Renegade Dawn

Renegade Star #7

by J.N. Chaney

Welcome to the Old World. Captain Jace Hughes and his crew have finally reached their Earth, the mythical lost homeworld of Humanity. It was said to harbor great wonders, fertile land, and beauty beyond comparison, but the reality is far, far stranger than any story. The Earth isn’t what they thought, and it must be rebuilt. Using the newly acquired Galactic Dawn as a refitted transport vessel, Jace hopes to bring help from displaced worlds whose inhabitants can no longer sustain themselves. He’s going to need all the help he can get to jumpstart this new colony. That means farmers, workers, soldiers, and, perhaps most importantly, families, all of them working together to build a home they can call their own. But the Earth harbors many dangerous secrets, each one more deadly than the last. Secrets that could mean the end of everything Jace and his friends have worked so hard to achieve. The time for exploration and discovery has begun. Try not to get yourself killed. Experience a sprawling galactic tale in this seventh entry to The Renegade Star series. If you’re a fan of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, or Indiana Jones, you’ll love this epic, space opera adventure.  

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2018

About the author

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Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

· Book 1: Renegade Star ★★★★
· Book 2: Renegade Atlas ★★★★
· Book 3: Renegade Moon ★★★★
· Book 4: Renegade Lost ★★★★
· Book 5: Renegade Fleet ★★★★
· Book 6: Renegade Earth ★★★★
· Book 8: Renegade Children ★★★★
· Book 9: Renegade Union ★★★★
· Book 10: Renegade Empire ★★★★
· Book 11: Renegade Descent ★★★★
· Book 12: Renegade Rising ★★★★
· Book 13: Renegade Alliance ★★★★
· Book 14: Renegade Evolution ★★★★
· Book 15: Renegade War ★★★★
· Book 16: Renegade Peace ★★★★

[Meenaz Lodhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It wasn’t always the goal that mattered, but the journey to see it done that made the difference.”
With enough people behind a cause, anything is achievable. We’re finally on Earth, with new surprises and deadly encounters. The characters’ building is outstanding and very realistic. The emotions I went through arriving on Earth and seeing the devastated situation was overwhelming. An unexpected twist to the story left me wanting to read book 8 immediately!

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, we are on earth and meeting some interesting technology. Finally getting to know more about the previous inhabitants of Earth. A little bit at a time with these books.


How I choose my rating:
1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much.
2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end.
3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.

[Leslie Baptiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like every character in the series except Jace

First of all I like the series, but I can do withoutJace, in my opinion which is only my opinion, he is slow not very intelligent and Brutish. Al or Abigail would’ve been better protagonist for the series, and what’s with the guns, this is a far flung futuristic series and you’re using lead projectile weapons, 21st Century guns, give me a break. Besides these qualms I really enjoyed the series if you like aliens, science fiction, space travel, and 20th century gun fights you will enjoy this series.

[2percentright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was great until the last chapter which doesn't make any sense. Spoilers ahead:



So, for one thing, the author breaks his own in-world mechanics of ftl travel. It still takes time to travel through the tunnels. The broken station was instantly moved from another nebula into Earth within minutes.

Secondly, the Celestials aren't scary. I think they are over 7,000 light years away if I remember. That's like being in elementary school and your parents move 3 states away and being scared a bully is going to show up and take your lunch money.

No. The Celestials don't know where Earth is and don't have a way there. Calm the hell down, Jace

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

New mysteries

Earth has been reached, however it’s not what they expected. There are mysteries to solve, challenges to overcome, and a continued resolve to fight for their freedom. There is another unforeseen, interesting development right at the end, too!

[Wesley Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

Another excellent entry into the Renegade Star series. Fun and quick paced. One of the best series out there in any genre

[J.R. Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun series! It was so amazing that I blasted through the series and forgot to write individual reviews. I'll be posting a review of the entire series on the page for book one, but I didn't want to keep my enthusiasm to myself. So, I’m sharing this ringing endorsement of the series, here, on the individual book pages. They were all epic in their own right, though there were times I thought I might have a heart attack during the action scenes! And can we talk about how awesome the narrator was? Wow, just wow! Overall, this series was a fun read and I was able to gloss over the near-death experiences!

My full review for this series doesn't fit, so read it here: https://jrhandley.com/2020/04/10/book...

My Overall Thoughts:
Okay, let’s get into the weeds on this one! I’ve organized my overall assessment by putting the stuff I didn’t like first so we can end on a high note. I also want to be clear that I really loved this series overall, it’s why I plowed through the audiobooks so quickly that I had to write a series review instead of an individual one for each of the six novels that make up The Renegade Star Series.

Alright, let’s rip off the band-aide and dive in. There were many parts that I wasn’t thrilled with in this series. First, the lack of details about the world was disheartening. I’m a guy who prefers all of the details, and I wasn’t given that in this series. This is a different type of book than I usually read, more pulp than anything, so some of that can generally be addressed by the fact that I’m not his ideal audience. However, I wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t mention that this was something I didn’t particularly like.

Another issue with the books was the profanity. I’m aware that the books description out a warning about the crude language. That normally bothers me, however, when you’re hooked on the fast-paced story, you want to listen every chance you get. I couldn’t do that if my kids were around, so this is more of an annoyance than anything because I went in with eyes wide open. Again, it wasn’t the profanity itself so much as the way that limited my ability to listen to the audiobooks. Luckily, this book is in the Kindle Unlimited program, and you can read it for free if you hit a patch where your rug rats won’t give you room to breathe.

I chose this book because the covers and the premise sounded entertaining, and I wasn’t disappointed. However, this book was very much a pulp novel and didn’t give me a lot to sink my teeth into. As many of you know, I’m the kind of reader that wants all the details in the novels I read. Some of this is just my own oddities, but I really like the little descriptions of the world that flush it out for me. I don’t just want to know that the character fired a blaster, I want the make and model. Again, some of this is just my preference, so this lack of detail was annoying, but not so much that I couldn’t keep reading because I obviously blazed through the series.

Another minor announcement I had was the lack of proper naval terminology. The main character calls the bulkheads walls and calls the decks a floor. I grew up in a Navy town, so hearing vessels using proper terminology always catches my attention. However, these traditions could change in the future, so this is really just nitpicking for the sake of my review.

My one major complaint about the story, aside from like details, was the character’s lack of reaction to killing. I’ve been in situations where you were required in someone else’s life, thank you Iraq, and there is always an emotional response to the action. I did not feel like the main character, Jace Hughes, ever felt remorse for the people he killed. It was just the thing he did, and then he’s callously shrugged it off. The combat veteran, this bugs me, but I’m sure most readers would never notice this.

Alright, now let’s talk about the happy things! One of the things that I liked about the series was the way characters grew as the story developed across the 13 novels. This is an area where the author grew as a creator, and it showed. I can’t really say anything else about the specific category because that would give spoilers, but trust me, it’s worth waiting for the big reveal later in the series.

Another area that struck me with this series was the audio narration. I loved this audiobook, Luke Daniels gave one of his trademarked top-notch performances. My only complaint in this arena was the way the main character socked on hard candy. However, this was more about the author’s characterization and how it translated to audiobooks, but it was about Luke’s performance. However, if especially noticeable in the morning and audiobook format. Despite that one minor complaint, this audiobook was a rollicking good adventure! Seriously, if you weren’t already hooked on Luke, this book would get you there! This was one of the many areas where this series really shined for me.

What did shine was the amazing premise of this book series. This definitely hit on all of the tropes that I love about science fiction, but not in a way that felt derivative. He carried it out in a way that somehow became uniquely his own thing. I found shades of the short-lived Firefly television show and the anime Outlaw Star that inspired it. There was also a Star Wars meets Indiana Jones element to this series, which kept you glued to the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens next. Oh, and some of the reviewers called the series a mash-up of Andromeda and Battlestar Galactica. I agreed with them, though I didn’t see it at first. Once I read the review, the comparison was obvious!

If I haven’t said it enough, I REALLY loved the basic premise of this series. The concept of a grand adventure, trying to solve the mysteries of the universe, struck the right chord for me. It was very much. The Da Vinci Code in space, which I really liked. The fact that it was written in first person made you much more connected to the adventure, which I really appreciated. All of this combined, and you end up with a series of books that are a lot of fun to read. Seriously, it’s pulpy popcorn comfort food. Except you won’t regret eating it, because it’s calorie-free.

One of the overarching themes of the series that I enjoyed was the classic story of good versus evil. This was your typical David versus Goliath story except you had blaster since the slingshots. While the main character wasn’t quite the everyman, he was close enough that you ended up rooting for him and cheering as the bad guys get taken down a peg or two. There’s a Union officer whose face you want to smash in, but luckily Jace wants to do the same thing, and so you get a vicarious thrill of living for him. Isn’t that why we read fiction in the first place?

Oh, and I really loved the way Chaney explained his science of faster than light travel (FTL). It had just the right amount of Handwavium to keep me happy. Because of the structure of the story, he never felt let down by the lack of a more detailed explanation of how the science works. Instead, you have a character who doesn’t know and so can’t tell you. This is one of the beauties of the first-person narration done right!

Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed the more direct language that the author chose to use. It had a very Tom Clancy-esq vibe with simple words that avoided the tendency towards a pretentious use of big words, whether they were needed or not. It made it possible for Luke Daniels to give the stellar performance that he did with his narration, which I obviously loved. I know this style of writing isn’t for everyone, but it was something that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I wish I could gush more about the series, but I can’t think of ways to do this justice without giving spoilers. So… have I hinted that I enjoyed this universe yet? Good, I want it to be obvious! So, to wrap this bad boy up, I loved this series. Each one of these novels was at least 75,000 words long, about what you expect from the genre. Despite the length, each book felt like a quick read. If you didn’t know how long each novel was, you could almost imagine them as short stories. This is because they were so engrossing that the reader loses track of time while they temporarily live in the story. The author definitely made me want more from this universe, and I’ll definitely be reading the follow-on series that are already available.

In conclusion, I was hooked from the first page/minute! JN Chaney wove the action into this fun space opera romp that made me lose track of time. Basically, he had me hooked from the beginning and kept it going throughout the whole series. These are books that I would happily recommend, and an author I will definitely read again. While I don’t see myself diving more into the pulp side of the house, I don’t regret swimming in this pool of awesomesauce! Buy these novels! But hey, it’s easy to spend someone else’s money! I give these books a 5 out of 5 grenades!

[David Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really

Ok , so I love most of the story line.... except the part where it's basically conform or die....
And hey, I always have a firearm but you can't have even a knife, so basically I'll (Jace) save you from tyranny to then control you with more tyranny.
Ragoer, so renegade is more like nazi
Thanks.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This kind of starts a new era in the Renegade Star Series. Chase Hughes is now more or less land-bound. He’s no longer soaring through the galaxy in the Renegade Star and certainly not aboard the Titan, an original Earth colony seed-ship he found on his journey to Earth. No, Jace Hughes is now a citizen of Earth whether he realizes it or not.

But this Earth is not the one that was told about in the old stories nor is it the Earth that you and I know about. It seems that the last inhabitants of Earth pretty much messed it up. Still, they appear to have gone beyond their destructive ways and are now making an attempt to restore Earth although those former Earthlings are long dead and gone.

It’s now up to Jace and his crew plus all the people he has picked up along his journey to Earth to figure out what’s going on with the planet. There appears to be something controlling all of the terraforming activities and especially the trilobites, little automated machines located on the planets surface. While they are not necessarily harmful, they are best to stay away from. It’s is known that they can consume almost any kind of material that is put in their way. Now a bunch of them have gathered below the city of Verdun and no one knows exactly why. Verdun is one of several totally vacant cities Jace and his crew found when they first came to Earth. These cities sit on massive scaffolding high above Earth. Verdun is the one Jace chose and named as the new home for him and his crew and the others he had brought with him. He intends to go back to the “badlands” and find other peoples that would want to start a new life outside Union control and bring them to Earth to further the restoration of the planet.

First, though, he must figure out what these trilobites are doing and are they a threat to his new city. One of his scouting teams has reported a vast cavern or hole in the Earth with trilobites pouring from it. This appears to be their point of origin and Jace wants to know who or what is building them. So, he gathers his team together and off they go exploring. What they find is very interesting and could either make their stay on Earth a pleasant and lasing one, or it could mean the end of everything that had hoped and dreamed of.

Not sure how this story is going to play out now. Jace doesn’t seem like the swashbuckling, devil-may-care, renegade that he was in the beginning of this story. He’s gotten himself quite a family now and he’s out to protect it at all cost. Now it appears that another enemy might be lurking out there somewhere in the galaxy that wants to find Earth and it’s resources, very badly.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Renegade Dawn - a review by Rosemary Kenny

J N Chaney has here an excellent new story in the Renegade Star series and this is the 7th novel
from it.
Having previously triumphed in two huge battles, saving hundreds of refugees from dying planets and firm in his belief in the legends of Earth's lush green beauty and fertility, Captain Jace Hughes brings three hundred colonists - soldiers, farmers, builders and the like - from the Union of the Deadlands, with him on his rebuilt Arkship, Galactic Dawn, to create peace, justice and freedom on Earth for all who are willing to work towards the common good.

I like the fact that, unlike most Space Operas, Renegade Dawn shows aliens coming to Earth with peaceful intentions, to settle down and start a brave new life, rather than leaving the Earth because of dire/cataclysmic events.
The characters are memorable and engaging, plus there's a 'Who's Who'index included to help you.

Negatively: The Celestials aren't scary enough and besides we know they're at least 7000 light years away, have no idea where Earth is located or how to get there, so not a realistic threat.
The Trilobites could surely be disabled/overcome by using electro-magnetic weapons or barriers?
Why didn't Jace do any research to find out why Earth had been abandoned and what resulting destruction/dangers to expect?

Thankfully as this novel is cut short at the end, the reader can take comfort in the fact that Book 8 is not far behind - why not take yourself to the nearest bookstore and buy the whole series today?

[Per Gunnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blurb states that “The time for exploration and discovery has begun”. Well that it has indeed. This book in the series takes a pause from galivanting around the galaxy and being chased by the nefarious Union. I think it was a nice change of pace.

As we discovered in the previous book Earth is not what it used to be. Some fixing up is needed and Hughes & Co are taking on the task with their usual enthusiasm.

However, Earth harbours plenty of secrets. Some of them of the dangerous variety, others of the really dangerous variety.

The main story, in this book, is about they mysteries that Earth harbours and Hughes & Co trying to solve them as they delve deeper and deeper into them… and deeper and deeper into Earth itself. I quite liked this story even though some of the mysteries did indeed become obvious after a while.

Still, it is a nice suspenseful story with a fair amount of twists and surprises. Of course the action is not left out and there is plenty of opportunities for the band to flex their muscles and practice with various tools that goes boom.

I do like the twists and the direction the story took. Although some of them where, as I wrote earlier, somewhat obvious there where some major twists, twists which will have quite some impact of the future story line, that I didn’t see coming.

I am quite looking forward to the next instalment in the series now.

[Frances Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Underwhelming

It seems that the Eternals are not all knowing! They set out to terraform the Earth and, for some reason, drilled through to the centre of the earth. There they built a city with a massive computer complex run by a Cognitive called (wait for it) Gaia! They didn’t build enough failsafes in it though so when some water got in it corrupted a lot of the files. So the terraforming units got out of control and the whole project ground to a halt. The story is quite boring and a bit ridiculous in places in that there are contradictions. In the tunnel the trilobites (the terraforming machines) don’t go deeper than a certain depth but, of course, they have a huge nest just where Jace and co have to travel! Anyway, suffice it to say that some Eternals turn up and Jace discovers that there’s another huge threat out there. This is a bit like Galaxy Quest where they have to get to a spot where they must turn of the countdown but nothing happens. Then the counter gets to 1 and the countdown stops, because the heroes can never get to the switch before the counter gets to 1! That’s this book. An absolute farce!

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

The central premise of this book is how they need to use dozens of spaceships with repeaters to communicate in a deep tunnel. What Chaney doesn't grasp is that the same concepts that allow one to detect an object at tens of millions of miles away can be easily adapted to transmit communications over similar distances. Heck, it's actually a lot easier to communicate over long distances than to sense over long distances, as there's no return path in the range equation. If New Horizons can transmit images from four billion miles away using a few kilograms of plutonium, these ridiculous drones can surely manage more than a mile. It's killing me.

Anyway, the bad guys, having finally come within one easily traceable hop of their ultimate goal, have seemingly lost interest. Instead we have malfunctioning machines and so on.

I think I'm calling it quits. Enjoyable enough as a series, but not in my top-10 sci-fi universes.

[David Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terraforming paused, trilobite danger!

Jace and the rest of the crew of Titan are now living on a platform above the surface of the Earth, that they have named Verdun. The Galactic Dawn is ferrying people from the Farmlands to this new location, while they try to set up a new colony. However machine-like trilobites are seen on the surface which they find to their horror dissolves any matter it deems foreign! A deep hole has also been observed, the walls of which are covered in trilobites. The crew set out to investigate and discover things are weirder than can be believed..... This story is a change of pace compared to the previous novels with no space battles or hand to hand combat, though there is still peril. The next 'big bad' is set up at the end and I can' t wait to see where this is going next....

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Another solid adventure! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chaney never disappoints with his strong storylines, fascinating characters, and neverending action. There might not be huge battle scenes in space this time, but don't let that fool you into thinking that this installment is any less exciting than the other books in the series. Each one has added another layer to the renegade universe, increasing its depth and adding to the intrigue. The futuristic Earth that is portrayed is mind-bending and slightly terrifying in an I-hope-we-don't-make-this-future-happen kind of way. As always, as soon as I've finished I can't wait to get my hands on the next one!

[Iah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the series it's an easy read but Jace is an arse hole, he is the least qualified person to lead anything bigger than his one man ship.
The ice colony leadership should be in charge of that aspect as the have been doing it for years!
Jace is a violent thug at best.
The people from the badlands were probably there to avoid the 2 powers so they could live however they want but now they find themselves in a dictatorship
So many things don't add up here but I still like it mostly. But may abandon the series if Jace continues down the dictatorial path

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally! The Titan crew has reached the lost planet of Earth. Unfortunately, the planet is not in great shape. The terraforming process has not been completed so there is no plant life. Jace and his trusted crew are leading the charge to bring more people to the earth and uncover the secrets of the technology that was left behind. Jace is concerned about the terraforming insects that are roaming the planet and has a bad feeling that haunts him regarding another power showing up to take away their hard-earned freedoms. As always this series is action-packed and is a fun read.

[David Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jace and company are finally back on Earth, such as it is. A lot is going on, including that Earth is being terraformed as the result of damage and that the AI responsible for the terraforming isn't quite stable after hundreds of years of damage. Jace and company deal with the AI and get all that sorted out. They also deal with a group of refugees who are somehow sucked into the Earth's slip stream from really far away and learn about another huge threat that is out there waiting.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Petra, Freddy's girlfriend, loses an arm but has it replaced. The crew meets another Cognitive called Gaia, who has control over the "trilobite" network and shuts it down after the other Cognitives reprogram her. She also lights up the city on Earth, starts plants growing, and opens a slip tunnel in the sky. Meanwhile, the inhabitants go to their escape pods, but our spaceship intercepts some of them. Peace ensues.

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still good

The overall story continues to be good, but this particular chapter in it feels a bit stretched and out of place with the story.

All the other books are fast paced and full of action and this one seems to be more of a pause and collect book. Let's see what the next one tells us.

[Dale]

Another great book in the series.

Same review as before.
—————

Quick, easy, fun read.
It’s like a young Han Solo (Star Wars) or Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly/Serenity). Great fun.

I wish there were not so many swear words throughout the book. While not necessarily gratuitous, definitely over the top excessive and unnecessary.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needs to be a movie!

Yes it's that good! The world building, characters, action, mystery, I believe I've found my fave author! I normally don't read anything in space, but I'm so glad I gave this a chance! I highly recommend this series for anyone looking for an incredible adventure and a cast you cant help but care about! I cant wait to see what's next!

[Andy Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent installment with one caveat re. the audio book. Luke Daniels, until now, has done an excellent job. But he ran out of voices and now the new characters sound like over-the-top foreign muppets. Those voices are absolutely atrocious. I cannot believe anyone let them get through to the audio book. Should have hired anyone else to supplement narration. Case in point is Petra. OMG.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite thus far in the series but still a useful entry in character building - especially in showing what appears to be PTSD with Jace, which is a good development for a character that at times is too flawless. But it did feel a little slow and the trilobite villain was meh. But it was all worth it for the final chapter! Can’t wait to read the next entry….now!

[Cameron Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never want to put it down

This is an enticing book series that i couldn't get enugh of . And to hear that there are a few more books to come is music to my ears .
Great job there chaney i look foward to reading you .

[dennis barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Renegade Dawn J.N. Chaney

Captain Jace and his crew have finally landed on the mystical planet of folklore Earth. Challenge are immense. The planet is in in disarray, but they are determined to succeed. Non stop action! A magnificent read!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent development in the Renegade Star series!

This starts a new chapter in the Renegade Star universe. It’s exciting and showed a side of Captain Jace Hughes that was compelling and relatable. On to book 8!

[Katyana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a transition book, rolling to the new arc after they got to Earth in the previous book. It was solid and fun, laying the foundation for what happens next, but only 3 stars because this episode didn't have a whole lot of action - it was predominantly setup.

[Lori Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gobsmacked

"Journey to the Center of the Earth"? Wow. I have to say I didn't see this one coming. Chaney keeps rolling while the rest of us are wondering where else he could go. Superb storytelling. A definite must read for any sci fi fan