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Tranquility #1
Blood and Steel: A Military Sci-Fi Series
They came to start a new life. Now they have to fight for it.Joel Lander wants nothing more than a fresh start, far from Earth and wars that have left humanity’s birthplace in shambles. Leaving on the second mission to the distant world of Tranquility, Lander and his family plan to build a brand-new life for themselves.Boasted to be everything Earth wasn’t—clean, unsullied, safe—Lander learns upon arrival that Tranquility is anything but. New Independence has gone dark and it soon becomes clear that he will have to fight a terrifying enemy to save their new home, forcing him back into the very life he’d thought he’d left behind on Earth.Experience the start of an action-pack new military sci-fi epic from bestselling authors Josh Hayes (The Valor trilogy) and Devon C. Ford (After It Happened). Starcraft meets Titanfall meets Mech Warrior in a thrilling battle for survival.
- GenresScience Fiction
362 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 8, 2021
74 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 13, 2021
At 62% I'm done. It just too boring and so drawn out it's ridiculous. In almost 400 pages there's 2 things that will happen; they'll arrive on Tranquility and they'll find a way to kill the Queen of the Hive. That's it! No growth whatsoever. No world building. No nothing.
Up to this point there's no sex, and I don't expect there will be and the F-bomb was used 153 times.
As for the narration: Scott Aiello is a wonderful narrator but even he couldn't help this book.
Up to this point there's no sex, and I don't expect there will be and the F-bomb was used 153 times.
As for the narration: Scott Aiello is a wonderful narrator but even he couldn't help this book.
December 26, 2021
58% DNF.
There's not much to say about it. The two star rating is generous. The characters are flat, the love/romance is atrocious and entirely unneeded. The whole alternating characters per chapter doesn't work at all here. For Earth's supposedly best and brightest - logical thinking is not the flavour of the day. Both with the command staff and pilots. Especially when it's clear as day what they are dealing with. The story is dreary and average, at best.
There's not much to say about it. The two star rating is generous. The characters are flat, the love/romance is atrocious and entirely unneeded. The whole alternating characters per chapter doesn't work at all here. For Earth's supposedly best and brightest - logical thinking is not the flavour of the day. Both with the command staff and pilots. Especially when it's clear as day what they are dealing with. The story is dreary and average, at best.
July 4, 2025
After a major-power war, the winning side sends an expedition to reinforce a new colony on an extra-solar planet. When they arrive, it seems that something has happened to the original colonists.
The reinforcing expedition has little in the way of weapons to deal with the newly discovered threat and the captain of the ship delivering them obstructs the colonists at every turn.
One of the two viewpoint characters is a discharged military hero, who takes up the challenge of investigating the situation, and eventually of resolving the problem. His character is well-drawn, with a complex personality and background. Once the story starts, while he is the primary driver of the plot, he doesn't change much. The other viewpoint character, his wife, has less screen time and a less-developed background, but is the more interesting character, with her relationship to the developer of the colony AI and need to overcome more personal challenges.
The setting is a bit sketched in, with the history on Earth more mentioned than explained and the situation on Tranquility left mostly to the combat scenes in the book. The ship that transports the colonists to the new system takes almost three years to arrive, which can't really be sublight (no time compression is mentioned), but also no super-light system is discussed either.
The details of the combat are evocative and well-paced, but there isn't much tactical complexity to the combat scenes that take up the majority of the book. The primary combat is undertaken by what are on the border between powered armor suits and mecha. The colonists have to make do with powered assist suits that have been modified to be field expedient suits. (Think "Bob Semple tank", frankly.) This probably works better than it should, but the suits are definitely at a disadvantage to the few remaining combat suits on Tranquility.
For my taste, at least, there's too much time spent on close combat between combat suits that result from frontal attacks by one side or the other. I'd rather have seen more effort spent on the world, the technology, and tactics than descriptions of blow-by-blow fight scenes.
I suspect this book will work better for other audiences, but for me, it was just OK. I'm not generally a fan of mecha, and while I like MilSF quite a bit, this didn't engage some of the complexities of the books in the genre I like better. If you're a mecha fan, this is done quite well; there are good reasons for the existence of at least the colony powered-assist suits and the conversion mostly makes sense. As it is, I'll read the next book eventually, but I have other priorities now.
The reinforcing expedition has little in the way of weapons to deal with the newly discovered threat and the captain of the ship delivering them obstructs the colonists at every turn.
One of the two viewpoint characters is a discharged military hero, who takes up the challenge of investigating the situation, and eventually of resolving the problem. His character is well-drawn, with a complex personality and background. Once the story starts, while he is the primary driver of the plot, he doesn't change much. The other viewpoint character, his wife, has less screen time and a less-developed background, but is the more interesting character, with her relationship to the developer of the colony AI and need to overcome more personal challenges.
The setting is a bit sketched in, with the history on Earth more mentioned than explained and the situation on Tranquility left mostly to the combat scenes in the book. The ship that transports the colonists to the new system takes almost three years to arrive, which can't really be sublight (no time compression is mentioned), but also no super-light system is discussed either.
The details of the combat are evocative and well-paced, but there isn't much tactical complexity to the combat scenes that take up the majority of the book. The primary combat is undertaken by what are on the border between powered armor suits and mecha. The colonists have to make do with powered assist suits that have been modified to be field expedient suits. (Think "Bob Semple tank", frankly.) This probably works better than it should, but the suits are definitely at a disadvantage to the few remaining combat suits on Tranquility.
For my taste, at least, there's too much time spent on close combat between combat suits that result from frontal attacks by one side or the other. I'd rather have seen more effort spent on the world, the technology, and tactics than descriptions of blow-by-blow fight scenes.
I suspect this book will work better for other audiences, but for me, it was just OK. I'm not generally a fan of mecha, and while I like MilSF quite a bit, this didn't engage some of the complexities of the books in the genre I like better. If you're a mecha fan, this is done quite well; there are good reasons for the existence of at least the colony powered-assist suits and the conversion mostly makes sense. As it is, I'll read the next book eventually, but I have other priorities now.
September 14, 2021
Full of action, tension, bravado, and mecha destruction! This new mil-SF series by Hayes and Ford launches with a bang. A new colony on an alien world encounters a deadly threat. When the second colony ship arrives, all that is left of the original settlement is confusion and chaos. Our heroes - well-drawn and sympathetic - face the unknown with ingenuity and grit.
Good writing and pacing (though a bit long, imo), this novel has straightforward plotting - the first half tackles the mystery and the second half recounts the expected contest in battle. The ultimate outcome may not be in doubt (we're cheering for the good guys, after all!), but there's so much going sideways that the adventure stays gripping.
Blood and Steel works well as a stand alone if you don't want to start a new series, but there's a nice short segue to a set-up for book 2 for those who want more deep-space thrills. For fans of the genre, this is a good entry. High dead body count and language warning (too many f-bombs for my taste - these are colonists so the vulgar language is unnecessary imo). But one of the authors knows this about me as we live in the same town. ;-) So for me, 4.5 stars.
Good writing and pacing (though a bit long, imo), this novel has straightforward plotting - the first half tackles the mystery and the second half recounts the expected contest in battle. The ultimate outcome may not be in doubt (we're cheering for the good guys, after all!), but there's so much going sideways that the adventure stays gripping.
Blood and Steel works well as a stand alone if you don't want to start a new series, but there's a nice short segue to a set-up for book 2 for those who want more deep-space thrills. For fans of the genre, this is a good entry. High dead body count and language warning (too many f-bombs for my taste - these are colonists so the vulgar language is unnecessary imo). But one of the authors knows this about me as we live in the same town. ;-) So for me, 4.5 stars.
June 8, 2021
This is my first book by either Josh Hayes or Devon C Ford, and it certainly won't be the last. I haven't read many military sci-fi series, so this is all new stuff to me.
The main character, Joel Lander, his wife and toddler daughter are part of the second wave of Earth people wanting to start a new life in New Independence on the planet Tranquility. The first colony settled there years ago, however, communication with them has since been lost. They have no idea what will be waiting for them when they arrive there, and the research on the planet certainly didn't factor THIS into the equation.
This book had me on the edge of my seat a number of times as Joel and his (civilian) crew are called upon to fight for their new settlement, and here's the twist... Come on, you didn't expect me to tell you everything, did you?
Great plot, excellent storytelling, believable characters, and the pacing mirrors the beautifully choreographed action sequences. More please!
The main character, Joel Lander, his wife and toddler daughter are part of the second wave of Earth people wanting to start a new life in New Independence on the planet Tranquility. The first colony settled there years ago, however, communication with them has since been lost. They have no idea what will be waiting for them when they arrive there, and the research on the planet certainly didn't factor THIS into the equation.
This book had me on the edge of my seat a number of times as Joel and his (civilian) crew are called upon to fight for their new settlement, and here's the twist... Come on, you didn't expect me to tell you everything, did you?
Great plot, excellent storytelling, believable characters, and the pacing mirrors the beautifully choreographed action sequences. More please!
May 12, 2022
I found myself drawn into this book from the first chapter. The authors did a great job in building suspense with a slow burn that exploded in the second half of the book. Once the action started they didn't let off the pedal. Their writing does not require a PhD in mechanical engineering to understand the Mechs, the writing and descriptions flew off the page with just the right amount of tech to paint that mental image. The character interactions read as natural, real, and human. Giving off an authentic sense of the danger and suspense of each scene while simultaneously making them relatable through their flaws.
I cannot wait to get through Book 2 and being a fan of Keystroke Medium, the podcast of one of the authors, I've eagerly awaited weekly updates on Book 3.
I cannot wait to get through Book 2 and being a fan of Keystroke Medium, the podcast of one of the authors, I've eagerly awaited weekly updates on Book 3.
June 8, 2021
A futuristic realistic adventure
I love both writers other stories and this keeps the reader interested right from the start. A bit of history,politics,mystery and action with a husband and wife mc.
Our heroes are trying to start a new life for themselves and 5000 colonists on a new world where they expected everything to be set up to welcome them but surprises and trials await them
I love both writers other stories and this keeps the reader interested right from the start. A bit of history,politics,mystery and action with a husband and wife mc.
Our heroes are trying to start a new life for themselves and 5000 colonists on a new world where they expected everything to be set up to welcome them but surprises and trials await them
August 1, 2021
Old warrior leaves retirement to do battle again
A new home for battle weary earth. Tranquility offers a peaceful haven after years of civil strife. A former hero with a rebuilt body is now married with toddler. They look forward to their new home only to find it infested with an alien creature that controls the mind of the first colonizers. Do the new comers turn back to old earth or take Tranquility away from the aliens?
A new home for battle weary earth. Tranquility offers a peaceful haven after years of civil strife. A former hero with a rebuilt body is now married with toddler. They look forward to their new home only to find it infested with an alien creature that controls the mind of the first colonizers. Do the new comers turn back to old earth or take Tranquility away from the aliens?
June 10, 2021
I haven't read many Sci fi books but I found this to be thrilling from the start right up to the end. Thought all the characters were really great and the story kept you reading well into the night. Lots of fighting and action scenes. An exciting start to this series. Highly recommend you give it a go.
June 19, 2021
Outstanding! Not for the faint of heart, but an exciting, hardcore battles.
Blood and gore, cursing and swearing, cold nights on hard ground. Military Sci-Fi at its best! Non-stop action and excitement. Everything I love in a story. I'm going to dive into the next in this series right now!
Blood and gore, cursing and swearing, cold nights on hard ground. Military Sci-Fi at its best! Non-stop action and excitement. Everything I love in a story. I'm going to dive into the next in this series right now!
July 15, 2021
Great Storyline
Well that was a great storyline with plenty of blood and guts once it got going. Although was a bit disappointed with some spelling mistakes and thesaurus mistakes other did your spell check did not do a good.job minor mistakes. Still a great storyline looking forward to book 2
Well that was a great storyline with plenty of blood and guts once it got going. Although was a bit disappointed with some spelling mistakes and thesaurus mistakes other did your spell check did not do a good.job minor mistakes. Still a great storyline looking forward to book 2
August 5, 2025
For the Audiobook:
Paint by numbers sci-fi book. Was actually decent until they reached the planet and then it's time to FIGHT THE HIVE!!!
Yawn. Seriously, YAWWWWWN. I went on autopilot for hours, like 5 hours straight and don't remember most of it.
Great narrator though. The AI spaceship was a nice surprise, but just not enough to keep me engaged. Skip.
Paint by numbers sci-fi book. Was actually decent until they reached the planet and then it's time to FIGHT THE HIVE!!!
Yawn. Seriously, YAWWWWWN. I went on autopilot for hours, like 5 hours straight and don't remember most of it.
Great narrator though. The AI spaceship was a nice surprise, but just not enough to keep me engaged. Skip.
July 15, 2022
Enjoyable enough to finish but it felt a bit generic. Some of the characters and the slang/curse words they used were embarrassing to read.
Read
July 1, 2024I liked this book. It was fast action. Something was always happening. Never a dull moment.
June 29, 2022
Military sci-fi with Mecha armor. What more do you want?! XD
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews