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Jump Universe #5
Rita Longknife: Enemy Unknown
The war is over. Hurray! Half the fleet is back in mothballs. But out on the rim of human space, ships are disappearing. Some are merchant ships going about their business. Others are exploration ships on deep space probes. What's happening to them? Captain Rita Nuu Longknife is ready to take the heavy cruiser Exeter to space and see what's out there. She may have a nursery next to the captain's cabin, and a two month old baby on her hip, but she's taking a warship out there and nobody better get in her way.
224 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2017
60 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
Mike Shepherd
78 books563 followersA pseudonym used by Mike Moscoe.
Mike was born in the Philadelphia Navy Yard Hospital -- and left that town at the age of three days for reasons he does not presently recall. But they had to draft him to get him back there. He missed very little of the rest of the country. Growing up Navy, he lived about everywhere you could park an aircraft carrier.
Mike was one of those college students who didn't have to worry about finding a job after graduation. In 1968, his Uncle Sam made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Two days into boot camp, the Army was wondering if they might not have been a bit hasty. Mike ended the day in the Intensive Care Unit of the local Army hospital. Despite most of Mike’s personal war stories being limited to "How I flunked boot camp," he can still write a rollicking good military SF yarns.
Mike didn’t survive all that long as a cab driver (he got lost) or bartender (he made the drinks too strong) but he figured he could at least work for the Navy Department as a budget analyst. Until he spent the whole day trying to balance the barracks accounts for paint. Finally, about quitting time, a grinning senior analyst took him aside and let him in on the secret. They'd hidden the money for refitting a battleship in that little account. Slowly it dawned on Mike that there were a few things about the Navy that even a kid who grew up in it would never understand.
Over the next twenty years, Mike branched out into other genres, including instruction memos, policies, performance standards and even a few labor contracts. All of those, you may notice, lack a certain something. Dialogue ... those things in quotes. In `87, Mike’s big break came. He landed on a two year special project to build a digital map showing where the trees, rivers, roads, Spotted Owls and other critters were in western Oregon. The list went on and on with no end in sight and two years became ten.
Since there was no writing involved in his new day job, Mike had to do something to get the words out. He signed up for a writing class at Clark Community College and proudly turned in a story ... Star Wars shoots down the second coming of Christ.
Two years later, Analog bought "Summer Hopes, Winter Dreams" for the March, 1991 issue. Four years later he sold his first novel. In the ten years since then, Mike’s turned in twelve novels and is researching the next three.
Mike's love for Science Fiction started when he picked up "Rocket Ship Galileo" in the fifth grade, and then proceeded to read every book in the library with a rocket sticker on its spine.
Mike digs for his stories among people and change. Through his interest in history, he has traces the transformations that make us what we are today. Science launches us forward into an ever changing universe. Once upon a time, the only changes in peoples lives came with the turning of the seasons and the growing wrinkles on their brows. Today, science drives most of the changes in our daily lives. Still, we can't avoid the pressure of our own awakening hormones or hardening arteries. Mike is happiest when his stories are speeding across thin ice, balanced on the edge of two sharp blades, one anciently human, the other as new as tomorrow's research.
Trained in International Relations and history, salary administration and bargaining, theology and counseling, Mike is having a ball writing about Kris Longknife ... coming of age while the world her grand parents built threatens to crash down around her ears. These are books I think you’ll love ... and my granddaughter and grandsons too!
Mike lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife Ellen, his mother-in-law and any visiting grandkids. He enjoys reading, writing, watching grand-children for story ideas and upgrading his computer -- all are never ending.
Mike was born in the Philadelphia Navy Yard Hospital -- and left that town at the age of three days for reasons he does not presently recall. But they had to draft him to get him back there. He missed very little of the rest of the country. Growing up Navy, he lived about everywhere you could park an aircraft carrier.
Mike was one of those college students who didn't have to worry about finding a job after graduation. In 1968, his Uncle Sam made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Two days into boot camp, the Army was wondering if they might not have been a bit hasty. Mike ended the day in the Intensive Care Unit of the local Army hospital. Despite most of Mike’s personal war stories being limited to "How I flunked boot camp," he can still write a rollicking good military SF yarns.
Mike didn’t survive all that long as a cab driver (he got lost) or bartender (he made the drinks too strong) but he figured he could at least work for the Navy Department as a budget analyst. Until he spent the whole day trying to balance the barracks accounts for paint. Finally, about quitting time, a grinning senior analyst took him aside and let him in on the secret. They'd hidden the money for refitting a battleship in that little account. Slowly it dawned on Mike that there were a few things about the Navy that even a kid who grew up in it would never understand.
Over the next twenty years, Mike branched out into other genres, including instruction memos, policies, performance standards and even a few labor contracts. All of those, you may notice, lack a certain something. Dialogue ... those things in quotes. In `87, Mike’s big break came. He landed on a two year special project to build a digital map showing where the trees, rivers, roads, Spotted Owls and other critters were in western Oregon. The list went on and on with no end in sight and two years became ten.
Since there was no writing involved in his new day job, Mike had to do something to get the words out. He signed up for a writing class at Clark Community College and proudly turned in a story ... Star Wars shoots down the second coming of Christ.
Two years later, Analog bought "Summer Hopes, Winter Dreams" for the March, 1991 issue. Four years later he sold his first novel. In the ten years since then, Mike’s turned in twelve novels and is researching the next three.
Mike's love for Science Fiction started when he picked up "Rocket Ship Galileo" in the fifth grade, and then proceeded to read every book in the library with a rocket sticker on its spine.
Mike digs for his stories among people and change. Through his interest in history, he has traces the transformations that make us what we are today. Science launches us forward into an ever changing universe. Once upon a time, the only changes in peoples lives came with the turning of the seasons and the growing wrinkles on their brows. Today, science drives most of the changes in our daily lives. Still, we can't avoid the pressure of our own awakening hormones or hardening arteries. Mike is happiest when his stories are speeding across thin ice, balanced on the edge of two sharp blades, one anciently human, the other as new as tomorrow's research.
Trained in International Relations and history, salary administration and bargaining, theology and counseling, Mike is having a ball writing about Kris Longknife ... coming of age while the world her grand parents built threatens to crash down around her ears. These are books I think you’ll love ... and my granddaughter and grandsons too!
Mike lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife Ellen, his mother-in-law and any visiting grandkids. He enjoys reading, writing, watching grand-children for story ideas and upgrading his computer -- all are never ending.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 17, 2017
A welcome return to the world before Kris, where Rita and Ray and Trouble go out and save the galaxy the first and second times.
This is the first in a middle trilogy, and so it does end with "To be continued..." but it's a solid story, and intriguing to see the events that shaped the later politics.
The author has an ambitious publishing schedule, but one casualty of going indie is a few more editing errors and typos.
This is the first in a middle trilogy, and so it does end with "To be continued..." but it's a solid story, and intriguing to see the events that shaped the later politics.
The author has an ambitious publishing schedule, but one casualty of going indie is a few more editing errors and typos.
August 13, 2022
The war is over but that doesn't mean things are peaceful. Pirates are running rampant, and the good guys have few ships that aren't in mothballs and no crews to man them. Ray Longknife is heading the Exploration Corps trying to discover new planets using the star maps he got from an alien computer. Private enterprise is also busy with planetary exploration looking for new worlds to maximize their corporate bottom lines.
However, ships are disappearing and, because the private explorers aren't sharing their routes, the number actually missing is unclear. Then, to add to the problem, "Admiral" Whitebred escapes from custody on Savannah with 24 other ships and goes out to be a pirate himself. So, are the losses due to Whitebred's efforts or is something else going on?
Rita Nuu Longknife and her two-month-old son have a ship that is going out to see what is going on in space. She's looking for missing ships and pirates, but what she finds is something else. It seems that humanity has finally met aliens. And pirates aren't the best possible ambassadors for first contact.
Hearing this episode of the Jump Universe books highlights the negatives of this series. The dialog is a little clunky. The characterizations are a bit wooden. But the worldbuilding is excellent. The adventure carries the day for this story.
However, ships are disappearing and, because the private explorers aren't sharing their routes, the number actually missing is unclear. Then, to add to the problem, "Admiral" Whitebred escapes from custody on Savannah with 24 other ships and goes out to be a pirate himself. So, are the losses due to Whitebred's efforts or is something else going on?
Rita Nuu Longknife and her two-month-old son have a ship that is going out to see what is going on in space. She's looking for missing ships and pirates, but what she finds is something else. It seems that humanity has finally met aliens. And pirates aren't the best possible ambassadors for first contact.
Hearing this episode of the Jump Universe books highlights the negatives of this series. The dialog is a little clunky. The characterizations are a bit wooden. But the worldbuilding is excellent. The adventure carries the day for this story.
June 19, 2017
Good back story. Clearly first in series and acknowledges the to be continued aspect.
Interesting how Rita manages to be a bit like Kris, but not exactly. And the bad guys are so laughably bad. Great space opera for those that like this
Interesting how Rita manages to be a bit like Kris, but not exactly. And the bad guys are so laughably bad. Great space opera for those that like this
September 13, 2017
100% Longknife!!
I love that Shepherd has taken us back in time when Ray, Rita, Trouble & Ruth were young; the Iteeche war and why and how it began. Loving it!....gotta go.....starting book 2....!!
I love that Shepherd has taken us back in time when Ray, Rita, Trouble & Ruth were young; the Iteeche war and why and how it began. Loving it!....gotta go.....starting book 2....!!
December 24, 2017
Drug a little.
I thought this book drug a little. I enjoyed reading about Rita and Ray and their problems and how that story went. With that said some of the details went a little long.
I thought this book drug a little. I enjoyed reading about Rita and Ray and their problems and how that story went. With that said some of the details went a little long.
May 11, 2017
Want more
Another well written installment in this series. Though if you are a fan of the Longknife's then you know the end state. This is how they get the, in the early days.
Another well written installment in this series. Though if you are a fan of the Longknife's then you know the end state. This is how they get the, in the early days.
January 6, 2018
This one is different. There are some space battles, but this is a big whodunit. The book is paced well, which means it's hard to put down.
February 12, 2018
Kris' grandmother was cool.
July 17, 2018
I'm enjoying the Jump Universe series better than the -Longknife- books. They just seem a litle better.
October 29, 2019
How it all started
This author writes to my interests and keeps the action moving. The entire series so far is one of the best I have read.
This author writes to my interests and keeps the action moving. The entire series so far is one of the best I have read.
July 10, 2024
Good action. I liked the main character, she seems like the kind of commander you would need in this situation. Good start to a series
March 11, 2017
great ebook, I just with R/L had not gotten in the way of me finishing this.
March 2, 2017
Great story
It's going to be great seeing how everything got started. Looking forward to the short stories too.
Being able to be on a mailing list is also good.
It's going to be great seeing how everything got started. Looking forward to the short stories too.
Being able to be on a mailing list is also good.
November 30, 2019
Finally
A great jump back in time, and a foundation gets clear for the (damned) Longknife's Universe! If you are up to date in the Kris Longknife series, you soon see where she gets it from :-D
A great jump back in time, and a foundation gets clear for the (damned) Longknife's Universe! If you are up to date in the Kris Longknife series, you soon see where she gets it from :-D
April 29, 2017
Enjoyed this, like these as they seem less cute and more gritty.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews