Rick Partlow is that rarest of species, a native Floridian. Born in Tampa, he attended Florida Southern College and graduated with a degree in History and a commission in the US Army as an Infantry officer. His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds. He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
I do not read 'military space opera' types of novels but I thought I would try the first (and second) in the series. Due to Mr. Partlow's writing quality I am hooked and can't get enough of it!! I get completely sucked in to the action and drama, and I swear that sometimes I feel like I am right there in the story. Ten stars!
Exciting Sci-Fi reading throughout the book. Equal parts space and terra war to intrigue any reader. The author provides the reader with much technical details of the starships as well as the Marine gear. Can hardly wait to begin reading the next book!
An excellent book in the series. It is fast paced and full of action and adventure. While reading, you better not blink or the story will leave you behind. I really like this book and I highly recommend it.
Well, after all that happened in book 1, "Genesis", you'd wonder what could happen in this book that would be better? Well, not much. This book will tell about one specific horrendous battle at Brigantia which no one but Captain Travis Miller, Commander of the Commonwealth Space Cruiser Herculean, saw as a necessary thing until it was just about over. Earth has just gotten it's act together and managed to kick the Tahni Emporium out of the 82 Eridani system, but this was only after the Tahni had conquered four of Earth's colonies. Now the Commonwealth at Earth was very, very nervous. They felt that Earth might be the next target for the Tahni.
Yet, Captain Miller didn't think so. He was well aware of how the Tahni fought and knew that they were dead set on allowing humans to flourish outside of the Solar System. According to their beliefs, every planet in the universe was specifically designed for their use and not for the humans. While the Tahni were almost human, they were various differences, but their systems of government were extremely different. The Tahni had one single ruler and he was next to or in some cases considered a god and they fought with religious fever.
No one knows how large the Tahni fleet might be. Neither does anyone know how many planets are under the control of the Tahni so fighting them is definitely an Intel problem first and foremost. From the encounters Captain Miller has already had, he knows that humans starships are just a capable as Tahni starships, but he's afraid they cannot match them in numbers. It seems that every time he has encountered the Tahni he and his fleet has been outnumbered. Still, he believes they can stand up to the Tahni and should be doing so to take back their colonies.
Earth meanwhile has notified the Common Wealth Fleet that it wants to pull back every available starship in order to defend Earth. They feel that sacrificing a few hundred thousand colonist to save over fourteen billion humans in the Sol System is the best course of action. While Capt. Miller can't really fault that concern, he doesn't believe the Tahni are really ready to take on the entire Solar System. He believes they will strike somewhere else and he intends to be there. He just hopes he's not order back to Earth because he might just have to see those orders disobeyed!
We get a hint of a couple of romatic interludes during the book. Apparently the Corporate Council has some pull within the Common Wealth so they have managed to send one of their representatives along with the Herculean. Patrice Damiani, also happens to be the daughter of the very wealthy Chairman of the Corporate Council and she is extremely good looking though genetic modifications for the children of wealth citizens has been practiced for some time. She also appears to have the hots for Captain Miller. You'll have to read to find out if this is going to cause him problems.
What could cause him problems is that he also has feeling for his Air Wing Commander, Commander Leer. Those feelings appear to be mutual, but he has to be a professional and not let this get out. Since the Commander is a direct subordinate, they can't really have any kind of relationship, but she's not of the opinion that it's not that impossible if they are discrete. It'll be interesting to see which desires comes to the top!
This book was again well written even though it really only cover one specific battle, but it does so for the space and ground combat. It like it when we have some insight into the enemies thoughts and what's driving him. It does appear that Earth can easily stand up to the Tahni, but they have to have the courage to do so. Right now, Earth's government is running very sacred! Looking forward to the next book, "Revelation", which won't be available until 24 September 2021.
I’ll be a little different from my usual reviews and list my dislikes first. I didn’t like the interludes. I get that they weren’t long enough for a chapter but it wouldn’t have taken much to expanded a little and made them into their own small chapter. Secondly the death toll on major characters was a little lower than expected. Like an American brew hah movie with Sly Stallone or Arnie Schwarzenegger.
Apart from that I like how Rick Partlow described the space battles. The great performance of James Patrick Cronin added a level of depth, which took me further into the book than I was expecting. Rarely do I feel like the second book in a series is as good as the first. This book wasn’t as good as the first, it was better and I am actually looking forward for the next book in the series.
I almost gave the book 5 stars because there is nothing between 4 and 5. But I’m reserving 5 stars for books that I truly love. Having said that I wish I could give it 4.5 stars because it deserved it in my opinion. A very solid effort for a writer whom I am beginning to enjoy.
If you want an entertaining book, this is it! The second of the series, the character development was good, the plot interesting and the action was exciting. There is some holes that Rick made. These are some spoilers, so you have been warned. The first is this task force would have an admiral in command. Travis Miller would not be a captain but the commodore of the force. The second is where did the task force go after winning a battle? Rick failed to mentioned what happened to those two ships. The third is Sgt. Hendrix, what happened to his injury to his leg? These are some of the problems I found when reading the book. Even with these items I still recommend the book.
The Tahni/Earth goes into it's second stage, the retaking of lost colonies. This book is one of those books you hate to put down and can hardly wait to pick up and start reading again. I can hardly wait for the next one in the series. Hoor-rah
Pretty good, though the end strategy made no sense and was obviously done to move the story. There's only 1 gate in Earth's system and it goes to Tau Ceti... if you think Earth is going to be invaded, why bring all ships back to Earth system when there's only 1 way to get there? Might as well defend Tau Ceti. Other than that foolishness, this was a good read.
A good read that involves characters that sound new and old. It involves the tahni and what is a good battle for what either side want but the rabbi , stop it John your giving the end away again. Read and enjoy .
A great combined forces military action story. Great characters but not spending too much time in their heads. Enough detail and believable science fiction that you can imagine the scenes pretty well. A great read!
Modern science fiction and the plot twists and turns through the characters
Modern science fiction and the plot twists and turns through the characters as they navigate combat operations and the loss of friends as the decision you made takes its course. Thrill rride
Started reading this series about a week and a half ago and just finished the second book this morning. Going to begin the third one this afternoon. Very difficult to stop reading once I start. Have to .and myself take a break.
Enjoyable story ,looking forward to the next book in the series. The characters are good for the plot and I can't wait to see what the author does with them.
To me, a 3* is what I refer to as a good, fun, “filler” book to be read between the ones that emotionally destroy you or nonfiction that breaks your brain.
Ioveing these "before" story line's ! The back ground on how the war started & how the equipment started out is nice to know.Keep on keeping on marine! I'm right behind you going on to the next volume!!