Also includes the first book of the second Aeon 14 series: Destiny Lost.
Right after she finishes her BLT, disgraced Major Tanis Richards is off to save the day one more time.
Tanis is looking forward to a long journey in stasis before arriving at the newly terraformed world of New Eden. New Life. New Start. Getting a berth on the Intrepid is her ticket out of the Sol System.
But nothing proves easy for Major Tanis Richards. Nothing is at it seems. What should be a simple trip is fraught with danger and filled with adventure. An array of forces seek to stop the Intrepid—no matter the cost, or lives lost. From competing corporations, to stellar eco-terrorists, no one wants the Intrepid to arrive at New Eden.
Through their journey, the crew of the Intrepid will face rival stellar governments, civil war, and the most wanted serial killer known to the galaxy. Pivoting their role from colonists to saviors.
Perhaps it’s because the Intrepid carries the most valuable secret known to humanity. Or maybe it’s just Tanis’s luck.
Pick up The Intrepid Saga now and journey with Tanis on an intense, action-packed adventure through the stars.
Malorie Cooper likes to think of herself as a dreamer and a wanderer, yet her feet are firmly grounded in reality.
A ‘maker’ from an early age, Malorie loves to craft things, from furniture, to cosplay costumes, to a well-spun tale, she can’t help but to create new things every day.
A rare extrovert writer, she loves to hang out with readers and people in general. If you meet her at a convention, she just might be rocking a catsuit, cosplaying one of her own characters, or maybe her latest favorite from Overwatch!
She shares her home with a brilliant young girl, her wonderful wife (who also writes), a cat that chirps at birds, a never-ending list of things she would like to build, and ideas…
Very engaging read; I had a hard time putting it down. Well-drawn characters and complex but mostly clear plot lines. I especially appreciate the author's eschewing reliance on lightspeed and faster-than-light travel and time travel (author establishes this by having the characters actually joke about that stuff being a lot of science-fiction hooey. (I've started the next series, set in the same universe and sharing some characters and backstory, and unfortunately, we're engaging in FTL at almost the very beginning. Ah, well, I've enjoyed numerous SF novels whose plots revolve around such conceits.)
My big problem is with the frequency with which the reader is booted out of the willful suspension of disbelief by simply stupid errors of word usage, grammar and punctuation. You may wonder what's so bad about that. As a professional journalist and writing coach, I found that when the writing is working, readers become temporarily unaware that they are reading. They become absorbed fully in the characters' thoughts, actions, motives and all the sensory information given, so that they are mentally experiencing the plot and char as if the reader were actually inside the world of the story. Its a kind of self-hypnosis that kicks in when the flow of the words is right. It's as if the author's mind is pouring the story directly into the reader's mind.
The problem? I cant remember which writing guru said it, but reading is, after all, a very difficult skill, such that many, many people never learn how to do it. Whenever there's awkward or difficult wording or grammatical, spelling, usage or logical error, the spell is broken and it dumps the reader back into the here and now, suddenly aware again that he or she is working to make sense of all those black squiggles on the white page. That, then, requires the reader to seek absorption once again, and this time with a subtle wariness that it can happen again.
No story is perfect in that regard, but the more often it dumps you out that way, the harder it is to reestablish the mind-to-mind connection.
This book is rife with such errors:for example, a character is "pouring" over documents. Pouring what? Water? Oil? Perfume? The word you're looking for is spelled "poring" (look it up). The book misspells "lightning" (electrical atmospheric discharge) as " lightening" (getting lighter in weight or brightness). "All right" is consistently spelled "alright," which is not a word. (Think of the current phrase, "It's all good," which means the same thing; would you contract that to "It's algood"? There's a difference in meaning between "all ready" and "already," yes? It's because they're different parts of speech.
The author thanks the people who read it for editing, but there's not much to thank them for on this scale. Malapropisms abound, and nobody involved seems to know what a comma is or what it's for, much less the value of a well-placed colon, leaving readers to wonder how to read the sentence. It's a frequent and huge distraction. It's a good thing the plot is engaging, or I would have gotten tired of being dumped out and having to figure out what the author meant and try to get back into the flow.
To the author: Next time - or perhaps before the next printing - get a professional editor to edit your text, if your command of English is no better than this. Joseph Conrad was not even a native English speaker, but he never allowed such errors to creep into his publications. That's one reason his stuff maintains its power. It's a really good story; don't make readers work so hard to get through it. One immutable law of writing: Never get in the reader's way.
Having read a couple of the later books, I needed to read these books. It gave me the opportunity to understand what started this great series. Recommend that others take the time to start with this great group of books.
I like this collection much more than my rating suggests.
I very much like the story and characters. Both are full and rich; the plot is imaginative while remaining in the mainstream of modern English writing. The science that underpins the story's events seems plausible to me (not a scientist). I have no way to know if the math even suggests if it could work out. It doesn't even matter because I like that it takes seriously the limitations on faster-than-light travel. But when it is achieved the explanation works for me. I highly recommend this series for exciting stories that have logic to their plans and to their details and relatable characters. There's only one problem for me and that's the breakdown of grammar and spelling the comes in the second half of this anthology. Some of this could be down to a reliance on spell-check, but some of it has to fall on the author. If these things don't bother you then enjoy it. These things do bother me but I plan to tackle the rest of the series for is many good qualities and in the hope of less teeth-clenching and fewer causes for it.
If you loved any of Elizabeth Moon's early stuff, you will love this for sure, plus it has a good deal of tech vs storyline balance that doesn't get in the way of each other. IE: Weber Tech drops. I still love those books but this series doesnt let its interesting hard tech get in the way of a good story.
Reminded me of Mass Effect 1 in a good way. Hard Sci fi meets Space opera.
I really like the plot and the characters but I feel like the female characters are more geared toward 12-15 year old boys... I didn't see any in depth descriptions of what any of the male characters are wearing. Also for how badass these women are, they seem to be overly focused on being sexpots...
In the earliest book, the characterization is a bit awkward at times; Tanis' attitude towards Joe wavers on a dime, with somewhat heavy-handed explanations as to why. The main villain is almost an elemental force, a very bad person... because we're told he's bad. Also, expect lots of technology which is somewhat handwaved (I have no idea how somebody could do an electrostatic field so powerful as to have the properties described; maybe I'm missing something though).
But to me, those are details. Overall, there is a high density of ideas per paragraph. Those ideas are sometimes so far-out that you just have to suspend disbelief and stay along for the ride. And, oh, boy, what a ride it is! The protagonist has problems thrown at her at breakneck speeds, and kicks major arse every time. A dazzle of technical feats are thrown at the reader, leaving them dizzy. I especially liked the way high g-forces were dealt with, using that crazy skinsuit and internal mesh holding organs together. Or the crazy rearrangement of the solar system.
I also liked the treatment of AI, which remains throughout the rest of the series (which I am still going through at this time). For once it's not all or nothing. To the point that AI don't feel alien enough, I suppose; but the jury's out whether a truly general intelligence will evolve in something necessarily very different from human cognition. I would think they would follow the pattern of their creators, unless we foolishly decide to let AI evolve uncontrolled on its own tangent. So Malorie Cooper's take is not, in my view, less likely than others.
Alas, although I liked the rest of the series, I feel like it lost some of its grandeur when (mild spoiler) they reach a time where FTL is possible. So this original trilogy has a very special place in my library, and I have already reread it once since I bought it.
I want to say If I had started this from book one when it was first published, I would have given up on it halfway.
So, its too bad whoever the group of writers mainly responsible for this book, did NOT remember that the old scifi writers wrote short story's first and got better at writing.
Its a classic use a bunch of holy tech to cover up for poor writing and even poorer story. How many of these space operas do we have to read to know they are all hokey, and now we get Ms James bond in space nano Armour than cannot be killed and always wins in the end. Just garbage.
Look I love the female hero thoery big time. its why I love the whole In Death series. But this is just a summer beach book, read it to kill a few hours, but its worthless scifi.
Book 2 was better. stop with the stupid timestamps crap. TELL the fricking story, but there is no end of the bad guys, its nuts.
I mean you survive 50g's? your not human anymore everyone is basically a robot with a human (sort of AI assisted, talk yourself BS brain). everyone is unkillable but marines and the bad guys. its just a mess.
Reminds me of being a red shirt on Star trek, you know they are going to die...
readable??, yea IF you get a logic lobotomy first.
I dont know why but 20 books in this space opera, is just a ploy to sell books IMHO.
Read the Intrepid Saga. Not a bad book, but of course it isn’t the end of the story. It’s bad enough that authors have invented “The Space Opera”, which is just a way to milk more money out is a single storyline, but it seems they have to work on 3 or 4 other stories at the same time, thus increasing the time you have to wait for a conclusion. One thing I REALLY hate is waiting for a book to be published. My reader is full of half-assed stories that I am supposed to be waiting with baited breath for another crumb. Writing a good novel seems to be a lost art. To me, it seems authors lack the imagination to come up with different stories so they just flog the same horse until it dies. This is where Cooper and I part ways. Won’t be the first time I’ve blown off a story because of greed, and the way things are going, it sure as hell won’t be the last.
First I have to mention that even though I have 32 books in the Aeon 14 Collection I have just begun to read some of the series. The difficulty is trying to read them in relative order. I am very happy in the books I have read so far. I quickly picked up on Mel's interests especially with, Tanis, Jessica, Cheeky, Sara etc, etc. The action is great...the length of description on clothing and accessories is over the top showing the authors "kink" but no problem so far.
The Intrepid history and the constant struggle for survival is so very entertaining. It took the capabilities of so many of the crew to keep things together but Tanis is a Rockstar regards her dedication to mission. The AI interaction is very important to the story and creates much too the epic enterprise.
I highly endorse this series and look forward to completing the various box sets in the Aeon 14 Collection.
My rating is a composite - 2 stars for the first book, 3.5 stars each for boos 2 and 3.
I read this because it was heavily promoted in my news feed, and available on Kindle Unlimited. I regretted that decision halfway through the first book. Book 1 is firefight after firefight after firefight, with little plot connecting them. I decided to finish the 3 books out of sheer bloodymindedness. After all, if I can finish History of the Goths, I can finish this.
Fortunately, books 2 and 3 were a lot better, with a semblance of a plot and some character development. Yes, I'm a hard grader.
Recommended for people who can power through a plotless book and press on to some better science fiction.
This series is awesome!!!M. D. Cooper has made a megalomaniac of me!!!I really want to be Tanis!!! She's smart, beautiful, outgoing and she can kick ads like no other. Together with a strong cast and a fabulous plot that just keeps expanding. In this series of science fiction books the author has brought together everything! Space travel, WAR, pirates, AI's who are born not made, love, hate, mystery, mayhem you name it, it is wrote about. I want them all. A must Read for sci-fi lovers
Boy, did I enjoy this series of 4 books: The Complete Intrepid Saga! I also came to really care for the characters...maybe I'm too sentimental, but it has been quite a while since I last felt I could give 5 stars. M.D. Cooper, you are a story teller on an epic scale...I had no trouble believing the whole jolly lot! Why? Because, it works...stories within stories, characters with gravitas and humanity...plus some juicy scientific values.
I want more! So will you as a lover of science fiction and a good story!
If you seek a space opera that is a fun ride, look no further. Interesting characters and plot twists abound. Even the science is pretty decent. The only reason I deducted one star, is that after a while, I realized that one character would always win the day. Even the occasional introduction of new characters, is handled well, and that is something that sets it apart from many books I've read.
The fact that I intend to read the continuation of these volumes, is the best indication that I enjoyed this series.
I have a simple reading system. I guide five stars to books that are worth re-reading. Tanis Richards is fun to follow. She is brilliant and witty. She has a side kick AI that equals and enhances her capability. The Aeon14 universe has interesting technologies and speculative science. I just started reading the author and series and I'm glad I found it. Now, onto the next book.
Devoured this collection. I love the idea of Space Operas, however, I also am extremely impatient and having to wait to have the story finish...is well unsatisfying. The characters are well written, the storyline is comprehensive and engaging and the world building is extremely well done. Now i just have to weigh up whether or not I want to dive into the complete Opera or bow out now before I am too invested.
Great plot throughout the set! Characters are well defined and are personalities you would as friends...but not all of them! The technology involved is believable but I wasn't outstanding in physics so you may find some holes. If you like non-stop action, you will enjoy these novels! Have to go now! My FTL craft is ready leave the Sol sector!!!! Good reading!
I love the technical feel. Especially of space traveling societies and future cultural differences that seem to branch out from our already known momentum and as it explores so many theories as if comon place. It's a universe easily to imagine ourselves in during the adventures
I like science fiction and with this book it fits right in with the shows like deep space 9 that I loved. Will be looking for more of tanis Richards and the intrepid. I was so engrossed that I had dreams of this while sleeping. Stayed open later then I usually do and was worthless at work the next day till I finished the first four books. Wonderful!!!
Loved this book and the way the characters work as a team at every turn and obstacle. Tanis is obviously the focus but each character develops over the books and becomes a needed part of the group. Add to that the space setting and it was prefect for any SciFi loving reader.
Really enjoyed these books. Are great hardish sci-fi. Have well defined story lines and plots with nothing hanging loose. A bit over the top at a times but any save the galaxy sci-fi space opera should be, IMHO. Strong female protagonist and great overall characters. If you're looking for something fun and fast to dive in to then it gets a recommendation.
There were aspects of this book that I enjoyed, but also things that could have been expressed better. I hated all of the acronyms and many were not defined at all, not even on their website. Character development could have been better. At times the storyline just dragged on and I did a lot of speed reading ;)
I was pulled in quickly in volume 1, despite some silly dialogue between the main character and some nasty folks who were chatting at each other as a bomb timed down in their midst. But then the author’s skills kicked in and I was off on a wild and fascinating ride which shows no signs of having run its coutse.
Always a sucker for a heretofore unknown (to me) sci fi author, and free books, I started this series totally unprepared for how much I would enjoy it. The primary characters are nicely sketched, and the plot line leaves a lot of openings for the future. The other readers' review pretty much say it all. Looking forward from more from M. D. Cooper -
Really well written kept you wanting to keep turning pages. I would recommend this book to all who like science fiction. I gave it four stars and not five because nothing we do is perfect we can always do better. I have also purchased more of his books and I am looking forward to reading them.
This series is entertaining, enlightening, and deftly told. I enjoyed all four books because the characters are delineated and their mission they are involved in is admirable.
Read straight through. Couldn't wait for next book. Now I'm onto New Canaan. I would recommend this book. Highly recommend if your looking for an original.
Great space opera sci-fi. Many innovative technologies. Some characters are explored in-depth, some not so much. There is a ton of action, and sometimes I feel like I would have preferred less action and more philosophy, reflection on what's happening.
Enjoyable, strong female leads. Disappointed by latent sexism. Some excellent space battles, though some a scale difficult to comprehend. Technological advances a little hard to swallow.
This series of books was a real page turner. I couldn't stop reading it. I spent hours at a time enjoying it. The acronyms were a little confusing but I just stopped paying attention to them and enjoyed the story.