Raymond L. Weil

I have to be honest: I've already finished this series as I write this, so I know how things shake out, and am writing from that perspective. That said, this was my least favorite novel in the series. While one could argue its necessity in bringing together the Earth and Ceres populations (to a minor degree), and while it does display Earth's first attempt at an FTL-capable spaceship in the New Horizon, the plot seemed both predictable and absolutely inane to the point of beyond stupidity. show more Only Jim Jones and his ilk could have been more stupid than those attempting to do what was done in this book. To think it would actually work is mind boggling as one wonders just how low of an IQ one would have to have to actually think that -- below that of a squash or stone, I'm sure. So, I felt really insulted as a reader, like I was being written down to, and I didn't appreciate that. Fortunately, for the SERIES, the next book resumes sanity and enjoyment, as do the remainder of the books in the series, so three stars, more for the series than the book itself (the series deserves a solid four stars overall); I doubt the book deserves even two. Recommended only for those reading the entire series. show less

While this book has a 4.22 rating on Goodreads, which is damn good, I saw a couple of 1-star reviews of people who hated it more than nearly anyone could hate a book and considered it beyond awful. I don't understand the reaction. While I'm loving this series and thought this was an excellent book in the series, even if I thought less of it, I still have read hundreds of books much worse than this, and while a couple of people complained about a few grammatical errors, this was one of the show more "cleaner" self published books I've seen. Some are so atrocious that it's like they were written by 9th grade Russian dropouts -- in English! In contrast, this is pretty solid for lack of professional editing and the tale is gripping, for me, so I easily recommend this book -- if you're reading the series. Otherwise, there's probably no point to picking it up. show less

A good start to a series with potential. Not the "best" sci fi out there, as is the case with many self-published authors/books. Could use a copy editor. And a thesaurus, as the author tends to employ the same word choices repeatedly. The author's a bit old fashioned too (ie., some people would view him as borderline sexist), but it's still a pretty engaging story if you can get past these weaknesses, and the potential for a good series exists here. On to the next one! Recommended.

I loved this novel! A great beginning to a fantastic military space opera sage pitting humans and their alien friends they can get to join their Alliance, vs the meanest, nastiest types of aliens I've come across in a long time, a race that feels all other races in the galaxy are vermin who deserve to be conquered and destroyed, or serve as their slaves, wearing "obedience collars" around their necks that explode if they don't immediately do or say what is demanded of them. Needless to say, show more their empire is huge, the Alliance is tiny, so can it survive? The beginning of a saga that will tell us, I'm sure. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Lots of action. Definitely recommended! show less