What do you think?
Rate this book
Outcast Starship #1
Annihilation!
A disgraced captain. An alien invasion. One last shot at redemption.
When Eli Bryce stumbles upon a plot to attack Earth, he shrugs it off. He's not in the Earth-saving business.
Two decades after he was banished from his homeworld for a disaster that still haunts him, Eli and his crew of misfits struggle to survive on the outskirts of the galaxy.
But when Eli, goaded by his estranged daughter, rescues a near-dead castaway with an impossible secret, everything changes.
Eli might have no choice but to get back into the Earth-saving business.
Worse, he might have to grow a conscience.
Annihilation! is fast-paced space opera at its best, perfect for fans of golden age pulp stories full of action, drama, and fun!
When Eli Bryce stumbles upon a plot to attack Earth, he shrugs it off. He's not in the Earth-saving business.
Two decades after he was banished from his homeworld for a disaster that still haunts him, Eli and his crew of misfits struggle to survive on the outskirts of the galaxy.
But when Eli, goaded by his estranged daughter, rescues a near-dead castaway with an impossible secret, everything changes.
Eli might have no choice but to get back into the Earth-saving business.
Worse, he might have to grow a conscience.
Annihilation! is fast-paced space opera at its best, perfect for fans of golden age pulp stories full of action, drama, and fun!
- GenresScience FictionAliens
161 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 20, 2020
430 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 17, 2020
Well, an airplane or automobile vessel set in space. muscle strength and mass I've body weight to turn the vessel. Sounds like direct mechanical linkage fighting against gravity and friction of the ground or an atmosphere. Suspending rationality and physics can only go so far. I quit at 70%. How many times can you replace the windshield and repair the ship in the middle of nowhere? Where did the pats come from? Where did Get resupply of ammo come from? The characters are shallow and despicable. Tim is a broken record of hostility. The writing isn't entertaining.
June 15, 2020
What a story to keep you reading. Earth is in trouble and who can come to save it. A disgraced captain perhaps? Don’t miss out. Bot books were fabulous.
September 25, 2023
Ship gets hit by hundreds of rockets and crashes.
Ship is repaired.
Ship gets hit by hundreds of rockets and crashes.
Ship is repaired.
Ship gets hit…that’s pretty much the whole thing.
Ship is repaired.
Ship gets hit by hundreds of rockets and crashes.
Ship is repaired.
Ship gets hit…that’s pretty much the whole thing.
June 26, 2020
Pretty good star for a new series, although I don’t know if I’m going to continue reading it. Oh, the series and this story are just fine, but the book pretty well stands alone and there’s no “cliff-hanger” that makes me want to continue reading this series. Still, I would put it on my reading list if my list weren’t already full!
Eli is the de facto captain the Boomerang, his own space hauler which he and is crew called home. A rather small home, but it was more than adequate for their needs. Yet, they now had two more people in the original crew, Quinn, Eli’s daughter and her boy friend, Tom. Tom was a doctor, so he was a good addition to the crew, but he was also a Squadron Officer from Earth which didn’t set too well with Eli. And the fact that Tom was also an influence on Quinn, also didn’t make things any better between Tom and himself.
The Boomerang and it’s crew were hired help. They went and found things requested by their customers. Currently, they were on a job to retrieve a package for a benefactor who would be willing to pay a substantial sum if the item were returned intact. Eli and his crew had found the item and was attempting to get it back to the ship. They also found some thing much stranger than they had anticipated. A whole valley populated with shiny silver orbs that appeared to be ships getting ready to lift off.
When these orbs did lift off, the course they set was directly towards Earth. While Eli and his crew were witness to this event, they at first thought all the orbs had left the planet which they were on, but that wasn’t the case. A few had stayed around and had now spotted the Boomerang and her crew on the ground. Getting airborne and into space was now a priority. Once into space, Eli found his crew fighting a dangerous flock of deadly enemies.
Oh, before lifting off from the planet, they also found a human life form in bad shape on the other side of the planet. Not everyone wanted to go and rescue this life form since they didn’t know if it was near dead or just a trap. But, they did go and pickup one very badly injured lady by the name of Yasha. Where she came from and why she was there by herself tells a lot about the rest of the story.
There is some intense space fighting off and on. Eli and his crew are not “bad” people, they had just bent some rules in the past which were to their benefit. They like to look out for themselves and weren’t normally involved in rescuing anyone if it didn’t profit them. Still, these orbs were dangerous and they were heading straight toward Earth. Earth didn’t have the means to defend itself against these thing since there were so many. Quinn, Eli’s daughter wanted him to take the Boomerang back to Earth and help in its defense. Eli wanted nothing to do with Earth and that feeling was mutual with the rest of his crew.
Yet, things can change in a big hurry when someone gets killed. Who that person was and what happened after that is what this story is all about. It’s a good read and I think you’ll enjoy it very much.
Eli is the de facto captain the Boomerang, his own space hauler which he and is crew called home. A rather small home, but it was more than adequate for their needs. Yet, they now had two more people in the original crew, Quinn, Eli’s daughter and her boy friend, Tom. Tom was a doctor, so he was a good addition to the crew, but he was also a Squadron Officer from Earth which didn’t set too well with Eli. And the fact that Tom was also an influence on Quinn, also didn’t make things any better between Tom and himself.
The Boomerang and it’s crew were hired help. They went and found things requested by their customers. Currently, they were on a job to retrieve a package for a benefactor who would be willing to pay a substantial sum if the item were returned intact. Eli and his crew had found the item and was attempting to get it back to the ship. They also found some thing much stranger than they had anticipated. A whole valley populated with shiny silver orbs that appeared to be ships getting ready to lift off.
When these orbs did lift off, the course they set was directly towards Earth. While Eli and his crew were witness to this event, they at first thought all the orbs had left the planet which they were on, but that wasn’t the case. A few had stayed around and had now spotted the Boomerang and her crew on the ground. Getting airborne and into space was now a priority. Once into space, Eli found his crew fighting a dangerous flock of deadly enemies.
Oh, before lifting off from the planet, they also found a human life form in bad shape on the other side of the planet. Not everyone wanted to go and rescue this life form since they didn’t know if it was near dead or just a trap. But, they did go and pickup one very badly injured lady by the name of Yasha. Where she came from and why she was there by herself tells a lot about the rest of the story.
There is some intense space fighting off and on. Eli and his crew are not “bad” people, they had just bent some rules in the past which were to their benefit. They like to look out for themselves and weren’t normally involved in rescuing anyone if it didn’t profit them. Still, these orbs were dangerous and they were heading straight toward Earth. Earth didn’t have the means to defend itself against these thing since there were so many. Quinn, Eli’s daughter wanted him to take the Boomerang back to Earth and help in its defense. Eli wanted nothing to do with Earth and that feeling was mutual with the rest of his crew.
Yet, things can change in a big hurry when someone gets killed. Who that person was and what happened after that is what this story is all about. It’s a good read and I think you’ll enjoy it very much.
October 4, 2020
This story follows Eli Bryce, a former Earth Squadron pilot, who was cashiered for failing to follow orders and was banned from earth. For the last 20 years, he has captained a small speedy ship with a crew of renegades, engaged in transporting contraband in the lawless outer reaches of space. In their latest mission, they stumble across a powerful alien plot to destroy the Earth. He doesn’t want to get involved, but he’s forced to man-up by his estranged daughter, and try to save the Earth by tackling an overwhelming enemy force. There is plenty of action to keep the reader turning pages – I read it in one sitting, because I could not put it down. At times, the story gets a bit sketchy, but quickly recovers, and it is easy to follow. I read to escape and be entertained; this is space travel, so it doesn’t have to follow the laws of physics precisely. I completely enjoyed the book. I received an ARC – this is my honest opinion. On release, I bought a copy to support these deserving authors.
December 30, 2025
Finished: 29th December 2025
2⭐
📱
A disgraced captain. An Alien Invasion. And one last shot for redemption.
This sounded like the kind of sci-fi novel I’d love. I was hoping for something similar to Firefly. Good characters and interesting adventures.
Unfortunately, this one fell extremely flat. The characters were flat and 2-Dimensional. There was a weird tension between the characters, that lead to them constantly arguing. This was really off putting.
The story had really weird pacing. It was almost
all action with no build up or quieter moments for everything to sink in. The characters also found themselves in almost constant danger. And as soon as the dangerous situation subsided, they were thrown into yet another dangerous situation.
River is the character I liked. She is the most interesting character of the crew and definitely has the most potential for development and growth. I was especially starting to see this towards the end of this book.
2⭐
📱
A disgraced captain. An Alien Invasion. And one last shot for redemption.
This sounded like the kind of sci-fi novel I’d love. I was hoping for something similar to Firefly. Good characters and interesting adventures.
Unfortunately, this one fell extremely flat. The characters were flat and 2-Dimensional. There was a weird tension between the characters, that lead to them constantly arguing. This was really off putting.
The story had really weird pacing. It was almost
all action with no build up or quieter moments for everything to sink in. The characters also found themselves in almost constant danger. And as soon as the dangerous situation subsided, they were thrown into yet another dangerous situation.
River is the character I liked. She is the most interesting character of the crew and definitely has the most potential for development and growth. I was especially starting to see this towards the end of this book.
May 26, 2020
Received as an ARC copy, this is an honest review. For Eli Bryce it was suppose to be a simple paid job run but the haunting discovery upon the alien moon alters the fate of the Boomerang and her crew. A massive alien force is going to annihilate Earth if they can't be warned about it first; but something isn't right about the whole situation and Eli is disturbed by the unraveling secrets. Haunted by his past while serving in the Squadroms, Eli could easily turn his back on the world his despises but his daughter reminds him that his past doesn't have be how he'll be remembered. With a motley crew at his side and fiery, dark secrets driving Eli to seek justice... there may be hope for Earth. Highly recommended.
June 15, 2020
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
In "Annihilation!: Outcast Starship, Book One" the team of Young and James launch another rip-roaring series.
The authors deliver more great world building and character development along the way.
The mercenary crew of the starship Boomerang stumble upon a possible alien invasion of Earth as they are completing the job that will keep them afloat financially.
There are many twists and turns along the way as the crew of the Boomerang race to stop the annihilation of Earth's population.
I am looking forward to reading the next volume in this entertaining page turner of a series.
In the interest of transparency: I was given a review copy of this book and I am voluntarily sharing this review.
It is my own honest opinion.
In "Annihilation!: Outcast Starship, Book One" the team of Young and James launch another rip-roaring series.
The authors deliver more great world building and character development along the way.
The mercenary crew of the starship Boomerang stumble upon a possible alien invasion of Earth as they are completing the job that will keep them afloat financially.
There are many twists and turns along the way as the crew of the Boomerang race to stop the annihilation of Earth's population.
I am looking forward to reading the next volume in this entertaining page turner of a series.
In the interest of transparency: I was given a review copy of this book and I am voluntarily sharing this review.
It is my own honest opinion.
November 28, 2020
Boomerang🚀!
The Unlikely Hero...
This is a fun, fast paced and exciting sci-fi about Eli🐺, a middle aged Captain who although he lost his military commission, he now has his own ship, the outcast, Boomerang 🚀 and his small but dedicated crew. They ply the shipping lanes through space💫 in his heavily armed and techno savvy ship🚀.
When an alien horde of deadly spheres threatens to destroy 🌎Earth, Eli🐺 and his crew come to the rescue, but at great cost, the Boomerang🚀 is wrecked.
The book ends in a cliffhanger, which is the lead in to book 2, "Vengeance ". You know how a Boomerang works, right?
The Unlikely Hero...
This is a fun, fast paced and exciting sci-fi about Eli🐺, a middle aged Captain who although he lost his military commission, he now has his own ship, the outcast, Boomerang 🚀 and his small but dedicated crew. They ply the shipping lanes through space💫 in his heavily armed and techno savvy ship🚀.
When an alien horde of deadly spheres threatens to destroy 🌎Earth, Eli🐺 and his crew come to the rescue, but at great cost, the Boomerang🚀 is wrecked.
The book ends in a cliffhanger, which is the lead in to book 2, "Vengeance ". You know how a Boomerang works, right?
Read
September 27, 2020I have finished books 1-5 and am currently reading book 6. This series is a very good read; good characters as well and plots and continuity between books. If you like Military space opera, you'll enjoy this series. I find myself wishing to get to the end and then become sad when it arrives. I thoroughly enjoyed the series with no favorite book and had to wait for book six; it was worth the wait.
I highly recommend this series and several of Joshua James other Sci-Fi novels. He seems to have a grasp on what could be real in the future and weaves his story around his view of that reality.
I highly recommend this series and several of Joshua James other Sci-Fi novels. He seems to have a grasp on what could be real in the future and weaves his story around his view of that reality.
July 28, 2020
Next time I'll take the bus.
This book started out a little slow but picked up quick. Reminds me of some of the older space the final frontier books. Very good read and I will be reading the second book in this series. Started out not liking the main character very much but he grew on me and his crew is tough as nails. I'm hoping for some revenge in the next few books, I've grown to dislike a certain General.
This book started out a little slow but picked up quick. Reminds me of some of the older space the final frontier books. Very good read and I will be reading the second book in this series. Started out not liking the main character very much but he grew on me and his crew is tough as nails. I'm hoping for some revenge in the next few books, I've grown to dislike a certain General.
March 16, 2022
One thing for sure; this book was certainly NOT BORING!!
I wasn't going to finish this book at first because I didn't really like the captain (I still don't) but the rest of the crew are good. The action was quite comical, with all of the fighting, and wrecks that the "Boomerang" was in and it was still able to be repaired. It reminded me of those old science fiction movies of the 50's; those were pretty funny like this book. I enjoyed it.
I wasn't going to finish this book at first because I didn't really like the captain (I still don't) but the rest of the crew are good. The action was quite comical, with all of the fighting, and wrecks that the "Boomerang" was in and it was still able to be repaired. It reminded me of those old science fiction movies of the 50's; those were pretty funny like this book. I enjoyed it.
June 29, 2021
If you like Firefly, you’ll like this. This is a fun sci fi romp. Follow Captain Eli as he tries to keep his motley crew alive, his spacecraft “afloat” … and prevent Earth from annihilation! Note that there is some swearing, but it’s not gratuitious. Be sure to listen to the epilogue – you’ll want to read Book 2 after that! I received a free copy of the audiobook, with no obligation.
June 20, 2020
Annihilation
He is a supposedly convicted criminal who by his daughter's request, tries to save the earth from being destoyed. Now he has to worry about retaliation from the people he saved.
He is a supposedly convicted criminal who by his daughter's request, tries to save the earth from being destoyed. Now he has to worry about retaliation from the people he saved.
July 12, 2020
Excellent!
As a fan of the Golden Age of science-fiction, I really loved each minute ready that cool story! Made me go back in time when I wasn't even a teenager. I thank you for that! :)
As a fan of the Golden Age of science-fiction, I really loved each minute ready that cool story! Made me go back in time when I wasn't even a teenager. I thank you for that! :)
July 26, 2020
Fast paced action
The book is well written, moves fast, has interesting characters, and a good plot line. Very enjoyable reading. Looking forward to reading the next installment. Recommend this series.
The book is well written, moves fast, has interesting characters, and a good plot line. Very enjoyable reading. Looking forward to reading the next installment. Recommend this series.
August 16, 2020
Fun action packed sci-fi
What a great action packed science fiction storey. From the moment I started reading I just wanted to find out what happens next. I had fun reading it. And I will definitely be continuing with this series.
What a great action packed science fiction storey. From the moment I started reading I just wanted to find out what happens next. I had fun reading it. And I will definitely be continuing with this series.
August 30, 2020
Read it now well if you can
Read it now well if you can, I really enjoyed it and really recommend it to anyone. I was surprised how much I would just read without realizing it. Like I said read it now or as quick as you can
Read it now well if you can, I really enjoyed it and really recommend it to anyone. I was surprised how much I would just read without realizing it. Like I said read it now or as quick as you can
April 15, 2022
I thought this story was great. Non-stop excitement from end to end. Who cares that the science isn't spot on....come on....give me a break. It's like a really great comic book. Just roll with it and enjoy it.
September 4, 2022
ANNIHILATION is truly a blast from the past! There are no worries about whether or not the science works or is even possible. This is straight up pulp sci-fi with great characters, a plot you can easily follow, and realistic dialogue. Enjoy!
October 16, 2024
Good read.
This book was a good read and a fun one. There was plenty of action and I think that they had to repair the ship about three times ' so let us just say that they are a little hard on equipment and crew. I enjoyed reading this book so I will give the series a fair try.
This book was a good read and a fun one. There was plenty of action and I think that they had to repair the ship about three times ' so let us just say that they are a little hard on equipment and crew. I enjoyed reading this book so I will give the series a fair try.
May 28, 2020
Great Storyline
Well that was a cracking storyline a bit confusing to start with and not can the boomerang are a pounding lol... Really looking forward to the next book Vengeance
Well that was a cracking storyline a bit confusing to start with and not can the boomerang are a pounding lol... Really looking forward to the next book Vengeance
May 30, 2020
Boring in places but the story and characters make for a Good Read. Good Reading Everyone!
June 1, 2020
Great story
A good story and a few good characters. Everything moves forward at a good pace and no god complex’s in sight.
A good story and a few good characters. Everything moves forward at a good pace and no god complex’s in sight.
June 9, 2020
Action packed!
Very interesting crew on board this ship. I can't wait to read the next book to find out what adventure awaits.
Very interesting crew on board this ship. I can't wait to read the next book to find out what adventure awaits.
June 10, 2020
This was a good book. A real page turner, stayed up late more than one night reading this book. I would recommend it.
dnf-not-for-me
June 22, 20201/10: Couldn't get past the first few chapters; not for me.
July 18, 2020
A ragtag group as the crew and space ship on it's last legs manage to save the world. Well written and a good story.
July 27, 2020
Non-stop action!
The characters are a little thin, that being said if you like non-stop action then you'll love this book! Looking forward to the sequel.
The characters are a little thin, that being said if you like non-stop action then you'll love this book! Looking forward to the sequel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews