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The Lost #1
Ice and Monsters
Swift. Silent. Deadly… Hunted.
Recon Marine Conor McCall didn’t expect action during his training op in the icy waters off Norway. But when a bizarre summer fog engulfed his boat, he and his team found themselves in a pitched fight against strange, cruel monsters emerging from the coastal depths of the North Sea.
That was just the beginning.
Stranded in a barren land of mountains, glaciers, and black pines, far from home and unable to contact the world they came from, the Marines must prepare for war against murderous barbarians, wicked sorcerers, and foul creatures summoned from the oldest, deepest, and darkest pits of hell.
When even their allies are enemies, the Recon Marines must do what they have always done: adapt or die. But with a world of ice and monsters seeking to destroy them, every second is mission-critical.
Recon Marine Conor McCall didn’t expect action during his training op in the icy waters off Norway. But when a bizarre summer fog engulfed his boat, he and his team found themselves in a pitched fight against strange, cruel monsters emerging from the coastal depths of the North Sea.
That was just the beginning.
Stranded in a barren land of mountains, glaciers, and black pines, far from home and unable to contact the world they came from, the Marines must prepare for war against murderous barbarians, wicked sorcerers, and foul creatures summoned from the oldest, deepest, and darkest pits of hell.
When even their allies are enemies, the Recon Marines must do what they have always done: adapt or die. But with a world of ice and monsters seeking to destroy them, every second is mission-critical.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 5, 2022
371 people are currently reading
309 people want to read
About the author
Peter Nealen
73 books106 followersPeter Nealen is a former Recon Marine, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, and something of an aspiring renaissance man (emphasis on aspiring). He has long been a reader of history, philosophy, folklore, science fiction, and fantasy, and is the author of the American Praetorians series of paramilitary thrillers as well as the Jed Horn series of supernatural thrillers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
March 28, 2022
I thought I would love this book as it was right up my ally. However it felt very generic with little thought into the character building. The other reviewers were right and you are literally thrust into the action, but it just seemed like it was throwing every type of monster after monster at you in a war of attrition. Felt like a movie with no plot leaving you scratching your head saying, that was it?
December 1, 2022
Actual rating 3.5 / 5.
My feelings on this one are hard to quantify. The action is relentless, and horror tropes are here in full force, but the pacing somehow feels slow, and I never felt significant tension. I'm not much of a horror reader, and I think that effectively prevented a big part of the story from resonating for me.
The plot structure and character relationships felt a bit derivative of Legionnaire (written by the authors heading up Wargate books, which Ice and Monsters was published under), most notably the unreliable jerk of a captain who constantly compromises the soldiers under his command. However, I think Legionnaire's character work was much stronger; other than the captain, the POV protagonist, and Gunny, I had a hard time tracking or even distinguishing most of the other soldiers.
The worldbuilding has a lot of potential, but so much is left in the dark in this book. Presumably the sequels build it out further.
Overall, I did enjoy it. It's professionally written and builds well on its concept of modern day marines trapped in a dark fantasy world. However, I do hope the sequels have a bit more theming, characterization, and worldbuilding to keep me better engaged.
My feelings on this one are hard to quantify. The action is relentless, and horror tropes are here in full force, but the pacing somehow feels slow, and I never felt significant tension. I'm not much of a horror reader, and I think that effectively prevented a big part of the story from resonating for me.
The plot structure and character relationships felt a bit derivative of Legionnaire (written by the authors heading up Wargate books, which Ice and Monsters was published under), most notably the unreliable jerk of a captain who constantly compromises the soldiers under his command. However, I think Legionnaire's character work was much stronger; other than the captain, the POV protagonist, and Gunny, I had a hard time tracking or even distinguishing most of the other soldiers.
The worldbuilding has a lot of potential, but so much is left in the dark in this book. Presumably the sequels build it out further.
Overall, I did enjoy it. It's professionally written and builds well on its concept of modern day marines trapped in a dark fantasy world. However, I do hope the sequels have a bit more theming, characterization, and worldbuilding to keep me better engaged.
September 11, 2022
Ok, this was kind of a frustrating book in that nothing really gets explained even at the end. It is somewhat exciting, but these Force Recon Marines are something akin to super-soldiers if they could put up with all the stuff in this book.
We start off with our Force Recon platoon heading for a beach landing somewhere off the Norwegian coast. This is strictly a training mission, but the platoon is going in tactical just like it was for real. Only something happens been the time the Zodiacs were launched and they reached the beach. That something was an unexpected attack by something coming from the water. These weren't fish, but something that resembled a human only with razor sharp teeth and arms ending in claws. To make matters worse, the attacked occurred in very heavy fog. The four boats had been going in a silently as possible and didn't expect the fog.
Things got real bad in a hurry. Whatever these things attacking the boats were, they were vicious and the Marines weren't exactly prepared. Oh, they had their weapons and other gear, but most was stowed or just unloaded. Fortunately, our main character, Staff Sergeant Conor McCall, could reach his bowie knife and that's what he used to start slashing at his attacker. It seemed that everyone in the boat McCall was steering was attacked at about the same moment, but most were equipped to repeal those attacks with their knives, except for one. Sgt. Stanley, who was very new to the Force Recon Marine unit. McCall could only guess that he was pulled off the boat and there wasn't much that could be done in this dark and fog.
So, the only thing to do was drive forward hoping that they could reach the beach somewhere ahead and then regroup to figure out what was going on. Gunnery Sergeant Taylor's boat had made it to shore as well as the Captain's boat. Captain Sorenson was in charge of the platoon although he was very inexperienced compared to the rest of the Marines. He also didn't know what the hell had happened out in the water and it was soon apparent that whatever was attacking them wasn't stopping just because they reached the beach.
By now, the platoon had unencumbered their weapons and loaded magazines were slammed home. What had begun as a training mission now had become very deadly. It also appeared that the platoon wasn't anywhere near where they were supposed to be. While the Norwegian coast wasn't exactly going to be warm, the platoon found itself knee-deep in snow! They were slowing slogging away from the beach into the trees hoping to put something between them and these sea creatures coming out of the water in large numbers.
So, this is how the story starts. You'll never find out where you are exactly, nor do you find out when you are, but you are definitely not in a world you will recognized. There are things that happen in this book that just don't nor should happen anywhere or at any time. You have about seven days of rations and every one has a full combat load of ammo, mostly 5.56mm which you find out later isn't going to be the best for punching holes in the things you meet. Still, that's where you're at so you work it out and solve the problem. By this time, the platoon realizes that their new mission is just to survive. Then the Captain starts becoming a problem!
The story was very interesting, but I don't see how these guys managed to stay alive considering the things they have to fight. Yeah, some will get killed, but they seem to be fighting constantly with little to no rest or sleep. Sure makes for a good story, but seems a little extreme. I also was pretty frustrated by not ever finding out where or when this was taking place. Even at the end of the book, there's no explanation. I guess that could come in book 2, but I'm not sure I want to continue reading the series. It just didn't leave me with much hope and there doesn't seem to be an end point to what the Force Recon Marines must do to get back home.
Well, I'll be! There are already 5 books in this series. Book 2, "Shadows & Crows" is available on Amazon as are books 3 & 4. Book 5 appears to be available on 1 Oct 2022. I guess I'll put book 2 on my reading list.
We start off with our Force Recon platoon heading for a beach landing somewhere off the Norwegian coast. This is strictly a training mission, but the platoon is going in tactical just like it was for real. Only something happens been the time the Zodiacs were launched and they reached the beach. That something was an unexpected attack by something coming from the water. These weren't fish, but something that resembled a human only with razor sharp teeth and arms ending in claws. To make matters worse, the attacked occurred in very heavy fog. The four boats had been going in a silently as possible and didn't expect the fog.
Things got real bad in a hurry. Whatever these things attacking the boats were, they were vicious and the Marines weren't exactly prepared. Oh, they had their weapons and other gear, but most was stowed or just unloaded. Fortunately, our main character, Staff Sergeant Conor McCall, could reach his bowie knife and that's what he used to start slashing at his attacker. It seemed that everyone in the boat McCall was steering was attacked at about the same moment, but most were equipped to repeal those attacks with their knives, except for one. Sgt. Stanley, who was very new to the Force Recon Marine unit. McCall could only guess that he was pulled off the boat and there wasn't much that could be done in this dark and fog.
So, the only thing to do was drive forward hoping that they could reach the beach somewhere ahead and then regroup to figure out what was going on. Gunnery Sergeant Taylor's boat had made it to shore as well as the Captain's boat. Captain Sorenson was in charge of the platoon although he was very inexperienced compared to the rest of the Marines. He also didn't know what the hell had happened out in the water and it was soon apparent that whatever was attacking them wasn't stopping just because they reached the beach.
By now, the platoon had unencumbered their weapons and loaded magazines were slammed home. What had begun as a training mission now had become very deadly. It also appeared that the platoon wasn't anywhere near where they were supposed to be. While the Norwegian coast wasn't exactly going to be warm, the platoon found itself knee-deep in snow! They were slowing slogging away from the beach into the trees hoping to put something between them and these sea creatures coming out of the water in large numbers.
So, this is how the story starts. You'll never find out where you are exactly, nor do you find out when you are, but you are definitely not in a world you will recognized. There are things that happen in this book that just don't nor should happen anywhere or at any time. You have about seven days of rations and every one has a full combat load of ammo, mostly 5.56mm which you find out later isn't going to be the best for punching holes in the things you meet. Still, that's where you're at so you work it out and solve the problem. By this time, the platoon realizes that their new mission is just to survive. Then the Captain starts becoming a problem!
The story was very interesting, but I don't see how these guys managed to stay alive considering the things they have to fight. Yeah, some will get killed, but they seem to be fighting constantly with little to no rest or sleep. Sure makes for a good story, but seems a little extreme. I also was pretty frustrated by not ever finding out where or when this was taking place. Even at the end of the book, there's no explanation. I guess that could come in book 2, but I'm not sure I want to continue reading the series. It just didn't leave me with much hope and there doesn't seem to be an end point to what the Force Recon Marines must do to get back home.
Well, I'll be! There are already 5 books in this series. Book 2, "Shadows & Crows" is available on Amazon as are books 3 & 4. Book 5 appears to be available on 1 Oct 2022. I guess I'll put book 2 on my reading list.
May 20, 2025
DNF at 80%
Started off okay, and though I was initially not a fan of the audiobook reader, he grew on me. The premise of normal people thrown into another world, who then need to figure out how to survive, is a favorite of mine.
Unfortunately, there were just too many irksome things. I was expecting to have some mixed reactions to this since it's military fiction and that genre tends to lean heavily conservative, and I'm pretty heavily progressive. So, I understand I am not the main audience here. But let's go:
No real character work. Most characters were pretty one note if that. I care about maybe three characters if I'm being generous, and I don't feel like being generous right now.
Some potentially interesting world-building bits, but even when the characters have down time between the many fights they never seem to learn anything about their new world beyond 'scary monsters and savages trying to kill/use us!!'. (And honestly, the constant use of the term 'savages' got to the point where it was concerning.) Lots of dark lords running around with their terrible armies and getting in each others' ways. That could be fun if we could actually get an idea of what they're about. But we only get much of 'Dragon Mask' and only from a long narrative distance.
Sorenson was an insufferable idiot. But there were things about the way narrative treated him that bugged me. The narration calls him a college graduate as if that's an insult and seems to think his desire for cultural sensitivity as part of his attempt to make allies is a flaw in itself. Which. No? He's a panicking idiot grasping at control and power in an impossible situation with all the tools he has. He's gullible and arrogant. That's why he's a shit leader. Half-assed attempts at cultural sensitivity under duress and a college education are the tools that manifests through. But combine this narrative disdain for 'cultural sensitivity' with the extremely frequent use of the term 'savages' for the tribe they fall in with and it gets uncomfortable. (And at least one use of the r-slur I heard by Connor to refer to Sorenson)
Gunny just seems too passive for how much weight and respect the narrative hands him. He just kind of twiddles his thumbs while Sorenson marches them all into hell. He finger wags occasionally but never *does* anything except agree with Connor. And I guess he's weirdly good with an axe in close combat. Even though he doesn't seem to have done that before? Or not much at any rate.
And... Connor. Well, we're pretty tightly held to his point of view, but he doesn't have much personality, either. 'Violence nerd' feels more like a hand wave to justify him being able to use a sword surprisingly well. And he hates Sorenson. Which. Fair. Fuck that guy.
Connor can also apparently magically sense morality? He has magical vibe checks. He can just tell when a creature is Pure Evil tm by the vibes. And either no one else notices the Pure Evil tm, or they don't mention it. But he can also tell his new sword is totes Good tm. And, later, that the elves they meet while a dark lord's lair are Good tm. (Also gorgeous, even if they were imprisoned for who knows how long. The lady is beautiful and so are the men. But in a Manly way. With lantern jaws and no homo. The book is very clear on that!) Connor also endlessly shills for the Recon Marines. Which. I get it, be proud of your service. But it also got distracting, especially in the middle of fight scenes and started sounding like a recruitment commercial at some points.
And since we're so tightly bound to Connor's POV we never get to learn anything. He is narratively locked out of the loop on what's going on and why even eighty percent of the way in. We don't even get rumors or whispers from the tribe the marines are grudgingly allied with. So we get a lot of action scenes, but not a lot of context for the conflict.
It's frustrating. I wanted to like this, but it just got too tiresome. Maybe my gripes are addressed in the last 20%, but... that's too little too late, unfortunately.
Started off okay, and though I was initially not a fan of the audiobook reader, he grew on me. The premise of normal people thrown into another world, who then need to figure out how to survive, is a favorite of mine.
Unfortunately, there were just too many irksome things. I was expecting to have some mixed reactions to this since it's military fiction and that genre tends to lean heavily conservative, and I'm pretty heavily progressive. So, I understand I am not the main audience here. But let's go:
No real character work. Most characters were pretty one note if that. I care about maybe three characters if I'm being generous, and I don't feel like being generous right now.
Some potentially interesting world-building bits, but even when the characters have down time between the many fights they never seem to learn anything about their new world beyond 'scary monsters and savages trying to kill/use us!!'. (And honestly, the constant use of the term 'savages' got to the point where it was concerning.) Lots of dark lords running around with their terrible armies and getting in each others' ways. That could be fun if we could actually get an idea of what they're about. But we only get much of 'Dragon Mask' and only from a long narrative distance.
Sorenson was an insufferable idiot. But there were things about the way narrative treated him that bugged me. The narration calls him a college graduate as if that's an insult and seems to think his desire for cultural sensitivity as part of his attempt to make allies is a flaw in itself. Which. No? He's a panicking idiot grasping at control and power in an impossible situation with all the tools he has. He's gullible and arrogant. That's why he's a shit leader. Half-assed attempts at cultural sensitivity under duress and a college education are the tools that manifests through. But combine this narrative disdain for 'cultural sensitivity' with the extremely frequent use of the term 'savages' for the tribe they fall in with and it gets uncomfortable. (And at least one use of the r-slur I heard by Connor to refer to Sorenson)
Gunny just seems too passive for how much weight and respect the narrative hands him. He just kind of twiddles his thumbs while Sorenson marches them all into hell. He finger wags occasionally but never *does* anything except agree with Connor. And I guess he's weirdly good with an axe in close combat. Even though he doesn't seem to have done that before? Or not much at any rate.
And... Connor. Well, we're pretty tightly held to his point of view, but he doesn't have much personality, either. 'Violence nerd' feels more like a hand wave to justify him being able to use a sword surprisingly well. And he hates Sorenson. Which. Fair. Fuck that guy.
Connor can also apparently magically sense morality? He has magical vibe checks. He can just tell when a creature is Pure Evil tm by the vibes. And either no one else notices the Pure Evil tm, or they don't mention it. But he can also tell his new sword is totes Good tm. And, later, that the elves they meet while a dark lord's lair are Good tm. (Also gorgeous, even if they were imprisoned for who knows how long. The lady is beautiful and so are the men. But in a Manly way. With lantern jaws and no homo. The book is very clear on that!) Connor also endlessly shills for the Recon Marines. Which. I get it, be proud of your service. But it also got distracting, especially in the middle of fight scenes and started sounding like a recruitment commercial at some points.
And since we're so tightly bound to Connor's POV we never get to learn anything. He is narratively locked out of the loop on what's going on and why even eighty percent of the way in. We don't even get rumors or whispers from the tribe the marines are grudgingly allied with. So we get a lot of action scenes, but not a lot of context for the conflict.
It's frustrating. I wanted to like this, but it just got too tiresome. Maybe my gripes are addressed in the last 20%, but... that's too little too late, unfortunately.
February 10, 2023
Found this through a Reddit thread that described this as "Lord of the Rings meets Call of Duty". I agree - it combines the compelling narrative of a thrice-remade videogame from 2007 with the fact that Lord of the Rings also has trolls in it.
The premise is its strong point - an exercise goes wrong and a bunch of Marines find themselves in an alien, viking-like world.
The writing oscillates between OK and terrible. The author makes several attempts at humor by using words like "tacticool" and "Good Idea Fairy" - maybe funny for some, but not my kind of thing. He also REALLY wants you to know that the main protagonist is a manly man, using shorthand like "a violence nerd", "hunting" and my favorite and oft-repeated "he was bigger than me and I'm not a small guy". The attempts at foreshadowing are cringeworthy - Connor says "I would come to regret this decision sooner than I thought" at least once a day.
The character development is nonexistent - Connor is a badass. Gunny is a leader. The Captain is an asshole. The other sergeant is a kiss ass. No motivation is given for any of those. None of these characters learn from their experience or adapt their behavior to fit their surroundings.
Finally - it's bad enough when characters have plot armor and can't die because they're Main Characters. In Ice and Monsters though they also have plot weapons - nothing can move forward if Connor isn't there to see it, so Connor of course makes stupid decisions to make sure he's in the middle of the plot so it can proceed.
If you read Lord of the Rings and thought "Gee, I'd trade the entire fellowship's brains for Legolas with a machinegun" then this book is for you.
The premise is its strong point - an exercise goes wrong and a bunch of Marines find themselves in an alien, viking-like world.
The writing oscillates between OK and terrible. The author makes several attempts at humor by using words like "tacticool" and "Good Idea Fairy" - maybe funny for some, but not my kind of thing. He also REALLY wants you to know that the main protagonist is a manly man, using shorthand like "a violence nerd", "hunting" and my favorite and oft-repeated "he was bigger than me and I'm not a small guy". The attempts at foreshadowing are cringeworthy - Connor says "I would come to regret this decision sooner than I thought" at least once a day.
The character development is nonexistent - Connor is a badass. Gunny is a leader. The Captain is an asshole. The other sergeant is a kiss ass. No motivation is given for any of those. None of these characters learn from their experience or adapt their behavior to fit their surroundings.
Finally - it's bad enough when characters have plot armor and can't die because they're Main Characters. In Ice and Monsters though they also have plot weapons - nothing can move forward if Connor isn't there to see it, so Connor of course makes stupid decisions to make sure he's in the middle of the plot so it can proceed.
If you read Lord of the Rings and thought "Gee, I'd trade the entire fellowship's brains for Legolas with a machinegun" then this book is for you.
April 24, 2024
I'm so impressed!
The Recon Marines are in the middle of a North Sea exercise off the coast of Norway. Then fog, thicker than normal with an eerie feel, moves in. That's when the Recon Marines are suddenly, inexplicably, in another place. It's not Norway. But they have no idea until they're attacked by, "merpeople" that Colen realizes that they're not where they were only moments ago. And the craziness starts.
The Captain, a boot, refuses to believe they're not in Norway. His decisions, made according to His Officer Training, were based on their old reality. But Gunny Taylor is the real commanding officer based on tours fought during a lifetime of being Recon Marines. Gunny has common sense & tries to get the Captain on board but to no avail. After the first battle with the sea people took Marine's lives, they were ill-prepared for what awaited them. And what the Captain decides after the second battle changes the fate of all the Recon Marines.
The story takes off from there & moves non-stop. I'm hooked now, and on to the next book in the series. I'm trying not to spoil anyone's read, but I am sure that any reader of warfare books knows that they're excellent reads. If you've not read a warfare series, why not? You're missing all the great books!
Thank you Peter Nealen. I'm so happy you put this story down on "paper" for us to share. It's a fun, action-filled, military story that bares the hearts and minds of this group of Recon Marines. And well done too!
The Recon Marines are in the middle of a North Sea exercise off the coast of Norway. Then fog, thicker than normal with an eerie feel, moves in. That's when the Recon Marines are suddenly, inexplicably, in another place. It's not Norway. But they have no idea until they're attacked by, "merpeople" that Colen realizes that they're not where they were only moments ago. And the craziness starts.
The Captain, a boot, refuses to believe they're not in Norway. His decisions, made according to His Officer Training, were based on their old reality. But Gunny Taylor is the real commanding officer based on tours fought during a lifetime of being Recon Marines. Gunny has common sense & tries to get the Captain on board but to no avail. After the first battle with the sea people took Marine's lives, they were ill-prepared for what awaited them. And what the Captain decides after the second battle changes the fate of all the Recon Marines.
The story takes off from there & moves non-stop. I'm hooked now, and on to the next book in the series. I'm trying not to spoil anyone's read, but I am sure that any reader of warfare books knows that they're excellent reads. If you've not read a warfare series, why not? You're missing all the great books!
Thank you Peter Nealen. I'm so happy you put this story down on "paper" for us to share. It's a fun, action-filled, military story that bares the hearts and minds of this group of Recon Marines. And well done too!
February 24, 2022
Nobody messes with the Marines
This a great story that had action from the start to the end. A group of Recon Marines are on a training exercise that goes horribly wrong at the very start. Lost in time and possibly space they are faced with a lot of questions and few answers. Like in most military forces it is the NCO's that do the heavy lifting because their officer is not up to the job. Alliances are made with the wrong people and it is the NCO's, who that it is with the wrong people and try to correct things. There is action aplenty in this book from humanoid people to creatures that defy description. I will say that while I am not a big fan of Rajasthan fiction this book made me want more. It reminded me of the series by Larry Niven about soldiers from earth transported to another to fight a war. I know that I will be reading the next book in this series in the future.
This a great story that had action from the start to the end. A group of Recon Marines are on a training exercise that goes horribly wrong at the very start. Lost in time and possibly space they are faced with a lot of questions and few answers. Like in most military forces it is the NCO's that do the heavy lifting because their officer is not up to the job. Alliances are made with the wrong people and it is the NCO's, who that it is with the wrong people and try to correct things. There is action aplenty in this book from humanoid people to creatures that defy description. I will say that while I am not a big fan of Rajasthan fiction this book made me want more. It reminded me of the series by Larry Niven about soldiers from earth transported to another to fight a war. I know that I will be reading the next book in this series in the future.
April 18, 2022
Interesting
This is a meld of mil-scifi and fantasy/adventure. 'Wargate' as it's called. I've previously read 'Tier 1000' and wasn't terribly impressed.
This book gets going from the first chapter, all the character and world building is done whilst the fairly relentless action is going on. The characters are generally likable (or not) depending on who they are, and the officer is shown as useless - which brings us to the biggest gripe I have with this story thus far - basically every soldier can see than they're being led down a suicidal path, yet they all don't do what they should have done. This ultimately has a cost assigned to it.
You'll find plenty of fantasy elements from varying stories melded here, there some Skyrim elements, LOTR, GoT etc. You could really just summarise this as a modded version of Skyrim where you're kitted out as a modern Marine.
This is a meld of mil-scifi and fantasy/adventure. 'Wargate' as it's called. I've previously read 'Tier 1000' and wasn't terribly impressed.
This book gets going from the first chapter, all the character and world building is done whilst the fairly relentless action is going on. The characters are generally likable (or not) depending on who they are, and the officer is shown as useless - which brings us to the biggest gripe I have with this story thus far - basically every soldier can see than they're being led down a suicidal path, yet they all don't do what they should have done. This ultimately has a cost assigned to it.
You'll find plenty of fantasy elements from varying stories melded here, there some Skyrim elements, LOTR, GoT etc. You could really just summarise this as a modded version of Skyrim where you're kitted out as a modern Marine.
March 4, 2024
Really good but not for me
This was a great dark fantasy/military action book. Clearly the author knows how Marines function and it shows in his writing. The fantasy setting in great and mysterious. There's enough unanswered questions to keep the mystery going without feeling like an episode of Lost. Unfortunately I just couldn't connect with the book. There's a ton of characters initially, so it's hard to remember who they all are. The author goes into Tolkien levels of detail which can be good, but I just couldn't enjoy it. There's also a lot of military lingo used, so be prepared to go through a lot of words, phrases, and terms that are unfamiliar. Although I personally didn't enjoy the book, I can still recognize the work the author put into it and also realize the book itself is good. So 5 stars for this one but I don't think I'll be continuing with the series
This was a great dark fantasy/military action book. Clearly the author knows how Marines function and it shows in his writing. The fantasy setting in great and mysterious. There's enough unanswered questions to keep the mystery going without feeling like an episode of Lost. Unfortunately I just couldn't connect with the book. There's a ton of characters initially, so it's hard to remember who they all are. The author goes into Tolkien levels of detail which can be good, but I just couldn't enjoy it. There's also a lot of military lingo used, so be prepared to go through a lot of words, phrases, and terms that are unfamiliar. Although I personally didn't enjoy the book, I can still recognize the work the author put into it and also realize the book itself is good. So 5 stars for this one but I don't think I'll be continuing with the series
February 5, 2022
WarGate is the future of hardcore Military/fantasy genre
The story almost reached 5 stars but it the ending was dry with color it was more I say and that’s all could’ve been more details and what the (ELVES) thought at that time would’ve been helpful and there are times that you had a chacther thing on a memory or have an epiphany on something they should’ve relished sooner it made it seem off-putting is the best I can describe it(ex. There a scene when a solider has a sense of Déjà vu but dosen’t think about why he had dreams about the places) has became annoying that kept making the choice to get why it’s wrong and figure out an answer but they kept letting it build till the mistakes lead to deaths.
The story almost reached 5 stars but it the ending was dry with color it was more I say and that’s all could’ve been more details and what the (ELVES) thought at that time would’ve been helpful and there are times that you had a chacther thing on a memory or have an epiphany on something they should’ve relished sooner it made it seem off-putting is the best I can describe it(ex. There a scene when a solider has a sense of Déjà vu but dosen’t think about why he had dreams about the places) has became annoying that kept making the choice to get why it’s wrong and figure out an answer but they kept letting it build till the mistakes lead to deaths.
January 9, 2023
My introduction to the sub-sub-genre called “War Gate,” “the Fully Kinetic intersection of Military Thriller and Epic Fantasy.” (Capitalization unchanged from the original.) I started this with mixed feelings, but Nealen’s writing brought me around. There is a Norse flavor to this guns-n-sorcery epic, as well as an almost thoughtful element leavening the episodic wall-to-wall violence. Speaking of violence, there is lots on offer but less than I expected. The story takes up the slack. Interested to see how the series and the idea evolves in the future.
Three and a half stars rounded up.
April 30, 2023
A good read in the military/monsters genre. Easy to read and some good characters. But the development of those characters takes a backseat to the action. I always view that as a mistake. A good example of character development (albeit in a film) is the Tarantino movies such as "Reservoir Dogs". They spend 10 min talking in a diner and you are taken right there with them, and that leads the movie. This book misses that. And the reader suffers a bit due to it. Luckily, the action is tight and never silly. As a person who is served in marine units, and with RECON (as a logistic officer POG), his descriptions are on-point. MIL aficionados will love it. It gets 3-stars though because it is still just slightly above average. I did buy the next book in the series, and look forward to it.
May 15, 2023
For young teenagers and "non-intellectuals", I´ve seen Dandridge, Flint, SM Stirling, Rinbgo, Weber and others do this with more complexity.
Not bad by any means and competently crafted but not something I rave about.
The "perpetual Taco machine" takes out the things I find most intriguing with the premise, the need to adapt and overcome in a situation with scarce resources.
If you liked the "Ruins of Earth" you´ll like this series so hopefully you´ll have a blast while I search for another world to conquer.
Ps.
I find it odd that authors always describe the '80-'90s Armed Forces in these books, things have changed quite dramatically since the '10s and the Copium bothers me since I´m not an Ostrich.
Not bad by any means and competently crafted but not something I rave about.
The "perpetual Taco machine" takes out the things I find most intriguing with the premise, the need to adapt and overcome in a situation with scarce resources.
If you liked the "Ruins of Earth" you´ll like this series so hopefully you´ll have a blast while I search for another world to conquer.
Ps.
I find it odd that authors always describe the '80-'90s Armed Forces in these books, things have changed quite dramatically since the '10s and the Copium bothers me since I´m not an Ostrich.
August 23, 2023
meh…
Really had to slog through this one. I figured I’d give it a chance, since I loved the Forgotten Ruin series; but this story doesn’t even begin to hold a candle to that series. Not nearly enough time spent on character development, too many characters with similar names, but never any further description/details on the individual. Also, for someone who typically does a great job in the technical/armament side of his books, Nealan really dropped the ball here. NVGs apparently never run out of batteries, weapons never malfunction/need to be cleaned, and really all around unbelievable in terms of gear keeping them warm/dry. Read the Forgotten Ruin series for some proper Wargate thrillers.
Really had to slog through this one. I figured I’d give it a chance, since I loved the Forgotten Ruin series; but this story doesn’t even begin to hold a candle to that series. Not nearly enough time spent on character development, too many characters with similar names, but never any further description/details on the individual. Also, for someone who typically does a great job in the technical/armament side of his books, Nealan really dropped the ball here. NVGs apparently never run out of batteries, weapons never malfunction/need to be cleaned, and really all around unbelievable in terms of gear keeping them warm/dry. Read the Forgotten Ruin series for some proper Wargate thrillers.
February 24, 2023
Constant action, big monsters
American Recon marines vs lots of big monsters. Constant action against ever greater threats with dwindling ammunition. High tension military sci-fi fantasy with touches of horror. Peter Nealen has built a fascinating and entertaining world with this book. When a company of Recon marines deploy on exercise and drift through a dog bank the enter a world of ice and monsters, with magic and gods, savage creatures and humans. The characters are good and have some depth but it is mostly about the action. I really enjoyed this one and will be reading more. Mark Boyett is the perfect narrator for this book.
American Recon marines vs lots of big monsters. Constant action against ever greater threats with dwindling ammunition. High tension military sci-fi fantasy with touches of horror. Peter Nealen has built a fascinating and entertaining world with this book. When a company of Recon marines deploy on exercise and drift through a dog bank the enter a world of ice and monsters, with magic and gods, savage creatures and humans. The characters are good and have some depth but it is mostly about the action. I really enjoyed this one and will be reading more. Mark Boyett is the perfect narrator for this book.
September 3, 2025
I thought this book started great. Interesting and immediately jumped into the action, but I quickly realized that pretty much sums up the entire book. Aside from Connor, Gunny, and the Captain(filling the role of ‘annoying fvckstick who constantly tries to screw things up’), I had no idea who the other characters were. After encounter three…maybe it was four…frankly, the encounters became monotonous slog against yet even more powerful monster. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. I kept waiting for something enlightening or revealing to get me hooked, but it never came.
Overall, a decent read. Entertaining, but repetitive and unremarkable.
Overall, a decent read. Entertaining, but repetitive and unremarkable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2022
WarGate is a wonderful take in Fantasy and MilScifi
As an already huge fan of Forgotten Ruin, I did not know what to expect would ve different walking into this series other than the setting.
I was presently suprised to find a dark world that a convincing cast of hard charging Marines would struggle to navigate. Using both military tropes and a lovecraftian sense of unknown mystical horror to enrapture me with a captivating narrator. Im extremely excited to see what else this subgenre and series can offer. Well done Peter Nealen.
As an already huge fan of Forgotten Ruin, I did not know what to expect would ve different walking into this series other than the setting.
I was presently suprised to find a dark world that a convincing cast of hard charging Marines would struggle to navigate. Using both military tropes and a lovecraftian sense of unknown mystical horror to enrapture me with a captivating narrator. Im extremely excited to see what else this subgenre and series can offer. Well done Peter Nealen.
July 22, 2023
It can't get any worse. Wait a minute, . . . .
Fast action! You find yourself feeling their terror, feeling their pain, their exhaustion. How could it be any worse? And then the worse gets worse! Solid story line. Many twists and turns. Go Recon!
You used "in and of itself" twice. Good phrase but after the first time I was looking for it a second time.
"bitter" may describe a point (of a knife) but I never heard it used this way.
Good story. I am going on with the series!
Fast action! You find yourself feeling their terror, feeling their pain, their exhaustion. How could it be any worse? And then the worse gets worse! Solid story line. Many twists and turns. Go Recon!
You used "in and of itself" twice. Good phrase but after the first time I was looking for it a second time.
"bitter" may describe a point (of a knife) but I never heard it used this way.
Good story. I am going on with the series!
August 9, 2025
Very testosterony. I'm not sure why exactly I lost interest. I think it's because it's "bad-ass guys getting into a fight, then sleeping and feeling scared and oh no, it's another fight!" Rinse and repeat.
There was no real story, no real character, no character growth, no-one to get back to, no reason to get back home. Let's say it's John Wick, but it's a platoon of Recon Marines instead of one guy, and it's set in a fantasy land.
I think my hubby will love this.
If you need something more from a book, then this might not be for you.
There was no real story, no real character, no character growth, no-one to get back to, no reason to get back home. Let's say it's John Wick, but it's a platoon of Recon Marines instead of one guy, and it's set in a fantasy land.
I think my hubby will love this.
If you need something more from a book, then this might not be for you.
January 28, 2022
Mystical creatures and gigantic armies.
Fantastical creatures of myth, dreams, and magic up against modern day Marines in anoher land or another time. Against astounding odds, the Marines do well for themselves, although I never could understand why all these people wanted this small group of Marines death so badly that hundreds of them would die and an army of thousands was sent against them; or why they would ever go back to that accussed place. Oh well, it's all in fun.
Fantastical creatures of myth, dreams, and magic up against modern day Marines in anoher land or another time. Against astounding odds, the Marines do well for themselves, although I never could understand why all these people wanted this small group of Marines death so badly that hundreds of them would die and an army of thousands was sent against them; or why they would ever go back to that accussed place. Oh well, it's all in fun.
May 9, 2022
Ice, Monsters, ACTION!
To Author & former Marine Peter Nealen, Thank you for your Service AND thank you for Ice and Monsters! What a fun and exciting read! I have prodded through too many "page-skipper" tedious movement late. Novels with plenty of promise but filled with lost potential. I enjoyed each and every page of Ice and Monsters. Here is excitement, here is conflict, here is discovery... And here is a story! Highly recommended! 5-Stars!
To Author & former Marine Peter Nealen, Thank you for your Service AND thank you for Ice and Monsters! What a fun and exciting read! I have prodded through too many "page-skipper" tedious movement late. Novels with plenty of promise but filled with lost potential. I enjoyed each and every page of Ice and Monsters. Here is excitement, here is conflict, here is discovery... And here is a story! Highly recommended! 5-Stars!
September 13, 2022
Every so often I try books from an author I’m unfamiliar with because I know a lot of you are writing amazing material and I’d hate to miss it.
This book was extremely original and out of the box. I was impressed with the diversity of the characters as well as the setting. Main characters were described to where they were relatable and individualized. Plot was cohesive and maintained a time line that was easy to follow as events and adventures unfolded. Nice job 😊
This book was extremely original and out of the box. I was impressed with the diversity of the characters as well as the setting. Main characters were described to where they were relatable and individualized. Plot was cohesive and maintained a time line that was easy to follow as events and adventures unfolded. Nice job 😊
December 18, 2022
Good read
Lots of interesting info and suggestions to intrigue me. Not as good as the series it is an offshoot from, but it could be my interpretation of marine lingo, no forge, other bits which still haven't become apparent to me in book one. But a good/bad thing is the steady loss of members of the team, showing that modern tech does not guarantee low/no casualties when in conflict with primitives also skilled/experienced in conflict.
Lots of interesting info and suggestions to intrigue me. Not as good as the series it is an offshoot from, but it could be my interpretation of marine lingo, no forge, other bits which still haven't become apparent to me in book one. But a good/bad thing is the steady loss of members of the team, showing that modern tech does not guarantee low/no casualties when in conflict with primitives also skilled/experienced in conflict.
January 17, 2023
I had a hard time completing this book. Pushing through to the end to see how the author was going to wrap up the story. Not very much cas cleared up.
The story is VERY single person narrative. For me the best part for me as the fact I listened to the Audio book and the narrator was a favorite, so there was that, lol.
There are two more book available in the series, just not sure if there is interest to continue the story.
The story is VERY single person narrative. For me the best part for me as the fact I listened to the Audio book and the narrator was a favorite, so there was that, lol.
There are two more book available in the series, just not sure if there is interest to continue the story.
August 21, 2023
I like this book overall. The action was near constant, and it was kind of tiring, but overall, it was a cool story and world. I don't like to judge a series based on book 1, and this is one of those books that I can assume really sets its pace and character development in the following book. Seems like book 1 was for setup for the rest of the series. I look forward to continuing and seeing how it plays out. I'll update this review after reading the next one to confirm or deny my assumptions.
January 26, 2022
Nealen does it again
Peter Nealen's step into the genre of War gate is spot on.
As per usual he gives you characters you can identify with and want to know more of. The action is well written and is plausible even in fantasy.
This is as good as the other worlds he sets his writing, rich, and interesting.
Peter Nealen's step into the genre of War gate is spot on.
As per usual he gives you characters you can identify with and want to know more of. The action is well written and is plausible even in fantasy.
This is as good as the other worlds he sets his writing, rich, and interesting.
January 31, 2022
A good beginning
Whatever we call this genre, sending Troops to fight monsters in some strange land, this book makes a good start and creates a new setting to explore. Or a different time period within a setting we already know, if the authors have been plotting over pints. One note, needs some more breaks in the story, so the reader can take a break.
Whatever we call this genre, sending Troops to fight monsters in some strange land, this book makes a good start and creates a new setting to explore. Or a different time period within a setting we already know, if the authors have been plotting over pints. One note, needs some more breaks in the story, so the reader can take a break.
February 7, 2022
Well, by the time I finished the book, I felt like I'd finished a marathon with the constant stress our MC were under. From the time they start seeing the odd fog to the end of the story, there's very little downtime for our Marines and the action rarely lets up. The monsters are the stuff of nightmares but nothing is easily defined. A well crafted story.
March 2, 2022
Ever wonder how a modern fighting force would fare against the horrors of the mythological north?
The answer is "yes," you have. Even if you didn't realize it. So start tearing through this book for all the ominous and fantastic vistas of the Norse, and the gritty combat of a military fighting force. Do yourself a favor and read this excellent example of Wargate!
The answer is "yes," you have. Even if you didn't realize it. So start tearing through this book for all the ominous and fantastic vistas of the Norse, and the gritty combat of a military fighting force. Do yourself a favor and read this excellent example of Wargate!
May 11, 2022
Pretty Poor Writing
Good news is that it was an intriguing plot. Bad news was that character development was nonexistent. Writing was subpar and could have used a good proofreading. While I admire and respect the author’s service as a Marine, the writing could have used less cheerleading for the Marine Corps and more action.
Good news is that it was an intriguing plot. Bad news was that character development was nonexistent. Writing was subpar and could have used a good proofreading. While I admire and respect the author’s service as a Marine, the writing could have used less cheerleading for the Marine Corps and more action.
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