James Rosone

The first volume was great--inventive and fresh. But, as I have read/slogged through the next three, the writing got stale and repetitive. There are five or six unit level fights that thread through the tome and the reader knows the serial number of each round fired. It's too detailed and my brain can't absorb those details and still follow the story. So, I quit listening about an hour into this Vol 5; I don't think that I'll read Vol VI nor will I read any more of this author. The concept of a wartime artificial intelligence was squandered on bad writing.… (more)

Into the Stars is the first volume of a projected six-volume series of space operas. The disjointed story arc of the first one does not bode well for the series. We begin with a background chapter about the end of World War III. Then, somehow, all the problems get fixed, and we are mining asteroids. But then there are space pirates. Then we are training space marines, but they don’t deal with the pirates. Will there be aliens? Of course.
I prefer a more tightly focused story. Asteroid mining and pirates are enough. Save the aliens for later volumes.… (more)

4th book in and I'm wondering why I continue with this one--a 13 hour listen. Authors annoyingly Americanize the language of the foreign characters, who last about as long as a red shirt on Star Trek. The strategery (big picture) is pretty good and I enjoy the interactions of national leaders. But the droning descriptions of military operations, and equipment coupled with tactical military jargon caused me to skip over an hour or two all tolled. Thus, the two rating. If I had not gotten the unreturnable books as a deal from audible.com, I would probably terminate this series.… (more)