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Outcast Marines #1-9
Outcast Marines Complete Series Boxed Set
Criminals. Murderers. Thieves. That’s what makes the Outcast Marines special. And expendable.A Military Science Fiction adventure from Amazon All-Star author James David Victor.The Outcast Marines are the best of the worst. If you’re conscripted, you will likely spend the rest of your days on desperate missions that no one else can, or will, do. That’s an option Solomon, Jezzie, Malady, and the other Outcasts gladly took. The alternative was certain death on a remote prison moon. And it’s a good thing too, because sometimes it takes some truly bad guys to save the day.This complete series boxed set contains all nine books in the Outcast Marines series. If you like science fiction with “heroes” weren't always heroic, the Outcast Marines will suck you into their battle to save humanity, from itself and the rest of the galaxy.Stories of EarthThe Kepler RescueThe Titan GambitThe Martian PlutoAlien LegacyCommand CodeConquest of EarthDownload the Outcast Marines Boxed Set and see how the “bad guys” save humanity in the 23rd century!Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited
- GenresScience Fiction
1367 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 12, 2019
712 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
James David Victor
212 books94 followersJames David Victor is the pen name used by science fiction and fantasy author David J. VanBergen Jr. for co-authored projects. It is his way of sharing more stories with you than he could write by himself.
If you would like to check out all of his books, under both pen names, and get a free short story, be sure to sign up for his Science Fiction newsletter by visiting:
fairfieldpublishing.com/sci-fi-newsle...
If you would like to check out all of his books, under both pen names, and get a free short story, be sure to sign up for his Science Fiction newsletter by visiting:
fairfieldpublishing.com/sci-fi-newsle...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
May 17, 2020
Overall a good read. A common error that writers that haven't served constantly make is having Marines called "soldier". Past, and present Marines DO NOT respond to "soldier" and I'm sure Marines in the future will not either. If you don't know the rank structure, calling a Marine by saying "Hey Marine" all ranks will respond positively. In book 5, (I believe) the author described a pump shotgun that only held 2 shells and you had to break open the action to load 2 more shells. That is so NOT a pump shotgun. Editors need to step up their game a little. The plot and characters were good, although I still wondered if the Yakuza were done with their revenge.
March 20, 2020
science fiction fan
I went through this pretty fast. A lot of action going on, it keeps you busy. There were quite a few characters to keep straight. I liked the team work between the characters. There were a lot of unexpected turn arounds. I recommend this series to any science fiction fan.
I went through this pretty fast. A lot of action going on, it keeps you busy. There were quite a few characters to keep straight. I liked the team work between the characters. There were a lot of unexpected turn arounds. I recommend this series to any science fiction fan.
December 11, 2019
Great science fiction series
What started out as a thief punishment ends after don't trials and seemingly unsolvable problems leads to a hero. How he got there you'll need to read them. I really liked them.
What started out as a thief punishment ends after don't trials and seemingly unsolvable problems leads to a hero. How he got there you'll need to read them. I really liked them.
January 2, 2021
Luke, I am your father
Yeah, it's that ridiculous. Solomon Cready is some sort of cat burglar who seems to have killed his best friend and partner for ratting him out. This causes him to be pressed into a special unit of the marines. (Why the authors always pick on the marines is beyond comprehension.) It's a unit composed of criminals who are experimented upon and sent out as cannon fodder. As the story develops he starts realizing that his life has been preordained, and he's a result of an alien invasion by use of a honey trap. So we have a few battles by which earth forces are decimated but we discover the Achilles heel of this invasion, and have a last minute decisive victory over the aliens. We have the usual junk science of space elevators (from New York at 40 degrees latitude). We get some sort of added energy by skipping across the stratosphere (perpetual motion does exist). An understanding of nuclear weapons has been published in popular magazines, but somehow it got lost in this story as we try to arm a nuclear bomb. Oh yes, and about those concussion waves in space and sonic detectors. So if you like descriptions of fight scenes or battles where everyone shoots at the wrong place despite knowing that there's only one target that kills, but it makes no difference because everyone's battling for their life, and running out of bullets then this is the story for you.
Yeah, it's that ridiculous. Solomon Cready is some sort of cat burglar who seems to have killed his best friend and partner for ratting him out. This causes him to be pressed into a special unit of the marines. (Why the authors always pick on the marines is beyond comprehension.) It's a unit composed of criminals who are experimented upon and sent out as cannon fodder. As the story develops he starts realizing that his life has been preordained, and he's a result of an alien invasion by use of a honey trap. So we have a few battles by which earth forces are decimated but we discover the Achilles heel of this invasion, and have a last minute decisive victory over the aliens. We have the usual junk science of space elevators (from New York at 40 degrees latitude). We get some sort of added energy by skipping across the stratosphere (perpetual motion does exist). An understanding of nuclear weapons has been published in popular magazines, but somehow it got lost in this story as we try to arm a nuclear bomb. Oh yes, and about those concussion waves in space and sonic detectors. So if you like descriptions of fight scenes or battles where everyone shoots at the wrong place despite knowing that there's only one target that kills, but it makes no difference because everyone's battling for their life, and running out of bullets then this is the story for you.
August 19, 2021
I don't know what to say that will make sense to anyone but me. I know this author's work and I know the quality they are capable of producing. For reasons unknown to me, I just could not get into this story, which is really disappointing. This is the kind of story that is firmly in my wheelhouse, yet, I just could not stay focused on it. This is not to say that I have anything negative to report about it.
I made it as far as to the point where our heroes make it to the Titan prison base and are guarding the Ambassador while she is being taken on a tour of the facilities. I guess that is about halfway through the second book. The characters were diverse and each had a unique back story. The overall plot sounded interesting and seemed like it had potential. And yet... I lost interest.
I'm going to hang on to this box set and plan on giving it another go sometime down the line. Perhaps it is simply that I am not in the right frame of mind. My review should not be taken as a lack of a recommendation. As I said earlier, I know the author's work as written under other pen names, so, I guess my recommendation is to read the description and give it a try. You'll probably have a very different experience than I.
I made it as far as to the point where our heroes make it to the Titan prison base and are guarding the Ambassador while she is being taken on a tour of the facilities. I guess that is about halfway through the second book. The characters were diverse and each had a unique back story. The overall plot sounded interesting and seemed like it had potential. And yet... I lost interest.
I'm going to hang on to this box set and plan on giving it another go sometime down the line. Perhaps it is simply that I am not in the right frame of mind. My review should not be taken as a lack of a recommendation. As I said earlier, I know the author's work as written under other pen names, so, I guess my recommendation is to read the description and give it a try. You'll probably have a very different experience than I.
May 20, 2022
Good plot and story line but.....
I usually like JDV's space opera s immensely, this one though had a few ... speed bumps... for lack of a better phrase.
The story arc is excellent. Solomon Cready's tale and that of his Outcast team is good as well. The overall speed of the development holds the reader's attention nicely.
This review is of the 9 book collection in total and that's where my less that 4 start overall review comes from.
Individually books 1-5 and 8-9 each merit 4 stars. Books 6-7, there's where the difficulty lies.
Book 6 is more than 85% (probably more) made up of complete chapters from book 5 with possibly a few from book 4. 100% duplicated or copied chapters including the chapter titles.
Book 7. Same issue as book 6 but not as severe. Probably 65% perhaps a bit less.
"Anthology" would have flowed better if the few differences from books 6 and 7 had just been included in book 5. I found reading the same chapters over verbatim in different books to be extremely annoying and disrupted, however briefly, the arc's continuity.
I usually like JDV's space opera s immensely, this one though had a few ... speed bumps... for lack of a better phrase.
The story arc is excellent. Solomon Cready's tale and that of his Outcast team is good as well. The overall speed of the development holds the reader's attention nicely.
This review is of the 9 book collection in total and that's where my less that 4 start overall review comes from.
Individually books 1-5 and 8-9 each merit 4 stars. Books 6-7, there's where the difficulty lies.
Book 6 is more than 85% (probably more) made up of complete chapters from book 5 with possibly a few from book 4. 100% duplicated or copied chapters including the chapter titles.
Book 7. Same issue as book 6 but not as severe. Probably 65% perhaps a bit less.
"Anthology" would have flowed better if the few differences from books 6 and 7 had just been included in book 5. I found reading the same chapters over verbatim in different books to be extremely annoying and disrupted, however briefly, the arc's continuity.
January 19, 2020
Boxed set great idea
I don’t know if I would have continued this set after the first book if I had to wait for the next -everything became cohesive as you read there were some technical descriptions that describe things that I had no idea about maybe that was just me but reading all of this set together made for a great story fantastic tie back to the beginning of sols life in the farm country and how that played into “his” future it’s A very different take on aliens and just how far reaching they could be talk about the long game! All in all recommend this set and keep reading if you start to fade because it is very much worth following through love the whole concept and would love to see where Jezzy, Sol and Malady end up
I don’t know if I would have continued this set after the first book if I had to wait for the next -everything became cohesive as you read there were some technical descriptions that describe things that I had no idea about maybe that was just me but reading all of this set together made for a great story fantastic tie back to the beginning of sols life in the farm country and how that played into “his” future it’s A very different take on aliens and just how far reaching they could be talk about the long game! All in all recommend this set and keep reading if you start to fade because it is very much worth following through love the whole concept and would love to see where Jezzy, Sol and Malady end up
August 11, 2021
The Dregs of Earth
Just finished the 9 book box set of the Outcast Marines. When I started with book one I thought that the author was going in one direction, and then the direction changed. Lots of action, space battles, heroic efforts plus betrayal and death to characters I had gotten to know. Oh, I forgot, there were "aliens" that were the enemy. Of course there were human betrayers who were looking for personal power and gain. There is a core group of outcast marines who are involved in the entire box set. I am glad I purchased it. Very enjoyable reading.
Just finished the 9 book box set of the Outcast Marines. When I started with book one I thought that the author was going in one direction, and then the direction changed. Lots of action, space battles, heroic efforts plus betrayal and death to characters I had gotten to know. Oh, I forgot, there were "aliens" that were the enemy. Of course there were human betrayers who were looking for personal power and gain. There is a core group of outcast marines who are involved in the entire box set. I am glad I purchased it. Very enjoyable reading.
August 9, 2022
Fun with unique combination of tried and true elements.
While this story is a sort of coming of age mystery and redemption sub plot, it has an overall space opera war of the worlds fantasy going for it as a theme throughout. Each book of the series is almost short enough as more of a series of chapters in the overall complex world building drama. I enjoyed the adventures of these rather complex characters. I read the entire series in less than a week. Good fun if you have the time and inclination.
While this story is a sort of coming of age mystery and redemption sub plot, it has an overall space opera war of the worlds fantasy going for it as a theme throughout. Each book of the series is almost short enough as more of a series of chapters in the overall complex world building drama. I enjoyed the adventures of these rather complex characters. I read the entire series in less than a week. Good fun if you have the time and inclination.
January 13, 2020
Good
I found the action in this series of books to be a little pedestri6, compared to some of the same genre that I read and enjoyed previously. The Outcast Marines seemed to stay in basic training forever, while still going on missions. Everyone hates Solomon, but his back story takes several books to get told. And I can go on. In the end I was dis9in the whole series and expected a whole lot more.
I found the action in this series of books to be a little pedestri6, compared to some of the same genre that I read and enjoyed previously. The Outcast Marines seemed to stay in basic training forever, while still going on missions. Everyone hates Solomon, but his back story takes several books to get told. And I can go on. In the end I was dis9in the whole series and expected a whole lot more.
January 27, 2020
Great adventure...but
I enjoyed the whole story and the character development was great but i did not enjoy the numerous errors mostly with sentence structure. When you get into a really good story and then suddenly come to a sentence that literally stops your brain, it takes away from the story as a whole. I think the review and final editing could and should have been a lot better than it was.
I enjoyed the whole story and the character development was great but i did not enjoy the numerous errors mostly with sentence structure. When you get into a really good story and then suddenly come to a sentence that literally stops your brain, it takes away from the story as a whole. I think the review and final editing could and should have been a lot better than it was.
December 21, 2024
This series is like a train wreck in progress -- you can't stop following it, wondering what's going to happen next and how it will end. Thankfully, it did end, with a very cheesy ending.
Character development was pretty poor (where it existed). The science? Very poor -- since when would venting a spacecraft to vacuum also kill the artificial gravity?
The author had some good ideas, but their implementation left much to be desired.
Character development was pretty poor (where it existed). The science? Very poor -- since when would venting a spacecraft to vacuum also kill the artificial gravity?
The author had some good ideas, but their implementation left much to be desired.
January 1, 2020
Good clean book. Hard to put down!
The book moves along at a good pace and does not bother to try to razzle razzle you with a bunch of made up science terminology. Good story line, interesting characters. Lots of action. No foul language - refreshing to see. Hated to reach the end.
The book moves along at a good pace and does not bother to try to razzle razzle you with a bunch of made up science terminology. Good story line, interesting characters. Lots of action. No foul language - refreshing to see. Hated to reach the end.
January 22, 2020
Military science fiction
Interesting military fiction. Mixing of DNA and DNA makes a better solder. Unfortunately the DNA is alien and supplier wants to conquer mankind. Each book is a section that contributes to the growth of our hero and bonds the series together. Very enjoyable reading.
Interesting military fiction. Mixing of DNA and DNA makes a better solder. Unfortunately the DNA is alien and supplier wants to conquer mankind. Each book is a section that contributes to the growth of our hero and bonds the series together. Very enjoyable reading.
February 4, 2020
A great Scifi Adventure
This was an easy goin space opera as the marines go into action and in an increasingly evolved plot which unfolds very well till the end.
Well written with engaging characters and a lot of depth and story still to be told as well in this universe a worthy 5 stars.
This was an easy goin space opera as the marines go into action and in an increasingly evolved plot which unfolds very well till the end.
Well written with engaging characters and a lot of depth and story still to be told as well in this universe a worthy 5 stars.
May 16, 2020
Way to go Marines!
A little thin in places, the story lines were consistent throughout all books in the series. I had difficulty putting it down to do needed chores. A great way to pass the time under Covid 19 secure in place isolation.
Thanks for a good time living in Solomon's world.
A little thin in places, the story lines were consistent throughout all books in the series. I had difficulty putting it down to do needed chores. A great way to pass the time under Covid 19 secure in place isolation.
Thanks for a good time living in Solomon's world.
December 12, 2020
Engaging characters but some flaws in execution
The main character was generally interesting enough to keep me going, and the overall plot was good, but suffers a bit from regular rehashing of details and several points of technical flaws in basic science that kept jarring me out of the narrative.
The main character was generally interesting enough to keep me going, and the overall plot was good, but suffers a bit from regular rehashing of details and several points of technical flaws in basic science that kept jarring me out of the narrative.
Read
January 31, 2021Read the past and the future, now I need the middle.
You are an awesome team.
Your story telling is great and the information you give about the characters and locations that are put together are excellent.
I'm looking forward to see what happens in your minds next.
Please don't make me wait too long.
You are an awesome team.
Your story telling is great and the information you give about the characters and locations that are put together are excellent.
I'm looking forward to see what happens in your minds next.
Please don't make me wait too long.
June 1, 2021
Like What I Grew up on.
This is great work. Great also that all nine books are together so that the story can finish. (Or is it, there is always those pesky aliens somewhere). Truly I Grew up on stories like this in the so called " Golden Age" of sci-fi, from 1955 to 1970 (odd). Books like this, stories like this, give me great pleasure and hope. But get all nine books!
This is great work. Great also that all nine books are together so that the story can finish. (Or is it, there is always those pesky aliens somewhere). Truly I Grew up on stories like this in the so called " Golden Age" of sci-fi, from 1955 to 1970 (odd). Books like this, stories like this, give me great pleasure and hope. But get all nine books!
May 24, 2025
Fantastic series of books
Amazing books. Space battles of humans being up against vs an advanced technological alien who has hidden why they are there. The group of outcasts that began as criminals became space marines who's members you really care about. I highly recommend these books.
Amazing books. Space battles of humans being up against vs an advanced technological alien who has hidden why they are there. The group of outcasts that began as criminals became space marines who's members you really care about. I highly recommend these books.
November 22, 2019
Don't wait start Nowf
From the first page to the very last Author James David Victor never let the story get slow or Tedious. Through multiple characters, plot twists, cruel harrowing intense missions he kept everything connected and believable.
Great Job.
Thank You
From the first page to the very last Author James David Victor never let the story get slow or Tedious. Through multiple characters, plot twists, cruel harrowing intense missions he kept everything connected and believable.
Great Job.
Thank You
December 5, 2019
Loved this series
While the author was new to me I enjoyed the entire series. The characters and plot were engaging enough and while parts did seem mouth youth oriented I enjoyed the battle and fighting parts
While the author was new to me I enjoyed the entire series. The characters and plot were engaging enough and while parts did seem mouth youth oriented I enjoyed the battle and fighting parts
January 23, 2020
I loved this series
I got sucked into this series and was not able to put it down. As a matter of fact I read it street through. I only slept once. Every time you turned around something else was going on. Great read!!!!!!
I got sucked into this series and was not able to put it down. As a matter of fact I read it street through. I only slept once. Every time you turned around something else was going on. Great read!!!!!!
January 24, 2020
Just awful
This could have been a good read except for terrible spelling and even worse grammar. Add to that the overuse of onomatopoeia which is ok if you are illustrating comics, not in writing books
This could have been a good read except for terrible spelling and even worse grammar. Add to that the overuse of onomatopoeia which is ok if you are illustrating comics, not in writing books
February 7, 2020
Sci-fi at its best
This was a worth while read. Thoroughly enjoyable, the characters were both loveable and hateful. Good pace of action humour and if you like star trek you will like this. I would like to know what happens next?
This was a worth while read. Thoroughly enjoyable, the characters were both loveable and hateful. Good pace of action humour and if you like star trek you will like this. I would like to know what happens next?
February 25, 2020
Interested in alien encounter?
Cool take on trusting human population and altruistic aliens who really want to meet and greet. The protagonist is understandable. The Love interest is conflicted.
Cool take on trusting human population and altruistic aliens who really want to meet and greet. The protagonist is understandable. The Love interest is conflicted.
June 11, 2020
Waste
Not worth the time to read. Made it part way through the 2nd book before giving up. So many cliches it was mind bogglingly boring. Maybe a 12 year old comic book junky might enjoy it.
Not worth the time to read. Made it part way through the 2nd book before giving up. So many cliches it was mind bogglingly boring. Maybe a 12 year old comic book junky might enjoy it.
July 9, 2020
Very Imaginative Story
Not just a creation of a worldwide story, but a whole universe! The characters were very real and their dialogue was good. It had a good plot and was well-written.
Not just a creation of a worldwide story, but a whole universe! The characters were very real and their dialogue was good. It had a good plot and was well-written.
August 24, 2020
Kicking adventure
This series is fast paced and has that ability to keep you turning the pages. I found it hard to put it down. I love stories like this. Will be looking for more.
This series is fast paced and has that ability to keep you turning the pages. I found it hard to put it down. I love stories like this. Will be looking for more.
October 18, 2020
Fantastic read!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the whole series. The character development and story line made for an enjoyable read that was hard to put down. I will read other books from the author!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the whole series. The character development and story line made for an enjoyable read that was hard to put down. I will read other books from the author!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews