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Unification War Trilogy #1
Battleground
This war was inevitable.
After two brutal, bloody struggles for their very existence against implacable alien foes, humanity is victorious, but not at peace.
As distrust and accusations consume the political discourse between the two major factions, the Eastern Star Alliance military has already begun executing small raiding missions into United Terran Federation space. The Federation fleet, still reeling from the last war, is in no shape to try and protect its own borders.
Now, as diplomacy crumbles and tensions escalate, the ESA has moved into a Federation star system and declared it for themselves. Desperate, the Federation deploys a full task force commanded by Admiral Jackson Wolfe to try and defuse the situation, hoping his reputation forces calmer heads to prevail. Wolfe knows that even if he can stop the ESA here, the die has been cast. Humanity's march to war with itself cannot be stopped.
Battleground is the first book in the final trilogy of the Black Fleet Saga.
After two brutal, bloody struggles for their very existence against implacable alien foes, humanity is victorious, but not at peace.
As distrust and accusations consume the political discourse between the two major factions, the Eastern Star Alliance military has already begun executing small raiding missions into United Terran Federation space. The Federation fleet, still reeling from the last war, is in no shape to try and protect its own borders.
Now, as diplomacy crumbles and tensions escalate, the ESA has moved into a Federation star system and declared it for themselves. Desperate, the Federation deploys a full task force commanded by Admiral Jackson Wolfe to try and defuse the situation, hoping his reputation forces calmer heads to prevail. Wolfe knows that even if he can stop the ESA here, the die has been cast. Humanity's march to war with itself cannot be stopped.
Battleground is the first book in the final trilogy of the Black Fleet Saga.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2019
716 people are currently reading
372 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
July 1, 2019
Three and a half stars. I have many mixed feelings about this book. The second Black Fleet Trilogy (Expansion Wars) saw the rise of the "Black Fleet Mafia". This developed many interesting characters who were overshadowed by Jackson Wolfe in the first trilogy. Dalzelle throws this all aside in this new trilogy and goes back to the old standby. The other "Black Fleet" characters play a roll, but are lost in the shadow of a returning Jackson Wolfe.
Admirals just aren't as interesting as Captains. Admirals who can't realize that they are no longer Captains are even worse. I'm not sure where that leaves an author who can't decide if his main character is an Admiral or a Captain. If he wanted to write stories from a Captain's perspective, he never should have promoted Wolfe beyond Commodore. It isn't too hard to think of a Commodore as just a Captain who is responsible for a couple extra ships.
The rest of the story is rock solid. A great balance that focuses on the intensity of battle while still keeping ever-present the vast distances of space. The minor characters who were so well developed in the "Expansion Wars" still are just as interesting if not more so. I like to imagine Pike as an older James Bond in space (think Sean Connery in "Never Say Never Again"). In fact Dalzelle put so much work into the characters, it is a real shame he doesn't use them more.
There are many threads left to pull you into the next book but this story is complete on it's own. There are so few authors who do that these days it should be noted. When you add interesting characters to a complete story it makes Dalzelle stand out even more. I may have been hard on Jackson Wolfe, but don't for a minute think that I'm not already waiting for the next book...
Admirals just aren't as interesting as Captains. Admirals who can't realize that they are no longer Captains are even worse. I'm not sure where that leaves an author who can't decide if his main character is an Admiral or a Captain. If he wanted to write stories from a Captain's perspective, he never should have promoted Wolfe beyond Commodore. It isn't too hard to think of a Commodore as just a Captain who is responsible for a couple extra ships.
The rest of the story is rock solid. A great balance that focuses on the intensity of battle while still keeping ever-present the vast distances of space. The minor characters who were so well developed in the "Expansion Wars" still are just as interesting if not more so. I like to imagine Pike as an older James Bond in space (think Sean Connery in "Never Say Never Again"). In fact Dalzelle put so much work into the characters, it is a real shame he doesn't use them more.
There are many threads left to pull you into the next book but this story is complete on it's own. There are so few authors who do that these days it should be noted. When you add interesting characters to a complete story it makes Dalzelle stand out even more. I may have been hard on Jackson Wolfe, but don't for a minute think that I'm not already waiting for the next book...
June 28, 2019
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolfe?
I’m not a fan of Jackson Wolfe; he spends too much time gazing out of his navel and his mistakes cause people to die but when it really matters and everything is hanging in the balance, he remembers that he’s the big bad Wolfe, respected and feared even by his peers. He’s the guy you don’t want having a bone to pick with you and in this latest part of the story, the ESA wants a war and they want Jackson Wolfe dead, lest their people discover that he’s not the bad, low-life Earther everyone thinks he is.
You get to fool Admiral Wolfe once... never twice and the Black Fleet Mafia (loved this when I read it) saddles up again to ignore orders, steal warships, kick butts, take names and while battling yet another series of betrayal, traitors galore, and shoddy intel work.
The ESA thinks they have their own version of Jackson Wolfe - cunning, unpredictable, willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done... but his forces unleashed antimatter hell on innocent civilians and blames Wolfe and the Federation for the heinous crime and battle.
Are you afraid of the big bad Wolfe? If not, you will be...
You will be.
I’m not a fan of Jackson Wolfe; he spends too much time gazing out of his navel and his mistakes cause people to die but when it really matters and everything is hanging in the balance, he remembers that he’s the big bad Wolfe, respected and feared even by his peers. He’s the guy you don’t want having a bone to pick with you and in this latest part of the story, the ESA wants a war and they want Jackson Wolfe dead, lest their people discover that he’s not the bad, low-life Earther everyone thinks he is.
You get to fool Admiral Wolfe once... never twice and the Black Fleet Mafia (loved this when I read it) saddles up again to ignore orders, steal warships, kick butts, take names and while battling yet another series of betrayal, traitors galore, and shoddy intel work.
The ESA thinks they have their own version of Jackson Wolfe - cunning, unpredictable, willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done... but his forces unleashed antimatter hell on innocent civilians and blames Wolfe and the Federation for the heinous crime and battle.
Are you afraid of the big bad Wolfe? If not, you will be...
You will be.
February 28, 2024
A much more intricate story
So many things that happened in this book make it a game changer for the series that I can only mention obliquely to avoid spoilers!
The schism between the Federation and the ESA is growing ever more intense. The Federation is already aware of how the ESA betrayed humanity by providing major assistance to the Darshik that was so barely avoided by Admiral Jackson Wolfe.
So many things that happened in this book make it a game changer for the series that I can only mention obliquely to avoid spoilers!
The schism between the Federation and the ESA is growing ever more intense. The Federation is already aware of how the ESA betrayed humanity by providing major assistance to the Darshik that was so barely avoided by Admiral Jackson Wolfe.
July 16, 2019
This is kind of a continuation to Mr. Dalzelle’s previous series title, “The Black Fleet Trilogy”. I have previously read and reviewed all three of those books and was happy to see this new series come along with all the same characters as in the previous series. Captain Jackson Wolfe is now Admiral Jackson Wolfe something of a hero in that he defeated the last Phage starship which saved the planet Earth from destruction. Since the end of the Phage war, there has been a relative peace, yet humans seem to thrive on conflict and can’t stop from making stuff up if it’s not already coming for them.
The Eastern Star Alliance (ESA) has become unhappy with the way Earth and the other factions are dividing up known space for colonization. They are threatening to take over, by force, if necessary, colonizes that might have become less than enamored with their current home faction. They are not ready to star a full-fledged war unless it can be seen that the United Terran Federation started it. And, they would like none other than Admiral Jackson Wolfe to be the very person to instigate that war. They would hope that he does something which would justify the ESA’s capture and execution of Admiral Wolfe. They strongly feel that his participation in the Phage War greatly reduced the ESA’s potential bounty of having an alliance with the alien Phage. Admiral Wolfe’s defeat of the Phage cutoff a valuable source of new technology that the ESA was counting on so they could directly face the United Terran Federation in future war.
So, the ESA has set a trap for Admiral Wolfe. They know of a colony planet that has some interesting in leaving the Federation and might decide to join the ESA. They send an exceptionally large fleet into that planets system to begin negotiations knowing all along that the Federation will have to send someone or some fleet to counter this ESA incursion. That fleet will be and is commanded by Admiral Jackson Wolfe, just as they had desired.
While the ESA hadn’t gotten all the new tech from the Phage that they would have liked to have received, they did receive some significant stuff. They could now build antimatter bombs and had some very good stealth tech on-board some smaller, highly maneuverable ships. Since antimatter bombs were very lethal, not capital ship would carry them into battle, so they were loaded aboard the new small stealth ships and had them waiting in surprise for Admiral Wolfe as he approached the planet.
Release of an antimatter bomb over a populated planet was not something anyone would ever consider. It had never happen in previous wars and didn’t even happen during the Phage War, but things do not always work out as planned. Just who’s going to be blamed when not one, but three of these bombs are dropped on planet Odmena?
The Eastern Star Alliance (ESA) has become unhappy with the way Earth and the other factions are dividing up known space for colonization. They are threatening to take over, by force, if necessary, colonizes that might have become less than enamored with their current home faction. They are not ready to star a full-fledged war unless it can be seen that the United Terran Federation started it. And, they would like none other than Admiral Jackson Wolfe to be the very person to instigate that war. They would hope that he does something which would justify the ESA’s capture and execution of Admiral Wolfe. They strongly feel that his participation in the Phage War greatly reduced the ESA’s potential bounty of having an alliance with the alien Phage. Admiral Wolfe’s defeat of the Phage cutoff a valuable source of new technology that the ESA was counting on so they could directly face the United Terran Federation in future war.
So, the ESA has set a trap for Admiral Wolfe. They know of a colony planet that has some interesting in leaving the Federation and might decide to join the ESA. They send an exceptionally large fleet into that planets system to begin negotiations knowing all along that the Federation will have to send someone or some fleet to counter this ESA incursion. That fleet will be and is commanded by Admiral Jackson Wolfe, just as they had desired.
While the ESA hadn’t gotten all the new tech from the Phage that they would have liked to have received, they did receive some significant stuff. They could now build antimatter bombs and had some very good stealth tech on-board some smaller, highly maneuverable ships. Since antimatter bombs were very lethal, not capital ship would carry them into battle, so they were loaded aboard the new small stealth ships and had them waiting in surprise for Admiral Wolfe as he approached the planet.
Release of an antimatter bomb over a populated planet was not something anyone would ever consider. It had never happen in previous wars and didn’t even happen during the Phage War, but things do not always work out as planned. Just who’s going to be blamed when not one, but three of these bombs are dropped on planet Odmena?
November 28, 2022
I feel confident that if Johannes Kepler were alive today, he would punch Dalzelle in the throat.
J.D. said that the protagonists ship could do 60 G's of acceleration. Today's astronauts experience 1.5 - 6 ish (atmospheric drag decreases and the rocket gets lighter so it can accelerate more quickly toward as it continues to life.
At 60G's, from a standstill, you could get 169,587 KM from your starting position. This is important because J.D. said that things could still fall into the planets surface for Ship 1 at 98 minutes, and ship 2 at 3 hours and ship 3 at 5 hours. The last ship would be 1.5 million KM from the surface of the planet...again assuming a velocity of zero...or 5 times the distance from the earth to the moon.
J.K., back in the early 1600's would have probably said "Joshua Dalzelle is a complete muppet."
J.D. conflates bogus situations to add tension. Heck, he talks about switching from a polar orbit to an equatorial orbit like it is easy. It takes 4500 m/s of delta-V to get to Mars. It would take 9900 m/s of delta V to go polar to equatorial.
I hope that in the next life, I get to see Kepler and Newton follow Dalzelle around and berate him for all eternity.
The quality of the book is on par with J.D.'s understanding of physics.
J.D. said that the protagonists ship could do 60 G's of acceleration. Today's astronauts experience 1.5 - 6 ish (atmospheric drag decreases and the rocket gets lighter so it can accelerate more quickly toward as it continues to life.
At 60G's, from a standstill, you could get 169,587 KM from your starting position. This is important because J.D. said that things could still fall into the planets surface for Ship 1 at 98 minutes, and ship 2 at 3 hours and ship 3 at 5 hours. The last ship would be 1.5 million KM from the surface of the planet...again assuming a velocity of zero...or 5 times the distance from the earth to the moon.
J.K., back in the early 1600's would have probably said "Joshua Dalzelle is a complete muppet."
J.D. conflates bogus situations to add tension. Heck, he talks about switching from a polar orbit to an equatorial orbit like it is easy. It takes 4500 m/s of delta-V to get to Mars. It would take 9900 m/s of delta V to go polar to equatorial.
I hope that in the next life, I get to see Kepler and Newton follow Dalzelle around and berate him for all eternity.
The quality of the book is on par with J.D.'s understanding of physics.
Read
July 16, 2019The continuing saga of Adm. Jackson Wolfe and the Black Fleet. A divided human race finds two factions at war with each other over a disputed star system.
December 30, 2022
The Unification Wars Trilogy Is the third trilogy of trilogies in the black fleet series . While these books could be read as a standalone novel, They would be best read in order . This series begins with captain wolf leading a space Armada against another group of humans for the first time in 500 years . Like other works by Joshua , this is a fast paced novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Old familiar characters make a reappearance in the book and captain wolf pulls off his usual victory from the jaws of defeat story.
★★★★★ Great book! Can’t wait to read it again (and I will).
★★★★☆ Good book. I am glad I read this.
★★★☆☆ OK book. Nothing special but not bad.
★★☆☆☆ Not good. Why did I waste my time?
★☆☆☆☆ Lousy. I didn’t finish.
If for whatever reason, I go back and reread a good book, I will change the rating to five-star because I read it again.
★★★★★ Great book! Can’t wait to read it again (and I will).
★★★★☆ Good book. I am glad I read this.
★★★☆☆ OK book. Nothing special but not bad.
★★☆☆☆ Not good. Why did I waste my time?
★☆☆☆☆ Lousy. I didn’t finish.
If for whatever reason, I go back and reread a good book, I will change the rating to five-star because I read it again.
November 26, 2022
The 7th book in the series that started with the Black Fleet trilogy, and first in this latest trilogy in the series. The Eastern Star Alliance and United Terran Federation are on the way to war and this book is perhaps one of Joshua Dalzelle’s best so far. It has the awesome ship battles, interesting plots and decent character developments. It focuses on Jackson Wolfe, but I like how he is portrayed as fallible and human despite his tactical brilliance. It does get a bit trite how it is always the same bunch of legends saving the day, but with such awesome naval spaceship battles and great writing it is something I can easily overlook. Mark Boyett does an excellent job narrating the story and dialogue.
June 25, 2024
Wow. Joshua Dalzelle has never failed to impress me with his stories. This one, is no exception. I love the way the author develops characters! I always feel as if I could reach out and shake their hands. The story line is compelling, and dynamic. I was pulled along by narrative, seeing so much of our current world being laid before me as "fiction". Anyone familiar with China, will see the frightening similarities between this story and reality. When the book ended, I was shocked at the suddenness, and thought I was going to need to use my inhaler. I was starting the second book within a minute!
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
April 22, 2025
Admiral Wolfe must battle both ESA spies inside the Federation as well as ESA cruisers that have appeared in a frontier system. Admiral Wolfe is placed in command of a task force to show the flag in the frontier system. But challenges mount, and he constantly feels one step behind his adversaries. The book is a case study in Admiral Wolfe having to overcome long odds, though not without some losses that weigh on him heavily. An excellent addition to the saga. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
May 10, 2021
Good book
The writing style was good, the book had lots of Fleet based actions. The Intrigue was good you can easily see how individual characters become more important as the books go on. This book series is not like any others that he has written. Still good but you don't have the immediate love of the characters like you do in his Omega Force novels. Still when I have free time I will definitely keep reading this series.
The writing style was good, the book had lots of Fleet based actions. The Intrigue was good you can easily see how individual characters become more important as the books go on. This book series is not like any others that he has written. Still good but you don't have the immediate love of the characters like you do in his Omega Force novels. Still when I have free time I will definitely keep reading this series.
October 1, 2021
Another great start to a new trilogy involving the Black Fleet and Jackson Wolfe. If you've read the previous trilogies this one will not disappoint. Battles and strategies have changed, new technologies, and a new 2 sided perspective to the story. Small disappointment is that the characters that were being developed in the last trilogy weren't advanced or focused on much in this book, but hopefully going forward they will re-emerge.
September 24, 2023
It took a bit longer than normal to get into this one, as I am not a fan of sci-fi taking place in the far future where the enemy's are just extensions of the super powers we have to deal with in our terrible world today, BUT this book is good. Once I got over that little annoyance the entire book is about a single skirmish and it is intense. I really enjoy Dalzelle's work in the Omega Force universe but with writing like this I can be on board for this one too.
April 28, 2020
Very good book, even though the plot was not nearly as interesting as the first six books in the series. Mark Boyette performs terrifically as usual (I read the quarter of the book and listened to rest once the Audible version became available). I'm sure that the 8th and 9th books will rise again to the previous levels of stakes, action and tensions of the previous books.
December 5, 2020
Another great read in the Black Fleet Saga as Dalzelle kicks off the promised final trilogy. The cast benefits from the depth gained in the previous six novels, which frees them to explore their final acts.
However, if our protagonist's new aide turns out to be a double agent, I'm going to be sorely disappointed given the overly clumsy foreshadowing is only justified if it's a red herring.
However, if our protagonist's new aide turns out to be a double agent, I'm going to be sorely disappointed given the overly clumsy foreshadowing is only justified if it's a red herring.
December 5, 2020
Audio book. Really enjoyed this book until the end, then realised the next one isn't available yet.... Early on I did find some of the timelines mixed with things happening or being said in a confused way. Making for a difficult start up that carried on into the middle of the book when everything seemed to catch up. Some parts (plots?) Are still hanging, may be for the next book.
October 3, 2021
A proper space opera
I usually am not a fan of space operas and tbh I did find this hard going, but as a first book of the last trilogy it has its moments
For other who enjoy this sort of book it will easily be a 4*, for those that have read other of josh's books be prepared for a different type of story. A lot heavier that the Omega series, very little humour
I usually am not a fan of space operas and tbh I did find this hard going, but as a first book of the last trilogy it has its moments
For other who enjoy this sort of book it will easily be a 4*, for those that have read other of josh's books be prepared for a different type of story. A lot heavier that the Omega series, very little humour
June 21, 2021
Love the attention to detail
As a retired Naval Officer, I admire the attention to Naval traditions and nomenclature. The description of naval tactics showed a legitimate subject knowledge . The descriptions of technology almost makes it seem plausible.
As a retired Naval Officer, I admire the attention to Naval traditions and nomenclature. The description of naval tactics showed a legitimate subject knowledge . The descriptions of technology almost makes it seem plausible.
July 18, 2021
Kind of a "back to basics" theme
This was a very good read, hands down. The previous two trilogies dealing with alien races were great stories for certain, but the switch to human vs human adds a whole new dynamic. I can't wait to keep going!
This was a very good read, hands down. The previous two trilogies dealing with alien races were great stories for certain, but the switch to human vs human adds a whole new dynamic. I can't wait to keep going!
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September 25, 2021Lots of detail
The author packed a ton of detail into this book and positioned a lot of the characters to assume deferent roles. This wasn`t my favorite book in the series, but i`m interested to see what will be happening next...
The author packed a ton of detail into this book and positioned a lot of the characters to assume deferent roles. This wasn`t my favorite book in the series, but i`m interested to see what will be happening next...
June 14, 2022
another point of view
Josh Joshua dazzle continues to impress with his writing skills and the ability to capture my attention. He continues to find new ways to entertain me. I recommend this book in the previous books in the series without hesitation
Josh Joshua dazzle continues to impress with his writing skills and the ability to capture my attention. He continues to find new ways to entertain me. I recommend this book in the previous books in the series without hesitation
July 25, 2022
A solid entry, with some good, interesting political intrigue. The space battle at the end was a bit disappointing. I would have enjoyed more Jackson Wolfe tactics, as his battle was extremely swift. I assume we'll see more in that arena in the sequels to this trilogy.
July 21, 2024
Action packed
The battle,there was a lot of action and intrigue never knowing which person or persons was a spy.switching sides seamlessly and in the beginning on the old platform where a team was working without letting anyone know what they were doing .
The battle,there was a lot of action and intrigue never knowing which person or persons was a spy.switching sides seamlessly and in the beginning on the old platform where a team was working without letting anyone know what they were doing .
August 4, 2025
Good sci-fi military romp
Fun romp through a sci-fi world that is intricate, violent, unexpected, and feel good. I enjoy the strong leading roll person that is just a little screwed up.
Fun romp through a sci-fi world that is intricate, violent, unexpected, and feel good. I enjoy the strong leading roll person that is just a little screwed up.
March 22, 2020
Good sci-fi
Good characters and plot - worth your time - I’m required to say more to be accepted as a reviewer
Good characters and plot - worth your time - I’m required to say more to be accepted as a reviewer
June 6, 2020
A bit of more of the same. Also...
September 16, 2020
exciting from the 1st page. I read it in 3 days. BUT now I have to wait for the next release. Next year?
Recommended!
Recommended!
Read
February 16, 2021Excellent beginning to the trilogy. I have totally enjoyed all the books by Joshua Dalzelle.
dnf-not-for-me
May 12, 20211/10: Couldn't get past the first few chapters; not for me.
May 21, 2021
Good read
Interesting book with multiple twists and turns. Gripped attention throughout the book. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys military futuristic novels.
Interesting book with multiple twists and turns. Gripped attention throughout the book. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys military futuristic novels.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews