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Omega War #5
Sinclair's Scorpions
The Omega War is in full swing. Earth has fallen to General Peepo’s army, and the surviving Human mercenaries have taken refuge at the hidden Winged Hussars’ base in New Warsaw.
As humanity begins to think about how to recover the planet, one thing is obvious—more powerful weapons of war will be needed in the effort. One of the keys to recapturing Earth will be the Raknar of Cartwright’s Cavaliers, but the power sources of many of the giant mecha have become unusable over the course of history.
More are needed, and Alistair Sinclair knows someone who may have a line on where to get them…a secret Science Guild base where they’re being developed for the Mercenary Guild to power the Raknars Peepo has been collecting.
While the Four Horsemen try to hold back the Mercenary Guild forces, Alistair volunteers his Scorpions to track down and bring back the power sources the Raknar need for the assault on Earth. The Scorpions operate by guile, not overwhelming power, but will guile be enough when all the forces of the Mercenary Guild are arrayed against them?
As humanity begins to think about how to recover the planet, one thing is obvious—more powerful weapons of war will be needed in the effort. One of the keys to recapturing Earth will be the Raknar of Cartwright’s Cavaliers, but the power sources of many of the giant mecha have become unusable over the course of history.
More are needed, and Alistair Sinclair knows someone who may have a line on where to get them…a secret Science Guild base where they’re being developed for the Mercenary Guild to power the Raknars Peepo has been collecting.
While the Four Horsemen try to hold back the Mercenary Guild forces, Alistair volunteers his Scorpions to track down and bring back the power sources the Raknar need for the assault on Earth. The Scorpions operate by guile, not overwhelming power, but will guile be enough when all the forces of the Mercenary Guild are arrayed against them?
- GenresScience Fiction
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 28, 2018
235 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
P.P. Corcoran
19 books79 followersPaul P Corcoran is an Amazon bestselling author who writes fast-paced military SF/space opera because he gets to mix his two loves; shoot em ups and science. A native of Scotland, he now lives in Northern Ireland with his wife and dog.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 28, 2019
I obtained this book through the Kindle Unlimited program.
Preliminaries:
1. PP Corcoran had a story, “Dead or Alive,” in the very first Four Horseman book I read, which was right after LibertyCon 2017. Since LibertyCon 2019 is now about to start,...something. There HAS to be something significant about that, but I will be John Brown if I can figure out what it is. This installment was released almost a year ago, so whatever synchronicity exists is purely a function of...something. Don't worry about it. I certainly won't.
BTW: I enjoyed the story, which introduced Peacekeepers.
2. ALSO: I am aggravated about the fact that one of the GREAT story features is something I cannot divulge without being a spoiler, and I HATE spoilers. Evidently, the characters do as well, because when the reveal takes place, only ONE of the Scorpions present show any reaction, and that one finishes the book in a state dramatically different than the other two. And that's all I am saying about that.
3. AND FINALLY! I am not an atmosphere scientist. I pretend no great knowledge of anything. HOWEVER, my limited knowledge and understanding of our relationship with air, verified with a tiny bit of google-fu, leads me to belief that there is a Great Big Science Error in the middle of the story. And that is: the fuss over the “high concentration” of nitrogen in the atmosphere of the target zone. It's not essential to the plot, although it DOES allow for some character exposition, as the commander of Sinclair's Scorpions, Colonel Alastair Sinclair, is “slightly embarrassed by his inadvertent Human prejudice toward races from oxygen-rich planets.” On the other hand, there FIVE full references to the lethal nature of nitrogen. Except, it's not lethal. To support the idea, the author discusses the horrors of 'the bends,' which takes place when divers who are too deep for too long ascend to the surface too fast. Yes, that will tear them up, as is described in one of those passages. However, it is the function of the deeper pressure, not of the nitrogen itself. We are walking around in air almost completely composed of only two gasses: nitrogen, which is 78% of the air, and oxygen, which is 21% of the air. The remainder is nothing that really has an impact on us. So, to write about nitrogen gas, slowly seeping in through our skin and poisoning us: nope. Now, I am STOPPING RIGHT THERE, while things are still on a friendly basis, because I am NOT an atmosphere scientist, and who knows? Maybe the author had in mind a concentration of 86% nitrogen and 14 % oxygen, and maybe that concentration WILL kill us. If so, please supply references, and you have my apology. As I said earlier, though, while I believe this to be a significant error, it does NOT invalidate the plot in any way. An example of a science glitch that invalidates a story is failing to take into consideration the incredible distances between stars, and having Zippy Rogers drive his atomic-pile craft from Earth to Borgsnoggle in the Andromeda Something in three days. Science error of that nature would guarantee a negative review.
So, on to the review.
Alastair Sinclair is the commander of Sinclair's Scorpions, a Human Merc company, formed by the three returning survivors of Campbell's Foxes, one of the 96 companies that had a semi-bad experience during the Alpha Contracts. While they really can't be said to have a concentration area, the way that Winged Hussars have, they DO specialize in dirty deeds. At a substantial price.
Perhaps that makes him a bit more paranoid, or maybe he is just gifted, but his monitoring of the state of the Galactic Union tips him off to the truth that a Bad Thing is about to happen to earth, and, in particular, to mercenary companies. So, he gathers all his troops, and gets them off-planet, just in the nick of time. He also arranges for the dependents, residing on base, to be evacuated to a safe house, prepared in advance for such a contingency. And that doesn't work out; a HecSha guided missile cruiser smacks the non-combatants out of the sky. The wives and children of many of the Scorpions are wiped out in a moment.
It's not ALL revenge, after that, but that's the main motivation to bet on. Colonel Sinclair has dispersed his forces among the stars in order to prevent a single engagement from eliminating them, but he has a pre-arranged disaster code, which he sends, allowing his son Charlie the opportunity to clear out and seek cover. And then, he goes to find the most destructive mission he can.
Big scary aliens are a part of ALL of the installments in the 4HU, but they are never CONSISTENTLY given only one dimension. Here, Corcoran is brilliant. His aliens are alien, no doubt about it, but he manages to infuse fear, hope, weakness, loyalty, and defiance into the erstwhile enemies of the Humans, so that they become, well, people. People we can care about. Even the nasty little rat-faced Flatar and his gigantic spider buddy have their good sides, who who can help but have affection for a four-foot intelligent millipede who gives a persecutor the hot-foot (all over)?
Some love, with a TINY bit of smooching, but all very G rated; lots of exploding spaceships; several great get-away scenes; brilliant techs geeking out on equipment, and it all ties in to the consistent universe. (Has this EVER been done to this scale before, with acknowledged authors?) I am capriciously taking away one star for the nitrogen thing, but I'll edit my review and put it back if I get contacted with scientific justification. It's a great book!
Preliminaries:
1. PP Corcoran had a story, “Dead or Alive,” in the very first Four Horseman book I read, which was right after LibertyCon 2017. Since LibertyCon 2019 is now about to start,...something. There HAS to be something significant about that, but I will be John Brown if I can figure out what it is. This installment was released almost a year ago, so whatever synchronicity exists is purely a function of...something. Don't worry about it. I certainly won't.
BTW: I enjoyed the story, which introduced Peacekeepers.
2. ALSO: I am aggravated about the fact that one of the GREAT story features is something I cannot divulge without being a spoiler, and I HATE spoilers. Evidently, the characters do as well, because when the reveal takes place, only ONE of the Scorpions present show any reaction, and that one finishes the book in a state dramatically different than the other two. And that's all I am saying about that.
3. AND FINALLY! I am not an atmosphere scientist. I pretend no great knowledge of anything. HOWEVER, my limited knowledge and understanding of our relationship with air, verified with a tiny bit of google-fu, leads me to belief that there is a Great Big Science Error in the middle of the story. And that is: the fuss over the “high concentration” of nitrogen in the atmosphere of the target zone. It's not essential to the plot, although it DOES allow for some character exposition, as the commander of Sinclair's Scorpions, Colonel Alastair Sinclair, is “slightly embarrassed by his inadvertent Human prejudice toward races from oxygen-rich planets.” On the other hand, there FIVE full references to the lethal nature of nitrogen. Except, it's not lethal. To support the idea, the author discusses the horrors of 'the bends,' which takes place when divers who are too deep for too long ascend to the surface too fast. Yes, that will tear them up, as is described in one of those passages. However, it is the function of the deeper pressure, not of the nitrogen itself. We are walking around in air almost completely composed of only two gasses: nitrogen, which is 78% of the air, and oxygen, which is 21% of the air. The remainder is nothing that really has an impact on us. So, to write about nitrogen gas, slowly seeping in through our skin and poisoning us: nope. Now, I am STOPPING RIGHT THERE, while things are still on a friendly basis, because I am NOT an atmosphere scientist, and who knows? Maybe the author had in mind a concentration of 86% nitrogen and 14 % oxygen, and maybe that concentration WILL kill us. If so, please supply references, and you have my apology. As I said earlier, though, while I believe this to be a significant error, it does NOT invalidate the plot in any way. An example of a science glitch that invalidates a story is failing to take into consideration the incredible distances between stars, and having Zippy Rogers drive his atomic-pile craft from Earth to Borgsnoggle in the Andromeda Something in three days. Science error of that nature would guarantee a negative review.
So, on to the review.
Alastair Sinclair is the commander of Sinclair's Scorpions, a Human Merc company, formed by the three returning survivors of Campbell's Foxes, one of the 96 companies that had a semi-bad experience during the Alpha Contracts. While they really can't be said to have a concentration area, the way that Winged Hussars have, they DO specialize in dirty deeds. At a substantial price.
Perhaps that makes him a bit more paranoid, or maybe he is just gifted, but his monitoring of the state of the Galactic Union tips him off to the truth that a Bad Thing is about to happen to earth, and, in particular, to mercenary companies. So, he gathers all his troops, and gets them off-planet, just in the nick of time. He also arranges for the dependents, residing on base, to be evacuated to a safe house, prepared in advance for such a contingency. And that doesn't work out; a HecSha guided missile cruiser smacks the non-combatants out of the sky. The wives and children of many of the Scorpions are wiped out in a moment.
It's not ALL revenge, after that, but that's the main motivation to bet on. Colonel Sinclair has dispersed his forces among the stars in order to prevent a single engagement from eliminating them, but he has a pre-arranged disaster code, which he sends, allowing his son Charlie the opportunity to clear out and seek cover. And then, he goes to find the most destructive mission he can.
Big scary aliens are a part of ALL of the installments in the 4HU, but they are never CONSISTENTLY given only one dimension. Here, Corcoran is brilliant. His aliens are alien, no doubt about it, but he manages to infuse fear, hope, weakness, loyalty, and defiance into the erstwhile enemies of the Humans, so that they become, well, people. People we can care about. Even the nasty little rat-faced Flatar and his gigantic spider buddy have their good sides, who who can help but have affection for a four-foot intelligent millipede who gives a persecutor the hot-foot (all over)?
Some love, with a TINY bit of smooching, but all very G rated; lots of exploding spaceships; several great get-away scenes; brilliant techs geeking out on equipment, and it all ties in to the consistent universe. (Has this EVER been done to this scale before, with acknowledged authors?) I am capriciously taking away one star for the nitrogen thing, but I'll edit my review and put it back if I get contacted with scientific justification. It's a great book!
September 16, 2018
Dirty Deeds not done cheap!
Another good tale in the Omega war, this time focuses on the mercs from Scotland. Nice to see that our Northern brethern are in the spotlight.
Good charachters and a story that moves at a quick pace, plus as with all the authors in this series hes not afraid to kill charachters off to advance the story.
Another good tale in the Omega war, this time focuses on the mercs from Scotland. Nice to see that our Northern brethern are in the spotlight.
Good charachters and a story that moves at a quick pace, plus as with all the authors in this series hes not afraid to kill charachters off to advance the story.
September 12, 2018
Well Written Mil Sci Fi
Excellent in detail, communication of military culture, and 4 Horseman universe. Great addition to the story line. Accurately depicts the fact, that not all come home.
Excellent in detail, communication of military culture, and 4 Horseman universe. Great addition to the story line. Accurately depicts the fact, that not all come home.
November 2, 2018
Outstanding!!!
I love this writing style! There is almost non-stop action, making this book unputdownable and the upside is: he has written many other books, so there is no waiting for the next book to come out. It doesn't get any better than this.
I love this writing style! There is almost non-stop action, making this book unputdownable and the upside is: he has written many other books, so there is no waiting for the next book to come out. It doesn't get any better than this.
November 6, 2024
Sinclair's Scorpions, the fifth book in The Omega War series by P.P. Corcoran, is a thrilling military science fiction novel that plunges readers into an intergalactic conflict with high stakes and intense action. The story follows Colonel Sinclair and his elite team, known as "Sinclair's Scorpions," as they face relentless alien forces in a brutal war that could determine the fate of humanity. Corcoran expertly crafts high-adrenaline battle scenes, blending tactical strategy with futuristic weaponry and technology, as Sinclair's squad tackles impossible missions and navigates treacherous alliances in a galaxy fraught with danger.
In addition to the fast-paced action, Corcoran provides depth to his characters, especially Sinclair, who must balance his duty as a leader with the personal cost of war on him and his team. The camaraderie among the Scorpions adds emotional weight to the story, as their loyalty to each other is tested by the horrors of combat and the harsh realities of interstellar warfare. Sinclair's Scorpions is an engaging and intense read for fans of military sci-fi, offering a gripping narrative that explores courage, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of victory in a universe on the brink of chaos.
In addition to the fast-paced action, Corcoran provides depth to his characters, especially Sinclair, who must balance his duty as a leader with the personal cost of war on him and his team. The camaraderie among the Scorpions adds emotional weight to the story, as their loyalty to each other is tested by the horrors of combat and the harsh realities of interstellar warfare. Sinclair's Scorpions is an engaging and intense read for fans of military sci-fi, offering a gripping narrative that explores courage, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of victory in a universe on the brink of chaos.
May 28, 2019
This book is another excellent entry in the 4 Horsemen Universe. It gives a little history about the Scorpions, and deals with the arrival of Peepo's forces on Earth, and the events immediately after as the Mercs flee Earth for New Warsaw. Alistair has Jamie with him, but Charlie was away on a contract and may already be dead.
They then get tasked with the plot to steal Raknar from the Midnight Sun which Jamie does. (see that book for more details) and to steal a Raknar power source from a secret base belonging to Peepo's allies, which Alistair does, but they pay a huge price, including Alistair's death.
Meanwhile, Charlie has made it back to Earth, to be told of the tragic attack on the Scorpion's dependants, and he swears revenge.
Can't wait to read the next book about the Scorpions.
They then get tasked with the plot to steal Raknar from the Midnight Sun which Jamie does. (see that book for more details) and to steal a Raknar power source from a secret base belonging to Peepo's allies, which Alistair does, but they pay a huge price, including Alistair's death.
Meanwhile, Charlie has made it back to Earth, to be told of the tragic attack on the Scorpion's dependants, and he swears revenge.
Can't wait to read the next book about the Scorpions.
March 21, 2019
Well done, plenty of action 4HU style.
September 7, 2019
So continues the saga
Excellent continuation of the 4HU storyline. I am knocking out books at a rate of one a day, so keep em coming!
Excellent continuation of the 4HU storyline. I am knocking out books at a rate of one a day, so keep em coming!
October 4, 2019
Another entry in the Omega war series following one of the mercenary companies, this is one of the better of those stories.
December 7, 2019
A strong addition to the series
I am only 20 putting words here to fulfill Amazon's requirements for a review. I am sure you will enjoy the book.
I am only 20 putting words here to fulfill Amazon's requirements for a review. I am sure you will enjoy the book.
Read
August 31, 2018Non Quarta!
Sinclair's Scorpions aren't your run-of-the-mill mercenaries. They have a certain set of skills and specialties that walk the very blurry line between legal and illegal that exists in the Galactic Union. Their small task forces are often scattered around the galaxy taking on these specialized missions. Which is the situation the Scorpions find themselves in when General Peepo and the Mercenary Guild starts their attack and blockade of Earth.
Knowing they have to get off Earth immediately, they message their remote teams in hopes they can regroup in a more secure location, specifically the Winged Hussars' private world, New Warsaw.
In the meantime, Colonel Cromwell has a pair of missions for the Scorpions which could mean total success or total failure for the liberation of Earth and all Humans in the GU.
September 1, 2018
Another great addition to the 4 horsemen universe
This book follows a merc company that we have heard quite a bit about, but have not seen much of in first person. The author was able to mesh his writing style in with the greater fabric of the series seamlessly while still able to sound unique and keep his own voice. Editing was very well done, and allowed for good immersion in the story. The book stayed in line with established tech and capabilites, while subtly expanding on them and adding to the lore without breaking suspension of disbelief.
Sinclair's Scorpions adds a new type of mercinary company into the mix. Along with fleet, defensive, and standard infantry companies we now see the addition of what are essentially special services. The Sinclair falmily and their Scorpions excell in the application of unconventional warfare. As General Peepo and her forces attack earth, we find the Scorpions unaware of the plot, but wary. While attempting to leave earth during the invasion they are forced to endure a most horrific tragedy. Without given time to grieve for both their individual losses as well as the combined loss of their home they are given a task they are uniquely tailored to. They must seek out a secret in the depths of Peepo's empire and find a way to use it against her. Will they be able to move past the sorrow and helplessness they felt immediately after the invasion of earth? Will they take the fight deep behind enemy lines to bring home much needed advanteges? Find your heart and your answers by enlisting with....Sinclair's Scorpions!
This book follows a merc company that we have heard quite a bit about, but have not seen much of in first person. The author was able to mesh his writing style in with the greater fabric of the series seamlessly while still able to sound unique and keep his own voice. Editing was very well done, and allowed for good immersion in the story. The book stayed in line with established tech and capabilites, while subtly expanding on them and adding to the lore without breaking suspension of disbelief.
Sinclair's Scorpions adds a new type of mercinary company into the mix. Along with fleet, defensive, and standard infantry companies we now see the addition of what are essentially special services. The Sinclair falmily and their Scorpions excell in the application of unconventional warfare. As General Peepo and her forces attack earth, we find the Scorpions unaware of the plot, but wary. While attempting to leave earth during the invasion they are forced to endure a most horrific tragedy. Without given time to grieve for both their individual losses as well as the combined loss of their home they are given a task they are uniquely tailored to. They must seek out a secret in the depths of Peepo's empire and find a way to use it against her. Will they be able to move past the sorrow and helplessness they felt immediately after the invasion of earth? Will they take the fight deep behind enemy lines to bring home much needed advanteges? Find your heart and your answers by enlisting with....Sinclair's Scorpions!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews