Aftershock by Joshua Dalzelle

 

Aftershock by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Team Obsidian return and are tasked with uncovering the specifics behind the trafficking of aliens and a significant amount of humans from worlds across our part of the galaxy. Information provided by Omega Force as well as various government and underworld contacts led them towards a high level well organised operation under the auspices of the Cridal Cooperative. Investigating a private human owned mining facility in a far off solar system Obsidian find all the workers missing as well as two bodies, this leads to the team chasing down threads and fully understanding that with the fall of the Confed the galaxy is going to get more dangerous as the rule of law and the enforcement of treaties wanes.
Aftershock picked up the plot threads from previous novels in the series and from recent Omega Force novels and we are thrown into a cat and mouse chase with known and unknown entities from Earth and beyond. We follow the team as once again they throw themselves into a very entertaining adventure with mystery and action requiring some resourceful solutions all against the big picture that has been evolving from when we were first introduced to this "universe" by Joshua. A top notch addition to the Terran Scout Fleet series which does stand alone from the Omega Force novels but both series certainly benefit from each other. Highly recommend military scifi.

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Omega Force: Unleashed by Joshua Dalzelle

 

Omega Force: Unleashed by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Omega Force returns to its roots or getting back into Robin Hood mode as the team take on what appears to be a small time low profit job to aid in the exposure, suppression and extreme prejudice of a sentient being trafficking operation. As the existing structure of the this part of the galaxy collapses and law enforcement becomes a thing of the past the dark nature of sentients is emerging and part of this is the kidnapping and selling of being both old and young for simple labour tasks or more darker desires. This 14th novel feels a little "lighter" than those previously as it seems to be setting up a new chapter in the lives of the crew and in many ways this story is very different to the "machine" led narrative we've had for a few novels but when you get down to it we still have Omega Force kicking ass for all the right reasons. Of course not everything fits smoothly back into place, the team are out of practice dealing with threats with little back up and to put it bluntly they are not as young as they used to be. Omega Force Unleashed is a new beginning and there are a lot of situations to flesh out and explore in the next few novels, this should be a lot of fun.

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Heavy Metal by Joshua Dalzelle

 

Heavy Metal by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heavy Metal is the fourth novel in the Terran Scout Fleet series which was spun off from the Omega Force series and in this story we have Scout Team Obsidian once again led by Jacob Brown searching the galaxy for some stolen Earth technology. The pressure is on with Politicians and Military expecting a miracle from Obsidian who know that they will be hung out to dry if things go wrong, the morality of his job has been worrying Jacob for some time and it seems to be getting worse with each mission. Things take a turn when news reports indicate the stolen "mech" code name Atlas has been seen in action on a planet deep in civil unrest, as multiple interested parties converge on the planet Obsidian have their work cut out for me first to retrieve the mech or destroy it.
Heavy Metal is fast paced action adventure with our usual bunch of miscreants known as Scout Team Obsidian, an entertaining story set apart from the Omega Force series with no crossovers this time which allows Jacob and his men to grow a little through good and bad choices. A good and welcome addition to the series.

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Vapor Trails by Joshua Dalzelle

 

Vapor Trails by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jacob Burke and the remnants of Scout Team Obsidian in their stolen ship along with two synths continue to track down the human terrorists of One World. For various reasons the team are being hunted by One World operatives, their own command and of course Jason Burke who is not pleased the Phoenix is being flown around the galaxy and distracting him from his own search for Lucky. However Obsidian and Omega Force are converging as they both independently gather intel while juggling their relationships with the Navy and Intelligence services both of which it is now clear have been severely compromised. Eventually Omega Force and Obsidian converge on Koliss 2 and well emotions are vented all around but the intel they gather finally opens the door to finding out all of One World's secrets. Vapor Trails fully merges the original characters with those that were introduced in the spin off series of novels in a most satisfying way, both Jacob and Jason have to address some issues as events both old and current have light shone onto them. The novel overall is well paced with the mystery of One World being laid out in a believable fashion as a few threads from Omega Force being dangled with malicious glee.
New novels are due for both series and well I will be pre-ordering as soon as I am able and while I am more committed to Omega Force the adventures of Obsidian in the same sand box has been most gratifying.

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Rebellion by Joshua Dalzelle

Rebellion by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Omega Force returns as the galaxy continues to be manipulated by the AI known as the "machine" and Jason perhaps always willing to accept responsibility for his actions now sees that he has to fully commit his friends and colleagues to a major undertaking. All out rebellion against the forces of the AI including the might of the ConFed will just be the beginning, there can be no half measures, the AI has to be opposed and in a way to draw as much attention to it as possible. It has already engineered the fall of the mighty Eshquarian empire but a significant number of fleet units fled into the depths of space, the Eshquarian military really did plan for every contingency. Will these ships along with some of the more shady but in the know elements allow Omega Force to strike back and shed light onto the machine or has it already out thought them and made preparations?
The ongoing Omega Force series shows not sign of slowing down as our erstwhile crew of the Phoenix continue to skirt the boundaries but retain everything which makes them the "good guys". Lucky continues his slow rehabilitation and the expanding secondary character lineup is getting stronger allowing Joshua to provide more varied story telling. I read through this novel very quickly, you know when you get to the end and your first thought is "was that it?" and you realise the novel is not short you just got lost in the story. No great surprise to say I am waiting impatiently for the next novel in the series and the second "Marine" novel which is set in the same universe with some overlap.


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Battleground by Joshua Dalzelle

Battleground by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Humanity has survived yet another interstellar conflict but its greatest challenge is emerging as the Eastern Star Alliance having broken away from the rest of the human worlds sees an opportunity to claim resources thanks to their insignificant action and negligent losses during the last war. The Confederation sends out Admiral Jackson Wolfe along with a task force to "show the flag" as it were but they are unaware of the long planned objective of the ESA to use the defeat and capture of Wolfe to encourage the drive for an all out invasion on their part and provoke a rash reaction on the part of the Confederation. As the military of all sides play out a game that one half remains unaware it is rigged the spies and politicians play their own game but when the weapons are unleashed all bets are off and survival is as important as victory.
The first book of a new trilogy within the Black Fleet saga starts strong and takes us deep into the new interstellar dynamic which at this point is conflict within humanity. Yet we still see that as always events turn on the decisions and actions of individuals and the narrative continues to play that aspect strong. An enjoyable addition to the series and looking forward to the next novel.

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Blueshift by Joshua Dalzelle

Blueshift by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Daedalus is on the return leg of its journey into the depths of space and a rendezvous with a planetary system which may support life. The mission was undertaken by a privately funded project helmed by a billionaire but as it returns to the Solar System around 800 years later the awakening crew find that things have changed significantly. There have been deaths on board the starship thanks to failures in the cryotechnology and general bad luck and wear and tear but the survivors now detect no signals from Earth, no movement in the asteroid belt but then contact is made but from Mars warning them to avoid Earth....
Blueshift is as Joshua states a very different style of story then his regular readers are familiar with and yeah that is certainly true. I didn't enjoy this novel or the characters in the same manner as from his Omega Force series but it was interesting concept which could have been spun out in many ways if that's what the author intended. The novel may indeed be a good choice for someone not familiar with the bulk of his published work but certainly don't avoid it if you think that if it's not Omega Force then you are not interested.

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New Frontiers by Joshua Dalzelle

New Frontiers by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

New Frontiers is the first book of the Expansion Wars trilogy and takes place not long after the conclusion of the "phage" war as detailed in the Black Fleet trilogy of novels. Captain Wolfe the "hero" of the first series is moved into a more administrative position and Captain Celesta Wright takes her ship to the frontier where a mysterious signal is being received from, what they find provokes more questions than answers. Meanwhile the Confederacy already on shaky ground begins to fragment and proves to be a very bad time to encounter another alien species who on the surface seem to be amiable to diplomacy but there is more to them than meets the eye just as there is with humanity.
I've really enjoyed the Omega Force novels by Joshua and the Black Fleet was a different type of scifi story but still containing good characters and well written plot lines and action sequences. New Frontiers continues this theme and I'm more than ready to read the second and third novels in this series as once again a fragmented human race is faced with a threat that could end their existence.

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Revolution by Joshua Dalzelle

Revolution by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The galaxy has been a peace (in relative terms) thanks to the presence of the ConFed and her pillar worlds who exert their military, economic and political pressure where ever it is needed. However much of the galaxy is still wild and along the fringes there is lawlessness and criminal activities frowned upon within the core worlds. Rumours reach Jason Burke and Omega Force than a non-military threat could be rising to destabilize the ConFed which could benefit one or two of the pillar worlds or the bigger non-aligned powers in the galaxy. Khepri the location of the ConFed banking/economic AI and the birth world of Lucky the battlesynth of Omega Force seems to be a center of what could be a galaxy wide conspiracy especially when they learn hundreds of his fellow battlesynths are being recalled to the place of their birth, learning why this is happening and why Lucky is not being recalled could reveal who is lurking in the shadows.
Revolution is the ninth novel in the Omega Force series and continues to be an entertaining science fiction adventure series with characters that are both a little over the top but written to be anchored in the reality of the world they occupy. Lucky who becomes a central part of this novel is case in point, a sentient machine built for combat who has chosen to align himself with a group of individuals who were certainly never the demographic the battlesynths were intended to serve alongside. His back story is filled out in spectacular fashion in this story while maintaining a solid narrative spanning the whole of the ConFed and the growing presence of Earth ships thanks to Jason and his well meaning exploits in the last novel. A worth addition to the Omega Force series of novels and more to come.

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Counterstrike by Joshua Dalzelle

Counterstrike by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the final novel of the Black Fleet trilogy the Earth is once again the focal point of the human race but the long ostracised humans are not overly friendly to their brothers and sisters returning home with their tails between their legs. However as the political battlefield continues to develop Captain Jackson Wolfe and his close allies have to deal with Earth and the remnants of the confederation both civilian and military and surprisingly the enigmatic Vruahn who have requested to speak to Jackson more or less in person. The Phage it seems have never spoken to any individual directly, this is a mystery and maybe the first real weakest that can be exploited but even as the massed fleets of humanity look to strike back Wolfe sees that the final battle may lie down a totally different path. Decisions have to be made and Wolfe has never doubted that his gut and pure luck has gotten him this far but with the very survival of humanity at stake can he afford to gamble...
Counterstrike was a very good way to wrap up this trilogy, no question it's more of the same but that isn't that unexpected, both the characterisation and action within the story was satisfying with a few unexpected twists and turns to add a little spice.

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Call to Arms by Joshua Dalzelle

Call to Arms by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Captain Jackson Wolfe the most experienced combat captain in the fleet now has command of the Starwolf class "Ares" the most powerful and advanced warship ever built by humanity but the threat of invasion has diminished. After the massacre on colony worlds it was expected the mysterious alien species/entity would rampage towards the core worlds but little has been heard and public opinion and the support from politicians that goes hand in hand begins to wane. Wolfe realises the veneer of cooperation and mutual respect that has been the bedrock of humanity for the last few centuries has been a bit of shame as the factions maneuver amongst themselves seemingly indifferent to the threat. Wolfe takes his ship to hunt down the aliens and try to reveal why they seem to be intent to hold the now dead world of Xi'an and makes some startling discoveries but Centcom and the confederacy are fracturing leaving Wolfe to hold the line with too few ships and souls.
Call To Arms is an excellent second book in the Black Fleet Trilogy building on the characters and events from the first book but adding far more depth and plot elements which opens up the story and poses some interesting questions as we are carried along with Wolfe and the Ares. The final novel "Counterstrike" has a lot to live up to but I don't think I will be disappointed.

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Warship by Joshua Dalzelle

Warship by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got my copy of Warship for free after signing up to Discover Scifi, while I've read other novels from Joshua the Black Fleet series wasn't an immediate attention grabber. However I wasn't going to turn the offer down since I do enjoy his writing so I jumped right into this world that he created to tell the story of Captain Jackson Wolfe an Earth born native who commands the Raptor class destroyer "Blue Jacket" part of the Centcom Black Fleet. Far into the future mankind has discovered FTL and colonised numerous worlds mostly along racial and political lines and conflict amongst them has been non-existent. While it's true the various factions of humanity may not overly like eachother they are bound by economics and a surprisingly well thought out political and military structure. The Black Fleet is at the bottom rung of the military ladder, old ships and questionable crews but for this cruise Captain Wolfe has been ordered out to the frontier to investigation some curious events, what he finds changes everything.
I took me a while to get into the story although I have found myself enjoying the more "realistic" physics in military scifi where FTL is not simply a button press away and sublight in system is not a matter of minutes but days. I did eventually get into the swing of things and while most of the characters are not that endearing the interaction and events that play out on the ship were interesting even before the discovery of the destroyed colonies. Once we get to that point then the novel changes gear and everything ramps up and I found myself turning the last page and going straight to the store to buy book two in the series.

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