The Karacknid invasion of Human space has been temporarily thwarted. A window of opportunity has opened up. Through it Emperor Somerville hopes to strike deep into Karacknid territory to buy Earth and the Varanni Alliance the breathing space they need to replace their losses. On the other side of the Karacknid Empire, Rear Admiral Becket and the Conclave species are planning a pre-emptive strike of their own. With relatively undefended borders, Becket has seen an opportunity to hit the Karacknids where they least expect it.
Yet the Karacknid’s power is far from diminished. After the series of defeats the Karacknids have suffered, their Imperator has now focused his full attention on destroying Humanity and the Varanni Alliance. Nothing short of the total conquest of Humanity’s colonies has been ordered. The full might of the Karacknid Navy has been tasked to bring it about. For James, Christine, Lightfoot, Becket and all the others, their own lives and the future of the Empire is at stake.
Counterstrike is the eleventh book in D.J. Holmes’ Empire Rising Series.
Fantastic book. Another installement in one of my favorite series. I thought that after 10 books I couldn't be kept on my toes by the plot and or the depth of every character. Oh boy was I wrong.
Helps solidify this book (and the Empire Rising series) as one of the BEST SPACE OPERA series of our age. Excellent work!
James simultaneously grows as a leader, matures in his emotions, and deals with the harsh realities of the War of Doom. Johnston faces moral dilemmas that underpin what kind of Empire is really "rising" while balancing his responsibilities and bonds of loyalty to others. Emilie Kansas grows in her own right to be a fierce warrior. Not to mention my own attatchement to Becket and all the other Human military commanders / James' protege's grew ten fold as they are forced into more independent roles.
It felt like I was re-experiencing James' learning how to command (from the earlier books) but within the context of existential crisis where the poltical shackles of inter-species conflict were removed.
I liked the added layers of exploration to the personality, mentality, skills, and operational perspective of the Karacknid leaders. I wish there was more focusing on their leaders and admiral, but I understand that would give a way a lot of the suspense being built up by the rest of the book.
How so much wonderful, enjoyable, and skilled content was crammed into this book I have no idea. Something I DO KNOW is that I can't wait for the next book and how James, Christine, and all the other players react to this book's developments.
I like the series and can't wait for each book to come out. And that's part of why my rating isn't 5. Its so long between books that I almost forget some of the characters and relationships. The other reason is Mr. Holmes has a penchant for killing off my favorite characters.Yes I know that happens in life and war but this is a book not real life so cut us some slack. So now I'm waiting for the next book always. How long will it take this time, 1 year, 2 years? But don't me wrong I will be waiting with bated breath.
This series is getting pretty depressing! It seems that the humans of the Solar System are doomed and there's not much they can do about it. I don't know if the actual solution to their situation has been already implemented, but there's no hint of it in these books.
Admiral James Somerville is about to become Emperor Somerville with his wedding to Empress Christine. They had been planning this wedding for some time and were only going to do it when the Empire was fully formed with all the human colonies. That happened once James convinced the New Delhi planet to join the Empire. So, Empress Christine who was already the Empress of China, took the thrown as the Empress of Humanity and married Admiral James Somerville who is now Emperor James Somerville. His first act upon becoming Emperor is to recognize that the entire empire is a risk of being annihilated if the fleet with his allies don't stop the Karacknids.
He has dispatched Admiral Becket and the Viper along with a small fleet to support what Captain Kansas has started on the far side of the Karacknid's empire. She is to harass the Karacknids any way possible, destroying supply convoys and other supply installation as she finds them. She is also to continue the attempt to gain new allies against the Karacknids. She initially finds that the Karacknids in this part of their empire have become complacent. They are not nearly as dangerous as the Karacknid battle fleets she has already faced once around Earth. Her fleet is making some progress in disrupting Karacknid activities in this part of their empire, but that empire is so large, she has no idea if it is helping anything in the long term. She has kept Captain Kansas and her ship even though Captain Kansas would have liked to go home and got involved in everything she has missed for the almost year she has been gone. Unfortunately, she'll have to wait for her return to Earth. Admiral Becket has good use of Captain Kansas and her experience with this area of space. So we get some insight into other things that are going on but whether these other things will have any impact on the threat to Earth is yet to be seen.
Back to the Solar System, Emperor and Admiral Somerville draws up plans to go after the Karacknids. He knows that if he just sits around Earth, the Karacknids will have all the time in the world to build up an impossible to defeat armada and attack Earth when they choose. So, he convinces Empress Christine that his plan must be put into effect and that he must lead this armada to the edges of the Karacknid empire. It seems to be a good plan and with all the ships gathered, they can have some decidedly favorable engagements with the Karacknids on the humans terms. He plans on raiding several systems the Karacknids have already conquered, not to liberate the inhabitants, but to destroy anything and everything that might be useful to the Karacknids. This is something that he is somewhat reluctant to do, but these alien civilizations have become nothing more than slaves to the Karacknids and won't be that much worse off after he destroys their ability to produce goods for the Karacknids.
Meanwhile, unknown to Admiral Somerville, the Karacknids have finally finished their war on the far side of their empire and are not slowly moving battle-hardened fleets to the frontier with Earth and the Alliance. This is going to be a major problem. The fleet destined to invade the Solar System and attempt to destroy Earth has been placed under the command of High Admiral Tanaka-lang. This is a very competent opponent and what's even more threatening is that he is bringing a fleet of over 10,000 ships with him. There isn't a way in heck the humans and all their allies can muster enough ships and equipment to even make a dent in this large of a fleet. Still, Admiral Somerville gathers all his forces to face this large and dangerous Karacknid invasion. Needless to say, it doesn't go well for the humans and their allies! This could be the end of everything!
As I said earlier, this is getting pretty depressing. The humans have a few positive things that happen here and there, but by and large, they are getting destroyed. They finally have to face a Karacknid invasion fleet which they have absolutely no answer for. They don't have any allies that they know of who could possibly provide additional ships in time to stop another invasion of Earth. Admiral Somerville will attempt to meet the Karacknids out over New Shanghai in the New Shanghai System. If he fails here, the Earth is all that's left.
Pretty good read, but I take exception to one particular incident that happened during the book. An assassination attempt is made against Empress Christine which you'll read about. That attempt wasn't totally successful, but it was followed up by another attempt later. Fortunately, Lieutenant General Johnston, a long-time friend of James Somerville, was placed in charge of protecting Christine and others while James was away with the fleet. This he takes as a personal duty to his now Emperor. He manages to capture on of the terrorist in the act and forces her to reveal the location of another terrorist team who are in the same attempt to kill Empress Christine. General Johnston isn't easy on this captive in forcing the information he needed out of her. While his actions were brutal, they did result in him finding an killing (he personally) the second and final terrorist. Empress Christine goes into a rage when she finds out what actions Johnston took to force the information he needed from a captured spy. She says that he had no right to treat a citizen of the Empire in such terrible manner! She demotes him to Colonel and sends him to New Shanghai to train new Marines! In my opinion, this was wrong, totally! The person General Johnston tortured was not a "citizen of the Empire" because they had renounced their citizenship when they became terrorist. To treat someone they way she did after he saved her life is totally wrong and should never have happened. He did what he had to do in a time of war to protect the Empire. What more can you ask of someone? Anyway, I felt so strongly about this so I had to write it in my review.
Looks like book 12, "Last Stand", available on Amazon. I have it on my reading list although I'll probably take a break from reading this series for a while.
Four and a half stars. The big final siege was a bit of a let-down. The pacing was so quick for the first two thirds of the book, that it seemed to bog down towards the end. I know sieges are slow, but I kept getting the feeling that I just wanted them to "get on with it". Not a disappointment, just a slow finish to a book that moves at break-neck speed for the most part. It will be interesting to see how Holmes pulls things off for the next book...
I like these characters: James, Susanna, Christine (my wife and I are named Christine and James), Johnston, Fairfax. I liked James' uncle. I'm disappointed to say that after 11 books, I'm getting off the bus. I'm done with this series.
Perhaps it's your cup of tea. Speaking myopically, I have been unhappy with Emperor Sensitivity, who is occasionally Captain Crybaby, Commodore Crybaby, Admiral Crybaby, and Emperor Crybaby. At other times James is strong and leads. His battlefield ideas are inspired, and I've enjoyed them through many stories in the Void, the Gift, on Haven, and in the Solar System. But I can't trust him to be the same guy each day. Some days he shows up Woke.
My current peeve is the way that each of the battles develops. It's as if the outcome of each is determined by the level of drama it creates, rather than some function of preparedness, training, resources, and execution. There is always a last stinking missile that does disproportional damage.
In this specific volume, naval manuvers result in all too many "knife fights" - energy weapon range engagements. Yet at other times, one fleet escapes the other by quickly rounding a planet and dashing away. You don't need a planet to help you get away, and if you're being chased, the other guys can use their higher speed to greater advantage.
Okay, I hear the people who say, "... but it's fiction! It's not real." I stipulate that the stories are made up, at the same time that I submit that there are some stories that I'd rather not hear.
I sure hope that mankind's Empire and her Alliance can overcome the economic and military might of the Karackniks, and their mysterious Imperator. They'll have to do it without me and Koroylov.
Never before in the expanse of space naval and land warfare has an author depicted such an epic struggle between forces. D J Holmes captures the essence of military thinking, preparation, hope, struggle, camaraderie and loss in every chapter. This book grips you from the start and teleports you into his world. Whilst his narrator views actions in hindsight and you know the Empire survives, the journey is clearly so much more than the destination. Thank you Mr Holmes, I look forward to our next read trip together!
After ten books I felt I had to continue to keep going until the bitter end, but there were times when I wish I hadn’t. Unfortunately the author has gone from a potentially very interesting SciFi author into the worse kind of Hollywood/HBO scriptwriter, who when they run out of ideas just shove in another disaster or kill off another character. The books are now just about numbers, numbers of ships, missiles, destroyed, dead. Any interesting tactics are a waste of time as the author will just include yet another unexpected disaster to negate them.
I’ve enjoyed Ted every book in this series and ought to have reviewed them earlier.
Deft combination of politics, human interest and excellent military sci-fi. These books have actually made me break one of my rules on series that I discover when there are already several volumes available—I binge read several . I usually switch off to help make the series last longer. And now we’re at the end of the series so far, and I can only wait for the next one.
This is another fantastic thrill ride from one if my new favorite authors D J Holmes. The entire series grabs you and keeps wanting for more. I can honestly say this is the only series I check back weekly looking for the next one in the series. Loved & might just have to read it again...as I have read all the others at least twice.
This was a good read and fit the series well . In this one they are up against a big enemy fleet and it's not looking to good , they are fighting over a thousand enemy ships and they keep losing a lot of ships to the enemy. They are headed to earth for a last stand or so it seems . On to the next one.
What can I say except brilliant I loved it. Since I picked up this series I have been captivated by the storyline. It is everything I want it a book, I look forward to the next release.
This is a great continue of the story. Very much enjoyed reading it. I went back to the previous book just to into the feel of the story again. I would recommend this series to any sci-fi reader.
Outstanding book...again! Edge of the seat writing! If you like a good space war books this is the one. Also a great book to experiment with to try and see if you like this type of writing; you won't be disappointed!
Exceptional read detailing the burden and psychology of command. A rip roaring tale of space and ground combat, with well drawn characters that hook you from the beginning as you live their suspense filled careers.
You are never sure of the outcome of each battle. The author has a good feeling about what evokes the reader's emotion toward each character. 10 books and it still has an original plot.
I read the book faster than I have read the previous books. I feel like the story will bring more hardship to the humans, alliance, and conclave. I am so vested in the story. Should I sleep or start the next book….what a choice.