Callsign: Valkyrie

Order of the Centurion #6

by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole, Walt Robillard

These Things We Do, That Others May Live!The Legion is the most elite, direct-action force in the galaxy, hammering the enemies of the Republic… but some missions require a scalpel.When radical insurgents shoot down a covert republic flight at galaxy’s edge, a nearby Legion recovery team is sent to recover the crew and keep the flight’s VIP—a doctor overseeing clandestine research and development—from falling into enemy hands. The operators of REC-Team Pelican fight the clock and struggle against criminal cartels, dangerous insurgents, and internal political strife, knowing that theirs is the duty to succeed where others might fail.Strap in for a thrilling adventure of special operator warfare, covert intelligence, and high-stakes spy craft as REC-Team Pelican navigates a treacherous battlespace to make the rescue… no matter the cost.

Genres: Science Fiction

378 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2023

About the author

JASON ANSPACH is the author of Galaxy's Edge, Wayward Galaxy, Forgotten Ruin. and more.

He lives in Puyallup, WA with his wife and their seven (not a typo) children.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's me... as the rest of the books in the GE universe are quite good. This book I found a bit of a disappointment. It starts with the introduction of yet another elite organization - the Valkyries an elite Legionnaire unit who are themselves supposed to be elite... As it is stated in the book, the 1% of the 1%. The Valkyries are like SOAR on steroids - but it isn't good enough for them to do rescue they also do recon... Now why after recovering your target would you spend additional time in indian country doing recon? Wouldn't you dee dee out of there with your recovered pilot or whomever it was you were sent to recover instead of risking your recovered person(s) and your specially trained unit? I don't know... just found the whole premise of the unit ridiculous. ok ok ... I'm done... Hopefully future books will bring things back into the realm of GE universe reality.

[David A. Calkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

whew

These Order books are amazing and very very rough. Brings up lots of buried stuff… just be aware . If you know what I mean, you know what I mean…

[Shaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Valkyrie is a disappointment. I compared it to the earlier books in the same Order of the Centurion series or the Contracts & Terminations series, which I loved, it wasn't up to snuff. Overall, it was in line with what I'd have expected if I was beta reading.

The good: The basic idea for the plot is fine. I liked Mack, and appreciated the angst he encounters while slotting into a leadership position in an intact team. The mission was interesting, if underdeveloped, and I loved the redemption story tucked in at the end.

The bad: Two stars off for tragically bad editing. Poor and mistaken word use jump out, there are continuity gaps in the plot, there’s a repeated pattern of apparently unfinished thoughts (“Mack waited for whatever number of heartbeats he guessed was the proper length of time when Lobster would have shot her before he continued.” Uh...just pick a number?) And there’s too much showing and too little telling. The overall impression it gives is lazy writing.

This is too bad -- the rest of what I've read from this vast universe has been entertaining and solid. This, though, is an unfortunate exception.

[Yvonne Timm]

Keeps you enthralled to keep reading to see what happens next to Mack, the REC-Team, Maj Tyler, Cherry and the rest of the group. The loss of Raptor was a blow, I was not expecting. With Mack finally managing to get past his history with his last team, even though they lost Raptor, at least they went back for him “in no man left behind”. There are some terms and remarks that made me chuckle because I have heard them before and not in a book but in real life. That might have something to do with being in the military and a military brat.

[James Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the five-star rating system I use:

★★★★★ Great book! Can’t wait to read it again (and I will).
★★★★☆ Good book. I am glad I read this.
★★★☆☆ OK book. Nothing special but not bad.
★★☆☆☆ Not good. Why did I waste my time?
★☆☆☆☆ Lousy. I didn’t finish.

If for whatever reason, I go back and reread a good book, I will change the rating to five-star because I read it again.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope, first book ever by these authors that I have not liked, in fact gave up on before the end. Way too "choppy" regarding scenes, people and action, like they couldn't make up thier minds whose turn it was to write a sentence let alone a paragraph or a chapter, very difficult for me to follow the plot, the action and the characters. 0 out of 5 do not recommend

[Graham Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Target audience for this series is definitely veterans, it's not bad or anything, it's just hard for civvies to really connect to the details that the authors wanted to focus on. Interesting story, gritty world, good action, and the content is relatively clean, so I liked that.

[richard wentzell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still reading KTF and hoping for more

I've been with this since first book and thru them all have so very greatly enjoyed the journey thru Galax'y's Edge. Tip of the bucket to Cole and Anspach for this wonderfully fun adventure as well as the ancillary tracks in the Galaxy's Edge.

[Trax Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't coherent enough.
Lacked the flow of earlier set of books from Jason and Nick.
There was something missing.
It felt ... not fully baked.

[Patkós Csaba · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why, but it was quite hard for me to follow the action in this book.

[Emmett L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Just a really good read. Brings back some really bittersweet memories of my checkered past. Rest well brothers, you are still missed.

[Geraki · Rating 5 out of 5]

hope to see a series

This was a different flavor that was really enjoyable. I hope this team gets a series! The Valkyries are a great concept. This read like an origin story.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nuts and bolts of good military science fiction.

[Cory Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect

By far the best Order of the Centurion book. Had a bunch of fun reading it. Mack is a dawg