Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: NineStar Press

Genre: Genre Fiction 

Tags: Mythology, War, Male Valkyrie

Length:  17,600 Words

Reviewer: Karen

Purchase At:  amazon, NineStar Press

Synopsis:

Review:

This is a twist on Norse mythology as Sakuma is a male Valkyrie. The world has grown and with it conflict, requiring more Valkyries than ever before. In this Valhalla there are actually two males, that we are aware of, but the story concentrates on Sakuma who returns to earth multiple times for one soldier, Ishii Hiroshi.

From the first time Sakuma attempts to take Ishii up to Valhalla, because he’s seriously injured in battle, Ishii refuses, preferring to stay and tough out his particular injury. Not something that’s ever happened to Sakuma before.

“You know when most men see something celestial they don’t hesitate to ride along.” He shifted weight onto one leg. “You could at least have the decency to act surprised.”
The soldier’s lip pinched in at the corner. “You could at least have the decency to realize death is a big deal for a human.”

Sakuma can’t understand why Ishii is so stubborn, why he’s allowing the war to take a toll on his physical and emotional being and spirit. Why the number of refusals mount up. If Ishii dies anywhere other than the battlefield Sakuma won’t be able to collect and transport him to Valhalla, something he feels befits both Ishii’s valour and strength of character. But Ishii has doubts, what started as defence of his country, his patriotism, fighting alongside fellow combatants, morphs into something else.

.

Sakuma believes in Ishii from their first meeting. As the war continues to be waged, and they meet over and over, Sakuma is convinced even more that Ishii deserves his place in Valhalla – Ishii, not so much. Hildr, Sakuma’s superior, is not terribly impressed that Sakuma spends a lot of time and effort trying to keep tabs on Ishii’s energy levels. For the reader, however, it’s very moving that Sakuma worries he could lose Ishii completely, to illness, to a final refusal.

Over the years that Sakuma visits Ishii, something more transpires between them, but this is not a romance, not in my eyes. It’s about respect and a bond – the Samurai Valkyrie and the human soldier – something that transcends a solely human understanding of feelings and connection.

In the End: 

Valhalla is a moving tale. For a short story it manages to pack a fair punch as you wonder just what Ishii will decide, if he even gets the chance to decide. Having a support like Sakuma watching you prior and then waiting for you in the afterlife would also be pretty special. 4 Stars.   

Rating: 3 Stars

Publisher: Indie 

Genre:  Sci-Fi

Tags: Military

Length: 340 Pages

Reviewer: John

Purchase At:  amazon

Synopsis:

A fleet of warships operated by the digitized minds of former humans. An unknown enemy lurking in the dark of space. The one man who hopes to conquer them both.

Jain was the lieutenant commander of an elite SEAL team. He was accustomed to order and discipline, which he used to give the men under his command that particular brand of killer instinct his unit was known for. But one day that semi-comfortable, ordered life ended when he opened his eyes to find his body replaced by a starship. His mind had become its AI core. He is somewhere in deep space. Most of his systems are badly damaged. He has no memory of how he got here, or what his mission is. Evidence points to an attack by an unknown entity. He finds other damaged vessels in the vicinity and reactivates them. They, too, have no memory of the events leading up to their current situation. Jain, thrust into a leadership role, soon learns that commanding a fleet of starships isn’t all that different from leading a platoon of SEALs. It helps that his database is chock-full of tactics and military strategies gleaned from every space battle humanity has ever fought. As he and his fleet explore their surroundings and slowly piece together what happened to them, they realize their attacker is not from any human system.

And that any misstep means not only the loss of his fleet, but potentially the destruction of humanity itself.

Review:

Who wants to be a fire engine? 

My quote above is partially derived from the scene in the movie Crazy People where Dudley Moore’s character asks all those present to put up their hands if they want to be a fire engine. What I found, as I read this novel, was that I couldn’t completely get past that feeling of disconnect with the main characters being “spaceships” instead of being human(oid machines). Even with the plot devices, where they could be human within VR or inhabiting robotic machines, I just couldn’t shake that in-ability to relate feeling.

The tale is set in the future within a (reasonably) distant solar system of our galaxy and concerns the exploits of a group of “mind refurbs”, real humans who have had their minds scanned, stored and eventually uploaded into computer cores of military spaceships.

Jain became conscious.
He stared at the infinitude of stars before him. He seemed to be floating in deep space.
He had no body.

He joins with his other “mind refurbs” and together they play a game of cat & mouse with an extremely capable alien warship.

“No, we were attacked. And whatever did the attacking is still lying in wait out there, somewhere. Either in this system, or one nearby.”

The world building and character development are of a consistently high quality. The book editing and story continuity is polished, with no discernible mistakes nor discontinuities. But when you combine my disconnect around the characters being spaceships with a repetitious plot and action sequences, it ended up dampening my joy of reading this book and hence the three star rating. Do I believe the writer to be more than capable? I certainly do, but I just felt 100% wasn’t given, especially when it came to the alien vehicle doing the same things when attacking.

Would I buy Devastator, the next book in the series? At this stage, I’m undecided, but, if pushed for an answer, I probably would.

At AUS$4.99 for just a bit over four hundred Kindle pages, if it is of the same overall quality as this work, then, for me, it would be probably be worth it to buy and continue reading.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Rating median of 3 Books)

Publisher: Self Published

Genre: Sci-Fi

Tags: Military

Length: 1078 Total Pages
Deliverance – Book One Kindle 350 pages $A0.99,
Deception – Book Two Kindle 346 pages $A3.99,
Desperation – Book Three Kindle 382 pages $A4.99.

Reviewer: John

Purchase At: amazon.com

Synopsis:

**This review is for books #1 Deliverance, #2 Deception, and #3 Desperation of The Forgotten Colony Series. 

Review:

I find this series to be good overall value. What attracted me initially was the synopsis of the first book, Deliverance, and the fact it was 350 pages for AUD$0.99. That made it worth a try. It turned out to be a good read so I kept going and haven’t been disappointed so far. The series is a comfortable read, nothing awkward or highly improbable. The technology is believable, I’m happy that the physics is never outlandish.

If you like a fast pace, action packed, a non-stop, take no prisoners kill-a-thon, then, this is the series for you. With all the books well written & edited, with world building & character development skilfully executed, with more plot twists and turns than a road across the Swiss Alps, I have found them to be very entertaining reads.

Set initially upon Earth, then in a massive starship in space and ending, so far, upon another world, this author can really spin a tale.

The only slight negative I have found with the series is that the main character, Sergeant Caleb Card, in my opinion, can, at times, come across as a bit naïve and boy scoutish.

“My duty is to protect the people of Metro. Contractually, it ended the moment we reached solid ground, but I wasn’t made that way.”
 Dr. Brom frowned. “Bridge? Reached solid ground? I get the feeling there’s a lot more going on here than meets the eye.”
Caleb opened his mouth to explain, realizing he had hinted at something the vast majority of people in Metro didn’t and weren’t supposed to know.

###

“Sergeant Card? What the hell happened?”
“Riley punched you.”
She ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth, wincing at the pain. “I know that. Where is she?”
“About a meter to your left,” Caleb said. “She’s dead.”
“What?” Dante lifted her head too quickly, turning it to see Riley’s corpse. She put her hand to her temple. “Oh, damn that hurts.”
“I told you to take it easy,” Doctor Brom said.
“She’s dead?” Dante said. “I don’t  see a scratch on her.”
“Strangest damn thing I’ve ever seen, Sam,” Brom said. “She shot herself with your unloaded revolver, and it
 killed her.”

Shot and killed with Sam’s unloaded revolver, what a neat trick, but, here’s a hint, in this series, things are rarely what they appear to be.

This series is based around a group of marines, taking the equivalent to a current day Spec Ops team but using future technology. It’s military sci-fi through and through. It’s based around Sergeant Card, who is a highly trained, professional Marine, but it’s Sergeant Card within an elite group, one charged with trying to defend the human race against an alien invasion.

The Forgotten Colonies series is shaping up quite nicely as a series and I’m looking forward to the release of the promised fourth book, Destruction, and I hope that you, quite possibly, could enjoy them all as well.