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The Acheron #1
The Acheron
Sandi and Ash never set out to be heroes.She joined the Fleet to please her mother, the Admiral. He signed up to escape the grinding poverty of the Housing Blocks. And the unlikely friends envisioned boring, peacetime careers as shuttle pilots. The Tahni Imperium had other ideas... Caught in the desperate fury of the Battle for Mars, the two young pilots wind up the last defense against an alien armada, but their war is just beginning. Recruited to fly the Fleet's newest weapon in this new war, they take the fight deep into the heart of the Imperium and battle not just against the enemy but against incompetent leadership and ineffectual tactics. Can the unconventional strategies of a pair of hotshot young pilots change the course of the war? And when the time comes that a choice has to be made between duty to command and loyalty to a friend, which of the two will be willing to make one last flight alone... From the author of the bestselling Drop Trooper Military Sci-Fi Series comes another tale of war against an alien menace known as the Tahni. Perfect for fans of Jay Allan, Jasper T. Scott, and Scott Bartlett. (less)
378 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2020
321 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Rick Partlow
235 books375 followersRick Partlow is that rarest of species, a native Floridian. Born in Tampa, he attended Florida Southern College and graduated with a degree in History and a commission in the US Army as an Infantry officer.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 19, 2021
In some ways this wasn’t a bad space opera, but I had several problems with the story. To start with the main character Sandi has a chip on her shoulder and at times behaves like a self centred toddler. I found her quite wearing, especially with the author’s clumsy attempts at writing relationships.
My other problem was the combat seemed to be more about counting the number of casualties rather than interesting tactics and the author was too keen to kill off numerous characters.
Finally it seems that the book is really a prequel to the rest of the series and the only purpose for the events in this book, is to provide a back-story to the subsequent books.
My other problem was the combat seemed to be more about counting the number of casualties rather than interesting tactics and the author was too keen to kill off numerous characters.
Finally it seems that the book is really a prequel to the rest of the series and the only purpose for the events in this book, is to provide a back-story to the subsequent books.
April 6, 2021
Ok, I'm going to get this right out front. Since I'm a male chauvinist, I'm not partial to female main characters. Sandrine Hollande is the main character in this book and she is definitely a female. Ok, with that out of the way, let me go on to say, it was a pretty good book even thought there was too much of a "love" story to it. That just seems to happen in every book I read where the main character is a woman! If you don't like that statement, then you can stop reading my review, but that's how I see things.
Sandrine or "Sandi" has just graduated from the Common Wealth Space Fleet Academy and is looking forward to her first new assignment. She is an Assault Shuttle pilot as is her classmate, Ashton (Ash) Carpenter, whom she has known throughout her Academy training. While initially these two were friends, they later become friends with benefits and I'll let your figure out what that means. They book are assigned to the CSF Jutland right from the Academy, but first, Sandi has to report to Admiral Gannett on the CSF Yorktown. Sandi is dreading this meeting with the Admiral, who just happens to be her mother. As expected in stories where a parent is a high ranking member of the military, the offspring, for some unknown reason, usually resents that members position and is always afraid that they will get preferential treatment or appear to get some just because that parent is in the position they are in. Whew! What a sentence!
But, that's the reality of this story. Sandi wants to make her own way and her mother attempted to help her do that early on when she gave Sandi her father's last name while the Admiral kept her name, especially since the husband/father was no longer around. Of course Sandi blames her Mom and her military career for running her father off. She is also resentful of the time that military career has taken her mother from her. Even just recently, Sandi's mother, the Admiral, wasn't able to make it to her daughter's Academy graduation! Sandi is just like a lot of young people in books like these. She's got a chip on her shoulder against her parent(s) or someone for reasons that are pretty petty. But, this part of the story is pretty short. Still, everything seems to take off after the meeting with her mother.
While awaiting transportation to the CSF Jutland, Sandi and her friend Ash, decided to check out some of the drinking establishments on the moon Deimos and Deimos Station specifically. This is a Martian moon which considering everything should have been a pretty secure location. Not so! Here is also where she and Ash become more than friends after a long night of heavy drinking. Yet, they are suddenly awaken in the early morning with the General Quarters alarms blaring over the base speakers. Not really knowing what was going on, they both dressed and headed for the hangers on the station. As they soon found out, Mars and Deimos Station were under attack by the Tahni! No one expected them to be this deep in Common Wealth space, but here they were and they were destroying a lot of valuable military hardware.
Now, as unlikely as it sounds, both Ensigns found available Assault Shuttles armed and ready to go in the hanger and took them out to fight the bad guys. It's hard to imagine someone as green as they having the intestinal fortitude to do this on their own. Yet, they do get into space and do figure out how to do a small part in defending Mars and Deimos Station. For their actions, they are both awarded a very high Common Wealth medal, but Sandi has now lost her mother. The CSF Midway with Admiral Gannett was destroyed in the attack!
Still, the war is just getting started and Sandi and Ash are going to be in the thick of it. They have been assigned to a new Attack Command. They were to be part of a new unit equipped with new fighter starships that had their own transition drives. No other Common Wealth ships as small as their new missile cutters had transition drives and this opened a whole new battle tactics concept which could either help win this war or get both of them seriously dead!
As it turns out, both Sandi and Ash have their brush with death! Whether both actually survive is something you'll have to find out while reading the book. And that's what the rest of the book is about. Sandi and Ash's developing relationship is becoming complicated and it's going to cause them a lot of problems in their near future. I liked the story for the most part and didn't realize that this was the first book in the series that stretches to four books already published and available on Amazon. I think I'll be reading "Prodigal: Acheron 2" in the near future.
Sandrine or "Sandi" has just graduated from the Common Wealth Space Fleet Academy and is looking forward to her first new assignment. She is an Assault Shuttle pilot as is her classmate, Ashton (Ash) Carpenter, whom she has known throughout her Academy training. While initially these two were friends, they later become friends with benefits and I'll let your figure out what that means. They book are assigned to the CSF Jutland right from the Academy, but first, Sandi has to report to Admiral Gannett on the CSF Yorktown. Sandi is dreading this meeting with the Admiral, who just happens to be her mother. As expected in stories where a parent is a high ranking member of the military, the offspring, for some unknown reason, usually resents that members position and is always afraid that they will get preferential treatment or appear to get some just because that parent is in the position they are in. Whew! What a sentence!
But, that's the reality of this story. Sandi wants to make her own way and her mother attempted to help her do that early on when she gave Sandi her father's last name while the Admiral kept her name, especially since the husband/father was no longer around. Of course Sandi blames her Mom and her military career for running her father off. She is also resentful of the time that military career has taken her mother from her. Even just recently, Sandi's mother, the Admiral, wasn't able to make it to her daughter's Academy graduation! Sandi is just like a lot of young people in books like these. She's got a chip on her shoulder against her parent(s) or someone for reasons that are pretty petty. But, this part of the story is pretty short. Still, everything seems to take off after the meeting with her mother.
While awaiting transportation to the CSF Jutland, Sandi and her friend Ash, decided to check out some of the drinking establishments on the moon Deimos and Deimos Station specifically. This is a Martian moon which considering everything should have been a pretty secure location. Not so! Here is also where she and Ash become more than friends after a long night of heavy drinking. Yet, they are suddenly awaken in the early morning with the General Quarters alarms blaring over the base speakers. Not really knowing what was going on, they both dressed and headed for the hangers on the station. As they soon found out, Mars and Deimos Station were under attack by the Tahni! No one expected them to be this deep in Common Wealth space, but here they were and they were destroying a lot of valuable military hardware.
Now, as unlikely as it sounds, both Ensigns found available Assault Shuttles armed and ready to go in the hanger and took them out to fight the bad guys. It's hard to imagine someone as green as they having the intestinal fortitude to do this on their own. Yet, they do get into space and do figure out how to do a small part in defending Mars and Deimos Station. For their actions, they are both awarded a very high Common Wealth medal, but Sandi has now lost her mother. The CSF Midway with Admiral Gannett was destroyed in the attack!
Still, the war is just getting started and Sandi and Ash are going to be in the thick of it. They have been assigned to a new Attack Command. They were to be part of a new unit equipped with new fighter starships that had their own transition drives. No other Common Wealth ships as small as their new missile cutters had transition drives and this opened a whole new battle tactics concept which could either help win this war or get both of them seriously dead!
As it turns out, both Sandi and Ash have their brush with death! Whether both actually survive is something you'll have to find out while reading the book. And that's what the rest of the book is about. Sandi and Ash's developing relationship is becoming complicated and it's going to cause them a lot of problems in their near future. I liked the story for the most part and didn't realize that this was the first book in the series that stretches to four books already published and available on Amazon. I think I'll be reading "Prodigal: Acheron 2" in the near future.
October 24, 2020
Not My Style
Lots of space battles, with novices and veterans alike, many emotional relationships and many deaths, especially for secondary characters. I did not enjoy reading this first book, and will not continue with the series. I’m not a fan of getting to know a character well enough to care about them and then have them tragically killed.
The science and tech is well defined and consistent throughout. The relationships between characters were well defined as well, but too many known players were randomly sacrificed for me to gain any enjoyment from reading. I DNF at about 70%, frustrated and tired of the character deaths.
Lots of space battles, with novices and veterans alike, many emotional relationships and many deaths, especially for secondary characters. I did not enjoy reading this first book, and will not continue with the series. I’m not a fan of getting to know a character well enough to care about them and then have them tragically killed.
The science and tech is well defined and consistent throughout. The relationships between characters were well defined as well, but too many known players were randomly sacrificed for me to gain any enjoyment from reading. I DNF at about 70%, frustrated and tired of the character deaths.
November 20, 2020
Surprise surprise a female protagonist
I was surprised, I enjoyed the first book of the series even though the main protagonist is a pilot.
Pilots cannot fight, they have no hand to hand or firearms training worth a damn. They are soft and usually need some sort of back up or other person to get them out of a jam. The other thing that surprised me about this book the main protagonist is female, I do not remember many books or any books that I can recall by this author with a female lead. I hope she gets some skills during the next book. I found it fast paced and enjoyable and I will continue on to the next book in the series, give it a try it’s worth it.
I was surprised, I enjoyed the first book of the series even though the main protagonist is a pilot.
Pilots cannot fight, they have no hand to hand or firearms training worth a damn. They are soft and usually need some sort of back up or other person to get them out of a jam. The other thing that surprised me about this book the main protagonist is female, I do not remember many books or any books that I can recall by this author with a female lead. I hope she gets some skills during the next book. I found it fast paced and enjoyable and I will continue on to the next book in the series, give it a try it’s worth it.
July 26, 2021
The Acheron by Rick Partlow is a spin-off book from his Tahni/human war series, and a darn good one.
Rick’s characters (I’ve read so many of his books that I get to call him ‘Rick’ now) have issues. Sandi’s mom is an admiral, Ash’s father is a ranking industrialist. Both of them end up strike wing squadron leaders. Plenty of action, well done as always. Solid characterization and plotting – as always.
Just one thing – don’t put it down to do chores then pick it up for bedtime reading. I tried that. Sleep was delayed until the book was finished.
Rick’s characters (I’ve read so many of his books that I get to call him ‘Rick’ now) have issues. Sandi’s mom is an admiral, Ash’s father is a ranking industrialist. Both of them end up strike wing squadron leaders. Plenty of action, well done as always. Solid characterization and plotting – as always.
Just one thing – don’t put it down to do chores then pick it up for bedtime reading. I tried that. Sleep was delayed until the book was finished.
October 3, 2020
This was a quick enjoyable read
This was quick and easy to read with a slightly different feel to the ending of the story. Being different add another depth to it and allows for a different direction for book 2.
This was quick and easy to read with a slightly different feel to the ending of the story. Being different add another depth to it and allows for a different direction for book 2.
October 29, 2020
Fun fighter pilot space war
I liked this book for the fun fast pace and space warfare. The only criticism was the ending makes it seem like things have concluded without hinting at the series to follow. I’m certain the rest of the series will be just as good.
I liked this book for the fun fast pace and space warfare. The only criticism was the ending makes it seem like things have concluded without hinting at the series to follow. I’m certain the rest of the series will be just as good.
November 14, 2020
Acheron is awesome
This was an incredible story involving totally differing personalities, a lot of action as well as the routine of a military action. Hard to put it down the entire time I was reading.
This was an incredible story involving totally differing personalities, a lot of action as well as the routine of a military action. Hard to put it down the entire time I was reading.
December 13, 2020
A good read you will enjoy
A good read you will enjoy and surprise yourself. I went to read a few minutes and lost more than a few minutes each time I picked it up. If you fancy a new type of read them try it and just see.
A good read you will enjoy and surprise yourself. I went to read a few minutes and lost more than a few minutes each time I picked it up. If you fancy a new type of read them try it and just see.
March 7, 2021
Wow!
I enjoyed this novel especially! As a retired U.S.A.F. Command Pilot with over 800 hours of combat flight time, the aerial combat scenarios were especially engaging. A fun read!
I enjoyed this novel especially! As a retired U.S.A.F. Command Pilot with over 800 hours of combat flight time, the aerial combat scenarios were especially engaging. A fun read!
August 29, 2021
This is good.
It is not a hero's journey, it is not a valiant struggle. This is not about overcoming military inadequacies to wage war. This is a story about a broken pilot struggling to get by, and it is a good one.
It is not a hero's journey, it is not a valiant struggle. This is not about overcoming military inadequacies to wage war. This is a story about a broken pilot struggling to get by, and it is a good one.
October 3, 2020
Great Storyline
Well that was a great storyline. Makes a change to see the hero get a slap down for doing the right thing against his orders lol. Looking forward to the next one
Well that was a great storyline. Makes a change to see the hero get a slap down for doing the right thing against his orders lol. Looking forward to the next one
October 3, 2020
True cost of war
Really enjoyed this book. The characters were likeable and interesting. There were a few twists I wasn’t expecting and will definitely read the rest of the series.
Really enjoyed this book. The characters were likeable and interesting. There were a few twists I wasn’t expecting and will definitely read the rest of the series.
October 6, 2020
Entertaining
I only gave this 4 stars as it was a lot like his other books, and had less interpersonal relationships. If you like Rick's others, you'll enjoy this one
I only gave this 4 stars as it was a lot like his other books, and had less interpersonal relationships. If you like Rick's others, you'll enjoy this one
November 19, 2020
Pretty good
Easy reading, action filled novel. Nice, simple, engrossing story without unnecessary complexity or melodrama.
I’ll read more by this author.
Easy reading, action filled novel. Nice, simple, engrossing story without unnecessary complexity or melodrama.
I’ll read more by this author.
June 20, 2021
Good read..
This is starting out as a great sci fi series...will enjoy reading the whole series. I bet you will too. Recommended.
This is starting out as a great sci fi series...will enjoy reading the whole series. I bet you will too. Recommended.
September 27, 2021
A different view
I enjoyed reading this, as it's set in the same period as the other series. This time we meet a woman who has just started her service flying combat missions.
I enjoyed reading this, as it's set in the same period as the other series. This time we meet a woman who has just started her service flying combat missions.
March 15, 2023
4 novels in the series, First is a romance military space rocket fighter war story, Borrowed this item for free with my Prime Reading membership on March 13, 2023.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews