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Deadmen's War #4
Conquest
In an attempt to save the New World Republic, they have become the hunted.
Sergeant Major Shaw and the Deadmen command the only known weapon, the dreadnaught, capable of thwarting the impending collapse of the human race. And their enemies in the Principality know it.
The Republic’s farspace planets struggle against the spread of the biological weapon known as the Scourge. One by one they are falling prey to the devastating alien disease.
Taking advantage of the Scourge calamity, the Principality embark on a brutal conquest to rule all of humanity. The only hope of preventing the Principality’s subjugation of the free worlds rests in Shaw and the Deadmen delivering the dreadnaught safely into the Republic’s hands.
But when the Deadmen become trapped on a Scourge-infested planet, the mission becomes more difficult than they anticipated. Especially with the arrival of Principality forces stronger and deadlier than they have ever faced.
Sergeant Major Shaw and the Deadmen command the only known weapon, the dreadnaught, capable of thwarting the impending collapse of the human race. And their enemies in the Principality know it.
The Republic’s farspace planets struggle against the spread of the biological weapon known as the Scourge. One by one they are falling prey to the devastating alien disease.
Taking advantage of the Scourge calamity, the Principality embark on a brutal conquest to rule all of humanity. The only hope of preventing the Principality’s subjugation of the free worlds rests in Shaw and the Deadmen delivering the dreadnaught safely into the Republic’s hands.
But when the Deadmen become trapped on a Scourge-infested planet, the mission becomes more difficult than they anticipated. Especially with the arrival of Principality forces stronger and deadlier than they have ever faced.
- GenresScience FictionAudiobook
450 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 22, 2022
59 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Anthony J. Melchiorri
97 books369 followersAnthony J Melchiorri is a scientist with a PhD in bioengineering. Originally from the Midwest, he now lives in Texas. By day, he develops cellular therapies and 3D-printable artificial organs. By night, he writes apocalyptic, medical, and science-fiction thrillers that blend real-world research with other-worldly possibility. When he isn't in the lab or at the keyboard, he spends his time running, reading, hiking, and traveling in search of new story ideas.
Read more at http://anthonyjmelchiorri.com and sign up for his mailing list at http://bit.ly/ajmlist to hear about his latest releases and news.
Read more at http://anthonyjmelchiorri.com and sign up for his mailing list at http://bit.ly/ajmlist to hear about his latest releases and news.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 1, 2026
In this new book in the series, the story shifts to the mining planet of Caprovog, governed—more or less openly—by the wealthy Abernathy family and now threatened by the Scourge, which is spiraling out of control. With the dreadnought stuck in need of repairs, the Deadmen must find a way to get it operational again while navigating an increasingly tense situation on the planet: unrest ready to erupt at any moment and the arrival of the Principate, determined to seize control of the NWR worlds.
In this volume, the author changes pace, setting aside direct clashes with the Sentinels to focus more on investigation and information gathering. The atmosphere is dominated by distrust and simmering resentment, and the overall rhythm is less frantic, leaning more toward tension and political intrigue. Even so, there are still a few action scenes, and I found the story engaging throughout.
The novel also offers a chance to explore Tanaka’s past and reveal new aspects of his personality.
The presence of the Directorate adds a spy story feel, full of intrigue, double-crosses, and alliances that shift depending on the point of view. Through the narration of Sergeant Major Cole Shaw, the book also delves into the moral implications of choices made “for the greater good.”
Because of the story’s investigative nature, the research on the Progenitors doesn’t move forward much. However, I appreciated the change in style and the new setting, which make the narrative feel more varied and give the series some breathing room.
The book wraps up this particular adventure, but—like the previous ones—it isn’t a standalone story and continues the overarching narrative. I recommend it to readers who enjoy military science fiction that, alongside the action, explores a mystery rooted in the distant past—in this case, the mystery of the Progenitors and their fate.
In this volume, the author changes pace, setting aside direct clashes with the Sentinels to focus more on investigation and information gathering. The atmosphere is dominated by distrust and simmering resentment, and the overall rhythm is less frantic, leaning more toward tension and political intrigue. Even so, there are still a few action scenes, and I found the story engaging throughout.
The novel also offers a chance to explore Tanaka’s past and reveal new aspects of his personality.
The presence of the Directorate adds a spy story feel, full of intrigue, double-crosses, and alliances that shift depending on the point of view. Through the narration of Sergeant Major Cole Shaw, the book also delves into the moral implications of choices made “for the greater good.”
Because of the story’s investigative nature, the research on the Progenitors doesn’t move forward much. However, I appreciated the change in style and the new setting, which make the narrative feel more varied and give the series some breathing room.
The book wraps up this particular adventure, but—like the previous ones—it isn’t a standalone story and continues the overarching narrative. I recommend it to readers who enjoy military science fiction that, alongside the action, explores a mystery rooted in the distant past—in this case, the mystery of the Progenitors and their fate.
July 26, 2023
Another amazing addition.
AJM did it again. Another well written, well thought out story.
I noticed 2 grammatical errors, but nothing that took away from the story.
A Frigate was said to be the biggest ship produced by the NWR, and like I mentioned in my last progress update, that is just the wrong ship type to use, since a frigate is typically similar in size and capability as a destroyer. Both are relatively small escort ships. But ultimately, that doesn't take away from the story.
This is basically imperium of man meets Godzilla on steroids. What's not to like?
AJM did it again. Another well written, well thought out story.
I noticed 2 grammatical errors, but nothing that took away from the story.
A Frigate was said to be the biggest ship produced by the NWR, and like I mentioned in my last progress update, that is just the wrong ship type to use, since a frigate is typically similar in size and capability as a destroyer. Both are relatively small escort ships. But ultimately, that doesn't take away from the story.
This is basically imperium of man meets Godzilla on steroids. What's not to like?
July 17, 2024
This for me was the weakest in terms of Sentinel appearances, diversity and general mayhem, I was really more interested with the various Sentinels, Ashers, Dolls and what not, so the moment that I read the characterizations more than Monster action, my appetite waned.
The author did make this volume more human "focus", the Deadman have their own allure to me as the reader, but sometimes they come out as flat, but the bits and pieces that are being offered to the readers, they work well.
Book 4 and we still have no idea what these Progs are, what they wanted to do before they disappeared, what the Sentinels are, are they really for protecting the numerous Prog ruins, planets and what else.
The author did make this volume more human "focus", the Deadman have their own allure to me as the reader, but sometimes they come out as flat, but the bits and pieces that are being offered to the readers, they work well.
Book 4 and we still have no idea what these Progs are, what they wanted to do before they disappeared, what the Sentinels are, are they really for protecting the numerous Prog ruins, planets and what else.
August 17, 2022
Another great book in this series. Once you start it is hard to put the book down. Cannot wait for the next one.
May 28, 2022
The Deadmen are tasked with sailing the captured Dreadnaught to Arbornides
Shaw, Tanaka, Ricci, Kross and Garcia are tasked with sailing the captured Dreadnaught to Arbornides through several Rune jumps. The dreadnaught wasn't strong enough and barely survived the first Rune. Stuck on Caprovog, they conceal the dreadnaught in a lava tube while the try to fuel and repair the huge craft, using chopped up Sentinels to give the dreadnaught mass and mandates to build from. At Caprovog Town, the team discovers that Caprovog is controlled by the Abernathy Family conglomerate, led by none other than Hamilton Abernathy, once engaged to Tanaka.
Just when the Team thought they had everything worked out, the Principality of the Seven Sons enters the fray by taking over Caprovog Town under the thumb of the Principality. Hamilton, of course, quickly capituates and opens arms wide to the Principality. Shaw soon devises a plan to fight against the Principality. That is one huge, bloody nasty fight that nearly costs NWR everything.
Bussert, Shaw and Tanaka show Wheeler how it's done! Worn down, exhausted, wounded and bleeding, the Deadmen will fight to the death if necessary. A lesson the Principality was slow to learn! Shaw and the Deadmen are amazing characters who singlehandedly fought the Principality's mechs called Dolls and their elite ground force, the Aku-Mats. The combat is bloody and long. Amazing fight sequences and combat segments bring adrenaline filled readers into the action. And of course, our heroes bleed and tire, but the fight goes on and on.
One helluva storyline featuring all our favorite characters written by a master storyteller produces an awesome read!
Shaw, Tanaka, Ricci, Kross and Garcia are tasked with sailing the captured Dreadnaught to Arbornides through several Rune jumps. The dreadnaught wasn't strong enough and barely survived the first Rune. Stuck on Caprovog, they conceal the dreadnaught in a lava tube while the try to fuel and repair the huge craft, using chopped up Sentinels to give the dreadnaught mass and mandates to build from. At Caprovog Town, the team discovers that Caprovog is controlled by the Abernathy Family conglomerate, led by none other than Hamilton Abernathy, once engaged to Tanaka.
Just when the Team thought they had everything worked out, the Principality of the Seven Sons enters the fray by taking over Caprovog Town under the thumb of the Principality. Hamilton, of course, quickly capituates and opens arms wide to the Principality. Shaw soon devises a plan to fight against the Principality. That is one huge, bloody nasty fight that nearly costs NWR everything.
Bussert, Shaw and Tanaka show Wheeler how it's done! Worn down, exhausted, wounded and bleeding, the Deadmen will fight to the death if necessary. A lesson the Principality was slow to learn! Shaw and the Deadmen are amazing characters who singlehandedly fought the Principality's mechs called Dolls and their elite ground force, the Aku-Mats. The combat is bloody and long. Amazing fight sequences and combat segments bring adrenaline filled readers into the action. And of course, our heroes bleed and tire, but the fight goes on and on.
One helluva storyline featuring all our favorite characters written by a master storyteller produces an awesome read!
June 30, 2022
Another explosively exciting tale from one of the best action-adventure writers in the business!
I need to stop referring to Anthony J. Melchiorri's work as my "guilty pleasure" because to be quite honest, I don't feel guilty at all about enjoying his books! Whether he's writing about saving the world from a "Tide" of viral horrors (hee hee, see what I did there?) or working together with his compatriot Nicholas Sansbury Smith to bring us an incredibly diverse selection of dystopian and apocalyptic stories (oh you kids just wait!), I am just without question addicted to, well, all of it! It's really no wonder then that AJM has been my "most read" author now for a couple of years, not only obviously due to his proclivity for knocking out hit after hit but also just because he writes what I want, nay, need to read! For lack of a better description in the space allotted here, all I can say is that this is pure escapism at its best fans and if you haven't tried it yet, well, I don't know what to say except you are missing so very much!
What I CAN definitely say is that "Conquest" - the 4th installment in his soon-to-be-classic "Deadmen's War" series (yes, there are 4 of these books no matter what goodreads is showing!) - does not disappoint at all! This has been an absolutely thrilling scifi military adventure since the very first page of the very first book and this latest chapter does nothing but press the pedal to the metal even harder than ever before! Piloting mechs not enough for you? Well, that's where the Sentinels came in… and we saw how their use has expanded and the toll on our heroes has deepened over the past books! But wait: piloting Sentinels not enough for you? Well, you're gonna love what they do this time!
And man oh man oh man OH MAN, what battle scenes! Without fear of contradiction, even after so many amazing scenes up to now, the big multi-chapter WAR of this book may be the best of all of them! Not a detail is missing, not a scream, plasma bolt or all out slugfest misplaced! CGI be damned, the descriptives for these "screenshots" are just awesome! Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war indeed because this is what us space opera junkies love! If you're not pumping your fist after some of these bits, well, again, I just don't know how to respond to that!
As with his other series, Melchiorri continues to develop and maintain a mysterious yet decidedly long-term view or vision of where the story is heading! His strength lies then in not only delivering the adrenaline his readers are no doubt addicted to, but doing so with deeper and deeper character, political and even scientific development along the way! And again, "Conquest" is no exception as you really sense in the background his real-life doctorate in bioengineering "seeping through the cracks of our story"! By now, now one should be surprised at his bio blurb which let's us know that "by day, he develops cellular therapies and 3D-printable artificial organs." Yeah, that kind of know-how does come in handy for the Deadmen for sure! Its just all that much more plausible as a result!
This is just pure, great scifi and the intrique in this vast Universe has reached a level that is off the charts. And by involving more and more of the mysterious players of the NWR (OMG, but Wheeler is such a wonderful bitch!) in all this only makes the impact that much more hard-hitting! So sign me up for how ever many more are expected in this series (the epilogue says 6 but who knows?) because this is the good stuff, through and through! Or better said: To The End!
I need to stop referring to Anthony J. Melchiorri's work as my "guilty pleasure" because to be quite honest, I don't feel guilty at all about enjoying his books! Whether he's writing about saving the world from a "Tide" of viral horrors (hee hee, see what I did there?) or working together with his compatriot Nicholas Sansbury Smith to bring us an incredibly diverse selection of dystopian and apocalyptic stories (oh you kids just wait!), I am just without question addicted to, well, all of it! It's really no wonder then that AJM has been my "most read" author now for a couple of years, not only obviously due to his proclivity for knocking out hit after hit but also just because he writes what I want, nay, need to read! For lack of a better description in the space allotted here, all I can say is that this is pure escapism at its best fans and if you haven't tried it yet, well, I don't know what to say except you are missing so very much!
What I CAN definitely say is that "Conquest" - the 4th installment in his soon-to-be-classic "Deadmen's War" series (yes, there are 4 of these books no matter what goodreads is showing!) - does not disappoint at all! This has been an absolutely thrilling scifi military adventure since the very first page of the very first book and this latest chapter does nothing but press the pedal to the metal even harder than ever before! Piloting mechs not enough for you? Well, that's where the Sentinels came in… and we saw how their use has expanded and the toll on our heroes has deepened over the past books! But wait: piloting Sentinels not enough for you? Well, you're gonna love what they do this time!
And man oh man oh man OH MAN, what battle scenes! Without fear of contradiction, even after so many amazing scenes up to now, the big multi-chapter WAR of this book may be the best of all of them! Not a detail is missing, not a scream, plasma bolt or all out slugfest misplaced! CGI be damned, the descriptives for these "screenshots" are just awesome! Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war indeed because this is what us space opera junkies love! If you're not pumping your fist after some of these bits, well, again, I just don't know how to respond to that!
As with his other series, Melchiorri continues to develop and maintain a mysterious yet decidedly long-term view or vision of where the story is heading! His strength lies then in not only delivering the adrenaline his readers are no doubt addicted to, but doing so with deeper and deeper character, political and even scientific development along the way! And again, "Conquest" is no exception as you really sense in the background his real-life doctorate in bioengineering "seeping through the cracks of our story"! By now, now one should be surprised at his bio blurb which let's us know that "by day, he develops cellular therapies and 3D-printable artificial organs." Yeah, that kind of know-how does come in handy for the Deadmen for sure! Its just all that much more plausible as a result!
This is just pure, great scifi and the intrique in this vast Universe has reached a level that is off the charts. And by involving more and more of the mysterious players of the NWR (OMG, but Wheeler is such a wonderful bitch!) in all this only makes the impact that much more hard-hitting! So sign me up for how ever many more are expected in this series (the epilogue says 6 but who knows?) because this is the good stuff, through and through! Or better said: To The End!
August 25, 2022
Narrowly escaping their previous "adventure", the team was looking forward to some down time as they travel towards their destination. Unfortunately, there were unforeseen complications that became even more complex when unexpected events happened.
The author did an awesome job of revealing the unfolding events as well as feelings of the team as things go from bad to worse case in a short amount of time.
The author did an awesome job of revealing the unfolding events as well as feelings of the team as things go from bad to worse case in a short amount of time.
May 29, 2022
Uplifting!
Really enjoyed that book - a perfect example of space adventure/military SF. Very original and written with great heart. If you are a fan of Richard Fox or Anthony James you will love that one too.
Really enjoyed that book - a perfect example of space adventure/military SF. Very original and written with great heart. If you are a fan of Richard Fox or Anthony James you will love that one too.
September 25, 2024
Monsters and Mechanicals
The people, the sentinels, and the mechs, seemed more real in this episode. The description of the war, strategy, and underlying morals, good and bad, made this very interesting. The final resolution of the scourge is coming. I look forward to it.
The people, the sentinels, and the mechs, seemed more real in this episode. The description of the war, strategy, and underlying morals, good and bad, made this very interesting. The final resolution of the scourge is coming. I look forward to it.
January 24, 2025
A fourth awesome book to the series
I'm looking forward to reading the whole series. I would recommend all of them even though I haven't read past this book yet. Start with book 1 because it all builds on each other.
I'm looking forward to reading the whole series. I would recommend all of them even though I haven't read past this book yet. Start with book 1 because it all builds on each other.
May 31, 2022
recommended
This book is a lot of fun! Look, it’s giant monster vs mech but the side you’re rooting for is piloting the giant monsters. That’s really really cool
This book is a lot of fun! Look, it’s giant monster vs mech but the side you’re rooting for is piloting the giant monsters. That’s really really cool
October 8, 2022
Well written!
Very well developed characters, this what Anthony is very good at. Well written, with a great plot. Can't wait foe book 5.
Very well developed characters, this what Anthony is very good at. Well written, with a great plot. Can't wait foe book 5.
May 10, 2025
Great read llllll
Because the book is that good !!! Read it and you will agree. All action and wit . A big winner !!!
Because the book is that good !!! Read it and you will agree. All action and wit . A big winner !!!
March 4, 2025
4.5 stars!
Man I really like this series! As things progress the political struggles with all the factions make the space opera vibe that much better.
At this point I have spent about 2k pages with the characters and they feel like family now! The relationships keep developing from deep brother/sisterly companionship to a couple of budding romantic relationships that actually add a lot to the plot for me! More feels for the back story of the characters as well, they all have such depth to their lives before being Deadmen 😁
Absolutely insane levels of combat and dire situations still continue through the series but it is evenly balanced with other aspects to keep it very enthralling. The world's being built in each book continue to be incredible and really put you on the exotic planets along side the team, you feel like you are there and can experience everything along side the Deadmen!
Really looking forward to the last two books in this series. Splitting these between physical reading/audio, and I've got to say they are some of my favorite narrated audio books to date!
Pick this series up if you like action packed sci-fi, that is done extremely well! Anthony does a fantastic job.
Man I really like this series! As things progress the political struggles with all the factions make the space opera vibe that much better.
At this point I have spent about 2k pages with the characters and they feel like family now! The relationships keep developing from deep brother/sisterly companionship to a couple of budding romantic relationships that actually add a lot to the plot for me! More feels for the back story of the characters as well, they all have such depth to their lives before being Deadmen 😁
Absolutely insane levels of combat and dire situations still continue through the series but it is evenly balanced with other aspects to keep it very enthralling. The world's being built in each book continue to be incredible and really put you on the exotic planets along side the team, you feel like you are there and can experience everything along side the Deadmen!
Really looking forward to the last two books in this series. Splitting these between physical reading/audio, and I've got to say they are some of my favorite narrated audio books to date!
Pick this series up if you like action packed sci-fi, that is done extremely well! Anthony does a fantastic job.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews