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A review by sidetracked
Into the Black by Evan Currie
5.0
I must admit it was an impulsive acquisition made possible by the discount offered through the Kindle daily deals. Never before had I heard or read anything by author Evan Currie, but something made me press that "buy with one click button". And, boy, am I glad I followed my instinct.
The first feeling I had after 30 or so pages was that I was back in time 8-9 years ago, watching the tv show Stargate SG1. It gave me a similar sense of wonder and desire to keep turning the pages that I didn't think I would have after the end of Stargate Atlantis and with it the end of the true Stargate shows, in my opinion. It also brought back memories of Tom Clancy's [b:Red Storm Rising|318525|Red Storm Rising|Tom Clancy|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173729031s/318525.jpg|5054712] by how the action was handled in multiple places at once.
Packed with a host of newly imagined technologies (at least it was the first time I heard of them), a good story and loads of action, this book made for a perfect read at the start of 2013.
The action takes place after the end of World War 3 with the starship Odyssey being the first Earth vessel to use the newly designed "transition drive" (a system that basically teleported the ship from one place to another over several dozens of light years) and departing Sol system for its maiden voyage. From here on till the end it's all military science fiction at its best, featuring both space based and ground based combat scenes, thoroughly described with a good amount of military slang used to get you into the atmosphere.
Albeit exaggerated here and there I had no problems pushing that aside and enjoying the experience. The author really tried his best to explain why and how the severely underpowered Terran vessel managed to inflict such terrible destruction to its alien counterparts and I have to say that in my eyes he acquitted himself laudably of this task.
The characters didn't seem to be that well constructed, beside the minimal information required to make sense of their actions, or at least they didn't have time to be developed enough, although by the end of the book I can't say I grew indifferent to their destinies. I have high hopes for Ithan Chans, Captain Weston and Commander Stephanos to be better developed in the following books, as I am looking forward to learning where Evan Currie decides to head with the story: what's the history of the Colonies, who are the Others and most of all who are the Drasins and why do they want to exterminate the human population of the Colonies?
In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes military science fiction. You will not be disappointed.
The first feeling I had after 30 or so pages was that I was back in time 8-9 years ago, watching the tv show Stargate SG1. It gave me a similar sense of wonder and desire to keep turning the pages that I didn't think I would have after the end of Stargate Atlantis and with it the end of the true Stargate shows, in my opinion. It also brought back memories of Tom Clancy's [b:Red Storm Rising|318525|Red Storm Rising|Tom Clancy|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173729031s/318525.jpg|5054712] by how the action was handled in multiple places at once.
Packed with a host of newly imagined technologies (at least it was the first time I heard of them), a good story and loads of action, this book made for a perfect read at the start of 2013.
The action takes place after the end of World War 3 with the starship Odyssey being the first Earth vessel to use the newly designed "transition drive" (a system that basically teleported the ship from one place to another over several dozens of light years) and departing Sol system for its maiden voyage. From here on till the end it's all military science fiction at its best, featuring both space based and ground based combat scenes, thoroughly described with a good amount of military slang used to get you into the atmosphere.
Albeit exaggerated here and there I had no problems pushing that aside and enjoying the experience. The author really tried his best to explain why and how the severely underpowered Terran vessel managed to inflict such terrible destruction to its alien counterparts and I have to say that in my eyes he acquitted himself laudably of this task.
The characters didn't seem to be that well constructed, beside the minimal information required to make sense of their actions, or at least they didn't have time to be developed enough, although by the end of the book I can't say I grew indifferent to their destinies. I have high hopes for Ithan Chans, Captain Weston and Commander Stephanos to be better developed in the following books, as I am looking forward to learning where Evan Currie decides to head with the story: what's the history of the Colonies, who are the Others and most of all who are the Drasins and why do they want to exterminate the human population of the Colonies?
In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes military science fiction. You will not be disappointed.