to another book.
523 reviews8 followers
October 4, 2017
I finished it

Which is not a small thing.
This is credited to two authors, and I can believe it due to the changes in style, tone, and even names at various points. Lots of inconsistencies, contradictions, and macho fantasies. Also nothing like the amount of sex warned of on the blurb.
The world building is odd, and it does feel like the characters are living in a videogame with lots of micro transactions and a losing storyline.

Not great, not terrible.
Profile Image for Holly Lenz.
928 reviews2 followers
July 11, 2018
Doomed Infinity Marine is a violent, fun space adventure featuring a tough as nails Marine fighting alien "bugs" with the help of some amazing women.

The narrator of the audio book is a good fit for the lead character, but I found his voice little grating.

Contains violence and sexual situations (of the cut to black variety). If this was a movie, I'd rate it PG13 (good for teens and adults).
Profile Image for Daniel Otis.
63 reviews1 follower
October 28, 2017
Internal monologue story presentation style.

I liked experiencing this from inside the hero's head.he has a jaded, sardonic philosophy outlook. He gives good advice. This particular reality could be more expanded, described. The tech is interesting, could also be more fleshed out. The intimate scenes are tame, but that's ok. It was an enjoyable read.

115 reviews
September 26, 2017
Excellent

Be Effective!!! Well this. Ok was certainly effective for my need of a good space marine story. Surprising depth to some of the characters and the tech was very interesting!
24 reviews
October 5, 2017
Fun run

Great story. Lots of fun. Hardcore snark took shots at every
Space opera and such stories yet turned into one of the best space soldier epic I've read in quite a while. Without ever taking itself to seriously
Profile Image for Leif Dolan.
138 reviews1 follower
October 8, 2017
Pay to play or fight

When you are in a war and the tools that you need come out of your pay check. You do the best to keep earning and buying better weapons.

LitRPG is a new style of reading. It may catch on
Profile Image for Marie.
376 reviews
October 15, 2017
An space opera book staring a veteran in the Marines who fights enemy bugs in the future. Can our hero survive and get off the moon even though the bug queen's elite is who he needs to defeat. Stay tuned.
Profile Image for Teresa.
1,120 reviews6 followers
October 22, 2017
I don't usually do space books, but the author has never let me down in other series, so I read it. I enjoyed the read, a few slow spots but generally plenty of action. The plot was great, the characters, at least the main two, have depth. Quick fun read, looking forward to book 2
Profile Image for Roger.
5,671 reviews28 followers
April 30, 2018
Not the typical J.A. Cipriano book, in ways reminiscent of Isaac Hook's work. The narrator was fabulous (think the raspy voice of Clint Eastwood) adding unmatched character to this book. No spoilers from me though, buy the book, read the book, get into a very good read!
20 reviews
June 14, 2023
Good fun read.

I hope this series continues. It is literally a gaming system come to life in a dystopian setting. Fun characters that actually have consequences for their actions. This series can go in multiple directions in the future.
Profile Image for Brian.
83 reviews2 followers
September 29, 2017
Good read

I enjoyed the book. Fairly well paced enjoyable characters. A good light read. Not deep but a good way to pass the time.
286 reviews4 followers
October 11, 2017
Mad Decent

I like a gruff no nonsense, seen it all done it all mc. Especially when the hype is played up tastefully and lived up to perfectly. A very tasty book indeed.
15 reviews2 followers
October 19, 2017
Boring.

Too much fluff. I got to about 20% of the book when I started skipping paragraphs. At 30% I was done.
245 reviews1 follower
October 20, 2017
Badass Space Marine!

Excellent book! I hope there will be more to come. The characters were good, the writing tight, and the plot consistent.
133 reviews3 followers
January 27, 2018
Very good Space Opera. Guns,Bugs, Snide remarks, a little sex. What more could you want ?
Profile Image for Rene.
176 reviews12 followers
April 15, 2018
What can I say? Another Big Mac of a novel. Every MilSci FPS/RPG done lit style.

I enjoyed it. I regret nothing 😜

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4
Profile Image for Scott.
131 reviews15 followers
July 24, 2018
The book had it's moments but the characters felt bland and the story felt weak. I don't see myself finishing the series.
Profile Image for Jay Collins.
1,631 reviews15 followers
May 31, 2019
DNF, 2.5 stars, not a big fan of this one. Not really feeling it so I am going to move on.
34 reviews
March 24, 2021
I really like this book and want to buy #2 but just can't find it :(
76 reviews6 followers
December 9, 2017
This is a better book than the very questionable sales blurb would have you believe. (Seriously, it's like the author is trying not to sell people his book with that thing)

After reading it, in spite of all that, I found a pretty good space marine adventure. Essentially Starship Troopers except with the war being fought using a sort of distoptian game mechanic. Soldier kill bugs to earn points. Points buy the weapons, gear, and such to kill more stuff and earn more points but never quite enough to by their way out of the army. The concept is pretty cool and the execution isn't bad.

The main character also isn't nearly the jerk that blurb makes him sound like he would be. He uses the term "grassfeds" way to much, which does not sound as badass as the author seems to thinks it does, but other than that minor annoyance he's just a grizzled veteran who happens to lived longer in this war game than anybody else. The sexy stuff is also very much PG-13. It's gratuitous but otherwise fairly subdued and inoffensive.

This is actually a good pulpy "space marine killing the crap of tons of aliens" book if your willing to overlook a few flaws.
Profile Image for DJay.
439 reviews74 followers
February 1, 2018
This wasn't one of my more favorite one's of Mr. Cipriano. The MC is bit too stoic for me. I guess that I just wanted more personality of him. The other characters in the book are very vibrant in their own ways. I can't really see myself continuing this series. I'm going to stick with the Builder series as I've fallen in love with those (same author btw). I dunno. I guess due to being in the service, the guys that I know that "acted" like his MC never seemed to actually match up so it's a little jarring and unbelievable for me (yeah, I know. Like the fact they are fighting huge alien bugs is believable right?) But to each their own. If you're looking for a MC that has about as much personality as Kurt Russel from the movie Soldier this will set your heart ablaze. If not, I suggest the builder series. Seriously.
534 reviews3 followers
Read
May 6, 2018
I liked this story. It was kind of Star Ship Troopers meshed with John Steakley's Armor. Had to love this story.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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