First Contact (In Her Name: The Last War, #1)

First Contact (In Her Name: The Last War #1)

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4.21 of 5 stars 4.21  ·  rating details  ·  520 ratings  ·  93 reviews
A prequel to In Her Name: Empire, the events of First Contact take place a century earlier:

Led by Commander Owen McClaren, the TNS Aurora is embarked on an extended survey mission, searching for new worlds that could support human life. Drawn to an uncharted star system that appears to have not just one, but two potentially habitable planets, the crew of the Aurora discove...more
Kindle Edition, 392 pages
Published August 29th 2009 by Imperial Guard Publishing
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Evgeny
I am not sure it it really worth 4 or 3.5 stars, I will give it 4. I liked the book. Humans make a first contact with a race whose sole purpose of existence is to prove their superiority by wiping off all other life forms. I am simplifying things, but that is the general idea. Oh, and they have much superior technology. Can humans survive? The book has epic (and I do mean - epic) battles: in space and on planets. I really need to mention here the description and tension of space battles were amo...more
Phoenix Reads
It had been a long time since I read science fiction, but I decided to expand my reading to new genres and picked up Empire (In Her Name: Redemption, #1) by Michael R. Hicks. I found it to be a wonderful blend of epic fantasy and sci fi.

So read it, loved it, and immediately bought Confederation, and Final Battle.

Michael Hicks created the world of Earth after it had taken to space, having built far-flung, loose colonies that behaved similar to our own nations here on Earth – mistrusting, not ne...more
Alana Woods
Alana Woods' book reviews: In her name: the last war, book 1 by Michael R Hicks

Science fiction at its best.

I generally have a feeling, a chapter or two into a book, about what I'm going to think of it. Sometimes I'm mistaken and on those occasions it's usually a downward revision because the initial promise is not fulfilled, usually because the quality of writing drops off.

This book - First contact - fulfills the promise. It's a quality read in every way.

The story develops so well, the character...more
Hali Sowle
The first book in the "Last War" series, the first of the two series trilogies, time wise. that span the human-kreelan war. It is the second of the two series he wrote, the "Redemption" series was written first but comes chronologically second, a-la Star Wars. I found out about the books by looking over the kindle free library and saw that the first two books of both series were free and decided to do the series in what would be chronological order despite people saying that Empire (the first bo...more
Lisa Hapney
First Contact from Michael R. Hicks' In Her Name, The Last War series was a great science fiction read...and I do mean great. I really enjoyed it and have happily moved on to the next book in the series to continue reading this fantastic story. The book description does a good job of describing what is going on in the book, but in no way leads readers to believe that the book is going to be as good as it really is. This is a great story and is really well-written. I enjoyed it from start to fini...more
Anissa
This is the first installment in the In Her Name Trilogy & wider space saga. I came into this one knowing nothing but the summary description about the story. I've jumped into another lengthy scifi saga & will have to add this one to my series rotation. I liked it but I found there were a few problems in the beginning. First, early on, it's a but repetitive in some ways. There would be a paragraph given about the Kreelan from their POV & then following would be the same information a...more
Douglas Cook
This novel is about a violent war between a future earth and an alien race.

First paragraph, "Captain Owen McClaren was extremely tense, although a casual observer would never have thought so. Commanding the survey vessel TNS Aurora, he was one of the best officers in the fleet, and to his crew he had never appeared as anything but calm and in control. Even when one of the ship’s newly refitted reactors had suffered a breach during their last run into dry dock, McClaren’s deep voice had never wav...more
cathepsut
"A prequel to In Her Name: Empire, the events of First Contact take place a century earlier:

Led by Commander Owen McClaren, the TNS Aurora is embarked on an extended survey mission, searching for new worlds that could support human life. Drawn to an uncharted star system that appears to have not just one, but two potentially habitable planets, the crew of the Aurora discovers something even more unexpected: the planets are already inhabited, but not by humans. Approached by gigantic alien starsh...more
Donna
I read the In Her Name trilogy last year and considered it one of my top reads for 2010. I have been looking forward to reading this prequel but have been a little hesitant, fearful that it wouldn't be of the same caliber as In Her Name. I am thrilled to say that I had nothing to fear.

This is a top-notch first contact story. The reactions of the humans and the politics involved in humanity's first contact with the Kreelans felt very real. The battle scenes were gripping and it had that well-plot...more
Greg
This is a classic first contact, military science fiction/space opera novel which grabbed me and didn't let go, much as the first book in this series, In Her Name: Empire, did.

If you enjoyed the first books in the series, it's a no brainer to read this. If you havn't read them, then this might be a good starting point (Though the impact of books #1-3 might be less if you know this background? Then again they might even be better reads since you're coming into them with so much more foundational...more
Missy LaRae
Jun 22, 2012 Missy LaRae rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of military scifi or science fiction
4.5* for me.

This is the first book in the sweeping science fiction saga by Michael R. Hicks. Like Star Wars the story was originally written with books 4-5-6 written first and then books 1-2-3 being written. I read this one first because I like chronological stories, but then I mucked it all up by reading #4, Empire, right after this one.

Okay so a few weeks ago I picked up Mr. Hicks alien scifi story because he kindly had it up for free and I figured why not check it out right?? I was IMMEDIAT...more
Per Gunnar
My understanding is that this is actually not the first book that was written in the In Her Name series but it is the first one in the chronological order of the actual story. It’s the book that the author recommends to start with so it’s what I did. Actually, I kind of stumbled on this book series when I found the author’s site and discovered that the first book in the series was actually a free download. I had seen them before on various sites but I had always hesitated since I wasn’t really s...more
tiffany
This was a prequel to the series In Her Name: Empire. While it set the tone and background for the human and Kreelan war in the Empire trilogy, most of it was very technical and I found myself skipping through the pages of techo-babble because it was beyond my interest and ability to understand. I found myself reading on though to try to understand the Kreelans but I seem to feel a bitter aftertaste for them when I was done with First Contact. I felt as if the Kreelans are a very self-centered r...more
Cameluta
As the title of the book suggests, the action of "First Contact" is centered on the first encounter between humans and kreelans. And so, it is expected to have more battle scenes than the original series, and also to focus on the humans rather on the kreelans. This doesn't mean the kreelans are ignored ... we get more inside of their culture, "social organization", as well as their level of development. Also, we get to know better Tesh-Dar, the high priestess, to understand her powers and, by ex...more
Josh
This whole series focuses on the conflict between aliens and humans. What I liked was both viewpoints of the conflict. Also the aliens acted for logical reasons just not human logic. It's hard to write aliens as alien and not just "dressed up" humans and I think he succeeded. Story and plot were good with some memorable characters. Also different characters had different points of view on things that were never really resolved...just like real life.
What I didn't like was the books felt a little...more
Richard
This book has all the cohesion of a bowl of marbles. It reads more like a collection of vignettes than it does as a novel. Characters are constantly being introduced with great detail, then being killed-off in the story. There appears to be little cohesive plot or character development. Comparisons to historical military figures and units from France and the US are gratuitous, contributing nothing to the essential story line (what little of it there is). Reading this book was a lot like reading...more
Linda Rae
Hicks is a real winner. He created not just a country or world but an entire universe of alien killers that you will fight hard to wish extinction, no matter what they do to humankind--and they do quite a lot.

He has created a race of aliens so murderous that you have to slap yourself when you find that you're actually hoping their leader survives.

I've never been a fan of reading SciFi--I get my fix by Trekking) but I refuse to miss anything Hicks puts out there since I read his "In Her Name: O...more
The TBR Pile *Book review site*
**book review and giveaway**

TBR Reviewer: B.H (Brutally honest)

I love science fiction and the cover instantly grabbed my attention. I really had high hopes for this book, the plot sounded full of adventure and as I said I love Sci Fi.

The beginning is primarily introductions and it is slow moving. Mr. Hicks would have been better off cutting it short or getting right into the action of the ‘first contact’ which turns out to be a slaughter. The fight is constantly interrupted by flashbacks about...more
Larry B Gray
I just finished reading “In Her Name: First Contact” by Michael R. Hicks and I am trying to catch my breath. From the moment I started reading until the last period in the book it was non-stop action and adventure. This is space opera at its very best.

Michael R. Hicks did an excellent job developing the storyline and staying true to it throughout the book. It was easy to get into the story because of his story development. His details of the alien society and psyche lead to a greater understandi...more
Manoj
First Contact, the first book of the In Her Name series, was a slow read for me. A lot of time was spent creating the characters and the story line, which I understand has to be done in any book, but also made it difficult for me to get into the flow of the book. I thought the author did a good job of creating a nice story and if I had read this book 10 years ago, I might have given it a much higher mark. Here are a couple of things that bothered me about the book:

1. The technology for a space f...more
Ivis Davis
Even though I am not fond of alien story lines I found this book fascinating. Since I like realism in my sci-fi reads, Michael introduces technology and weaponry in great detail and believability.

What happens when mankind's exploration vessels stumble into an area of space controlled by an intelligent race of warriors who live for combat? It's an interesting question because who knows what we'll find in space?

His depictions of an ancient and intelligent species of creature with a long, long his...more
Larkin
Move over William C. Deitz, here comes Michael Hicks. Actually I really don't like to compare authors, since it gives the idea that they write like each other, but that is not the case here. I use Mr. Deitz as a comparison because I believe he is one of the best Military Sci-Fi authors out there, along with John Ringo. After reading First Contact, I am convinced that Micheal Hicks joins their ranks, at least on my bookshelf, in this case the digital shelf. The characters are solid and interesti...more
Cindy Amrhein
If I could I'd give it 3.5 stars. This story kept my interest for me not being a sci-fi reader, and I thought it was well thought out. It took me a while to finish this as it was non-stop action and I needed to catch my breath every now and then. I thought the Kreelan characters were the most interesting, and their belief of why they do what they do was believable. They reminded me of the great crusades where soldiers would fight to the death in the name of God as the made their way across Europ...more
Marianne Søiland
This one in Norwegian - sorry :-) TNS Aurora blir sendt avgårde på utvidet oppdrag for å søke etter nye planeter som kan befolkes av mennesker. Etter å ha tatt et hopp i hyperspace mot et ukjent stjernesystem oppdager besetningen på Aurora fullstendig uforventet at planetene de finner allerede er befolket. Men ikke av mennesker. Mens de forbereder seg på sitt aller første møte med en annen, utviklet rase blir de møtt av gigantiske alien stjerneskip.

Ingenting kunne ha forberedt dem for hva skjebn...more
Serge Boivin
A funny thing happened on the way to the (space) opera... See, I should not have enjoyed this book. Don't get me wrong; I love sci-fi, and I enjoy the "dry and impersonal" violence of spaceships blowing each other up... It's the "blood and guts" kind of violence I do not like. There is plenty of both in this novel, but I still liked it very much, despite the blood and guts. I think it helped that I had read Empire first, so I really wanted to know more about the Kreelans.
A very interesting aspe...more
Chris Tice
I dislike posting poor reviews but I could not finish this book. Mr. Hicks's mechanical writing skills are great and easy to follow but to really enjoy this book there are a few things you need to do.

First, start at chapter eight. Don't waste your time with all the character involvement in the first seven chapters, you will be disappointed and it ruins the rest of the book anyway.

Second, ignore all the alien thoughts and input. Using high tech matter to make ancient weapons so they can sacrific...more
Sean Randall
"“With all due respect,” she said, not sounding very respectful at all, “you’re fucking crazy. Sir. The ship can’t take it. If somebody so much as farts in the forward section, let alone fires the main guns, we lose the forward third of the ship.”

Very exciting military sci-fi indeed. I even got a little shiver at the epilogue with John and Elaine Coyle, charged and emotional writing there.

I think Hicks writing really echoes his forbears, too; I'm quite versed in Heinlein and there were echoes t...more
Mike
I don't think many will complain about the quality of the writing or the editing. It's good.
There are a lot of characters, mostly thinly drawn of necessity, but there is little problem keeping up with who is who. The main protagonists, Ichiro, Steph and maybe Mills could do with more fleshing out and they are distinctly larger than life, but this is fantasy sci-fi so who can complain? The Kreelan ladies(?) reminded me strongly of the warrior in 'Predator' but more advanced. Star Wars meets Star...more
Terry Sibley
Good this book as a freebie but I wouldn’t have minded paying the cover price! It’s about a hyperjump that results in the first human contact with the Kreelan Empire and we’re no match for these vicious female aliens who slaughter much of the human crew and make the survivors fight for their lives like gladiators. Unfortunately, for us, they now know of our existence and come looking for us! They have their own code of honour and a few have superhuman powers. A great read, particularly if you ar...more
ABookVacation
To see my full review:

http://bookvacations.wordpress.com/20...

In a word, this is long. That’s not a bad thing, especially if you’re a sci-fi, fantasy, or space-odyssey lover. I’m none of those things, and yet, I still enjoyed this novel, aside from the length.

Hicks has created a very real novel filled with multiple characters that all have a place and a story to tell, be they human or Krellan. Beginning with the crew’s finding of life on two other planets, a battle of epic proportions begins as...more
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First Contact (In Her Name: The Last War, #1)
First Contact (In Her Name: The Last War, #1)
First Contact (In Her Name: The Last War, #1)
First Contact (In Her Name: The Last War, #1)
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Born in 1963, Michael Hicks grew up in the age of the Apollo program and spent his youth glued to the television watching the original Star Trek series and other science fiction movies, which continues to be a source of entertainment and inspiration. Having spent the majority of his life as a voracious reader, he has been heavily influenced by writers ranging from Robert Heinlein to David Weber, a...more
More about Michael R. Hicks...
Empire (In Her Name: Redemption, #1) Confederation (In Her Name: Redemption, #2) Final Battle (In Her Name: Redemption, #3) Season Of The Harvest (Harvest Trilogy, #1) In Her Name: Redemption (In Her Name: Redemption, #1-3)

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