Andy Bundy

Excellent, quintessentially British, fast moving Science Fiction

Recovering from covid-19 has seen me reading a lot once more, and I've ‘re-discovered' Nick Cook. I've read a couple of the Earth Cry books which I found slow going - but in Thunder Child I found a story which literally kept me going for a non-stop reading session.

The novel would have benefited from a glossary of terms and acronyms as extensive use was made of these, but their usage tended to lend a degree of authenticity to a fast moving tale.

I look forward to the sequel - but will start reading that one earlier!

Another teenager makes good story, with dragons!

Don't think from the title. That I have a problem this sub-genre, even though I'm not quite sure which genre of is sub from, maybe urban, fantasy?

But indeed the boy made good, despite being turned into an Elite, though whether a vampire or werewolf he is, presuming there are not another types.

More please???

Better than expected by far!!

My experience with post apocalyptic fiction varies considerably. From the gritty weapons-death-action excesses of Axler's Deathlands and Outlanders (yes I know he's.not real) to Stephen King's The Stand they all represent varying perspectives and degrees of realism.

This book was, definitely, better than expected. It nearly travels along a breakneck speed, dropping hint and clues, building characters and situations well.

That it ended quickly was initially annoying - but it led me to definitely download the next instalment. Being it on!!

More or the same - maybe better

I will confess that I was surprised by some of the plot twists, actually quite a few of them. The plot still draws on far too many memes, even the Axler-like weapons envy bit where our pilot here turns out to be a survivalist and weapons specialist too!
Plot still sounds a bit Clancy-esque - depopulation to save the climate/world, but oh so much better than the ‘reds are invading' as earlier mentions of Asian people hinted at.

Glad to see that is British are still alive and kicking.

Is that it? Talk about cliffhanger...

Again, an excellent sequel to operation thunderchild, named for the valiant, but doomed, ironclad features in the War of the Worlds. Lots of threads came together, and twists and turns continued to the end.

Read both books! They're not exactly difficult to follow, they're very exciting, and well worth the investment of time and money.

Who who have thought?

The curse perhaps of having the ability to explore a massive, and effectively free library is of getting addicted to particular genres, coming to hate others that you once liked (omg not another global who nightmare causing everyone to change into zombies, or vampires or whatever).

Some series can spin off into myriad directions, recycling characters in different scenarios (Queen Bitch and Michael anderle and gang, I salute you).

But what about this book I hear you scream? Well, I've dabbled with some of Max Carver's books in the past with differing results. Ironically, like me, Max takes a long time to get up to speed, which back in the older days of the earlier pre-Kindle days meant a lot of shopping around, exchanging of DRM keys, etc.

But, as to this I stuck with it, and the story leapt from walking pace, to interplanetary, then onto Jumpgates, to steal from the nearest tech description as found in B5. Indeed there are so many overlaps, from the gate operators here to the telepath's of JMS universe.

I'm off hunting down a sequel. There really really needs to be one of I'm gonna really upset my nearest Echo demanding that Alexa give me the answers!

If you like slow and steady character development with matching universe and history telling, this will not disappoint. If I find the sequel quickly, I'll be back to bump this to 5*

ooh! Like juggling a squadron of space cats

Loved the book in general, but found that unless I was very careful, someone else would change sides, and burst out of someone's chest (Alien style).

on balance I'd say that the end was rather predictable even if all the bits beforehand kept one guessing.

Looking forward to starting book two.

Not your regular conspiracy novel

Whenever you find aliens in a book, you're going to drop into a rabbit hole full of Roswell-related conspiracies. Not (quite) so in this book, to its credit.

What we have is a well paced look through a non-conventional version of the future, learning more and more about past and present as we go.

The characters are quite well rounded and plausible, and the writing clear of any confusion.

Spoiler alert, all good books series' have a climactic ending - so the author needs to did down and get scribbling!

An interesting take on a real question

I have just completed this book for a second time and enjoyed it possibly More than the first time. While the discovery of the ‘databases' of knowledge from our alleged benefactors the author describes a universe maybe a little too easy to believe, with technology easily adapted to the existing state of the art,.and allies maybe too easily .

Overall though an easily accessible read which enough excitement to bring you back for more.

A fast paced narrative but lacking depth

I've just finished reading this, the second book in the series. Sadly I reached the end far before I expected to. In my mind, the series so far could do with an update. I would commend to the author to both fix a number of typos and contextual errors which stand out in places, but also to build and deepen the scope of the characters that have made the stories the success they are already.

What I feel is missing is more on Gallant's thoughts, how he perceives his relationships with others, thus making more of his unique abilities. I feel we're maybe missing out also on the character of Neumann, as well as the senior - junior theme running through the books.

This is perhaps element so far, to me raising the thought of the Sith in Star Wars - not in a negative way - but more along the lines of how such partnerships build, and how the influence each other...

Keep it up! I've great hopes

Definitely worth your time

I'm perhaps getting to my short-term tolerance for apocalyptic fiction, but this book shone out With an unusual plot twist, and I found it quite.exciting - and have yet again spent half the night devouring it.

The characters are well developed and believable, and the story is quite robust with some surprising twists and turns right to the end.

Unlike many of the templated post-apocalypse books out there, this is an exceptional story. It's a shame that a sequel seems unlikely - but I'm following the author.

Interesting take on TEOTWAWKI

I found this book has a pleasant pace throughout - though this is also a problem. Nothing really challenges the denizens of bunker 1 which means the otherwise incredibly well built characters don't get to play to their limits.

Seems there should be a follow-up book...?

Waiting for something

I was fearful for perhaps the first half of the book that it would turn out to be a rendition of Survivors or similar drama. While there are definitely many echoes, the sheer depth of the characters helps to pull you along. I think time will have to tell.

Even the translation is good

When I read the preface to The Screw on the moon I was worried it would be unreadable having been translated by ai. But it wasn't.

It goes to show that good, no sorry EXcellent, writing will always shine through and certainly the story was good too!

What I liked was that the content was easy to digest. There was no heavy duty science to work through so if you're not a sci-fi fan you can still give the series a try.

After all, it's the world which we enjoy from such a book, and getting to know the people who live there. Not unlike moving into a new housw.

What can I say about Deathlands? While possibly the greatest example of literal pulp fiction, it does kind of grow on you after a while, and if you've not made the effort to (shock horror) listen to a few versions from the Graphic Audio range, then you've missed a treat.

I don't think the collection of authors writing under the James Axler house-name are ever expecting any type of awards, if you like your fiction to be something you can read around the pool (and not mind if it gets wet), or to listen to in the car or on a plane, then its for you.

It is even quite well thought out on occasion, though this depends on the particular author, and even given the multi-author writing, and often mini-series style publications, everything generally ties together and I've only ever had the odd WTF moment, ie ‘how the heck did they get there?' between adjoining titles.

Perhaps the most endearing quality is the almost secret language which has grown up around the series, for example ‘chill' instead of kill, and guns are ALWAYS ‘blasters' irrespective of the make - and while there is occasionally an excessive (Ahern-esque) fascination with the merits of different weapons - this is quite rare.

Better still - Deathlands it self spawned a spin-off series set yet another 100 years in the future, and somehow they've (just) managed to maintain continuity between the series.

If you want to take your mind off the hook occasionally - you can't go wrong in the Deathlands

I do so hate giving 5 stars!

As a rule I never give perfect scores. However, despite the characters almost always being a little too perfect, the pace of the story, the overall development of the story, and the attention to detail still out this at the top of the range for this type of fiction.

One could wish the books were longer, but this kind of production is what the Amazon unlimited scheme is about.

I am glad to see another author working, and doing, well.

To anyone contemplating the series, you won't be wasting your time.

Bring on the invisible....huh?

I would confess to having struggled a little With the previous book, though in hindsight I felt empowered to dive straight into this without even taking a breath.

Were it not for Kindle Unlimited I suspect I would have happily bought both books.

To readers new to Peter's books, don't be afraid to take a chance. With 27 titles and counting there's something for everyone, regardless of your particular preference in science fiction.

To Peter, I'm sorry that I won't go out and buy a hard copy version, it took me years to eventually divest myself of the hundreds on books I once owned.

That said, I'm going to invest in a couple of co2 extinguish - because you never can be too careful!

On wow! Me Stewart never fails to delivera

It takes a lot to get me to review a book, and generally speaking even special offers or advanced copies won't do the job. However, I've just finished this 3rd instalment of what is currently a trilogy with little time taken for a break and despite the length and breadth of the universe that has been woven here, little has bored me.

Even with longer chunks of writing over the books, there is little time wasted on catching up readers as to who is whom, and I just love the effort that has gone into building then alien races.

Glynn Stewart has bought us a wide range range of fiction, from space opera, to supernatural police SWAT teams to who knows what else.

If you, like me, tend to shy away from the “earth invaded, one ship has to save the human race” type genre, this series should be given a try. It's well worth the effort!!!

Thanks, and being on more of this and ONSET. I can't wait.

Somewhat unexpected - much more please!

I've been reading quite a lot recently, given a long-covid slow down period. This book for into my “might be interesting” category - and indeed it was.

Admittedly it is set within the upper reaches of ‘young adult' books, so there were the usual ‘single hero, left alone, becomes superhero and gets the girl' elements - but character building was good, universe design excellent even With the Alarian version of Battlestar Galactica.

If you like sci-fi without bad language - you won't be disappointed. If you like bad language you'll still be happy.

Is it wrong to be looking forwards always to the epilogue?

Before I get jumped upon, my arm torn off and beaten with the soggy end (how weird is it that this happens often in this series which was always, for me, a humorous childhood threat of I was naughty!) I mean that the books, the characters, and yes, OMG, the girlie discussions, get better each book, the afternotes, where Michael explains his thinking, methods and future plans are something I always enjoy in any book, but here they are elevated to an artform.

Keep it coming. As for funding Kindled for our boys, bearing in mind I am British, why not simply produce a one-off special story and sell it via crowd funding? This would open to all readers of countries with soldiers in harm's way. Just a thought.

Surprising to the end

This was not perhaps the best book I've read recently - but it was one which defied the usual flaw of predictability that many sci-fi books suffer from.

I can safely say that if you invest in this book, it won't disappoint. I'll certainly watch out for more from this author.

Good quality story telling with some unusual twists and turns

I picked up this book based on the description - and will admit it was a little slow at the outset, but that the pace soon picked up.

As With any good sci-fi story, the plot unfolds gradually as the story unfolds, and the story-telling does not fail to deliver new ideas and concepts at every turn.

I found the tale to be quite similar.to Cixin Liu's “Three Body Problem”.

I will add the author to my list.

Oh my, what a ride, phasers on cliche

I'm always hesitant to try out new collaborations or combinations of authors, and I struggled a little bit at the start but investment of time is quickly rewarded. While some of the themes are oft-repeated, this book managed to stand above the others. My definite favourite will be the AI Android raised on a diet of 80's action movies.

Like my first long trip in a powered wheelchair

Again, the author has continued to focus almost solely on characters and story. Yes, a few new gadgets such as the fancy dropships, but we focus all the way through on how the earth has actually improved itself with the local militias, to the desperation of the newly trained infantry as they ready themselves for a suicidal return to Mars.

I don't believe the author is into politics in his work, but while the British tradition has followed through from Churchill, I can easily see a certain current US President flying off on Space Force One.

One criticism I missed before is that the author needs to read up on is the theoretical work by Miguelle Alcubiere... With the best will in the world, shifting 30 light years or more in 27 mins or even 12 hours is very unlikely. Not is there any need for ‘chutes' or launchers. You simply need to pile on the G and when you get to relatively and gravitionally flat space, engage the drive field. Again you can drop out when you are.ready.

That being said, the technology supports the story, but why not use a different name?

Is the author telepathic or something?

The fact that I'm able to write a second review of the evening on this, the third book in the series says much of the word count. I enjoyed the building excitement, with an expectation of some kind of major event happening to the ship and crew - but then suddenly we arrive at the end.

Again we've got insight into existing and new characters, but just in the Nick of time, our latest ‘detailed' character is killed.

This series could be described as novellas rather than books. In fairness the quality of writing from a grammatical and indeed editorial perspective is much better.

Given Amazon's ‘unlimited' deal this author has struck a good balance of detail vs quantity, but I feel he could cast his eyes at other writers in this particular genre, such as Michael Anderle at al, who have been producing equally good fiction, starting out with similar characters.

Despite all of this, our dashing Lieutenant will, I'm sure, continue to defy all expectations and overcome all enemies, foreign and domestic!