The Empire, in its refusal to be dissuaded from hostilities, have placed the fledgling Terran Alliance and their Priminae Allies into a corner from which there seems no reasonable escape.
Steph and his Archangels continue their mission deep within the enemy territory, posing as mercenaries and pirates to gain intelligence on the Imperial command but as they go deeper and learn more, little of what they gather seems good. The Imperial push for war has a deeper root than anyone expected, and Steph does not like what he is learning.
While his young Protégé and friend conduct one mission, Eric Weston is embroiled in another. His efforts have held the Empire at bay despite their tenacious attempts at probing into the space controlled by Earth and the Priminae, but he knows that it cannot last. The enemy has too many ships, and is willing to spend far too many lives to further their goals... but even Eric Weston is not ready for just how far this enemy will take things.
The Empire has superweapons of their own.
Peace can only exist so long as all sides are in accord... War, however, only requires one dissenter.
The Empire Dissents.
Imperial Gambit is the third book in the Archangel One series and continues the saga of the best selling series Odyssey One and that crew's push into the terrifying reality of a Galaxy at war.
"“You’re usually more paranoid, sir, if you don’t mind me saying so,” Miram laughed softly. “I’m not paranoid, Commander Heathe,” Eric chided. “I’m just more aware of reality than most.” “Oh really?” She didn’t, quite, roll her eyes at that. “Is that what you’re calling it?” Eric chuckled, “The universe isn’t always out to get us, Commander. Only most of the time. We’re in a lull right now, I can feel it.”"
I have liked the series up to this point. It is imaginative and full of the kinds of political and military challenges that make for good reading. Currie can write well but in his own words: “We’re in a lull right now, I can feel it.” This book does not advance the plot a great deal and, while the science is interesting, it was not enough to sustain my enthusiasm. Everything screams: “Be sure to buy the next book when a lot will be moved to the front burner.” 2.5*
The book was a treat, like almost all of Mr. Currie's works. Then why only four stars? Well: 1) Proof reading is lacking. Plentiful typographical errors. 2) The novel meanders between multiple plots, and barely advances any of them. This makes the entire work feel like "filler". Very well written filler :) Thank you, Mr. Currie, nevertheless.
So, yes, it started slowly, and there were some spelling/typo errors, and a few bothersome incidents, but by the end you'll feel like you've been in a race. I can't go into details, because I don't want to spoil it for you, but the last few chapters will have you speeding through the book to find out what happens. Results: yes, read this book. Then read it again, because you were turning the pages so fast that maybe you missed something. Enjoy.
Awesome storyline. So happy to be back in this universe. Strong characters.
But it’s just too sloppy to give 5 stars. Spelling, grammar,…there was at least one section of text that was repeated by two different characters in different chapters. While them having similar backgrounds and training can account for a certain measure of similarity in thought processes, it’s clumsy writing to have the cite the same thing for the same reason at different times. The younger character should have at least cited it as being a lesson from the elder.
I enjoy reading this latest installment, including the twist. Characters are developing nicely as well as the entities. However, I can only give it three stars because of the numerous grammatical errors.
I agree with basically every other review here that says there are a distracting amount of typos and repetition in this book. I love the story but sometimes it legitimately became hard to follow because of it. The story itself is great! We finally get to spend some time on the Empire homeworld! The faux-pirates get their first "mission" from the Empire. The Empire blows up a star to try and kill the good guys! (It's a "Death Star" if you will.) I think the next book wraps up the series and I'm really looking forward to that.
This one managed to feel both rushed to press and cumbersome at the same time. I caught the grammatical and spelling errors some other reviewers noted, and while annoying, they are not as worrisome as the overall plot. This is the first book in the series that I felt focused too much attention on repeating background information that had been presented well in earlier books to the detriment of moving the story along. I give it four stars because it remains my favorite SF series in awhile, but I would happily wait a bit longer for the next book, if it meant less redundancy, cleaner text, and more plot movement.
I enjoy this series. It's a fun story and there's much to commend the Sci Fi elements. But the tremendous number of typos and grammatical errors should drop this to a 2. I'm giving it a 3 since the series is generally better than this. If you can't handle having a typo literally on every other page as an average, then this book isn't for you.
Like the previous book this is divided into two main storylines. The minor one is Steph as he continues with the visit to the Empire. Eric is back on a fairly boring patrol, but things eventually become a lot more interesting.
This book seemed to have a lot more editing mistakes than the previous two and like the previous book the author kept over describing things, some of which seemed to be quite repetitive.
Eric’s part of the story has him on patrol when he arrives in a system that makes him suspicious. Before anything happens the author really likes to build up the tension with extended discussions and speculation, unfortunately it can reach a point where it just becomes a bit tedious. Especially when the inactivity just becomes stupidity. This story has its interesting moments, but it was also a little irritating.
To be totally honest, this felt forced, a few overlapping i.e.(copy and pasted) sections, to the point I was experiencing deja vu. The over-arching plot gets a much wanted progressing. Although I must say, even though this is sci-fi, the running subterfuge scenario when in a completely incredible direction. Unbelievable to the point I was like "F this!".
The climax of the book was way too abrupt and only reiterated a standing (copy and pasted) line read throughout the book. It didn't help that it was by two different protagonists in two different theatres. A bit sloppy, as I have been used to really good writing from Evan Currie in the past. Even the pieces that I wasn't to the moon over, where usually edited masterfully. This issue was noteworthy.
I really want to read more of this series to maybe have some closure but I think that might have to wait a few years. Solid 3 out of 5 stars.
This never-ending story just gets less and less credible with every book. This time the vast Empire is taken in by the Archangels masquerading as pirates/mercenaries and invited into the lions' den itself, where they get an audience with the evil queen and not even recognised as being humans. And then they are given a royal contract to go and spy upon, well you'll never guess on whom - yes, on that nasty band of xenophobes, the humans themselves. Yup, I said it was unbelievable. But it doesn't end there. As the intrepid captain, sorry, commodore Weston and his fleet are led into a trap. from which there is no hope of escape, the ship's being (another step into the realm of fantasy) comes up with the goods and not only saves all the fleet, but resoundingly turns the tables on the Empire's fleet. You just couldn't make it up. What? Oh, Evan Currie did and in my view totally unconvincingly. Crap and not even of the finest.
I read this book late into the night for se real nights, picked it up during the day any chance I got, and read it while (carefully) walking down the street on the way to/from work. I actually sat down on a park bench to read some extra before I got home and had to put the book down for dinner and evening activities. I was actually riveted to the book with non-stop action. The Empire is doomed not that the Commodore and his crew are pissed! I won’t give away how he got to the point, but I sure as heck can’t wait to find out what he’s going to do to take out his frustrations on the Empire. I’m also really looking forward to more insight into the Empress and her “father”. What a great next segment. I’ll have to keep checking back regularly for the next installment. Just glad that the story will go on!
This was likely the worst book in the shared book universe. It dragged on and on, with several characters repeating the same lines of thought over and over, using the exact same words, even if they were in the middle of confrontations that had no connection to the issue they were thinking about. The book seems like it was rushed through with about 2/3 of extra padding so it could reach book length, and barely had any editing. I almost couldn’t finish it. The only reason I didn’t give it two pity stars was because the ending was electrifying, a sudden burst of the action that really makes this series interesting. While the rest of the book was a slog, I could barely put it down once the final act began. I’ll surely continue reading, but just hope we can all be spared another half-assed effort at pushing a book out the printer.
This is the thirteenth book I've read from the Odyssey One saga, and it's an excellent story like all the ones before it, but it has to be said that the book's apparent lack of editing seriously annoyed me to the point of actually diminishing my enjoyment of the read. While all of the books in the series have quite a few formatting and grammar issues - and this one is by far the worst offender in that respect - what annoyed me most were the countless repetitions of phrases or even entire paragraphs, seemingly only there to inflate the length of the book. Multiple characters (or even the same characters, multiple times) think/say to themselves the exact same thing for absolutely no reason other than to hammer it into the brain of the reader that I guess is expected to have the memory capacity of the proverbial goldfish. Good story, less good book.
As always, the story is entertaining. Unfortunately, the sheer quantity of grammatical, spelling, and editing errors drag it down. Nearly every page of this book is littered with at least one error. Sometimes a character has their name spelled differently. Often the author confuses "there" and "their", "too", "to", and "two". Sentence structures often break, leaving the reader to backtrack to understand what the author was trying to say. Missing words, or words entirely wrong for a particular turn of phrase, confuse the reader.
Simply put, if just one experienced editor took a pass at this book, it would be significantly (and easily) improved.
I feel like a read a draft version of this novel. Evan needs an editor. That aside:
This is a good instalment of the series, and now of course I have no idea how long it'll take for another book to come out. I totally believe that the Empire's 'Gaia' is the parent of whoever is on the throne, and appears only to that person. Right now, that's the late emperor. What I don't understand is why that planet's soul has it out for the Oathers and Earthlings so much. Is it just the new ideas being introduced? Weird.
Anyway, I've enjoyed the series - and like the Lost Fleet, I now need to wait a year or so to find out what happens next. Grr.
Wow that was a page turner. To short just like all the others. The story was interesting, finding out more about the Empire ( I would like someone to ask Steph, Gordon, and Milla to describe their impressions of the Empress) that could be quite interesting. Evan really filled in or advanced Odysseus being more of the ship/crew. The Commodore & Odysseus make a Gteat team. Also it was a nice change to have a different commander for a battle. BUT WHY DID YOU STOP WRITING lololo Man it was really getting good.
I enjoyed every bit of it. Fantastic, like all his other hard sci-fi.
Yes, it is full of typos. In places, it appears that he did a copy/paste, where he should have done a cut/paste. His stuff is so good that I want to read it NOW. If you gave me a choice of reading the "pre-production" copy, or waiting another 2 months for a full, professional edit, I'd take the pre-prod copy every time.
It would be gentlemanly of him to tag it as a pre-edit copy, and have a clear process for feeding back the errors.
Tak samo, jak w poprzedniej części fabuła jest tu podzielona na dwa główne wątki, wokół których autor buduje sieć innych mniejszych scenariuszowych intryg i akcji. W jednym obserwujemy poczynania wspomnianego komandora Stephena Michaelsa i grupki jego dzielnych pilotów działających głęboko na terytorium wroga. W drugim zaś naszą uwagę przyciąga nie mniej charyzmatyczny Eric Weston i jego grupa zadaniowa Odyseusz, na którą czekają naprawdę niebezpieczne wyzwania. W tle tego wszystkiego prężnie działa Imperium, które opracowuje broń mogącą odmienić oblicze wojny.
Zasiadając do lektury tego dzieła, ponownie zanurzymy się więc w niebezpiecznym bezkresnym kosmosie, gdzie każdy nieprzemyślany krok może być tym ostatnim. Cykl od samego początku zaliczał się do grona dynamicznej space opery, która wywołuje uśmiech zadowolenia na twarzach czytelników pragnących wartkiej kosmicznej literackiej rozrywki. Nie inaczej jest w przypadku recenzowanego tomu i jeśli tylko ktoś pragnie widowiskowego, lecz niekoniecznie nadmiernie głębokiego sci-fi to z tego tytułu (jak i całej serii) powinien być więcej niż zadowolony.
Evan Currie doskonale wie jak zaciekawić czytelnika i sprawić, aby scenariusz był dla niego mocno angażujący. Podstawą jest tu bardzo dynamiczna narracja, która przeplata/przeskakuje pomiędzy poszczególnymi wątkami, co sprawia, że nie ma tu mowy o nudzie, a kolejne strony pochłania się błyskawicznie, aby dowiedzieć się co będzie dalej. Taka forma prowadzenia historii ma jednak również swoje pewne zauważalne wady. Niektóre fragmenty wręcz proszą się o uspokojenie tempa opowieści i skupienie się na większej ilości szczegółów. To niestety nie następuje i odbiorca dzieła podczas lektury będzie miał czasem wrażenie urwanego i niedokończonego wątku.
The Empire hires the Archangels as mercenary’s to find out about the anomalous species. What they don’t realize is that they are hiring the Archangels who are agents of the anomalous species. at the other end of the galaxy, the empire sets a trap for Eric Weston and the Odysseus. The trap is to revenge the savaging of the eighth fleet. But things don’t go their way. The story was intense, and I loved it. Earth realizes that the empire can’t be negotiated with. That has consequences in the next book Carrie writes.
This is certainly one of my favorite authors. I can tell because I am always sad when I finish one of his books in this series. I really want the next episode now....., :) Great book that kept me up at night, and I love his characters and the way he makes the science in science fiction, approachable to those of us that haven't done the research to really understand the strange things out there and the strange possibilities.
Keep up the great books, and I will keep buying them....
I’m 3/4 of the way the book and nothing had happens there hasn’t been one battle just a bunch of characters doing a shitty job of foreshadowing that the empire wants to wipe out the earth for not being “human”. The author keeps repeating himself. There are sections that are simply cut and pasted so many times I started skimming pages. What stinks is I really like the author and know that he is better than this.
Very glad to have the Archangels story continue but it is good to have Odysseus and Eric back in the fight as well. Steph and the Archangels are more successful in their mission than they could have anticipated. However, the Empire has not been idle as their focus has been on destroying the Odysseus and their allies. Unbelievable forces converge in another nail biting battle.
Like Star Trek, just when you think the heroes are beaten someone, often the lowest ranked crew member offers a crazy idea that saves the day. Evan Currie has once again made space battles and scientific creativity the stars of the show. And the heroic, human smart assess and the coldly calculating and deadly empire continue to engage the reader in seat of your pants suspense.
Inconsistent universe rules with the rest of the series, combined with a stunning number of basic grammatical errors, make this novel the weakest in the oddessy series. Unfortunate, because the story is one of the strongest in the series, but the lack of proof reading is incredibly distracting. How did this book make it to shelves in this state?!
The Archangel series was interesting and I enjoyed it. I'm glad to see though, that I'm not the only one who noticed an abundance of errors in the text of the last book. Particularly toward the end of the book, they seemed to get more plentiful. As a former secretary (I'm 71, from the days when they used to have secretaries 😆), this type of sloppy proofreading is inexcusable and the reason why I gave the book four stars instead of five.
This book is the latest in the series. I started with Currie with the beginning of this tale. Each book in the series is awesome reading. The characters and plot is engaging. I came to the end of this book and wailed with disappointment. I have to wait for the next book. If you have not read the previous books, I urge you to do so.
Story is great, but there are unacceptably bad errors in grammar and text that make me question whether this was ever proofread by anyone before publishing. Some spots read like it was recorded by speech to text and no one ever went back to correct the words it got wrong. Disappointing.
It took long enough but finally the 3rd book and again what a roller coaster it’s been. Could not stop reading, what a thrill. And what a nice set of surprising new windows opening. And what a great invention Odysseus is to this whole adventure. Now I have to wait a unmeasurable amount of time to get (maybe) some answers. Great book and sequel mr. Currie. Thanks