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The First Light crew have emerged from hyperspace into a war zone. Forced to choose a side, Captain Jonas Valent committed them to a fight for freedom against an unknown enemy. The Vindyne Corporation is hell bent on taking the agricultural jewel of the Gai-Ian solar system, Concordia. How Captain Valent and his crew weather this storm will change the crew, the ship and their mission forever.
136 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2008
1 person is currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Randolph Lalonde
45 books497 followersBorn in 1974, Randolph Lalonde has worked in customer service, sales, played drums for several heavy metal bands you've never heard of, dealt blackjack in a traveling casino, and serviced countless computers. He's also owned businesses in the design, printing, collectible and custom computer fields.
He completed writing his first novel in the fantasy adventure genre at the age of fifteen and has been writing ever since.
He self published his first novel;
Fate Cycle: Sins of the Past in 2004 and after taking a break has begun to release his work again starting with the First Light Chronicles series.
Randolph Lalonde has sold thousands of eBooks to date, enough to keep writing full-time for fifteen years so far. He is deeply grateful for his following of readers and strives to improve his skills to entertain them better. The Spinward Fringe Space Opera series has proven to be his most popular offering.
He currently resides in Sudbury Ontario and manages a chapter a day writing habit.
In his diminishing spare time he reads voraciously, tinkers with design, video editing and reviews the occasional film or television show. A science fiction and fantasy fan, he often comments on the state of the entertainment industry on his website, www.randolphlalonde.com.
He completed writing his first novel in the fantasy adventure genre at the age of fifteen and has been writing ever since.
He self published his first novel;
Fate Cycle: Sins of the Past in 2004 and after taking a break has begun to release his work again starting with the First Light Chronicles series.
Randolph Lalonde has sold thousands of eBooks to date, enough to keep writing full-time for fifteen years so far. He is deeply grateful for his following of readers and strives to improve his skills to entertain them better. The Spinward Fringe Space Opera series has proven to be his most popular offering.
He currently resides in Sudbury Ontario and manages a chapter a day writing habit.
In his diminishing spare time he reads voraciously, tinkers with design, video editing and reviews the occasional film or television show. A science fiction and fantasy fan, he often comments on the state of the entertainment industry on his website, www.randolphlalonde.com.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 31, 2025
The second book in The First Light Chronicles picks up immediately where the first left off and has our intrepid band of not-exactly-Star Trek heroes, in their superpowered space ship, facing a battle over an agricultural planet being helmed by a megacorporation. Much blasting of pew-pew lasers commences and it's no major spoiler to say that the bulk of this one takes place in a space prison after our heroes get captured.
I'm still a touch frustrated with the first-person narration, which I feel is a disservice to an epic space opera tone, and the romance between two of our leads feels very artificial to me, but there's a lot to like in this for fans of military sci-fi or Star Trek inspired shenanigans.
The ship combat is stellar, no pun intended, with plenty of descriptive destruction and different ship classes locked in mortal combat. It's easy to picture these epic duels between powerful ships and plenty of moving parts to keep track of during these battles. This is the meat of the story.
Outside of the pew-pew? The prison bits actually worked well for me, with a soft-sell deus ex machina that I didn't mind, some sardonic humor to ease the mental anguish and danger, and a big ol' chunk of action by the end.
I still don't have a "feel" for the universe of The Spinward Fringe, but this second book has helped to make it a lot more coherent than the first and yeah, I think I'll be digging into the next once the desire for some more pulpy space heroics strikes me.
I'm still a touch frustrated with the first-person narration, which I feel is a disservice to an epic space opera tone, and the romance between two of our leads feels very artificial to me, but there's a lot to like in this for fans of military sci-fi or Star Trek inspired shenanigans.
The ship combat is stellar, no pun intended, with plenty of descriptive destruction and different ship classes locked in mortal combat. It's easy to picture these epic duels between powerful ships and plenty of moving parts to keep track of during these battles. This is the meat of the story.
Outside of the pew-pew? The prison bits actually worked well for me, with a soft-sell deus ex machina that I didn't mind, some sardonic humor to ease the mental anguish and danger, and a big ol' chunk of action by the end.
I still don't have a "feel" for the universe of The Spinward Fringe, but this second book has helped to make it a lot more coherent than the first and yeah, I think I'll be digging into the next once the desire for some more pulpy space heroics strikes me.
September 5, 2024
Short military fiction, but I liked it. Sometimes military fiction is just too wordy about weaponry and battles, and this one leaned that way without getting too much for me. The characters are decent folks, although good soldiers. The feel seems a little like an episode of Star Trek: TOS.
I'll follow up with the next in the series. Many space fiction books nowadays end up being very long; this series is excellent for a smaller bite at a time...
I'll follow up with the next in the series. Many space fiction books nowadays end up being very long; this series is excellent for a smaller bite at a time...
November 22, 2017
Well that was quite exciting. Space ships battling, worlds invaded, AI invasion. Very Good 4/5
August 6, 2019
I enjoyed the second book. Easy to read and the story line is intriguing.
Read
February 16, 2020Staying interesting. Keeping my interest. In this one they are captured and threatened in able for the foe to get their cool spaceship from them. But they hold out and are saved.
May 11, 2016
Although the story quickly took an unexpected turn in this sequel, I was not disappointed at all. It soon came back around to shiny side of things. It has more action than the first book in the series. It is even more filled with high-tech wizardy. It is also a pull-you-along intrigue-y story that I really enjoyed.
The crew of the clandestine Freeground ship, now renamed First Light, takes it's first jump to a distant sector, only to find itself immediately in the middle of a space battle. Their intervention helps postpone the inevitable for a small agrarian solar system that is just about to be swallowed up by a large space corporation/conglomerate. One successful trade is all the success they can manage for their mission before the overpowering force returns, ending up with Captain Valent and his away party being captives and their ship unaccounted for in the confusion. But, there are still tricks to be pulled, and Valent and his crew, and his AI Alice, are nothing if not resourceful
I was thoroughly entertained by this story. The characters are starting to form up nicely, and I'm looking forward to seeing what this crew can do with the technological opportunities that have come into their hands. I give it 3.5 stars and call it an Exciting Read.
Read as part of the Spinward Fringe: Broadcast 0: Origins Omnibus edition.
The crew of the clandestine Freeground ship, now renamed First Light, takes it's first jump to a distant sector, only to find itself immediately in the middle of a space battle. Their intervention helps postpone the inevitable for a small agrarian solar system that is just about to be swallowed up by a large space corporation/conglomerate. One successful trade is all the success they can manage for their mission before the overpowering force returns, ending up with Captain Valent and his away party being captives and their ship unaccounted for in the confusion. But, there are still tricks to be pulled, and Valent and his crew, and his AI Alice, are nothing if not resourceful
I was thoroughly entertained by this story. The characters are starting to form up nicely, and I'm looking forward to seeing what this crew can do with the technological opportunities that have come into their hands. I give it 3.5 stars and call it an Exciting Read.
Read as part of the Spinward Fringe: Broadcast 0: Origins Omnibus edition.
October 3, 2012
I loved this second book in the First Light series. The characters are so believable, and that makes the story flow well. I really enjoyed where the author took this story, and cannot wait to read the rest of the series!
January 31, 2013
Vast improvement over his first story in the series. I am starting to see where his stories are going. Seems he has stepped up on the technology front too. Smatterings of Star Trek. An enjoyable read.
June 17, 2013
This is my all time FAVORITE scifi series, possibly my favorite of any genre. The only problem is i get hacked off every time I read it cause it isnt long enough, short books, is actually pretty frustrating ;).
May 19, 2010
Picked this up free (ebook) from a site called smashwords. great followup to the first book and well written. Great read.
July 21, 2013
This one was even better than the first
July 22, 2025
Very enjoyable, continues, of course where Freeground leaves off. And only gets better. Short, and worth it!
December 28, 2014
I can say the same thing about this second book as about the first, it's a great snack. Don't keep your expectations to high but you're probably going to enjoy reading this.
May 15, 2013
You can find this for free - quick read space opera. Enjoyable
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews