What do you think?
Rate this book
Saturn's Legacy #2
Cascade
OPERATION CASCADE IS UNDERWAY.
The changes on Enceladus are causing ripples throughout the solar system — and beyond. But the Artifact isn't done yet.
The end is only the beginning...
Cascade, the second book in the Saturn's Legacy series, is a sci-fi thriller full of mystery, intrigue, and epic action from the depths of the ocean to the edge of outer space.
The changes on Enceladus are causing ripples throughout the solar system — and beyond. But the Artifact isn't done yet.
The end is only the beginning...
Cascade, the second book in the Saturn's Legacy series, is a sci-fi thriller full of mystery, intrigue, and epic action from the depths of the ocean to the edge of outer space.
- GenresScience Fiction
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 6, 2022
793 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
June 18, 2022
Maybe that first species had made a big mistake by spreading new life all over the universe. All it did was evolve until it got greedy, and then look for ways to kill each other.
"Cascade" starts off right where we left off - and I do mean literally (or legitimately as I saw one social media thread insist it should be) - and wastes no time hitting the proverbial ground running! It's an exciting and again even head-spinning set-up, ranging from all ports of call on Earth to what's left of our favorite saturnal moon, Enceladus, and back again! And yes, Lowell and Peter Chang manage to find themselves right in the middle of slimy mossy-covered things from the start! And no, that's not including what's on the menu while they're on board with their unique "hosts"!
Academics and aliens have a lot in common. Who knew?
I liked how this second chapter built a more robust and wider base of characters on all sides right from the get-go. Even characters we had briefly met or even only heard about - like Peter's dad and even Hellcat for goodness sake! - in the first book were given their time to shine and enter not only the action but participate in even the general pathos of this motley cast! And naturally, having more than just the human "factions" involved was a big plus, as was more of sense of the simultaneous and parallel action going on! But really? Iran and Iraq are still a mess in 2070 in terms of travel for Westerners? Sigh, the more things change, the more they stay the same, even in scifi…
More than a million words, and you’ve already taught her moist? You’re a monster.
Clearly though, the winner of this book is the interaction of the "Greys" with not only our two main protagonists Peter and Lowell but throughout. And it's definitely refreshing that Peter is much less of a milquetoast after his multitude of near escapes in the first book and that Lowell is… well, no, Lowell's still an irritable, grumpy bastard. But it works. Particularly as the myriad of "sides" and loyalties become more and more convoluted as we move, well, if not forward than at least through the book. Oh and not to be too spoil-y, but the key message seems to be that no matter who arose from the seeds planted by the Photosynthians (sigh… not my favorite name!), we're all just power-hungry bastards at the end of the day! But that does lend itself to a bit of action when we all get together, right?
We’re fighting frog people. My dad would be so proud.
The scifi aspects remain philosophically sound yet relatively light which may or may not be a result of (or even the cause of) the fast pacing of the book, especially at the end where the chapters are really short. It's not in any way bad, per se, but if you're looking for HEAVY scifi or a military action-adventure tale, this isn't it. Well, not completely it (Grady's little PCP, um, I mean, Neon trip is kind of wild!). Still, it has many merits which I outlined in my first review, primarily among them being that James is more than a capable writer with an admirably expansive vocabulary. I certainly wasn't in the mood for something all that much deeper and as a result both enjoyed this experience and intend to keep on until the end of at very least this initial trilogy (I just noticed today it may continue in the future as well).
On to Book 3!
"Cascade" starts off right where we left off - and I do mean literally (or legitimately as I saw one social media thread insist it should be) - and wastes no time hitting the proverbial ground running! It's an exciting and again even head-spinning set-up, ranging from all ports of call on Earth to what's left of our favorite saturnal moon, Enceladus, and back again! And yes, Lowell and Peter Chang manage to find themselves right in the middle of slimy mossy-covered things from the start! And no, that's not including what's on the menu while they're on board with their unique "hosts"!
Academics and aliens have a lot in common. Who knew?
I liked how this second chapter built a more robust and wider base of characters on all sides right from the get-go. Even characters we had briefly met or even only heard about - like Peter's dad and even Hellcat for goodness sake! - in the first book were given their time to shine and enter not only the action but participate in even the general pathos of this motley cast! And naturally, having more than just the human "factions" involved was a big plus, as was more of sense of the simultaneous and parallel action going on! But really? Iran and Iraq are still a mess in 2070 in terms of travel for Westerners? Sigh, the more things change, the more they stay the same, even in scifi…
More than a million words, and you’ve already taught her moist? You’re a monster.
Clearly though, the winner of this book is the interaction of the "Greys" with not only our two main protagonists Peter and Lowell but throughout. And it's definitely refreshing that Peter is much less of a milquetoast after his multitude of near escapes in the first book and that Lowell is… well, no, Lowell's still an irritable, grumpy bastard. But it works. Particularly as the myriad of "sides" and loyalties become more and more convoluted as we move, well, if not forward than at least through the book. Oh and not to be too spoil-y, but the key message seems to be that no matter who arose from the seeds planted by the Photosynthians (sigh… not my favorite name!), we're all just power-hungry bastards at the end of the day! But that does lend itself to a bit of action when we all get together, right?
We’re fighting frog people. My dad would be so proud.
The scifi aspects remain philosophically sound yet relatively light which may or may not be a result of (or even the cause of) the fast pacing of the book, especially at the end where the chapters are really short. It's not in any way bad, per se, but if you're looking for HEAVY scifi or a military action-adventure tale, this isn't it. Well, not completely it (Grady's little PCP, um, I mean, Neon trip is kind of wild!). Still, it has many merits which I outlined in my first review, primarily among them being that James is more than a capable writer with an admirably expansive vocabulary. I certainly wasn't in the mood for something all that much deeper and as a result both enjoyed this experience and intend to keep on until the end of at very least this initial trilogy (I just noticed today it may continue in the future as well).
On to Book 3!
May 26, 2022
Our "dynamic duo," Peter Chang and Carpenter Lowell, are still together, trying to outdo the bad guys and keep them away from the key and the artifact they're now chasing.
We start out in the alien spaceship that picked the 2 of them up, beaten, tired, and trying to keep the key safe from the aliens as a precaution. The aliens help Peter's pronunciation of Akkadian, dead on earth but still used by the aliens. Lowell spends a lot of time in a tub of sorts full of some sort of gel that seems to accelerate his healing. Peter convinces Muul, the scientist he's been talking to, to try and learn English. It doesn't take her long to be fluent enough to get by in most situations with Lowell.
Meanwhile, Goii, their commander, has been in contact with the elders, who don't much resemble Goii and his crew, and in fact, I'd think Goii's and Muul's people would have a bone to pick with their elders, but that's just me. But the thing is, Goii has a visible lust for power, a desire for recognition from the elders, and when Peter points this power lust out, Muul starts to have doubts. Things come to a head, and Lowell, Peter, and Muul - mostly because of a dirty trick the 2 Earth men pulled on her - escape in a pod set to find a habitable place. The pod picks Enceledus, throwing the 3 into action together.
On the way, they meet up with Vasko and Collins, who testified on Lowell's behalf at his court martial. They have with them Fai Chang, Peter's father.
Fai's journey started with one of these bland, almost faceless and ageless types who are obvious government agents to Fai, who was born in Yunnan province in China and came to the US to study, and stayed. The man tells him they are certaon Peter is dead, but his remains were never recovered. Fai learns about the dig in Iraq, the raid that killed 3, and Peter's being assumed dead. But no remains, to Fai, means there may be a chance Peter is alive. He goes to Iran, where he has a visa that gets him in the country, and he asks the colleague woth whom he has been working on a book, to help him cross over into Iraq to investigate the disappearance of his son. But his buddy tells the US on him, because the US has promised to help Iran move its technology to modern standards. So Fai ends up in the American's custody. They end up going into space. Je is escorted to what is left of Enceledus woth Vaso and Collins. This is where, after being thrown into combat situations where he hasn't a clue what to do, he finds Peter.
Fai has always shared his belief in ETs with Peter, and is sort of star struck on seeing Muul...but he is told she has allied with them temporarily and the rest of her shipmates have not. They have returned to the room with all the languages Peter and Lowell first encountered when most of Enceledus was an ice cold ocean spewing geysers into the air in weak spots in the ice covering. Now, the ocean is gone, but the room remains. They know they're looking for something specific, but they didn't expect it to be called by a name they'd have expected in a fantasy game, "the heart of enceladus." As they make their way through a setup mimicking the primordial soup, and a growth of increasingly more complex plants, it becomes easier to crawl...until, suddenly, Peter notices writing on the floor. They back up til he can read what he needs to know. His dad gets struck by the lightning coming off the heart and is unconscious, but before that, had told Peter about his own dad's obsession with puzzles. This gets Peter to thinking at one point when he realizes there is writing hidden within the key. He tries a few things until he hears a sound like something dropping inside and discovers he can open it up and see the writing. The words on the floor had said that moving the heart required something in which to carry the heart. As he holds up the opened key, he watches as the heart collapses in on itself and falls into the key, which he closes. The motley group makes its way back to the 2 vessels, one Chinese and one American, and they head to a moon one of them advises the others about.
Meanwhile, up in the sky above the moon are the main Chinese and American ships, the Russian one already having been atomized. The Chinese ship has been cloaked, the US ship's engines aare gradually getting to the point of failure because of the evasive maneuvers to avoid being atomized. American and Indian crewmembers had been arrested by the Chinese as POWs, and had broken out of prison, and having allied themselves earlier, the US group found the Indians a formidable fighting crew. They take over the bridge, which by now is sort-of manned by a few Chinese engineers who are scared witless. There is a truce - as long as the engineers do as directed and don't try to double cross the new commanders, they will be spared. And so, after a confab, a pod and several Indian starfighters exit the Chinese ship, with a suicide mission all they can figure out t0 tey and stop the UFO. A surprising piece of information comes across to the US captain, who relays the message to the bridge, where the engineers scramble to create what is needed, perhaps enough to incapacitate the alien ship. The results are astounding, and the suicide mission force is able to return to the Chinese ship.
And in the US, in DC, a high level meeting headed by the VP and attended by a lot of bigwigs, including someone from the DOD, has been discussing the killings of Peter's comrades, Peter's disappearance, and many other items relevant to the findings on the US and Mars and Enceledus. When they finally adjourn, one of them comes back with the President and gives them a briefing on the discovery that has been posted all over the Internet, starting with the rich guy who made the discovery, of a shiny metal artifact of some sort in the Marianas Trench, one with a visible notch thsat looks like it is meant to hold something.
In Japan, as said rich guy is chilling to scotch and jazz, he gets a call on his private line from a stranger who claims to have more information on the rich guy's find, which he would like to pass on.
And we move to book 3, "Lineage (Saturn's Legacy Book 3)."
We start out in the alien spaceship that picked the 2 of them up, beaten, tired, and trying to keep the key safe from the aliens as a precaution. The aliens help Peter's pronunciation of Akkadian, dead on earth but still used by the aliens. Lowell spends a lot of time in a tub of sorts full of some sort of gel that seems to accelerate his healing. Peter convinces Muul, the scientist he's been talking to, to try and learn English. It doesn't take her long to be fluent enough to get by in most situations with Lowell.
Meanwhile, Goii, their commander, has been in contact with the elders, who don't much resemble Goii and his crew, and in fact, I'd think Goii's and Muul's people would have a bone to pick with their elders, but that's just me. But the thing is, Goii has a visible lust for power, a desire for recognition from the elders, and when Peter points this power lust out, Muul starts to have doubts. Things come to a head, and Lowell, Peter, and Muul - mostly because of a dirty trick the 2 Earth men pulled on her - escape in a pod set to find a habitable place. The pod picks Enceledus, throwing the 3 into action together.
On the way, they meet up with Vasko and Collins, who testified on Lowell's behalf at his court martial. They have with them Fai Chang, Peter's father.
Fai's journey started with one of these bland, almost faceless and ageless types who are obvious government agents to Fai, who was born in Yunnan province in China and came to the US to study, and stayed. The man tells him they are certaon Peter is dead, but his remains were never recovered. Fai learns about the dig in Iraq, the raid that killed 3, and Peter's being assumed dead. But no remains, to Fai, means there may be a chance Peter is alive. He goes to Iran, where he has a visa that gets him in the country, and he asks the colleague woth whom he has been working on a book, to help him cross over into Iraq to investigate the disappearance of his son. But his buddy tells the US on him, because the US has promised to help Iran move its technology to modern standards. So Fai ends up in the American's custody. They end up going into space. Je is escorted to what is left of Enceledus woth Vaso and Collins. This is where, after being thrown into combat situations where he hasn't a clue what to do, he finds Peter.
Fai has always shared his belief in ETs with Peter, and is sort of star struck on seeing Muul...but he is told she has allied with them temporarily and the rest of her shipmates have not. They have returned to the room with all the languages Peter and Lowell first encountered when most of Enceledus was an ice cold ocean spewing geysers into the air in weak spots in the ice covering. Now, the ocean is gone, but the room remains. They know they're looking for something specific, but they didn't expect it to be called by a name they'd have expected in a fantasy game, "the heart of enceladus." As they make their way through a setup mimicking the primordial soup, and a growth of increasingly more complex plants, it becomes easier to crawl...until, suddenly, Peter notices writing on the floor. They back up til he can read what he needs to know. His dad gets struck by the lightning coming off the heart and is unconscious, but before that, had told Peter about his own dad's obsession with puzzles. This gets Peter to thinking at one point when he realizes there is writing hidden within the key. He tries a few things until he hears a sound like something dropping inside and discovers he can open it up and see the writing. The words on the floor had said that moving the heart required something in which to carry the heart. As he holds up the opened key, he watches as the heart collapses in on itself and falls into the key, which he closes. The motley group makes its way back to the 2 vessels, one Chinese and one American, and they head to a moon one of them advises the others about.
Meanwhile, up in the sky above the moon are the main Chinese and American ships, the Russian one already having been atomized. The Chinese ship has been cloaked, the US ship's engines aare gradually getting to the point of failure because of the evasive maneuvers to avoid being atomized. American and Indian crewmembers had been arrested by the Chinese as POWs, and had broken out of prison, and having allied themselves earlier, the US group found the Indians a formidable fighting crew. They take over the bridge, which by now is sort-of manned by a few Chinese engineers who are scared witless. There is a truce - as long as the engineers do as directed and don't try to double cross the new commanders, they will be spared. And so, after a confab, a pod and several Indian starfighters exit the Chinese ship, with a suicide mission all they can figure out t0 tey and stop the UFO. A surprising piece of information comes across to the US captain, who relays the message to the bridge, where the engineers scramble to create what is needed, perhaps enough to incapacitate the alien ship. The results are astounding, and the suicide mission force is able to return to the Chinese ship.
And in the US, in DC, a high level meeting headed by the VP and attended by a lot of bigwigs, including someone from the DOD, has been discussing the killings of Peter's comrades, Peter's disappearance, and many other items relevant to the findings on the US and Mars and Enceledus. When they finally adjourn, one of them comes back with the President and gives them a briefing on the discovery that has been posted all over the Internet, starting with the rich guy who made the discovery, of a shiny metal artifact of some sort in the Marianas Trench, one with a visible notch thsat looks like it is meant to hold something.
In Japan, as said rich guy is chilling to scotch and jazz, he gets a call on his private line from a stranger who claims to have more information on the rich guy's find, which he would like to pass on.
And we move to book 3, "Lineage (Saturn's Legacy Book 3)."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2024
You can't have spoilers when the author has spoiled the story themselves. Much of this is just pointing out major flaws, but there are a couple of spoilers so be warned. Good sci-fi should be consistent in real science (gravity, light speed), give an explanation when something denies those laws (sub-space frequencies, warp drive, gravity plating) and then be relatively consistent using those to world build the story. Even then, some measure of plausibility is helpful. James does a very poor job of world building, has a poor understanding of science and is inconsistent in how it applies.
Enceladus is 4% of the size of the earth and has 1% of our gravity. Remember how the astronauts jumped around on the moon with those big strides? The moon's gravity is 15 times stronger than Enceladus. Imagine the jumps you could make. During a fight, "His attacker brought his full weight down on Lowell." If his attacker was 200 pounds, that is the gravitational equivalent of 2 pounds. Not so scary and not so well thought out. That gravitational pull comes and goes as it fits the story. In one moment they can fling a character over a chasm, or jump over it themselves, but then they complain about how heavy it is to carry someone or an enemy falling on a character has enough force to crush a breastplate.
There is no explanation on communications between Saturn and Earth which takes 3 minutes each way, after a 10 minute handshake that sounds like how old dial up modems work. 20+ times faster than light. Some commentary on that would be helpful. Their ships are able to make instantaneous jumps over a few miles for evasive maneuvers. Ships coming from Earth are fast, but James never goes into detail other than "Like everyone, we don't publicize them (advances) if we don't have to." Which is pointless because China, Russia, India, Japan and Germany all have warships with the same technology. For such quick interplanetary travel and instantaneous jumps, we don't seem to have done any interstellar travel.
Here is a spoiler: The energy in the artifact was used to create primordial soup for the building blocks of life in a moat around the artifact. Why would it be doing the same thing after a millions of years when the life on Enceladus has already evolved into complex life forms? Pretty pointless to be creating perpetual primordial soup. That same power source can be used to destroy a planet. I can roll with that, like with the Death Star. However, the alien's enemy destroyed a home world with it and then, "reverse engineered" it to "wipe out a neighboring galaxy." What? Scaling up to destroying a solar system maybe would be plausible. It really is over the top, pointless, and too much of a stretch to "reverse engineer" a planet size power source into a galaxy buster. How did they do that? "I'm not sure." Did the 100 billion solar systems blow up all at once or was it a wave that took 100,000 years at light speed to move across a galaxy? What did that explosion do to its neighboring galaxy? James would probably write, "I'm not sure." The author has little sense of scale or time.
One of the advanced weapons is a "sonic" cannon. Even though sound travels four times faster under water than it does in the air, the sonic cannon doesn't work as well under water. Sound doesn't travel in a vacuum. The "sonic" cannon works better in the vacuum of space than it does in the water. His explanation is that, "Technically, the sound can travel along the wave particles emitted by the cannon..." Well, technically, it can't. Sound is a compression wave. It doesn't travel along wave particles. More bad science. A pulsing particle beam that causes intense vibrations to whatever it hits would have been more plausible. In the same sentence, James adds, "...but it wouldn't be enough to damage the hull... ." Two pages later, "...the UFO crumpled before their eyes. Anyone left inside would be crushed by the force of its collapse." No consistency.
How about the characters? The aliens, while physically different, are psychologically just like us with the same motivations for greed, power, etc. Any differences are based on their physiology. And like so many military characters, humans and the aliens, are mainly cliche and one dimensional. Seriously. Hellcat? Oh, and she snarls. There is no sense of how earth has changed with jump technology or FTL communication. Not much world building at all. It is a predictable story line and by the end of this book, you can guess where the next book is headed. I am not bothering with the next installment.
Enceladus is 4% of the size of the earth and has 1% of our gravity. Remember how the astronauts jumped around on the moon with those big strides? The moon's gravity is 15 times stronger than Enceladus. Imagine the jumps you could make. During a fight, "His attacker brought his full weight down on Lowell." If his attacker was 200 pounds, that is the gravitational equivalent of 2 pounds. Not so scary and not so well thought out. That gravitational pull comes and goes as it fits the story. In one moment they can fling a character over a chasm, or jump over it themselves, but then they complain about how heavy it is to carry someone or an enemy falling on a character has enough force to crush a breastplate.
There is no explanation on communications between Saturn and Earth which takes 3 minutes each way, after a 10 minute handshake that sounds like how old dial up modems work. 20+ times faster than light. Some commentary on that would be helpful. Their ships are able to make instantaneous jumps over a few miles for evasive maneuvers. Ships coming from Earth are fast, but James never goes into detail other than "Like everyone, we don't publicize them (advances) if we don't have to." Which is pointless because China, Russia, India, Japan and Germany all have warships with the same technology. For such quick interplanetary travel and instantaneous jumps, we don't seem to have done any interstellar travel.
Here is a spoiler: The energy in the artifact was used to create primordial soup for the building blocks of life in a moat around the artifact. Why would it be doing the same thing after a millions of years when the life on Enceladus has already evolved into complex life forms? Pretty pointless to be creating perpetual primordial soup. That same power source can be used to destroy a planet. I can roll with that, like with the Death Star. However, the alien's enemy destroyed a home world with it and then, "reverse engineered" it to "wipe out a neighboring galaxy." What? Scaling up to destroying a solar system maybe would be plausible. It really is over the top, pointless, and too much of a stretch to "reverse engineer" a planet size power source into a galaxy buster. How did they do that? "I'm not sure." Did the 100 billion solar systems blow up all at once or was it a wave that took 100,000 years at light speed to move across a galaxy? What did that explosion do to its neighboring galaxy? James would probably write, "I'm not sure." The author has little sense of scale or time.
One of the advanced weapons is a "sonic" cannon. Even though sound travels four times faster under water than it does in the air, the sonic cannon doesn't work as well under water. Sound doesn't travel in a vacuum. The "sonic" cannon works better in the vacuum of space than it does in the water. His explanation is that, "Technically, the sound can travel along the wave particles emitted by the cannon..." Well, technically, it can't. Sound is a compression wave. It doesn't travel along wave particles. More bad science. A pulsing particle beam that causes intense vibrations to whatever it hits would have been more plausible. In the same sentence, James adds, "...but it wouldn't be enough to damage the hull... ." Two pages later, "...the UFO crumpled before their eyes. Anyone left inside would be crushed by the force of its collapse." No consistency.
How about the characters? The aliens, while physically different, are psychologically just like us with the same motivations for greed, power, etc. Any differences are based on their physiology. And like so many military characters, humans and the aliens, are mainly cliche and one dimensional. Seriously. Hellcat? Oh, and she snarls. There is no sense of how earth has changed with jump technology or FTL communication. Not much world building at all. It is a predictable story line and by the end of this book, you can guess where the next book is headed. I am not bothering with the next installment.
November 11, 2025
Aight. This wasn't bad.
I was interested enough in Staurn's Legacy book 1 that it took me right into this one. Unlike the ramp up that was a little too NYPD Blue for my liking in the first book we get right to it here. Picking up mere moments after the first left off we are thrust on to an alien ship and are on our treadmill to the finale right away.
As an aficionado of science fiction novels building alien races is a whole art unto itself and since Mr. James decided to make these aliens, shall we say familiar, he had a narrow hill to climb. I must say I was impressed how he did a very authentic riff on the "grays" we see in popular fiction as the thing we think of when we hear the word "alien". They have an authentic history and background all their own that feels very right. I like that James didn't get bogged down with how their ships or technology works and even has good justification for it. The little flourishes on how alien furniture worked were clever enough to keep me engaged in this first stretch.
Before ya know it we are back on Enceladus (still a great sci-fi setting by the way) and we get a great piece of expo dump on the steaks of this whole thing. Loved the history and how that feeds into many theories you may find in a book like "Chariot of the Gods" (I feel this book borrows a few things from that tome) about stellar seeding. For just a moment I feel like James touches some Michael Chriton territory with this set piece. The exposition is balanced well with the action set pieces which are still very solid. We have fighting down on the planet, inside the Chinese flag ship, and eventually in the heart of the planet.
We got new bad guys and they are not much better than our old bad guys. I will say that having the aliens be the bad guys in this was interesting and at least our new friend Captain Goii has an interesting motivation for wanted to get his hands on the charged stellar key. I think I will stop holding out hope for some interesting bad guys and honestly with the interesting expansion of the mythology I really didn't mind all that much. There was a little unceremonious wrappings on a few antagonistic forces from book 1 but hey we don't have time to be tracking all these characters we have a galaxy to save.
I will say again we aren't breaking any boundaries here but sometimes you don't need to read something ground breaking you just need a little page turner and this is pretty good at filling that role. Just like the first this is a breezy 300ish page run with a shifting perspective to keep you engaged. I think the inclusion of the aliens was an overall net positive and I am interested to see how our bigger badder aliens factor in to the final book in this series along with how Muul's character ends up. Come for the action, stay for the aliens, and enjoy as Grady takes space drugs and kills a ton of Chinese soldiers.
I was interested enough in Staurn's Legacy book 1 that it took me right into this one. Unlike the ramp up that was a little too NYPD Blue for my liking in the first book we get right to it here. Picking up mere moments after the first left off we are thrust on to an alien ship and are on our treadmill to the finale right away.
As an aficionado of science fiction novels building alien races is a whole art unto itself and since Mr. James decided to make these aliens, shall we say familiar, he had a narrow hill to climb. I must say I was impressed how he did a very authentic riff on the "grays" we see in popular fiction as the thing we think of when we hear the word "alien". They have an authentic history and background all their own that feels very right. I like that James didn't get bogged down with how their ships or technology works and even has good justification for it. The little flourishes on how alien furniture worked were clever enough to keep me engaged in this first stretch.
Before ya know it we are back on Enceladus (still a great sci-fi setting by the way) and we get a great piece of expo dump on the steaks of this whole thing. Loved the history and how that feeds into many theories you may find in a book like "Chariot of the Gods" (I feel this book borrows a few things from that tome) about stellar seeding. For just a moment I feel like James touches some Michael Chriton territory with this set piece. The exposition is balanced well with the action set pieces which are still very solid. We have fighting down on the planet, inside the Chinese flag ship, and eventually in the heart of the planet.
We got new bad guys and they are not much better than our old bad guys. I will say that having the aliens be the bad guys in this was interesting and at least our new friend Captain Goii has an interesting motivation for wanted to get his hands on the charged stellar key. I think I will stop holding out hope for some interesting bad guys and honestly with the interesting expansion of the mythology I really didn't mind all that much. There was a little unceremonious wrappings on a few antagonistic forces from book 1 but hey we don't have time to be tracking all these characters we have a galaxy to save.
I will say again we aren't breaking any boundaries here but sometimes you don't need to read something ground breaking you just need a little page turner and this is pretty good at filling that role. Just like the first this is a breezy 300ish page run with a shifting perspective to keep you engaged. I think the inclusion of the aliens was an overall net positive and I am interested to see how our bigger badder aliens factor in to the final book in this series along with how Muul's character ends up. Come for the action, stay for the aliens, and enjoy as Grady takes space drugs and kills a ton of Chinese soldiers.
September 8, 2022
Ancient aliens is real!
Peter Chang was a graduate student, doing a semester abroad at a dig in Ur-An, under a professor by the name of Keating. He found an artifact at the dig that propelled him into some outrageous adventures across the Solar System. First stop? Enceladus - a moon of Saturn. Beneath the frozen surface of the moon was an ocean, populated by gigantic creatures the like of which had been found on Earth in the dim past. In the deepest trench beneath the moon, Peter and an assortment of American, Chinese and Russian military and civilian explorers found an entrance to a cave system leading deeper beneath the surface. Astonishingly, they found writings on the wall written in several different scripts and languages, one of which was ancient Akkadian, which Peter fortunately knew. The writing informed Peter and Carpenter Lowell, an American adventurer, that the artifact found on Earth was a Stellar Key which would activate an artifact buried in the center of the moon. Weapon? Energy source? Cosmic battery? Whatever the device was, they all wanted it along with the Key! The three divisions of forces were soon joined by a fourth - a saucer shaped spacecraft crewed by tall, thin, grey-skinned aliens. In the midst of the skirmishes for control of the Key, the aliens grabbed Peter and Lowell and abducted them.
Peter was able to communicate with one of the aliens using ancient Akkadian, named Muul. (She?) was an exobiologist, studying alien lifeforms, and questioned Peter about Earth and earthlings. They became quite close. They learned that the Key controlled the device at the heart of the frozen moon. In fact, Enceladus was built around the device - the moon had been manufactured! They also learned that the universe had been "seeded" with the building blocks of life, each deeded system developing in its own way. If the steering didn't work out? The system would be destroyed using a Stellar Key. The secrets of the universe were at hand but Chang, Powell and Muul were not alone. Everyone wanted the power buried in the heart of Enceladus and they were determined to possess it at any cost!
The storyteller has once again led us into an immense mystery explaining the workings of the Universe and inviting us into the halls of power where the decisions were made. The storyline is as wide as the galaxy and as long as the Universe with many stops along the way. The characters are all too human, even the aliens! Possessed by greed and avarice, the cast mix and mash loyalties and don't always leave with the ones that brought them to the dance. But it makes for great reading! The next book in this series is already on my list. I can't wait!
Peter Chang was a graduate student, doing a semester abroad at a dig in Ur-An, under a professor by the name of Keating. He found an artifact at the dig that propelled him into some outrageous adventures across the Solar System. First stop? Enceladus - a moon of Saturn. Beneath the frozen surface of the moon was an ocean, populated by gigantic creatures the like of which had been found on Earth in the dim past. In the deepest trench beneath the moon, Peter and an assortment of American, Chinese and Russian military and civilian explorers found an entrance to a cave system leading deeper beneath the surface. Astonishingly, they found writings on the wall written in several different scripts and languages, one of which was ancient Akkadian, which Peter fortunately knew. The writing informed Peter and Carpenter Lowell, an American adventurer, that the artifact found on Earth was a Stellar Key which would activate an artifact buried in the center of the moon. Weapon? Energy source? Cosmic battery? Whatever the device was, they all wanted it along with the Key! The three divisions of forces were soon joined by a fourth - a saucer shaped spacecraft crewed by tall, thin, grey-skinned aliens. In the midst of the skirmishes for control of the Key, the aliens grabbed Peter and Lowell and abducted them.
Peter was able to communicate with one of the aliens using ancient Akkadian, named Muul. (She?) was an exobiologist, studying alien lifeforms, and questioned Peter about Earth and earthlings. They became quite close. They learned that the Key controlled the device at the heart of the frozen moon. In fact, Enceladus was built around the device - the moon had been manufactured! They also learned that the universe had been "seeded" with the building blocks of life, each deeded system developing in its own way. If the steering didn't work out? The system would be destroyed using a Stellar Key. The secrets of the universe were at hand but Chang, Powell and Muul were not alone. Everyone wanted the power buried in the heart of Enceladus and they were determined to possess it at any cost!
The storyteller has once again led us into an immense mystery explaining the workings of the Universe and inviting us into the halls of power where the decisions were made. The storyline is as wide as the galaxy and as long as the Universe with many stops along the way. The characters are all too human, even the aliens! Possessed by greed and avarice, the cast mix and mash loyalties and don't always leave with the ones that brought them to the dance. But it makes for great reading! The next book in this series is already on my list. I can't wait!
April 21, 2022
Peter and Lowell find themselves on an Alien Vessel where Lowell is seriously hurt and Peter is Peter, meaning that he is an easygoing guy who is very curious and has a knack for languages. He befriends an alien female Muul who is charged with learning all that she can about the Humans.
During that time, two Government representatives visit Peter's father Professor Chang to advise him of his son's death.
Let us not be fooled. The ultimate goal of all parties is to get their hands on the special weapon that is said to bring ultimate power to the people that have it.
The author gives a sequel to Saturn's Legacy Book 1 Artifact in this well-written plot featuring our two main survivors with a couple of others from the American, Chinese, and Indian sides as well as new characters from another Galaxy. There is action, old alliances, new alliances, power trips, treachery, and a lot of twists and turns that, mixed all together, create a great plot. I found lengths with information that is not important, in my opinion to the story. 4 Stars
During that time, two Government representatives visit Peter's father Professor Chang to advise him of his son's death.
Let us not be fooled. The ultimate goal of all parties is to get their hands on the special weapon that is said to bring ultimate power to the people that have it.
The author gives a sequel to Saturn's Legacy Book 1 Artifact in this well-written plot featuring our two main survivors with a couple of others from the American, Chinese, and Indian sides as well as new characters from another Galaxy. There is action, old alliances, new alliances, power trips, treachery, and a lot of twists and turns that, mixed all together, create a great plot. I found lengths with information that is not important, in my opinion to the story. 4 Stars
May 7, 2022
In this episode, Peter Chang and Carpenter Lowell are captured by the Greys (of UFO legends), who have joined the hordes of humans and aliens trying to capture the ‘Heart of Enceladus’, which could be a formidable weapon, or a power source, or whatever, depending on who is guessing about it. Our friends escape with the help of other aliens who befriend them at that point, and return to Enceladus to continue the search. Friendships or alliances are short-lived, so our friends never know whether they’ll get help or shot at. The story is a wild rollercoaster ride, with constant battles, double-crosses and building tensions which kept me turning pages to see what would happen next. Mr. James is a master at providing me with what I read for: entertainment and escape, in large measure! I’m enjoying this series and am looking forward to the next segment.
May 12, 2022
More Good Stuff (No Spoilers)
The adventure continues for Lowell and Chang in this second installment of the *Saturn's Legacy* series. New characters are brought into the story line. The action continues even more intensely as L&C race to escape Lt. Munroe's team of bad guys, the Russians, the Chinese and genuine space aliens.
All the positive elements remain and new characters are added to steal the mysterious orb/key which, for most of the book, remains a tantalizing enigma.
There are seven (that I found) gaffs that should take a half star from the story. Since I prefer to round up -- five it is.
Plan on dedicating one weekend day to diving into this ever expanding adventure.
The adventure continues for Lowell and Chang in this second installment of the *Saturn's Legacy* series. New characters are brought into the story line. The action continues even more intensely as L&C race to escape Lt. Munroe's team of bad guys, the Russians, the Chinese and genuine space aliens.
All the positive elements remain and new characters are added to steal the mysterious orb/key which, for most of the book, remains a tantalizing enigma.
There are seven (that I found) gaffs that should take a half star from the story. Since I prefer to round up -- five it is.
Plan on dedicating one weekend day to diving into this ever expanding adventure.
September 28, 2022
A page turner! The story picks up with Peter and Lowell rescued by aliens - or was it captured? Just how benign are they? Meanwhile, Earth mounts its own operation, to see what really transpired in Enceladus. Will the various factions ultimately work together? I really enjoyed the action … and it also causes one to think about humanity’s place in the cosmos … (this follows standard evolutionary dogma about panspermia.) Note that there was some swearing. I received a free copy of this book, with no obligation.
April 7, 2022
That relic is causing more trouble as Lowell and Peter try to survive more craziness. This time the bad guys are not the only ones after the relic and the power. Had to have the Grey's come join the fun. It was a blast to read with all the action, danger, crazy, aliens, and everything else. Had to see what our heroes would face this time around. Was entertained and loved it.
April 17, 2022
Neat continuation of book 1(Artifact) but now, though the aim is the same ie the super weapon, the planet has changed as have alliances and enemies. I enjoyed the character development in the story as well as the adventures that our heroes are faced with. Not a long read if you want something to relax and enjoy for a few hours.
May 1, 2022
Non-stop action that makes sense! Lowell and Peter manage to get out of the frying pan but end up in the fire. I’m really enjoying watching these characters develop and meeting new ones in a complex plot with ever changing loyalties and weird situations!
I reviewed an Advance Reader copy of this book.
I reviewed an Advance Reader copy of this book.
April 16, 2022
We Come From One
And the above heading is exactly that. A teaser to get you to read more. At the very least, the author deserves that. Which one, what one or maybe it's one and one. Buy the book.
And the above heading is exactly that. A teaser to get you to read more. At the very least, the author deserves that. Which one, what one or maybe it's one and one. Buy the book.
May 19, 2022
Intrigue,some aliens,treason and more,
Cascade continues the fun story premise of Saturn's Legacy series. Bringing together a cast of diverse characters in a believable fun universe. Great read looking forward to book three.
Cascade continues the fun story premise of Saturn's Legacy series. Bringing together a cast of diverse characters in a believable fun universe. Great read looking forward to book three.
May 24, 2022
Good, very good!
This was a great book. It took me a little bit to get caught up and remember who did what etc. But once I was up to speed I throughly enjoy it! Wroth it for a nice relaxing read.
This was a great book. It took me a little bit to get caught up and remember who did what etc. But once I was up to speed I throughly enjoy it! Wroth it for a nice relaxing read.
May 24, 2022
Awesome Adventure
This is a great second book in the series, filling in some answers and opening up more questions. The characters are awesome and I love watching them grow and mature in their roles. I really like this book and I highly recommend it.
This is a great second book in the series, filling in some answers and opening up more questions. The characters are awesome and I love watching them grow and mature in their roles. I really like this book and I highly recommend it.
May 28, 2022
The Mystery Deepens
Cascade (Saturn’s Legacy Book 2) by Joshua James Carrie’s the Origin mystery furthest along. Who will be the ultimate possessor of the galaxy destroying mechanism, or will it be used to create new galaxies or life forms?
Cascade (Saturn’s Legacy Book 2) by Joshua James Carrie’s the Origin mystery furthest along. Who will be the ultimate possessor of the galaxy destroying mechanism, or will it be used to create new galaxies or life forms?
May 31, 2022
Deeply in Suspense
What will happen? Will our friends make it? Will the earth be destroyed or perhaps even the galaxy? The suspense deepens as other variables fling into place and you have to read to see what is coming.
What will happen? Will our friends make it? Will the earth be destroyed or perhaps even the galaxy? The suspense deepens as other variables fling into place and you have to read to see what is coming.
June 15, 2022
Still entertaining, get a bit slow and with too many threads to follow with ease.
Let's go and to the third installment: Lineage
Let's go and to the third installment: Lineage
July 3, 2022
A Fantastic Space adventure!
Wow! Another great story. And as much it seems it could be far in the future, at the rate things are going it could be coming quicker than most of us were expecting.
Wow! Another great story. And as much it seems it could be far in the future, at the rate things are going it could be coming quicker than most of us were expecting.
July 15, 2022
The Journey Continues.
a satisfying continuiization of book one.. The characters find our the meaning and use of the Annually now they must figure out how to keep the u scroll us and greedy for power people from getting hold of it.
a satisfying continuiization of book one.. The characters find our the meaning and use of the Annually now they must figure out how to keep the u scroll us and greedy for power people from getting hold of it.
February 28, 2023
Great follow up book
The adventure continues with familiar characters, plots and subplots. Parallel stories with subsequent connections create a lot of action, mystery and intrigue. It leads you into the next book.
The adventure continues with familiar characters, plots and subplots. Parallel stories with subsequent connections create a lot of action, mystery and intrigue. It leads you into the next book.
May 15, 2023
A really good read
I have read many of Joshua James's book and have always enjoyed them.
This book is another book that has a great plot and back story and thunders along from start to finish.
I really look forward to reading the next in the series.
I have read many of Joshua James's book and have always enjoyed them.
This book is another book that has a great plot and back story and thunders along from start to finish.
I really look forward to reading the next in the series.
September 9, 2024
Good book. Going to buy the next book and continue my great adventure.
Coming next week my new Star Crusiser should be ready for trials. We now have the aliens secrets and starcharts. Anybody want to go for a ride?
Coming next week my new Star Crusiser should be ready for trials. We now have the aliens secrets and starcharts. Anybody want to go for a ride?
April 11, 2022
This is the second Book in the Saturn Legacy
Another action packed read I'm really enjoying this series and I'm looking forward to the next book in this series .
Another action packed read I'm really enjoying this series and I'm looking forward to the next book in this series .
April 14, 2022
Phenomenal second instalment, better than book-1!
May 9, 2022
Quite entertaining
Liked this book too.
I'm no writer so read the summary or free chapters for more info.
I give this series 5 stars.
Liked this book too.
I'm no writer so read the summary or free chapters for more info.
I give this series 5 stars.
May 17, 2022
An entertaining read
A very good read and a nice continuation of the story started in book one of the series. I am definitely enjoying this series.
A very good read and a nice continuation of the story started in book one of the series. I am definitely enjoying this series.
May 21, 2022
Entertaining plot, but not the best writing
dnf-not-for-me
May 22, 20221/10: Couldn't get past the first few chapters; not for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews