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Godeena

Stjepan Varesevac Cobets (Goodreads Author)

3.49 · Rating details · 53 ratings · 47 reviews

Henry Broncon is a Cyber, a type of soldier modified with cybernetics, built to fight in treacherous terrains on far-flung planets and battling alien monsters for their resources. As the only survivor of a brutal war against rebellions Ansker soldier on the planet Morad, the winning terrestrial colonies receive ownership of a system called Naude, comprised of various plane ...more

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Paperback, 432 pages

Published April 2016 by Createspace (first published June 30th 2015)

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· 53 ratings · 47 reviews

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Sep 25, 2016 Stjepan Cobets added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: my-books-that-i-wrote, science-fiction, space-opera, action, indie, military

Hello dear readers

This book is waited sixteen years to publish and was hidden in my drawer. So I achieved my dream and I published my book. I want to thank everyone who helped me on the way to finalizing the book. I leave it to readers to share opinions and enjoy the world that I've created. I just found the story in my head, and with pleasure, I leave the story for all who want to read. :)

With all due respect to my future readers
Stjepan Varesevac Cobets ...more

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Apr 03, 2018 Adrian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: r2r, zz-i-book, sci-fi, z-goodreads-authors

Right, lets just say that my Croatian is a lot worse than Stjepan's English, well in truth my Croatian is non existent, and Stjepan's English is good, that said there are still numerous, mostly grammatical errors in the version of his book I have just read.
Ok, would correcting these errors make the book better, well no, but it would make it easier to read.

All of that aside, it is an enjoyable, roller coaster of a book. It moves along at a very fast pace and you soon get caught up in Brigadier Br ...more

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Jun 04, 2016 Kyle rated it liked it · review of another edition

This novel was provided free of charge by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Major Henry Broncon was the only survivor at the Fields of Death in a battle with the Ansker. Now as a Brigadier, he's commanding a mission to the planet Godeena to find out why everyone sent there has been killed by some mysterious force.

The most obvious issue with the book? It was clearly written by someone that does not speak native English. Grammar errors, awkward sentence structures, and p

...more

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Mar 19, 2016 Valentina "TinchyB" rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Well colour me amazed.

3.5 stars!

This wasn't even that bad.
I was quite surprised with this book.
It took me a while but in the end this was solid read.
I wasn't disappointed.

Godeena is SF novel written by Croatian author and this was first book that I've read in a while written by our Croatian authors.
It probably helped that this was translated in English so it catch my curiosity.

This novel is situated in galaxy far far away on the planet called Godeena.
Plot is fast developed, full of suspense, ac ...more

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Mar 27, 2017 Daniel added it · review of another edition

2nd time reading this book but since this is the second revision (probably the 20th for the author) and it's a much stronger showing. The story is tighter, the characters more flashed out and the flow is much better. The story itself is the same (obviously) but thew influences are less noticeable.

If you tried it before and gave up give it another shot. You might change you'r mind.

Book received from the author for an honest overview. ...more

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Sep 14, 2018 Natasa rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-books

This novel was provided free of charge by the author in exchange for an honest review.

I was quite surprised with this book. It took me a while but in the end this was solid read. I wasn't disappointed.

The author showed off a great imagination in this story, making the world-building by far it’s strongest point. Really good sci-fi. High-action, fast paced, great characters development. I’d recommend this book if you enjoy classic Sci-Fi novels. ...more

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Oct 11, 2016 Stacy rated it it was amazing

Wow! Talk about a riveting, suspense- packed book! I couldn't put it down!
A cyber war hero-general is sent to Hades, a planet used only to house the worst-of-the-worst criminals, and from which there is no escape. If one ends up there, one dies there. Period. No exceptions. He must get 15 prisoners with skills he needs for a dangerous mission. A mission that has proved fatal to others sent to a mysterious planet, in order to try to rescue one lone survivor, his boss's granddaughter, who is a sc ...more

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Apr 15, 2016 Daniel added it · review of another edition

Sadly all i will say is that this book still needs lots of work. The influences are to obvious and the talking parts are a bit to clumsy. But it's possible to see the writers passion so after a couple rewrites it could be a really fun story. ...more

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Apr 14, 2017 K.T. Munson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Characters

Henry was an interesting character. A little underdeveloped but interesting. The biggest problem with this book was the point of view (POV) shifts. Within one chapter there would be between 2-6 POV shifts. There was no logic or reason and it was jarring. I did like Diana though, she was the reason I kept reading.

Maria/Kir was the best character but she didn’t really fit in the book. She felt like a fantasy character in a sci-fi novel. I would have liked to know more about her but I may ...more

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Oct 06, 2015 Aly rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I was not that into this book. I don't like very many war books or movies and I was not liming this one. I think I could tell the author's first language is not English. * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review* ...more

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May 16, 2018 Ivana Books Are Magic rated it liked it

First of all, sorry for my long absence dear goodreads friends, life got in the way. I'm back with another long book review and I do hope to catch up with all of you soon.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

If I were to divide this novel into three parts, I’d say that I liked the second and the third part much better than the first one (let’s just say that the introduction wasn’t terribly interesting, and that the plot and the finale were much better in comparison). Once the story develops, it connects well but First of all, sorry for my long absence dear goodreads friends, life got in the way. I'm back with another long book review and I do hope to catch up with all of you soon.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

If I were to divide this novel into three parts, I’d say that I liked the second and the third part much better than the first one (let’s just say that the introduction wasn’t terribly interesting, and that the plot and the finale were much better in comparison). Once the story develops, it connects well but I felt like it just took too much time to develop. My impression was that it all really tied together only as the novel was ending, and that doesn’t seem like an ideal choice. The pacing wasn’t perfect, but altogether it’s a pretty good novel. Taken as what it is, an action science fiction story, the novel makes perfect sense. The story is entertaining and the characters are colourful. If the concepts introduced aren't terribly original, they aren't boring either. There is not that much food for the thought, but I don’t think this novel was meant to be philosophical, so there’s that. It is not like it’s the sort of book where you can expect to learn important life lessons. I think it’s the kind of book you read to relax a bit. All in all, Godeena was a fun story to read.

THE INTRODUCTION TO THE STORY

The story opens with a war hero Henry, getting ready to embark on a dangerous mission. He is the sole survivor of a battle that went all wrong and ended up being a complete disaster. At the start of the novel Henry travels to a prison named Hade, to collect a group of talented individuals he needs for a dangerous rescue mission. The person they need to rescue is Diana, a general’s granddaughter and she seems to be trapped on a strange planet. Some of these prisoners are more violent, some less, but all the prisoners are troublesome. Only one women Vallery seems to be friendly. Soon Henry learns that Vallery (like most female characters in this novel) has a sad story to tell. Valery is in prison because she had killed the general who not only abused her but caused her miscarriage. Henry makes Vallery his assistant and they establish a relationship of trust. Vallery was a potentially fascinating character and I was sorry that she wasn’t given more space. Anyhow, after Henry collects the prisoners, he returns with them to his base (or at least I think that it is supposed to be his base) where he meets his old friend Nancy who is in love with him. It is from Nancy that we learn more about him. I found the dialogues between the two (Nancy and Henry) a bit tiresome as they constantly complement each other and elaborate on how absolutely amazing they are. It is kind of boring how everyone (and especially Henry) seems to be this super intelligent, successful, brave, handsome, amazing military genius and person, simply perfect in every single way. Nancy is in love with Mark, but he doesn’t notice anything. Frankly, Nancy’s story didn’t interest me at all. Soon after their little talk, Henry comes into conflict with the general, after he tries to pull him from the mission. Henry learns that the general (Diana's grandfather) feels guilty as well. Soon (but not soon enough for my liking), we find out that the dead general (the one who killed by Vallery) is the one who is the blame for everything, from the battle that ended up in Henry losing his comrades to other things. A bit of a cardboard villain this late general but well what can you do? Henry has another meeting with his general, i.e. Diana’s grandfather. Soon after that, Henry takes another prisoner, this time a girl named Maria (a curious individual with telekinetic super powers) for his assistant. Only it is not really Maria, but her alter ago, Kir that can help them. Where does Kir end and Maria begin? Are they the same person? I thought Maria's character was quite interesting. I quite liked how her character developed. Moreover, the development of relationship between Henry and Maria was kind of sweet. The dialogues between them too (including the inner thoughts that Maria/ Kir telepathically shared with Henry) were my favourite ones.

THE PLOT

I think we could say that the introduction ends there, and what follow is the plot. Henry and his team of prisoners all travel on Godeena to save the granddaughter of general, Diana. Diana is the sole survivor of the unidentified Being that killed all her co-workers and crew. What happened to them is still a mystery at this point. I quite liked Diana. She seemed a well-balanced female character, strong but human, so it would have been nice if she was given more space. After the team arrives to the planet, Diana falls into the background which is a shame because as I said, her character caught my interest. Anyway, after the arrival of Henry and his team, the story really unfolds. I won’t tell you what happens next to avoid spoilers, but I think that you get a good idea. The prisoners lead by Henry use their unique talents to fight the mysterious Being and discover the history of the planet, find out why this planet is not populated, and perhaps most importantly- how to get off that planet.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

There were quite a few things I liked about Godeena, and I could definitely feel the effort and the imaginative force behind it. The story of a discovery that turns into rescue mission isn’t exactly new, and the story of a mysterious hostile planet has been told as well, but still Godeena feels like an original novel in the sense that it has a logic of its own. The concepts aren’t new, but the ideas and the story itself are ultimately well connected. Godeena does get better as you read on, and only at the very beginning it felt a bit clumsy. There is logic in most of the events described and the narrative as such isn’t bad. My main issue with it were the stereotypes and the repetition. However, the plot itself is pretty good, the only problem with the plot is the unbalanced pacing. The character portrayal was also somewhat lacking. One can feel imaginative potential of character, the reasoning behind their actions, but their portrayal is not always fully seen through. In theory, the characters are quite interesting but many of them were ruined by clichés. The strong female characters were refreshing to see, but they could have been better written. However, the ending does offer more insight into everything, characters themselves included.

The last one hundred pages were in my opinion, the best, they felt well balanced, and there was a nice ration between action and learning more about the characters and the planet. If the entire novel was written like that, I think it would have been fantastic. In essence, I think that Godeena could benefit from either being a bit shorter which can be achieved by cutting out the repetitive parts, or from being a bit longer (in which case one could really elaborate on the ideas presented). I think many paragraphs were completely unnecessary. The dialogues were often too long. Many things were explained ad nausem, while other potentially interesting things weren’t touched upon. There was a lot of repetition and it slowed down the pace of the novel. Unless I’m mistaken, this was supposed to be an action SF novel, so pacing could have definitely been better. In the first and the second part of the novel, new characters kept being introduced (the prisoners, the members of Diana’s expeditions) but they were never elaborated on. I feel like their description should have been either shorter or longer, this way it felt like it was neither here nor there, but the characters do certainly add something to the novel.

Curiously enough, the character I liked the least was the protagonist of this novel, Henry. I don’t know why, maybe because he felt a bit like James Bond caricature, with all the female characters falling for him and all that but he didn’t seemed like a real person at all. The continuous praising of Henry by everyone else felt both unnatural and repetitive. The prisoners were a colourful bunch of characters, but perhaps there were too many of them, and I couldn’t really bring myself to warm up to anyone of them. The only ones that really stood out were Vallery and Maria (aka Kir), but perhaps this is because they established a friendship/relationship with Henry and were given greater roles as the novel progressed. The other characters faded in comparison, and it was hard to remember all their names, let alone care for them. Their personal stories do come up as the novel progresses and they did make sense, but still their character lacked warmth. On overall, the character development and portrayal wasn’t done that well but bonus points for trying. Coming up with so many different characters and fitting them all in the novel must have been challenging, so it is clear that the author has put an effort into that and that’s always good. I do wish I could relate to characters more. One thing I didn’t like is how most of the characters were either constantly trying to be sarcastic only to apologize a minute later or complementing one another and getting all emotional, it somehow didn’t fit the narrative. Henry would always apologize after he got strict with anyone, and that was a bit odd considering that he was supposed to be the leader of the group. When it comes to dialogues, all that complementing, apologizing and instant bonding didn’t sit well with me. I don’t mean to say that all the dialogues were bad, but the good ones were often overshadowed by the bad ones. There was so much stereotyping in the novel, so many clichés that seemed to have fallen out of typical blockbuster action films. This is especially the case with the dialogues that often felt overwritten. On the other hand, the descriptions were well written, simple and descriptive.

On overall, the writing in this novel felt unbalanced a bit. There were some really good points but also some that were average or bellow average (as I have explained in this very lengthy review). All in all, I liked this novel. I was given a copy to review. While I was reading it, the author sent me an updated (edited) copy of this novel twice. I continued reading from where I stopped last, I didn’t go over the whole book over and over again but as this is the final version, I don’t think it makes any difference. The language as such was fine, the vocabulary used sounded fresh and non-repetitive to my ear, and the descriptions in particular were nicely done. From the technical point of view, the writing is good. The sentences are well organized and logical. There were even a few instances in the text where the writing was quite impressive. In more than one place, there was a visual quality to descriptions that seemed very appropriate for this kind of novel. I have finished reading this book tonight, and I’m glad I have had the chance to read it. Would I recommend it? Yes, I would recommend it. The writing isn’t perfect, the narrative is not devout of stereotypes, but ultimately Godeena is an entertaining read. The pacing of the novel is a bit uneven, but it all ties nicely in the end. ...more

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Jun 09, 2018 Noor Al-Shanti rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, must-read

This is a military Science fiction tale set in a well-built world. It centers around a brigadier who, after losing many of his soldiers in a disastrous battle, signs up for a suicide mission to a planet named Godeena. Every other group sent to this planet has disappeared. Henry, however, has become obsessed with the planet. He sees this challenge as a way of making up for his mistakes in that battle. So he enlists a group of criminals from the top security prison planet Hades, giving them a chan This is a military Science fiction tale set in a well-built world. It centers around a brigadier who, after losing many of his soldiers in a disastrous battle, signs up for a suicide mission to a planet named Godeena. Every other group sent to this planet has disappeared. Henry, however, has become obsessed with the planet. He sees this challenge as a way of making up for his mistakes in that battle. So he enlists a group of criminals from the top security prison planet Hades, giving them a chance to gain their freedom if they should survive the mission, but at the same time thinking that if they die at least they won't be missed.

The strength of this book is in the world-building.

Reading it felt like reading something set in a very real world. The different planets, the political life and interactions with other races that the humans are at war with, and especially the planet Godeena and the dangers that await the main characters there. It was all very well thought out.

I also appreciated the honest portrayal of military life with its downfalls. This story doesn't attempt to glorify fighting or portray the enemies as monsters and the main characters as pure heroes. Instead it gives an honest view of the characters and those they interact with. We see "heroes" that abuse their fame and power, we see corruption and inaction, we see the huge price that ordinary soldiers often pay for the mistakes of their commanders, and some light is also shed on the unfair treatment of the female soldiers by some of their commanders.

The portrayal of some of the female characters is sometimes less than stellar, with the focus sometimes being on their looks and their interactions with the main character being a little weird, but I saw that as being due to the main character's point of view. We see the world, and these characters, through his eyes, so it makes sense that he would sometimes look at the people around him in a less than fair way or take it for granted and assume that these female characters are in love with him or something. In the same way there was a little too much swearing for my tastes, but I again saw it as part of the characterization as it only appeared in the dialogue and seemed to fit the particular characters who were swearing.

Back to the point. The story was well-written and engaging. I began to feel that the story dragged a bit when they were training and a lot of time was spent on the weapons and how they worked, but to be fair in the end when they actually had to use these weapons it did help me visualize what was happening a bit better and helped make the terminology more accessible when they were deciding to use certain weapons. Also, right around that time my favorite character Diana was introduced. Her parts of the story were the most interesting and she provided an excellent point of view from which we could explore the horrors of the planet.

Because so many other reviewers mentioned the language I feel the need to comment on it. Yes, it's clear that the author's first language is not English and yes, there are a few awkward bits of dialogue here and there where that becomes clear, but did it honestly take away from the enjoyment of the tale? To me the answer is a clear no. In fact, I much prefer the awkward dialogue when I compare it to some of the over-edited and meaningless/boring prose of some other books I've read. When you're reading a story about characters who go to different planets and interact with otherworldly forces I'm not sure why the expectation is that the characters all sound like they dropped out of an American movie.

Overall, I enjoyed this tale quite a bit. It was an interesting mix of science fiction and fantasy and military fiction with some great world-building. I would recommend it to sci-fi readers who are not too young: as I mentioned before there's quite a bit of swearing and there are some mature topics as well. A solid 4 stars. I would be interested in seeing the author write more stories set in the same world, perhaps even with some of the same characters. ...more

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Apr 05, 2019 Igor Ljubuncic rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, stjepan-cobets

This was an odd book, 2.5 stars, rounding up.

I got this book in exchange for an honest review, so here it is.

Godeena reads like an 80s action movie, full of cheesy cliche oneliners the likes of which you'd encounter in a bodycount-packer starring Gubernator or JCVD. On its own, this isn't bad, and it's quite entertaining.

The problem is, there's little consistency or depth to the characters. Somewhat Dirty Dozen like, Major Henry goes to a max. security prison planet to get a bunch of murderers f This was an odd book, 2.5 stars, rounding up.

I got this book in exchange for an honest review, so here it is.

Godeena reads like an 80s action movie, full of cheesy cliche oneliners the likes of which you'd encounter in a bodycount-packer starring Gubernator or JCVD. On its own, this isn't bad, and it's quite entertaining.

The problem is, there's little consistency or depth to the characters. Somewhat Dirty Dozen like, Major Henry goes to a max. security prison planet to get a bunch of murderers for a seemingly suicide assignment to Godeena. But these killers go from deranged to fluffy and back, and they have an essence of "good guys at heart" - which is not what you'd expect from someone being sent to the max. security prison on a separate planet. If you look at the Russian Black Dolphin prison, where the average inmate has 5 MDK on their sheet, there's nothing reconcillable about them, and surely no ground for bringing them into a military unit and starting optimistically fresh. But that's okay, but this is meant to be 80s cheesy.

Love also happens almost haphazardly, and characters swing to angry to sad to weird without explanation, and there are moments where the author drops bits of information that he seems to have forgotten previously. This reminds me of Consider Phlebas really. Very much so.

The book then becomes a quest of shooting mostly, with the mystery of Godeena slowly revealed. And then the ending becomes more of a fantasy setting than a sci-fi book - monsters, spirits, robots, telekinesis, and things being created out of energy magic-like. A few more half-second moments of love, the murderers all hug, cue closing credits. Felt rushed and different from how Godeena started.

I also feel the translation didn't fully reflect the original tone, but hey.

All in all, entertaining, but also all over the place. If you like soft sci-fi packed with lots of explosions and simplistic characters, this will entertain you. If you're bothered by consistency and the rules of physics (to a plausible level), you will probably be annoyed by the almost random seesaw in the plot and behavior of the protagonists.

Igor ...more

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Apr 27, 2018 Bernard Jan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My reading of this page-turner of a SF novel took much longer (52 days) than expected but that is not because it didn't grip me but rather due to various circumstances and reasons. April and May were months when (almost) every EU author was crazy and busy studying and complying with the GDPR. Besides that and to name just the two of reasons/circumstances, the author of Godeena , Stjepan Varesevac Cobets, asked me to stop reading the e-book he sent me in exchange for an honest review. He would hir ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Justin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Note: The author informed me that this book is going through another round of proofreading, so I took this under advisement when I reviewed it.
Unfortunately, it’s full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, which makes reading and understanding difficult. However, I did enjoy the story and found the plot interesting.
With the current state of editing, I would give the book a two, but because I like stories like this I will upgrade that to a three. I recommend the author release the new pr ...more

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Apr 02, 2017 Gloria Piper rated it really liked it

Shelves: survival, science-fiction-fantasy, thriller

This story reminds me of the Dirty Dozen, a WWII movie about convicts chosen for a suicide mission in Europe. Godeena takes us into the far future. Seventeen convicts from a maximum security prison are chosen for a suicide mission, to rescue the general's granddaughter from a planet where something is killing every living creature. Each prisoner has unique abilities for the mission, from physical to mental to psychic.

We open with a battle scene. Our main character is Major Henry Broncon, and alt ...more

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Feb 26, 2019 Graeme Rodaughan added it

Shelves: science-fiction

There is the foundation of a good story here.

However, I'm struggling to be immersed in the story. Just not connecting with the characters. So, I'm letting this one go.

DNF. Unrated. ...more

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Apr 27, 2016 K.P. Merriweather rated it really liked it

Shelves: indie

I really don't have much to say about the book. It was an okay story, clichéd in places, and I rolled my eyes a bit at the seemingly forced romance elements between the female characters and Broncon. I suppose he's supposed to be a ladies man like Banaczek or something. However, Broncon came across to me as an emotionless dick, but then again, you might be one too when you're sent on a suicidal mission and get no breaks and atop that, your superiors basically give you a shrug about the whole thi ...more

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Sep 26, 2017 William Collins rated it liked it

3.5 stars to be exact.

The author showed off a great imagination in this story, making the world-building by far it’s strongest point. The way several planets were described in this book’s galaxy were so inventive. I particularly enjoyed the prison planet Hades, and Godeena itself was cool too.

The numerous characters and action scenes were also high points of the novel. I could imagine all the plasma weapons battles as if they were high-budget movie scenes.

The awkward way it was written made G ...more

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Jul 05, 2017 Crystal rated it really liked it

The story is action-packed from the first paragraph! We meet the main character, Major Henry Broncon, on the battlefield. The suspense builds for the remainder of the story, and you meet some pretty fun characters along the way. I don’t want to give away too much, but there are nasty aliens, hostile planets, killer robots, and vicious convicts. They all come together in an epic tale. This is a true, military, sci-fi thriller.

As others have remarked in previous reviews, English is not the author ...more

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May 24, 2016 Troy Vance rated it it was ok

I struggled with this book. To me it seemed that the novel was written in another language then imperfectly translated. The result led to characters speaking a mixture of coarse soldier patois and a sentence structure probably more at home in the Elizabethan court. In the hands of Anthony Burgess this might have worked, but not here. The jarring of the odd phrasing stole any momentum I'd built up reading the previous paragraph.
Plus, aside from the occasional reference, I didn't get much of a fla ...more

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Jun 24, 2016 251 Things To Do rated it really liked it

I give this book a 3.5 Star rating. I would have absolutely loved to read this in the author's first language. If you are into fast-paced futuristic war novels, and don't mind a few grammatical errors here and there, then you'll like this. I loved the unique plot and the author's use of imagery and the descriptive elements to the novel were great. Again, with some proper editing this could be a five star. ...more

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Jan 24, 2017 Garfield Whyte rated it it was amazing

Interesting despite English not being the author's first language ...more

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Jun 10, 2018 John rated it liked it

Stjepan V. Cobets' Godeena is a sci fi action novel with some paranormal elements that centers around the main protagonist Henry Broncon, and the prison conscripts that he must recruit for a dangerous mission to the planet Godeena.

The novel starts out fine, with Henry losing his squad in an ambush against a hostile force and having to confront his survivor's guilt over their deaths. The action scene at the beginning is good and helps to engross the reader in the story. Henry's characterization, Stjepan V. Cobets' Godeena is a sci fi action novel with some paranormal elements that centers around the main protagonist Henry Broncon, and the prison conscripts that he must recruit for a dangerous mission to the planet Godeena.

The novel starts out fine, with Henry losing his squad in an ambush against a hostile force and having to confront his survivor's guilt over their deaths. The action scene at the beginning is good and helps to engross the reader in the story. Henry's characterization, along with Nancy and his friend Colburn, range from great to good respectively, and helps the novel's quality in the beginning.

The prisoners on the other hand don't get much characterization, and in all honesty there are too many side characters to keep track of, and unfortunately the story shows it with them being rather two dimensional. Mira/Kir seemed interesting at first, but I had some issues with her in this setting (she is paranormal to this universe's sci-fi)—not to mention her behavior towards Henry and his reactions to such behavior. Given what is disclosed about his relationships and Kir as the novel goes on, it seems implausible for things to play out the way they did—especially with the ending.

The narrative pacing is good, and the story events are fine enough within the first third of the book, but rather abruptly slams into a brick wall with a training scene that lasts 18 pages, and consists only of training. I found myself skipping past this scene due to its length and being uninteresting. After this, the story events started to become more for the service of the plot, and started to lack in the elements that I enjoyed early on. The Big Bad of the story seems ripped from the 1960's Star Trek series, and those who love that kind of campiness will enjoy the retro feel. However, the main complaint I have is the dialogue. I understand that the author is Croatian, and I can't fault him too hard for English as a Second Language. However, the dialogue in some places felt as if it were pasted into Google Translate, and not in a “so bad, it's good” kind of way. The odd spelling mistake is fine, but sometimes the characters sounded as if they were Russians impersonating English actors, or would use a bizarre combination of words. In some areas, the dialogue felt uninspired and by the numbers, which was disappointing.

There was an odd trait amongst the female characters to be overtly, and physically sexual in demeanor. This is fine, but it was surprising when certain characters would randomly grab people by their groins just out of the blue. Such domineering behavior understandable with some, but left me wondering where that came from with others, as it did not logically flow from the situation.

Despite the flaws, I was entertained through a good majority of the novel. Godeena gets a shaky three out of five stars. The positive elements are just enough to get it into the end zone. Hopefully the author looks at my feedback and takes it into consideration in the future. ...more

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Dec 23, 2020 Rick Rider rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-books

This is an imaginative story.

The characters are well developed and continue, in most cases, to develop further. Those that don't become obvious that they never would because of who they are.

Challenges are faced and dealt with and the story develops in some surprising ways. It's not terribly long, and reads well, keeping you engaged all the while. It has some violent situations, but doesn't get gory and overly descriptive of the violence. Strong language, but nothing you don't hear on Netflix or ...more

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Jan 24, 2017 Scott Spotson rated it it was ok

Godeena could be much, much more. There’s an intriguing story at its heart—a beast on a planet and the ruins of an ancient civilization (which after reading seemed to be very technologically advanced, perhaps more so than the civilization of the space archaeologists!) and a ragtag band of hardened prisoners plucked from the worst penitentiary in the galaxy and recruited to become fighting machines.

However, the book is marred by poor plotting, poor English usage, a significant amount of the chee Godeena could be much, much more. There’s an intriguing story at its heart—a beast on a planet and the ruins of an ancient civilization (which after reading seemed to be very technologically advanced, perhaps more so than the civilization of the space archaeologists!) and a ragtag band of hardened prisoners plucked from the worst penitentiary in the galaxy and recruited to become fighting machines.

However, the book is marred by poor plotting, poor English usage, a significant amount of the cheese factor, and numerous typos, including several shifts in perspective, verbal tense, and point of view, even using presenting the narrator as “we” or “I” in some spots throughout a story told in the third person.

The book is full of plot holes the size of asteroids. One biggie is why the main character, Henry Broncon, is so determined to head a last-minute ensemble team to the planet Godeena. All we’re told at the beginning (and not much new is added at the end as to its importance) is that it’s an long-dead ancient civilization and that there’s a dangerous beast on the planet, still at large. It made more sense that a top-ranking general asked Broncon to rescue his adult daughter, who was stranded there on an expedition, but that occurs after Broncon forms an obsession to visit Godeena, and moreover, even after attempting this rescue, rather than leave as quickly as possible for safety (they knew there were no living inhabitants) they go on to a major base on this planet to confront more danger! I didn’t get a sense of any Holy Grail on the planet, such as weaponry of major technological accomplishment, or any ancient relic that is worth millions of dollars, or any database of vital military secrets that unlocks the key to the balance of power in the galaxy. As well, the effectiveness of the “beast” is sometimes overpowering, and at other times strangely muted, which seems to depend on which way the story is going.

I’ll give the book this though… the killer robots are cool! Despite the clunky dialogue and hokey relationships, I really enjoyed some of the characters, particularly Maria Conchez (I won’t give away what makes her so fearsome) and Vallery Monsan (who is endearing). In a way, the silly exchanges between the characters has a rebound effect, allowing me to find gems of charm, just like decades-old kitsch becomes retro and highly desired.

I understand that English is the author’s second language, but that doesn’t excuse his attempts. He could hire (I sympathize that can be a financial barrier, though) an English editor to make this story shine. I also understand this book is translated, but translation is not automatically story development.
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Apr 03, 2017 Leo McBride rated it it was ok

Think The Dirty Dozen in a sci-fi setting and you've probably got the starting point for this novel.
The only survivor of a major future battle with beings called the Anskers is literally dug out of the pile of bodies in the wake of the fight.
The spoils of war after the fight leave the humans with a world called Godeena, a mysterious planet that the Anskers seem all too eager to give away. The survivor, Major Broncon, is charged with gathering a group of inmates from a prison world and shaping th Think The Dirty Dozen in a sci-fi setting and you've probably got the starting point for this novel.
The only survivor of a major future battle with beings called the Anskers is literally dug out of the pile of bodies in the wake of the fight.
The spoils of war after the fight leave the humans with a world called Godeena, a mysterious planet that the Anskers seem all too eager to give away. The survivor, Major Broncon, is charged with gathering a group of inmates from a prison world and shaping them up to become a team to investigate Godeena - but even as the team starts training, teams already sent to the world start to die at the hands of an all-powerful being.
This novel was, I'm sad to say, rather hard work. It's clear that it's a work in translation - but that's not the major difficulty, even if some parts read a little oddly at times. No, rather it's the structure of matters that really makes it hard to get to grips with.
To start with, we're thrown into a battle where vast numbers of people die, but we don't know any of them so it's hard to care as a battalion of redshirts bites the dust. Then the mission itself seems confusing - if there are already teams being sent to the planet, why does this team of the meanest of the mean have to be assembled? Add to that the characterisation of that team - where we barely get to know any of them - and we're left with a bunch of people we don't care about going on a mission that appears to have little reason to take place. I asked "Why?" a lot while reading this.
Throw in on top of that some really awful treatment of the female characters - one character, for example, is dismissed as a lesbian until she is saved by another character and then hints that she'll make it up to him in the bedroom later. Another character, a secretary at the prison, pops up for no reason seemingly other that to provide eye candy for the prison warden and the major to ogle and then never appears again. For a supposedly hardened crew of soldiers and prisoners, it seems the female characters spend a lot of time breaking down in tears or swooning over the major too.
In short, the plot didn't really hold together, while there was more time lavished on giving some of the weapons character than the cast themselves. Even the Anskers we meet at the start remain an unexplored mystery. I wish I could have liked this more, but it just feels like a few drafts short of a polished project.

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Sep 29, 2016 Todd Simpson rated it it was amazing

This really is wonderfully entertaining Sci-Fi story. When I read a book I want to be taken to another world, and Stjepan Cobets has certainly done that for me with this amazing book. There are some very unique characters with some great skills, and a couple of different planets that really attracted me to the story, and certainly kept my interest. Major Henry Broncon and Lieutenant Carlos Hortiz were taken completely by surprise when the Ansker Warriors attacked them. The intelligence gathered This really is wonderfully entertaining Sci-Fi story. When I read a book I want to be taken to another world, and Stjepan Cobets has certainly done that for me with this amazing book. There are some very unique characters with some great skills, and a couple of different planets that really attracted me to the story, and certainly kept my interest. Major Henry Broncon and Lieutenant Carlos Hortiz were taken completely by surprise when the Ansker Warriors attacked them. The intelligence gathered before they arrived in the area suggested that there were no Ansker’s around, and the sudden onslaught suggested otherwise. With grenades being lobbed in from the forest, Henry couldn’t see them to return accurate fire. Before he realises it Carlos is killed, and the rest of his men are quite quickly getting wiped out. The only reason he survived himself was a rather large Ansker warrior that he managed to kill, landed on top of him. Now he blames himself for the loss of all his men, and he now thinks of it as the ‘Field of Death’. The planet Jan II where the prison Hades was located, and had over 900,000 prisoners. If prisoners were sent there, it was a place that they would never leave. So the Warden is surprised when the now promoted Brigadier Henry Broncon turns up with a presidential authority, to allow him to select prisoners to take with him. He selects 17 for his mission to the planet Godeena, and he knows that amongst the 17 are some lunatics and geniuses. Godeena is definitely a dangerous place, with 3 other expeditions of people that travelled there have never returned. Henry’s advises the 17 of his new soldiers that if they help locate the 3 missing expedition teams, and they manage to survive, then they will have their freedom, some cash and be able to go and live anywhere in the solar system. However it’s not going to be easy, as Godeena is a dangerous place, and they are all about to find out just how dangerous it is. The standout for me with this story is the background the Author has put into some of the characters and some of the weapons they use. This is a very clever and interesting book, and I certainly look forward to reading more from Stjepan in the future. ...more

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Sep 03, 2017 Alex Avrio rated it liked it

I found Godeena a real mixed bag of a novel. It wasn’t until the final quarter of the novel that I started to enjoy the read, and by the end I thought there was quite a good plot here, and quite a satisfying resolution as to where the monstrous Being came from. The action sequences at the end were well described, and the pacing and mounting tension toward the end were well done. However, I almost didn’t persevere through to reach this part of the book, as I found the early chapters had some seve ...more

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May 10, 2017 Andria rated it liked it · review of another edition

**First: I must admit that I’m a science fiction junkie.
The author obviously speaks two languages and writes in two, so he certainly has my admiration. The challenge is always going to be in the translation (i.e. the devil is in the details).
I give a lot of credit to the time and effort that went into creating the world building, backstory and how to use weapons, but less went into a unique plot, pacing, character development, and believable dialogue.
There are numerous human characters, includi ...more

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Beta Reader Group: Sci Fi Action Military 102.640 words	1	12	Jul 30, 2017 12:19AM
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About Stjepan Varesevac Cobets

Stjepan Varesevac Cobets

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My short biography:

I was born on September 12, 1965, in Split, Croatia.
At a very young age, I started reading. I loved it because, through books, I traveled to places I could never visit in person. As a child, I loved fairy tales and adventure, but later I discovered other genres. When I found a Jules Verne book in the library, I became fascinated by science fiction. I’ve written poetry for fifte ...more