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First Fleet #2: Wake
Part 2 of the First Fleet saga continues in this 113-page novella!After the disappearance of the First Fleet, Beka Grale, a young scientist, works frantically to piece together the tragedy in the hopes of rescuing her only sister.Using the uploaded minds of the lost soldiers, she and her team will test the boundaries of technology and morality in order to to find the answers they seek and save as many lives as possible.
- GenresScience FictionHorror
141 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 22, 2015
3 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Case
54 books7 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 10, 2015
“First Fleet” by Stephen Case is a pulp science fiction tale released as serialized novellas by Retrofit Publishing. "Part 2: Wake" is the second installment.
“Part 1: Bones” sets the stage on a medical frigate that regenerates the bodies of killed soldiers. When one of the res-pods behaves strangely, a medical officer suspects that the Colonists – or an unknown intelligence – have smuggled aboard something dangerous.
In Part 1, Case introduces the reader to some of the hard science fiction aspects of the series by showing us the regeneration process, where stored personalities are downloaded into cloned bodies. Part 2 expands this to include the light lines that enable FTL travel, and other technology that I don't want to spoil for you. Case also gives us the impression of the long history of his universe which has led to the war with the Colonizers, who have settled on planets at the far edge of inhabited space.
In Part 1, we also get a glimpse of the monster who causes the slaughter of the First Fleet. In “Part 2: Wake,” humanity scrambles to penetrate the silence of the First Fleet, but without matching bodies to regenerate, they cannot download the stored personalities of the dead soldiers who might have seen the face of the enemy. From here the story branches out to two points of view.
Beka Grale, a disentanglement expert, finds herself folded into a secret team of investigators who run unethical experiments in the hopes of uncovering the memories of the First Fleet. Meanwhile, a regenerating medical officer may hold the key to the mystery of the First Fleet, but the wayward res-pod lands at an outlying planet, where fugitive Cam Dowager contemplates destroying the pod to keep the military out of her figurative backyard.
“First Fleet” is a grim tale of desperation where the characters begin in a vacuum of knowledge and are quickly overwhelmed by an influx of secrets and of events beyond their control. Stephen Case presents us with several questions that give the story depth beyond its beautifully crafted tone of horror. We wonder – is a regenerated person really the same person? What makes one human?
Would you set aside your ethics to save the human race?
“Part 2: Wake” ends on a cliffhanger that has me rushing to get my hands on "Part 3: Descent."
“Part 1: Bones” sets the stage on a medical frigate that regenerates the bodies of killed soldiers. When one of the res-pods behaves strangely, a medical officer suspects that the Colonists – or an unknown intelligence – have smuggled aboard something dangerous.
In Part 1, Case introduces the reader to some of the hard science fiction aspects of the series by showing us the regeneration process, where stored personalities are downloaded into cloned bodies. Part 2 expands this to include the light lines that enable FTL travel, and other technology that I don't want to spoil for you. Case also gives us the impression of the long history of his universe which has led to the war with the Colonizers, who have settled on planets at the far edge of inhabited space.
In Part 1, we also get a glimpse of the monster who causes the slaughter of the First Fleet. In “Part 2: Wake,” humanity scrambles to penetrate the silence of the First Fleet, but without matching bodies to regenerate, they cannot download the stored personalities of the dead soldiers who might have seen the face of the enemy. From here the story branches out to two points of view.
Beka Grale, a disentanglement expert, finds herself folded into a secret team of investigators who run unethical experiments in the hopes of uncovering the memories of the First Fleet. Meanwhile, a regenerating medical officer may hold the key to the mystery of the First Fleet, but the wayward res-pod lands at an outlying planet, where fugitive Cam Dowager contemplates destroying the pod to keep the military out of her figurative backyard.
“First Fleet” is a grim tale of desperation where the characters begin in a vacuum of knowledge and are quickly overwhelmed by an influx of secrets and of events beyond their control. Stephen Case presents us with several questions that give the story depth beyond its beautifully crafted tone of horror. We wonder – is a regenerated person really the same person? What makes one human?
Would you set aside your ethics to save the human race?
“Part 2: Wake” ends on a cliffhanger that has me rushing to get my hands on "Part 3: Descent."
February 18, 2015
I absolutely love this story. The character's voices and vices are unique, the concept is complex and compelling. My favorite part? The author has created more than a few very strong female characters that carry the plot on their competent shoulders. I've been mulling over this story's puzzles so much I actually dreamed I sent my daughter into space in a transit shuttle to fetch me the next section of the novel. My small critique is that I found a few grammatical errors and some unnecessary words (not enough to drop the rating to four stars). I like the idea of having to wait to find out how the story continues and is ultimately resolved because anticipation is part of the fun (I'm not a last page reader). Retrofit's covers are great, too, so I'm glad there are more to come. Overall, a great read! However, it's a story that begs to be read with the light on.
August 23, 2015
I have no willpower. I own all of them now. I really want to see how this all ends.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews