Archangel One

An unadulterated fun action romp in space with more snark than any military could ever allow. Sympathetic characters on all sides, no one (important) dies. The lines between good guys and bad guys are clearly defined, even as the bad guys are not quite as bad as they could be. Only downside: This first part of a trilogy is not a stand-alone novel and ends basically after the conflict is squarely established, but with no solution in sight. Be prepared to hunt down the next parts if you want a satisfying reading experience.

This book starts a new series in the world of Odyssey One. Stephen Michaels, ace pilot from the Odyssey One crew, gets a brand new model of fighter ship his own command. Their first assignment is a long-term deep cover espionage operation to gather intel on Imperial forces. How are they going to do that? Easy, become SPACE PIRATES … um I mean state sponsored privateers, on the outskirts of the empire.

I continue to enjoy this series. It is a light, action heavy space opera. Evan Currie seems to be a prolific author, so more books should be coming along soon.

I’ve read the first seven books in the Odyssey One series and have gotten to know all the characters well over the years. In Archangel One, Evan Currie takes the Odyssey One chief pilot and elevates him to the flight commander of a new rouge flight group made up of deadly small superfast spacecraft. The mission of the flight group is to gather intelligence on The Empire, an old and large multi-solar system human race that attacked Earth and Primenae forces in the Odyssey One Series.

While calling on the familiar Odyssey One’s Captain Wesson at the beginning of the book, and touching base on his current mission at different points in the book, Archangel One primarily about the former chief pilot, Stephanos. In this book, Stephanos show more decides to identify himself to one of The Empires out worlds as a mercenary for hire. He helps this outer world government overcome an attack by one of its enemies overcoming its superior force. Stephanos’ hope with this mercenary engagement is to build up a reputation in that part of space as a valuable ally while not fully disclosing his fleet’s full capabilities nor its true spying purpose.

Archangel One is a high action book with many space battles and some unconventional, pushing the envelope flying, by Stephanos. In the end, his and his fleet’s rogue tactics escape a sizable Empire patrol and thus cement a reputation as a potentially valuable mercenary force to the outer worlds.

I expect that this new series will be just as good as the author’s Odyssey One books and already have the second book in the series, Archangel Rising, on my ‘’To Read” list. show less

Pure unadulterated fun. No pesky social commentary. You know who the good guys are. You gain insight into what's motivating the Empire. No beloved characters were killed off. The good guys use ruse that they are mercenaries and not trained fighter / warrior in order gain the trust of the people they are trying to use to gain insight into the Empire.There is a realist space battle at the end of the book with a promise of more comming..

Not the beginning

Read the ‘Odessey’ series first. There are carry over characters and concepts. I feel it would be a bit disorienting to attempt to start here.

A very interesting turn in the overall war. Q-ships and gunboats masquerading as mercenary/pirate fleet. A well constructed narrative. A little light on ship description, but enough to begin with.

I will buy the next book. Best recommendation I can make.

This isn’t literature. It’s ridiculously fun. There are flavors of Han Solo, Jim Kirk, Scotty. But, these characters are crazier. The Blue Angels but stunt flying in space. Reading the Odyssey Series first is a must.

Not the beginning

Read the ‘Odessey’ series first. There are carry over characters and concepts. I feel it would be a bit disorienting to attempt to start here.

A very interesting turn in the overall war. Q-ships and gunboats masquerading as mercenary/pirate fleet. A well constructed narrative. A little light on ship description, but enough to begin with.

I will buy the next book. Best recommendation I can make.