Blood, Sweat, and Blaster Bolts: Adrenaline Charged Tales of Speculative Fiction

by Ronald T. Jones

Come explore the outer reaches of the universe. Charge up your adrenaline and strap on your courage for action adventure among the stars! Outpost: An embittered solitary commander of an isolated space station faces the grave threat of an invading enemy armada along the ruinous frontier of a fallen galactic empire. Freebooter: A smuggler crash lands on an uncharted planet. Her only way off-world is to ally with the planet’s inhabitants in their struggle against a malignant horde of blood sucking monsters. Safeguard: Earth is a wasteland, except for a domed utopia populated by a segment of humanity that has managed to remain at peace for centuries. But that peace is threatened by starfarring zealots bent on spreading a harshly rigid ideology through force if necessary. Mission on Gined: An officer, transferred to an embattled planet, must tackle the mystery of human deaths that may or may not have been the result of enemy action. All he has to do is survive the war zone long enough to get the answer he needs. Approaching a Day of Reckoning: In the far future, humanity languishes at the bottom of a hierarchy of advanced races. It falls on the shoulders of one man to over turn the status quo...no matter what it takes to achieve that end. Tyler’s Goddess: A Special Forces operator suddenly finds himself in a strange realm that is most certainly not Earth. Now, he must use his deadly skill set to save a dwindling human population from extinction at the hands of bloodthirsty non-human savages. Mist Lord: A newly posted ambassador to a lesser world riven by violence and corruption strikes up a relationship with the ruthless leader of a powerful criminal organization. But all is not as it appears. The criminal’s actions and the ambassador’s dealings will have galaxy wide ramifications. The Formula: In an alternate, steam driven world, two agents serving a once great West African state are sent on a mission to obtain a secret that could radically impact the international order. But this is no easy venture. Other nations are after this prize. The agents must face an onslaught of ruthless enemies with enhanced capabilities in a battle for the future.

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 13, 2019

Reviews

[Todd Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes you on quite a ride through the galaxy. There’s strange worlds and strange creatures. The stories are short except for the last, which feels like a novelette or a novella. It has a most intriguing villain, the mist lord. There’s a lot of intrigue and double-dealing in this story, and it’ll keep you guessing at how it’s all going to end until the last page.

If you like sci-fi, you’ll enjoy this book. There’s great action, lots of vengeance, and some imaginative future tech that’s sure to keep a reader engaged all the way throughout.

[Erin Penn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went looking for military science fiction by BIPoC authors and found a collection of short stories from Ronald T. Jones.

Overall, the material is okay. His character templates don't vary much from story to story, nor does the emotional stakes. There is a lot of "passive" wording - a little too much "to be" (in particular 'were') and "that" to my liking in the military science fiction genre. I have discovered this author works best in the long form, and the longer he writes, the more his characters come alive, the more twists in the plot, and the more variation in sentence structure and length. That isn't to say his short stories are bad, just they are not as good as his novels.

Short stories and related reviews:
Outpost - As appropriate for the first slot of the book, the best story with the most emotional impact. (five stars)
Freebooter - Not everyone is a hero. (four stars)
Safeguard - And interesting discussion on ethics. (four star)
The Formula - Steampunk crossed with the Orient Express vibes. (four stars)
Approaching a Day of Reckoning - Even if a lesser being is only a tool, treat them like a valuable tool, otherwise they might turn against the hand that wields them. (three stars)
Tyler's Goddess - Has a line in it which, as a female, I found so unamusing I almost DNF'ed the book. (one star)
Mission on Gined - Let me just say, when Jones gets his writing on with Mechs, he is pretty darn good. (two star)
Mist Lord - As indicated by the last slot of the book, the second best story with nearly one hundred pages to Mr. Jones to stretch his long-form skills. (four stars)