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The Athena Lee Chronicles #1
The Forgotten Engineer
Has an alternate cover.
Ensign Athena Lee was on her first engineering assignment. She was helping to build a secret space station. There was a war on and this new station was vital. When the engineering fleet was attacked and destroyed she was left lost and alone. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. She was going to have to Engineer her way home.
Ensign Athena Lee was on her first engineering assignment. She was helping to build a secret space station. There was a war on and this new station was vital. When the engineering fleet was attacked and destroyed she was left lost and alone. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. She was going to have to Engineer her way home.
146 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2019
319 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
T.S. Paul
112 books347 followersI was born in 1968 in Mineral Wells, Tx. I have lived all across the country:Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Alaska, and finally Missouri. I have worked as a Disc Jockey, Bookstore manager, Cook, and bowling alley attendant. I have a Telecommunication degree and a Culinary degree. I was a history major before I discovered multimedia. Gardening and cooking is my passion. My wife and I live outside of St Louis, Missouri. I have always been a Huge fan of Science Fiction and fantasy I bring my love of the genre to my writing. I'm a first time writer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
April 10, 2016
Really awful editing.
I cannot tell if this story was good or not. The first couple pages were badly edited, to the point of nonsense.
I cannot tell if this story was good or not. The first couple pages were badly edited, to the point of nonsense.
May 11, 2021
Felt rather like I wasted time on this. The ebook was about 60 pages and the last couple where from another work my T. S Paul so it wasn't even 60 pages. For one this needed to be longer, didn't feel like one complete novel. Feelt like I just read a chapter, and the little text that was given wasn't written very well. Don't think I'll bother reading the next one even if it might be as short at this one.
June 29, 2016
Great idea for a story - the concept has promise. However it was very poorly executed.
The writing was disjointed and the editing practically nonexistent.
The writing was disjointed and the editing practically nonexistent.
November 7, 2016
Badly executed. Even for its length, this book should have been proofread and revised in order to fix the numerous beginner mistakes.
June 11, 2017
I thought the basic story was excellent, if a little simplistic. However, I really don’t like constant flashbacks, they are such a clumsy way of telling a story. Using an occasional flashback is fine but when it is every other chapter I find it spoils the flow of the book.
May 18, 2022
I really enjoyed this. A clever young space engineer left behind after battle for 15 years builds a new space station alone.
I really want to read more but each section is so short, all of them add up in price. I wish they were combined into longer books.
I really want to read more but each section is so short, all of them add up in price. I wish they were combined into longer books.
March 19, 2017
T. S. Paul shows promise...
This is the shadow of an interesting book. Author T. S. Paul has the outline of a story written here, but there remain too many holes in the sparsely written story. The story needs fleshing out, with more details both about his protagonist Athena Lee and her struggle to survive her predicament, and her personality. As it stands, this story is mostly wish fulfillment, with the possibility of being a full on saga of some distinction. As T. S. Paul admits to being a first time author, I recommend that he reads The Martian, and the works of John Ringo, James Young, Lois Bujold, Robert A. Heinlein, and C.J. Cherryh for examples of successful character creation. His characters are two dimensional, lacking enough detail to be believable.
With all that said, I enjoyed the very basic elements of the premise of this story. I would love to see the author expand and develop the bare bones into a fuller tale and evolve into the writer he shows the promise of being. I wish T. S. Paul the best of luck. Really.
This is the shadow of an interesting book. Author T. S. Paul has the outline of a story written here, but there remain too many holes in the sparsely written story. The story needs fleshing out, with more details both about his protagonist Athena Lee and her struggle to survive her predicament, and her personality. As it stands, this story is mostly wish fulfillment, with the possibility of being a full on saga of some distinction. As T. S. Paul admits to being a first time author, I recommend that he reads The Martian, and the works of John Ringo, James Young, Lois Bujold, Robert A. Heinlein, and C.J. Cherryh for examples of successful character creation. His characters are two dimensional, lacking enough detail to be believable.
With all that said, I enjoyed the very basic elements of the premise of this story. I would love to see the author expand and develop the bare bones into a fuller tale and evolve into the writer he shows the promise of being. I wish T. S. Paul the best of luck. Really.
May 29, 2018
Not worth a dollar
People don’t blurt out historical knowledge just for fun. Certainly not personal history.
There is a serious problem defining distance in this novella. Really terrible.
How do you ‘flank’ a round battle station?
This felt like a very awkward play with no real point. A couple references to a mil-sf meme don’t do much to redeem this mess.
Disappointing, because the concept has merit.
People don’t blurt out historical knowledge just for fun. Certainly not personal history.
There is a serious problem defining distance in this novella. Really terrible.
How do you ‘flank’ a round battle station?
This felt like a very awkward play with no real point. A couple references to a mil-sf meme don’t do much to redeem this mess.
Disappointing, because the concept has merit.
January 6, 2018
Good story, what there is of it.
Almost half the book is ancillary material pertaining to other books, which is why I gave it two stars. Editing is rough as is formatting. The story is simple and straight forward--no problems there. Otherwise, it's only the padding I have problems with.
Almost half the book is ancillary material pertaining to other books, which is why I gave it two stars. Editing is rough as is formatting. The story is simple and straight forward--no problems there. Otherwise, it's only the padding I have problems with.
March 6, 2018
Interesting plot idea and promising main character, but could groove with the authors story telling, which makes the whole book read like a giant outline. The books are.... short, like novella short, so three books are more like an actual novel.
February 24, 2021
At last, someone who really gets space opera.
I have been working my way through short free introductory stories, looking for something that I would be happy to buy more of. In this one, I think I have finally found what I was looking for. Someone who really understands the genre they write in.
“Freshly minted” Ensign Athena Lee finds herself in an unexpected space battle on her first trip out as a junior engineer. When the nebula dust settles, she is the only one left alive amid a junkyard of shattered spaceships and a part-constructed space station. In true Robinson Crusoe fashion, she sets about finishing the construction of a habitable base while she waits for some kind of rescue. That takes a lot longer than she expects, though, and it is fifteen years before anyone else ventures into that part of space. Athena has spent that time arming and armouring the station, while out in the rest of the galaxy the war is long since over, and the navy she enlisted in no longer exists.
I have read a lot of science fiction over the years and seen a lot of books in recent times which use classic genre terms in confusing and ambiguous ways. T S Paul really gets the point of space opera, that much is clear. Aside from a slight overabundance of historical backstory at the beginning, this book has everything that I would expect from a classic space opera novel from the likes of Robert Heinlein or E E ‘Doc’ Smith. The most important thing about a successful space opera is the feeling. The sense of triumph against unbelievable odds through the use of science, engineering, and good old rational perseverance. This book has that in spades.
As befits a more modern sci-fi book, It has some fun references and “Easter eggs”. We get an artificial companion named “Wilson”, after the ball in “Castaway”, for example. The technology is also a little more current than in the “golden age”. Computers and drones sit alongside more traditional props such as spacesuits and antimatter.
All in all, a great fun little story, and I will definitely look out for further books in this series.
I have been working my way through short free introductory stories, looking for something that I would be happy to buy more of. In this one, I think I have finally found what I was looking for. Someone who really understands the genre they write in.
“Freshly minted” Ensign Athena Lee finds herself in an unexpected space battle on her first trip out as a junior engineer. When the nebula dust settles, she is the only one left alive amid a junkyard of shattered spaceships and a part-constructed space station. In true Robinson Crusoe fashion, she sets about finishing the construction of a habitable base while she waits for some kind of rescue. That takes a lot longer than she expects, though, and it is fifteen years before anyone else ventures into that part of space. Athena has spent that time arming and armouring the station, while out in the rest of the galaxy the war is long since over, and the navy she enlisted in no longer exists.
I have read a lot of science fiction over the years and seen a lot of books in recent times which use classic genre terms in confusing and ambiguous ways. T S Paul really gets the point of space opera, that much is clear. Aside from a slight overabundance of historical backstory at the beginning, this book has everything that I would expect from a classic space opera novel from the likes of Robert Heinlein or E E ‘Doc’ Smith. The most important thing about a successful space opera is the feeling. The sense of triumph against unbelievable odds through the use of science, engineering, and good old rational perseverance. This book has that in spades.
As befits a more modern sci-fi book, It has some fun references and “Easter eggs”. We get an artificial companion named “Wilson”, after the ball in “Castaway”, for example. The technology is also a little more current than in the “golden age”. Computers and drones sit alongside more traditional props such as spacesuits and antimatter.
All in all, a great fun little story, and I will definitely look out for further books in this series.
March 30, 2025
This is not so much as scifi novel as a Mary Sue novel that glosses over all actual story telling elements and only presents the reader with finished results.
The blurb makes it sound like the MC is stranded alone in space and has to built, engineer and survive. That is entirely misleading, because all the relevant engineering, building and survival is completely skipped over and we are presented with a 15 year timeskip when the MC is actually found again.
At no point in the story is anything explained how the MC solved the engineering challenges of singlehandedly finishing a space station, engineering life-support system and grow food, salvage wrecks and weapons. Every important detail that would normally be the lifeblood of the story told is skipped over with statements like "I told the work drones to do it" or we are just presented with her having done it without any single relevant detail.
We are also straight up told the MC is a genius.
Mary Sue space story, very badly told and hardly above high-school level of writing and story telling.
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that all antagonists are evil, arrogant men who make totally irrational decisions at all times. The first is a space navy captain who flies into the "minefield" the MC created from unexploded ordinance to cover a sector of her space station, and dies there with his entire ship blowing up. To manage that the captain is straight up described as an arrogant know-it-all gloryhound who not only does not actually listen to the discussion between the MC and the squadron captain, but also ignores his orders. Stereotypical "bad guy". Unreadable.
The blurb makes it sound like the MC is stranded alone in space and has to built, engineer and survive. That is entirely misleading, because all the relevant engineering, building and survival is completely skipped over and we are presented with a 15 year timeskip when the MC is actually found again.
At no point in the story is anything explained how the MC solved the engineering challenges of singlehandedly finishing a space station, engineering life-support system and grow food, salvage wrecks and weapons. Every important detail that would normally be the lifeblood of the story told is skipped over with statements like "I told the work drones to do it" or we are just presented with her having done it without any single relevant detail.
We are also straight up told the MC is a genius.
Mary Sue space story, very badly told and hardly above high-school level of writing and story telling.
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that all antagonists are evil, arrogant men who make totally irrational decisions at all times. The first is a space navy captain who flies into the "minefield" the MC created from unexploded ordinance to cover a sector of her space station, and dies there with his entire ship blowing up. To manage that the captain is straight up described as an arrogant know-it-all gloryhound who not only does not actually listen to the discussion between the MC and the squadron captain, but also ignores his orders. Stereotypical "bad guy". Unreadable.
December 24, 2017
Ensign Athena Lee marooned
Add One genius level Engineer, one salvaged Artificial Intelligence entity and dozens of hulks from a Space Battle and you have the Beginnings of a decade long 'Survival FTX' starring a lone Ensign trying to "Science the scheit" out of a partially complete spy station on the far side of the universe. Well Done, Ensign Lee. [You are going to LOL with some of the In-jokes and character names from pop culture].
Add One genius level Engineer, one salvaged Artificial Intelligence entity and dozens of hulks from a Space Battle and you have the Beginnings of a decade long 'Survival FTX' starring a lone Ensign trying to "Science the scheit" out of a partially complete spy station on the far side of the universe. Well Done, Ensign Lee. [You are going to LOL with some of the In-jokes and character names from pop culture].
November 30, 2016
The only issue was a few typos. However, those are easily overlooked when you take into account the story. Which was fast paced, action packed, and full of character. I'm excited to continue the series. Some may complain about the length, but I find it nice to have a short read that I can finish in one sitting.
April 11, 2019
Good sci-fi
I enjoyed reading this story. It was quite a change from the normal science fiction stories that I tend to read. My only real complaint is that now I wish there was more background info on the battle station instead of just a generic once over explanation of everything.
I enjoyed reading this story. It was quite a change from the normal science fiction stories that I tend to read. My only real complaint is that now I wish there was more background info on the battle station instead of just a generic once over explanation of everything.
May 5, 2017
If you're looking for something quick and easy to read, you could go with worse. It's not particularly deep in and of itself (the author wrote it in a week or two, and it shows), but the premise and writing are decent enough to keep going.
September 11, 2017
Wow...
Been hearing about this series within a few other series for a while. Thought i'd try it out. Awesome! There goes another slice of my free time now to reading this series too. Love it!
Been hearing about this series within a few other series for a while. Thought i'd try it out. Awesome! There goes another slice of my free time now to reading this series too. Love it!
January 17, 2019
Glad it was free
An entertaining premise that is much too short, needs an editing pass from a different editor. The rest of the series is much too expensive you're basically paying per chapter.
An entertaining premise that is much too short, needs an editing pass from a different editor. The rest of the series is much too expensive you're basically paying per chapter.
June 16, 2019
A little short but certainly an nice easy read. Took a star off for the writing. I understand it was the author's first book but it felt a little like it was written by a younger person and lacked some polish. Definitely will try more.
January 20, 2021
I am Jazzed about this Series
Based on this short first in series, I am excited about it all. This first book sets up the introduction to Athena Lee and how she survived 15 years alone in space. Now this is real space opera. I can't wait to jump into the next book.
Based on this short first in series, I am excited about it all. This first book sets up the introduction to Athena Lee and how she survived 15 years alone in space. Now this is real space opera. I can't wait to jump into the next book.
November 11, 2024
Good book!
Great story but I felt it was too short. It would have been nice to hear about her rescue of Wilson and her sanity. More about the building of the base. Looking forward to reading the next installment.
Great story but I felt it was too short. It would have been nice to hear about her rescue of Wilson and her sanity. More about the building of the base. Looking forward to reading the next installment.
February 15, 2025
Interesting start. Bit short and the cost per page is quite high...
Interesting premise, good story and I'll be following at least one more book. It's an expensive book for the number of pages, so it will need to be really good.
Interesting premise, good story and I'll be following at least one more book. It's an expensive book for the number of pages, so it will need to be really good.
December 4, 2016
Nice
I didn't know what to expect when I downloaded this but I'm very pleased. It sounds like it's going to be an interesting series.
I didn't know what to expect when I downloaded this but I'm very pleased. It sounds like it's going to be an interesting series.
January 29, 2017
A start
The story is good, but just as you get into the story, it stops. I hope the future ones are longer.
The story is good, but just as you get into the story, it stops. I hope the future ones are longer.
May 17, 2017
A short and interesting read with a fun (though possibly insane heroine). A flurry of technical mistakes and shallowness do hold it back though.
July 1, 2017
Loving this series!
March 25, 2018
Good read
I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read but I liked it. I liked how creative and smart Athena was.
I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read but I liked it. I liked how creative and smart Athena was.
June 5, 2018
I liked it. A shorter story than normal. Fast paced and interesting
December 13, 2018
Have enjoyed this space opera from books 1-11 but ready to see how it ends
February 8, 2019
Loved it started on getting the boxed sets. Grammar issues. Love the links to other writers and worlds.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews