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Savage Stars #1
War from a Distant Sun
When a Daklan annihilator drops out of lightspeed, make sure you’re in a different solar system.
Humanity is trapped in a decades-long conflict with a warlike alien species known as Daklan. The military’s high command has played it safe for too long and now defeat seems inevitable.
Dealing with the consequences on the frontline, warship captain Carl Recker is a man with enemies on both sides.
A routine mission takes him to a distant world upon which he finds technology from a war fought by an unknown species. The Daklan are interested in it too, and they have an annihilator class battleship at their disposal, while Recker is flying the smallest lightspeed capable warship in the human fleet.
What follows will test Recker to his limits. Relentlessly pursued by the unstoppable battleship and seemingly forsaken by his superiors, he must hunt down answers from the past while fighting enemies from the present.
Powerful relics of an ancient, terrible war are scattered on the fringes - finding them and unlocking their secrets may be the only hope for humanity.
War from a Distant Sun is a traditional-style science-fiction action adventure. Expect space combat, ruthless aliens, mysterious tech and lots more.
Humanity is trapped in a decades-long conflict with a warlike alien species known as Daklan. The military’s high command has played it safe for too long and now defeat seems inevitable.
Dealing with the consequences on the frontline, warship captain Carl Recker is a man with enemies on both sides.
A routine mission takes him to a distant world upon which he finds technology from a war fought by an unknown species. The Daklan are interested in it too, and they have an annihilator class battleship at their disposal, while Recker is flying the smallest lightspeed capable warship in the human fleet.
What follows will test Recker to his limits. Relentlessly pursued by the unstoppable battleship and seemingly forsaken by his superiors, he must hunt down answers from the past while fighting enemies from the present.
Powerful relics of an ancient, terrible war are scattered on the fringes - finding them and unlocking their secrets may be the only hope for humanity.
War from a Distant Sun is a traditional-style science-fiction action adventure. Expect space combat, ruthless aliens, mysterious tech and lots more.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2020
639 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Anthony James
235 books107 followersAnthony James spent his youth reading what might now be called classic sci-fi and fantasy books. These days, he spends time in his study with the door locked against rampant and ferocious toddlers, writing books of his own.
That's the third person stuff out of the way.
For anyone who's read any of my books, you'll know that I write action science fiction that pulls no punches and which doesn't cram the good stuff into the last couple of chapters. The action starts early and it doesn't let up. I also take care to mix in plenty of humanity. The characters I write are all distinctly believable, often facing uncaring enemies and overwhelming odds. When they win, it's because they did their best.
Go on. Punch an alien today. Better yet, check out my series of books, each one filled with action, technology, warfare, aliens and against-the-odds survival. Lots of kick-back-and-enjoy weekend or evening reading.
That's the third person stuff out of the way.
For anyone who's read any of my books, you'll know that I write action science fiction that pulls no punches and which doesn't cram the good stuff into the last couple of chapters. The action starts early and it doesn't let up. I also take care to mix in plenty of humanity. The characters I write are all distinctly believable, often facing uncaring enemies and overwhelming odds. When they win, it's because they did their best.
Go on. Punch an alien today. Better yet, check out my series of books, each one filled with action, technology, warfare, aliens and against-the-odds survival. Lots of kick-back-and-enjoy weekend or evening reading.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
November 11, 2020
Not for military buffs
Wow he is such a joke, bad attitude, no attention to detail slovenly deletes emails not checking them, eats at his console, doesn’t make a ship wide call when coming into contact with the enemy so crew die due to ppe, talks to his boss like crap, takes over the marines and does a shit job. The biggest joke is how he can’t even recognize something extraterrestrial. You would think being a captain he would have a navy education. How he is still alive is amazing.
The book lacks details we don’t know what the crew look like or their backgrounds, don’t know why they are at war....
Wow he is such a joke, bad attitude, no attention to detail slovenly deletes emails not checking them, eats at his console, doesn’t make a ship wide call when coming into contact with the enemy so crew die due to ppe, talks to his boss like crap, takes over the marines and does a shit job. The biggest joke is how he can’t even recognize something extraterrestrial. You would think being a captain he would have a navy education. How he is still alive is amazing.
The book lacks details we don’t know what the crew look like or their backgrounds, don’t know why they are at war....
June 1, 2020
Reasonable military sci fi adventure. good characters with some background development although the maverick captain whose been done wrong by an admiral was not exactly new. Technology for once is different and not over blown. I know it's required by the setup but the usual Earth forces are at breaking point and about to loose to warlike aliens is pretty common. Overall I did enjoy the book and read it in a day an will likely read the follow ups. No criticism of the book or it's author but am I the only one that wishes for a bit more innovation in this genre of literature rather than the same old tropes rolled out over and over again.
September 7, 2020
New book same as the old books
Just a rehash of the authors old books, stupidly massive ships crewed by a handful of people controlled by handlebars, most of the people and tech are the same just with a new name
Just a rehash of the authors old books, stupidly massive ships crewed by a handful of people controlled by handlebars, most of the people and tech are the same just with a new name
November 10, 2020
This book hurt
This book could have been so much more.
The problem was timing. Everywhere Recker went, his enemy was ten seconds behind. Every time he made a game-changing discovery, the enemy appeared out of nowhere and messed it all up. Every time.
It became cliche. As a reader, whenever something good happened, I knew the enemy was ten seconds from appearing.
I realize this is all fiction. But some attempt at believability should be made.
When this is rewritten, hopefully the author will slow down the enemy a bit and give Recker and his band of merry men a chance to have some dialogue and maybe add some depth to the book.
This book could have been so much more.
The problem was timing. Everywhere Recker went, his enemy was ten seconds behind. Every time he made a game-changing discovery, the enemy appeared out of nowhere and messed it all up. Every time.
It became cliche. As a reader, whenever something good happened, I knew the enemy was ten seconds from appearing.
I realize this is all fiction. But some attempt at believability should be made.
When this is rewritten, hopefully the author will slow down the enemy a bit and give Recker and his band of merry men a chance to have some dialogue and maybe add some depth to the book.
June 18, 2021
Fun read, but glaring deficiencies in the science.
Author has a number of fundamental misunderstandings of science, tech, and space travel. One example — At one point the ship’s hull is overheating. One of the officers suggest going into space to cool it down quickly, but the vacuum of space is an insulator; the dissipation of heat is one of the biggest engineering challenges in space travel.
Author has a number of fundamental misunderstandings of science, tech, and space travel. One example — At one point the ship’s hull is overheating. One of the officers suggest going into space to cool it down quickly, but the vacuum of space is an insulator; the dissipation of heat is one of the biggest engineering challenges in space travel.
July 19, 2021
New book series, and it's pretty good! Not loving the cliffhanger at the end, forcing you to buy the second book... but still, the premise is good, not too unbelievable and good plot!
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
Read
September 14, 2022Rating: minus 5
This is the usual pointless low end space adventure. As I rewrite my reviews, I sometimes check to see what other reviewers thought but usually am blocked by Goodreads. With an overall rating higher than 2 for this book, I don't think that any of them will be particularly helpful. At least with comments blocked, I am not subjected to additional masked commenter ID's on my reviews. You write one negative review of a "ridiculous libertarian rant written by a government employee) and suddenly being a communist is a bad thing. Who knew.
I still can't shake my last lurker. Why Goodreads won't allow me to drop Dr. Susan Hamilton (a Maths professor at University of Tennessee?) from my friend list is a puzzle. She wrote a bad series about vampires but has posted nothing for two years and won't do me the favor of dropping me from her list.
After no response to four messages, I think about those Goodreads authors with a gazillion friends. I think this is a sales strategy to generate high numbers for a writer of no particular merit. I had another "friend" who also spent a year accumulating a zillion friends but posted nothing before I dropped him.
If curious, see my review of "Dark Horse", a good romance/space adventure by Diener or Powers of the Earth (a ridiculous libertarian rant written by a government employee) and comments from a Claes Rees, Jr/cgr710 (a self-identified NeoNazi). If anyone knows about this Claes Rees, Jr or Susan Hamilton, a message would be appreciated.
Claes Rees, Jr/cgr710
Don't be a numpty, be a smarty. Come and join the Communist Party.
The US State Dept. has finally admitted that Russians have relocated as many as two million Ukrainian civilians to Siberia, including the separation and kidnapping of several hundred thousand children. Hopefully this next will not upset Tucker Carlson or Claes Rees, Jr. With the verification of the torture, mutilation, rape and murder of Ukrainians seemingly treated as a perk of enlistment in their army, I always remind myself to write.
GLORY TO UKRAINE !! GLORY TO ITS FIGHTERS !!
This book has the usual plucky hero, who as usual has not a clue about whatever this mission was. Wait there's more. His tiny ship is pursued relentlessly by the evil aliens. Was Buck Rogers this bad? Probably but this is 2021.
The evil aliens have what motivation again. I can not remember. I do not think that anyone can care after a chapter or two of this book. The hero is going to save the human race in some mysterious manner that seems less and less plausible with each unexplained reappearance of the dread alien battleship. I think these scenes were meant to be tense, instead of being boringly predictable.
If he can not escape this evil ship, how exactly is he going to save humanity. I was unable to understand just how he was going to accomplish it. I did not understand just what he was going to do. Plot contrivances are not a replacement for a plausible narrative flow in the storytelling.
The book has no character worth caring about, no story thread, no tension, no big idea, no point. It is a platform for nonsense battles fought for Reasons (which will never be disclosed because they don't exist). If you want a HALO, Star Engineer, Star Trek online, Resident Evil or other scenario, this may fit your needs. For a better entertainment experience, just play the game.
I have moved away from science fiction over the last two years because of the number of bad books in Amazon's selection science fiction, fantasy, steam punk and related genres. The streaming services at their worst are entertaining, better written and only cost ninety minutes of your time. Netflix also has a nice multinational library that can be fun.
I started watching YouTube for science fiction channels and stumbled across a treasure trove of science fiction news, fan productions, other special interest channels and best of all book channels. The book tubes have created a fun, enthusiastic and thoughtful community of readers excited by good storytelling, good writing and all things bookish really. I recommend a visit to some book channels for any reader and I list some below. If Amazon/Goodreads reads as a toxic or juvenile site, then YouTube is a must.
There are also documentaries and very good essayists on YouTube, as well as samples of educational sites such as The Great Courses, Magellan, Curiosity Stream/Nebula, Epic History TV and others. Some of my favorite YouTube channels are.
Ship Happens, Some More News, Tom Nicholas, Philosophy Tube, Owen Jones, Zoe Baker, Tara Mooknee, Sarah Z, Big Joel, Novara Media, Lady knight the Brave, France 24, Chloe Stafler, Prime of Midlife, Tiny Wee Boat, Boat Time, Cruising Alba, Renegade Cut, Alize, Mrs Betty Bowers, Alice Cappelle, Savage Daughter, Tulia, Alt Shift X, Pro Robots, Quinn's Ideas, We're in Hell, Lady of the Library, Endevr, Make Better Media, France 24, Noah Samsen, Alayna Joy, 2Cellos, Lily Alexander, Swell Entertainment, The Armchair Historian, The Juice Media, Ancient Americas, Natasha's Adventures, The Narrowboat Pirate, The Budget Museum, Kings and Generals, Lindsey Stirling, The Narrowboat Chef, Cruising Alba, Maggie May Fish, Kathy's Flog in France, Malinda, Northern Narrowboaters, Linguoer Mechanic, Three Arrows, IzzzYzzz, Dr Becky, Hello Future Me, Adult Wednesday Addams, The Amber Ruffin Show, Sabine Hossenfelder, A Life of Lit, Jessica Gagnon, Noelle Gallagher, Ryan Chapman, Neringa Rekaslute, Elena Taber, Christy Anne Jones, The Gravel Institute, Spacedock, World War Two, Lady of the Library, , The Library Ladder, The Great War, Books with Emily Fox, Armored Archives, History Hit, I'm Rosa, Melodie Rose, GK Media, Hailey in Bookland, Practical Engineering, A Clockwork Reader, Real Time History, Answer in Progress, The Templin Institute, Karolina Zebrowska, Books and Lala, Kings and Generals, Artificial Intelligence Universe, The Irish Reader, Merphy Napier, Emmie, Art by Annamarie, Jack Edwards, Dakota Warren, Austin McConnell, Books with Emily Fox, Filaxim Historia, BrandonF, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Celtica, Reading Wryly, Tibees, Military Aviation History, Vlad Vexler, Real Engineering, Traveling K, Camper Vibe, Boat Time, Jill Bearup, Cold Fusion, Jake Tran, A Cup of Nicole, Engineering with Rosie, Abbie Emmons, Max Joseph, Kelly loves Physics and History, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Books with Brittany, Munecat, Nomadic Crobot, Wizards and Warriors, The Leftist Cooks, Then & Now, The Present Past.
I hope you enjoy a sunny morning. an invigorating afternoon, a relaxed evening and a restful night.
Hope protects and drives toward thoughtful action.
President Zelensky
This is the usual pointless low end space adventure. As I rewrite my reviews, I sometimes check to see what other reviewers thought but usually am blocked by Goodreads. With an overall rating higher than 2 for this book, I don't think that any of them will be particularly helpful. At least with comments blocked, I am not subjected to additional masked commenter ID's on my reviews. You write one negative review of a "ridiculous libertarian rant written by a government employee) and suddenly being a communist is a bad thing. Who knew.
I still can't shake my last lurker. Why Goodreads won't allow me to drop Dr. Susan Hamilton (a Maths professor at University of Tennessee?) from my friend list is a puzzle. She wrote a bad series about vampires but has posted nothing for two years and won't do me the favor of dropping me from her list.
After no response to four messages, I think about those Goodreads authors with a gazillion friends. I think this is a sales strategy to generate high numbers for a writer of no particular merit. I had another "friend" who also spent a year accumulating a zillion friends but posted nothing before I dropped him.
If curious, see my review of "Dark Horse", a good romance/space adventure by Diener or Powers of the Earth (a ridiculous libertarian rant written by a government employee) and comments from a Claes Rees, Jr/cgr710 (a self-identified NeoNazi). If anyone knows about this Claes Rees, Jr or Susan Hamilton, a message would be appreciated.
Claes Rees, Jr/cgr710
Don't be a numpty, be a smarty. Come and join the Communist Party.
The US State Dept. has finally admitted that Russians have relocated as many as two million Ukrainian civilians to Siberia, including the separation and kidnapping of several hundred thousand children. Hopefully this next will not upset Tucker Carlson or Claes Rees, Jr. With the verification of the torture, mutilation, rape and murder of Ukrainians seemingly treated as a perk of enlistment in their army, I always remind myself to write.
GLORY TO UKRAINE !! GLORY TO ITS FIGHTERS !!
This book has the usual plucky hero, who as usual has not a clue about whatever this mission was. Wait there's more. His tiny ship is pursued relentlessly by the evil aliens. Was Buck Rogers this bad? Probably but this is 2021.
The evil aliens have what motivation again. I can not remember. I do not think that anyone can care after a chapter or two of this book. The hero is going to save the human race in some mysterious manner that seems less and less plausible with each unexplained reappearance of the dread alien battleship. I think these scenes were meant to be tense, instead of being boringly predictable.
If he can not escape this evil ship, how exactly is he going to save humanity. I was unable to understand just how he was going to accomplish it. I did not understand just what he was going to do. Plot contrivances are not a replacement for a plausible narrative flow in the storytelling.
The book has no character worth caring about, no story thread, no tension, no big idea, no point. It is a platform for nonsense battles fought for Reasons (which will never be disclosed because they don't exist). If you want a HALO, Star Engineer, Star Trek online, Resident Evil or other scenario, this may fit your needs. For a better entertainment experience, just play the game.
I have moved away from science fiction over the last two years because of the number of bad books in Amazon's selection science fiction, fantasy, steam punk and related genres. The streaming services at their worst are entertaining, better written and only cost ninety minutes of your time. Netflix also has a nice multinational library that can be fun.
I started watching YouTube for science fiction channels and stumbled across a treasure trove of science fiction news, fan productions, other special interest channels and best of all book channels. The book tubes have created a fun, enthusiastic and thoughtful community of readers excited by good storytelling, good writing and all things bookish really. I recommend a visit to some book channels for any reader and I list some below. If Amazon/Goodreads reads as a toxic or juvenile site, then YouTube is a must.
There are also documentaries and very good essayists on YouTube, as well as samples of educational sites such as The Great Courses, Magellan, Curiosity Stream/Nebula, Epic History TV and others. Some of my favorite YouTube channels are.
Ship Happens, Some More News, Tom Nicholas, Philosophy Tube, Owen Jones, Zoe Baker, Tara Mooknee, Sarah Z, Big Joel, Novara Media, Lady knight the Brave, France 24, Chloe Stafler, Prime of Midlife, Tiny Wee Boat, Boat Time, Cruising Alba, Renegade Cut, Alize, Mrs Betty Bowers, Alice Cappelle, Savage Daughter, Tulia, Alt Shift X, Pro Robots, Quinn's Ideas, We're in Hell, Lady of the Library, Endevr, Make Better Media, France 24, Noah Samsen, Alayna Joy, 2Cellos, Lily Alexander, Swell Entertainment, The Armchair Historian, The Juice Media, Ancient Americas, Natasha's Adventures, The Narrowboat Pirate, The Budget Museum, Kings and Generals, Lindsey Stirling, The Narrowboat Chef, Cruising Alba, Maggie May Fish, Kathy's Flog in France, Malinda, Northern Narrowboaters, Linguoer Mechanic, Three Arrows, IzzzYzzz, Dr Becky, Hello Future Me, Adult Wednesday Addams, The Amber Ruffin Show, Sabine Hossenfelder, A Life of Lit, Jessica Gagnon, Noelle Gallagher, Ryan Chapman, Neringa Rekaslute, Elena Taber, Christy Anne Jones, The Gravel Institute, Spacedock, World War Two, Lady of the Library, , The Library Ladder, The Great War, Books with Emily Fox, Armored Archives, History Hit, I'm Rosa, Melodie Rose, GK Media, Hailey in Bookland, Practical Engineering, A Clockwork Reader, Real Time History, Answer in Progress, The Templin Institute, Karolina Zebrowska, Books and Lala, Kings and Generals, Artificial Intelligence Universe, The Irish Reader, Merphy Napier, Emmie, Art by Annamarie, Jack Edwards, Dakota Warren, Austin McConnell, Books with Emily Fox, Filaxim Historia, BrandonF, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Celtica, Reading Wryly, Tibees, Military Aviation History, Vlad Vexler, Real Engineering, Traveling K, Camper Vibe, Boat Time, Jill Bearup, Cold Fusion, Jake Tran, A Cup of Nicole, Engineering with Rosie, Abbie Emmons, Max Joseph, Kelly loves Physics and History, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Books with Brittany, Munecat, Nomadic Crobot, Wizards and Warriors, The Leftist Cooks, Then & Now, The Present Past.
I hope you enjoy a sunny morning. an invigorating afternoon, a relaxed evening and a restful night.
Hope protects and drives toward thoughtful action.
President Zelensky
March 11, 2022
Format: Kindle eBook (Kindle Unlimited)
Thoughts:
Well I have to say I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. After getting about 2/3 of the way through, and growing a little tired of what seemed like a bit of a copy and paste job, Recker and his crew couldn't do anything for 5 minutes before being interrupted by an enemy warship popping out of light-speed again and again.
But the final third of the book felt a bit more dynamic and more action packed, with much less running and more adrenaline pumping engagement of the enemy.
The characters, especially captain Carl Recker feel a bit cheesy at times, especially with their dialog, but in some way, that adds to the entertainment value.
As it stands, it was an enjoyable read, it's not trying to be more complicated than what it is and the fact that this is the first of seven books in the series leads me to believe the slower start to the story is part of the author playing the long game.
The book did enough for me to download book two. I'm sure if you're particularly into your sciences, then some of the more technical bits may grate on you, but if you take it with a pinch of salt you'll enjoy the ride.
Considering this book was free as apart of Kindle Unlimited, I'd say it's definitely worth checking out. I personally wouldn't have been disappointed even if I had paid a couple of quid for it either!
Thoughts:
Well I have to say I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. After getting about 2/3 of the way through, and growing a little tired of what seemed like a bit of a copy and paste job, Recker and his crew couldn't do anything for 5 minutes before being interrupted by an enemy warship popping out of light-speed again and again.
But the final third of the book felt a bit more dynamic and more action packed, with much less running and more adrenaline pumping engagement of the enemy.
The characters, especially captain Carl Recker feel a bit cheesy at times, especially with their dialog, but in some way, that adds to the entertainment value.
As it stands, it was an enjoyable read, it's not trying to be more complicated than what it is and the fact that this is the first of seven books in the series leads me to believe the slower start to the story is part of the author playing the long game.
The book did enough for me to download book two. I'm sure if you're particularly into your sciences, then some of the more technical bits may grate on you, but if you take it with a pinch of salt you'll enjoy the ride.
Considering this book was free as apart of Kindle Unlimited, I'd say it's definitely worth checking out. I personally wouldn't have been disappointed even if I had paid a couple of quid for it either!
March 7, 2022
Gripping
I was hooked from the first page. Seriously, the action began on page one and it never let up. There were some lulls for the reader, and book characters, to catch their breath, but that's it.
Everything is told from the captain's point of view, so no extra insight on any of the other characters beyond the captain's own musings. We get a little background on him, but not much. I'm guessing that later books will explain a few missing details that are alluded to throughout the book...
A handful of grammatical errors, but nothing too distracting.
I will definitely have to fit the next book into my personal entertainment budget!
I was hooked from the first page. Seriously, the action began on page one and it never let up. There were some lulls for the reader, and book characters, to catch their breath, but that's it.
Everything is told from the captain's point of view, so no extra insight on any of the other characters beyond the captain's own musings. We get a little background on him, but not much. I'm guessing that later books will explain a few missing details that are alluded to throughout the book...
A handful of grammatical errors, but nothing too distracting.
I will definitely have to fit the next book into my personal entertainment budget!
March 30, 2022
The book starts with a new Daklan Destroyer just about to arrive to give Captain Recker and the Finality a very bad day. The first third of the book is nonstop with Finality constantly on the edge of disaster.
In some ways this was engaging, but I wasn’t convinced by the technology, I mean piloting a massive FTL spaceship by hauling on a control bar, this isn’t a Dan Dare comic. Then there are the last second timings, which were just a bit too ‘Hollywood’.
Unfortunately the author seems to want to write Hollywood screenplays, when the action arrives it is always frantic and doesn’t bear close examination, but the author obviously has the wide screen, Technicolor version in his head.
Overall the story wasn’t bad and I finished it in just a couple of sittings. There is very little character development, by the end of the book I didn't know much more about Recker and next to nothing about the rest of the crew. If possible I would have given 2.5 stars.
In some ways this was engaging, but I wasn’t convinced by the technology, I mean piloting a massive FTL spaceship by hauling on a control bar, this isn’t a Dan Dare comic. Then there are the last second timings, which were just a bit too ‘Hollywood’.
Unfortunately the author seems to want to write Hollywood screenplays, when the action arrives it is always frantic and doesn’t bear close examination, but the author obviously has the wide screen, Technicolor version in his head.
Overall the story wasn’t bad and I finished it in just a couple of sittings. There is very little character development, by the end of the book I didn't know much more about Recker and next to nothing about the rest of the crew. If possible I would have given 2.5 stars.
February 18, 2021
OK young adult scifi
Well suited to younger readers attempting their first book without pictures. From an adult's perspective this is less than average. Not much is done with the very tired premise. The hero overcomes obstacles with ridiculous ease. Humans come across alien technology and somehow manage to gain control over it in 5 minutes in the middle of a firefight. Without spoiling the ending I'll just say it feels like the author grew tired of writing and dashed off the nonsensical ending in 15 minutes.
Well suited to younger readers attempting their first book without pictures. From an adult's perspective this is less than average. Not much is done with the very tired premise. The hero overcomes obstacles with ridiculous ease. Humans come across alien technology and somehow manage to gain control over it in 5 minutes in the middle of a firefight. Without spoiling the ending I'll just say it feels like the author grew tired of writing and dashed off the nonsensical ending in 15 minutes.
September 6, 2021
New author and a new series. Reads like it's going to be pretty good once it got started!
We're on a small scout ship called the Finality. It's definitely small since it has a command crew of four and they are on the bridge at their stations. Back in the rear is a squad of soldiers and I think their space is pretty darned cramped by the description of this ship. I'm hoping they don't have to go out on a lot of long term missions. Their current mission has them scouting a region of space that doesn't seem to contain much of anything. They don't like running into anything in the middle of nowhere, but that's just what's happening now. An enemy destroyer is just about to drop out of FTL.
The Human Planetary Alliance (HPA) has been engaging the Daklan for a long time. Why isn't known. All they do know is that the Daklan are advancing faster than humanity and if something does change quickly, the HPA is going to lose this war badly. No one knows who or what the Daklan are. It's best not to hang around when they show up and now the HPA Finality has a destroyer about to drop right in on them. Captain Carl Recker knew he, his crew and ship were about to be in deep, serious trouble. The small planetoid they were currently orbiting offered no cover and anywhere they did run would be spotted on the destroyers sensors as soon as it came in to real space. Yet, their choices were immediately limited by an FTL Priority 1 message from Admiral Telar.
The message was strange in that Captain Recker wasn't used to getting mission orders in the middle of his current mission. They usually were told where to go and what to scan and then return with their intel. This time, they were being told to drop everything and head for the fifth planet, Etrol, in this system. There was something there that had somehow shown up on long-range scanner back a HPA HQ. So, as Captain Recker had to go somewhere and fast, he headed towards Etrol hoping the destroyer didn't catch them leaving the orbit of Sarus-!.
They almost made it free and clear, but no, that destroyer saw them and launched missiles, two of which detonated close enough to the Finality that it broke something. They got a whole of some kind in their rear and it's leaking particles. Couldn't be a better way of showing a destroyer where you are and which way you're going. Still, the Finality was headed away from the destroyer and for Etrol. They managed to get to Etrol via FTL, but that didn't help their engines much.
Still, they made it to Etrol alive and now they had to find what was so interesting to Admiral Telar. They probably wished they hadn't. They did find a whole bunch of Daklan and a couple of ships bigger than the destroyer. Now they really had to hid and stay hidden until they could fix somethings and then sneak out when maybe the Daklan though they had been destroyed. And eventually, the Finality did sneak away from Etrol, but they had to push both engines into overdrive to get them into FTL and hopefully arrive somewhere near an HPA base.
That was managed, barely, but at the cost of the Fanilty. The crew couldn't shut off the engines so they had to be picked up by the base rescue while the Finality was either doomed to blowup on it's own or be blownup by the HPA engineers. Either way, Captain Recker and his crew were going somewhere else and for another mission.
Admiral Telar had another planet that he wanted reconned. So, Captain Recker and crew set out on another scouting mission with a new ship. Was this going to be the same kind of mission with Daklan enemies chasing them all the time. Or was there actually something else out there that both the HPA and Daklan needed to see. Was there a third entity in this part of space. If so, this would be the first encounter of it's kind. Hopefully, it wouldn't be Captain Recker's last!
We're on a small scout ship called the Finality. It's definitely small since it has a command crew of four and they are on the bridge at their stations. Back in the rear is a squad of soldiers and I think their space is pretty darned cramped by the description of this ship. I'm hoping they don't have to go out on a lot of long term missions. Their current mission has them scouting a region of space that doesn't seem to contain much of anything. They don't like running into anything in the middle of nowhere, but that's just what's happening now. An enemy destroyer is just about to drop out of FTL.
The Human Planetary Alliance (HPA) has been engaging the Daklan for a long time. Why isn't known. All they do know is that the Daklan are advancing faster than humanity and if something does change quickly, the HPA is going to lose this war badly. No one knows who or what the Daklan are. It's best not to hang around when they show up and now the HPA Finality has a destroyer about to drop right in on them. Captain Carl Recker knew he, his crew and ship were about to be in deep, serious trouble. The small planetoid they were currently orbiting offered no cover and anywhere they did run would be spotted on the destroyers sensors as soon as it came in to real space. Yet, their choices were immediately limited by an FTL Priority 1 message from Admiral Telar.
The message was strange in that Captain Recker wasn't used to getting mission orders in the middle of his current mission. They usually were told where to go and what to scan and then return with their intel. This time, they were being told to drop everything and head for the fifth planet, Etrol, in this system. There was something there that had somehow shown up on long-range scanner back a HPA HQ. So, as Captain Recker had to go somewhere and fast, he headed towards Etrol hoping the destroyer didn't catch them leaving the orbit of Sarus-!.
They almost made it free and clear, but no, that destroyer saw them and launched missiles, two of which detonated close enough to the Finality that it broke something. They got a whole of some kind in their rear and it's leaking particles. Couldn't be a better way of showing a destroyer where you are and which way you're going. Still, the Finality was headed away from the destroyer and for Etrol. They managed to get to Etrol via FTL, but that didn't help their engines much.
Still, they made it to Etrol alive and now they had to find what was so interesting to Admiral Telar. They probably wished they hadn't. They did find a whole bunch of Daklan and a couple of ships bigger than the destroyer. Now they really had to hid and stay hidden until they could fix somethings and then sneak out when maybe the Daklan though they had been destroyed. And eventually, the Finality did sneak away from Etrol, but they had to push both engines into overdrive to get them into FTL and hopefully arrive somewhere near an HPA base.
That was managed, barely, but at the cost of the Fanilty. The crew couldn't shut off the engines so they had to be picked up by the base rescue while the Finality was either doomed to blowup on it's own or be blownup by the HPA engineers. Either way, Captain Recker and his crew were going somewhere else and for another mission.
Admiral Telar had another planet that he wanted reconned. So, Captain Recker and crew set out on another scouting mission with a new ship. Was this going to be the same kind of mission with Daklan enemies chasing them all the time. Or was there actually something else out there that both the HPA and Daklan needed to see. Was there a third entity in this part of space. If so, this would be the first encounter of it's kind. Hopefully, it wouldn't be Captain Recker's last!
February 6, 2024
This is a well written book (and series) with very good dialogue and explanation of what is going on. I enjoyed it and went on to read the whole series so I don't want to give the impression it's bad in any way. However, there were some issues I would have loved to see addressed and it would have taken this story to a much greater level.
1) Realism, specifically in physics. There are billion and trillion ton vehicles zooming around planets like they are toy cars and no amount of magical sci-fi propulsion should be able to make them behave this way. Additionally I would have enjoyed the story more if either the ships were much smaller to account for their behavior or if they behaved way more realistically. It seems like the ships were originally intended to be smaller based on crew size and flight characteristics and for some reason were upscaled. In the same vein, flight times (and really the entire time scale) are way way off.
1B) Again, I have no problem with magical sci-fi power systems and propulsion but a solar system is a huge place and even at thousands of meters per second, it takes a long time to move around. Ships should have far far longer to react and getting right on top of each other should be nearly impossible. Further, missile and guns should have a much more difficult time connecting with ships in flight in a 3d space while moving a speeds that should be causing time dilation and relativistic affects.
1C) Speed limits - this could probably be explained with a few lines of extra text but there are no speed limits in space. The propulsion should have an acceleration limit but it should be able to effectively accelerate as long as it has fuel, reaching any sublight speed given enough time.
2) Timing of events. Things that should be described in a few paragraphs take pages (running through the halls of a ship) while things that should be multiple chapters are handled in a few paragraphs (major space battles). In addition, the time scale of things is off: events that should take months or years are just jumped to, giving no indication of the passage of time.
3) Luck. The main character must be the luckiest son of gun to have ever been born. There is almost no feeling that anything he accomplishes is earned by his own action. He does clearly take advantage of the luck that befalls him, but progression of the story relies on increasingly unbelievable turns of luck. I think the story would have been better served to have a different pacing where some of the events had much more investment, and maybe the final outcome of each event was not as wildly grand.
I say these things because I think there is a kernel here of a great story and a good writer which I would love to see him revisit in another series with more focus on realistic actions and events.
1) Realism, specifically in physics. There are billion and trillion ton vehicles zooming around planets like they are toy cars and no amount of magical sci-fi propulsion should be able to make them behave this way. Additionally I would have enjoyed the story more if either the ships were much smaller to account for their behavior or if they behaved way more realistically. It seems like the ships were originally intended to be smaller based on crew size and flight characteristics and for some reason were upscaled. In the same vein, flight times (and really the entire time scale) are way way off.
1B) Again, I have no problem with magical sci-fi power systems and propulsion but a solar system is a huge place and even at thousands of meters per second, it takes a long time to move around. Ships should have far far longer to react and getting right on top of each other should be nearly impossible. Further, missile and guns should have a much more difficult time connecting with ships in flight in a 3d space while moving a speeds that should be causing time dilation and relativistic affects.
1C) Speed limits - this could probably be explained with a few lines of extra text but there are no speed limits in space. The propulsion should have an acceleration limit but it should be able to effectively accelerate as long as it has fuel, reaching any sublight speed given enough time.
2) Timing of events. Things that should be described in a few paragraphs take pages (running through the halls of a ship) while things that should be multiple chapters are handled in a few paragraphs (major space battles). In addition, the time scale of things is off: events that should take months or years are just jumped to, giving no indication of the passage of time.
3) Luck. The main character must be the luckiest son of gun to have ever been born. There is almost no feeling that anything he accomplishes is earned by his own action. He does clearly take advantage of the luck that befalls him, but progression of the story relies on increasingly unbelievable turns of luck. I think the story would have been better served to have a different pacing where some of the events had much more investment, and maybe the final outcome of each event was not as wildly grand.
I say these things because I think there is a kernel here of a great story and a good writer which I would love to see him revisit in another series with more focus on realistic actions and events.
March 25, 2022
I don't expect every author to have a military background just because they're writing about it, but at least do some homework. Also known as research. Anthony James apparently just made stuff up, which seems to be a typical flaw in sci-fi writers.
The base plot was interesting, but I quickly tired of the absence of reality in all the little details.
It was all these little things about human beings that you can't ignore just because you're writing Sci-Fi.
A ship's crew of five - all officers, all on the command deck, all tasked with one or more critical roles and apparently no crew needed elsewhere to do anything, like routine maintenance, damage control. And no one around to pull a second or third shift.
The captain also functions as helmsman and flies the ship, which in battle scenes even the author highlights makes the captain struggle between flying and making command decisions.
Meanwhile, there's a squad of enlisted soldiers in the back of the ship and this supposedly great leader of a ship's captain rarely tells the squad leader what the heck is going on for the first two-thirds of the book, even when the ship is in combat. For the first two missions of the ship, the squad just sits there with no mission, even though their higher warfighting headquarters is struggling with resources and personnel.
Sorry, I'm not coming along on the ride.
The base plot was interesting, but I quickly tired of the absence of reality in all the little details.
It was all these little things about human beings that you can't ignore just because you're writing Sci-Fi.
A ship's crew of five - all officers, all on the command deck, all tasked with one or more critical roles and apparently no crew needed elsewhere to do anything, like routine maintenance, damage control. And no one around to pull a second or third shift.
The captain also functions as helmsman and flies the ship, which in battle scenes even the author highlights makes the captain struggle between flying and making command decisions.
Meanwhile, there's a squad of enlisted soldiers in the back of the ship and this supposedly great leader of a ship's captain rarely tells the squad leader what the heck is going on for the first two-thirds of the book, even when the ship is in combat. For the first two missions of the ship, the squad just sits there with no mission, even though their higher warfighting headquarters is struggling with resources and personnel.
Sorry, I'm not coming along on the ride.
November 14, 2022
Exciting
I'm not a fan of the military scifi genre. I avoid the war genre whenever possible. No war movies, no military novels. Not even military styled fashion. In any case, I enjoyed this one and will probably read the rest of the series. Well-written, exciting. More like an action/adventure novel in a military style rather than something obnoxiously "gungho" and macho. I enjoyed it's no nonsense style and fast paced. The opening battle really had me on the edge of my seat. Actually the novel kept me there for its entirety. When it ended, I was eager to move onto the next one in the series. An enjoyable action-packed novel.
I'm not a fan of the military scifi genre. I avoid the war genre whenever possible. No war movies, no military novels. Not even military styled fashion. In any case, I enjoyed this one and will probably read the rest of the series. Well-written, exciting. More like an action/adventure novel in a military style rather than something obnoxiously "gungho" and macho. I enjoyed it's no nonsense style and fast paced. The opening battle really had me on the edge of my seat. Actually the novel kept me there for its entirety. When it ended, I was eager to move onto the next one in the series. An enjoyable action-packed novel.
May 10, 2023
Great starting book for a series. Self contained enough to be satisfying. Open ended just right to prevent frustration of a cliff hanger with just the right hint of more to pull me into the next book in the series.
Underdogs at their finest!
Reading this book was a very enjoyable was to spend a couple of hours. Although I have read other reviews commenting on technical aspects of the story and plot, while I perhaps noticed some of the issues they were not sufficient to pull me out of my happily engaged suspension of disbelief nor did they cause me to worry about anything except what was coming next!
Underdogs at their finest!
Reading this book was a very enjoyable was to spend a couple of hours. Although I have read other reviews commenting on technical aspects of the story and plot, while I perhaps noticed some of the issues they were not sufficient to pull me out of my happily engaged suspension of disbelief nor did they cause me to worry about anything except what was coming next!
January 29, 2022
It would be nice to see the Captain and his crew to be one step in front of the enemy - just once. Some of the dimensions attributed to both alien and some HPA space ships seem to be way off the scale I mean a spaceship that's 15 kilometres in length? Spaceship hull's with a hundred metres of metal armour plating? Once you can get over the immensity aspects the story romps along nicely. Not sure that Capt Recker's unique success in bringing back to the HPA arena an Alien spaceship (Vengeance) would be rewarded in such a tardy fashion.
October 10, 2025
A thrilling sci fi adventure packed with high stakes, relentless action, and gripping tension. Captain Recker is a compelling hero caught between enemies and betrayal, making every decision feel monumental. War from a Distant Sun delivers everything fans of classic space combat crave, ruthless aliens, mysterious ancient tech, and a desperate fight for humanity’s survival. A must read for military sci fi lovers.
August 24, 2020
A Decent Beginning
Reasonable science tech and a decent storyline, though it’s not exactly what I expected from the description and preview. Lots of stubborn human reactions from supposedly experienced senior military personnel which are also unexpected. Unfortunately, the book ends suddenly, with little story thread resolution, so it’s on to book 2 to finish the story - maybe.
Reasonable science tech and a decent storyline, though it’s not exactly what I expected from the description and preview. Lots of stubborn human reactions from supposedly experienced senior military personnel which are also unexpected. Unfortunately, the book ends suddenly, with little story thread resolution, so it’s on to book 2 to finish the story - maybe.
September 13, 2020
Formula writing
Ok I like this genre for a quick read, but having just read another of his series (The Survival Wars) written in 2017 I'd venture to say he really just changed a few new names, words, enemies and a different superior alien race with a different kind of super weapon/ tech, while the story line and A LOT of the same dialogue remains. Meh....
Ok I like this genre for a quick read, but having just read another of his series (The Survival Wars) written in 2017 I'd venture to say he really just changed a few new names, words, enemies and a different superior alien race with a different kind of super weapon/ tech, while the story line and A LOT of the same dialogue remains. Meh....
March 9, 2022
Good Read
Liked the quick pace and non-stop action. Wanted to just keep reading.
Disliked the fact that an operational space ship, the Vengence, at the end of the book was abandoned at one time. Why would a crew abandon such a craft and leave no evidence of their physical selves. Hopefully all will be explained in Book 2.
Liked the quick pace and non-stop action. Wanted to just keep reading.
Disliked the fact that an operational space ship, the Vengence, at the end of the book was abandoned at one time. Why would a crew abandon such a craft and leave no evidence of their physical selves. Hopefully all will be explained in Book 2.
March 10, 2023
Better than expected, fast moving. The ending was abrupt and extraordinarily unrealistic. spoiler:
The good guys infiltrated a deserted and partially destroyed alien weapon and were able to upload a language program - and receive a program in exchange - to then use the weapon and later a warship. I would not think a group at war would allow language exchange.
The good guys infiltrated a deserted and partially destroyed alien weapon and were able to upload a language program - and receive a program in exchange - to then use the weapon and later a warship. I would not think a group at war would allow language exchange.
November 22, 2020
Reaker
Story was a bit slow to.start but the pace quickened. With a captain who has history and a plot that contains more than just continuous space battles but also alien tech give it an extra dimension.
Story was a bit slow to.start but the pace quickened. With a captain who has history and a plot that contains more than just continuous space battles but also alien tech give it an extra dimension.
December 12, 2020
Very good read
This is a very similar to a book I read a few years ago. And yet it's quite different. The characters are unique but the premise is the same as this other book. I will read the next book and give it another try.
This is a very similar to a book I read a few years ago. And yet it's quite different. The characters are unique but the premise is the same as this other book. I will read the next book and give it another try.
December 27, 2020
Book was OK. Compared to Jay Allan books, a little on the "not so entertaining side". But I read the first book and that means something to me. Main character has a personality which is a plus. Crew also has personalities which I enjoyed. Maybe when I get into the 2nd book it will be better.
February 20, 2021
Great
Edge of your seat read. I enjoyed this book, it is the first book that I’ve read by this author. Now I am looking forward to spending hours reading all of his books. Thank you for the enjoyable read!
Edge of your seat read. I enjoyed this book, it is the first book that I’ve read by this author. Now I am looking forward to spending hours reading all of his books. Thank you for the enjoyable read!
April 21, 2021
Serviceable story and page turner. Some of it doesn’t make sense (they find another species’ damaged spacecraft but it just starts up fine? Why didn’t the aliens take it home then?) but the battle scenes are entertaining. Would be a good beach read if it ever gets to summer here.
May 18, 2021
Another fast and extremely fun read.
War in the future is different but in some ways the same. People have to make decisions and then appect to fulfill them. Good characters and decent plot.
War in the future is different but in some ways the same. People have to make decisions and then appect to fulfill them. Good characters and decent plot.
May 31, 2021
Good read!
Gripping, albiet predictable. The main character is TOO lucky/skilled. The setting is good as are the politics. I am considering reading the next book, but I dislike the “first one is free” ploy.
Gripping, albiet predictable. The main character is TOO lucky/skilled. The setting is good as are the politics. I am considering reading the next book, but I dislike the “first one is free” ploy.
February 20, 2022
Battles in deep space
Always a good read. A punchy tale of battles against aliens in deep space. The good guys are easily followed and the bad guys lose out as they should. Or do they? Well written pageturner for sci-fi lovers.
Always a good read. A punchy tale of battles against aliens in deep space. The good guys are easily followed and the bad guys lose out as they should. Or do they? Well written pageturner for sci-fi lovers.
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