| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » Earth Strike: Star Carrier: Book One | | | | | | | Description: | | The first book in the epic saga of humankind's war of transcendence There is a milestone in the evolution of every sentient race, a Tech Singularity Event, when the species achieves transcendence through its technological advances. Now the creatures known as humans are near this momentous turning point. But an armed threat is approaching from deepest space, determined to prevent humankind from crossing over that boundary—by total annihilation if necessary.
To the Sh'daar, the driving technologies of transcendent change are anathema and must be obliterated from the universe—along with those who would employ them. As their great warships destroy everything in their path en route to the Sol system, the human Confederation government falls into dangerous disarray. There is but one hope, and it rests with a rogue Navy Admiral, commander of the kilometer-long star carrier America, as he leads his courageous fighters deep into enemy space towards humankind's greatest conflict—and quite possibly its last. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 47 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 47 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
276 of 300 found the following review helpful:
Page turner but very similiar to other books by this authorFeb 28, 2010
By The Chief
A real page turner and entertaining read, however...
This author has done this storyline before. He is using almost identical plot lines and enemies as the previous stories. Heck, this story is set with a similar beginning as the last and in the same universe..The major change is a different enemy even they are also billion year old, galaxy-spanning, mega-bad-guys bent on the destruction of the human race. Hmm, sound like the Xul again.
I do enjoy the science though and will buy the next series. I just wish more effort was spent on creating a new universe and change of plot lines...
The plot lines in both series:
1. Politicians are idiots and only the military are smart enough to know what's best
2. Civilians are idiots and only the military are smart enough to know what's best
3. Civilians and politicians are proven wrong only after an attack on earth that kills billions
4. Only the Admiral/General of a battle group seems to have all the answers and no one listens to him
5. The billion year old enemy is too stupid or slow to use basic combat tactics or sensors and are constantly caught off guard by humans' creative genius
I wish the author would take note and put more effort into maturing the relationship dynamics between military, civilian, and politicos and NOT make them so stereo typical.
Enjoy
59 of 65 found the following review helpful:
 It's more of the sameMar 20, 2010
By Damien Stewart
William H. Keith Jr. writes under several pseudonyms and I was surprised to discover that I have several of his other books from non-related genres. Having read all of the Heritage, Legacy, and most recent Inheritance Trilogies I was kind of disappointed that Earth Strike has a lot of carry over from those series in technology and plot structure. The book was entertaining but predictable and at times I'm sure I could find very similar passages from the previous nine books of those series. I just was expecting a little more but overall was satisfied enough to read it over a week or so. The last book of the Inheritance Trilogy I read in a single night the day it released as a comparison. So if you enjoyed other Ian Douglas books I'm sure you'll enjoy this one. I also plan on continuing to read the rest of the series as they are released.
66 of 85 found the following review helpful:
"Not all Muslims are fanatics, Lieutenant"Apr 16, 2010
By RaDadIndy
"indiana_dad"
This book had a number of serious turn-offs for me: (1) the insipid political correctness reflected in the above quote (from page 152 and echoed in later pages); (2) the incredibly tough female fighter pilot who we've only seen in, gosh, about 300 previous books and movies; (3) the stock dialogue that we've also seen about 300 times before (for example, after the battle, at page 341: "We weren't going to let you have all the fun to yourselves.") (4) the psychiatric leave taken by the main character in the midst of a battle zone; and (5) the lack of any character who there was reason to care about.
That said, the battles have a number of strong points. If you've liked this author before, you will probably like him again here. For myself, I much prefer the "Dauntless" series by Jack Campbell.
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 Stuck in the Mud of Over-ExplanationAug 01, 2011
By OldWave
Yes, I know there is a tendency to try and explain the nature of every technology that the author has conjured up for their books, but at some point the story has to carry the day, and the tedious explanations should subside, it only holds up the action, and is truly pointless, since these technologies don't exist, and this isn't a textbook. That is what sinks Ian Douglas. I don't know if he does this with all his books, but there is no prize for descriptions that run on and on. You end up screaming "Will you please get on with it!" And then you finally throw in the towel and go back to William Dietz. Can you imagine a WWII story that stopped to explain, in detail, the inner workings of an M1 before anyone shot the Nazi charging their position? How about George Lucas stopping the film to explain the engineering behind a "jump to light speed"? Why do they think anything needs to be explained at all? After the first thirty pages I wanted to strangle Ian..."You realize that none of this is real, don't you?" Or maybe he doesn't. He shot his own book in the foot...maybe I should stop here and describe in detail a "foot", and what "shot" entails, but would you still be listening?
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
I didn't hate it...Mar 06, 2012
By Anastasia Pergakis
I'm a huge fan of military science fiction - of any military fiction really - but this book severely disappointed me. No, not because of the military aspect at all. That was really one of the few saving graces about this book that kept me reading until the end.
The characters were cookie cutter types. Admiral Koenig, while a major player in the plot - well I couldn't have a personal connection with the guy. He was just, there. And, I'm all for women heroes, tough chicks who kick butt, but Commander Allyn again was also just there. No real depth to her as a "person" she was just a fighter pilot and without the use of "she" I probably would have never noticed she was a woman honestly.
The only character (and saving grace #2) that had any depth, was Lieutenant Gray. While there were other saving graces to this story, he really was the main reason why I continued the read the book. I wanted to know what happened to him. Even with that, I still felt he could have been developed 'more'. After all, I have no idea what he looks like - at all.
If the characters were described in physical appearance at all during the story, I missed it due to the overwhelming details of the technology. Maybe I just prefer the "softer" types of sci-fi stories. Even still, I don't feel the need to take up multiple paragraphs and in some cases multiple pages, to explain to me how each individual type of ship, weapon, and tech works. And not only do that, but do it repeatedly for the same piece of equipment. The sad part was, not only was it repeated, it was repeated almost verbatim every time. The same words, in the same order.
The third and final saving grace of this story was the fight scenes. And if the over use and repetition of the technology during these scenes was taken out, they would be even better.
I didn't necessarily hate the story - the basic plot was a good one and the fight scenes kept me interested. I don't think I'll read any more books from this series though, as the over-detail and cookie cutter characters just don't make it worth my while to figure out what else happens in the series arc.
See all 47 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
