Man Of War (Rebellion)
by M. R. Forbes
Quick View: An action packed, page turning start to a new series
Publisher’s Summary: In the year 2280, an alien fleet attacked the Earth. Their weapons were unstoppable, their defenses unbreakable. Our technology was inferior, our militaries overwhelmed. Only one starship escaped before civilization fell. Earth was lost. It was never forgotten. Fifty-two years have passed. A message from home has been received. The time to fight for what is ours has come. Welcome to the rebellion.
Full Review: The story starts fifty years after an unstoppable alien race has all but wiped out humanity.
But that doesn’t stop the last vestiges of freedom loving humans from trying to fight back, even though they’ve only had one victory in all those years.
That victory was when a single starship from the United States escaped into FTL, while similar ships from other nations were reduced to piles of burning rubble by the vicious aliens.
That starship was loaded with thousands of military and civilian personnel, and enough resources, technology, and seeds of life to start over when and if they ever find another earth like world.
With the foundation set, our story begins by alternating between two lead characters: Donovan, a survivor of the Dread invasion. And Gabriel, acclaimed space pilot and the son of the man who successfully piloted mankind’s lone star ship to escape the initial invasion.
To say things look bleak for Donovan and his squad of mostly tweens would be an understatement. But what other choice do they have but fight when the alien invader is bent on extinguishing the human race?
Gabriel doesn’t have it much better as he’s lost almost everyone who was ever dear to him, and his current job is to fly recon missions where the odds are stacked against his survival.
Following these two characters as they try to save the human race, while also trying to survive their own personal traumas as well as the poorly timed decisions of their leaders, was an enjoyable experience.
A page turning, “I can’t wait to find out what happens next,” dang it’s well past my bedtime experience.
I found the aliens, their motivations, and powerful technologies both interesting and unique,
I also found myself intrigued by the 23rd century tech the humans who escaped earth still possessed, including a unique implementation of faster than light space travel.
And the human freedom fighters left on earth were forced to use low tech and no tech solutions reminiscent of other Sci Fi tales.
That’s not to say everything in this story is perfect, or the plot is infallible, as I discuss in my “spoiler rich” post in our forum here.
But admittedly those are minor quips, and there is so much good in this story that I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
[stsig]
[ques]
[aff]