The war against the implacable Cho-ta'an carried a desperate group of humans 1300 years into the past, but the fight for humanity's future is just beginning!
Mankind's future among the stars now rests on a ragtag band of Vikings who have taken to the stars. The Norsemen's only hope is to ally with the mysterious people called Truscans, who possess the technology to defeat the aliens. But where did the Truscans come from? What do they want? Can they be trusted as allies against the Cho-ta'an?
The Legacy of the Iron Dragon continues the story began in the Dragon Award-nominated The Dream of the Iron Dragon in a sweeping saga that carries us from war-ravaged planets in the twenty-third century to first century Judea, where the fate of the Roman Empire is being decided.
Robert Kroese's sense of irony was honed growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan - home of the Amway Corporation and the Gerald R. Ford Museum, and the first city in the United States to fluoridate its water supply. In second grade, he wrote his first novel, the saga of Captain Bill and his spaceship Thee Eagle. This turned out to be the high point of his academic career. After barely graduating from Calvin College in 1992 with a philosophy degree, he was fired from a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he stumbled into software development. As this job required neither punctuality nor a sense of direction, he excelled at it. In 2009, he called upon his extensive knowledge of useless information and love of explosions to write his first novel, Mercury Falls. Since then, he has written 18 more books.
The last outpost of mankind is being attacked by ruthless aliens. Man's last hope is to hold out long enough to launch three space arks to distant corners of the universe. If you have read the trilogy before this, you find out the Allison has given some hope and guidance to the survivors. If you haven't read the trilogy before, please do before attempting this novel because they are great books too. Robert does his research and he covers everything from genetics to ancient Roman battle tactics.
This book helps to e plain how the Ninth Legion disappeared. A very interesting story about the Jewish Revolts and the Roman legions stamping the revolts out.
Kroese, continues to excite with his take on time travel to save humanity while battling the Loki effect. This time weaving in the Lost Ninth Legion of Rome. He delves deeper into the metaphysics of time travel and time itself. This tale of saving humanity delves into some of the more difficult aspects of saving a dying species, and the challenge of them not knowing they're already doomed. What is done is done... says it all.
A brilliant theory of how time travel could actually work. Takes place in two times. Part of the story takes place about 250 years from now and the part takes place in 1st AD Judea. Very interesting read.
OK, I'm going to admit I was a little cheesed, reading this at first. "Where are my Space Vikings? What's with all these bloody Romans and Jews?"
It's a good story, and a gripping one, but also one that doesn't feel like it's part of the same book. That is, up till now, I'd felt books one through three were one long book broken up for economic reasons, a la Lord of the Rings.
And I feel kind of dumb for this, but I cracked book five and though, "Oh. Riiiiiiiight!" because book 3 ended with a big question mark and book 4 answers that question, so book 5 picks up where book 3 left off. (At least part of this is because I didn't really bat an eye at the book 3 ending. For me, book 4 could've been left out and I would have had no issue with the story, at least as far as I know. We'll see how book 5 finishes things off.)
Besides the geeky hard SF Kroese excels in, and the taut action sequences, the author is continuing to tease the reader with the concept of LOKI (limits of known information) which allows the characters free will even though the events have already occurred. And just when you start to think maybe they CAN change history, one of the characters dies in what is simultaneously the most meaningless—and most meaningful way—well, let's just say I practically lost it at that point.
Fun stuff. Book five is a short 300 pages...let's see if he can stick the landing.
This book takes us back to the future that characters in previous books came from providing great story background but also giving an even more rich view of the universe they inhabit. And of course there is more time travel that puts the future of humanity in danger of complete annihilation once again, both from external and internal forces. Kroese's weaving of story, history, philosophy, science (real and theoretical) makes for a very satisfying read and another great entry in the Iron Dragon series.
Audiobook. Six stars ..... weekend binge listen. Even stayed up till 1 in the morning. I never do that. The first 3 books were my favorite listens from last year (ok ok I can't decide between this series and War of Lost Hearts by Carissa Broadbent for top spot. I recommend both write often but to totally different audiences). If you are even remotely interested in Sci-Fi and/ or history and/ or time travel you have to listen to this series; it's amazing.
Different narrator from first 3 books but she did pretty good. Hard to beat jd Ledford though.
Yeah, this entry got pretty dark. Which I guess is to be expected, as it brings us back to the "present" from the start of book 1 with the IDL in a very tight spot. I really enjoyed the dive into the logistics of the seedships and their mission, but other parts echoed book 1 pretty darn closely - considering the whole series is about time travel, that might be intentional. Still enjoyed it, I just think I enjoyed the rest of the series so far more. On to the conclusion!
The war with the Cho-ta'an calls for desperate measures. Survive and grow by hiding in the past. The final Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire provides the backdrop for the Legacy, the fourth in the Iron Dragon series.
The fun continues with our unlikely time travel saga. Will the distant survivors manage to keep the struggle alive? You’ll have to read the next book. Enjoy
A truly engaging full distance saga. I'm not going to ruin the plot for you, but if you enjoy a really good gritty sci-fi with meat on its bones, try this one. This author is fast heading for one of my top 5
It feels like the story arc really ended with book 3, and book 4 got added later, which I think is exactly what happened. It veers off in a different direction. The story is ok, not great, and not bad enough to quit. I am going to see it through to the last book.