Humanity has won a great victory, liberating their homeworld from the alien Pashtali and convincing many of the alien Great Powers that Earth is much more than a vassal state of a decaying empire, easy meat for the first invader who comes along. But the war is far from over. The Pashtali are gathering their forces, closing down their border wars with smaller powers while the greater ones sit on the sidelines, readying their navy for a final confrontation with Earth. The end cannot be long delayed.
There is one hope left. Allying themselves with the other smaller powers, the Solar Navy sets off on a final desperate campaign to break the aliens once and for all, or lose everything on the final throw of the dice.
Summary: Predictable, but nevertheless a very enjoyable read. The plot is ferocious with doses of political verbage, the action is sharp and to the point. The premise is interesting. Highly recommended (but not if you like to over think things too much). Even more action in book 3, great stuff, and a satisfactory conclusion even if it does leave room for more later
Plotline: Plot is pretty good and moves apace, just not very convoluted
Premise: Its a big universe ans we are small fish, seems to work nicely
Writing: The reader is right there in the action
Ending: Positive ending and conclusion to the series, but door could be opened for more (I hope so)
Once again a very good read. As he observes in his afterword, the situation he portrays in the book is reminiscent of the present conflict in Ukraine (it could even be said that ‘CGN’ may well be an ‘Oracle), and the resolution of it is that which faces the Alphans - how to prevent it escalating to the point that neither of the protagonists reach a point in the future where they can be a danger to ‘us’. Cannot wait for the outcome! More, please! (Sooner rather than later - for the sake of the world Mr Nuttall, the sake of the world.)
As ever, Nuttall's skills in plotting and providing plenty of adventure come to the fore in this gripping addition to this entertaining series. There is plenty here to gladden the heart of old-school fans of the genre... a varied cast of characters, a nicely nasty alien species to hate - and a climactic space battle with lots at stake. What I particularly like is that Nuttall knows his history and uses it to good effect in depicting his scenarios. Initially I was under the impression that this was trilogy - but I'd be very happy to see more in this series.
A satisfying ending to the trilogy. The author tells a good story while avoiding the traps to which space-combat-sf story-telling is prone: Exposition is largely avoided. Descriptions of battles do not get mired in details. The story is told from a modest number of viewpoints.
The larger story also manages to adhere to a limited objective: Victory is not defined as "Our little world defeats their evil galactic empire", but as "Earth got out of this without being destroyed". And it does.
Slapdash work, it was an ideea worth following. And i see this sloppiness as a sign of disrespect for the readers. So, we have "lesser powers" and "greater powers" and the alphans who were the greatest but who are retreating themselves to their core worlds. No names of those powers, no numbers at least, how many are them. And this is just one example of how these books have been presented to the eyes of the readers.
This was a decent space opera, but although I quite enjoyed it, I never felt comfortable with the way the author told the story. My main concern was he over explains things and even worse, he then tells me again and again. Also I didn’t need to know everything the Pashtali were thinking, but for me, a few small insights from their side of the conflict would have greatly improved the story.
The earth Admirals of this series show great tactical creativity while also showing great attention to real constraints. And so do the political leaders.
This is why I never aspired to power or greatness. I really can't do the things they do.
But does not keep me from enjoying history and fictional history
Enjoy. Usual explanation for not awarding 5 Stars (not Hugo/Nebula award winner).
You will almost certainly enjoy anything this author writes. Buy and enjoy.
A writing machine. Goodness and fun and value with every novel. Much appreciated on this side of the pond. Having just a Danube River Cruise I can only say that the respect for the Russian leadership is at an all time low. If he was concerned about being isolated from Europe in the past....he really needs to be concerned now.
This is another good book from one of my favorite authors, Christopher G. Nuttall.
It is the third book in the Cast Adrift series and with this book we arrive at somewhat of a conclusion of the current story arc. I say “somewhat” because the author does indeed leave some loose ends and hints as to there possibly be coming more books in this series.
However, in this book humanity does indeed resolve their most imminent problems and I dare say that it will not come as a surprise to anyone that this involves a fair amount of alien ass-kicking.
I have to say though that I felt this book, and the series, lost a bit of the wow factor compared to the first book. In the first and second book the humans were on constant advancement and were dealing surprise after surprise to the arrogant so called “Great Powers”.
In this book however, humanity is very much back to being a underdog and are undertaking desperate, last ditch efforts to turn the tide of war. It is still a good, very well written book but I just felt it was a bit more gloomy on the side of humanity that the previous ones.
Anyway, I quite liked the book and I do indeed hope the author will continue with a second story arc in this universe.
An interesting book with some unusual twist and turns
I enjoyed this third book of the se,ries more than the first two but the whole series is worth reading. The author has a good theme here with lots of future potential. I would be interested in seeing how far the author is willing to take this theme.
I found all three of the Cast Adrift Books to be great reads. The three books read together as if they were one giant book. The people in the stories all were very believable. I would urge anyone who likes reading sci-fi war stories to read all three of the Cast Adrift books and any others that come out in the future.
I am biased I have love for all things written by Christopher Nuttall. This book is no exception. His stories are believable in that his characters have a of relatity. The politics are real and if can fit in any real situation which makes the storyline more believable and real. I don't think you can do better that him.
I like military sci-fi as the authors have a chance to replicate historical examples and provide alternative solutions as well as provide individual insights from their protagonists that explain the thinking behind their decisions. Killer Angels did this for the American Civil War, but the reader already knew the outcome.
Having read the first in this series, I liked the politics, and swallowed the military detail, as the plot held my interest. It did so just about for the second, with the third the same self doubts and reiteration of Galatic law wit and wisdom, got really repetitively tir
maintained the series story line and kept me engaged from start to finish. I love Christopher's sci-fi . He is a fantastic story teller and develops a story line that remains consistent from volume 1 to 20. He is one of the few authors whose works I will buy even before their release.
The characters were well thought out and developed. The story line went along well also. The battles were pretty good. Showed the characters develop through the story. The ingenuity of the human race was told with relish and some dry humor. ... 😎nu
He’s definitely come a long way as an author. Although I felt there was less explosions per usual it didn’t hinder the enjoyment as it actually made logical sense to the story and it’s conclusion. Worth the read.
This was book 3, and the end of the trilogy, it wrapped up the story from books 1 and 2 while setting up plot points for any future novels in this universe.
As usual the author writes well, and builds an enjoyable experience of a different world.
This was a great read, lacking only, in my opinion some perspective from the "enemy" point of view. I really hope Mr Nuttall finds the success to continue this series.
History repeats itself even in the future. Good story well told 😀
Liked the inspiration from history mapped into a universe with lots still to reveal about itself. The story rolled along at a good pace and never flagged. Can't wait to see what happens next
Cast Adrift is a fun series which raises some very interesting questions. If you haven't read the first two novels, I highly suggest that before reading this one. The politics are fascinating. I really hope the series continues!
The entire saga was worth the effort, quite a convincing story. Although the ending was expected, the various deceptions, mostly by earth forces, were credibly interesting. Even the afterward, which reviewed some recent historical wars, was inciteful. All in all, excuse the pun, right up my alley.
The third book of the series delivered much the same excelent writing as its predecessors. Which begs the question: "Why stop with the third book?" I for one want more.