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The Earth Saga
Standish
When a young girl from a backwater planet joins the fleet, she begins a journey that will change not only her life, but history itself.
But as the Empire erupts into a civil war that threatens to tear it apart, Val Standish soon learns that duty, love and war are an explosive mix.
As her judgement day nears, Standish must risk everything to discover if warriors are only forged in the white heat of battle.
But as the Empire erupts into a civil war that threatens to tear it apart, Val Standish soon learns that duty, love and war are an explosive mix.
As her judgement day nears, Standish must risk everything to discover if warriors are only forged in the white heat of battle.
745 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 28, 2019
96 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 17, 2026
This book has an average of 4.4 stars! Blimey!
What these reviewers standards are I have no idea, but I won't buy any of their recommendations after reading this utter drivel.
The story concerns Val Standish, who is a kind of Mary Sue character who starts of on a farm in an outpost planet and quickly advances to the job she wants. She's perfect... though every mission she goes on goes tits up and everyone gets killed... except her. Becaus she's perfect.
There are no great emotional bonds and the story has no warmth. There is one lesbian sex scene in a pool, which is just awful, and lasts a paragraph.
There is no actual story. It just goes from mission to mission, with very small breaks to Standish 'now'... she's older and about to retire. So there's no tension.
There is constant donning of armour, taking off armour down to their 'undergarments'. Every piece of armour is described intimately. If only the sex scene had as much depth. There are numerous radio messages on the missions.
"You good?"
"All good here"
"You good?"
"Yep good".
Ad infinitum.
It is truly awful. Dire. It's written without emotion. Without depth. Apart from the descriptions of machinery and weapons.
If that gets you off then there's lots of hentai stuff out there with loads more depth than this rubbish. Almost 800 pages of no plot. FML.
What these reviewers standards are I have no idea, but I won't buy any of their recommendations after reading this utter drivel.
The story concerns Val Standish, who is a kind of Mary Sue character who starts of on a farm in an outpost planet and quickly advances to the job she wants. She's perfect... though every mission she goes on goes tits up and everyone gets killed... except her. Becaus she's perfect.
There are no great emotional bonds and the story has no warmth. There is one lesbian sex scene in a pool, which is just awful, and lasts a paragraph.
There is no actual story. It just goes from mission to mission, with very small breaks to Standish 'now'... she's older and about to retire. So there's no tension.
There is constant donning of armour, taking off armour down to their 'undergarments'. Every piece of armour is described intimately. If only the sex scene had as much depth. There are numerous radio messages on the missions.
"You good?"
"All good here"
"You good?"
"Yep good".
Ad infinitum.
It is truly awful. Dire. It's written without emotion. Without depth. Apart from the descriptions of machinery and weapons.
If that gets you off then there's lots of hentai stuff out there with loads more depth than this rubbish. Almost 800 pages of no plot. FML.
March 14, 2021
Ehhh
Not a fan of the dual stories format plus there's tons of pointless battles and other stuff that I just skipped. None of which seemed to affect what little true storyline was actually a part of this book. Don't waste your time or money.
Not a fan of the dual stories format plus there's tons of pointless battles and other stuff that I just skipped. None of which seemed to affect what little true storyline was actually a part of this book. Don't waste your time or money.
August 5, 2022
Wayyyyyyy too much, “I’m good, you’re good, you good, we’re good, she’s good, he’s good, they’re good, it’s all good, and good to go,” etc. etc. etc.
Also, this part about “female superiority….”
“…it was a question of who was going to be the first male to drop out, and that question was answered at the 180-kilogram mark when both males from Jaxos, Mo Ho and Oyni Lo, were unable to manage the lift, which left them slightly embarrassed after Standish managed to get the bar above her head….”
Women seem to be in charge of almost everything, powerful, strong, can take care of themselves, etc etc etc.
“…The goons from the freighter hadn’t given Standish much. Just the name of the woman who ruled the system…Jintana Fu….”
Then, there’s this:
“…She even got a small data-stick handed to her by a short blonde female as she walked by. Standish was flattered, but she wasn’t in the mood for a romantic liaison anytime soon….”
“…Bringing her head up, she locked her eyes on K [her] who was floating near the side of the pool, and with a sudden and unexpected urge, she flipped onto her stomach, swam over to her teammate, and quickly wrapped her legs around K’s [her] waist. There was a look of surprise and anticipation in K’s eyes as Standish put her hands behind her teammate’s head, then slowly pulled her mouth towards her.”
“…allowed her to intertwine with K in a fluid stream of sensations and pleasures for a period of time that seemed to draw out. With every stroke and touch and kiss, her senses tingled with delight at the pleasures she was both receiving and giving…
Book seemed to go on forever.
I could hardly wait for it to stop.
And THIS bllsht I tried to ignore for a long time, but it kept reasserting itself:
Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much delicate “sipping, and sips, and sipped, and sip,” etc etc etc.
Sip
Sip
Sip
Sippity-sip.
I quit reading at page 479 of 704.
I just don’t care “what happens next.”
I quit.
.
.
Also, this part about “female superiority….”
“…it was a question of who was going to be the first male to drop out, and that question was answered at the 180-kilogram mark when both males from Jaxos, Mo Ho and Oyni Lo, were unable to manage the lift, which left them slightly embarrassed after Standish managed to get the bar above her head….”
Women seem to be in charge of almost everything, powerful, strong, can take care of themselves, etc etc etc.
“…The goons from the freighter hadn’t given Standish much. Just the name of the woman who ruled the system…Jintana Fu….”
Then, there’s this:
“…She even got a small data-stick handed to her by a short blonde female as she walked by. Standish was flattered, but she wasn’t in the mood for a romantic liaison anytime soon….”
“…Bringing her head up, she locked her eyes on K [her] who was floating near the side of the pool, and with a sudden and unexpected urge, she flipped onto her stomach, swam over to her teammate, and quickly wrapped her legs around K’s [her] waist. There was a look of surprise and anticipation in K’s eyes as Standish put her hands behind her teammate’s head, then slowly pulled her mouth towards her.”
“…allowed her to intertwine with K in a fluid stream of sensations and pleasures for a period of time that seemed to draw out. With every stroke and touch and kiss, her senses tingled with delight at the pleasures she was both receiving and giving…
Book seemed to go on forever.
I could hardly wait for it to stop.
And THIS bllsht I tried to ignore for a long time, but it kept reasserting itself:
Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much delicate “sipping, and sips, and sipped, and sip,” etc etc etc.
Sip
Sip
Sip
Sippity-sip.
I quit reading at page 479 of 704.
I just don’t care “what happens next.”
I quit.
.
.
December 12, 2019
Seriously, this wasn't a bad story, but the disclaimer at the start saying the book has been revised, professionally edited should have thrown up a red flag. I'm seriously beginning to think that when an author specificaly states the book has been professionaly edited, it's time for me to put down the book to spare me from all the horrible grammar I'm about to encounter. Seriously, I know even in the UK they know there are multiple forms of the verb sit. (you know, sit, sitting, sat). Interestingly enough, there was actually one case of sitting actually being used in the book, every single other use was sat, regardless of whether it should have been sat, sit, or sitting. Really? One case of using his where it should have been her, off where it should be of, where in place of were, and so on, it continues like this throughout the whole book, if this is what you call professional editing, then I want nothing to do with professional editors.
Besides the horrible editing, the story itself wasn't bad, but the intermixing of past with what ws supposed to be present day was just jarring, there'd be several chapters of past, then one chapter of present, (sometimes only a page or less), then back to the past for more where it left off. This constant switching added nothing to the story, and often times made it confusing if you missed the transition. Bad design in my opinion, and I personally think it made the book less readable. This should have been a solid 4 stars, but the editing and the abrupt scene switching left me with only a three star review on this book. If the grammar doesn't bother you, that's all well and good, you'll enjoy this book way more than I did, and if the scene shifts don't throw you off, then this will be an excellent read indeed, but I just couldn't, in good conscious, give this book more than a 3 star rating.
Besides the horrible editing, the story itself wasn't bad, but the intermixing of past with what ws supposed to be present day was just jarring, there'd be several chapters of past, then one chapter of present, (sometimes only a page or less), then back to the past for more where it left off. This constant switching added nothing to the story, and often times made it confusing if you missed the transition. Bad design in my opinion, and I personally think it made the book less readable. This should have been a solid 4 stars, but the editing and the abrupt scene switching left me with only a three star review on this book. If the grammar doesn't bother you, that's all well and good, you'll enjoy this book way more than I did, and if the scene shifts don't throw you off, then this will be an excellent read indeed, but I just couldn't, in good conscious, give this book more than a 3 star rating.
October 9, 2025
Excellent. Simply Excellent.
As a standalone novel it’s very good. As an accompaniment to the ES set it reaches excellence. Standish is alluded to in the series, but only in asides and hints of her greatness. This book fully fleshes out her story and makes her leap off the page. Well done, and many thanks, to the author for this great sidecar read.
As a standalone novel it’s very good. As an accompaniment to the ES set it reaches excellence. Standish is alluded to in the series, but only in asides and hints of her greatness. This book fully fleshes out her story and makes her leap off the page. Well done, and many thanks, to the author for this great sidecar read.
April 20, 2024
Awesome space opera. A bit long. But its, awesome . out on a few pots of coffee. weapons space, empires, rulers , special ops, tier 1, rescue, its got it all. And the author has a lot of books. Spoiler: great book.
July 1, 2025
great flow to the story
Story kept me reading to get to the next adventure without a bunch of cliffhangers. Pulled it all together in the end
Story kept me reading to get to the next adventure without a bunch of cliffhangers. Pulled it all together in the end
August 1, 2025
exciting
Great book in storyline, kept me engaged the entire book. Easy to read and very enjoyable. I definitely recommend this book.
Great book in storyline, kept me engaged the entire book. Easy to read and very enjoyable. I definitely recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews