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First Strike
The best defense…
Starting a war with an enemy a hundred times stronger is insane. It’s desperate. And it’s Earth’s only hope.
A massive alien power looms over humanity, claiming Earth as its territory and humanity as its slaves. The Hegemony has already taken over one colony, yoking hundreds of thousands under their brutal rule. Every tactical exercise, every wargame and every simulation gives humanity zero chance in a defensive campaign.
Earth’s only chance to win the coming war - is by striking first.
Starting a war with an enemy a hundred times stronger is insane. It’s desperate. And it’s Earth’s only hope.
A massive alien power looms over humanity, claiming Earth as its territory and humanity as its slaves. The Hegemony has already taken over one colony, yoking hundreds of thousands under their brutal rule. Every tactical exercise, every wargame and every simulation gives humanity zero chance in a defensive campaign.
Earth’s only chance to win the coming war - is by striking first.
438 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 23, 2014
158 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 28, 2014
After my disappointment with the abysmal last instalment in the Secret McQueen series I thought I should pick a book from an author that I feel is somewhat of a safe card so my choice fell on Christopher Nuttall. So far this author have never really disappointed me and indeed his First Strike delivered some quite enjoyable reading.
This book is perhaps a little less complex and a bit lighter on the characters than most of his other books but it is a good straightforward space action story. The core of the story is humanity kicking some serious behinds after being bullied by a overconfident alien race bent on expansion. This kind of story is right up my alley so it was of course easy for me to take a liking to it and maybe overlook the fact that it was a somewhat lighter read than many of the authors books.
I fail to understand why some reviewers feel it is disjointed and that there are too many characters and so on. It is nothing of the kind. There are really not that many characters compared to many books. The characters themselves might be a wee bit on the light side in terms of depth and development though but I think they are just right for this type of book. The story is quite straightforward and follows a quite logical thread. Somewhat predictable perhaps but, as I wrote above, it is my kind of story and I like that it moves forward at a fairly brisk pace without too many politicians and dimwits ruining the plans for the good guys.
In short, the humans kick some serious behinds despite being heavily outmatched, matching quantity by quality in terms of knowledge of warfare and imagination in using the technology they have been given. In the background there is a mysterious race said to be in decline but that have bootstrapped most of the “younger races” into space. I would say that there is a quite interesting scenario set up for future books in this universe and I would not mind if more were written. That said the author already have a number of good series running so I would be a bit scared of him overstretching himself with yet another series.
This book is perhaps a little less complex and a bit lighter on the characters than most of his other books but it is a good straightforward space action story. The core of the story is humanity kicking some serious behinds after being bullied by a overconfident alien race bent on expansion. This kind of story is right up my alley so it was of course easy for me to take a liking to it and maybe overlook the fact that it was a somewhat lighter read than many of the authors books.
I fail to understand why some reviewers feel it is disjointed and that there are too many characters and so on. It is nothing of the kind. There are really not that many characters compared to many books. The characters themselves might be a wee bit on the light side in terms of depth and development though but I think they are just right for this type of book. The story is quite straightforward and follows a quite logical thread. Somewhat predictable perhaps but, as I wrote above, it is my kind of story and I like that it moves forward at a fairly brisk pace without too many politicians and dimwits ruining the plans for the good guys.
In short, the humans kick some serious behinds despite being heavily outmatched, matching quantity by quality in terms of knowledge of warfare and imagination in using the technology they have been given. In the background there is a mysterious race said to be in decline but that have bootstrapped most of the “younger races” into space. I would say that there is a quite interesting scenario set up for future books in this universe and I would not mind if more were written. That said the author already have a number of good series running so I would be a bit scared of him overstretching himself with yet another series.
July 23, 2021
This audiobook was a bit of a surprise - I regularly read Nuttall's work and thoroughly enjoy it. But this action-led, epic military space opera adventure was quite different from his usual writing. However, once I got into the rhythm of the story and parked my usual expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns of the politics, the world and the space battles. Towards the end, I actually sat down to concentrate on the climactic battle. All in all, an entertaining space opera story - and I liked the fact that it is a standalone story, for a change. Recommended for fans of epic space opera.
8/10
8/10
December 31, 2019
A good story, well paced with moderately developed characters. If you're a fan of Nuttall already, there really isn't much new here. But if you're already a fan you will probably enjoy every page.
Some action, some intrigue, some interstellar war. The aliens are a little alien. More might have been better.
Overall, it felt like a highlight real from the last four books of "A Learning Experience". That isn't a bad thing, it just meant fewer surprises.
Some action, some intrigue, some interstellar war. The aliens are a little alien. More might have been better.
Overall, it felt like a highlight real from the last four books of "A Learning Experience". That isn't a bad thing, it just meant fewer surprises.
February 17, 2020
The humans were too powerful and damn near won every battle they fought which removed suspense. I never worried or wondered 'will they make it?' because it was far too easy. I never felt the threat of the Hegemony or that they could win in this book.
Nevertheless it still managed to be entertaining and I enjoyed the setting and the world created in the story.
Nevertheless it still managed to be entertaining and I enjoyed the setting and the world created in the story.
November 28, 2019
Robert's Review and Comments
Outstanding and a page turner from start to finish. All this action and drama in one book, awesome. Thanks for a GoodRead.
Outstanding and a page turner from start to finish. All this action and drama in one book, awesome. Thanks for a GoodRead.
December 9, 2019
Pretty good
Encompasses the true human spirit. Would love to see this become at least a trilogy. Recommended reading. Couple of interesting twists.
Encompasses the true human spirit. Would love to see this become at least a trilogy. Recommended reading. Couple of interesting twists.
January 11, 2020
Great tale
As always mr. Nuttall’s writing is superb. His characters are believable and well developed. His story line is imaginative and very feasible.
As always mr. Nuttall’s writing is superb. His characters are believable and well developed. His story line is imaginative and very feasible.
August 2, 2020
Pretty good military scifi first book, look forward to the next one. Good character development, and several major plots intersecting to move the story forward.
December 27, 2020
I discovered this book when it’s audiobook came out and I loved it. The quality of the story and especially the world Christopher Nuttall built where exquisite and I just loved how the story uses the full extent of its in universe technology. One of my major pet peeves is when an author creates a technology, lets just say for the sake of examples portals, there are so many ludicrous things that portals can be used for and the author just ignores all of those uses without explaining the portals in universe limitations. This in a story can be seen as lazy writing if not correctly dealt with. This story has no such problems using cultural stagnation due to immortality (which is genius and would totally happen) and other cultures being lazy to explain lack of technological progress. He also gives logical limitations for the technologies that using some ingenuity are overcome by a desperate humanity. This makes for an interesting and fun story and I didn’t even touch on all of the diverse and interesting alien races that he creates
January 12, 2023
Excellent Space Opera
While it wasn't a "first strike policy" or a "preventative war" this was an exploration of the ideas and situation where you have to strike first and get there first-ist with the most-ist to have a fighting chance against a much heavier weight for.
I don't give 5 stars to anything but nebula/Hugo award winners.
This is another fine example of the very high quality this author turns out. Go Chris!
While it wasn't a "first strike policy" or a "preventative war" this was an exploration of the ideas and situation where you have to strike first and get there first-ist with the most-ist to have a fighting chance against a much heavier weight for.
I don't give 5 stars to anything but nebula/Hugo award winners.
This is another fine example of the very high quality this author turns out. Go Chris!
June 19, 2019
Pretty good but I don't think I'll be immediately jumping to the next book like I normally would do with these military SF books. Maybe because it's all ground level fighting.
September 18, 2021
Excellent Read
A very thoughtful take on what the future of human race will face, given our current situation and past history.
A very thoughtful take on what the future of human race will face, given our current situation and past history.
November 29, 2019
Another excellent book by Christopher Nuttal. Nuttal's SciFi is excellent and interesting. If you are new to this author I recommend First strike as a first read followed by When the Bough Breaks. I am so impressed with this author I snap up his books (Kindle Edition) as soon as the book comes out.
November 10, 2014
This book starts right in the middle of something so it’s a little hard to figure out what’s
going on at first. It does explain about our alien “First Contact” with Mentor, from a species know as the Cats. He apparently has come to Earth to warn us that the galaxy has become aware of us and is not know for its friendly treatment of newly discovered civilizations, especially one that is so un-advanced as is Earth. We’re several centuries behind most of the galaxy and that’s going to cause us serious problems if we don’t do some thing about it and quickly.
Mentor has brought some of his advanced technology which he starts sharing with Earth and we finally start getting ourselves ready to face the rest of the galaxy. The Cats have been the dominate race throughout known history but they are declining. They are immortal and like all immortals, they begin to get tired of everything happening over and over again. They are loosing control of the other species which has been about the only thing keeping some from attacking and destroying each other.
The Hegemony, in particular, are a lizard race that knows nothing but warfare as a means to promote their society. They are perfectly willing to enslave any other race that gives them trouble and usually have the military might to do so. The Cats and the other races seem to turn their heads at the Hegemony as long as they are not their current victims.
Now the Hegemony has found an Earth settled planet, New Terra, and without much fanfare, they take it by force. Earth is in no shape to do anything about it so they have to let it happen all the while trying to build up something that would resemble a galactic fleet. It’s not going to be easy but Earth has learned that none of the other civilizations, including the Hegemony, have done any advanced research to improve current weapons capabilities.
Earth has a very good advance research capability and they begin improving their starships with attack weapons and defensive systems that should be able to defeat even a Hegemony SuperDreadknot! Earth will get a chance soon to see if their advances will prove effective when they move to take back New Terra.
A very interesting and exciting book. There’s lost of stuff going on and many characters to keep up with. We even get insight into how the enemy, the Hegemony, is reacting to Earth standing up to them. As you move through the book, you’ll find all the bits and pieces start coming together to reveal a surprisingly powerful, if not short-handed, Earth fleet ready to start a war!
going on at first. It does explain about our alien “First Contact” with Mentor, from a species know as the Cats. He apparently has come to Earth to warn us that the galaxy has become aware of us and is not know for its friendly treatment of newly discovered civilizations, especially one that is so un-advanced as is Earth. We’re several centuries behind most of the galaxy and that’s going to cause us serious problems if we don’t do some thing about it and quickly.
Mentor has brought some of his advanced technology which he starts sharing with Earth and we finally start getting ourselves ready to face the rest of the galaxy. The Cats have been the dominate race throughout known history but they are declining. They are immortal and like all immortals, they begin to get tired of everything happening over and over again. They are loosing control of the other species which has been about the only thing keeping some from attacking and destroying each other.
The Hegemony, in particular, are a lizard race that knows nothing but warfare as a means to promote their society. They are perfectly willing to enslave any other race that gives them trouble and usually have the military might to do so. The Cats and the other races seem to turn their heads at the Hegemony as long as they are not their current victims.
Now the Hegemony has found an Earth settled planet, New Terra, and without much fanfare, they take it by force. Earth is in no shape to do anything about it so they have to let it happen all the while trying to build up something that would resemble a galactic fleet. It’s not going to be easy but Earth has learned that none of the other civilizations, including the Hegemony, have done any advanced research to improve current weapons capabilities.
Earth has a very good advance research capability and they begin improving their starships with attack weapons and defensive systems that should be able to defeat even a Hegemony SuperDreadknot! Earth will get a chance soon to see if their advances will prove effective when they move to take back New Terra.
A very interesting and exciting book. There’s lost of stuff going on and many characters to keep up with. We even get insight into how the enemy, the Hegemony, is reacting to Earth standing up to them. As you move through the book, you’ll find all the bits and pieces start coming together to reveal a surprisingly powerful, if not short-handed, Earth fleet ready to start a war!
November 23, 2015
Yuck. I could not even finish this book. I really tried. I mean, I really, really tried. My friends all love Chris Nuttall, I love space opera, but I could not make it through this book. Reading the previews of his other stuff on Amazon, I think it is pretty much universal.
The characters were flat and generic. The only notable things about them are what the author tells you. "He had a great sense of humor." "She was really smart and clever." I skipped to the end to see if it got any better. It was just more of the same. I didn't care enough about any of the characters after the first chapter to continue, but I still made it through the first third of the novel, because my friend asked me to try.
Generic writing. Boring plot. I feel bad writing a poor review, but there are plenty of other writers who do it so much better. This reads like a first book, not a twenty-somethingth. Step up your game, please improve your writing!
The characters were flat and generic. The only notable things about them are what the author tells you. "He had a great sense of humor." "She was really smart and clever." I skipped to the end to see if it got any better. It was just more of the same. I didn't care enough about any of the characters after the first chapter to continue, but I still made it through the first third of the novel, because my friend asked me to try.
Generic writing. Boring plot. I feel bad writing a poor review, but there are plenty of other writers who do it so much better. This reads like a first book, not a twenty-somethingth. Step up your game, please improve your writing!
January 9, 2015
Whilst it took me a little to get into it because the start was a little disjointed and vague I found that after the first 5 chapters it was a very, very good read.
At times I was left trying hard to recall which character was with what storyline, ultimately the pieces of string attached themselves together to form a web of stories that comingled into a great read.
I was so pleased that it was a stand alone book and not a series and was just the right length. Cost was appropriate for the size and the editing was great, I only found two grammatical errors which is rare nowadays with e books.
Left me with a plethora of star trek similarities and could not help visualising the Klingons when picturing the Funks.
All up, a great read for any sci fi fan
At times I was left trying hard to recall which character was with what storyline, ultimately the pieces of string attached themselves together to form a web of stories that comingled into a great read.
I was so pleased that it was a stand alone book and not a series and was just the right length. Cost was appropriate for the size and the editing was great, I only found two grammatical errors which is rare nowadays with e books.
Left me with a plethora of star trek similarities and could not help visualising the Klingons when picturing the Funks.
All up, a great read for any sci fi fan
April 1, 2015
4.6 stars. Wow. I will admit, I initially had trouble getting into this book, but once things started, it was like a snowball rolling downhill. I had trouble putting it down. The author struck just the right balance between providing a thorough explanation of tactics, scientific theory, etc, without getting getting bogged down in too much detail. Great character development provided some folks the reader could not help cheering for. The only down side of this book is that everything was wrapped up and it would be difficult to follow with a second book.
February 18, 2015
Another amazing universe!
I'm unsure how Mr. Nutall keeps all of his unbelievable cast of characters straight in his different story lines but I've certainly enjoyed the ride. Consistently interesting alien cultural perspectives, believable military strategy and an upbeat view, if with a cynical bent regarding politicians, on humanity's future. Mr. Nutall deserves to be at the top of the list for any aficionado of science fiction.
I'm unsure how Mr. Nutall keeps all of his unbelievable cast of characters straight in his different story lines but I've certainly enjoyed the ride. Consistently interesting alien cultural perspectives, believable military strategy and an upbeat view, if with a cynical bent regarding politicians, on humanity's future. Mr. Nutall deserves to be at the top of the list for any aficionado of science fiction.
October 9, 2014
Prey or predators
When an alien race flexes its muscles against the Earth, a desperate attempt to stave off extinction has to be taken. A good military Science fiction story in the vein of Weber and Ringo.
When an alien race flexes its muscles against the Earth, a desperate attempt to stave off extinction has to be taken. A good military Science fiction story in the vein of Weber and Ringo.
December 14, 2014
Having recently read a number of Nutall's books, I was shocked at how disjointed this work felt. Too many POVs, jumping around too frequently. I never had time to invest in any of the characters. A very disappointing outing.
November 15, 2014
Never enough
Well.....another enjoyable read from someone who has become one of my favorite authors. Thanks for an exciting story. Look forward to the next
Well.....another enjoyable read from someone who has become one of my favorite authors. Thanks for an exciting story. Look forward to the next
December 14, 2014
Very cool Sci-if read, with a great pace.
February 9, 2015
Needed a good editor, but not bad. Also, seems only fifteen years from First Contact to the time of the book is a little Implosible.
May 13, 2015
Interesting story
This space drama was well written and I enjoyed it. I was mystified as to the Galactics composition, just who or what composed this unit?
This space drama was well written and I enjoyed it. I was mystified as to the Galactics composition, just who or what composed this unit?
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews