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The Messenger #2
The Dark Between
The Messenger must prepare for war.
With the Archetype damaged, Dash and his crew will need more than a quick fix to prepare for what’s coming.
A secret facility known only as the Forge lies in cold sleep, built by the Unseen for the greatest war in history. Dash has no idea what awaits him there, but he hopes to find some kind of advantage in the war that is to come.
Meanwhile, on a distant world, an ancient order of monks protects a long buried secret. They have guarded it for centuries, all in the hope that someday the Messenger might come and relieve them of their task.
Dash has answered that call...and he will not be denied.
With the Archetype damaged, Dash and his crew will need more than a quick fix to prepare for what’s coming.
A secret facility known only as the Forge lies in cold sleep, built by the Unseen for the greatest war in history. Dash has no idea what awaits him there, but he hopes to find some kind of advantage in the war that is to come.
Meanwhile, on a distant world, an ancient order of monks protects a long buried secret. They have guarded it for centuries, all in the hope that someday the Messenger might come and relieve them of their task.
Dash has answered that call...and he will not be denied.
378 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 16, 2019
640 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
J.N. Chaney
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
October 21, 2019
“Within here, we wait.”
If Messenger #1 was intriguing, this premise is more suspenseful, with more mysteries to unravel, which is fascinating. Unbelievably and mind blowing sophisticated tech. Military -edged thriller that delivers thoughtful aspects as well as bang-'em-up action. I’m loving this series!
If Messenger #1 was intriguing, this premise is more suspenseful, with more mysteries to unravel, which is fascinating. Unbelievably and mind blowing sophisticated tech. Military -edged thriller that delivers thoughtful aspects as well as bang-'em-up action. I’m loving this series!
January 5, 2020
Another rousing adventure in this space adventure. The closer they get to solving the power issue the further it seems they are away from the whole truth.
The Golden have found then at the Forge and now the fighting begins.
Epic technology versus epic evil with possible better weapons. No star was hurt during this battle, only temporarily wounded
Great character development and a fast paced story line.
Highly recommended Author and Book series
The Golden have found then at the Forge and now the fighting begins.
Epic technology versus epic evil with possible better weapons. No star was hurt during this battle, only temporarily wounded
Great character development and a fast paced story line.
Highly recommended Author and Book series
February 27, 2020
This is kind of a weird story, but it’s weird in a very good way. We’re reading about a semi-transformer kind of book in that the hero, Dash Sawyer, is the pilot of a huge spacefaring electro-mechanical robot, called the Archetype. How he was “chosen” to be the pilot of this space-born weapons platform is all contained in the first book.
This book is about "the Forge”. As you’ll recall, the Archetype needs power cores to fulfill it full potential. And, up to now, that’s what Dash and his companions aboard his ship the Slipwing have been trying to find. Yet, with the last installation of the most recently found power core, Dash and the Archetype now have knowledge of something called “the Forge”. They have it’s coordinates in space, but now have a decision to make. Should they continue to search for power cores for the Archetype or now head directly to the Forge and find out what it is all about. Surely, it must be important for the Unseen (creators of the Archetype and the Forge) to have built the thing and now telling them about it.
So, after some discussion, they all agree to head for the Forge. While the Archetype can self-repair a lot of it’s systems, it needs time to do so. They believe the Forge may contain some repair capabilities for the Archetype and could also do some much needed work on the Slipwing.
The do stop at an intermediate destination to make some emergency repairs which can be done by Leira’s cousin, Amy. She’s a born engineer and mechanic and fix just about anything. She’s been living all her life on a space-station called the Passage, but feels it’s time to leave. So, Dash picks up another member of his crew. And then they head for the Forge.
What they find at the Forge actually leads them to searching for another power core, a level two power core which could turn on all the offensive and defensive weaponry of the Forge. Without that level two power core, the Forge is just a floating hunk of space junk, a very, very large chunk of space junk.
Fortunately, their search does result in aquiring some new allies. Dash is building quite a following and he’s going to need it easpecially when the Golden send their own version of the Archetype to the Forge. It’s called the Guardian and while smaller than the Archetype, it is faster and just as powerful with the capability to cloak. So, how does Dash and the Archetype fight something they can’t see?
This book, while kind of outlandish with the Archetype flying around in space fighting by punching and boxing is still very intense. The story moves right along and before you know it, you’re almost to the end. Still, there’s more to come and I’m sure they’ll be just as exciting as this book.
This book is about "the Forge”. As you’ll recall, the Archetype needs power cores to fulfill it full potential. And, up to now, that’s what Dash and his companions aboard his ship the Slipwing have been trying to find. Yet, with the last installation of the most recently found power core, Dash and the Archetype now have knowledge of something called “the Forge”. They have it’s coordinates in space, but now have a decision to make. Should they continue to search for power cores for the Archetype or now head directly to the Forge and find out what it is all about. Surely, it must be important for the Unseen (creators of the Archetype and the Forge) to have built the thing and now telling them about it.
So, after some discussion, they all agree to head for the Forge. While the Archetype can self-repair a lot of it’s systems, it needs time to do so. They believe the Forge may contain some repair capabilities for the Archetype and could also do some much needed work on the Slipwing.
The do stop at an intermediate destination to make some emergency repairs which can be done by Leira’s cousin, Amy. She’s a born engineer and mechanic and fix just about anything. She’s been living all her life on a space-station called the Passage, but feels it’s time to leave. So, Dash picks up another member of his crew. And then they head for the Forge.
What they find at the Forge actually leads them to searching for another power core, a level two power core which could turn on all the offensive and defensive weaponry of the Forge. Without that level two power core, the Forge is just a floating hunk of space junk, a very, very large chunk of space junk.
Fortunately, their search does result in aquiring some new allies. Dash is building quite a following and he’s going to need it easpecially when the Golden send their own version of the Archetype to the Forge. It’s called the Guardian and while smaller than the Archetype, it is faster and just as powerful with the capability to cloak. So, how does Dash and the Archetype fight something they can’t see?
This book, while kind of outlandish with the Archetype flying around in space fighting by punching and boxing is still very intense. The story moves right along and before you know it, you’re almost to the end. Still, there’s more to come and I’m sure they’ll be just as exciting as this book.
December 10, 2021
The second entry of J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert’s The Messenger series opens with protagonist Dash Sawyer aboard the space station Passage, where his ship the Slipwing and mech Archetype are, with an introduction to Leira’s mechanic cousin, Amy Anson, who agrees to repair Dash’s vessel on an IOU. The crew agrees to fly to the Archetype’s place of origin, a space station known as the Forge, whose security system activates once the Slipwing approaches it, although they do make it aboard and explore. There they learn about the eponymous Dark Between, between real space and unSpace.
Dash seeks power cores to increase the strength of the Archetype, having one, although he learns that the Forge cannot produce them, and the space station eventually finds itself under attack by alien vessels, with forewarning of more attacks, and a level two power core deemed necessary to withstand another assault, expected within three days. Dash and his companions debate on how to proceed, and ultimately proceed to planet Shylock, where they find an order of monks that expected the coming of the Messenger, and many of them, spearheaded by Kai, join the crew of the Slipwing.
Battle and its aftermath conclude the events of the book, which is overall just as satisfying as the first one, sure to please fans of science-fiction and even similarly-themed videogames such as Xenogears and Xenosaga, not to mention anime such as Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Granted, the second entry like its precursor seem somewhat derivative of said franchises outside literature, and while characters such as Conover receive good development and even a bit of backstory, luminaries such as crewmember Viktor somewhat seem to lack depth. Regardless, those who liked the first story in the series will most likely enjoy the second.
Dash seeks power cores to increase the strength of the Archetype, having one, although he learns that the Forge cannot produce them, and the space station eventually finds itself under attack by alien vessels, with forewarning of more attacks, and a level two power core deemed necessary to withstand another assault, expected within three days. Dash and his companions debate on how to proceed, and ultimately proceed to planet Shylock, where they find an order of monks that expected the coming of the Messenger, and many of them, spearheaded by Kai, join the crew of the Slipwing.
Battle and its aftermath conclude the events of the book, which is overall just as satisfying as the first one, sure to please fans of science-fiction and even similarly-themed videogames such as Xenogears and Xenosaga, not to mention anime such as Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Granted, the second entry like its precursor seem somewhat derivative of said franchises outside literature, and while characters such as Conover receive good development and even a bit of backstory, luminaries such as crewmember Viktor somewhat seem to lack depth. Regardless, those who liked the first story in the series will most likely enjoy the second.
March 16, 2021
The next step in the journey
Since I enjoyed the first book I decided to give this one a go. And I enjoyed it too. But I think I read the story description wrong. I don't want to say I was expecting an extra conflict since I'm pretty sure that's the wrong word, but when the story got to that point something else happened. But outside of that it was a good tale, with Dash and crew getting more help in a couple of different ways. So it should be interesting to see how things play out. There's some new characters and they're different enough th from the original four that some interesting dynamics in the future. So the ride should get interesting, and if you know anything about the giant robot anime genre then you know that if you have a giant robot you need something to fight, we get that hete.
Since I enjoyed the first book I decided to give this one a go. And I enjoyed it too. But I think I read the story description wrong. I don't want to say I was expecting an extra conflict since I'm pretty sure that's the wrong word, but when the story got to that point something else happened. But outside of that it was a good tale, with Dash and crew getting more help in a couple of different ways. So it should be interesting to see how things play out. There's some new characters and they're different enough th from the original four that some interesting dynamics in the future. So the ride should get interesting, and if you know anything about the giant robot anime genre then you know that if you have a giant robot you need something to fight, we get that hete.
September 1, 2020
Quality drop off in this second book, a Mech that is not so much of a kick ass mech. Dash clearly still cannot see the waaay bigger picture and it not actively recruiting a army to help him or even letting the galactic police know something is up. Because other worlds would want to fking know some beings out there are hell bent on destroying the universe. Maybe some civilizations would want to help out? But hey, stick with your hand full of people and a a busted ass Mech that seems not to evade any god damn thing tossed at it and is nearly a busted ass robot after every little fight that is NOT the Golden may just save the universe.
January 22, 2021
The characters repeated stuff we already know a bit too much. And Dash seems to be a little less smart than in the previous book, but he does figure it out in the end.
Took out one star because the Archetype just mysteriously appeared on the Forge from the planet. Did the author read their own book? Just take out the bit where they laboriously figure out how to get the Archetype on the planet in the first place and you're fine.
Took out one star because the Archetype just mysteriously appeared on the Forge from the planet. Did the author read their own book? Just take out the bit where they laboriously figure out how to get the Archetype on the planet in the first place and you're fine.
August 23, 2021
I really love Mechas! I want more books with them! Ok, the second book in "The Messenger" series does not disappoint. A lot more action and the hair-raising action by Dash really stand out. The group are now in search of their own base, one that will support the Archetype. But the Unseen don't fail to put trials on every single upgrade. Can they find enough upgrades to hold off the enemies in time?
December 17, 2019
This was about like the first book in the series - not bad but a little slow at first. It did introduce a little more about the bad aliens (called Goldens. The book drags a bit as our heroes have to go around on savager hunts to pick up extra technology pieces to help them ultimately fight the Goldens. I'm on to book three in the series and hope it picks up a bit :-)
August 26, 2020
Suffers a little in the way a lot of sequels suffer, now your away from the exiting begining it looses some momentumn. That being said characterisation seems to be consistant and the overall story is good. If you enjoyed the first book you'll enjoy 'The Dark Between' although I'm looking forward to seeing this universe open up more.
February 1, 2021
Another awesome addition to the story with even more awesome mecha action. Plenty of action-adventure as well.
The stakes are even higher here from the prior book, and I'd mention how but spoilers.
Also, if you get the chance to listen to it on audible the narration is on point. Dash sounds just as snarky as I imagined him.
The stakes are even higher here from the prior book, and I'd mention how but spoilers.
Also, if you get the chance to listen to it on audible the narration is on point. Dash sounds just as snarky as I imagined him.
March 13, 2021
I like this series about a space bound human who inadvertently becomes entangled in an ancient galactic battle. This series is mostly hard science fiction, the ancient powers have technology we don't understand, but those powers advance the story. It is really about how a small group of people work together in unusual circumstances.
December 5, 2021
Great series
I wasn't sure I'd Luke this series when I got the first book, I've read quite few mech books that I didn't like much, but this one is different from ones i've read before. I can't wait to read the next one in the series.
Honestly I think I this series would make a great movie..
I wasn't sure I'd Luke this series when I got the first book, I've read quite few mech books that I didn't like much, but this one is different from ones i've read before. I can't wait to read the next one in the series.
Honestly I think I this series would make a great movie..
December 12, 2021
Hum interesting
The only thing I didn't like about this series was the name of the protagonist "Dash" (The Beverly Hillbillies Dash Riprock). Outside that good story entertaining and interesting. The authors did a pretty good job of skirting the usual trope and I will recommend this to someone who wants a action pack down to the wire win or die story
The only thing I didn't like about this series was the name of the protagonist "Dash" (The Beverly Hillbillies Dash Riprock). Outside that good story entertaining and interesting. The authors did a pretty good job of skirting the usual trope and I will recommend this to someone who wants a action pack down to the wire win or die story
July 10, 2022
Book 2 done and dusted, book 3 incoming
I'm pleased to say that the Messenger series is growing on me. I noted it was similar to Backyard Starship in my first review and it doesn't disappoint.
The characters and relationships developing quickly, which given there are 15 books is welcomed.
Book 3 may just have to wait now as book 8 of Backyard Starship just landed....
I'm pleased to say that the Messenger series is growing on me. I noted it was similar to Backyard Starship in my first review and it doesn't disappoint.
The characters and relationships developing quickly, which given there are 15 books is welcomed.
Book 3 may just have to wait now as book 8 of Backyard Starship just landed....
May 26, 2023
Good second edition to the series. Slow sometimes but solid.
Good plot and story, with better character development and new arc. Simple but fun, got slow at times as the book knows its a lot of scavenger hunt plot lines but the main character and dialogue keep you interested. Good solid simple read that makes me want to read the next book in the series.
Good plot and story, with better character development and new arc. Simple but fun, got slow at times as the book knows its a lot of scavenger hunt plot lines but the main character and dialogue keep you interested. Good solid simple read that makes me want to read the next book in the series.
December 28, 2019
This was a decent series
This was a decent series. Interesting characters and the plot line is well developed. At times the plot is lacking in details. But other that, the series is good.
This was a decent series. Interesting characters and the plot line is well developed. At times the plot is lacking in details. But other that, the series is good.
January 14, 2020
Read and enjoy
Read and enjoy, I am always surprised how some books just grab you and you don't want to put it down. I am glad I am married as it was her that made me sleep otherwise I would just have read from page 1all the way to the end. Enjoy
Read and enjoy, I am always surprised how some books just grab you and you don't want to put it down. I am glad I am married as it was her that made me sleep otherwise I would just have read from page 1all the way to the end. Enjoy
May 7, 2020
Still Loving the Series
Not sure why exactly but I’m still enjoying this series. Good sci-fi action, with a bit of humor and tension, and decent character development and supporting cast. I especially like that each book, so far, gives the reader a positive ending.
Not sure why exactly but I’m still enjoying this series. Good sci-fi action, with a bit of humor and tension, and decent character development and supporting cast. I especially like that each book, so far, gives the reader a positive ending.
May 11, 2020
Flows so smoothly you lost in the drama, This book has extremely compelling characters and a storyline to match. I highly recommend it.
This book overwhelms you with the smooth telling of the story and the very relatable characters. I would highly recommend it.
This book overwhelms you with the smooth telling of the story and the very relatable characters. I would highly recommend it.
August 2, 2020
LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
I have this book a 4 instead of a 5 because the characters talk incessantly about trivial BS. A lot less talk and a lot more action for the " savior of humanity " would be nice
I have this book a 4 instead of a 5 because the characters talk incessantly about trivial BS. A lot less talk and a lot more action for the " savior of humanity " would be nice
November 17, 2021
Deadline At the Forge
Dash and company, having obtained the Archetype, continue the search for more pieces of Unseen technology. However, the Enemy of All Life is on the march and will attack at every opportunity in order to thwart the Messenger.
Dash and company, having obtained the Archetype, continue the search for more pieces of Unseen technology. However, the Enemy of All Life is on the march and will attack at every opportunity in order to thwart the Messenger.
April 24, 2023
Another fun book in the series. I had completed the first one and immediately tore into, and through this, book. I do not typically do that. I suspect I will be binging the entire series at this point.
January 26, 2024
mech space battle goodness!
As much as the first book of the messenger series was a fun discovery, this second book really begins to see the Archetype come into its own. More exploration, more fun characters, more developments and details… all good stuff.
As much as the first book of the messenger series was a fun discovery, this second book really begins to see the Archetype come into its own. More exploration, more fun characters, more developments and details… all good stuff.
February 26, 2020
Mechanics goodness
Action and giant robot destruction from beginning to the very end! This series is a fanboy favorite from cover to cover.
Action and giant robot destruction from beginning to the very end! This series is a fanboy favorite from cover to cover.
May 12, 2020
Love the series
I really love the mecha in this series. The characters that come along during the story only make it better. Looking forward to the next book.
I really love the mecha in this series. The characters that come along during the story only make it better. Looking forward to the next book.
June 2, 2020
Good series
I have enjoyed the series so far. This has a been a good read, the story draws you in. The characters and thier mission meld well.
I have enjoyed the series so far. This has a been a good read, the story draws you in. The characters and thier mission meld well.
January 16, 2021
This continues to be a fun series; a bit absurd at times, but still fun! A great escape.
June 25, 2021
Enjoyable entry in the Messenger series, a generally fun read.
October 5, 2021
Really enjoying this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews