The epic conclusion to Bob Mauldin's best-selling Stellar Heritage series!
With the human-Shiravan treaty on the line, Kitty Hawke must violently end a mutiny aboard one of her ships. Afterwards, she leaves Shiravi, bound for Earth after being away for two years. Marsha Kane replaces Kitty as the head of the human fleet in Shiravan space, but she has her own plans on how to end the war with the Garmon, formerly called the Korvil.
Meanwhile, the humans and Shiravan take the fight to the Garmon, destroying their ships and decimating their worlds, and it seems as if the war is nearing its end. But things take a turn for the worse when the Garmon upgrade their technology and stage a massive attack on Shiravi, destroying the Matriarch's home and taking many lives.
Amidst all the chaos, the Terran Alliance solidifies its foothold in space and then looks to the next step—the colonization of other worlds. Kitty and Simon's dream of exploring the unknown seems more distant now than ever as they struggle to survive. But they know how the old saying goes—when one door closes… another opens.
Bob lived in Montana for over thirty years, since late '85. He fell in love with the state almost instantly (who wouldn't after spending the previous twenty or more years trapped in Houston, Texas). Out in the Big Sky Country, he found the “elbow room” he didn't even know he was looking for. He lived quietly with his two cats and library of nearly two thousand books--about ninety-five percent sci/fi. He discovered that he liked to write as well and could often be found doing just that. Bob passed away in November of 2019 and is survived by his younger brother. Before he passed, he finished his writing project of more than a decade, The Stellar Heritage series, and he will live on in the hearts and minds of his readers.
I know this is supposed to be the last book in the series, but I don't agree with this assessment. The book notes claim the author completed the series, and perhaps that's true as far as it goes, but at the end of this book, there's still several story threads that are not tied up, many more that are hinted at, but not explored, and others that never emerged. If you're looking for a series that wraps up neatly after the four books, this isn't the series you want to read. The aggressive race that has been the main stay throughout allthe books suddenly disappears, and while the reader is made aware of why this is, the characters are not. The reader is also told beyond any shadow of a doubt that the enemy is nowhere near done with their campaign, and yet, at the end of this book, everyone melts into the background, wanders off in their separate directions, and generally shuts down the whole alien subplot. This sits very badly with my sense of story ending, and anyone else who feels the same is going to be highly disappointed with this series. On the other hand, if that sort of thing doesn't bother you, then you'll no doubt thoroughly enjoy this series, and more power to you. It's a decent story arc, and it's a great example of what scifi could/should be, but by the end of the books, it's nowhere near ended, though all the poor suckers who are characters think it is, it's almost like the characters simply wipe the enemy out of their collective memories. Sure, they keep up patrols around their home worlds, but that's about as far as it goes. Very bad plot resolution in my opinion, but that's where it gets left.
Where to start! A couple camping with a friend! A crash on a cliff. Simon and Kitty find a strange person dying. A small space shuttle is found. The adventure of a lifetime starts for the three friends! They venture into space, on a space ship! They go where no man has gone before! They learn to work the space ship and from there a space force has started! They find the planet the ship came from. They form a friend ship with the people. A friendship is formed with them. They find an enemy, a battle is started! Then peace! A great series!! Loved the characters and story line!
A nice long book that is really a good sci fi read. It is easy to put down and pick back up without missing a beat. There are enough space battles to keep the book exciting and there is a race of mostly women who learn they need some men(very interesting). There is a nice twist at the end about the race of people that were defeated. The twist concerns Cows and I will let you find out the ending for yourselves. This book will take you some good amount of time to read, but it is worth it. The writing is really good and the characters are what makes the book so good.
Please find a way to keep this universe going, it`s remarkable & easy to read!
Wow. I loved the whole series of 4 & felt that they got a bit better with each new book. I would love to see it as a TV series. To me, it is like a fantasy where ideally my wife and I could do the right thing if we came upon an alien spaceship... Would love to see Bob Mauldin honored & remembered for this. Hopefully, perhaps a new writer could extend it into a new series or 3. Review by Rick lightbody, another reader of much SF as was Bob. April 4,2021.
This is the final book of the Stellar Heritage series of books by Bob Mauldin. He died before these books could be published, and will be missed as I am sure that there would have been more to come. I recommended these books to you.
I must state that I did have the good fortune to have been a member of his ARC team.
This story of a couple who get a spaceship from a dying alien, and decides that the world would go to nuclear war if they gave it to the government. So they make their own space based government. Lucky they did as Earth was attacked by an very aggressive alien race who would in slave our world. Great story
Bob's contabution was a monument to imagination. I stand here the greatful steward of a wordsmith craft unfinished. The work goes on but not on this tangent. This arc is his alone between the stars and the gods of noble creatures. I ponder the infinate as a wallow in my unworthy ignorance. This quite is the loudest sound my heart quakes.
This series was a fun read and the good guys won. The creation of a society in one's mind is great, but then to write about it with all intricacies of an expert was fabulous. When do much is happening it takes awhile to tell the story, I enjoyed it and I think you will too.
It is a fairly well written book except for being over descriptive in too many places. It was more tedious to get through than the Delphi Series. The four books were good. I think with more time there would have been a growing. Unfortunately that will not happen.
I generally loved this series. While I did find a couple of inconsistencies, I feel that they didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story.
The end of this book, the last in the series, leaves many open threads in this universe, but brings closure to the story arc of the main characters in a way that was not surprising or disappointing in my view.
I do believe that the author was setting up the universe for spin-off stories, with the open threads. Still, unfortunately, he passed away, and we will miss the opportunity of enjoying those untold stories. Please, don't let this keep you from enjoying the four stories that we did get.
A much better story than I expected. Plenty of action and emotion kept the pages turning. Excellent ending to this series. In a few months I'll reread this series enjoying the story, the quality of the writing and editing.
In my humble opinion this series is one of my all time favorites. It shows how we can grow beyond on own experiences and come out on the other end better.The characters are us in every way.
I'm sorry that I never got a chance to talk with the author. I think that I would have liked him. I know that I liked his books. A lot of people have told their version of this story, and while some have done it very well, I think Mr Mauldin is among the top.
I was excited when this book finally came out. And it doesn’t disappoint either. I would definitely recommend buying this book and spending some time relaxing!
This was a very good book in a very good series and I really enjoyed it. Well thought out and interesting from beginning to end. The only down side is that Bob Mauldin won't be writing more.
It's really unfortunate that the author died ;RIP Bob. Maybe his estate could partner up with BV Larson to continue and expand the universe, but definitely not JN Chaney