Nick Cole

Turning Point is an ugly book. It is ugly, because war is ugly. And this is warre, war to the knife. Firebombs, orbital strikes, death and destruction.

In theory, when statesmanship and diplomacy and the just use of force have been applied prudently, none of this is necessary. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case. And then, when good men find their back against the wall, they will do things that are more horrible than even they could have imagined they would do, if you had asked them show more before the deed was done.

This is also a book about divided loyalties. In the self-image of the Legion, they are loyal servants of the Republic. In practice, the oligarchs of the Republic use them and hate them, and the Legion returns that hate in spades. The Legion is already divided against itself, and against its masters, but truly, the split runs deeper than that.

The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every leeje, with the result that brother will turn upon brother, and the galaxy will burn. There are hints that something far worse than venial and self-serving politicians, even worse than Goth Sullus, tyrant holdfast, is lurking in the darkness. Yet, I still have hope, hope that the worst can yet be avoided, even if we don't quite know what that could be. show less

The Old Man and the Wasteland by Nick Cole is a post-apocalyptic story that lured me in immediately. I love survivor stories and this one is a dandy! Written as an homage to The Old Man and the Sea, author Nick Cole has us follow an old man who has spent the 40 years since the nuclear exchange that brought about the downfall of America (and probably the rest of the world) as a salvager. After he made the mistake of bringing a radio that was radiated back to the village, he has been show more considered cursed. He decides to lift the curse by taking himself further into the wasteland than usual and bringing home something truly valuable to the village.

The main character is well developed and his story of redemption is moving. His journey leads him out into the wasteland desert that is south of Phoenix and west of Tucson. Phoenix was destroyed by the bombs, but the old man isn’t sure about Tucson. As he travels he encounters many adventures that have him fighting for his life. Tracked by a wolf pack, endangered by flash floods, and finally encountering a barbaric tribe, he uses his memory of the Hemingway book to guide him through.

The Old Man and the Wasteland was an excellent escape read for me. I loved the story and the character of the old man. Although the author paints a depressing picture of the future, it is not without the hope that mankind will someday rise above the savage level that exists in this story. This grim, introspective story will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it suited me perfectly at this time. show less

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Title: Requiem for Medusa
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #1
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 357
Words: 88K

Synopsis:

Medusa was a world class bounty show more hunter, with a disease, a disease that was slowly turning her into a machine. She was a doctor and used her bounties to search for a cure for herself and everyone else exiled by the disease. One job got her killed. The Bounty Hunters Guild isn't going to let that happen to one of their operators without severe repercussions. So they hire Tyrus Rechs.

For Rechs, this isn't just a job. He was a lover of Medusa and he doesn't want just Justice, but Vengeance. Wanted by the House of Reason, with Nether Ops continually on his tail, with other Bounty Hunters also gunning for him and his own past haunting him, Tyrus Rechs, a man over 2000 years old, is on the edge.

Rechs tracks down the client who hired Medusa, only to find out other bounty hunters, hired by other clients, had a hand in things. The trail takes Rechs to a rich gambling space station where 2 Crime Lords run a Death Game where hundreds of competitors vie to be the one lone survivor who will live in the lap of luxury for one year. The rogue bounty hunter who killed Medusa has entered the games and Rechs finds out that the Crime Lords are the one's who hired him. Said Crime Lords have also contacted Nether Ops so Rechs can't wait around to get the rogue bounty hunter. Rechs enters the game, kills the bounty hunter, escapes by the skin of his teeth and immediately faces off against a Nether Ops kill team. During this fight he also kills the 2 Crime Lords and finds out that in insane robot bounty hunter is the one behind it all. The robot dies, the space station is totally wasted and Rechs goes to a hidden asteroid to sleep for months to recover and to give his trail time to cool down.

My Thoughts:

After how much I was enjoying the main Galaxy's Edge series, I wasn't sure how a prequel trilogy was going to work for me. Thankfully, this was everything I could have wanted. I'll write about that in a second.

I am consistently giving these books 4 and 4.5 stars and raving about them and I had to think for a minute about what kept them from going into pure 5 star territory. I enjoy them enough, that is for sure. I think it is because these are pulpy enough that it is going to take a second read to see if the enjoyment stands the test of time. So it's not so much a bad thing holding it back, as my own hesitation in giving out a coveted 5star. Anyway, just needed to cement that in my own mind.

As I wrote above, this had everything I wanted. A quest, the chosen one, a hero of superb ability, evil villains, justice, vengeance, lots and lots and lots of action. It all was blended together and folded into a great story. I will almost always take a Lone Hero story over a Group, as I just enjoy seeing the Individual and how one person can make a difference.

In regards to Rechs himself, since we know his fate in the main series, this was all about finding out the tidbits of his past. We know he encountered something that gave him longevity and from this story it seems to have been some sort of Savage ship? It is not explicitly spelled out nor is it the main thrust. Anspach and Cole (the authors) aren't making the mistake that Star Wars made of making the Jedi be the center of attention nor are they filling the galaxy with Jedi barbers and Jedi mechanics and Jedi beauticians. The balance in these books just feels right.

This book has put to rest my niggling fear that GE was a fluke by the authors and that they couldn't keep up that level of great story telling. This was a fantastic story and I loved it and I am looking forward to the next two just as much now.

★★★★☆ show less

The first line of Legionnaire, “The Galaxy is a dumpster fire,” tells a lot about the book’s content and style. Military space opera. Check. Slangy first-person narrator. Check. Not afraid of anachronisms. Check. I mean, will there still be dumpsters in which to have far-future fires? It will take a lot of action for the Legion (yes, a mercenary outfit loosely modeled on the French prototype) to put the fires out.

A note to future military planners: headgear you can’t replace on the show more battlefield is not a good idea. show less