Following Pariah comes Exodus, the second book in The Eternity War series -- an explosive tale of elite marines, deep-space exploration and warring galactic empires.Lieutenant Keira Jenkins and her Jackals may have survived confrontations with the Black Spiral terrorist network and a betrayal by one of their own. Yet their troubles are only just beginning.With their starship badly damaged, they find themselves adrift in hostile territory. Somehow they must find a way to warn the Alliance before the Black Spiral unleashes a new war across the galaxy.But first they must face the Alliance's oldest the Asiatic Directorate. And the Directorate has a score to settle with Jenkins . . .
Jamie Sawyer is a science fiction writer from England, first published in 2016. He is the writer of the Lazarus War and Eternity War book series. When he isn’t working on his day-job, he is an enthusiastic reader of all types of SF, especially classic authors such as Heinlein and Haldeman.
Just when I was starting to get worried that this series was becoming formulaic, Sawyer gives us something new and if anything, more non-stop adrenaline fueled action than before. Sawyer left us with quite a cliffhanger in the first installment of this series, set in the same universe as The Lazarus War and staring Jenkins, a member of the Lazarus Legion. Now commanding her own simulant squad (the Jackals), the book opens with them facing down the Directorate, but even worse, the Unified Korea part of it (e.g., the nastiest bit).
Riggs, Jenkins' former lover and member of the Jackals, betrayed them after finding the 'black box' of a ship they journeyed into the Maelstrorm for (e.g., Krell space) and absconded with it, leaving them in the hands of a ruthless dictator. So, we start off with Jenkins and company (including a talking Krell) in prison, and it does not look good. I will pass on more discussion of the plot here; you know they will escape prison, but still, it is ugly.
The sitrep? The universe has changed in the few years since the Krell and the Alliance achieved real peace. A mysterious figure called the "Warlord" is the leader of the 'black spiral' and seems on a mission to destroy the Krell and the humans that made peace with the 'fish heads'. Many collectives of Krell are succumbing to a nasty virus that basically turns them into something like zombies, and they are out of control, invading both human space or uninfected Krell collectives. The Warlord has something to do with this, and also seems to be able to use some Shard tech (Shard are the machine aliens that the Krell fought a massive war with eons ago). Jenkins and company are quickly (and I mean quickly!) involved in a mission that could save the universe...
This series, and its predecessor, are pure space pulp, military science fiction, and pretty glorious for that. I am a sucker for good mil-scifi and this series really hits the spot. Sawyer decided to forego the dreary 'damsel in distress' subplot in this series (thankfully) and instead serves up a knuckle biting, high octane adventure that just does not quit. You have to suspend belief a little here; I do not know how anyone could still function after being shot/hit/mauled/etc. as much as Jenkins (and that is not even including dying multiple times as a sim). Also, it is a bit beyond belief to constantly have some entity/group so hot on the heels of the Jackals. Yet, this was much fun I can excuse Sawyer here. 4.5 pulpy stars!!
More excitement than you can shake a stick at here, as Jenkins Jackals face the consequences cliff hanging from the end of “Pariah” and prepare to do battle once more… From the moment you start reading, you’ll be pulled along at break neck speed, very little down time for our gang as they rock and roll from one breathtakingly dangerous mission to another, all in the name of preventing a war that comes at them from all sides. An old friend makes an appearance, we get more background on this once motley crew, betrayal is lurking around every corner and it is all absolutely blinking brilliant, a rollercoaster ride of a space adventure. I loved it. The characters are intriguingly engaging, the action is all consuming and it’s dark as you like, added to which you get intelligent plotting and enough twists to put your head in a spin. Also Pariah. Love that fish. Highly Recommended.
A thoroughly entertaining, action-packed science fiction thriller - and the second outing for Keira Jenkins and her Jackals. I do enjoy Jamie Sawyers' adventures in space. They're such a lot of fun to read. This one stands out in particular for the Directorate - a nastier bunch of people it would be difficult to meet. But then there's the aliens.... The review is now up on For Winter Nights.
This series keeps surprising me. Its an amazing read. Just full of break neck action, fun characters, simple but clever world building and a pace that nevet lets up. We're back with the same crew ( still 1st person pov which i always love). Adventure/missions galore. Everything about this is fun. As Ive said before its like The Expanse mixed with Matthew Reillys action and pacing. Highly recommend this series!!
This is the second book in the Eternity War series by Jamie Sawyer. This series is set in the same universe as his Lazarus War series. In this one Keria Jenkins's Jackels are betrayed by one of their own and captured by their old enemy the Asiatic Directorate. They are tortured but are soon rescued by an unlikely ally. Unlikely because he is thought to be dead. After the rescue they are sent on a clandestine mission to rescue a scientist who may have information that can stop the infected Krell from destroying mankind. Things, of course, don't ever go easy for Keria and her simulant team, the Jackels. The Black Spiral and the Asiatic Directorate are both determined to stop them and the Alliance. Another great action packed read with several unforeseen plot twists. I recommend this book and series to all fans of Military Science Fiction and fans of Jamie Sawyer and his Lazarus War series.
Sci-fi as setting rather than genre. There isn't a lot of introspection into the human condition in Exodus. It is a fun, if rather Hollywood action movie formulaic, read though.
Encore une lecture que j’ai dévorée. Il faut dire que ça me manquait un peu ce genre de SF. Pour moi cette lecture c’est un peu comme un shot d’expresso bien condensé, ça se lit vite et ça revitalise. Et ensuite on est en forme pour lire des livres qui se dégustent plus.
Dans ce monde les humains sont rangés dans deux camps, l’Alliance et le Directoire. Dans la première trilogie Lazarre en guerre, on suivant la guerre de l’Alliance contre les Krells, des ennemis tellement différents des humains qu’il est impossible de communiquer avec eux.
Les Krells sont des espèces d’insectes intelligents qui ont des formes adaptatives. En gros colonies produisent des individus adaptés à chaque situation ce qui les rend quasiment impossible à tuer.
Dans leur guerre pour leur survie, les humains découvrent les restes d’une autre race extraterrestre les Bribes, des machines qui étaient endormies depuis très longtemps, et les réveillent. Les bribes étaient les ennemis ancestraux des Krells, et face à leur réveil si dangereux, les Krells finissent par accepter une sorte de trêve. Ce qu’il faut savoir c’est que les Bribes avaient pour but de détruire toute vie, donc ils sont aussi dangereux pour les humains que pour les Krells.
Mais le Directoire a toujours le mot pour faire changer les choses, c’est à ce moment la qu’ils attaquent l’Alliance. La situation devient très chaotique … (je ne vous raconte pas tout pour ceux qui souhaitent encore lire la première trilogie)
Dans ce tome ci on se concentre sur une secte, la Spirale Noire qui semble avoir infiltré toute les hiérarchies et les troupes de l’Alliance. Celle ci réuni des humains qui ne veulent pas de la trêve avec les Krells. Ils veulent les anéantir définitivement et comptent bien utiliser les Bribes pour ça.
Pour arriver à leurs fins ils n’hésitez pas à sacrifier des colonies humaines entières, car pour eux la fin justifie les moyens. Surtout qu’ils considèrent que les humains, et surtout l’alliance, ont faillis et les ont trahis en acceptant la trêve des Krells après tout le mal que ceux ci ont fait avant. Grace à la technologie Bribe, ils ont développé un virus qui décime les Krells, les transformant en espèce de zombies. Ceux ci attaquent tout ce qui passe sur leur chemin …
Les personnages qu’on suit dans ce tome, Jenkins et ses Chacals, qui forment une unité de SimOps (comme dans le film Avatar, les opérateurs se retrouvent de façon simulée dans des corps boostés et bien plus résistants que les leurs), ont été trahis par l’un des leurs qui c’est avéré appartenir à la Spirale. Celui ci les a lâché dans l’espace le plus reculé du Directoire et les voici maintenant prisonniers de leurs pires ennemis …
C’est vrai que dit comme ça ça a l’air un peu confus entre tout les différents camps et tout. Mais on est sur le 5ième tome de la série globale, tout est arrivé progressivement, donc dedans ça ne pose aucun problème.
Un tome ou il se passe énormément de choses, surtout pas mal de belles découvertes au niveau de la Spirale Noire qu’on ne voyait que de loin dans les tomes précédents et qui passe ici au cœur de l’intrigue.
Les retournements de situations sont nombreux et l’évolution globale de l’intrigue avance vraiment à toute vitesse. Pas le temps de s’ennuyer, aucun moment creux au milieu. Et pourtant ça n’est pas non plus de l’action non stop, les moments d’attente sont aussi nombreux que les moments d’action.
Les personnages évoluent bien aussi durant ce tome. On a moins l’impression d’être dans une équipe de bleus qui n’arrivent à rien. Ils trouvent leur cohésion et travaillent bien mieux ensemble malgré les épreuves. Ou grâce aux épreuves peut être.
Franchement j’ai passé un excellent moment et j’ai lu le tome en 2 jours à peine. C’est très dynamique, l’intrigue est vraiment intéressante et avance bien tout du long du tome. On peut dire que j’ai dévoré ce tome. Maintenant reste plus qu’à décidé si j’attends la VF du dernier tome ou si je les lis en VO vu qu’il est déjà sorti …
V Odpadlíkovi sme sledovali neskúsených nováčikov, ktorí ani sami neverili, že psychicky a fyzicky zvládnu peklo, do ktorého sa dostali. V Exode už nachádzame partiu skúsených vojakov, ktorí si poradia aj bez rozkazov z velenia. Chodia síce po tenučkom ľade, pretože sa to dá označiť za vzburu, no vedia, že sa na svojich druhov môžu spoľahnúť a veriť im. Sú síce príliš rozdielni, no v „prúseroch“, v ktorých sa ocitajú, ich spája práve nezlomná vzájomná dôvera. Máme možnosť lepšie spoznať temné stránky, minulosť aj slabiny Dingov. Popri tom si uvedomíme, že sú to postavy z mäsa a kostí, s dušou a hĺbkou a majú čo čitateľom povedať. To však samozrejme nie je to hlavné...
The Kell are infected with an ancient virus that turns them into thralls for unknown purposes. A terrorist organisation is attacking military and civilian targets capturing material for another unknown purpose. Strange doomsday cults are springing up because why the hell not, right? While our protagonists are marooned in enemy space by a hostile infiltrator.
Yet have cloned bodies - will travel. The Jackals meet an old friend and make new enemies. Always good to meet new people and shoot them with plasma weaponry. Have to say though, they're rather hard on their transports.
You have to suspend disbelief pretty hard in this series (the amount of damage even the un-augmented versions of the characters take is unbelievable), but once you accept that the rules of this universe are different than our own it is a pretty enjoyable mil-sci-fi book. Lots of action, blowing stuff up, even getting a few tanks in the mix. The main storyline is serviceable and so having read this far into the series, I'll probably finish it out.
Afraid this is a DNF. The characters are too monochrome and the writing too pedestrian to compensate for an ok plot.
Please, writers of military/space opera, if you're going to inflict endless team banter on the reader, at less make it witty and feel like real interaction.
Huhei, denne serien tar seg veldig opp i toaren (fnis). Førsteboka levde ikkje opp til forventningane, men oppfølgaren gjer nesten opp for det. Dette er spennande saker. Det er framleis litt vel mykje Gears of War-aktig dialog for min smak, og nokre av hovudpersonane er stadig ekstremt anonyme.
if i could give a 4 1/2 i would. this one was longer and a lot slower than the first but i really enjoyed the world building and suspense. the final action sequence was PHENOMENAL and had me on the edge of my seat. Sawyer was already great at writing action but he outdoes himself with this one.
Not gonna say to much. Non stop action through. In between the most action pack parts you get developments in the story. This over arching story gets more intense and exciting with every novel.
I lost interest for a while in the middle but on the whole an enjoyable read. The larger context is slowly unfolding as a background to the entertaining action.
A terrific, fast paced sequel. A couple of pages and you're right back in it! This is the fifth book from Jamie Sawyer that is placed in the same overall "Universe" of his storyline and they flow very well. His writing is crisp and vivid and fast paced. Like a shot of Espresso!