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Liberation War #1
Darkest Hour
A massive sphere appears near Earth, defying all attempts to communicate or understand its purpose. Power outages plague key cities and military bases, causing wide spread panic and chaos. Only the Space Agency seems to have a grasp on the situation but with all their combined resources, they’re baffled. Captain Warren Miller races to join his colleagues in the Agency headquarters, hoping to convince his superiors to launch their latest space craft, the battlecruiser Leviathan, which may be able to defy this intruder. In the absence of communication, he hopes a little intimidation might bring about a conversation. But then smaller objects descend upon the Earth, grabbing up people from all over the globe. Captain Miller never makes it back to base, forcing the Agency to scramble for a response. With the weight of an expectant world beating down on them and the alien threat looming above, they have no choice but to engage the enemy or simply witness history in the making.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 24, 2019
670 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
John Walker
1,015 books164 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 5, 2022
John Walker writes good science fiction even if it’s almost the same story-line. If you’ve had the opportunity to read two of his other series, “Rise of Mankind” and "Legacy War”, you’ll notice that he has one single starship from Earth as the main platform for humanities venture into space. In this book, it’s no different. The “Leviathan” awaits its maiden voyage deep in a secret hanger on Earth ran by the Space Agency.
The Leviathan is a battleship and the first and only one of its kind built by humanity. Humans have just started exploring their own galaxy and have barely started colonizing the moon. Humans are excited and looking forward to vast explorations of space to find out just what’s out there. Only, what’s out there comes to visit Earth way sooner than they had anticipated.
A gigantic spaceship has just appeared between the Earth and the moon. It is round and perfectly smooth and definitely a construct of some kind. Humans do just what they normally do when confronted with the unknown and frightening, they panic. Every kook and crackpot comes out of the woodwork and starts spreading doom and gloom predicting that this is the invasion that will end everything. Yet, nothing has happened. The giant spaceship just sits there.
Being very curious beings, we can’t leave anything alone for long. We send up to shuttles to see what this space craft is really like hoping to get some good scans of it’s surface. Unfortunately, one of these unarmed shuttles apparently gets too close and is hit with what turns out to be an EMP pulse weapon. That’s shuts down everything on the shuttle and leaves it adrift in space. So now it appears this giant spacecraft is definitely hostile. They fired first and of course that pisses off the humans.
Still, there’s not much that can be done until the Leviathan can get out of its hanger and into space. While this will be its maiden voyage, it does seem that it will be the only defensive weapon the Earth has to defend itself now that they know something bad has come to visit.
And they now know it’s bad because the alien spacecraft has launched its own shuttles that have come down through the atmosphere and are now rapidly flying over population areas. People are panicking like crazy while the alien craft fly over them and shoots a deadly beam down. No one know what the beam is doing, but the people it targets are suddenly gone. There is nothing left so everyone just assumes that this is a death ray and it is killing hundreds of thousands of humans.
The Earth needs to defend itself which means the Leviathan needs to get launched and see what it can do against this evil that has come to Earth. Only the Leviathan is having a few unexpected problems getting started and it’s also missing its Captain. Captain Warren Miller has been on vacation and is now trying to get back to the Space Agency base so he can take command of the Leviathan and get it launched. Only thing is, he’s stuck in traffic. That same traffic is also the target of one of the alien shuttles. Soon, Captain Warren Miller is no longer…he just ceases to exist or so it seems.
A really fast-paced story that has some interesting action. Once again it seems that Earth has gotten themselves into something they are totally unprepared for. The galaxy is not a friendly place and humanity are about to find out just how unfriendly. While humans are valued by the galaxy, it’s not so much as for who we are, but what our bodies contain!
The Leviathan is a battleship and the first and only one of its kind built by humanity. Humans have just started exploring their own galaxy and have barely started colonizing the moon. Humans are excited and looking forward to vast explorations of space to find out just what’s out there. Only, what’s out there comes to visit Earth way sooner than they had anticipated.
A gigantic spaceship has just appeared between the Earth and the moon. It is round and perfectly smooth and definitely a construct of some kind. Humans do just what they normally do when confronted with the unknown and frightening, they panic. Every kook and crackpot comes out of the woodwork and starts spreading doom and gloom predicting that this is the invasion that will end everything. Yet, nothing has happened. The giant spaceship just sits there.
Being very curious beings, we can’t leave anything alone for long. We send up to shuttles to see what this space craft is really like hoping to get some good scans of it’s surface. Unfortunately, one of these unarmed shuttles apparently gets too close and is hit with what turns out to be an EMP pulse weapon. That’s shuts down everything on the shuttle and leaves it adrift in space. So now it appears this giant spacecraft is definitely hostile. They fired first and of course that pisses off the humans.
Still, there’s not much that can be done until the Leviathan can get out of its hanger and into space. While this will be its maiden voyage, it does seem that it will be the only defensive weapon the Earth has to defend itself now that they know something bad has come to visit.
And they now know it’s bad because the alien spacecraft has launched its own shuttles that have come down through the atmosphere and are now rapidly flying over population areas. People are panicking like crazy while the alien craft fly over them and shoots a deadly beam down. No one know what the beam is doing, but the people it targets are suddenly gone. There is nothing left so everyone just assumes that this is a death ray and it is killing hundreds of thousands of humans.
The Earth needs to defend itself which means the Leviathan needs to get launched and see what it can do against this evil that has come to Earth. Only the Leviathan is having a few unexpected problems getting started and it’s also missing its Captain. Captain Warren Miller has been on vacation and is now trying to get back to the Space Agency base so he can take command of the Leviathan and get it launched. Only thing is, he’s stuck in traffic. That same traffic is also the target of one of the alien shuttles. Soon, Captain Warren Miller is no longer…he just ceases to exist or so it seems.
A really fast-paced story that has some interesting action. Once again it seems that Earth has gotten themselves into something they are totally unprepared for. The galaxy is not a friendly place and humanity are about to find out just how unfriendly. While humans are valued by the galaxy, it’s not so much as for who we are, but what our bodies contain!
March 10, 2019
I found myself skipping sections as large swathes as portions were just back story that became tedious and didn't add anything to the plot, it's pretty much run of the mill sci-fi fare but fails when movement in space is described as up and down. I didn't understand the tendency for being gung-ho and destroying sources of intelligence and killing Aliens much like us because they didn't sign the Geneva convention, all of this reveals a lack of humanity in the Authors psyche.
February 2, 2019
We have once again a interesting start to an new series of book from this author. Having had the pleasure of reading all of his other books I can recommend this one as well.
February 28, 2019
Great Story
Well great start to a good storyline can only get better I hope . Really looking forward to book two. 😄
Well great start to a good storyline can only get better I hope . Really looking forward to book two. 😄
May 7, 2023
This is a book written based on the turn of the century military sci-fi template, borrowing from authors like David Weber and John Ringo. It's Western military fantasy in space.
The men are real men, the women are sexy men with boobs, the military is full of humanity's best and they're the only hope for getting anything done competently, politicians are clueless blowhards that do nothing but obstruct, civilians are people who need rescuing at best, incompetent idiots at worst, and the enemy is technologically superior but morally bankrupt, holding on to old political and moral traditions that humans "grew out of" centuries ago. Also, there are no braver, more honorable, and more capable humans than the Marines, who should be revered and idolized in all ways at all times.
The story is a fairly standard alien invasion plot without a lot of surprises. I'd say it borrows a lot from the movie Independence Day but honestly there are only so many ways to tell an alien invasion story based in the modern day, so I'm not sure I can fault the author there. The motivations of the attackers are different in detail at least.
It may sound like I'm really down on this book but it's not too bad as long as you aren't put off by anything I described above. If you know what you're in for it's an entertaining tale, and the author doesn't start dropping political treatises or moral philosophy in the middle of the story, which is a risk with a lot of military sci-fi of this type. I will say it doesn't spend too long with any of its characters, most of whom are military sci-fi stereotypes. The character with the most development as I remember it is the executive officer of a human starship, who ceases to be a figure in the story about halfway through. The rest is all action told at a breakneck pace.
Like I said, if you like that kind of story and you're looking for a quick, action-packed read, that's all you get here, for better or worse.
The men are real men, the women are sexy men with boobs, the military is full of humanity's best and they're the only hope for getting anything done competently, politicians are clueless blowhards that do nothing but obstruct, civilians are people who need rescuing at best, incompetent idiots at worst, and the enemy is technologically superior but morally bankrupt, holding on to old political and moral traditions that humans "grew out of" centuries ago. Also, there are no braver, more honorable, and more capable humans than the Marines, who should be revered and idolized in all ways at all times.
The story is a fairly standard alien invasion plot without a lot of surprises. I'd say it borrows a lot from the movie Independence Day but honestly there are only so many ways to tell an alien invasion story based in the modern day, so I'm not sure I can fault the author there. The motivations of the attackers are different in detail at least.
It may sound like I'm really down on this book but it's not too bad as long as you aren't put off by anything I described above. If you know what you're in for it's an entertaining tale, and the author doesn't start dropping political treatises or moral philosophy in the middle of the story, which is a risk with a lot of military sci-fi of this type. I will say it doesn't spend too long with any of its characters, most of whom are military sci-fi stereotypes. The character with the most development as I remember it is the executive officer of a human starship, who ceases to be a figure in the story about halfway through. The rest is all action told at a breakneck pace.
Like I said, if you like that kind of story and you're looking for a quick, action-packed read, that's all you get here, for better or worse.
February 22, 2019
There’s nothing particularly original about this book. If you’ve read much sci fi then you’ll spot plot points that are very similar to other books.
That being said it is enjoyable to read and not very taxing on the mind, which is good if you’re not wanting to have to work anything out etc.
I would probably have given it a 4 if not for the large number of spelling mistakes and inability to consistently call things by the same name. One minute the Leviathan is a battleship, then it’s a battlecruiser. Next fighter jets are firing rockets, the. Their firing missiles that turn into rockets mid flight. All fairly minor stuff but frustrating when reading and should have been picked up in any half decent proof read.
Having just started book 2 there seems to be less of those mistakes, however has the best one yet “fighter fighters” which I presume should have been “fighter pilots”
That being said it is enjoyable to read and not very taxing on the mind, which is good if you’re not wanting to have to work anything out etc.
I would probably have given it a 4 if not for the large number of spelling mistakes and inability to consistently call things by the same name. One minute the Leviathan is a battleship, then it’s a battlecruiser. Next fighter jets are firing rockets, the. Their firing missiles that turn into rockets mid flight. All fairly minor stuff but frustrating when reading and should have been picked up in any half decent proof read.
Having just started book 2 there seems to be less of those mistakes, however has the best one yet “fighter fighters” which I presume should have been “fighter pilots”
December 1, 2019
Decent story very bad proofing!
Read all ten books. If not for cut and paste artifacts I would swear these books had not been proofed! Along with the artifacts there were copious examples of wrong words (passed instead of past for example) added words and in some cases just horrible grammar! Not saying I'm any better but the I don't write books. The biggest problem seems to be that as you progress through the series the problems just get worse in frequency and severity. I can almost see the author banging away at the keyboard ignoring the chaos behind him! If you have a high tolerance for this kind of chaos then the story has decent characters and plot. Buyer beware. Reader be more aware! If, like me, you find these kind of problems jarring then give this series a wide berth!
Read all ten books. If not for cut and paste artifacts I would swear these books had not been proofed! Along with the artifacts there were copious examples of wrong words (passed instead of past for example) added words and in some cases just horrible grammar! Not saying I'm any better but the I don't write books. The biggest problem seems to be that as you progress through the series the problems just get worse in frequency and severity. I can almost see the author banging away at the keyboard ignoring the chaos behind him! If you have a high tolerance for this kind of chaos then the story has decent characters and plot. Buyer beware. Reader be more aware! If, like me, you find these kind of problems jarring then give this series a wide berth!
February 1, 2019
Good book, slow in the beginning because it’s a world building book.
good book, too much like rise of mankind. I hope this book develops into a relationship with the captain and his alien benefactor that they become friends like Kirk and Spock. Have not seen that kind of relationship in a book in quite a while. Won’t say too much about the first book but it was very good awaiting the next book to determine if I will continue to read the series. Has everything you want, action space battles a little bit of intrigue, just hope the captain lightens up a bit. Will let you know. People who like John Walker will enjoy this book.
good book, too much like rise of mankind. I hope this book develops into a relationship with the captain and his alien benefactor that they become friends like Kirk and Spock. Have not seen that kind of relationship in a book in quite a while. Won’t say too much about the first book but it was very good awaiting the next book to determine if I will continue to read the series. Has everything you want, action space battles a little bit of intrigue, just hope the captain lightens up a bit. Will let you know. People who like John Walker will enjoy this book.
April 10, 2019
A JW. SYFY. Novel (LAB -1)/An Alien Invasion
JW. has. penned a SYFY. Novel About an Alien invasion of Earth. The arrival of the Alien ship caused concern, but the humans were not afraid until the smaller ships entered the atmosphere and began to collect humans. One man that was captured was the Commander of Earth's war fleet. When the Commander some aboard the Alien craft he found that they were collecting humans for their essence (blood) like Vampires. This is can excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
JW. has. penned a SYFY. Novel About an Alien invasion of Earth. The arrival of the Alien ship caused concern, but the humans were not afraid until the smaller ships entered the atmosphere and began to collect humans. One man that was captured was the Commander of Earth's war fleet. When the Commander some aboard the Alien craft he found that they were collecting humans for their essence (blood) like Vampires. This is can excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
June 10, 2023
Gripping story
I enjoyed the storey and the character s are developing.
There’s a bit too much teenage American grammar though. Ie missing the connecting words like ‘of’ out of sentences and slightly squirmy terms like “reaching out” instead of English language words like “contacting” or “calling”.
I find myself correcting it as I read. However the tale is compelling enough that I can live with it.
J Frayne
I enjoyed the storey and the character s are developing.
There’s a bit too much teenage American grammar though. Ie missing the connecting words like ‘of’ out of sentences and slightly squirmy terms like “reaching out” instead of English language words like “contacting” or “calling”.
I find myself correcting it as I read. However the tale is compelling enough that I can live with it.
J Frayne
March 23, 2019
Ended up being better
Not much of a story at first, mainly just words on a page, too much minor detail, almost stopped reading, then it got a little better, somehow I read the whole thing.
Not much of a story at first, mainly just words on a page, too much minor detail, almost stopped reading, then it got a little better, somehow I read the whole thing.
April 8, 2019
Fun and exciting read
Lots of action and fun ideas. Reasonable job of keeping technology straight. Still same issue of sending too small a force to do the job. Could have captured the enemy ship with a larger force...
Lots of action and fun ideas. Reasonable job of keeping technology straight. Still same issue of sending too small a force to do the job. Could have captured the enemy ship with a larger force...
April 24, 2019
A great start to a new series
An alien abduction on a huge scale. A desperate fight for survival.
A great start with realistic situations and lots of action.
I look forward to more from this series 😁
An alien abduction on a huge scale. A desperate fight for survival.
A great start with realistic situations and lots of action.
I look forward to more from this series 😁
June 16, 2019
It was alright. The quality of the writing is suspect. And it is easy to tell that editing was not a big focus. Character development is lacking. The story itself is well worn science fiction troupe. There is nothing special within this novel. It is enjoyable for the most part though.
October 26, 2019
Exciting
Good book, albeit understandably optimistic on human abilities. I fear things won't be like portrayed if we are ever faced with this event. It was a well written book with interesting characters
Good book, albeit understandably optimistic on human abilities. I fear things won't be like portrayed if we are ever faced with this event. It was a well written book with interesting characters
May 25, 2020
Slow start, but enjoyable.
I struggled to get into the story at the beginning. It improves as it goes. I am not sold on the interest on human "essence". That seems off genre for the rest of the book - bordering on fantasy. I enjoyed it enough that I will continue the series.
I struggled to get into the story at the beginning. It improves as it goes. I am not sold on the interest on human "essence". That seems off genre for the rest of the book - bordering on fantasy. I enjoyed it enough that I will continue the series.
July 23, 2021
A good story line, but the characters seemed a little flat to me, which didn't spoil the story much. Although the author's excessive use of the word "thing" had me gritting my teeth after a while, making it an uncomfortable read.
April 5, 2022
I guess it was ok in parts.
Like several others I started to skip bits which were just to increase word count but not add anything useful to the story.
I'm not sure I have a lot to say about a largely forgettable book
Like several others I started to skip bits which were just to increase word count but not add anything useful to the story.
I'm not sure I have a lot to say about a largely forgettable book
March 9, 2019
I gave up in chapter 9, the story did not grab me.
March 11, 2019
Great book.
Excellent story line with good character building. This is one of those books that you hate to put down and you don't want it to end.
Excellent story line with good character building. This is one of those books that you hate to put down and you don't want it to end.
March 23, 2019
I loved the book i just wish it was longer than or is
April 20, 2019
Interesting read
Good plot line, little thin in places though. Generally a good read and an easy one!
Looking forward to reading the next two which are already on my kindle
Good plot line, little thin in places though. Generally a good read and an easy one!
Looking forward to reading the next two which are already on my kindle
May 4, 2019
Great
Great start to this space series. It's so realistic like something mankind could achieve right now. Looking forward to the continuing series by John Walker.
Great start to this space series. It's so realistic like something mankind could achieve right now. Looking forward to the continuing series by John Walker.
May 5, 2019
Good read
Started a little slow but then picked up the pace Warren and Avania prove to be an interesting match I’ll be interested in the rst of the story
Started a little slow but then picked up the pace Warren and Avania prove to be an interesting match I’ll be interested in the rst of the story
June 21, 2019
Good book
This was a great read. Loved the , and the storyline. I'll definitely be reading more from this author and of this series when the next book comes out.
This was a great read. Loved the , and the storyline. I'll definitely be reading more from this author and of this series when the next book comes out.
June 26, 2019
I thought this was a decent aliens invade an unprepared earth story. Character development was pretty good.
July 9, 2019
Interesting open to an intriguing space opera series.
July 26, 2019
I rarely abandon books ... tried not on this one cause I love me some serial space opera but ... this just did not click with me.
August 10, 2019
The read was great.
The plot was excellent and flowed well. I read this book in two settings and am looking forward to reading assault. Thank you very much for these novels.
The plot was excellent and flowed well. I read this book in two settings and am looking forward to reading assault. Thank you very much for these novels.
October 5, 2019
Good read,
Got off to a slow start but quickly got better
Once t action started it became quite entertaining the end
Got off to a slow start but quickly got better
Once t action started it became quite entertaining the end
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews