Warlord

The Makaum War #3

by Mel Odom

In the third entry in bestselling author Mel Odom’s Makaum War series, Master Sergeant Frank Sage struggles to defend against the Phrenorian threat as battle lines will be redrawn—and blood will spill... One step forward, two steps back sums up Frank Sage’s day-to-day on Makaum. No sooner does he get the drug cartels under control than a major political assassination stirs civil unrest to a fever pitch. Makaumans never wanted to choose sides in the Terran/Phrenorian war, but frustration, fear, and resentment are turning the tide against peacekeeping efforts. As street skirmishes rage on, the Terrans’ most powerful on-planet ally works with Sage’s superior officer to isolate insurgent cells—and outmaneuver the general who wants to yank troops from Makaum before their job is done. Meanwhile, the assassin who’s targeting powerful figures from all factions is still at large. Amidst the chaos, Sage must keep his eye on a lethal “prize”—the secret armory and headquarters where the Phrenorians have been stockpiling weapons, munitions, and war machines. The mission to infiltrate will put him on a collision course with Zhoh GhiCemid, his ruthlessly ambitious Phrenorian counterpart. As dangerous as ever, Zhoh isn’t afraid to die—and would like nothing better than to take Sage down with him.  

Genres: Science Fiction

560 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 28, 2020

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

aka Jordan Gray

Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.

Reviews

[Joe Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review from an advance copy.)

This story is the third in a series, but it's not vital to read the first two. I recommend that you do, because they're fun like this one is fun.

This series reminds me of the Mack Bolan Stony Man series, the paperback action novels that 80s kiddos like me found in dog-eared copies from our libraries or in pristine, good-smelling copies from Waldenbooks.

I mean that comparison as a high compliment. These books are sci-fi war novels with gritty intensity and bombastic action and quotable dialogue while the heroes blast aliens.

I haven't read much from the author Mel Odom, but now I need to. Preferably, while listening to an 80s movie soundtrack on cassette.

EDIT: My mind is blown. After I finished writing this review, I looked up Mel Odom. He has for real written Mack Bolan books. That is awesome. Now I have even more books to dig up.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third, and final novel of the Makaum War ended up being the best novel in the series, even toping the fantastic first novel.

The conclusion of Guerrilla sowed chaos on Makaum, and the fallout destroyed the standoff between the Phrenorians and the Terran Army.

Odom was able to weave all the threads he had been introducing from book 1 and 2 and give a solid, violent, explosive conclusion to the trilogy that gave me plenty of reading satisfaction.

My slight issues in novel 2 were mostly corrected (the spanish was done better, although some measurements still felt odd sometimes), and the characters really shone in this one.

I kind of got used to reading about Sage, Kiwanuka, Jahup, and the rest, (even Zoh), but the ending wrapped up the series nicely.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you liked the first two books in the series, you'll very likely enjoy this one. A solid finish to the triology

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy through Goodreads.
“Warlord” by Mel Odom is the third book in a series in the military sci- fi genre. I think that I might have enjoyed the book if I had read previous novels. As it was I felt dropped into the middle of a domestic quarrel “gone postal.” The book begins with Terran troopers vs. BadGuys in a massive firefight that goes on for some pages. Exactly why , it is hard to know, except that The enemy are here with “ here” being scantily sketched in, and that the foe are big, bad and have four arms filled with guns and know how to use them. The fire fight , as they usually are, was chaotic and confusing, as if I were watching over a player’s shoulder as he/ she sat at a game console .

So it might also have helped if the book contained some effort at a backstory, and even more so, some insight and development of the characters. Sadly, no, that did not happen in the hundreds or so pages I read. Action, followed by rest and refit then another all out fight, then r&r, and so forth.Players came on scene and went out in various explosive , bursting clouds of matter in fight after fight, so the reader never wanted for action. The hero, Sgt. Warlord rues the loss of comrades, but there is always another trooper in the queue.
I do enjoy military sci fi, but “ Warlord” , but was not to my liking. However, remember that this is my opinion, read “ Warlordfor yourself if an action filled space marine novel is your thing.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but I had a hard time getting through this one. While I appreciated the world building and general milieu of the series, this book is heavily slanted toward the all-action-all-the-time side of the military sci fi genre, and that's just not the kind of thing that keeps me turning the pages.

Our hero, Sergeant Sage gets little in the way of character development over the course of the series. In many ways, he takes a backseat to the development of the primary antagonist, the warlike, insectile alien Zhoh. Don't get too excited, though, because the development that Zhoh gets is essentially just the same as Worf from Star Trek with a couple of dark twists and cut short of the last few seasons of TNG. Actually, there's a lot of 90s Trek going on here. The uneasy ceasefire on Makaum is pretty similar to Bajor in Deep Space Nine, but it's probably not direct enough of a correspondence to attribute it to anything but common inspiration.

Once the plasma starts flying, it's a nonstop ride to the end of the book, but it's a ride that's guilty of my usual complaint: sound and fury, signifying (next to) nothing.

[Sal Niner · Rating 3 out of 5]

*this preliminary review is of the Uncorrected Proof that I won in the Goodreads Giveaway*

I like the characters and found myself wanting to learn more about them when I reached the end of the book; I think because I hadn’t read the first two books and had some difficulty grasping who they are. The battle moments were a little difficult to visualize and maybe because the vocabulary used to describe them was a little too foreign. This book could easily be translated into film, so much so that that medium is more appropriate for this kind of story. Still, I like the story and the world-building that went into it. A guide to the world(s) of this book would certainly be helpful.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike some readers, I found this book difficult to plow through. Perhaps the fact that it is the third in a series ___ but the first for me ___and more given to battle descriptions than character development.... However, I recognize that this was well-written enough to appeal to fans of this genre of SF.

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars... For me, this book started well, but the ending let the book down... maybe the battle sequences got to me... There was lots to like, just wasn't a book that I wanted to read to the end....

[Steven T Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Hard to put this down once I got started. The action, intrigue, and plots intertwine and kept me on the edge of my seat. Highly recommend this. Also a great conclusion to the series.

[Michelle Olms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

[Mityl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can see this being interesting to others, just didn't work for me.

[Jim Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good sci fi war book

Good character development
Plot and strategy interesting though some is a bit predictable
Good entertaining read and great end to this trilogy