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Too Old to Die #4
Risky Alliance
Earth has fallen. Humanity’s military is in shambles. Those willing to fight work desperately to find allies so they might survive the purge. Admiral Thomas Gaston takes a chance, sending a battleship to evacuate colonies and save lives. They meet stiff resistance, learning just how powerful their enemies have become. With no backup and countless people relying on them, they must risk everything or lose even more.
Commander Gareth Weston and his ragtag crew finally have some direction. The enemy seems to be seeking scientists from every other culture. One of which was last seen in a settlement which may already be under attack by Veldon forces. Time is of the essence and they race to save the man before he falls under the influence of the most ruthless invaders anyone has ever encountered.
Meanwhile, on the hunt to bring more allies to humanity’s aid, an ambassador’s ship encounters a mysterious alien race famous for their isolationism. As they attempt contact, they discover a power they never imagined. If they succeed, they may have the help they so desperately needed but if not, their fate could be worse than had they died on Earth.
Commander Gareth Weston and his ragtag crew finally have some direction. The enemy seems to be seeking scientists from every other culture. One of which was last seen in a settlement which may already be under attack by Veldon forces. Time is of the essence and they race to save the man before he falls under the influence of the most ruthless invaders anyone has ever encountered.
Meanwhile, on the hunt to bring more allies to humanity’s aid, an ambassador’s ship encounters a mysterious alien race famous for their isolationism. As they attempt contact, they discover a power they never imagined. If they succeed, they may have the help they so desperately needed but if not, their fate could be worse than had they died on Earth.
- GenresScience Fiction
343 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 20, 2022
335 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
John Walker
1,219 books164 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 3, 2022
This series is interesting, but kind of boring. It seems like all the main characters do is think about what they are going to do next and not really doing much of anything. That might not be totally correct, but as I read this book I was definitely getting bored! Oh, well, I did finish this book and i'm glad I read it. You make your own call.
As you'll recall, Earth has been devastated by the Veldon. I mean Earth has been pretty much destroyed. The single remaining fleet commanded by Admiral Thomas Gaston has sent scouts to Earth and their reports are not very encouraging. It's total destruction even for remote sites in the Antarctic were struck by the Veldon and totally obliterated. Veldon still had troops on the ground systematically going about destroying any human survivors of this vicious attack. There wasn't much hope coming from the video records brought back by the scouts. Admiral Gaston ruled that these scouting reports would not be released to the crew, only the officers who were present at this Intel back brief were aware of the situation on Earth. Everyone else had been told that it was bad, but no specifics could be given.
Of course that wasn't the only thing the fleet was doing. They had dispatched an EDF cruiser to find out what was going on with Earth's colonies. He had reports that the Veldon were attacking these colonies and wiping them out. Nothing was available to stop these attacks and Admiral Gaston wasn't ready to commit the only fleet humanity had towards a potentially fatal encounter. The cruiser Patton, under command of Captain Stewart Carmine, was not finding anything of promise. The few colonies they had approached were actively being bombarded or occupied by the Veldon. The Patton couldn't stop these attacks by themselves, so the only thing they could do was to proceed on hoping to find a colony that could begin evacuation procedures before the Veldon arrived. The next colony was Calidorn. It appeared to be unaware of the Veldon's or if they were they hadn't done much to organize an evacuation. So, Captain Stewart made them aware of the need for urgency. The Veldon were coming and soon.
Meanwhile, a team lead by Lieutenant Franklin Hale was just disengaging with the Zitha or a faction of the Zitha that had broken away from the main Zitha body due to their distaste for the normal bad habits of the Zitha. Again, the Zitha were mainly a bunch of pirates that preyed on unsuspecting shipping no matter where they came from. This group, though, were scientist who were trying to establish advanced terra-forming processes on a suitable planet. So, although these Zitha agreed to join with the EDF Fleet, it's questionable as to what they can provide. But, Lieutenant Hale was told by Ambassador Alfred Chance that they needed to head towards Likari space. This was an unknown alien civilization that no one had actually ever seen. Still, they knew that anyone who previously crossed into their territory were violently destroyed. So, these aliens might have some kind of advanced weaponry which could be of use to the EDF, provided they could survive the encounter.
And for the other story-line, we have Commander Gareth Weston and his crew of mismatched people were also headed for Calidorn. They had knowledge of a Korla scientist whose rescue might get the Korla's interested in coming in to the war against the Veldon as human allies. So far, they had seemed reluctant to do anything even though they had once had mutual support agreements which should have already activated the Korlas. But, so far they were doing nothing.
So, there are several different threads to follow in this book. Most are pretty easy to understand when you finally figure out which group is doing what. There are also a lot of interpersonal conflicts going on that, quite frankly, get pretty tiring. The impostor Ambassador Chance is always fighting with Ethyl who is about as negative a person as you can be. She needs to be eliminated! Then there's Lyra Vahst and her continued fear of being arrested by Chelsea Gaston! I think they are beyond that, but it's always brought up and the fact that Lyra doesn't like the military life-style. All of these are long, long parts of the story and are just boring in my opinion. Additionally, the fact that humanity is almost destroyed, I don't see a way that this situation can change. Admiral Gaston is already having challenges to his command and he might not last much longer.
So, I'm not really sold on going forward with this series. Oh, I might, read book 5, "Turning Point", since it's on my reading list, but I'm in no hurry to do so right now.
As you'll recall, Earth has been devastated by the Veldon. I mean Earth has been pretty much destroyed. The single remaining fleet commanded by Admiral Thomas Gaston has sent scouts to Earth and their reports are not very encouraging. It's total destruction even for remote sites in the Antarctic were struck by the Veldon and totally obliterated. Veldon still had troops on the ground systematically going about destroying any human survivors of this vicious attack. There wasn't much hope coming from the video records brought back by the scouts. Admiral Gaston ruled that these scouting reports would not be released to the crew, only the officers who were present at this Intel back brief were aware of the situation on Earth. Everyone else had been told that it was bad, but no specifics could be given.
Of course that wasn't the only thing the fleet was doing. They had dispatched an EDF cruiser to find out what was going on with Earth's colonies. He had reports that the Veldon were attacking these colonies and wiping them out. Nothing was available to stop these attacks and Admiral Gaston wasn't ready to commit the only fleet humanity had towards a potentially fatal encounter. The cruiser Patton, under command of Captain Stewart Carmine, was not finding anything of promise. The few colonies they had approached were actively being bombarded or occupied by the Veldon. The Patton couldn't stop these attacks by themselves, so the only thing they could do was to proceed on hoping to find a colony that could begin evacuation procedures before the Veldon arrived. The next colony was Calidorn. It appeared to be unaware of the Veldon's or if they were they hadn't done much to organize an evacuation. So, Captain Stewart made them aware of the need for urgency. The Veldon were coming and soon.
Meanwhile, a team lead by Lieutenant Franklin Hale was just disengaging with the Zitha or a faction of the Zitha that had broken away from the main Zitha body due to their distaste for the normal bad habits of the Zitha. Again, the Zitha were mainly a bunch of pirates that preyed on unsuspecting shipping no matter where they came from. This group, though, were scientist who were trying to establish advanced terra-forming processes on a suitable planet. So, although these Zitha agreed to join with the EDF Fleet, it's questionable as to what they can provide. But, Lieutenant Hale was told by Ambassador Alfred Chance that they needed to head towards Likari space. This was an unknown alien civilization that no one had actually ever seen. Still, they knew that anyone who previously crossed into their territory were violently destroyed. So, these aliens might have some kind of advanced weaponry which could be of use to the EDF, provided they could survive the encounter.
And for the other story-line, we have Commander Gareth Weston and his crew of mismatched people were also headed for Calidorn. They had knowledge of a Korla scientist whose rescue might get the Korla's interested in coming in to the war against the Veldon as human allies. So far, they had seemed reluctant to do anything even though they had once had mutual support agreements which should have already activated the Korlas. But, so far they were doing nothing.
So, there are several different threads to follow in this book. Most are pretty easy to understand when you finally figure out which group is doing what. There are also a lot of interpersonal conflicts going on that, quite frankly, get pretty tiring. The impostor Ambassador Chance is always fighting with Ethyl who is about as negative a person as you can be. She needs to be eliminated! Then there's Lyra Vahst and her continued fear of being arrested by Chelsea Gaston! I think they are beyond that, but it's always brought up and the fact that Lyra doesn't like the military life-style. All of these are long, long parts of the story and are just boring in my opinion. Additionally, the fact that humanity is almost destroyed, I don't see a way that this situation can change. Admiral Gaston is already having challenges to his command and he might not last much longer.
So, I'm not really sold on going forward with this series. Oh, I might, read book 5, "Turning Point", since it's on my reading list, but I'm in no hurry to do so right now.
July 27, 2022
4 Books, No end in sight.
Well, the story might be good if it could be understood. Basically humanity was attacked on earth & multiple colonies. A still unrevealed group apparently controls races & forces them into intergalactic war. This mystery group establishes spies, etc., etc.
Our hero is a war veteran & hero with an engram encoded AI of his wife embedded in a brain implant. The dialogue between husband & wife is boring & unrealistic. Every multidimensional character with the interesting quirks & slight oddities of normal people is killed off in favor one dimensional highly predictable & thus very boring characters.
All in all, it has been too much reading for too little enjoyment. If this rapped up in one book, okay, but we’re 4 books in with no end in sight & with all the more interesting characters killed before they can be developed. I can not in good faith recommend this book series.
Well, the story might be good if it could be understood. Basically humanity was attacked on earth & multiple colonies. A still unrevealed group apparently controls races & forces them into intergalactic war. This mystery group establishes spies, etc., etc.
Our hero is a war veteran & hero with an engram encoded AI of his wife embedded in a brain implant. The dialogue between husband & wife is boring & unrealistic. Every multidimensional character with the interesting quirks & slight oddities of normal people is killed off in favor one dimensional highly predictable & thus very boring characters.
All in all, it has been too much reading for too little enjoyment. If this rapped up in one book, okay, but we’re 4 books in with no end in sight & with all the more interesting characters killed before they can be developed. I can not in good faith recommend this book series.
February 26, 2023
Continuing Saga
So Alfy gets to communicate with the Likari. We still don't know what they look like, and they haven't made a commitment, but they have some scary capabilities. The Pytheas has proven its ability in a real battle. A rescue list of scientists has been partially accomplished, but something's not right, and Chelsea has been arrested. There's some sort of maniac after McCall who isn't on the list, but is closely working with the Korlas scientist, so he gets rescue also. Lyra finds out her sister is alive, and there's an unexpected death that makes a continuing mystery for next week's continuing saga of TOO OLD TO DIE.
So Alfy gets to communicate with the Likari. We still don't know what they look like, and they haven't made a commitment, but they have some scary capabilities. The Pytheas has proven its ability in a real battle. A rescue list of scientists has been partially accomplished, but something's not right, and Chelsea has been arrested. There's some sort of maniac after McCall who isn't on the list, but is closely working with the Korlas scientist, so he gets rescue also. Lyra finds out her sister is alive, and there's an unexpected death that makes a continuing mystery for next week's continuing saga of TOO OLD TO DIE.
July 27, 2022
Amazingly well written
Amazingly well written lots of detail on the numerous cast of characters in the book and the actions they perform. Walker keeps the storyline moving at a brisk pace but there are points where the details can overwhelm the reader and the complex plot and subplots get very confusing. however the book is definitely a page turner an a great improvement from the previous two books in (Too Old To Die), series.
Amazingly well written lots of detail on the numerous cast of characters in the book and the actions they perform. Walker keeps the storyline moving at a brisk pace but there are points where the details can overwhelm the reader and the complex plot and subplots get very confusing. however the book is definitely a page turner an a great improvement from the previous two books in (Too Old To Die), series.
July 10, 2023
This book had very poor editing
Previous books were adequately written, enough to make me interested in what happens next. However, this book had so many written mistakes that they interfered with plot progression. Grammar, extra words, inconsistancies, and spelling errors plague this book. I'm not reading any more of this series, assuming that something caused editing to exit the building.
Previous books were adequately written, enough to make me interested in what happens next. However, this book had so many written mistakes that they interfered with plot progression. Grammar, extra words, inconsistancies, and spelling errors plague this book. I'm not reading any more of this series, assuming that something caused editing to exit the building.
November 2, 2022
Book 4 of the series “Too Old to Die”. Definitely feels like the narrative is being stretched out to its utmost, starting to loose interest in the story and in the characters. Probably read the next book, I’ve invested too much time and effort, and its been an effort with this episode, just to see how it ends.
November 30, 2022
Good ending
I like this Gareth guy....I like how he treats his ex-wife and daughter. And Lyra...he's an optimist and wants to believe the best scenario about any person.
I'm ready to have some questions answered in the next book and maybe find out how Earth got beat in the first place.
I like this Gareth guy....I like how he treats his ex-wife and daughter. And Lyra...he's an optimist and wants to believe the best scenario about any person.
I'm ready to have some questions answered in the next book and maybe find out how Earth got beat in the first place.
July 24, 2022
Good story teller.
The detailed death of the Admiral was a bit over the top. Several misspelled or simply wrong word. Easy to know what word was supposed to be there from contexts
The detailed death of the Admiral was a bit over the top. Several misspelled or simply wrong word. Easy to know what word was supposed to be there from contexts
January 6, 2024
Despiration leads the crew to mysterious alliances
Lots of tasks for the crew but encountering a strange potential alliance has them dancing to another's tune. A murder at the end makes me suspect someone close to the fleet.
Lots of tasks for the crew but encountering a strange potential alliance has them dancing to another's tune. A murder at the end makes me suspect someone close to the fleet.
March 15, 2025
Things are starting to change, One hip heads off to save a scientist ending up in a fight with the aliens that started the war while the ambassador ends up trapped with others they want help from. With in the fleet underhand things are going on. What happens next
August 2, 2022
Great series!
I really like this series. Many characters with many issues coming together as a team, although grudgingly. Looking forward to more installments.
I really like this series. Many characters with many issues coming together as a team, although grudgingly. Looking forward to more installments.
August 2, 2022
Enjoyed the character development.
February 11, 2025
The search is on for intel, allies and survivors. Retrieving intel from the destroyed embassy they discover the Veldon had someone give them a whole lot of highly classified information. Also discovered was a list of scientists from different cultures. The traitor is working on getting control of the remaining EDF fleet and complications arise when the PYTHIAS checks in a a JDF station.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews