Wizard Scout

Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles #3

by Rodney W. Hartman

Wizard scouts are the elite, deep-recon forces of the Intergalactic Empire. The Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy has been producing wizard scouts for over 800 years. But is the Academy’s long history coming to an end?
Richard is only in his junior year at the Academy, but it may well be his last. The war with the bat-like Crosioians is straining the resources of the Intergalactic Empire to the breaking point. Every soldier is needed on the front lines to stave off the Empire’s destruction. Not to mention politicians are eyeing the Academy as a financial drain that can no longer be justified. To top things off, teams of spell-wielding magic users have been spotted reconnoitering near the Academy. What does it all mean?
Between the Crosioians, politicians, and magic users, Richard and his friends are being assaulted from every side. The fate of the Academy, and indeed the entire Empire, may well lie in their hands. Outnumbered and outgunned, what can mere cadets do? But they’re wizard scout cadets, and it’ll be a cold day on Sirius when they’ll let anyone threaten their Academy without a fight.
Join Richard and his friends as they stare near-certain defeat in the face. Will their wizard scout training be enough? Not even the best calculations of the battle computer, Nickelo, can tell for sure. But one thing’s for certain, the Crosioians picked the wrong cadets to mess with.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space, Magic, Audiobook, Military Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

554 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 22, 2016

About the author

Rodney Hartman is a retired US Army veteran with over twenty years of experience in military operations ranging from Infantry Private in the paratroops to Chief Warrant Officer flying helicopters during the Persian Gulf War. Mr. Hartman worked for many years as a computer programmer before retiring and pursuing a career as a fulltime writer. Mr. Hartman lives in North Carolina with his wife and family along with their cat, McKenzie.

Reviews

[Robert Spellmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary series

I always seem to finish reading the volumes in Mr. Hartman ' s Wizard Scout series in the wee hours of the morning. But that happens, you see, because reading them is better than sleeping. Should I start the next one? It is only 12:36 AM.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, can't wait for the next one, lots of story lines to finish

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Richard is a wizard scout cadet at the Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy and he's trying to survive to get his DNA baseline. With the help of his fellow Wizard Scout cadets, especially Rick's gang of friends and a wacky maintenance Sgt., Rick attempts to stop an attack and invasion. Niko is isolated in the armory, off the tele-net but Niko makes friends with another battle helmet computer, Jonathan, Stella's helmet. Richard corrupts the battle computers. The kids, Dren & Bracchia improve Richard's weapons and equipment. Rick's frenemy, wizard Lord Crendemor is instrumental in the attack on the Academy.

Likes:
* Nickelo ~ Rick's battle helmet computer, snarky, corrupted AI
* Physical, magical & spiritual dimensions

* Rick's dimensional pack
* Knowledge-transferal device
* Dren & Brachia's secret warehouse feeds Rick's dimensional pack
* Dolgars & Dimension stallion shift hoofs into other dimension to find solid footing, look like running on air
* Lt. Commander Elizabeth "Liz" Bistos, serves as acting ?? and then promoted to Commander
* Technology first , Power second
* Some defensive shields attuned to energy, some attuned to physical attacks, some protect caster from both energy & physical attacks
* ?? Council wants DNA Center so they can be "eternally" young
* Wizard Academy Commandant & Councilwoman Janice Deluth are also time-commandos
* Time-commando training with Commandant
* Nick makes friends with Stella's battle computer, Jonathan
* Jonathan was Rick's temporary battle helmet
* Brachia "improving" Rick's equipment


Dislikes:

* Rick aged out of the orphanage at age 15
* Street-smart toughs Big Jim & Little Mike took in Richard because he could bypass security systems
* Rick has to use power to kill Big Jim & Little Mike when they tried to kill him
* At the trial for breaking & entering (& saving the woman) either 3 years of prison or 3 years in marines
* Master computer was voice of demon Zenthra
* In Book #2, Rick killed zombie elf to protect Lord Crendemor, zombie elf was Crendemor's mate
* Crendemor blames Rick for her death, not the ones who made her a zombie
* Crendemor was an ally in Book #2
* Slight blue on battle helmet's radiation filter is stealth shield
* Rick corrupts battle computers


With-reservations:
violence, death, war, prejudice, bullying, children in danger

Wizard Scout Friends & Allies & Enemies:
* Wizard Scout Richard Shepard~ ex-Marine, Rick adopted by dolgars on a mission for The One & learns to shift dimensions (2) Wizard Academy Commandant & Councilwoman Janice Deluth are Rick's parents, TAC Officer Myers is Rick's twin before he was altered, Dren & Bracchia's secret warehouse feeds Rick's dimensional pack, dimensional-shifting spirit stallion called by Sheeta, tutors friends with shields & protecting power reserve (3)
* Wizard Scout Jerad ~ ex-battalion commander, at 38 oldest cadet to enter Academy, great sources of information, dating Wizard Scout Trinity (3)
* Wizard Scout Tam ~ ex-mercenary (3)
* Wizard Scout Telsa ~ degree in astral physics (3)

* Bracchia ~ Dren's younger brother, Keka is their guardian, got transferred memories from ??
* Dren ~ Bracchia's sister, Keka is their guardian, got transferred memories from ??
* Elizabeth "Liz" Bistos ~ ambitious naval officer, breaks up with Rick, aspires to be Fleet Admiral (3)
* TAC Officer Myers ~ excellent Wizard Scout, trainer at Wizard Scout Academy, always giving Rick extra duty (3)
* Sgt Ron ~ crazy maintenance chief, dangerous driver (3)
* Stella ~ Cadet 37
* Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado ~ captured Carsoloian fleet 6 years ago, dating Jared & friends with Liz (3)

Enemies:
* Lord Crendemor ~ Rick killed zombie elf to protect Lord Crendemor, zombie elf was Crendemor's mate (2) Crendemor blames Rick for his mate's death, not the ones who made her a zombie, working for demon Dalinfaust (3)

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Help me read more books

Good continuation to the story. It's maybe not progressing as quickly as I'd like, but there's a lot of groundwork that needs shown here, so I can't complain too much. We do find out some rather interesting pieces of information in this one though, of course, it's just in time for disaster to strike, but that's usually the way it goes.
Looking forward to the next one in the series.

[Joseph Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of the best. Worth every minute.

Not many authors can write a novel that can make me emotional. It takes skills to weave the various subplots in a way to become emotionally invested in more than one character at the same time. Looking forward to reading the last of this fine work!

[Dave Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! The best yet!

I just couldn’t put it down. (My wife wasn’t happy about that.) I was so furious at the author at one point I had trouble falling asleep. Very happy there are more in this series.

[Jay Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again a great book and an easy 4-star rating. If you liked the other 2 books this one is pretty much the same. I look forward to the other 2 books in this series. (I wish there was more)

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the series. Some of the story lines were great, compelled me to give into skipping over paragraphs. Overall it was a solid read and I am looking forward to the next book.

[david mullin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

Good mix of sci fi and fantasy. Different then many other series out there. Enjoyable read, but a bit too technical in some respects.

[Suprio · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[juliette dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action packed from start to finish

Intergalactic warfare and demons.
Great characters with realistic situations and lots of action.
I look forward to the next one 😀

[Alexander Collas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started to take a break from this series after the second book. That is not because I did not enjoy the book, it was good, it was more that I had read before this series another series written by an ex-military person and the logistic and tactical stuff was starting to wear thin on me. BUT...I was born with a mild case of OCD and when I start a series I have to keep going until I finish it or my mind just keeps yelling at me. So I picked up 3 and said "I'll give it a try" boy am I thankful for OCD, this was a great book. It starts a bit slow, but when it gets up to speed it stays there. I am not onto book four, and this time there was no interest in taking a break from the series, I look forward to it. Great job Rodney.

[Douglas Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminds me of old SF

A lot like Cobra, scout saboteur fighting against overwhelmingly odds with a fantasy twist. Twenty first century vs. The time traveler. The whole series is building but seems at a slow palace.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another tremendous book in this fantasy/science fiction series. For the first time though I noted plot similarities to the Lensman books. Very enjoyable.

[Rosie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing.

This book had me gripped from start to end. As have all the previous books. I can't wait to get started in the next one.

[Rockey Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I have read all three of the books so far in this series and have not been disappointed in any of them. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

[Terry Stiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Ruggrats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better and better

Sometimes long stories start loosing their way, but so far with this series I'm very impressed with how it all tie's together.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, best when there is plenty of action. Took a while to get going.

[Ann Zdunczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

War

Fighting everywhere!! Scouts being run through training and graduating early!! Politics raises it ugly head. Then there is "the one", always "the one"!!

[Erik Warming · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series is taking shape now and this book is more focused on the "real" world and Ricks problems there.

[Helen May · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good series. This book rambles a bit more than the previous books.

[Hutch Morzaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book was fun and interesting. While the writing wasn't the best & it had some of the same character tropes from other series, the blending of magic and science was intriguing. This one, however ... well, let's just say that the annoying supporting characters ruined it for me. You can read my full review on Zone Six - here.