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Starship’s Mage #9
The Service of Mars
Secrets have been unleashed. Worlds have fallen. A Mage-King has died. But the war rages on!
Secrets and warships combined to turn the tide of the Siege of Legatus, delivering the capital of the Republic of Faith and Reason into the hands of their enemies. With Damien Montgomery called away to lead the entire Protectorate of Mars, fighting the war falls to Mage-Admiral Jane Alexander and Mage-Lieutenant Roslyn Chambers. As the Martian Second Fleet moves against the remaining Republic worlds, Captain Kelly LaMonte’s covert stealth ship sweeps the worlds away from the conflict, searching for the Republic’s government-in-hiding and a chance to end the bloody conflict.
But this war began in the shadows, and the secrets hidden in those shadows threaten to turn the tide of the war once more—and bring it to the heart of the Protectorate!
Secrets and warships combined to turn the tide of the Siege of Legatus, delivering the capital of the Republic of Faith and Reason into the hands of their enemies. With Damien Montgomery called away to lead the entire Protectorate of Mars, fighting the war falls to Mage-Admiral Jane Alexander and Mage-Lieutenant Roslyn Chambers. As the Martian Second Fleet moves against the remaining Republic worlds, Captain Kelly LaMonte’s covert stealth ship sweeps the worlds away from the conflict, searching for the Republic’s government-in-hiding and a chance to end the bloody conflict.
But this war began in the shadows, and the secrets hidden in those shadows threaten to turn the tide of the war once more—and bring it to the heart of the Protectorate!
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2020
About the author
Glynn Stewart
114 books1,777 followersGlynn Stewart is the author of over 60 books, including Starship’s Mage, a bestselling science fiction and fantasy series where faster-than-light travel is possible–but only because of magic.
Writing managed to liberate Glynn from a bleak future as an accountant. With his personality and hope for a high-tech future intact, he lives in Southern Ontario with his partner, their cats, and an unstoppable writing habit.
Writing managed to liberate Glynn from a bleak future as an accountant. With his personality and hope for a high-tech future intact, he lives in Southern Ontario with his partner, their cats, and an unstoppable writing habit.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
August 13, 2020
Let me start by saying that I really did genuinely love this book, as with all the Starship's Mage series thus far...however I really do want to ask and hope that perhaps with the next trilogy in this series, we focus back in a little more on our titular "Starship's Mage"...I get that the world is filled with rich and excellent characters, but honestly Damien is basically just a side-note in this volume, and hasn't done anything meaningful since the hands-incident...If we want a series about Jane, or any of the other secondary characters, lets split them off in the same manner as the other titles in this shared universe and perhaps give Damien back a little of the spotlight again.
September 17, 2020
Not wishing to give away any spoilers, but what happens in chapter 17 was so telegraphed, when it happened I was just stunned the author had actually gone through with it. It’s really a rehash of previous plots and implies that not one of the main characters have learnt a thing during the previous eight books.
The useful thing to come out of that particular storyline is it provided some opportunities for some interesting moments with Roslyn.
I have developed a sort of ‘love hate’ relationship with this series that always makes it difficult to rate the books. There are elements of the stories I like, but there nearly always seems to be something that also really irritates me about the books. If possible I would have given 2.5 stars.
The useful thing to come out of that particular storyline is it provided some opportunities for some interesting moments with Roslyn.
I have developed a sort of ‘love hate’ relationship with this series that always makes it difficult to rate the books. There are elements of the stories I like, but there nearly always seems to be something that also really irritates me about the books. If possible I would have given 2.5 stars.
September 2, 2020
5/10: Finished the book and it was about average for me.
I was sure I had some quotes highlighted to use in this review, but they don't seem to have come through on Goodreads. Anyhoo...this book.
This book, unfortunately, didn't hold my attention like the previous ones in the series. Mainly because there wasn't enough Damien Montgomery in it. I guess the cover gave that away (oh, and the blurb). But still, I held out hope for Damien, because, let's face it, he's the reason why I read this series.
Instead, we got a lot of Kelly Lamonte on Rhapsody in Blue (Purple? I can't remember) and her two spouses. I actually skipped her parts.
Mage-Admiral Jane Alexander and Mage-Lieutenant Roslyn Chambers were kind of inetresting, and I stopped skipping their parts early on.
I guess, this one just didn't do much for me. I missed Damien. I missed quotes like "I speak for Mars. Will you listen?" And I just wasn't into the girls that much.
I will read the next, especially if it looks like Damien is back in form again. Fingers crossed.
I was sure I had some quotes highlighted to use in this review, but they don't seem to have come through on Goodreads. Anyhoo...this book.
This book, unfortunately, didn't hold my attention like the previous ones in the series. Mainly because there wasn't enough Damien Montgomery in it. I guess the cover gave that away (oh, and the blurb). But still, I held out hope for Damien, because, let's face it, he's the reason why I read this series.
Instead, we got a lot of Kelly Lamonte on Rhapsody in Blue (Purple? I can't remember) and her two spouses. I actually skipped her parts.
Mage-Admiral Jane Alexander and Mage-Lieutenant Roslyn Chambers were kind of inetresting, and I stopped skipping their parts early on.
I guess, this one just didn't do much for me. I missed Damien. I missed quotes like "I speak for Mars. Will you listen?" And I just wasn't into the girls that much.
I will read the next, especially if it looks like Damien is back in form again. Fingers crossed.
August 26, 2020
I received an ARC for free in exchange for an honest review...
..and once again I am honestly READY FOR MORE.
If I had to rate my favorite worlds of Glynn's, I wouldn't be able to do it. Characters? Definitely forget it. YET something with Roslyn Chambers resonates with me. She has advanced quickly, but not from lack of skill/merit/grit. It's impossible to not root for her.
This book had classic Glynn Stewart plot twists, the ones we all know and love - you know they're coming yet they still slap you in the face. I'm always a fan of surprises. I was not let down.
The pace of this novel was brisk but not too fast. I felt like I got a lot of content out of it without ever wanting to put it down (unfortunately my lunch breaks are not long enough! I may have to start taking vacation days for Glynn's releases...)
If you're new to the Starship's Mage series, do yourself a HUGE favor and start at book 1. This series is 100% worth savoring from the beginning.
..and once again I am honestly READY FOR MORE.
If I had to rate my favorite worlds of Glynn's, I wouldn't be able to do it. Characters? Definitely forget it. YET something with Roslyn Chambers resonates with me. She has advanced quickly, but not from lack of skill/merit/grit. It's impossible to not root for her.
This book had classic Glynn Stewart plot twists, the ones we all know and love - you know they're coming yet they still slap you in the face. I'm always a fan of surprises. I was not let down.
The pace of this novel was brisk but not too fast. I felt like I got a lot of content out of it without ever wanting to put it down (unfortunately my lunch breaks are not long enough! I may have to start taking vacation days for Glynn's releases...)
If you're new to the Starship's Mage series, do yourself a HUGE favor and start at book 1. This series is 100% worth savoring from the beginning.
May 5, 2021
This could have been a much better book, but it's infection with contemporary gender politics makes it near impossible to suspend disbelief. In a nutshell, Roslyn and Admiral Alexander get kidnapped and in the end Roslyn is able to break them both and escape back to the Protectorate. The scenes with Kelly Lamonte are really slow and kill the pacing of the book.
Things that really get under my skin:
1) When the series started, there was a good balance of genders. However, as the series has expanded, nearly EVERY new character is female: starship officers, marines, bureaucrats, etc. When a male character does pop up, it's either a villain or meek subordinate.
2) Inconsistency. The Republic was defined in the other books as being supremely capable and downright scary in their preparation and planning. In this book, you'd think they were all mentally deficient morons. There are scenes where the Republic is trying to turn Roslyn, but their efforts are weak and childish. They don't have 100% camera coverage on someone that marked as a threat and that allows her to easily escape her room.
3) The rampant Mary Sueism. Early in the book, Rosyln is able to physically overpower a male Augment. The Augments were previously described as being highly trained and near impossible to stop without distance or overwhelming force. She's able to kick his knee with her bare foot, throat punch him, and then run away. She even later says she's only had basic self-defense training. We're to expect an unarmed, barely clothed woman overpowers a cyborg twice her size. Sorry, no. That's effin' ridiculous.
There's a scene near the end where she's able to pop the weld in a wall by smacking it with a chair. Again, No. While a weld is typically a weak point, they're still strong. a 140 pound person is not going to be able to generate the force to come close to damaging it.
Things that really get under my skin:
1) When the series started, there was a good balance of genders. However, as the series has expanded, nearly EVERY new character is female: starship officers, marines, bureaucrats, etc. When a male character does pop up, it's either a villain or meek subordinate.
2) Inconsistency. The Republic was defined in the other books as being supremely capable and downright scary in their preparation and planning. In this book, you'd think they were all mentally deficient morons. There are scenes where the Republic is trying to turn Roslyn, but their efforts are weak and childish. They don't have 100% camera coverage on someone that marked as a threat and that allows her to easily escape her room.
3) The rampant Mary Sueism. Early in the book, Rosyln is able to physically overpower a male Augment. The Augments were previously described as being highly trained and near impossible to stop without distance or overwhelming force. She's able to kick his knee with her bare foot, throat punch him, and then run away. She even later says she's only had basic self-defense training. We're to expect an unarmed, barely clothed woman overpowers a cyborg twice her size. Sorry, no. That's effin' ridiculous.
There's a scene near the end where she's able to pop the weld in a wall by smacking it with a chair. Again, No. While a weld is typically a weak point, they're still strong. a 140 pound person is not going to be able to generate the force to come close to damaging it.
November 3, 2021
This is pretty much the end of the Damien Montgomery stories and the beginning of the Roslyn Chambers as the primary protagonist of the series. This is a controversial change and I, honestly, kind of wish that Damien hadn't been taken out of the central role. Roslyn is a fine character but I feel like switching protagonists is a mistake. Still, I enjoyed the story of kidnapping and escape with Legatus trying to rebuild its forces like the First Order from Star Wars. Thankfully, Roslyn and Kelly Lamonte aren't about to let them come back with a new empire. If you've gotten this far in the series, you're probably not going to back out now. I do think they made magic a bit TOO powerful this time, though.
February 10, 2021
Eh took me forever to finish this one. I am just not a huge fan of book series practically excluding the main characters in favor of secondary ones after investing so much into the main one.
I hope the next ones get back to Damien.......this just felt like a filler episode.
I hope the next ones get back to Damien.......this just felt like a filler episode.
Read
July 2, 2026Rating: minus 5 on a scale of minus 15 to plus 5.
This made possible by YouTube's -String Quartet Channel, Gamers Nexus, Noble Knight Games, Ms Modeller, Red Glasgow, Storm of Steel Wargaming, 6UP Tabletop Gaming, Carl Walmsley, Volshebnak Scale Modelling, Legendary Tactics, Timeless Tabletop Gaming, Operation Toy Box, Ada Palmer, Dungeons and Discourse, Biz,
Welcome to Ukraine, Zilla Blitz, Cruising Crafts, Peachy Tips, Broken Peach, Eugenia from Ukraine, Tanya Fiona, Justin Taylor, Naughty Nana DUZ, Tod Maffin, Discourse Minis, Mediaeval Wargamer, Reese Waters, Graham's Wargame Vault, Alex, Real Vintage Dolls House, A Time of Eagles, National Centre for Military Intelligence,
British Warplanes, British Warships, Ukraine Matters, Silicon Curtain, White Stork, Just in Time Worldbuilding, BookBorn, Bookpilled, The Lit Nerd, Cosy Creative, Autistic Jenny, Riverboat Jack, Jen's Reading Life, Blooms and Greens by Chloe, Council of Geeks, Vidya Mitra, Science fiction Retirement Library, Feral Historian, Door Monster,
Boardgame Sanctuary, Bahamian Gyal, Anne Applebaum, IMY2, Ask Raphaela, Russian Media Monitor, Tanya Fiona, Amanda's Mild Takes, Jen's Reading Life, Charlie Angus, Dangerously Informed with Evie, Emily Linge, Heather Cox Richardson, Gutsick Gibbon, Kyiv Post, Dr Ben Miles, Casual Librarian, Munecat, Emilie's Literary Corner.
A member of the venerable Village Idiots whilst insulting a creator I mention, complained to her that I list other trans creators. Snowflake (Insecure, emotionally stunted, badly socialised baby-man) behaviour no longer surprises. A trigger warning then.
The channels I list include the aviation modeller, lesbian, lumber yard worker, sailboat restorer, military boardgamer, mechanic, Irish, botanist, intersex, pensioner, vanlife, language instructor, particle physicist, oils artist, anarchist, asexual, architect, travel vlogger, sewist, military historian, married, Iranian, miniatures painter, trans, psychologist, fashion historian, comedienne, cosplayer, tall, chess master, engineer, queer, book reviewer, culture critic, parent, autistic, singer, miniatures builder, Indian, bi, chemist, sociologist, science educator, astrophysicist, redhaired, primatologist, wooden boat restorer, model, communist, Scottish, marine biologist and other creators known as Women.
Almost as threatening are the paleontologist, ginger, other LGBTQIA, Australian, tailor, miniature landscape builder, other neurodivergent, writer, wood worker, economist, short, Canadian, anthropologist, philosopher, other fashion historian, reenactor, boardgame historian, marine archaeologist, other biologist, community activist, political commentator, English, archaeologist, narrowboat restorer, city planner, literary critic, science fiction reviewer, diorama builder, miniatures gamer, Kenyan, photographer, socialist and others known (outside the US) as Human beings.
Should the voices persist, seek emergency pastoral counselling and\or develop a new skill, introspection perhaps and\or seek the nearest Mahayana Temple.
Even recalling the unrequested juvenile or frothing or threatening comments received, by new reviews and these revisions are emotionally exhausting. At those moments, I often consider the wasted deaths of French and ANZAC troops at Gallipoli. It inspires my continuing. Slava Ukraini. Slava Heroyam. Crimea is Ukraine.
Once more unto the book, dear friends. The writer's prose tends to the adult and professional. That is rare in the Unlimited offerings. Despite the strengths of his stories, there are flaws which bothered across his series. By the last series which I tried, the writing had collapsed.
There are many missing elements in the world building. The internal social, political and economic life of the various interstellar societies are a complete blank. The only picture in my mind from the first book on is the default Neoliberal narrative of the present. The people are absent.
What decision makers decide is presented as a society wide consensus. Among other issues are the many lost stories of the people who build power plants, build space ships, staff schools and hospitals. The books in the series like those of other writers are picturing only the surface of populations, which makes a simpler and less than vibrant story line.
Given the indifference of Earth's population to the atrocity which led to the creation of the mage class and the later murder of thousands of mages from children to adult paints a portrait of a fairly twisted society. That is not questioned by the writer.
The society as described must include serious of inequality (read poverty), which is never addressed. Political lower rests with nobles and mages only. The citizenry exhibit no interest in policy.
Parents do not question the abduction of thousands of children with mags talents, nor do the central authority. A central authority which rests on magic users not monitoring the activities of said users, is ineffective at best and more like a impossibility.
Even after the discovery of this massive atrocity, the populations seem unfazed and the architects of same are easily forgiven with an apology. There are no consequences. The series was more disturbing than entertaining. I continued to read only because of the poor writing of Unlimited selections, though I began watching science fiction in lieu of print for the first time.
Prose acceptable, characters blandly satisfactory, plots somewhat shaky, entertaining until the uncomfortable givens become overwhelming.
There are BookTubers, science fiction critics, science educators, good history and writing advisors aplenty on YouTube. Were the poor writers to avail themselves, even the attempt at improvement would massively increase the entertainment value of Unlimited.
Some examples are Lindsay Ellis, Just in Time Worldbuilding, Jay Exci, Quinn's Ideas, Tale Foundry, Terrible Writing Advice, Kings and Generals, Words Unravelled, SciFi Odyssey, RobWords, SciFi Scavenger, Isaac Arthur, Sabine Hossenfelder, Dr Fatima, Anthony Gramuglia, Invicta, No Justice MTG, J. Draper, LuckyBLackCat and many others.
Consider treating this as a hostile site. 🤔
Goodreads discourse does not exist. As example, I wrote a very short negative review of Powers of the Earth by Travis Corcoran. The book originally blurbed as akin to a Heinlein classic was instead a sad retelling of "Atlas Shrugged" set up the Moon.
The protagonist is a rich twat, who heroically attempts to enlist the military in overthrow of a US government in in order that he not taxes. There are many similar fantasies on Kindle and I found them all to be dangerous and now prophetic.
Travis self-described as libertarian (now anarcho capitalist without millions), US veteran,
advocate for the return of chattel slavery (the new criminalization of the unhoused, no pathway to release for entire families, forced labour, what are now finally labelled by YouTubers Concentration Camps, the indifference of the general population, the complicity of the Democratic Party (excluding the socialist few) and building plans which include industrial furnaces for disposal of biologicals all perfectly mirror 1930's Germany's solution to removal of the undesirable and subhuman),
employee of an unnamed US agency, admirer of Putin's Russia (the US working and middle classes are descending into an irreversible lifestyle decline and the historical corruption of the US legal system descent to Russian levels are unopposed by the majority. Action replaced by hopelessness, surrender, adoption of the "Pick Me" stance or refusal to accept adult responsibility). All the above surely warms the writer's heart.
Travis and six fellow patriots vehemently disapproved of my communist perspective, which mistakenly seemed a defence of their capitalist democracy. Their anger was expressed in a year long stream of helpful criticism of my many flaws (fortunately my hygiene seems to have passed muster). There was no mention of the "book", a truly infantile attempt at fiction.
I was instead gifted generous instruction in correct views of history (I'd not realised that slavery past, present, future is a social good), economics, philosophy (I'd not known that existentialism was the foundation of National Socialism rather than the excesses of late imperial capitalism, failure of socialist and communist groups failed to energise the working classes).
I also had not known that Senator Ted Kennedy is on Mount Rushmore and a founding father, among other key elements of historical record. I was tempted to request a learned opinion of the origins of the Bronze Age collapse or their favoured interpretations of quantum physics.
Sadly I admitted that either would be churlish after the generosity of their scholarly gifting.
The final comment was written by Claes Rees Jr aka cgr710 now ka Clayton R Jesse Jr. After referencing the contents of my last message exchange with a Goodreads friend, he declared that They had "won" .
I discovered that They and many allies had launched a flood of vile anti-woman, racist and other anti-human comments against apparently every female creator of channels which I mentioned. It continues in a more muted form still.
The hoped for romantic relationships with the early teen boater and her mother, Oxford astrophysicist, German theoretical physicist, fashion historian and others did not materialise.
Despite that failure, They did increase the global store of ugliness and deliver an accurate self-portrait of the Snowflake (aggrieved, desperate for attention and relevance, US titty-baby) to A multinational audience.
By any metric this was surely a Victory. If the above member behaviours disturb, there are BookTubers aplenty to suggest sane, safe, true reader forums.
Claes Rees Jr aka cgr710 now ka Clayton R Jesse Jr.
Don't be a numpty. Be a smarty. Come and join a Socialist Party.
The limited review value, sameness of the genre titles, the non-effort of the writing, the repetition of all US, all white, all male character casts and the repeated American Exceptionalism refrain are repellent but of more impact are boring. They have only one target audience the weirdest of US readers and the sad souls lusting after the faded glamour which never was.
Goodreads sent me to YouTube for science fiction criticism and I eventually stumbled upon the BookTube. These channels host communities possessed of critical thought, love of all things bookish, appreciation for good character work, solid plotting, grounded world setting and examination of society and exploration of possibilities.
They are opposite to whatever Goodreads are become.
A stepaway earned. This next made possible by YouTube's Russian Media Monitor, Honest Government Ads, The Rest is Science, TIL Science, Sabine Hossenfelder, NFKRZ, Ada Palmer, Dwarkesh Patel, Reads with Rachel, Harry Sahota, Gary's Economics, Unlearning Economics, Professor Tim Wilson, Mia Mulder, Matriarchetype,
May's Narrowboat Life, Amie's Literary Empire, Agro Squirrel Narrates, Starbound, Saga Lore AI, Confused Adipose, Jen the Librarian, Jerome Weiselberry, Brigitte Empire,
Amodelwhosread, Tom Nicholas, Owen Jones, ScaredKetchup, The Resistance, Cindy Pinchart, Princess Weekes, Lily Simpson, Jess Owens, Turn Left, Leftist Cooks,
Jessie Gender, TheShadesofOrange, Some More News, The Onion, Lisandra Vazquez, Julie Nolke, Dark Brandon, Anna Cramling, Yanis Varoufakis, US Democratic Socialist, Benn Jordan, Red Viburnam Song, White Stork, What Vivi did next, Clouds and Sky, Infinite Zebra, Zeteo, Kat Abughazaleh, Prime of Midlife, Maggie Mae Fish, Kate Nash,
Ritual Kitchen with Laura May, Upon Reflection, The Great War, Lilly's Life,Blackboot Official, Offizier Amira, Veritas et Caritas, Vlad Vexler, Riverboat Jack, No Justice MTG, Science Fiction with Damien Walter, Feral Historian, Hat Historian, Bernadette Banner, Shannon Makes, Engineering with Rosie, Anthony Gramuglia, Kozak Siromaha.
Ominous music begins. 😊 The comment stream described is not uncommon except in duration. The comment gangs are loosely connected unhinged writers and members of the Snowflake variety.
Their antics run to but are not limited to the hacking, stalking, doxxing, threats. Amazon do not discipline mental members, punish writers involved or dismiss the madlads who enable Them.
After my review of Powers, my message history was given over to these demented patriots. This allowed a request through Pine Gap Centre that Australian Intelligence interrogate the one friend whom I occasionally messaged. The attempt at my history failed.
Criminal behaviour concerned Amazon not a bit, until we broadcast that bizarre interlude widely. No acknowledgement but all Lurkers I'd not been Permitted to remove were disappeared, page format and options restored to normal after several years, periodic bricking of my Kindle seems ended and the rest of it.
A YouTuber had a review deleted and membership threatened because she addressed ableism and misogyny in a title. Another had her Kindle bricked for daring to challenge an Amazon double billing.
I had an interesting experience with Yahoo. In support of fraud, Google forced a backdated email into my address. I accidentally saw it happen IRT after an unflattering review of MintMobile, who required nine days to deliver a phone and a year prepaid service. I received it only after I had requested a refund of a bit more than 500 USD.
After receiving a return label days later and return made, a month later no refund was made. I have received no email explanation. I had wanted a newer phone and a better service provider so chose Mint because I liked Ryan Reynolds. Quite the mistake. I know that Google had the capability but was shocked that any employee would actually interrupt a system process. It is a while since I sat for systems engineering but I remember that being a mortal sin. Updates to this in forthcoming reviews.
These US data firms are become a serious threat and will no doubt take further liberties.
As for Goodreads, there are several precautions I suggest. Remove all personal information from profile and avoid messaging. Remove Lurkers, those who never post. They are likely gang monitors or employee dummies.
Given the Amazon penchant for Alteration to customer pages, the screenshot of the odd, ugly and threatening are invaluable.These should suffice.
Kindle are the more dangerous. Do Not Use Email, Contacts, Calendar or Files. Kindle Sign Into customer email with neither permission nor notice. Make of that what you will.
Do Not purchase Amazon ebooks. You own only your device and if Kindle that is conditional. If purchased download titles immediately. In my more innocent period, I mistakenly "purchased" about 3000 USD of older titles by writers who actually write.
There are BookTubers to suggest other ebook and reader providers or alternatives to ebooks altogether.
All Silk searches should of course, be innocuous and non-critical.
Amazon and Google have not only deranged employees but seem to exercise no control over these madlads. In both cases, I suspect that They are typical, cowardly thugs, devoid of morality but proud US patriots. Ominous music ends. 😊
Be safe. May we all find Good Reading. 😊
Some of my favourite YouTube channels are.
Ship Happens, Tara Mooknee, Diane Morgan, Philosophy Tube, The Mindful Narrowboat, Sort of Interesting, Real Crusades History, Books with Chloe, Fiction Beast, Alt Shift X, Violet Orlandi, The Piano Boat, Spacedock, Scott Manley, Tibees, A Life of Lit, Lilly's life, I'm Rosa, Psychology, with Dr Ana, Apostolic Majesty,
Paleo Analysis, Propaganda Talks, Lady of the Library, Cruising the Cut, Chloe Stafler, Northern Narrowboaters, The Historian's Craft, Eleanor Morton, Pentatonix, Depressed Russian, Natasha's Adventures, Books with Emily Fox, Austin McConnell, OrangeRiver, Keffals, Lindsay Ellis, Adult Wednesday Addams- 2 seasons, Jabzy,
IzzzYzzz, Dr Becky, Crecganford, Brandon Fisichella, Harp Twins, 3Blue 1Brown, Oliver Lugg, Enemy from Within, Charlie Angus, Ukraine Today, It ain't half hot mum, Black Adder, Mhara Starling, Bitchuation Room, Verilybitchie, AllShortsPolitics, Writing with Jenna Moreci, Awful Archaeology, Geography Geek, Planet D,
Canada Today, Kathy's Flog from France, The Library Ladder, Emmie, Zoe Baker, Diane Callahan Quotidian Writer, We're in Hell, Make Better Media, Up and Atom, JamCam and Cam, Digital Engine, Ben and Emily, Cecilia Blomdahl, SciFi Odyssey, A Clockwork Reader, Guard the Leaf, Tod Maffin, Naughty Nana DUZ, Jean's Thoughts.
I wish you a sunny morning, a glorious afternoon, a splendid evening, a pleasant night and may we all continue learning.
Genocide and enslavement on at scale is a small price to pay for progress.
Hitler, Stalin, Bush, Obama, Mao, Kissinger.
This made possible by YouTube's -String Quartet Channel, Gamers Nexus, Noble Knight Games, Ms Modeller, Red Glasgow, Storm of Steel Wargaming, 6UP Tabletop Gaming, Carl Walmsley, Volshebnak Scale Modelling, Legendary Tactics, Timeless Tabletop Gaming, Operation Toy Box, Ada Palmer, Dungeons and Discourse, Biz,
Welcome to Ukraine, Zilla Blitz, Cruising Crafts, Peachy Tips, Broken Peach, Eugenia from Ukraine, Tanya Fiona, Justin Taylor, Naughty Nana DUZ, Tod Maffin, Discourse Minis, Mediaeval Wargamer, Reese Waters, Graham's Wargame Vault, Alex, Real Vintage Dolls House, A Time of Eagles, National Centre for Military Intelligence,
British Warplanes, British Warships, Ukraine Matters, Silicon Curtain, White Stork, Just in Time Worldbuilding, BookBorn, Bookpilled, The Lit Nerd, Cosy Creative, Autistic Jenny, Riverboat Jack, Jen's Reading Life, Blooms and Greens by Chloe, Council of Geeks, Vidya Mitra, Science fiction Retirement Library, Feral Historian, Door Monster,
Boardgame Sanctuary, Bahamian Gyal, Anne Applebaum, IMY2, Ask Raphaela, Russian Media Monitor, Tanya Fiona, Amanda's Mild Takes, Jen's Reading Life, Charlie Angus, Dangerously Informed with Evie, Emily Linge, Heather Cox Richardson, Gutsick Gibbon, Kyiv Post, Dr Ben Miles, Casual Librarian, Munecat, Emilie's Literary Corner.
A member of the venerable Village Idiots whilst insulting a creator I mention, complained to her that I list other trans creators. Snowflake (Insecure, emotionally stunted, badly socialised baby-man) behaviour no longer surprises. A trigger warning then.
The channels I list include the aviation modeller, lesbian, lumber yard worker, sailboat restorer, military boardgamer, mechanic, Irish, botanist, intersex, pensioner, vanlife, language instructor, particle physicist, oils artist, anarchist, asexual, architect, travel vlogger, sewist, military historian, married, Iranian, miniatures painter, trans, psychologist, fashion historian, comedienne, cosplayer, tall, chess master, engineer, queer, book reviewer, culture critic, parent, autistic, singer, miniatures builder, Indian, bi, chemist, sociologist, science educator, astrophysicist, redhaired, primatologist, wooden boat restorer, model, communist, Scottish, marine biologist and other creators known as Women.
Almost as threatening are the paleontologist, ginger, other LGBTQIA, Australian, tailor, miniature landscape builder, other neurodivergent, writer, wood worker, economist, short, Canadian, anthropologist, philosopher, other fashion historian, reenactor, boardgame historian, marine archaeologist, other biologist, community activist, political commentator, English, archaeologist, narrowboat restorer, city planner, literary critic, science fiction reviewer, diorama builder, miniatures gamer, Kenyan, photographer, socialist and others known (outside the US) as Human beings.
Should the voices persist, seek emergency pastoral counselling and\or develop a new skill, introspection perhaps and\or seek the nearest Mahayana Temple.
Even recalling the unrequested juvenile or frothing or threatening comments received, by new reviews and these revisions are emotionally exhausting. At those moments, I often consider the wasted deaths of French and ANZAC troops at Gallipoli. It inspires my continuing. Slava Ukraini. Slava Heroyam. Crimea is Ukraine.
Once more unto the book, dear friends. The writer's prose tends to the adult and professional. That is rare in the Unlimited offerings. Despite the strengths of his stories, there are flaws which bothered across his series. By the last series which I tried, the writing had collapsed.
There are many missing elements in the world building. The internal social, political and economic life of the various interstellar societies are a complete blank. The only picture in my mind from the first book on is the default Neoliberal narrative of the present. The people are absent.
What decision makers decide is presented as a society wide consensus. Among other issues are the many lost stories of the people who build power plants, build space ships, staff schools and hospitals. The books in the series like those of other writers are picturing only the surface of populations, which makes a simpler and less than vibrant story line.
Given the indifference of Earth's population to the atrocity which led to the creation of the mage class and the later murder of thousands of mages from children to adult paints a portrait of a fairly twisted society. That is not questioned by the writer.
The society as described must include serious of inequality (read poverty), which is never addressed. Political lower rests with nobles and mages only. The citizenry exhibit no interest in policy.
Parents do not question the abduction of thousands of children with mags talents, nor do the central authority. A central authority which rests on magic users not monitoring the activities of said users, is ineffective at best and more like a impossibility.
Even after the discovery of this massive atrocity, the populations seem unfazed and the architects of same are easily forgiven with an apology. There are no consequences. The series was more disturbing than entertaining. I continued to read only because of the poor writing of Unlimited selections, though I began watching science fiction in lieu of print for the first time.
Prose acceptable, characters blandly satisfactory, plots somewhat shaky, entertaining until the uncomfortable givens become overwhelming.
There are BookTubers, science fiction critics, science educators, good history and writing advisors aplenty on YouTube. Were the poor writers to avail themselves, even the attempt at improvement would massively increase the entertainment value of Unlimited.
Some examples are Lindsay Ellis, Just in Time Worldbuilding, Jay Exci, Quinn's Ideas, Tale Foundry, Terrible Writing Advice, Kings and Generals, Words Unravelled, SciFi Odyssey, RobWords, SciFi Scavenger, Isaac Arthur, Sabine Hossenfelder, Dr Fatima, Anthony Gramuglia, Invicta, No Justice MTG, J. Draper, LuckyBLackCat and many others.
Consider treating this as a hostile site. 🤔
Goodreads discourse does not exist. As example, I wrote a very short negative review of Powers of the Earth by Travis Corcoran. The book originally blurbed as akin to a Heinlein classic was instead a sad retelling of "Atlas Shrugged" set up the Moon.
The protagonist is a rich twat, who heroically attempts to enlist the military in overthrow of a US government in in order that he not taxes. There are many similar fantasies on Kindle and I found them all to be dangerous and now prophetic.
Travis self-described as libertarian (now anarcho capitalist without millions), US veteran,
advocate for the return of chattel slavery (the new criminalization of the unhoused, no pathway to release for entire families, forced labour, what are now finally labelled by YouTubers Concentration Camps, the indifference of the general population, the complicity of the Democratic Party (excluding the socialist few) and building plans which include industrial furnaces for disposal of biologicals all perfectly mirror 1930's Germany's solution to removal of the undesirable and subhuman),
employee of an unnamed US agency, admirer of Putin's Russia (the US working and middle classes are descending into an irreversible lifestyle decline and the historical corruption of the US legal system descent to Russian levels are unopposed by the majority. Action replaced by hopelessness, surrender, adoption of the "Pick Me" stance or refusal to accept adult responsibility). All the above surely warms the writer's heart.
Travis and six fellow patriots vehemently disapproved of my communist perspective, which mistakenly seemed a defence of their capitalist democracy. Their anger was expressed in a year long stream of helpful criticism of my many flaws (fortunately my hygiene seems to have passed muster). There was no mention of the "book", a truly infantile attempt at fiction.
I was instead gifted generous instruction in correct views of history (I'd not realised that slavery past, present, future is a social good), economics, philosophy (I'd not known that existentialism was the foundation of National Socialism rather than the excesses of late imperial capitalism, failure of socialist and communist groups failed to energise the working classes).
I also had not known that Senator Ted Kennedy is on Mount Rushmore and a founding father, among other key elements of historical record. I was tempted to request a learned opinion of the origins of the Bronze Age collapse or their favoured interpretations of quantum physics.
Sadly I admitted that either would be churlish after the generosity of their scholarly gifting.
The final comment was written by Claes Rees Jr aka cgr710 now ka Clayton R Jesse Jr. After referencing the contents of my last message exchange with a Goodreads friend, he declared that They had "won" .
I discovered that They and many allies had launched a flood of vile anti-woman, racist and other anti-human comments against apparently every female creator of channels which I mentioned. It continues in a more muted form still.
The hoped for romantic relationships with the early teen boater and her mother, Oxford astrophysicist, German theoretical physicist, fashion historian and others did not materialise.
Despite that failure, They did increase the global store of ugliness and deliver an accurate self-portrait of the Snowflake (aggrieved, desperate for attention and relevance, US titty-baby) to A multinational audience.
By any metric this was surely a Victory. If the above member behaviours disturb, there are BookTubers aplenty to suggest sane, safe, true reader forums.
Claes Rees Jr aka cgr710 now ka Clayton R Jesse Jr.
Don't be a numpty. Be a smarty. Come and join a Socialist Party.
The limited review value, sameness of the genre titles, the non-effort of the writing, the repetition of all US, all white, all male character casts and the repeated American Exceptionalism refrain are repellent but of more impact are boring. They have only one target audience the weirdest of US readers and the sad souls lusting after the faded glamour which never was.
Goodreads sent me to YouTube for science fiction criticism and I eventually stumbled upon the BookTube. These channels host communities possessed of critical thought, love of all things bookish, appreciation for good character work, solid plotting, grounded world setting and examination of society and exploration of possibilities.
They are opposite to whatever Goodreads are become.
A stepaway earned. This next made possible by YouTube's Russian Media Monitor, Honest Government Ads, The Rest is Science, TIL Science, Sabine Hossenfelder, NFKRZ, Ada Palmer, Dwarkesh Patel, Reads with Rachel, Harry Sahota, Gary's Economics, Unlearning Economics, Professor Tim Wilson, Mia Mulder, Matriarchetype,
May's Narrowboat Life, Amie's Literary Empire, Agro Squirrel Narrates, Starbound, Saga Lore AI, Confused Adipose, Jen the Librarian, Jerome Weiselberry, Brigitte Empire,
Amodelwhosread, Tom Nicholas, Owen Jones, ScaredKetchup, The Resistance, Cindy Pinchart, Princess Weekes, Lily Simpson, Jess Owens, Turn Left, Leftist Cooks,
Jessie Gender, TheShadesofOrange, Some More News, The Onion, Lisandra Vazquez, Julie Nolke, Dark Brandon, Anna Cramling, Yanis Varoufakis, US Democratic Socialist, Benn Jordan, Red Viburnam Song, White Stork, What Vivi did next, Clouds and Sky, Infinite Zebra, Zeteo, Kat Abughazaleh, Prime of Midlife, Maggie Mae Fish, Kate Nash,
Ritual Kitchen with Laura May, Upon Reflection, The Great War, Lilly's Life,Blackboot Official, Offizier Amira, Veritas et Caritas, Vlad Vexler, Riverboat Jack, No Justice MTG, Science Fiction with Damien Walter, Feral Historian, Hat Historian, Bernadette Banner, Shannon Makes, Engineering with Rosie, Anthony Gramuglia, Kozak Siromaha.
Ominous music begins. 😊 The comment stream described is not uncommon except in duration. The comment gangs are loosely connected unhinged writers and members of the Snowflake variety.
Their antics run to but are not limited to the hacking, stalking, doxxing, threats. Amazon do not discipline mental members, punish writers involved or dismiss the madlads who enable Them.
After my review of Powers, my message history was given over to these demented patriots. This allowed a request through Pine Gap Centre that Australian Intelligence interrogate the one friend whom I occasionally messaged. The attempt at my history failed.
Criminal behaviour concerned Amazon not a bit, until we broadcast that bizarre interlude widely. No acknowledgement but all Lurkers I'd not been Permitted to remove were disappeared, page format and options restored to normal after several years, periodic bricking of my Kindle seems ended and the rest of it.
A YouTuber had a review deleted and membership threatened because she addressed ableism and misogyny in a title. Another had her Kindle bricked for daring to challenge an Amazon double billing.
I had an interesting experience with Yahoo. In support of fraud, Google forced a backdated email into my address. I accidentally saw it happen IRT after an unflattering review of MintMobile, who required nine days to deliver a phone and a year prepaid service. I received it only after I had requested a refund of a bit more than 500 USD.
After receiving a return label days later and return made, a month later no refund was made. I have received no email explanation. I had wanted a newer phone and a better service provider so chose Mint because I liked Ryan Reynolds. Quite the mistake. I know that Google had the capability but was shocked that any employee would actually interrupt a system process. It is a while since I sat for systems engineering but I remember that being a mortal sin. Updates to this in forthcoming reviews.
These US data firms are become a serious threat and will no doubt take further liberties.
As for Goodreads, there are several precautions I suggest. Remove all personal information from profile and avoid messaging. Remove Lurkers, those who never post. They are likely gang monitors or employee dummies.
Given the Amazon penchant for Alteration to customer pages, the screenshot of the odd, ugly and threatening are invaluable.These should suffice.
Kindle are the more dangerous. Do Not Use Email, Contacts, Calendar or Files. Kindle Sign Into customer email with neither permission nor notice. Make of that what you will.
Do Not purchase Amazon ebooks. You own only your device and if Kindle that is conditional. If purchased download titles immediately. In my more innocent period, I mistakenly "purchased" about 3000 USD of older titles by writers who actually write.
There are BookTubers to suggest other ebook and reader providers or alternatives to ebooks altogether.
All Silk searches should of course, be innocuous and non-critical.
Amazon and Google have not only deranged employees but seem to exercise no control over these madlads. In both cases, I suspect that They are typical, cowardly thugs, devoid of morality but proud US patriots. Ominous music ends. 😊
Be safe. May we all find Good Reading. 😊
Some of my favourite YouTube channels are.
Ship Happens, Tara Mooknee, Diane Morgan, Philosophy Tube, The Mindful Narrowboat, Sort of Interesting, Real Crusades History, Books with Chloe, Fiction Beast, Alt Shift X, Violet Orlandi, The Piano Boat, Spacedock, Scott Manley, Tibees, A Life of Lit, Lilly's life, I'm Rosa, Psychology, with Dr Ana, Apostolic Majesty,
Paleo Analysis, Propaganda Talks, Lady of the Library, Cruising the Cut, Chloe Stafler, Northern Narrowboaters, The Historian's Craft, Eleanor Morton, Pentatonix, Depressed Russian, Natasha's Adventures, Books with Emily Fox, Austin McConnell, OrangeRiver, Keffals, Lindsay Ellis, Adult Wednesday Addams- 2 seasons, Jabzy,
IzzzYzzz, Dr Becky, Crecganford, Brandon Fisichella, Harp Twins, 3Blue 1Brown, Oliver Lugg, Enemy from Within, Charlie Angus, Ukraine Today, It ain't half hot mum, Black Adder, Mhara Starling, Bitchuation Room, Verilybitchie, AllShortsPolitics, Writing with Jenna Moreci, Awful Archaeology, Geography Geek, Planet D,
Canada Today, Kathy's Flog from France, The Library Ladder, Emmie, Zoe Baker, Diane Callahan Quotidian Writer, We're in Hell, Make Better Media, Up and Atom, JamCam and Cam, Digital Engine, Ben and Emily, Cecilia Blomdahl, SciFi Odyssey, A Clockwork Reader, Guard the Leaf, Tod Maffin, Naughty Nana DUZ, Jean's Thoughts.
I wish you a sunny morning, a glorious afternoon, a splendid evening, a pleasant night and may we all continue learning.
Genocide and enslavement on at scale is a small price to pay for progress.
Hitler, Stalin, Bush, Obama, Mao, Kissinger.
November 6, 2020
3+
This is a hard one to rate. The pacing was inconsistent and the first half of the book was mostly starship gun porn (which I find excruciatingly boring). The ending was abrupt and while not a cliff hanger it did feel to me like a wish to get it done and get it published.
The middle, however, was excellent. Engaging, exciting, and unexpected.
So, some good and some that left me thinking "please get me through this." I guess the fact that it took me a month to get it read is the clue.
This is a hard one to rate. The pacing was inconsistent and the first half of the book was mostly starship gun porn (which I find excruciatingly boring). The ending was abrupt and while not a cliff hanger it did feel to me like a wish to get it done and get it published.
The middle, however, was excellent. Engaging, exciting, and unexpected.
So, some good and some that left me thinking "please get me through this." I guess the fact that it took me a month to get it read is the clue.
February 5, 2021
A shift away from Mars makes for a nice change of pace and yet another fast-paced read from Stewart. Now that I'm caught up with main series I've disappointed I'll have to wait for the next book.
August 20, 2022
Basically nothing about this book is believable. You have entire plot points copied from the previous books, combined with the fact that the Protectorate is probably the most incompetent empire in the history of the universe.
The "plot twist" around the middle of the book comes so out of nowhere that its the exact opposite of a Deus Ex Machina.
I'm so disappointed because this series used to be good, but it feels like the author is just milking it for money now. This book boils down to "how can I write a book about things going in circles with previous plot twists from other books in the series." For that to happen every single plot point needs the Protectorate to be stupid, naive, lacking intelligence and overall incompetent. It was not a fun read, its an exercise on how to not write a book.
Not only I didn't like the book but it also killed whatever rest of joy I had reading this series.
The "plot twist" around the middle of the book comes so out of nowhere that its the exact opposite of a Deus Ex Machina.
I'm so disappointed because this series used to be good, but it feels like the author is just milking it for money now. This book boils down to "how can I write a book about things going in circles with previous plot twists from other books in the series." For that to happen every single plot point needs the Protectorate to be stupid, naive, lacking intelligence and overall incompetent. It was not a fun read, its an exercise on how to not write a book.
Not only I didn't like the book but it also killed whatever rest of joy I had reading this series.
December 8, 2025
3.75 stars.
Dec 2025 - re-listened.
___________
Oct 2023
Not quite 4 stars because it seems a bit too easy for Roslyn to escape from the enemy's stronghold. Nevertheless, it was action packed, albeit a bit too much time spent on the space battles at the beginning.
Roslyn is still working as aide to Jane Alexander on a mission to re-capture another breakaway planet. The planetary government wanted Jane on world for the surrendering ceremony and Roslyn tagged along. On the way back to their shuttle, Jane and Roslyn are kidnapped by their fake protection unit and taken to the Republic's stronghold. It was reported that they were killed in another shuttle accident. Instead, they were put into cells that nullified their magic and efforts were made to convert Roslyn to the Republic.
In the meantime, Stealth ship Captain Kelly LaMonte raises her suspicions to Damien that the Republic might have a stronghold inside the Protectorate and it might be in one of the three unArcana planets that did not secede. Damien gives her permission to investigate and also that he doesn't believe in another shuttle accident.
The finale is suitably exciting and we get to see what Jane Alexander is capable of. Although I sometimes wonder if the Rune Wrights are so powerful, why do they even need a battle fleet to fight their enemies?
It'll be interesting to see where the author takes the series next.
Dec 2025 - re-listened.
___________
Oct 2023
Not quite 4 stars because it seems a bit too easy for Roslyn to escape from the enemy's stronghold. Nevertheless, it was action packed, albeit a bit too much time spent on the space battles at the beginning.
Roslyn is still working as aide to Jane Alexander on a mission to re-capture another breakaway planet. The planetary government wanted Jane on world for the surrendering ceremony and Roslyn tagged along. On the way back to their shuttle, Jane and Roslyn are kidnapped by their fake protection unit and taken to the Republic's stronghold. It was reported that they were killed in another shuttle accident. Instead, they were put into cells that nullified their magic and efforts were made to convert Roslyn to the Republic.
In the meantime, Stealth ship Captain Kelly LaMonte raises her suspicions to Damien that the Republic might have a stronghold inside the Protectorate and it might be in one of the three unArcana planets that did not secede. Damien gives her permission to investigate and also that he doesn't believe in another shuttle accident.
The finale is suitably exciting and we get to see what Jane Alexander is capable of. Although I sometimes wonder if the Rune Wrights are so powerful, why do they even need a battle fleet to fight their enemies?
It'll be interesting to see where the author takes the series next.
August 31, 2020
Well written, but a 4 for me; it loses a star as I read these books for Damien, not for the ancillary characters. Very little of him here, as this is Roslyn and Kelly's show. Sometimes I find a main sequence character/storyline that I like, but the "sidequests" and spin-offs just don't catch my attention the same way. This series seems to have lost the balance it seemed to have had earlier and has wandered away from what attracted me to it.
I notice a trend in the author's work that headlines the female characters and marginalizes the male ones. In this book, most of the male characters are villains or at least obstructive, while the women all save the day. This is a legitimate artistic choice, but a lack of balance is a lack of balance regardless of social justice cant.
That said, much as women (or whoever else these days) feel "marginalized" if they don't have good characters in books/movies, I start to lose interest when there are no solid male characters. That is neither "right" nor "wrong", it's just how things are. I'm not going to boycott anything or raise a stink on social media, I just won't read/watch it. If this is the way this series continues, well, I have other things I can read.
I notice a trend in the author's work that headlines the female characters and marginalizes the male ones. In this book, most of the male characters are villains or at least obstructive, while the women all save the day. This is a legitimate artistic choice, but a lack of balance is a lack of balance regardless of social justice cant.
That said, much as women (or whoever else these days) feel "marginalized" if they don't have good characters in books/movies, I start to lose interest when there are no solid male characters. That is neither "right" nor "wrong", it's just how things are. I'm not going to boycott anything or raise a stink on social media, I just won't read/watch it. If this is the way this series continues, well, I have other things I can read.
January 21, 2026
I loved this book as I did all the other ones. We didn't see a lot of Damian which is bad but we did see more of Jane and Rosalyn. I won't spoil the book but I think it spends to much time on "B plot". And I don't think this is a book that affects the major plot of the series. I think 95% of the story isn't important and has no impact of the bigger picture, the war. If you skipped this book I don't think you would miss much.
But it was a great read. And very enjoyable but it might not be necessary. I hope the next book either expands on the war more or brings more of Damian.
But it was a great read. And very enjoyable but it might not be necessary. I hope the next book either expands on the war more or brings more of Damian.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2021
Good solid scifi action, which makes it difficult to talk about without spoilers.
That said, I know it's a Futureama joke that spaceships can handle anywhere from 0 to 1 atmospheres, but seriously if the ship is armored to protect against high energy weapons fire and debris collisions, it should be able to survive quite a bit of pressure. Gravity or air fiction should have been the real issue.
That said, I know it's a Futureama joke that spaceships can handle anywhere from 0 to 1 atmospheres, but seriously if the ship is armored to protect against high energy weapons fire and debris collisions, it should be able to survive quite a bit of pressure. Gravity or air fiction should have been the real issue.
March 31, 2021
Not enough of Starship Mage Damien in this one for me. Might have to stop reading this series after all.
July 8, 2022
Unfortunately, the series has become formulaic.
February 13, 2023
The Service of Mars should have been classified as a different series, as it is effectively a spin-off with a new main character augmented by some returning cast members. As it doesn't telegraph this, I suspect a lot of readers will be disappointed due to a lack of Damien Montgomery.
Personally, I was expecting that Damien would end up as a side-character, and was unsurprised when it became clear that scenes with him would be as rare as those from the Mage-King himself. Instead, we return to the frontlines of the War, which was put on hold in the previous novel. It's not a jarring transition since the cast is almost equivalent to Sword of Mars, with the crew of Rhapsody in Purple returning, as well as the Admiral and her flag staff in Second Fleet. Basically if you liked Sword of Mars, you shouldn't dislike this book because there is one less Hand on the spy ship.
Now that I've finished defending the shift in main characters, I'll return to an actual review of the novel. The plot itself is just as thrilling as ever, with the Republic as sneaky as before and the Protectorate straddling the line between highly competent but constantly getting stabbed in the back. I think we come out just right... the Protectorate doesn't feel like it's too stupid to survive, but just barely. Suspense is ratcheted way up, as while I know Damien won't be killed, I have no assurances for the rest of the cast. I feared for the lives of quite a few of the main characters.
That said, The Service of Mars just isn't quite up to the standards of the previous books. The Republic is not enough of a threat, and worse, the story moved on to other matters in Mountain of Mars. And finally... the new characters just aren't Damien.
Recommended, but have your expectations set correctly.
Personally, I was expecting that Damien would end up as a side-character, and was unsurprised when it became clear that scenes with him would be as rare as those from the Mage-King himself. Instead, we return to the frontlines of the War, which was put on hold in the previous novel. It's not a jarring transition since the cast is almost equivalent to Sword of Mars, with the crew of Rhapsody in Purple returning, as well as the Admiral and her flag staff in Second Fleet. Basically if you liked Sword of Mars, you shouldn't dislike this book because there is one less Hand on the spy ship.
Now that I've finished defending the shift in main characters, I'll return to an actual review of the novel. The plot itself is just as thrilling as ever, with the Republic as sneaky as before and the Protectorate straddling the line between highly competent but constantly getting stabbed in the back. I think we come out just right... the Protectorate doesn't feel like it's too stupid to survive, but just barely. Suspense is ratcheted way up, as while I know Damien won't be killed, I have no assurances for the rest of the cast. I feared for the lives of quite a few of the main characters.
That said, The Service of Mars just isn't quite up to the standards of the previous books. The Republic is not enough of a threat, and worse, the story moved on to other matters in Mountain of Mars. And finally... the new characters just aren't Damien.
Recommended, but have your expectations set correctly.
April 11, 2021
Another good book in the starship mage series. This time covering more than just Damien, we see more of the royal family and damiens protegy.
Although Damien is still a good part of this book, I enjoyed the other characters getting to have their own stories.
Slight irritations which I now see throughout the series are here again.. the fact that the author reuses introduction paragraphs about the simulacrum and some characters. How many times do we need to read that hthe Marie second in command has a silly smile that makes people underestimate his intelligence. Or that the author refuses to pick something other than their 'dark skin' as a trait to describe some characters! I assume he is trying to be inclusive, but it reads oddly.
However this series still continues to introduce some different elements to most sci-fi books and the plot is moving along.so i would still recommend this series.
Although Damien is still a good part of this book, I enjoyed the other characters getting to have their own stories.
Slight irritations which I now see throughout the series are here again.. the fact that the author reuses introduction paragraphs about the simulacrum and some characters. How many times do we need to read that hthe Marie second in command has a silly smile that makes people underestimate his intelligence. Or that the author refuses to pick something other than their 'dark skin' as a trait to describe some characters! I assume he is trying to be inclusive, but it reads oddly.
However this series still continues to introduce some different elements to most sci-fi books and the plot is moving along.so i would still recommend this series.
September 22, 2020
Not that interesting
Pretty disappointed, not that it was bad, but it was basically the story of all the side characters taking center stage and not all that interesting really. There is a war going on, but the character we all have followed throughout this series doesn't appear until about the 40% mark, probably is featured in less than 10% of the entire story and has basically become the briefly mentioned Mage King like the other character of the same name throughout the entire series. The story advances and is still decent, but it's become a bit like one of those series where the main character has grown old or died off and continues with the descendants or whatever happens after the original character is no longer around. could still be good but not really interested anymore at this point.
Pretty disappointed, not that it was bad, but it was basically the story of all the side characters taking center stage and not all that interesting really. There is a war going on, but the character we all have followed throughout this series doesn't appear until about the 40% mark, probably is featured in less than 10% of the entire story and has basically become the briefly mentioned Mage King like the other character of the same name throughout the entire series. The story advances and is still decent, but it's become a bit like one of those series where the main character has grown old or died off and continues with the descendants or whatever happens after the original character is no longer around. could still be good but not really interested anymore at this point.
October 15, 2020
I’m bowing out of this book early because it barely includes the main character in this series. I’ve spent the last eight books growing attached to Damien and I’m just not interested in the side characters anywhere near as much as I am in him.
As a result of following characters I have only a small amount of interest in, this book failed to hold my attention. I am not the biggest fan of military fiction anyway because I am a character driven reader. The best military fiction books are those that focus on the characters so that the stakes of war feel real. The characters we follow in this book we barely know until this point so the stakes just aren’t there for me.
I hope I can read a good summary of this somewhere before the next book comes out so that I can pick up this series again in the future, but I’m wondering if maybe this might be the end of my journey with the starships mage.
As a result of following characters I have only a small amount of interest in, this book failed to hold my attention. I am not the biggest fan of military fiction anyway because I am a character driven reader. The best military fiction books are those that focus on the characters so that the stakes of war feel real. The characters we follow in this book we barely know until this point so the stakes just aren’t there for me.
I hope I can read a good summary of this somewhere before the next book comes out so that I can pick up this series again in the future, but I’m wondering if maybe this might be the end of my journey with the starships mage.
September 15, 2020
The story that started with Starship’s Mage, with the rise of Damien Montgomery ended in book 8.
This is the close out of the war. This is a book of the Protectorate of Mars, and if the series was about that, then I wouldn’t be as disappointed as I am. I wanted one last adventure with Damien, where he got the closure he deserved, but his near retirement as vizier seems to be his ending. And it is a good ending, but it wasn’t satisfactory for me.
Now stepping away from that, the story is a good military sci fi story focusing on secondary characters while light touching on overarching plot points that will probably head into the next series.
Which yes, I will read. Stewart writes entertainingly. But I won’t pretend to not want something else more for the close out of this book.
This is the close out of the war. This is a book of the Protectorate of Mars, and if the series was about that, then I wouldn’t be as disappointed as I am. I wanted one last adventure with Damien, where he got the closure he deserved, but his near retirement as vizier seems to be his ending. And it is a good ending, but it wasn’t satisfactory for me.
Now stepping away from that, the story is a good military sci fi story focusing on secondary characters while light touching on overarching plot points that will probably head into the next series.
Which yes, I will read. Stewart writes entertainingly. But I won’t pretend to not want something else more for the close out of this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2020
The first 30% I had difficulty to Damien not being the character central to the story. It was The Queen Mage Admiral and a secondary character from prior stories. But, once I reset my expectations, I realized I was reading a very good story, with great characters, political ideals at war, large battles, small fights, and the potential defeat of Mars. Still when a captured mage follows her belief in her responsibility, getting the job done and accomplishes great things it makes me want to keep reading, Despite only a cameo by Damien, it was a well-done story in the continuation of this series.
At the end, there is a promise of book 10. We still await more about the aliens.
At the end, there is a promise of book 10. We still await more about the aliens.
September 23, 2020
For a starship mage book, there's not a lot of our titular starship mage.
But serious: This book (and most of Stewart's) are exactly what I need to help get through this pandemic. These aren't intended to be great.
These novels are all exactly what they should be: competent protagonists who put their lives at jeopardy for the sake of duty. The dialogue-speeches about duty and honor often bring tears to my eyes. I really like that Stewart is so clearly trying to have woke politics throughout his fiction, and to show that everyone has a story.
I enjoy them. They are feel good. This one is exactly in that mold.
But serious: This book (and most of Stewart's) are exactly what I need to help get through this pandemic. These aren't intended to be great.
These novels are all exactly what they should be: competent protagonists who put their lives at jeopardy for the sake of duty. The dialogue-speeches about duty and honor often bring tears to my eyes. I really like that Stewart is so clearly trying to have woke politics throughout his fiction, and to show that everyone has a story.
I enjoy them. They are feel good. This one is exactly in that mold.
March 15, 2025
Side characters but big plot
This focused on the main story but not from the perspective of our diminutive Darth. There are a few gaping (almost comically large) plot holes/ leaps of logic in this book and that makes the plot seems just....less polished then other books. Like in order for the main plot to happen there us major hand waving of what I would understand to be basic code clearance and protocols needed in any military organization let alone this scifi advanced society' military organization....oh well 3 out of 5. Hope the next one reads less like a kids adventure book.
This focused on the main story but not from the perspective of our diminutive Darth. There are a few gaping (almost comically large) plot holes/ leaps of logic in this book and that makes the plot seems just....less polished then other books. Like in order for the main plot to happen there us major hand waving of what I would understand to be basic code clearance and protocols needed in any military organization let alone this scifi advanced society' military organization....oh well 3 out of 5. Hope the next one reads less like a kids adventure book.
August 18, 2025
It honestly felt like all the characters in the story were dumbed down by like 100%. There’s only so many times where an author can pull the old “somehow the enemy is even stronger then we last thought, even though we’ve been working so hard and improved so much”. It’s like four books in a row now or somehow the enemy is even stronger and even more conniving than before and somehow seems to have unlimited resources and unlimited time and outplay is the good guys time and time again. On top of that, some of the plot choices just felt like they were completely out of sync with previously established in universe lore. The book equivalent of “ somehow Palpatine returned”
August 17, 2020
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a wonderful addition to the series. As promised, the book focused on Mage-Lieutenant Roslyn Chambers and Captain Kelly LaMonte. Both were important characters from earlier in the series and they did a great job carrying the story. The book started wrapping up the war and introduced more hints to the origins of the mages. Without spoiling anything, I can't say more, but I look forward to seeing what happens next and eagerly await for the next book.
This was a wonderful addition to the series. As promised, the book focused on Mage-Lieutenant Roslyn Chambers and Captain Kelly LaMonte. Both were important characters from earlier in the series and they did a great job carrying the story. The book started wrapping up the war and introduced more hints to the origins of the mages. Without spoiling anything, I can't say more, but I look forward to seeing what happens next and eagerly await for the next book.
August 20, 2020
I received an ARC in return for an honest review.
This book was a little bit of a slower start for me. Not having Damien as a central character in this story made it a little harder for me to get into, but after about half of the novel, the branching storylines started to merge together and things got exciting, fast. It was hard to put down toward the end and some characters who have been aside characters until now got some real depth.
Overall I very much enjoyed the story and where things are going in it, I'm hoping for more stories and more of Damien specifically!
This book was a little bit of a slower start for me. Not having Damien as a central character in this story made it a little harder for me to get into, but after about half of the novel, the branching storylines started to merge together and things got exciting, fast. It was hard to put down toward the end and some characters who have been aside characters until now got some real depth.
Overall I very much enjoyed the story and where things are going in it, I'm hoping for more stories and more of Damien specifically!
August 27, 2020
I loved this instalment. It had everything, suspense, drama - I could not put it down. I finished it in a day. I don't know how Glynn does it. The description of the battles, the tech - I could picture everything in my mind. I hope there is more to come......I think with the mention of the aliens it's a hint there will be more. Before I read this book, I re read the whole series again to refresh my memory of the story line......this is the 3rd re read for me, I just can't get enough. Great story!!!!
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