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Drop Trooper: Pirate Wars #1
Insurgency
Hard times make for strong men, and Antonin Murdock’s childhood was as rough as it gets. Now, he’s a Ranger, the only law for colonists seeking their fortune far from home.
Murdock’s investigation into a missing freighter takes him to Coracaesium, a world he discovers has been turned into a stronghold by brutal pirate forces. They are more organized than anything he’s seen before, equipped with advanced weaponry, and led by a tactical and strategic genius.
Sanya Baretto.
She was once one of the Fleet’s elite fighter pilots, holding the line against a ruthless alien enemy. Until the Commonwealth gave her reason to turn against it.
In her cold fury, Baretto may manage something even the entire might of the Tahni Empire couldn’t.
The destruction of the Commonwealth.
Don’t miss the start of this new Military SciFi Epic from the bestselling duo of Rick Partlow and Ralph Kern. Two legends in the genre bring you a new story filled with pulse-pounding action, realistic battles, and a soldier you can’t help but root for.
Murdock’s investigation into a missing freighter takes him to Coracaesium, a world he discovers has been turned into a stronghold by brutal pirate forces. They are more organized than anything he’s seen before, equipped with advanced weaponry, and led by a tactical and strategic genius.
Sanya Baretto.
She was once one of the Fleet’s elite fighter pilots, holding the line against a ruthless alien enemy. Until the Commonwealth gave her reason to turn against it.
In her cold fury, Baretto may manage something even the entire might of the Tahni Empire couldn’t.
The destruction of the Commonwealth.
Don’t miss the start of this new Military SciFi Epic from the bestselling duo of Rick Partlow and Ralph Kern. Two legends in the genre bring you a new story filled with pulse-pounding action, realistic battles, and a soldier you can’t help but root for.
- GenresScience Fiction
330 pages, Paperback
Published October 24, 2023
232 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Rick Partlow
187 books364 followersRick Partlow is that rarest of species, a native Floridian. Born in Tampa, he attended Florida Southern College and graduated with a degree in History and a commission in the US Army as an Infantry officer.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 19, 2024
A different interval
I can’t precisely place this in the Drop Trooper timeline, other than that Ranger Antonin Murdock is seeing an early iteration of the battle suit while being told that he’s going to be really impressed with the upcoming newest version, which is the Vigilante that Cam & Vicky pilot in the main Drop Trooper series.
Ranger Murdock was a guerrilla fighter when the Tahni invaded years before the Drop Trooper series. At the age of ten he was forced into combat against the Tahni who butchered his mother in front of him. He served as a Marine during the period after the first Tahni war ended & then switched to the Rangers. His is a solitary life, estranged from his wealthy family he despises & his only real friend is the quite personable AI that runs the advanced patrol ship that he uses to get to the various desolate places where society is thin to nonexistent.
He stumbles into a deep mess where he finds the pirates have joined forces with some kind of military force. He barely escapes from the visit, only to find himself being swept up by a mission back that he is uncertain of the objective…
I can’t precisely place this in the Drop Trooper timeline, other than that Ranger Antonin Murdock is seeing an early iteration of the battle suit while being told that he’s going to be really impressed with the upcoming newest version, which is the Vigilante that Cam & Vicky pilot in the main Drop Trooper series.
Ranger Murdock was a guerrilla fighter when the Tahni invaded years before the Drop Trooper series. At the age of ten he was forced into combat against the Tahni who butchered his mother in front of him. He served as a Marine during the period after the first Tahni war ended & then switched to the Rangers. His is a solitary life, estranged from his wealthy family he despises & his only real friend is the quite personable AI that runs the advanced patrol ship that he uses to get to the various desolate places where society is thin to nonexistent.
He stumbles into a deep mess where he finds the pirates have joined forces with some kind of military force. He barely escapes from the visit, only to find himself being swept up by a mission back that he is uncertain of the objective…
November 28, 2023
When two of your favorite authors team up to write a book, you know it’s going to be good and this one delivers! It’s also the beginning of a new series that I can’t wait to continue to read. This story has a mixture of cops and military doing their thing which can sometime conflict in ways you wouldn’t normally think about.
Rick Partlow is always fighting the Tahni. That’s his nemesis in almost all of his military books. This one starts off with a kind of flashback to the very end of the latest Tahni versus the human’s Commonwealth. It’s a space battle with one name you’ll want to remember, Sanya Baretto.
Moving on to twenty-five years later, we get to meet another interesting character named Antonin Murdock. He was a Marine, but since the Tahni war ended just after he joined, there wasn’t much need for a lot of Marines. So he moved on and now he’s a Ranger. No not an Army Ranger, but a kind of “Texas Ranger”, doing police stuff out on the very frontier of the Commonwealth. It’s not all that exciting, but there isn’t much law in the frontier so he’s kept busy don’t police stuff and he’s on his own which suits him just fine. You’ll find out a lot more of his background. He didn’t exactly miss the Tahni war; no he was very much involved in it as a young boy on Aphrodite, his home planet once occupied by the Tahni.
Murdock has his own starship which has one of the first operational AI’s. He’s name his ship *Carmalita* and she (that what the AI’s voice sounds like) is developing a kind of personality of her own. *Carm*, (short for Carmalita), is pretty well armed and very capable. A lot of Murdock’s work is investigating what’s going on in a particular situation. You’ll find he has a strong sense of justice and that means apprehending the supposed wrong doers and bringing them back to stand trial. He certainly doesn’t like to be the judge, jury and executioner, but if the bad guys don’t give him an alternative, that’s what he’ll do. He’s just wrapped up a case of cattle rustling, yes, I said cattle rustling, on a frontier planet. He clearly stated why he had to kill the guy running the illegal operation and had filed his report with his HQ back on Masterson, an old space station.
Here you’ll get a glimpse of how politics is played in the Commonwealth. It seems that all policing actions for the core worlds are handled by the Commonwealth Patrol Service (CPS) while anything out on the frontier is left to the Rangers. The CPS is the big budget organization, but had a slice taken out to fund the Rangers. Not everyone was happy with that situation. But that wasn’t Murdocks problem. He had his next assignment and that was to investigate the disappearance of an automated freighter, the *Jarvis Kirkland*, which had headed out from Coracaesium. This was a frontier planet in the Brienne’s star system and that was here Murdock was now headed.
Now this is where things turn very interesting. When Murdock arrives from transition space to the vicinity of Coracaesium, he finds there are a lot of ships in orbit around the planet with no identification beacons broadcasting which was itself illegal. He thinks that he needs to be very careful approaching this planet and then attempt to make a clandestine landing and scout the area out as much as possible. Something definitely is going on with this planet, but he’s only one Ranger so he has to be careful. His caution was warranted until his luck ran out. He ran into one Sanya Baretto and that opened up a whole can of worms!
This is a very good book. The main character is someone you can identify with but some of the others you’ll meet are not introduced as in-depth as maybe you’d like, but really Murdock is the one to keep an eye on. While he’s not military, he’s going to get involved in some very harsh military actions which he doesn’t necessarily condone. But, again, he’s one Ranger against an enemy he doesn’t understand so he doesn’t want to make an enemy of the military guys he’s with.
I’m looking forward to book 2, “[Infiltration](https://amzn.to/3GmrMBi)”, now available on Amazon.
Rick Partlow is always fighting the Tahni. That’s his nemesis in almost all of his military books. This one starts off with a kind of flashback to the very end of the latest Tahni versus the human’s Commonwealth. It’s a space battle with one name you’ll want to remember, Sanya Baretto.
Moving on to twenty-five years later, we get to meet another interesting character named Antonin Murdock. He was a Marine, but since the Tahni war ended just after he joined, there wasn’t much need for a lot of Marines. So he moved on and now he’s a Ranger. No not an Army Ranger, but a kind of “Texas Ranger”, doing police stuff out on the very frontier of the Commonwealth. It’s not all that exciting, but there isn’t much law in the frontier so he’s kept busy don’t police stuff and he’s on his own which suits him just fine. You’ll find out a lot more of his background. He didn’t exactly miss the Tahni war; no he was very much involved in it as a young boy on Aphrodite, his home planet once occupied by the Tahni.
Murdock has his own starship which has one of the first operational AI’s. He’s name his ship *Carmalita* and she (that what the AI’s voice sounds like) is developing a kind of personality of her own. *Carm*, (short for Carmalita), is pretty well armed and very capable. A lot of Murdock’s work is investigating what’s going on in a particular situation. You’ll find he has a strong sense of justice and that means apprehending the supposed wrong doers and bringing them back to stand trial. He certainly doesn’t like to be the judge, jury and executioner, but if the bad guys don’t give him an alternative, that’s what he’ll do. He’s just wrapped up a case of cattle rustling, yes, I said cattle rustling, on a frontier planet. He clearly stated why he had to kill the guy running the illegal operation and had filed his report with his HQ back on Masterson, an old space station.
Here you’ll get a glimpse of how politics is played in the Commonwealth. It seems that all policing actions for the core worlds are handled by the Commonwealth Patrol Service (CPS) while anything out on the frontier is left to the Rangers. The CPS is the big budget organization, but had a slice taken out to fund the Rangers. Not everyone was happy with that situation. But that wasn’t Murdocks problem. He had his next assignment and that was to investigate the disappearance of an automated freighter, the *Jarvis Kirkland*, which had headed out from Coracaesium. This was a frontier planet in the Brienne’s star system and that was here Murdock was now headed.
Now this is where things turn very interesting. When Murdock arrives from transition space to the vicinity of Coracaesium, he finds there are a lot of ships in orbit around the planet with no identification beacons broadcasting which was itself illegal. He thinks that he needs to be very careful approaching this planet and then attempt to make a clandestine landing and scout the area out as much as possible. Something definitely is going on with this planet, but he’s only one Ranger so he has to be careful. His caution was warranted until his luck ran out. He ran into one Sanya Baretto and that opened up a whole can of worms!
This is a very good book. The main character is someone you can identify with but some of the others you’ll meet are not introduced as in-depth as maybe you’d like, but really Murdock is the one to keep an eye on. While he’s not military, he’s going to get involved in some very harsh military actions which he doesn’t necessarily condone. But, again, he’s one Ranger against an enemy he doesn’t understand so he doesn’t want to make an enemy of the military guys he’s with.
I’m looking forward to book 2, “[Infiltration](https://amzn.to/3GmrMBi)”, now available on Amazon.
August 23, 2024
While I enjoyed this book enough to finish it, I don't think it is a very strong entry into Rick Partlow's bookography. The story is told from the perspective of a Ranger, a police officer for the Commonwealth. He is sent to investigate some intel on a missing ship only to discover a small fleet of pirate ships. That discovery starts an adventure in which our protagonist, Antonin Murdock, attempts to arrest the pirate leader and stop a pirate-led insurrection. Unlike Partlow's military scifi (of which this is adjacent) this story is more space opera; there are battle scenes but everything is much more loose than in the Drop Trooper/Recon/Holy War books.
What the book (and the rest of the series) does well is tackle the topic of how big governments often ignore the needs of their subjects, and often exploit them; in the conflicts that arise the lines between good guys and bad are often blurry. The story (and the rest of the series) also has many exciting and fun scenes that kept me (barely) interested enough to see what happens and thus finish.
Unfortunately, the book suffers severely from unrealistic characters and irrational behaviors. The main military leaders in this book are arrogant and idiotic, and the main character, while not idiotic, is reckless and insists on going it alone regardless of the foolishness of doing so. It's weak space opera and, given its clear ties to the setting of Parlow's multiple Tahni war series, disappointing that it is so reckless and loose with the main character's and military leader's behaviors. Though I finished the series, I only did so because the three books really are one story (there are no real breaks between them) and because I had the box set; I'd have stopped if I needed to actually buy each sequential book).
So, if you are looking for silly space opera with a story propelled forward by bad decisions and reckless behavior of the main characters, this may be for you. But I found it disappointing. As a comparison, I really liked the Drop Trooper series (the first four books), Recon series (the first book) and the Holy War series (four books), all of which recount aspects of the Tahni war in this same universe. I recommend that you read those instead of this because they are very good.
My rating: 3 stars for this and the rest of the trilogy. I listened to the audiobook versions and found the reader pretty good; 4 stars for the performance.
My personal rating scale: 5 (best of the genre, highly recommended); 4 (good book, recommend to others who like similar types of books); 3 (decent book, enjoyed reading it but not enough to recommend to others); 2 (has merit, but I didn't enjoy it much and possibly didn't finish it); 1 (trash that shouldn't have been published).
What the book (and the rest of the series) does well is tackle the topic of how big governments often ignore the needs of their subjects, and often exploit them; in the conflicts that arise the lines between good guys and bad are often blurry. The story (and the rest of the series) also has many exciting and fun scenes that kept me (barely) interested enough to see what happens and thus finish.
Unfortunately, the book suffers severely from unrealistic characters and irrational behaviors. The main military leaders in this book are arrogant and idiotic, and the main character, while not idiotic, is reckless and insists on going it alone regardless of the foolishness of doing so. It's weak space opera and, given its clear ties to the setting of Parlow's multiple Tahni war series, disappointing that it is so reckless and loose with the main character's and military leader's behaviors. Though I finished the series, I only did so because the three books really are one story (there are no real breaks between them) and because I had the box set; I'd have stopped if I needed to actually buy each sequential book).
So, if you are looking for silly space opera with a story propelled forward by bad decisions and reckless behavior of the main characters, this may be for you. But I found it disappointing. As a comparison, I really liked the Drop Trooper series (the first four books), Recon series (the first book) and the Holy War series (four books), all of which recount aspects of the Tahni war in this same universe. I recommend that you read those instead of this because they are very good.
My rating: 3 stars for this and the rest of the trilogy. I listened to the audiobook versions and found the reader pretty good; 4 stars for the performance.
My personal rating scale: 5 (best of the genre, highly recommended); 4 (good book, recommend to others who like similar types of books); 3 (decent book, enjoyed reading it but not enough to recommend to others); 2 (has merit, but I didn't enjoy it much and possibly didn't finish it); 1 (trash that shouldn't have been published).
February 10, 2024
misleading title, the book takes place in the drop trooper universe, but the character is not a drop trooper
I stopped reading this book because this has nothing to do with a MC who is a drop trooper or an X drop trooper. He is a ranger. Just look at the title. It is misleading. The title says insurgency drop trooper, pirate, wars, book one. The MC is not a drop trooper. He is a ranger. This book takes place 25 years after the main. events of the series. It is definitely misleading. when they label this book, they use the moniker of drop troopers to bring people into the series, they should’ve been honest enough to say takes place in the drop troopers universe. We expect honesty from our authors. You may like the book I was disappointed because of the bait and switch.
I stopped reading this book because this has nothing to do with a MC who is a drop trooper or an X drop trooper. He is a ranger. Just look at the title. It is misleading. The title says insurgency drop trooper, pirate, wars, book one. The MC is not a drop trooper. He is a ranger. This book takes place 25 years after the main. events of the series. It is definitely misleading. when they label this book, they use the moniker of drop troopers to bring people into the series, they should’ve been honest enough to say takes place in the drop troopers universe. We expect honesty from our authors. You may like the book I was disappointed because of the bait and switch.
November 11, 2023
WHAT A GREAT BOOK TO START THE SERIES
Rick Partlow and Ralph Kern have written a great book, full of action on every page throughout "Insurgency," the first book in the PIRATE WARS series. As always, you'll be on the edge of your seat with all the twists and turns. Finally, we get the story after the first Human and Tahini war Rick and Ralph introduces Antonin Murdock as a young Ranger with the Commonwealth on his ship Carmalita and the ship's AI Carm enforcing the law on the frontier. This book is written, and anyone who enjoys military Sci-Fi books will enjoy this book. I know I did and hope you will too.
Rick Partlow and Ralph Kern have written a great book, full of action on every page throughout "Insurgency," the first book in the PIRATE WARS series. As always, you'll be on the edge of your seat with all the twists and turns. Finally, we get the story after the first Human and Tahini war Rick and Ralph introduces Antonin Murdock as a young Ranger with the Commonwealth on his ship Carmalita and the ship's AI Carm enforcing the law on the frontier. This book is written, and anyone who enjoys military Sci-Fi books will enjoy this book. I know I did and hope you will too.
November 28, 2023
Smart pirates!
A ridiculous huge government who doesn’t really care about its citizens keeps getting beat up by a bunch of pirates rebelling against the system. Seems like something some of us kind of want to do in the real world. It is entertaining and shows a variety of sides. Kind of tough to know which side is the “right” side.
A ridiculous huge government who doesn’t really care about its citizens keeps getting beat up by a bunch of pirates rebelling against the system. Seems like something some of us kind of want to do in the real world. It is entertaining and shows a variety of sides. Kind of tough to know which side is the “right” side.
October 27, 2023
Okay you had me as soon as I read the word Pirate. And although Military Scifi isn't my go to. This book was awesome. So if you're looking for a action-driven story this one takes the cake! And Greg Tremblay voice performance is par-excellent. His voice kinda reminds me of Ray Porter who I also ❤.
January 14, 2024
Constantly changing.... Curve balls everywhere
The Ranger has a challenge. And just when you think you know how it will unfold... You are proven wrong.... The characters are strong and we will see who stays and who goes ...
The Ranger has a challenge. And just when you think you know how it will unfold... You are proven wrong.... The characters are strong and we will see who stays and who goes ...
March 26, 2024
Up close and personal Combat defines this military sci-fi set in space.🚀💫
The book ends in a cliffhanger. This is book 1 in a continuing series That should be read in order.
I got this e-book from Amazon with Kindle unlimited.
The book ends in a cliffhanger. This is book 1 in a continuing series That should be read in order.
I got this e-book from Amazon with Kindle unlimited.
October 28, 2023
Pirates or Patriots?
The story depicts war from both sides. Both sides believe they are the good guys. And they are, as Obi Wan said, “from a certain point of view “.
The story depicts war from both sides. Both sides believe they are the good guys. And they are, as Obi Wan said, “from a certain point of view “.
October 29, 2023
Action
Lots of action, nothing better than a snarky AO and a spaceship captain.
Looking forward to the next book.
Thanks
Lots of action, nothing better than a snarky AO and a spaceship captain.
Looking forward to the next book.
Thanks
October 30, 2023
excellent new series
I like the premise and like the characters Partlow never disappoints. A lawman in the middle of a war. Plenty of action and looking forward to the next book
I like the premise and like the characters Partlow never disappoints. A lawman in the middle of a war. Plenty of action and looking forward to the next book
November 6, 2023
Excellent sci-fi
If you like military sci-fi you'll love this one - looks like a wonderful series in progress. I will have to keep my eye pealed for more.
If you like military sci-fi you'll love this one - looks like a wonderful series in progress. I will have to keep my eye pealed for more.
July 13, 2024
Good Space Romp
Really enjoyed this one & looking forward to the next one, Could use a bit more character development but all in all enjoyable,
Really enjoyed this one & looking forward to the next one, Could use a bit more character development but all in all enjoyable,
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews