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UNSEC Space #3
Starforge
The end arrives in this epic conclusion to the UNSEC Space Trilogy!
Mankind stands on the edge of a precipice. The All sweep across colony worlds, consuming everything in their path. Earth has recalled her fleets to Sol, abandoning its charges. Pisces, her independence won, now stands alone as a foe unlike any other threatens from the dark. It is not a question of if the All will attack, but when.
Reunited at last, Jake, Anna, and Sweets again find their skills called upon, this time by the new leadership of Pisces. A desperate plan has been conceived, an all-or-nothing long shot out into the darkness of unexplored space to find a means of reactivating the artificial world beneath their feet. If Pisces' weapons can be brought online there remains a chance that the relentless force of the All can be stopped before it extinguishes the light of mankind forever.
If. Threats move against them from all sides. The All has set its own plans in motion, determined to finish the work it began so long ago. UNSEC and Earth plot from the shadows, uncompromising under Eidre's vision of a unified empire with Sol at the center, and willing to do anything to bring Pisces back into the fold—even burn it to ashes.
The Trio's final journey has begun ... and it's an adventure unlike anything you've ever read before.
Mankind stands on the edge of a precipice. The All sweep across colony worlds, consuming everything in their path. Earth has recalled her fleets to Sol, abandoning its charges. Pisces, her independence won, now stands alone as a foe unlike any other threatens from the dark. It is not a question of if the All will attack, but when.
Reunited at last, Jake, Anna, and Sweets again find their skills called upon, this time by the new leadership of Pisces. A desperate plan has been conceived, an all-or-nothing long shot out into the darkness of unexplored space to find a means of reactivating the artificial world beneath their feet. If Pisces' weapons can be brought online there remains a chance that the relentless force of the All can be stopped before it extinguishes the light of mankind forever.
If. Threats move against them from all sides. The All has set its own plans in motion, determined to finish the work it began so long ago. UNSEC and Earth plot from the shadows, uncompromising under Eidre's vision of a unified empire with Sol at the center, and willing to do anything to bring Pisces back into the fold—even burn it to ashes.
The Trio's final journey has begun ... and it's an adventure unlike anything you've ever read before.
1869 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 29, 2022
7 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Max Florschutz
14 books24 followersMax Florschutz was born and raised in the wilds of southeast Alaska, on a little island that boasted both a large, lumber-based economy and one of the highest rainfalls to ever not be desired by humanity. In 2004 he began attending college at Brigham Young University Provo, taking a two-year break to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Upon his return, he continued to attend BYU Provo and began to delve heavily into English courses (among other things), including creative writing classes taught by authors such as Brandon Sanderson. Transferring out to BYU Hawaii to keep a promise, Max finished his degree, graduating in 2011 with more credits than most students would know what to do with and a 3.96 GPA.
After a year or so of the graduated life, the writing bug bit him again and he began to spend his free time writing once more. After a few months of making sure he still hadn’t lost his touch and some dedicated practice, he sat down and wrote his first publishable book: One Drink. Emboldened by the success of that release, he pushed forward, and has continued writing to this day.
After a year or so of the graduated life, the writing bug bit him again and he began to spend his free time writing once more. After a few months of making sure he still hadn’t lost his touch and some dedicated practice, he sat down and wrote his first publishable book: One Drink. Emboldened by the success of that release, he pushed forward, and has continued writing to this day.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 10, 2022
Jake, Anna, and Sweets have been through a lot together. Fighting alien drones in the depths of the ocean colony Pisces. Surrounded on all sides by violent lifeforms in the jungles of Livingstone. Fighting off an alien infestation aboard a compromised starship. They’ve come to be known as the Triumvirate, and their new home of Pisces has one last mission for them. The hyperviolent All must be stopped or else they’ll destroy all life in the galaxy, and the only hope of doing that is reaching a place known only to the still functioning AI of a long dead race: a dyson sphere called the Starforge.
I should preface this review with a notice that Max sent me a pre-release copy of the story, so there may be changes that aren’t reflected here.
This story follows our intrepid trio as they once again go on a mission. The first two were outright forced upon them by uncaring higher powers. This time they’re given the choice. Luckily, they’re the selfless and noble types, so they agree. Especially considering that, unlike every other time, now they’re fighting for the entire human race. Long story short, the planet Pisces is actually artificial and exists as a weapon against the genocidal alien being called the All that was woken up in the previous story, but it can’t do anything without fuel. The only place to get that fuel is the Starforge. Which, of course, the All is now trying to conquer.
What follows is a long, arduous journey. Unlike the plot formatting of Jungle, Starforge jumps into the action from the start. Max’s action is as riveting as ever, and is accentuated by new threats, new solutions, and new consequences. The trio find themselves traveling across an alien world yet again, only this time accompanied by a bunch of soldiers.
I bring up the soldiers because, unlike what you’d expect to find in so many stories, Max does what he can to make them people rather than just expendable goons. It’s hard to familiarize a reader with so many different characters in a single story, but Max does what he can. We get names, a little backstory, future plans, conflicts of interest, even outright antagonism. As time goes by and these people survive more and more brutal encounters, it can be easy to start recognizing names and rooting for a few.
Then people start dying.
Fortunately for all of us, Max finds a certain balance to this. It isn’t Game of Thrones where every character you fall in love with dies eventually, nor is it the Disney fantasy where no matter the threat everybody comes out okay. And that’s good. It’s great, even! It lends an uncertainty to events, where you never know what’s going to happen next. I admit, there was more than one instance where some character was like “Yeah, sure, I’ll join the trio as the fourth man on this little side mission of theirs” and I was like “whelp, that one’s dead.” Only it didn’t happen. Except when it did. Max kept things from being too predictable, and I like it.
In the midst of these character elements comes the worldbuilding. We’re traveling across an alien world, and our inquisitive protagonists can’t help but theorize and guess at what it all means for the race that not only used to live there, but literally built it. There’s an effort here to truly embrace the concept of “alien life”, with unique architecture, quirky technological concepts, and interesting ideas regarding how an aquatic species might view the world around them.
The worldbuilding is, not to put too fine a point on it, stellar.
As an aside, I couldn’t help but think of the ongoing conflict as sort of Starcraft-esque. I mean, you’ve got the terrans playing defense all the time, the animalistic All constantly and rapidly mutating into newer, more deadly forms with the intent of making anything that isn’t All into All and attacking in massive waves, and you’ve got the super-advanced Sha’o doing everything in their power to wipe out the All even if that means sterilizing entire planets, human occupants included. Hell, Max even throws in a direct reference to Zerg rushes. I’m not saying the comparison is bad by any means, but it’ll certainly raise the eyebrows of anyone familiar with the games.
Speaking of humans, even when all that’s done and the supposed primary point of the story is over, [i]it’s still not over[/i]. After all, there’s still Earth to worry about. And wow, what a monster the final villain is. Seriously, this is someone you’ll love to hate.
But frankly, I’m just glad to see more of Anna kicking enemies around. That woman is awesome. As is her mother, who we finally get to meet, albeit briefly. Anna’s mom might not be hefting cars or blowing up aliens, but I loved her characterization all the same.
Not to say that Sweets and Jake didn’t get some good ol’fashion stomping done. Anna just tends to steal the show when it’s time for the bullets to fly.
Also, there’s the romantic tension between Jake and Anna. Which I’m glad to see. It’s interesting that one of the positive comments I made regarding Colony was that Max pitted Anna and Jake together as a team without some sort of romantic element shoehorned in. But now it’s finally happening with this story, and it felt right. Especially considering it was never a central point of the story, but rather was something teased and hinted at through brief conversations and surreptitious glances. I applaud Max for finding a way to do this without it feeling invasive or unnecessary.
I could keep going, but this review is getting long and I need to stop somewhere. Just know that this is a big story with a lot going on and I’m barely skimming the surface. Probably for the better; fewer spoilers. There is the caveat that this is the conclusion of a trilogy, so if you haven’t read the prior two stories you may be lost at the start. But you should be reading the whole thing anyway, because it’s all great.
A great read, and a delightful way to end the trilogy. Well done, Max.
I should preface this review with a notice that Max sent me a pre-release copy of the story, so there may be changes that aren’t reflected here.
This story follows our intrepid trio as they once again go on a mission. The first two were outright forced upon them by uncaring higher powers. This time they’re given the choice. Luckily, they’re the selfless and noble types, so they agree. Especially considering that, unlike every other time, now they’re fighting for the entire human race. Long story short, the planet Pisces is actually artificial and exists as a weapon against the genocidal alien being called the All that was woken up in the previous story, but it can’t do anything without fuel. The only place to get that fuel is the Starforge. Which, of course, the All is now trying to conquer.
What follows is a long, arduous journey. Unlike the plot formatting of Jungle, Starforge jumps into the action from the start. Max’s action is as riveting as ever, and is accentuated by new threats, new solutions, and new consequences. The trio find themselves traveling across an alien world yet again, only this time accompanied by a bunch of soldiers.
I bring up the soldiers because, unlike what you’d expect to find in so many stories, Max does what he can to make them people rather than just expendable goons. It’s hard to familiarize a reader with so many different characters in a single story, but Max does what he can. We get names, a little backstory, future plans, conflicts of interest, even outright antagonism. As time goes by and these people survive more and more brutal encounters, it can be easy to start recognizing names and rooting for a few.
Then people start dying.
Fortunately for all of us, Max finds a certain balance to this. It isn’t Game of Thrones where every character you fall in love with dies eventually, nor is it the Disney fantasy where no matter the threat everybody comes out okay. And that’s good. It’s great, even! It lends an uncertainty to events, where you never know what’s going to happen next. I admit, there was more than one instance where some character was like “Yeah, sure, I’ll join the trio as the fourth man on this little side mission of theirs” and I was like “whelp, that one’s dead.” Only it didn’t happen. Except when it did. Max kept things from being too predictable, and I like it.
In the midst of these character elements comes the worldbuilding. We’re traveling across an alien world, and our inquisitive protagonists can’t help but theorize and guess at what it all means for the race that not only used to live there, but literally built it. There’s an effort here to truly embrace the concept of “alien life”, with unique architecture, quirky technological concepts, and interesting ideas regarding how an aquatic species might view the world around them.
The worldbuilding is, not to put too fine a point on it, stellar.
As an aside, I couldn’t help but think of the ongoing conflict as sort of Starcraft-esque. I mean, you’ve got the terrans playing defense all the time, the animalistic All constantly and rapidly mutating into newer, more deadly forms with the intent of making anything that isn’t All into All and attacking in massive waves, and you’ve got the super-advanced Sha’o doing everything in their power to wipe out the All even if that means sterilizing entire planets, human occupants included. Hell, Max even throws in a direct reference to Zerg rushes. I’m not saying the comparison is bad by any means, but it’ll certainly raise the eyebrows of anyone familiar with the games.
Speaking of humans, even when all that’s done and the supposed primary point of the story is over, [i]it’s still not over[/i]. After all, there’s still Earth to worry about. And wow, what a monster the final villain is. Seriously, this is someone you’ll love to hate.
But frankly, I’m just glad to see more of Anna kicking enemies around. That woman is awesome. As is her mother, who we finally get to meet, albeit briefly. Anna’s mom might not be hefting cars or blowing up aliens, but I loved her characterization all the same.
Not to say that Sweets and Jake didn’t get some good ol’fashion stomping done. Anna just tends to steal the show when it’s time for the bullets to fly.
Also, there’s the romantic tension between Jake and Anna. Which I’m glad to see. It’s interesting that one of the positive comments I made regarding Colony was that Max pitted Anna and Jake together as a team without some sort of romantic element shoehorned in. But now it’s finally happening with this story, and it felt right. Especially considering it was never a central point of the story, but rather was something teased and hinted at through brief conversations and surreptitious glances. I applaud Max for finding a way to do this without it feeling invasive or unnecessary.
I could keep going, but this review is getting long and I need to stop somewhere. Just know that this is a big story with a lot going on and I’m barely skimming the surface. Probably for the better; fewer spoilers. There is the caveat that this is the conclusion of a trilogy, so if you haven’t read the prior two stories you may be lost at the start. But you should be reading the whole thing anyway, because it’s all great.
A great read, and a delightful way to end the trilogy. Well done, Max.
March 11, 2023
Florschutz At His Best
This book was definitely worth the read. Even though this is the last book in a series, he never lets up on his penchant for worldbuilding, and it shows as Anna, Jake, and Sweets explore the titular Starforge.
The story itself was well-crafted, as even with the book's main adventure over, the extra chapters devoted to wrapping up the remaining plot threads do not seem tacked on; they are a well-constructed coda to the main adventure and close the book well. By the time you finish the story, you feel that the trio has earned their rest...or whatever adventure of *their* choosing they may embark on.
If you haven't read Starforge--or the UNSEC trilogy as a whole--you owe it to yourself to rectify that injustice.
This book was definitely worth the read. Even though this is the last book in a series, he never lets up on his penchant for worldbuilding, and it shows as Anna, Jake, and Sweets explore the titular Starforge.
The story itself was well-crafted, as even with the book's main adventure over, the extra chapters devoted to wrapping up the remaining plot threads do not seem tacked on; they are a well-constructed coda to the main adventure and close the book well. By the time you finish the story, you feel that the trio has earned their rest...or whatever adventure of *their* choosing they may embark on.
If you haven't read Starforge--or the UNSEC trilogy as a whole--you owe it to yourself to rectify that injustice.
May 10, 2024
Grandiose conclusion to a trilogy that even though a hefty one, never gets boring.
It goes on unveiling a fascinating world building going even further than the already ambitious takes of the first two installments.
Storytelling is well done, many twists so you can't tell where it is taking you if one excepts the likely expectation that (keeping it vague on purpose to not spoil) the threat will be eliminated and a nasty person will get punishment.
A pretty good trilogy that ought to be more widely known.
It goes on unveiling a fascinating world building going even further than the already ambitious takes of the first two installments.
Storytelling is well done, many twists so you can't tell where it is taking you if one excepts the likely expectation that (keeping it vague on purpose to not spoil) the threat will be eliminated and a nasty person will get punishment.
A pretty good trilogy that ought to be more widely known.
January 15, 2023
Wonderful conclusion. Kind of reminds me of Ender's Game but with meaner buggers. This is a terrible review, maybe I will write a more accurate one sometime in the future. In the meantime, just go read the book
June 27, 2023
A good ending to the trilogy
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews