Ben knows that if he’s going to make it as a starship captain, something’s got to give. After another unexpected run-in with Mr. Keep, he’s ready to accept that he can’t avoid his fate forever.
But the first step is a doozie, and he isn’t exactly starting out on the best footing. He has more to lose than his starship or his life. A lot more.
Buying the starship was business. This is personal.
M.R. Forbes is the author of a growing number of science-fiction series including Rebellion, War Eternal, Chaos of the Covenant, Stars End, and the Forgotten novels. Having spent his childhood trying to read every sci-fi novel he could find (and write his own too), play every sci-fi video game he could get his hands on, and see every sci-fi movie that made it into the theater, he has a true love of the genre across every medium. He works hard to bring that same energy to his own stories, with a continuing goal to entertain, delight, fascinate, and surprise.
He maintains a true appreciation for his readers and is always happy to hear from them.
To learn more about M.R. Forbes or just say hello:
I enjoyed the first two books quite a bit. Are they the pinnacle of the Sci-Fi genre? No. But, they were quite enjoyable and relatively unique in premise and had decently fun action. But, the wheels kinda fell off with this installment. Ben and Keep are stranded on earth and develop a sensei / student relationship. Fine. I would have much preferred to see more of the new universe, but I can see how it might be enjoyable to go on a little side adventure. They meet unexpected opposition. Sure. Are they ever going to get back to the starship? I don't know; I didn't finish it.
Why? This side adventure is so slow and filled with unimportant details / interactions I couldn't take it anymore. This is an adventure novel, right? There were multiple points where I skipped literally 3-4 pages of dialogue that was meaningless to the actual plot. Keep and Ben argue over which music to pick. Ben explains to his family the ins and outs of his life's story. Ben explains to random people ins and outs of his life's story. At one point, there was a substantial conversation that could have been compressed to literally two sentences. "Did you see these people?" "Yes, I saw them." "What did they look like?" Instead, it drags on for what seemed like three pages of back in forth to eventually an answer. Finally, I got the point where I just stopped reading. I felt like I was skipping every other page in the hopes that SOMETHING would happen.
Why two stars? I can see the potential in this series (and its author). The concept is there. The previous books show that the author can write fairly compelling action. But, the book is in desperate need of a good editor. This is not all that surprising as the author appears to self publish at an incredibly fast clip. But, it would behoove him to have someone say, "Hey, this conversation is nice and all, but the whole thing is totally irrelevant to the story and should just be cut." Anyways, I can't take it anymore. I'm moving on. If you can wade through the meaningless drivel, more power to you. There's a good story underneath it somewhere!
Well, Ben finds himself in a pretty difficult situation. He's been captured by Sedaya, the Duke who wants to take over the Spiral Galaxy. This Duke is not one of the good guys as you've found out from the previous two books. He wants something from Ben and he's ready to torture him in order to get the information as to where the Grimoire is being kept. Of course Ben certainly knows its location aboard the Head Case, but fortunately, Matt and Alta and the Head Case are far away from Sedaya and in a hidden, secret location.
And to make matters worse, in the cell of Sedaya's dungeon next to Ben is no other than Keep. Yeah, he's the guy that sold Ben & Matt the starship, took off with their money, leaving them to pay their parking fees and putting them into a whole bunch of dangerous situations since he didn't tell them what is actually driving the Head Case. It seems there's some kind of micro-star powering the Head Case and of course, Sedaya wants that too. So, Ben's talking to Keep and says they are both going here since there doesn't seem to be a way out and Matt and Alta don't have the power to rescue them.
But, Keep has something up his sleeve, literally. He shows off some kind of embedded sigil under his skin that can interact with stuff around him so he just puts his hands up and starts bending his bars. Now to Ben, this looks like magic, but it's not exactly. It's some very ancient and now banned technology that some how Keep has gotten embedded under his skin. It acts something like the "Force" from Star Wars, but it's not the same thing. It is technology and using various pieces of it together can make an individual very powerful. That's why Sedaya wants the Grimoire because it describes how to use all this ancient tech. With it Sedaya could not only take over the Spiral Galaxy, but eventually the Solar System as well. But, Ben and Keep need to escape first.
So, let's say they accomplish that by stealing a small one seater starfighter and through the use of the sigiltech, Keep gets them zapped all the way to Earth. Both of these guys are smashed together in this single seater starfighter and when it comes out warp above Earth, Ben struggles to keep it from first burning up in the atmosphere and secondly, from crashing. Keep has passed out from using this sigiltech so he's not much help in landing the Flippy, as the ship is called. It crashes near an unassuming farm some where on Earth. Depending on how badly damaged the Flippy is, will determine if Ben and Keep can get back to the Spiral Galaxy where they need to be. Keep believes they are save enough since he doesn't think anyone of Sedaya's thugs can follow him to Earth.
So now it's just a matter of fixing up the Flippy. With the help of this very friendly farm family, Ben and Keep manage to go back to their respective homes, Ben to his Mom's apartment and Keep to his own apartment in Modesto, Calf. They also manage to stop at a hardware store and pickup a bunch of tools they'll need to repair their ship. Ben makes up a story to tell his Mom and Sister about his disappearance, but his appearance does let his Mom know that he's alive and well, so far. Then Ben and Keep head back to the farm.
Unfortunately, here's where they find out that Sedaya has a long reach. The farm house is burning down to the ground when they arrive and the barn in which they had kept Flippy is empty. They are also immediately attacked by what appear to Niflin soldiers which they manage to kill. So their problem of getting back to the Spiral Galaxy just got a whole lot tougher. Who are the forces that attacked them and how did they know where they had landed.
It all gets explained in the rest of the book with flows pretty rapidly. They do get some local Earth help, surprisingly, like these kind of people are always around, NOT! But, still, Ben and Keep are still on Earth at the end of this book. That means there's definitely more to come in book 4, "Candy Bomb", now available on Amazon.
I enjoyed the first two books in the "Starship for Sale" series as they fed my inner teenager. But the third episode, "Keep Away", reminded me that I have been an adult for decades and it is time to put childish things away. Ben and Keep, on the run from just about everyone in the galaxy, have found their way back to Earth but unless they can fix their transport, and destroy the baddies, they are not going any where. It's a YA adventure which, stripped of the sci-fi element, would be a run of the mill thriller. As it stands it is a very forgettable piece of Space Opera. It's a pity as up to now it has made good use of zipping around the universe, exploring new planets, killing aliens, and having adventures. This time around it lacks pace and gives too much information on things that don't matter to puff it out. 2 Stars.
Keep & Ben end up back on Earth, unbeknownst to the enemy they just escaped from. Unfortunately, it's out of the frying pan, into the fire for our intrepid heros. They find yet another enemy, this one worse than the last. The only good news is that the young lady working for the Earth-bound enemy is kindhearted and seems to like Ben. He tries to recruit her, but stuff happens (it isn't good). Ben learns subtlety isn't his strong suit, as he attempts to learn new tech. It's not the greatest plot or award-winning writing, but it is FUN and I really like it. This is the latest in the series and ends at a logical point, not a cliffhanger. Recommended reading, good author, real sci-fi, no typos, well-editted. Solid 8/10 unicorns. 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
I've purchased and read all 3 books in this. I'm waiting for the next one. I'm not real interested in space adventure books, but this series sounded fun, so I bought the 1st book, Starship for Sale. I loved it after the first few pages!! The characters are great, the action is fantastic and the story was even better. It made a believer out of me, so I bought and read the next 2! What an adventure! I can't wait for the 4th book to come out!! Thank you so much for the best 3 books I've read in a long time!
I woke up this morning and was trying to remember the name of the show I was watching the day before and I realised after a few minutes that it wasn’t a show at all, but was this book. The writing was good enough to allow me to all but make a mental movie out of the words on the page, and it was a movie I couldn’t wait to continue watching. Looking forward to the next book. This one was a bit short for my liking, but kept me interested throughout.
Forbes, M. R. Keep Away. Starship for Sale No. 3. Kindle, 2022. In this third installment of the Starship for Sale series, most of the action moves to Earth. Ben and Keep take the jump-capable shuttle they call Flippy to Earth where the chase continues. They acquire some terrestrial allies and encounter some mercenaries. Sadly, this plot development moves Matt, Alter, and Head Case to the wings. Lightweight entertainment. 3 stars.
Interesting story line here. Opening finds our hero imprisoned once again and the redoubtable Keep in the next cell. They escape again and rip a hole in the universe and up up back on earth but still pursued by more bad guys. I guess they were playing keep away from Sedaya and wound up fighting Succouth instead. But catch the Back to the Future reference at the end.
In a galaxy far far away, a typical American teen experiences ray-gun shootouts, starfighters, and a variety of aliens including a talking blue squirrel. Lots of snarky quips and pop culture references keep the atmosphere light, even when the bad guys are really bad. I eagerly await book #4.
a relaxing read Forbes uses tried and true crowd-pleasers for the education of Ben the reader will recognize both the referenced books or movies discussed between the characters and the familiar story paths used by the author. There is never a doubt who the hero is and who will totally win out in the end . T book is basically a feel good story no stress and no worry!
Ben and Keep wind up on Earth after being chased by yet more bad guys. Keep revealed a new kind of tech that Ben wants badly to learn to utilize. While the book is good, I found the ending unsatisfying because it felt incomplete. Hopefully another book comes out soon!
But will have too, darn it. This is a great selection of tales and the story gets more and more exciting the farther we go. Outer space Archons, similar, all every person who enjoys this sort of yarn the best there is. Enjoy and continue to read. Thanks
This is the 4th book but they call it book 3. Rolling adventure when Ben gets back to earth but is stranded from his friends in the spiral.
Good escape book with a Star Wars back to the future vibe. Not going to win any awards but a solid fun read. Geared toward young adults and young at heart (like us old farts). Read in order.
I laughed and cried and spent most of the book on the edge of my seat. The worldbuilding is great, the bad and not-so-bad body count is high, and the destruction becomes epic. I'm looking forward to book 4.
I wish the series was further along so I could read the next book. The books are near perfect. Great story. Great characters. Fast paced and well written. I hope the next book is soon.
In twenty words or more I will try to make a point that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and so look forward to reading the next book in the series. I was not surprised that the author continually puts out a very good story
This story has Ben and Keep leaving the Spiral so they can fight bad guys and make new friends. Well written with an interesting plot including twists and turns. A great read.
Another masterpiece from M.R.Forbes. Exhausting to read and sadness to finish. Action packed inter-galactic adventure that is hard to put down. An insight into the future or great sci-fi read. Who knows?
A quick read of one of the most unique story lines in Sci-Fi space novels. The characters grow on you right from the beginning. Can't wait until Book 4 is published so we can reconnect with Alter and Matt.
I have to admit I rarely read books in series but this is an exception. Keep, Ben, and all the other characters are well drawn, the story is fast and exciting. Nothing but pure escapism with plenty of action.
I'm glad I gave this series a chance. It has a different story line and a lot of different types of characters than most sci-fi that I've read. On that note ,I am waiting for book 4 to come out!
I am really loving this series. I'm already invested in all the characters and can't wait for more! The sci-fi tech is very inventive and believable. The storyline is awesome and the narrative interesting and witty. This is a story you don't want to end.
I loved this books adventure and so happy Ben got to reconnect with his family and make such honorable new friends. I can hardly wait for the adventures to continue and get back to Matt, Alter and his friends from the spiral 🌀
My initial thoughts were, I don't think this series is any good, then it got interesting and I couldn't put it down, now I want to know when the next book will come out because I love how inventive the Author is!!!
Exceptional series for science fiction. The series is real ly worth reading. The characters are well written with bad guys being bad and good guys being good.
Truly fun to read story. Yes it’s out there but if you can suspend your beliefs then you might enjoy this and the whole series as much as I have so far. Can’t wait for the next one, Cherry Bomb
I'd read this tale again just to enjoy the soft fuzzies that pop up throughout. On the other hand it is filled with action equal to Lord of The Rings. Yeah, fun read!
M.R.Forbes does it again, book 3 in the Star Ship for sale series continues the development of fun characters and supportive back story merging magic and science...good read can't wait or the next.
Teenager with a sensei protect the universe from evil magic users but in a down to earth way. Believable scenarios in present day locations. I could see this as a TV series.