Ken R Pence

Pence, Ken. Uplift. Kindle, 2014.
I guess I blame John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War and Joe Haldeman’s Forever War for creating a genre of military space opera fantasies for geezers. First, you need a gimmick for making old guys young again. Haldeman and Scalzi use future tech resulting from near-light-speed time dilation. In Uplift, Ken Pence has his old guy get a boost from a multidimensional alien in the form of a small 11-sided polygon that essentially says, swallow me. Next thing you show more know, we are getting humanity ready to fight off an alien horde, literally called The Horde, that is on its way to enslave us. No surprise—Scalzi and Haldeman do it better. 3 stars. show less

Pence, Ken R. Trade World Saga. Kindle, 2013.
Ken Pence has an impressive work history—professor of engineering, police captain, and conflict resolution expert. He is also the author of twenty science fiction novels and owns a big dog named Drools Verne. This bio is a few years old, so I hope Drools is still doing well. Trade World Saga combines four short novels that provide the whole story arc for the series that began with Manual Interpretation (2010). I am happy to have the whole thing show more available, but the first novel stands out above the rest. A near-future college student is kidnapped by an alien, and escapes with some of its gadgets. He is the leader of a multidisciplinary team that must develop an original project to earn their degrees. How about antigravity for a start? And off we go to explore and trade among the stars. It turns out that reverse engineering and marketing are our real strengths as a species. The prose was not this novel’s strength. Faint praise, I know. 3.5 stars. show less

I received this book from Library Thing Members Giveaway
First Thought is a police story with a twist. Officer Robert Thales has developed the ability to read minds.This “gift” or “burden” gets him into trouble with everyone he meets including some very hot women. As the book progresses a crime and corruption story unfolds with corrupt politicians, greedy businessmen & organized crime.
The action scenes seem contrived and slanted to insure Officer Thales's survival. Like watching a TV show more show where you know no matter what happens the main character has to survive to fight again the next week.
If blazing guns, bloody murders, graphic sex, and obvious intrigue interest you this might be the book for you. Also an ability to disregards some obvious grammatical errors is required.

As is obvious I did not enjoy the book and would not recommend it. show less

Just a fun exercise if Earth acquired an alternate power source and discovered interstellar travel -- with a twist -- the Manuals we gain from a treaty show optimum standards that no race meets except Earth. We assume we have to meet those goals for navigation aids, food, housing, environments, and trade - new alien traders do not expect such lavish accomplishments on a planet at the fringe of the galaxy.