You never know what’s going to happen when you open a book. I find myself being surprised all the time – both on the upside and the downside. This was actually the 4th title I tackled as part of that Military Science Fiction Binge I kicked off two weeks ago to the day. I’ve already posted on:
Standing The Final Watch
http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-standing-the-last-watch-5-6-2018/
and
The Rods And The Axe
http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-the-rods-and-the-axe-5-7-2018/
If you’ve read these two posts, you’ll know that one turned out to be a pleasant surprise and one not so much.
The third of four titles – which I’ll try to post on today – is:
Decisively Engaged
More on that one in a bit but to get back to Empire Of Bones, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It’s pure Space Opera – very good vs. very bad guys, admirable Noble Houses vs. Evil Empires, virtuous constitutional monarchies and their militaries vs. evil AIs ruling enslaved human populations, brave Fleet Officers and Space Marines vs. thralled humans and autonomous killing machines, honorable Kings and Princesses vs. corruptible bureaucrats, politicians and rival claimants to the throne who mobilize them to no good end. It’s full of action – small and large fleet engagements, up close and personal boarding actions, augmented humans and the ships and powered combat armor they employ – everything you could possibly want.
Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t a great book – there are plenty of things to criticize here. The writing was average, the plot’s simplistic, the characters are exaggerated – both good and bad – there are too many Dues Ex Machina events that help to secure victories for the good guys – everything that needs to go right – does. Still, it was really fun. In fact, it was so fun that I just pushed right on into the series. I went straight from “Empire Of Bones” to”
Veil Of Shadows, Bones Of Empire #2
Then to:
Command Decisions, Empire Of Bones #3
On to:
Ghosts Of Empire, Empire Of Bones #4
Currently leaving me halfway through:
Paying The Price, Empire Of Bones #5
All of this in a week – moreover, I plan to finish this one and go on to the three other, currently available books in the series:
Reconnaissance In Force, Empire Of Bones #6
Behind Enemy Lines, Empire Of Bones #7
and The Terra Gambit, Empire Of Bones #8
Sorry for all the covers but one of the many things that make a series like this fun is the cover art – the colors, the ships the combat – it adds to the whole experience.
I’ve bought them all from the Kindle Store and I do plan to finish each and every one before going on to another choice or set of choices – something the books are making it surprisingly easy to do. I’ve described these types of books in past posts as literary junk food and guilty pleasures and nothing could be more true in this case. Starting one of these series’ is like opening a bag of Doritos or a bag of microwave popcorn – not necessarily good for you but so hard to stop until you get to the bottom of the bag – just like Lays…you can’t eat just one. The fact that each book is easily finished in 4 – 5 hours makes it that much easier to do.
Reading this series brought me back to Middle School – jumping into a series like E.E. Doc Smith’s “Lensman” books – pure, unmitigated, unembarrassed pleasure. I’m not reading the books with a critical eye. I’m just plowing through them – one book at a time – reveling in the heroics and the explosions and the victories in the face of almost certain defeat and enjoying every page. It’s almost like reading comic books. They allow you to leave pretension and sophistication behind and just root for the good guys.
They’re not going to be for everyone but I’ll admit to a feeling of thankfulness to the Author for giving me some pure, unvarnished Space Opera fun. Long Live the New Terran Empire!!!
Yes – I’m a closet nerd and a kid at heart – I feel for those who aren’t.