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The Pike Chronicles #1
Sol Shall Rise
The Sol System was conquered and humans lived as slaves for 500 long years. Now, after years of brutal warfare, humanity has been liberated. Liberation, however, comes at a cost. And the Sol System has become nothing more than a puppet state for a vast galactic empire. For Jon Pike, a war hero who has lost everything, there is no substitute for freedom. He blames the aliens for humanity's troubles, especially the one living inside him. But when he is sent on a top secret mission into unexplored regions of the galaxy he discovers that humanity's troubles are just getting started. Can he find freedom for himself and humanity?
328 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2014
306 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
G.P. Hudson
39 books71 followersG.P. Hudson is the author of the hit space opera, The Pike Chronicles. He writes fast paced military science fiction, with an emphasis on world building, vast galactic empires, and power struggles. The Pike Chronicles is an epic science fiction adventure spanning the galaxy.
G.P. Hudson has been writing stories since childhood, and is a lifelong reader of science fiction. His study of history provides limitless inspiration for his stories.
For updates on new releases join G.P Hudson's mailing list at http://gphudson.com
G.P. Hudson has been writing stories since childhood, and is a lifelong reader of science fiction. His study of history provides limitless inspiration for his stories.
For updates on new releases join G.P Hudson's mailing list at http://gphudson.com
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
November 9, 2014
Criminal Stupidity (SPOILERS)
Reading this book was a frustrating exercise. It started out with a promising beginning, then turned into sloppy Joes. The supposed captain of the ship committed actions that put his crew at risk and endangered his crew. He is stupidly aggressive, and should have been shot on sight. The Aliens and various tech were interesting, as was the political stage with the major players, but I do not understand how the allies immediately went from friends to enemy so fast, despite the forewarning's from the seer. Minimal typing errors, which is a plus...and yet I am unable to get pass those negative points. This was a let down for me, but some may find it endearing.
Reading this book was a frustrating exercise. It started out with a promising beginning, then turned into sloppy Joes. The supposed captain of the ship committed actions that put his crew at risk and endangered his crew. He is stupidly aggressive, and should have been shot on sight. The Aliens and various tech were interesting, as was the political stage with the major players, but I do not understand how the allies immediately went from friends to enemy so fast, despite the forewarning's from the seer. Minimal typing errors, which is a plus...and yet I am unable to get pass those negative points. This was a let down for me, but some may find it endearing.
December 8, 2014
I had high hopes for this book based off the descriptions and rating. It seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, it fell short and I struggled to finish it just to see if it paid off in the end. YMMV but the main issues I seemed to have were:
1. The author spent a lot of time 'telling' rather than 'showing'. They really went all in making you buy in to the crew specifically. For example, one chapter (no spoilers) simply had the XO going around checking readiness - it didn't add anything to the story except to try and create buy in. But it had the opposite effect for me as it took me out of the universe. Simply having the crew act competently would have been sufficient. There were many minor and major instances of this that got more noticeable as you moved through the book.
2. The ship and crew seemed to grow with the story. Maybe I misread the beginning but it seemed like they had a small crew and ship at the beginning for a single mission. By the end (minor spoilers) they were fighting fleets and launching invasions. It just didn't seem to hold up. The main point of their original mission is basically thrown aside, a whole group of secondary characters introduced then marginalized (Diakans), and an entirely new mission they shouldn't be prepared for is undertaken. The intent was probably to make the captain seem rogue and hero like, instead it makes him seem insane and reckless. Which is sad because he seems awesome in the first chapter and by the end he's a plot device.
Both issues broke immersion and made it fall flat for me. Maybe your read will treat you differently.
1. The author spent a lot of time 'telling' rather than 'showing'. They really went all in making you buy in to the crew specifically. For example, one chapter (no spoilers) simply had the XO going around checking readiness - it didn't add anything to the story except to try and create buy in. But it had the opposite effect for me as it took me out of the universe. Simply having the crew act competently would have been sufficient. There were many minor and major instances of this that got more noticeable as you moved through the book.
2. The ship and crew seemed to grow with the story. Maybe I misread the beginning but it seemed like they had a small crew and ship at the beginning for a single mission. By the end (minor spoilers) they were fighting fleets and launching invasions. It just didn't seem to hold up. The main point of their original mission is basically thrown aside, a whole group of secondary characters introduced then marginalized (Diakans), and an entirely new mission they shouldn't be prepared for is undertaken. The intent was probably to make the captain seem rogue and hero like, instead it makes him seem insane and reckless. Which is sad because he seems awesome in the first chapter and by the end he's a plot device.
Both issues broke immersion and made it fall flat for me. Maybe your read will treat you differently.
July 23, 2017
Oh wacky "Humans shall overcome" space opera! Why, why are you so alluring? And why do I fall for your predictable tropes that recalls the latest "whodunit?!" in the story of the week? My wife loves British mysteries, and I love space operas. Both are formulaic. I probably will finish this journey...eventaully
September 2, 2021
2019 grade F
I abandoned this with prejudice by the end of chapter 1. It was just too gross - Drug addicts, torture, one on one mob style murder, cruel symbionts. No Thanks.
NOT recommended
I abandoned this with prejudice by the end of chapter 1. It was just too gross - Drug addicts, torture, one on one mob style murder, cruel symbionts. No Thanks.
NOT recommended
December 30, 2017
Bad
This book has such poorly written characters that I felt sorry for humanity's alien allies and sympathy for the defeated, former overlords of humanity about a third of the way through. I wasn't able to finish it. The captain, Pike casually entertains the notion of killing an admiral for being friendly with an alien advisor, killing that high ranking alien advisor for being alien but doesn't think that he should share the evidence that there is a high level leak in naval command with counterintelligence. He is himself, an intelligence operative.
The XO joined the experimental warship, Hermes after she gave up her position on the pride of the human fleet (fast tracking from Commander to captain) because she's in love with the the chief engineer of the Hermes, who's no longer in love with her. In a combat, the wounded female bridge officer has to hugged and calmed by the XO. None of the male officers require such tender care. There are other sexist scenes.
Once more every named officer in the fleet has an English name with the exception of Chief Engineer Singh of the Hermes. I don't think that anyone wouldn't find it odd that the country that has five percent or less of the world's population is producing one hundred percent of the world's military and political leaders.
The plot seems to be human with spaceship meets alien with spaceship, kills alien with spaceship and repeat. Alien is ally, it doesn't matter. Alien is stranger, it doesn't matter. On behalf of the U.S., to the world "You're welcome". It didn't work for me.
This book has such poorly written characters that I felt sorry for humanity's alien allies and sympathy for the defeated, former overlords of humanity about a third of the way through. I wasn't able to finish it. The captain, Pike casually entertains the notion of killing an admiral for being friendly with an alien advisor, killing that high ranking alien advisor for being alien but doesn't think that he should share the evidence that there is a high level leak in naval command with counterintelligence. He is himself, an intelligence operative.
The XO joined the experimental warship, Hermes after she gave up her position on the pride of the human fleet (fast tracking from Commander to captain) because she's in love with the the chief engineer of the Hermes, who's no longer in love with her. In a combat, the wounded female bridge officer has to hugged and calmed by the XO. None of the male officers require such tender care. There are other sexist scenes.
Once more every named officer in the fleet has an English name with the exception of Chief Engineer Singh of the Hermes. I don't think that anyone wouldn't find it odd that the country that has five percent or less of the world's population is producing one hundred percent of the world's military and political leaders.
The plot seems to be human with spaceship meets alien with spaceship, kills alien with spaceship and repeat. Alien is ally, it doesn't matter. Alien is stranger, it doesn't matter. On behalf of the U.S., to the world "You're welcome". It didn't work for me.
April 15, 2019
I couldn't finish these books. Got 7% of the way through the set of three in ebook format. There is too much showing. The fight scenes were not written well, and time slowed down too much during fights as the main character had so much inner monologue, taking me out of my immersion. Example (Location 97) "In a blur of movement Jon sprang up, grabbed Roch's wrist and twisted." The author could have edited out the first half of the sentence and instead used something like "quickly".
From what I can tell, Jon, the MC, has been living with a symbiont for a while, so why are we readers reading like it's the first time he's been evaluated about this?
I get the symbiont makes him more aggressive, so I haven't read far enough to determine if that's why some reviewers said he's so unlikeable.
There is a lot of unnecessary content in these books. Example on location 731: "Ellerbeck focused on her work again, her fingers dancing across the holographic display. After conducting numerous seemingly routine scans her fingers stopped moving and she just stared at the information floating in front of her." I glazed over reading sentences like this.
There's also a lot of exposition and infodump about character's backstory. It's too much.
All in all, I never read books that have a bunch of positive reviews posted in the description about what reviewers or editorials say (Amazon). I'd rather read that myself in the customer reviews, otherwise it doesn't seem genuine.
From what I can tell, Jon, the MC, has been living with a symbiont for a while, so why are we readers reading like it's the first time he's been evaluated about this?
I get the symbiont makes him more aggressive, so I haven't read far enough to determine if that's why some reviewers said he's so unlikeable.
There is a lot of unnecessary content in these books. Example on location 731: "Ellerbeck focused on her work again, her fingers dancing across the holographic display. After conducting numerous seemingly routine scans her fingers stopped moving and she just stared at the information floating in front of her." I glazed over reading sentences like this.
There's also a lot of exposition and infodump about character's backstory. It's too much.
All in all, I never read books that have a bunch of positive reviews posted in the description about what reviewers or editorials say (Amazon). I'd rather read that myself in the customer reviews, otherwise it doesn't seem genuine.
August 1, 2017
Great Exploration/Pirate Military Space Opera
G. P. Hudson has, once again, written a smooth-reading space opera, but the plot has many unexpected twists and turns. This is an excellent space opera and I really enjoyed reading this novel -- as it is the start to a long series.
Earth has been burnt, despoiled and seized by aliens. After 500 years, another race of aliens comes to the aid of humanity, and they throw off their former masters. Now, humanity, along with their new allies (and a combination of human ingenuity with alien technology), Earth, once again reaches for the skies, seeking lost colonies. Captain Pike, a former black ops assassin, augmented by a bloodthirsty alien symbiont, is chosen to lead the mission.
EXTREMELY GOOD, VERY IMAGINATIVE EXPLORATION/PIRATE/MILITARY SPACE OPERA! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
G. P. Hudson has, once again, written a smooth-reading space opera, but the plot has many unexpected twists and turns. This is an excellent space opera and I really enjoyed reading this novel -- as it is the start to a long series.
Earth has been burnt, despoiled and seized by aliens. After 500 years, another race of aliens comes to the aid of humanity, and they throw off their former masters. Now, humanity, along with their new allies (and a combination of human ingenuity with alien technology), Earth, once again reaches for the skies, seeking lost colonies. Captain Pike, a former black ops assassin, augmented by a bloodthirsty alien symbiont, is chosen to lead the mission.
EXTREMELY GOOD, VERY IMAGINATIVE EXPLORATION/PIRATE/MILITARY SPACE OPERA! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
April 14, 2019
A fast-paced space adventure. Jon Pike has been given command of the Hermes and sent on a mission to find lost human colonies. There has been no contact with them for hundreds of years, since before humans had been enslaved by the Jutteri. That period in history is now over and humans, with the somewhat patronising and controlling assistance of the Diakans who helped them gain their freedom, are trying to establish themselves. Pike suspects that there may be an ulterior motive to their mission, and it is after an attack by two mystery ships, in an unknown region of space, leaves them with two new arrivals on board, that everything starts to fall apart. Pike's actions are aimed at rescuing a large number of other humans who are at risk of enslavement, but the cost proves to be devastating to the Hermes and its crew.
June 4, 2020
While the storyline has some intense action and leads in a noble direction, I simply found there was too much collateral damage and death. I realize the interest in painting the aliens as the ultimate bad guys, but feel that the associated slaughter and destruction of billions of people did not make for good reading. I quit halfway through the first book because it was not entertaining and I just had no stomach for the slaughter, much of which was from poor military decisions.
November 8, 2020
A great read and I'll definitely continue with the series. The story is intriguing and the space battles were amazing. There were a few spelling mistakes and a random paragraph towards the beginning in bold. No reason for it being in bold, no flashback or anything, so a little strange. Great read though!
March 8, 2024
Awesome Sci-fi Adventure
Great space opera action with a lot of adventure. The flow was fast yet easy to follow. The characters were awesome and easy to identify with. I really like this book and I highly recommend it.
Great space opera action with a lot of adventure. The flow was fast yet easy to follow. The characters were awesome and easy to identify with. I really like this book and I highly recommend it.
April 7, 2024
Warning spoilers!!
What a dumb story.
I have never seen such a stupid character.
Loose your ship and crew trying to impress some pirate
I constantly lost all sense of belief over how dumb pike is.
All over pirate ass
Sad
What a dumb story.
I have never seen such a stupid character.
Loose your ship and crew trying to impress some pirate
I constantly lost all sense of belief over how dumb pike is.
All over pirate ass
Sad
May 22, 2019
Could not finish this book, tried really hard... But could not! The book beginning was promising, but story line quickly turned into all sort of militant cliché
October 13, 2021
Enjoyable, interesting characters. Story not novel...yet.
September 26, 2024
How can someone so experienced make so many mistakes? Pike is a flawed character with no redeeming features.
April 27, 2025
The book started interestingly, but later it turned into your traditional non-stop action where all characters are plot shielded from their stupid actions.
August 18, 2015
Sadly, this book falls short. I believe every book should end with the reader feeling as if he has gained something. With this book I feel like I have gained a new experience in how low ebooks can go. While there is nothing wrong with the editing and formatting of the content, the book is sorely lacking in both artistic flourish and comprehensive plotting.
You won't notice it if you read the first few pages, but the further you go, the more you realize how unambitious and timid the prose is written. The words are soulless and the sentences are short and to the point pretty much all the time. At a few points in the book I felt I was literally reading baby talk (and I'm not referring to the portions of the book that featured a child). Where is the art? Where is the elegance? Be a little more daring in your writing!
The plot is another disappointment. While the first half of the book sets up a fairly coherent universe of aliens and humans, it gets more ragged towards the end. The ending itself doesn't really satisfy anyone. Sure, it sets up for the next book, but that isn't what readers really want to encounter. Failures are all well and good, but including one without a sufficient aftermath to address the roiling emotions readers are feeling is basically kicking your readers to the curb in the rain. It is bad planning.
This is one of the few books that I've rated one star. To be fair, if Goodreads supported partial ratings I would rate it one-and-a-half stars. But it gets rounded down eventually because I feel this book is worse than many other awful books with loads of spelling errors and unrealistic characters. At least those books managed to satisfy me a little bit.
You won't notice it if you read the first few pages, but the further you go, the more you realize how unambitious and timid the prose is written. The words are soulless and the sentences are short and to the point pretty much all the time. At a few points in the book I felt I was literally reading baby talk (and I'm not referring to the portions of the book that featured a child). Where is the art? Where is the elegance? Be a little more daring in your writing!
The plot is another disappointment. While the first half of the book sets up a fairly coherent universe of aliens and humans, it gets more ragged towards the end. The ending itself doesn't really satisfy anyone. Sure, it sets up for the next book, but that isn't what readers really want to encounter. Failures are all well and good, but including one without a sufficient aftermath to address the roiling emotions readers are feeling is basically kicking your readers to the curb in the rain. It is bad planning.
This is one of the few books that I've rated one star. To be fair, if Goodreads supported partial ratings I would rate it one-and-a-half stars. But it gets rounded down eventually because I feel this book is worse than many other awful books with loads of spelling errors and unrealistic characters. At least those books managed to satisfy me a little bit.
May 29, 2016
Mediocre SciFi Story Not Helped By Poor Writing
"Sol Shall Rise," is a mediocre SciFi story, centered on a main character, who is a human physically paired with an alien, military symbiot. The Earth has just exited five centuries of occupation by a slaver, alien empire. A competing alien race has freed Earth, but for a price-illusions of freedom, while really serfdom. The humans and alien "advisors" embark on an expedition to locate the "lost" human colonies, disconnected during the occupation. The storyline has potential merit, if written by an author with a skill set and talent.
The writing is poor-corny dialogue, repetitive lines, comic book style characters, silly plot twists and inane military tactics. This serious lack fully undercuts any potential.
Editing is barely adequate, but the book is readable, just not that good.
"Sol Shall Rise," is a mediocre SciFi story, centered on a main character, who is a human physically paired with an alien, military symbiot. The Earth has just exited five centuries of occupation by a slaver, alien empire. A competing alien race has freed Earth, but for a price-illusions of freedom, while really serfdom. The humans and alien "advisors" embark on an expedition to locate the "lost" human colonies, disconnected during the occupation. The storyline has potential merit, if written by an author with a skill set and talent.
The writing is poor-corny dialogue, repetitive lines, comic book style characters, silly plot twists and inane military tactics. This serious lack fully undercuts any potential.
Editing is barely adequate, but the book is readable, just not that good.
January 20, 2016
The first chapters made this seem like a good story, but after a while I just gave up. The characters are poorly developed and do not behave in a rational manner. Dialogues are stilted. An alien race is added (the Diakan) and then does nothing. And, most frustrating, they just "happen" to have too much luck. In war, as in life, chance will play a role. But I stop being able to enjoy a book when every plot turn is based on something or someone just happening to be there. Pure chance, you know. You move to a random asteroid field 150 light years from Earth, and you just happen to discover a lost human tribe.
Nope.
Nope.
August 30, 2016
There was a lot of promise to this book--good ideas--but the execution was weak. The characters were one dimensional, only the main character had any internal conflict or even multiple sides to their personality. And the main character only has those moments a few times. The world hints at complexity but in practice the aliens end up acting just like humans. And the plot jumps too quickly from one piece to the next. I would love to have seen this author take this rough start and add a lot more to it. It could have been a great book. But it isn't.
May 15, 2018
What happens when earth is enslaved? This books takes a seemingly filled question and gives it new meaning. We know how badly the main protagonist is filled with hatred for all aliens and why that is so.
The history that is shown is remarkably grim and shows various factions fighting for control and what exactly 'human ingenuity' is. So enjoy
Peace out
The history that is shown is remarkably grim and shows various factions fighting for control and what exactly 'human ingenuity' is. So enjoy
Peace out
March 26, 2015
Strong start, sad finish.....
Enjoyed this story. However, no HOA here. Seems like too much tragedy just to try and save a group raider humans.
Enjoyed this story. However, no HOA here. Seems like too much tragedy just to try and save a group raider humans.
April 17, 2015
I liked this book! Onto the next!
August 20, 2015
Good book, some rough spots, but they do not detract from the book overall.
August 21, 2015
A pretty good read that has one rooting for the crew despite one setback after another. I'll have to read the next book just to see what happens next.
February 2, 2016
Great concept that fails in the execution
January 21, 2016
Couldn't finish.
March 31, 2017
Stilted grammar. Poor or incorrect word choice. Nonsensical character motivations. Completely unsatisfying. Possibly the worst book I have read in the last year.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews