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Exodus: Empires at War #9
Second Front
The Cacas have been driven out of human space, or at least the space that the Empire knows of.
On the other side of the Ca'cadasan Empire another power fights against the huge aliens.
A mission has been sent to contact this other power, to find an ally against the Cacas. Three enormous exploration vessels, led by Commodore Natasha Sung, travel the thirty thousand light years to the home of this power. What they find is a shock. A power that has been fighting the Cacas for decades, a seemingly ideal partner in the war. But this power holds a dark secret, one which may sabotage the alliance before it starts. Sean is presented with a dilemma. The Empire needs this ally to survive, and the other power needs the Empire. But will he sell the soul of the Empire in order to have a chance at victory?
On the other side of the Ca'cadasan Empire another power fights against the huge aliens.
A mission has been sent to contact this other power, to find an ally against the Cacas. Three enormous exploration vessels, led by Commodore Natasha Sung, travel the thirty thousand light years to the home of this power. What they find is a shock. A power that has been fighting the Cacas for decades, a seemingly ideal partner in the war. But this power holds a dark secret, one which may sabotage the alliance before it starts. Sean is presented with a dilemma. The Empire needs this ally to survive, and the other power needs the Empire. But will he sell the soul of the Empire in order to have a chance at victory?
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2015
50 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Doug Dandridge
75 books142 followersDoug Dandridge was born in Venice Florida in 1957, the son of a Florida native and a Mother of French Canadian descent. An avid reader from an early age, Doug has read most of the classic novels and shorts of Science Fiction and Fantasy, as well as multiple hundreds of historical works. Doug has military experience including Marine Corps JROTC, Active Duty Army, and the Florida National Guard. He attended Florida State University, studying Biology, Geology, Physics, and Chemistry, and receiving a BS in Psychology. Doug then studied Clinical Psychology at the University of Alabama, with specific interests in Neuropsychology and Child Psychology, completing a Masters and all course work required for a PhD. He has worked in Psychiatric Hospitals, Mental Health Centers, a Prison, a Juvenile Residential Facility, and for the his last seven years in the work force for the Florida Department of Children and Families. Since March of 2013 he has worked as a full time writer. Doug has been writing on and off for fifteen years. He concentrates on intelligent science fiction and fantasy in which there is always hope, no matter how hard the situation. No area of the fantastic is outside his scope, as he has completed works in near and far future Science Fiction, Urban and High Fantasy, Horror, and Alternate History.
Doug has published 34 books on Amazon, with over 230,000 sales with 5,000 reviews averaging 4.6 stars. He will be publishing his first traditionally published book in 2018, followed by the second book of the contracted series. Also in the planning stages are post apocalyptic and alternate history series.
Doug has published 34 books on Amazon, with over 230,000 sales with 5,000 reviews averaging 4.6 stars. He will be publishing his first traditionally published book in 2018, followed by the second book of the contracted series. Also in the planning stages are post apocalyptic and alternate history series.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 9, 2015
The reviews of the books in the Exodus: Empires At War series are becoming a bit repetitive. Words like great, excellent etc. have a tendency to sneak into every other sentence for instance. Well, I do not know how to make them more varied since these book are great and excellent full stop. The few gripes I might have from time to time are miniscule and more due to personal preferences than anything else.
This book throws in a few twists in the story so far. The Imperial scouts do indeed make contact with the “other” race that are fighting the Cacas but, as the book blurb implies, it is somewhat of a shocking discovery and the first moments of joy are quickly replaced by hesitation, dread and despair. Sean have some tough decisions to make. But then, he is becoming somewhat accustomed to having tough decisions to make these days.
The Cacas are of course not going to miss the party and what could be better than throwing a welcoming party for the newcomers of this region of space. Some 25 000 warships makes for a pretty warm welcome don’t you think?
As if things where not complicated enough Mr. Dandridge throws in some new machinations by the asshole countess from the previous books, a hired assassin and a Yugalyth shape shifting undercover agent.
As usual the story, the writing, the characters and the action is excellent. This book is a wee bit more sad than the previous book(s) though. The part about the newfound power at the other end of the Ca’cadasan Empire is almost depressing at times. The Empire is also mostly on the receiving end of the application of various destructive devices this time although Sean’s farewell present before his forces bugger out was a nice one.
Having said that, this book have certainly expanded the Empires At War universe and opened the avenue for even more great stories in the future. As usual I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series. Given how much I hate political and egoistical assholes I am especially interested in learning what becomes of the small cliffhanger at the end of this book.
This book throws in a few twists in the story so far. The Imperial scouts do indeed make contact with the “other” race that are fighting the Cacas but, as the book blurb implies, it is somewhat of a shocking discovery and the first moments of joy are quickly replaced by hesitation, dread and despair. Sean have some tough decisions to make. But then, he is becoming somewhat accustomed to having tough decisions to make these days.
The Cacas are of course not going to miss the party and what could be better than throwing a welcoming party for the newcomers of this region of space. Some 25 000 warships makes for a pretty warm welcome don’t you think?
As if things where not complicated enough Mr. Dandridge throws in some new machinations by the asshole countess from the previous books, a hired assassin and a Yugalyth shape shifting undercover agent.
As usual the story, the writing, the characters and the action is excellent. This book is a wee bit more sad than the previous book(s) though. The part about the newfound power at the other end of the Ca’cadasan Empire is almost depressing at times. The Empire is also mostly on the receiving end of the application of various destructive devices this time although Sean’s farewell present before his forces bugger out was a nice one.
Having said that, this book have certainly expanded the Empires At War universe and opened the avenue for even more great stories in the future. As usual I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series. Given how much I hate political and egoistical assholes I am especially interested in learning what becomes of the small cliffhanger at the end of this book.
November 14, 2019
Bleh
Editing and plotting are the usual, not great. The humans are more stupid than ever. The bad aliens are more evil than ever. The naval numbers are already hilariously high and getting higher.
Navies can be as big, as any writer wishes. When I see numbers like these, I like to be able to remember how they are supplied, refitted, rearmed and refueled. I need to be able to point to stations, planets, asteroids, whatever and say hey that's where all the above are. That's followed by how those stations, etc are supplied with locally unavailable goods and materials. With a decent handle on the time frames involved in the work these installations perform and the chain of support that leads to them, I feel the tempo of the story. Without that, not so much. In this series, I've not yet understood where on any possible timeline the action is taking place or how much time has elapsed from page 1 of volume 1 through the present.
I'm just about done with this series.
Editing and plotting are the usual, not great. The humans are more stupid than ever. The bad aliens are more evil than ever. The naval numbers are already hilariously high and getting higher.
Navies can be as big, as any writer wishes. When I see numbers like these, I like to be able to remember how they are supplied, refitted, rearmed and refueled. I need to be able to point to stations, planets, asteroids, whatever and say hey that's where all the above are. That's followed by how those stations, etc are supplied with locally unavailable goods and materials. With a decent handle on the time frames involved in the work these installations perform and the chain of support that leads to them, I feel the tempo of the story. Without that, not so much. In this series, I've not yet understood where on any possible timeline the action is taking place or how much time has elapsed from page 1 of volume 1 through the present.
I'm just about done with this series.
May 27, 2017
What the heck is that on the front cover of this book? I have no clue what it is. Anyway, I finally got back to this series. I had enjoyed it pretty much, but then I got busy reading some other series and this one kind of fell behind. Now I see that book 12 is already out and I’m just reviewing book 9. I’ve got some reading to do. Thankfully, these books are pretty easy reads. The writing is excellent and flows very well.
When I last left the series, the New Terran Empire had sent an exploration task force some thirty light-years away to find a possible ally in their struggle against the Ca’cadasans. The Empire had no idea who they would find, but they did know through intel sources that the Ca’cadasans were having trouble fighting on two different fronts. So, if an alliance against them could be forged, then both the Empire and their new allies could possibly coordinate their attacks to really give the Ca’cadasans fits. Problem was, they had to find these new allies and hope they were friendly towards the Empire.
Turns out, they Empire did find a somewhat friendly ally, but not one they wanted to ally with if they had any choice about it. In the meantime, the Empire had it’s hands full trying to save New Moscow by evacuating almost four billion people through wormhole gates the Empire has invented. There was a fleet of Ca’cadasans on it’t way to finish off the New Moscow system and they were probably going to destroy the entire planet once they got there. Yet, the Empire wasn’t going to sit idly by and let that happen. Every day it seems as if the Empire was developing a new and more advanced weapon that the Ca’cadasans were not expecting. While the Ca’cadasans were temporarily more advanced than the humans, that technology gap was closing very, very fast. Now, with instant communications via wormhole technology, they Empire was getting ahead of the Ca’cadasans, but the Ca’cadasans still had numbers on their side. A lot of numbers.
That was also the problem for the potential allies on the other side of the Ca’cadasan empire. Even now, the Ca’cadasans were building a monstrous fleet larger than anything previously gathered. It’s purpose was to find and destroy the home system of these pesky aliens. The word did come of this home world location and the Ca’cadasan’s fleet move out. There was no way the unsuspecting potential Empire allies could defeat this gigantic fleet. So, what should have been a mutual exchange of interest between allies, turns into something entirely different. Should the Empire now send ships and weapons into this new system just to help out the potential allies there or would that be just a waste of resources. If the Ca’cadasans did wipe out this home system, the what kind of allies would these new people become. They might just be a drain on already scarce resources within the Empire. It didn’t help that the Emperor, Sean, didn’t like these new allies and neither did most of his subjects. In fact, most of his subjects were not told of these new allies because they would have definitely found them offensive and so alien that they could easily become a new enemy. And that’s not what the Empire wanted.
As I said, this is easy reading. There’s a lot of fighting going on and some of the battles get a little confusing. There are a lot of characters in this series, but the author has had the foresight to provide a good dictionary/glossary at the end of the book to help keep things straight. Now I’m on to book ten, eleven and then twelve. I’ve stopped counting after that one. I just need to catch up to there.
When I last left the series, the New Terran Empire had sent an exploration task force some thirty light-years away to find a possible ally in their struggle against the Ca’cadasans. The Empire had no idea who they would find, but they did know through intel sources that the Ca’cadasans were having trouble fighting on two different fronts. So, if an alliance against them could be forged, then both the Empire and their new allies could possibly coordinate their attacks to really give the Ca’cadasans fits. Problem was, they had to find these new allies and hope they were friendly towards the Empire.
Turns out, they Empire did find a somewhat friendly ally, but not one they wanted to ally with if they had any choice about it. In the meantime, the Empire had it’s hands full trying to save New Moscow by evacuating almost four billion people through wormhole gates the Empire has invented. There was a fleet of Ca’cadasans on it’t way to finish off the New Moscow system and they were probably going to destroy the entire planet once they got there. Yet, the Empire wasn’t going to sit idly by and let that happen. Every day it seems as if the Empire was developing a new and more advanced weapon that the Ca’cadasans were not expecting. While the Ca’cadasans were temporarily more advanced than the humans, that technology gap was closing very, very fast. Now, with instant communications via wormhole technology, they Empire was getting ahead of the Ca’cadasans, but the Ca’cadasans still had numbers on their side. A lot of numbers.
That was also the problem for the potential allies on the other side of the Ca’cadasan empire. Even now, the Ca’cadasans were building a monstrous fleet larger than anything previously gathered. It’s purpose was to find and destroy the home system of these pesky aliens. The word did come of this home world location and the Ca’cadasan’s fleet move out. There was no way the unsuspecting potential Empire allies could defeat this gigantic fleet. So, what should have been a mutual exchange of interest between allies, turns into something entirely different. Should the Empire now send ships and weapons into this new system just to help out the potential allies there or would that be just a waste of resources. If the Ca’cadasans did wipe out this home system, the what kind of allies would these new people become. They might just be a drain on already scarce resources within the Empire. It didn’t help that the Emperor, Sean, didn’t like these new allies and neither did most of his subjects. In fact, most of his subjects were not told of these new allies because they would have definitely found them offensive and so alien that they could easily become a new enemy. And that’s not what the Empire wanted.
As I said, this is easy reading. There’s a lot of fighting going on and some of the battles get a little confusing. There are a lot of characters in this series, but the author has had the foresight to provide a good dictionary/glossary at the end of the book to help keep things straight. Now I’m on to book ten, eleven and then twelve. I’ve stopped counting after that one. I just need to catch up to there.
March 26, 2022
I think, after nine books, I'm done. Made it about half way through but I just couldn't get into this one. Oh well...after nine books Doug Dandridge got a pretty good run. On to the next series.
August 12, 2015
The hits keep coming....
And the editing is getting better. With that said, there are still far too many grammatical errors, sentences are poorly constructed, and words are misused, to name but some of the problems. The story however, is still very engaging, and I am looking forward the the next book.
And the editing is getting better. With that said, there are still far too many grammatical errors, sentences are poorly constructed, and words are misused, to name but some of the problems. The story however, is still very engaging, and I am looking forward the the next book.
December 27, 2015
A great Space Saga continues to impress
The galaxy continues to grow as Sean finds new friends and enemies. Doug Dandridge spins a wonderful tale of a different scion of old earth. Great action with characters that have become familiar friends. Awesome story !
The galaxy continues to grow as Sean finds new friends and enemies. Doug Dandridge spins a wonderful tale of a different scion of old earth. Great action with characters that have become familiar friends. Awesome story !
August 17, 2015
Great book!
Sorry, not a writer. But I loved the book, love the series, and I'm an extremely critical s I figured fan.
Sorry, not a writer. But I loved the book, love the series, and I'm an extremely critical s I figured fan.
September 9, 2015
Great book
One more nice episode but a little bit dragging during the war of the new earth. Still the standard is very good and getting better with each episode.
One more nice episode but a little bit dragging during the war of the new earth. Still the standard is very good and getting better with each episode.
September 3, 2016
Good series
I'm enjoying this series. Good character development. Story line in great. Thanks to the author for sharing his writing skills with his readers.
I'm enjoying this series. Good character development. Story line in great. Thanks to the author for sharing his writing skills with his readers.
August 15, 2015
Good book.
September 17, 2015
Probably the most eventful and fast paced book of the series. A great addition to the saga.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews