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Taking Shield #1-5
Taking Shield: The Complete Series
In this Rainbow Award-winning space opera/military sci-fi series, Earth is a dead planet, dark for thousands of years; lost for so long no one even knows where the solar system is. Her last known colony, Albion, has grown to be regional galactic power in its own right. But its drive to expand and found colonies of its own has threatened an alien race, the Maess, against whom Albion is now fighting a last-ditch battle for survival in a war that’s dragged on for generations.
Taking Shield charts the missions and adventures of Shield Captain Bennet, scion of a prominent military family. Bennet, also an analyst with the Military Strategy Unit, uncovers crucial data about the Maess to help with the war effort. Against the demands of his family's 'triple goddess' of Duty, Honour and Service, is set Bennet’s relationships with lovers and family—his difficult relationship with his long term partner, Joss; his estrangement from his father, Caeden, the commander of Fleet's First Flotilla; and Fleet Lieutenant Flynn, who, over the course of the series, develops into Bennet’s main love interest.
Over the Taking Shield arc, Bennet will see the extremes to which humanity’s enemies, and his own people, will go to win the war. Some days he isn’t able to tell friend from foe. Some days he doubts everything, including himself, as he strives to ensure Albion’s victory. And some days he isn’t sure, any longer, what victory looks like.
Taking Shield charts the missions and adventures of Shield Captain Bennet, scion of a prominent military family. Bennet, also an analyst with the Military Strategy Unit, uncovers crucial data about the Maess to help with the war effort. Against the demands of his family's 'triple goddess' of Duty, Honour and Service, is set Bennet’s relationships with lovers and family—his difficult relationship with his long term partner, Joss; his estrangement from his father, Caeden, the commander of Fleet's First Flotilla; and Fleet Lieutenant Flynn, who, over the course of the series, develops into Bennet’s main love interest.
Over the Taking Shield arc, Bennet will see the extremes to which humanity’s enemies, and his own people, will go to win the war. Some days he isn’t able to tell friend from foe. Some days he doubts everything, including himself, as he strives to ensure Albion’s victory. And some days he isn’t sure, any longer, what victory looks like.
- GenresScience FictionGay
1463 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2018
6 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 16, 2019
This is an excellent series!
I've seen a lot of reviews on Amazon that seemed to be more about the books not being the genre reviewers expected than about the books themselves, so I think I'll throw in my two cents.
If you're looking for M/M romance in a sci-fi setting, you're probably not going to enjoy yourself. If you're a sci-fi reader who really hates any notion of romance interfering with the space battles, you're probably going to be skipping quite a few pages as well. And if you're the kind of person who thinks gay folks should be burned at the stake, neither the series nor this review are meant for you.
This is a series for readers who like their sci fi to be character-based. It does have a strong romantic arc, but but it's not the main focus of the book or series. I found the characters engaging, even the ones who are not necessarily likeable at first (or at all). The main characters struggle realistically with ethics, duty and love, and their struggles are often heartbreaking. The action is intense enough to fully qualify as space opera, for those readers who can live with some human feelings in between the fireworks.
I thought some of the world-building details were a little bizarre, but they were just that: details. On the whole, I found the author's world complex, believable and compelling. Some of the books in the series are not quite as good as the others; in my view, books 2 and 4 felt transitional and a little awkward, but they were by no means off-putting enough to stop reading the series or looking forward to what happened next. If anything, it might be a good thing to have a bit of a rest between books 1, 3 and 5, which all deliver one heck of a punch -- especially 5.
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The series ends on a hopeful note, both for the main characters and the human species.
I've seen a lot of reviews on Amazon that seemed to be more about the books not being the genre reviewers expected than about the books themselves, so I think I'll throw in my two cents.
If you're looking for M/M romance in a sci-fi setting, you're probably not going to enjoy yourself. If you're a sci-fi reader who really hates any notion of romance interfering with the space battles, you're probably going to be skipping quite a few pages as well. And if you're the kind of person who thinks gay folks should be burned at the stake, neither the series nor this review are meant for you.
This is a series for readers who like their sci fi to be character-based. It does have a strong romantic arc, but but it's not the main focus of the book or series. I found the characters engaging, even the ones who are not necessarily likeable at first (or at all). The main characters struggle realistically with ethics, duty and love, and their struggles are often heartbreaking. The action is intense enough to fully qualify as space opera, for those readers who can live with some human feelings in between the fireworks.
I thought some of the world-building details were a little bizarre, but they were just that: details. On the whole, I found the author's world complex, believable and compelling. Some of the books in the series are not quite as good as the others; in my view, books 2 and 4 felt transitional and a little awkward, but they were by no means off-putting enough to stop reading the series or looking forward to what happened next. If anything, it might be a good thing to have a bit of a rest between books 1, 3 and 5, which all deliver one heck of a punch -- especially 5.
Spoiler below:
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*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The series ends on a hopeful note, both for the main characters and the human species.
April 4, 2021
Good Space LGBT Opera
Its a very well written series, with a fully developed society and system. The MC's are presented in a nicely progressive arc.
If there's one dig, the parallels between the over reaching story thread of Taking Shield,
SPOILERS AHEAD
and the pilot of Battlestar Galactica are screamingly clear. There's enough difference not to be a copy, but clearly there's many similarities too; single named characters, ancient mythologies revised (Egyptian instead of Greek), and imagine Starbuck and Apollo as gay!
Its a very well written series, with a fully developed society and system. The MC's are presented in a nicely progressive arc.
If there's one dig, the parallels between the over reaching story thread of Taking Shield,
SPOILERS AHEAD
and the pilot of Battlestar Galactica are screamingly clear. There's enough difference not to be a copy, but clearly there's many similarities too; single named characters, ancient mythologies revised (Egyptian instead of Greek), and imagine Starbuck and Apollo as gay!
Read
April 12, 2021Absolutely LOVED it!
Wasn't all that fond of the religious element, nor the view on queer relationships, to be honest, but I nevertheless enjoyed it from beginning to end, through an interesting world, terrible enemy, and character relationships and growth, sad moments and all.
Wasn't all that fond of the religious element, nor the view on queer relationships, to be honest, but I nevertheless enjoyed it from beginning to end, through an interesting world, terrible enemy, and character relationships and growth, sad moments and all.
March 12, 2022
amazing
I cannot rave enough about this series. I could never second guess where it was going to go. Amazing characters and intriguing plot. From page 1 it pulled me in and I was sad to leave the world when I finished.
I cannot rave enough about this series. I could never second guess where it was going to go. Amazing characters and intriguing plot. From page 1 it pulled me in and I was sad to leave the world when I finished.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews