Kings

War Machine #1

by David Beers, Michael Anderle

MP3 CD Format

An alien race decides humanity's Eradication.

They didn't count on someone rising to challenge their decree.

Constantine had forsaken his family name and birthright. At 28-years old, he'd escaped Earth to help terraform Mars.

An empire's heir went missing just as the universe's greatest threat announces itself.

War Games will decide who represents humanity in this extinction level struggle. Constantine is summoned.

With little training but abundant talent, can Constantine win these games?

If he does, will he be a force in the coming war?

Or is it already too late for humanity?

Let the games begin. You'll love this epic space military saga, because the struggle is just beginning and the battles coming down the road are like nothing you've seen before.

Performed by Eric Messner, Keith Richards, Danny Gavigan, Bradley Foster Smith, John Kielty, Kevin Cuoto, Nickolette Kong, Nora Achrati, Jenna Sharpe, Neha Gargava, Wyn Delano, Amanda Forstrom, Eric Messner, James J Johnson, Karen Novack, Megan Dominy, Michael John Casey, Mike Carnes, Natalie Van Sistine, Nazia Chaudhry, Peter Holdway, Richard Rohan, Scott McCormick, Stephanie Nemeth-Parker, Steve Wannall, Terence Aselford, Tia Shearer, and Yasmin Tuazon.

Genres: Science Fiction

372 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2022

About the author

I used to deliver pizza. I was pretty good at it, too. I mean, it's not that hard, but if I'm not going to brag, who is, right? Anyways, so I'm delivering pizza while I'm in college, and my boss has been in the pizza industry like six years. He's supposed to graduate from college this year, and I ask him, what are you going to do after college? We're all supposed to go out and conquer the world right after college, so this guy has to have some kind of plan.

He looked at me like I was delusional.

"I'm a writer, man."

Those four words changed my life more so than anything else ever spoken to me.
I'd always written, since I was twelve participating in online-wrestling forums in which you acted out your character. I wrote because it came naturally. Never once, in the entirety of my nineteen years did I think that writing could be a career though, until a Pizza Sage said those four words to me.

So what did I do? I went home and wrote a short story and immediately understood that I was the greatest writer to ever touch a keyboard. I brought it to the Pizza Sage and he told me what anyone could have told me--it was horrible. I might be dumb, probably am, but I'm also tenacious.

I spent the next seven years writing almost every day. My first novel grew to the length of 40,000 words, then I threw it away. My second novel grew to 140,000 words. I didn't throw it away, but it was rejected about 50 times by agents. My next novel ended up at around 55,000 words, which I showed to a few friends and shelved. Then I wrote Dead Religion, which is the only reason I have an author page at Amazon.

I have had four short stories published, paid and unpaid. 'Effects May Vary' won an award that was voted on by readers, which was pretty cool.

I'm currently getting my Masters in Business at the University of Georgia's Terry School of Business. I'm doing this in order to not deliver pizzas but still keep the lights on. I have a girlfriend who will soon be my fiancé, and after ten years, I imagine she's ready for that title.

I want to own a yacht.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kings
The War Machine
By David Beers and Michael Anderle.
This book started out on a calm note, then immediately jumped into high gear and stayed there. Lots of fantastic, sci-fi war tech that makes the testosterone flow! (I am female, and I had a beard by the end of the book!😂)
These gods from other dimensions are destroying all the suns. They want to destroy all life forms except themselves. So this group of people decided to send their best fighters to stop them.
One of their fighters is not like the others. (Not telling, read for yourself. 🤭) Another fighter is a machine and wonders if those gods created him because he has been "living" so long and is more advanced than any other robot.
Interesting start to the series.

[Trish R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'm an idiot! I read the first 6 books of the Great Insurrection. which was about Alistair Kane, but didn't read the last 3 books in the series. AND this book was about Alistair's grandson, Constantine, and Alistair is in this book, too. Now I'm going to finish the last 3 stories I missed.
Where Alistair had Prometheus as his alter-ego Con has Achilles. And he's going to take on the god who's going to end the world in 2 hundred years.

No romance and the F-bomb was used 39 times.

As for the narration: Pete Bradbury did a fantastic job.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really a mix of science fiction and fantasy with emphasis on fiction rather than science. It is a bit different story and it has its good points.

It is not very plausible and logical unfortunately and it is further dragged down by the way overused reluctant hero crap and who, just to make things even worse, frequently acts as a spoiled brat.

I did like the premise of the story though even if it is quite ludicrous so I’ll probably finish what appears to be a trilogy. It is rather fast and light reads after all so…

[Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this a high rating having read the entire previous series as I don't think if you have read that you'll enjoy this as much. GA did an amazing job and I'm back into this as the previous series got convoluted and also was very slow. This was way better completely. I might even feel this is a 5 star book.

[Rita Whinfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Interesting

I’m liking this, a lot. It was wonderful to meet old friends, which was not expected. Don’t want to name names and spoil it for anyone. The characters are great and the action is great, can’t wait for the next one.

[Asrul · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could give 3.5 stars on Goodreads, I would.

This is a simple book, and I do not mean that negatively. The writing is straightforward, the pacing is clean, and while the story is not exactly light in subject, it is very much a light read. It is the kind of book you pick up when you want a break from dense, epic fantasy.

It feels like watching one of those solid action movies. Entertaining, fast-moving, and enjoyable, but not quite a blockbuster. The story leans on familiar tropes such as the chosen one, found family, and a war against overwhelming forces, yet it is not boring.

As for the characters, Constantine can feel a little too heroic at times. His crew, aside from Epi and Monk, do not always feel impactful. Many of them exist more as presence than active contributors to the plot, which makes the stakes feel slightly narrower than they could have been.

Overall, though, it is a good storyline, especially relevant in today’s era of AI.

[Caleb D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kings by David Beers feels surprisingly similar to Pierce Brown’s Red Rising saga, especially the first book in each series. There are clear differences, but both feature a protagonist who is upgraded, attend high-stakes war games on another planet, fight their way toward the location where the game designers are staying, and encounter a girl during the games. While there are significant differences in character motivations and driving forces, the overall plot feels very familiar. I’ll keep reading to see how it diverges, but my expectations for this book are lower than they were for the Red Rising series.

[Nassya · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF – I’m just not in the mood for non‑emotional military sci‑fi where I don’t understand what drives the main character. There is only one character who comes close to being important and shows any real emotional depth. The idea itself is interesting, but it ultimately feels like a boys-on-the-playground story. There are some very close similarities in the world‑building (and the scars) to Red Rising, but that’s about it.

[Somanxo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interestin take on a coming of age story

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining read.

First book in the series I have read.

It held a lot of similarities with Red Rising. Not sure if that was intentional.

[Jkane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise, with strong main characters, but with weapons, villains, and fights at the level of gods, it was a bit too big an objective to adequately and descriptively capture.

[Mrs. Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

To truly appreciate this series one must read The Great Insurrection books😍 I just finished this one & I am itching to read the 2nd one🥰