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Astral Prime #1-4
Astral Prime Mission Pack 1: Missions 1-4
They found a planet where none belonged. They should have left it alone. It is a planet like nothing the galaxy has seen. Found deep in the astral. Inhabited by creatures out of myth and legend. Formerly inhabited by a race far more advanced than anyone could have imagined. And now it's been discovered a bunch of reckless opportunists and enthusiastic amateurs. No one is prepared for what comes next. Mission 1: Shadow Planet
Her family's company went bankrupt. With nothing but a failing mining station as severance pay, Director Fujita Hiroko moves to the edge of the galaxy to keep the station afloat. When the nearby planet vanishes with her and her survey team still on the surface, hopes of mining are quickly replaced by a more pressing finding a way back to her station. Mission 2: Wizard Zero
When a survey team unearths buildings on prospective mining planet, at first, it’s hailed as an archeological jackpot. But the ancient structures are more advanced than anyone’s seen. And the hedge against technology is a wizard. Mission 3: Shielded Sun
With rival factions in orbit around Shadow Planet, the obvious threat was one another. When the defenses of an ancient alien outpost activate, trapping everyone in the star system, it becomes clear that there was more to worry about beneath the planet’s surface than in orbit around it. Mission 4: Prime Guardian
The ancient solution to get magic and tech to coexist lies within an alien structure older than any race in the galaxy. Now, the balance of power threatens to tip. As factions reinforce their fleets for a war to claim the ultimate technological prize, Hiroko finds herself trapped between three races—one of them her own—in a quest where even victory promises disaster. Bonus Short Tour of Darkness
The galaxy's oldest historical site has become a tourist attraction. It also holds untold secrets that could shift the course of civilization. How far will one lone wizard go to protect the ancient technology that lies within? Black Astral Prime hearkens back to location-based space sci-fi classics like Babylon 5 and Star Deep Space Nine . Astral Prime builds on the rich Black Ocean universe, introducing a colorful cast of characters for new and returning readers alike. Come along for the ride as a minor outpost in the middle of nowhere becomes a key point of interstellar conflict. Grab your copy today and discover the universe's greatest mystery.
Her family's company went bankrupt. With nothing but a failing mining station as severance pay, Director Fujita Hiroko moves to the edge of the galaxy to keep the station afloat. When the nearby planet vanishes with her and her survey team still on the surface, hopes of mining are quickly replaced by a more pressing finding a way back to her station. Mission 2: Wizard Zero
When a survey team unearths buildings on prospective mining planet, at first, it’s hailed as an archeological jackpot. But the ancient structures are more advanced than anyone’s seen. And the hedge against technology is a wizard. Mission 3: Shielded Sun
With rival factions in orbit around Shadow Planet, the obvious threat was one another. When the defenses of an ancient alien outpost activate, trapping everyone in the star system, it becomes clear that there was more to worry about beneath the planet’s surface than in orbit around it. Mission 4: Prime Guardian
The ancient solution to get magic and tech to coexist lies within an alien structure older than any race in the galaxy. Now, the balance of power threatens to tip. As factions reinforce their fleets for a war to claim the ultimate technological prize, Hiroko finds herself trapped between three races—one of them her own—in a quest where even victory promises disaster. Bonus Short Tour of Darkness
The galaxy's oldest historical site has become a tourist attraction. It also holds untold secrets that could shift the course of civilization. How far will one lone wizard go to protect the ancient technology that lies within? Black Astral Prime hearkens back to location-based space sci-fi classics like Babylon 5 and Star Deep Space Nine . Astral Prime builds on the rich Black Ocean universe, introducing a colorful cast of characters for new and returning readers alike. Come along for the ride as a minor outpost in the middle of nowhere becomes a key point of interstellar conflict. Grab your copy today and discover the universe's greatest mystery.
- GenresSpace Opera
599 pages, ebook
Published October 11, 2018
15 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
J.S. Morin
193 books613 followersI am a creator of worlds and a destroyer of words. As a fantasy writer, my works range from traditional epics to futuristic fantasy with starships. I have worked as an unpaid Little League pitcher, a cashier, a student library aide, a factory grunt, a cubicle drone, and an engineer--there is some overlap in the last two.
Through it all, though, I was always a storyteller. Eventually I started writing books based on the stray stories in my head, and people kept telling me to write more of them. Now, that's all I do for a living.
I enjoy strategy, worldbuilding, and the fantasy author's privilege to make up words. I am a gamer, a joker, and a thinker of sideways thoughts. But I don't dance, can't sing, and my best artistic efforts fall short of your average notebook doodle. When you read my books, you are seeing me at my best.
My ultimate goal is to be both clever and right at the same time. I have it on good authority that I have yet to achieve it.
Through it all, though, I was always a storyteller. Eventually I started writing books based on the stray stories in my head, and people kept telling me to write more of them. Now, that's all I do for a living.
I enjoy strategy, worldbuilding, and the fantasy author's privilege to make up words. I am a gamer, a joker, and a thinker of sideways thoughts. But I don't dance, can't sing, and my best artistic efforts fall short of your average notebook doodle. When you read my books, you are seeing me at my best.
My ultimate goal is to be both clever and right at the same time. I have it on good authority that I have yet to achieve it.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 15, 2019
This is the First of the ‘Mission Packs’ for the Astral Prime series. Following is a review of each of the individual books included in the Mission Pack. Please Note that books 2, 3, and 4 will contain spoilers for the previous books, and should only be read once you have read their preceding books – as in only read the review for book 2 after you have read book 1. This is a brilliant Series and well worth getting, as are all the Black Ocean Books!! Enjoy!!
Part 1 – Shadow Planet:
This is the first in the spin-off series to the main Black Ocean series. After the events that involved Mining Space Station YF-77, Calvin Black (better known as Cedric the Brown), has gone into hiding aboard Mining Space Station YF-77, trying to make up for what he did when he nearly caused the Station to crash (which is now known as Crash Day aboard the station), and doing significant damage to the stations systems in the process.
No one knows it was him, just that a Wizard did it. He is basically giving his services for nearly free, but he is also lying about the extent of his abilities.
This book picks up several months after the events of ‘Crash Day’, and the station is still in bad shape. They are desperate to try and find a new mining project, for a new revenue source and to fix the station.
Just when things look really bad, the Mega-Corporation that owns them goes under, and the Woman who runs the station, Fujita Hiroko, suddenly becomes the owner of it.
Desperate to keep things going, Hiroko authorises Black to use magic to move the station rather than using the Stations broken drive. Black, being far more powerful than any of them know, drops them deep into the Astral, and there they find a mysterious planet, and this is when things really begin to become interesting.
A small group goes to the planet for a quick look – as the Planet should not really exist, certainly with atmosphere.
On the planets surface, they discover a Dragon like creature that could hold the answer to all their problems.
However, the Planet moves between normal space and the Astral, so is difficult to keep track of.
This is the introductory book to the series, introducing us to the main characters on the station, letting us get to know the station and how everyone fits in, the relationships, both good and bad, the players and the desperation of the situation.
As with all the Black Ocean stories the quality of the Characters and the world building is just beyond exceptional. The incredible depth that goes into the background the Authors build for the story to be told is just incredible.
The character work is just masterful. Calvin is brilliant as the Wizard on the run, trying to play it down, hide his background, and at times having to unleash Cedric. Hiroko is written so well as the overworked and stressed station commander, and everybody has met or seen the overly enthusiastic executive assistant who is actually so much more such as Kendra is. Roland Kane is perfect as the annoying but likeable pain in the engineering department.
There are numerous other characters – all of them equally outstanding, as is this start to the next Black Ocean series.
If you have read the Black Ocean Series, you will love this, if you haven’t, you can probably easily get away without having read it, and enjoy this as a stand-alone story (although you should really go read/listen to Black Ocean as it is just the best Sci-Fi series out there). Either way – don’t miss out!!
Part 2 – Wizard Zero:
The 2nd installment of Astral Prime picks up basically straight from the end of Part 1, with the crew of Station YF-77 having found the ‘Shadow Planet’, and on that planet, having discovered ‘Dragon’ like creatures that have ‘Gravity Stones’ for hearts. These Heart Stones are powerful enough to emit the Gravity on large Military vessels, without all the messy complications usually associated with this sort magic/tech.
To enable the future of her Station, Hiroko has arranged for the sale of the Gravity Stones, and this attracts several interesting buyers, including the Stuunji, the Eyndar, and much to the Eyndar’s horror, the Zheen.
This book is a mixture of extremely fun moments, intensely powerful moments, highly political and military moments, but all it comes down to is sheer willpower.
During some very tense and also highly humourous moments of negotiation (nothing like having a Stuunji, a Zheen and an Eyndar all bidding on an item!), Hiroko decides to take the Ambassadors down to the planet to see first hand a new Archaeological site that has been discovered, a temple ruin that is billions of years old, pre-dating the existence of all known races. This visit to the temple however does not go as planned, and the team of Ambassadors, as well as the away team including Hiroko and Calvin are also trapped, possibly in mortal danger.
Suddenly the story goes from a bidding war over gravity stones to all the senior characters being trapped in an ancient temple that has some amazing ramifications for the Galaxy, and at the same time, the station crew are arguing with captains of all the ships trying to find out what has happened to their Ambassadors, threatening violence if they are not returned. Just when it couldn’t get worse, the ARGO Earth Navy arrive to try and take authority, even though they are out of ARGO space.
This is a full-on space adventure, with some brilliant combat scenes, the attention to detail is just masterful, giving the story just that extra edge. The character writing is what we have come to expect from these Authors, with such in-depth detail. Calvin’s internal struggle over what he is doing, what he is becoming, as well as the burden he carries to the station is a truly intriguing part of the story, it is incredibly well done. So is the character of Hiroko, and her inner battle with her traditions, but her loyalty to her crew, as well as trying to keep the station not just afloat, but start to turn things around for everybody (apart from people like Kane, who just has to watch and make sure he isn’t doing something nefarious)
‘Wizard Zero’ is were the crew of Station YF-77 really understand what the Shadow Planet is all about and what they have stumbled across, and it is also were the story really picks up.
This is an outstanding sequel to’ Shadow Planet’, and really shows just how brilliant the Authors are, even after all the other Black Ocean books, they still continue to turn out books of this quality. Can’t wait for Part 3!
Part 3 – Shielded Star:
After Calvin and Hiroko as well as the Ambassadors of the Xeno ships discover that the Temple on the planet could actually be the birthplace of all sentient species in the galaxy, as well as magic itself, everything changes. Unfortunately, no one can do anything about it, as a massive shield has descended on the Solar System, including the Astral, trapping everyone inside.
The initial reaction of the starships is to attack the shield with absolutely no effect.
Calvin and Hiroko both believe that the shield raised as a result of their encounter with the Vaieen Guardian on Shadow Planet in Part 2.
What follows is a rather intense situation, with each of the 3 factions, the Eyndar, The Zheen and the ARGO Earth Navy, all wanting answers from Hiroko, or looking at taking action of their own. Hiroko meanwhile, continues to put more and more pressure on Kane to bring the shield down, like he is going to have some miracle answer.
These episode of the series (without giving away spoilers), has some fascinating insights into each of the races, we get to learn more about the Marines of the Navy, the inner workings of the Pack Mentality of the Eyndar, and how the Zheen hive mentality also works.
This is also one of those episodes in which we get to see a great deal of Wizarding powers, as Calvin/Cedric unleashes himself in full fury over a couple of things (you will see), and it is totally enthralling to see a Wizard in all his glory. This has to be one of the best bits of these stories, tying in magic into Sci-fi, and making it work so well, but now to have an Origin species, The Vaieen, who have combined both Tech and Magic, makes it all the more brilliant. There are very few episodes in which we see this level of magic unleashed, so for those that love the magical side, this was a real treat.
As with all the episodes, there is some great Characters, and great development of the characters, the 3 Xeno Ambassadors from the Zheen, Stuunji and Eyndar races have to be some of the best characters in the book.
Calvin/Cedric’s character continues to be an outstanding character as he is developed throughout the series as the damaged soul, seeking redemption. Along with Hiroko, and Kane, as well as the cast of secondary characters, there is an exceptional cast in this series.
The Black Ocean Series was extraordinary, and the Astral Prime spin-off is turning out to be just as thrilling. If you were a fan of The Black Ocean Series, you will love this series. Even if you haven’t read the Black Ocean Series, you can still get into this, although it is better if you have read Black Ocean (and trust me, you won’t be disappointed).
Regardless, Astral Prime is a series that should not be missed – Part 3 is just awesome!!
Part 4 – Prime Wizard:
In this, the final part of the first series of Astral Prime, things are not looking good for those aboard the Station.
Hiroko is trying to keep together a very fragile peace between the Eyndar, the Zheen and the ARGO Earth Navy.
Hiroko is a complicated character, obviously one of the main characters who is linked to multiple major streams of the story. We have already had significant character development for Hiroko, but we get a lot more in this part, leading to some brilliant storylines, some which get closure for the satisfaction of the reader, but since she is related to the station and its intergalactic relations, some of these storylines are obviously not closed, leaving them open for another series (although not necessarily relating to her of course)
Kane is not only trying to outwit Hiroko still to take the station, but he his also trying to keep on top of the negotiations as well, and certain illicit shop keepers, who may be more than they seem.
The character of Roland Kane is a really fun one, and in this episode, we finally get a lot more background on where he is from, his relationship to certain other people (no spoilers), and it is kind of fascinating watching this storyline play out.
Probably one of the best characters in this series though so far, especially if you like magic, or the entire ‘Wizardry’ aspect of the story, is Calvin Black, a.k.a., Cedric the Brown. Cedric is obviously a wanted mass murderer by the Convocation, as well as other crimes, such as reading ‘The Tome of Bleeding Thoughts’ (This is like the coolest name ever for a book), whereas Calvin is just a nice wizard who has some experience with astral drives. However, at the end of part 3, the stupid Marines did something really dumb, killing the dragon powering the Vaieen facility, making Calvin very unhappy, and you never want to make a Wizard unhappy, especially one who knows the dark language. So Calvin goes and destroys every weapon they had and tells them to leave or else. He has deemed the planet off limits, and has decided to stay with the dragon for now, utterly horrified that it was destroyed like that.
There is a lot of discussion in this last part about Cedric, his abilities, the Convocation, all sorts of wonderful things.
There are some other brilliant sections in this final chapter of the first series, as we get to cover off on some more of the Eyndar and Zheen background, and even better, the Stuunji. Something that is also really rather clever is that the Rucker Syndicate makes an appearance – again linking the original series to this one.
Overall this is a really engaging story, one that you will not put down once you start (I did it in 2 sessions and that was only because of Children issues!). As far as a spin-off series, this is just outstanding, but totally superior in every way.
For fans of Black Ocean – this is an absolute must!!
Part 1 – Shadow Planet:
This is the first in the spin-off series to the main Black Ocean series. After the events that involved Mining Space Station YF-77, Calvin Black (better known as Cedric the Brown), has gone into hiding aboard Mining Space Station YF-77, trying to make up for what he did when he nearly caused the Station to crash (which is now known as Crash Day aboard the station), and doing significant damage to the stations systems in the process.
No one knows it was him, just that a Wizard did it. He is basically giving his services for nearly free, but he is also lying about the extent of his abilities.
This book picks up several months after the events of ‘Crash Day’, and the station is still in bad shape. They are desperate to try and find a new mining project, for a new revenue source and to fix the station.
Just when things look really bad, the Mega-Corporation that owns them goes under, and the Woman who runs the station, Fujita Hiroko, suddenly becomes the owner of it.
Desperate to keep things going, Hiroko authorises Black to use magic to move the station rather than using the Stations broken drive. Black, being far more powerful than any of them know, drops them deep into the Astral, and there they find a mysterious planet, and this is when things really begin to become interesting.
A small group goes to the planet for a quick look – as the Planet should not really exist, certainly with atmosphere.
On the planets surface, they discover a Dragon like creature that could hold the answer to all their problems.
However, the Planet moves between normal space and the Astral, so is difficult to keep track of.
This is the introductory book to the series, introducing us to the main characters on the station, letting us get to know the station and how everyone fits in, the relationships, both good and bad, the players and the desperation of the situation.
As with all the Black Ocean stories the quality of the Characters and the world building is just beyond exceptional. The incredible depth that goes into the background the Authors build for the story to be told is just incredible.
The character work is just masterful. Calvin is brilliant as the Wizard on the run, trying to play it down, hide his background, and at times having to unleash Cedric. Hiroko is written so well as the overworked and stressed station commander, and everybody has met or seen the overly enthusiastic executive assistant who is actually so much more such as Kendra is. Roland Kane is perfect as the annoying but likeable pain in the engineering department.
There are numerous other characters – all of them equally outstanding, as is this start to the next Black Ocean series.
If you have read the Black Ocean Series, you will love this, if you haven’t, you can probably easily get away without having read it, and enjoy this as a stand-alone story (although you should really go read/listen to Black Ocean as it is just the best Sci-Fi series out there). Either way – don’t miss out!!
Part 2 – Wizard Zero:
The 2nd installment of Astral Prime picks up basically straight from the end of Part 1, with the crew of Station YF-77 having found the ‘Shadow Planet’, and on that planet, having discovered ‘Dragon’ like creatures that have ‘Gravity Stones’ for hearts. These Heart Stones are powerful enough to emit the Gravity on large Military vessels, without all the messy complications usually associated with this sort magic/tech.
To enable the future of her Station, Hiroko has arranged for the sale of the Gravity Stones, and this attracts several interesting buyers, including the Stuunji, the Eyndar, and much to the Eyndar’s horror, the Zheen.
This book is a mixture of extremely fun moments, intensely powerful moments, highly political and military moments, but all it comes down to is sheer willpower.
During some very tense and also highly humourous moments of negotiation (nothing like having a Stuunji, a Zheen and an Eyndar all bidding on an item!), Hiroko decides to take the Ambassadors down to the planet to see first hand a new Archaeological site that has been discovered, a temple ruin that is billions of years old, pre-dating the existence of all known races. This visit to the temple however does not go as planned, and the team of Ambassadors, as well as the away team including Hiroko and Calvin are also trapped, possibly in mortal danger.
Suddenly the story goes from a bidding war over gravity stones to all the senior characters being trapped in an ancient temple that has some amazing ramifications for the Galaxy, and at the same time, the station crew are arguing with captains of all the ships trying to find out what has happened to their Ambassadors, threatening violence if they are not returned. Just when it couldn’t get worse, the ARGO Earth Navy arrive to try and take authority, even though they are out of ARGO space.
This is a full-on space adventure, with some brilliant combat scenes, the attention to detail is just masterful, giving the story just that extra edge. The character writing is what we have come to expect from these Authors, with such in-depth detail. Calvin’s internal struggle over what he is doing, what he is becoming, as well as the burden he carries to the station is a truly intriguing part of the story, it is incredibly well done. So is the character of Hiroko, and her inner battle with her traditions, but her loyalty to her crew, as well as trying to keep the station not just afloat, but start to turn things around for everybody (apart from people like Kane, who just has to watch and make sure he isn’t doing something nefarious)
‘Wizard Zero’ is were the crew of Station YF-77 really understand what the Shadow Planet is all about and what they have stumbled across, and it is also were the story really picks up.
This is an outstanding sequel to’ Shadow Planet’, and really shows just how brilliant the Authors are, even after all the other Black Ocean books, they still continue to turn out books of this quality. Can’t wait for Part 3!
Part 3 – Shielded Star:
After Calvin and Hiroko as well as the Ambassadors of the Xeno ships discover that the Temple on the planet could actually be the birthplace of all sentient species in the galaxy, as well as magic itself, everything changes. Unfortunately, no one can do anything about it, as a massive shield has descended on the Solar System, including the Astral, trapping everyone inside.
The initial reaction of the starships is to attack the shield with absolutely no effect.
Calvin and Hiroko both believe that the shield raised as a result of their encounter with the Vaieen Guardian on Shadow Planet in Part 2.
What follows is a rather intense situation, with each of the 3 factions, the Eyndar, The Zheen and the ARGO Earth Navy, all wanting answers from Hiroko, or looking at taking action of their own. Hiroko meanwhile, continues to put more and more pressure on Kane to bring the shield down, like he is going to have some miracle answer.
These episode of the series (without giving away spoilers), has some fascinating insights into each of the races, we get to learn more about the Marines of the Navy, the inner workings of the Pack Mentality of the Eyndar, and how the Zheen hive mentality also works.
This is also one of those episodes in which we get to see a great deal of Wizarding powers, as Calvin/Cedric unleashes himself in full fury over a couple of things (you will see), and it is totally enthralling to see a Wizard in all his glory. This has to be one of the best bits of these stories, tying in magic into Sci-fi, and making it work so well, but now to have an Origin species, The Vaieen, who have combined both Tech and Magic, makes it all the more brilliant. There are very few episodes in which we see this level of magic unleashed, so for those that love the magical side, this was a real treat.
As with all the episodes, there is some great Characters, and great development of the characters, the 3 Xeno Ambassadors from the Zheen, Stuunji and Eyndar races have to be some of the best characters in the book.
Calvin/Cedric’s character continues to be an outstanding character as he is developed throughout the series as the damaged soul, seeking redemption. Along with Hiroko, and Kane, as well as the cast of secondary characters, there is an exceptional cast in this series.
The Black Ocean Series was extraordinary, and the Astral Prime spin-off is turning out to be just as thrilling. If you were a fan of The Black Ocean Series, you will love this series. Even if you haven’t read the Black Ocean Series, you can still get into this, although it is better if you have read Black Ocean (and trust me, you won’t be disappointed).
Regardless, Astral Prime is a series that should not be missed – Part 3 is just awesome!!
Part 4 – Prime Wizard:
In this, the final part of the first series of Astral Prime, things are not looking good for those aboard the Station.
Hiroko is trying to keep together a very fragile peace between the Eyndar, the Zheen and the ARGO Earth Navy.
Hiroko is a complicated character, obviously one of the main characters who is linked to multiple major streams of the story. We have already had significant character development for Hiroko, but we get a lot more in this part, leading to some brilliant storylines, some which get closure for the satisfaction of the reader, but since she is related to the station and its intergalactic relations, some of these storylines are obviously not closed, leaving them open for another series (although not necessarily relating to her of course)
Kane is not only trying to outwit Hiroko still to take the station, but he his also trying to keep on top of the negotiations as well, and certain illicit shop keepers, who may be more than they seem.
The character of Roland Kane is a really fun one, and in this episode, we finally get a lot more background on where he is from, his relationship to certain other people (no spoilers), and it is kind of fascinating watching this storyline play out.
Probably one of the best characters in this series though so far, especially if you like magic, or the entire ‘Wizardry’ aspect of the story, is Calvin Black, a.k.a., Cedric the Brown. Cedric is obviously a wanted mass murderer by the Convocation, as well as other crimes, such as reading ‘The Tome of Bleeding Thoughts’ (This is like the coolest name ever for a book), whereas Calvin is just a nice wizard who has some experience with astral drives. However, at the end of part 3, the stupid Marines did something really dumb, killing the dragon powering the Vaieen facility, making Calvin very unhappy, and you never want to make a Wizard unhappy, especially one who knows the dark language. So Calvin goes and destroys every weapon they had and tells them to leave or else. He has deemed the planet off limits, and has decided to stay with the dragon for now, utterly horrified that it was destroyed like that.
There is a lot of discussion in this last part about Cedric, his abilities, the Convocation, all sorts of wonderful things.
There are some other brilliant sections in this final chapter of the first series, as we get to cover off on some more of the Eyndar and Zheen background, and even better, the Stuunji. Something that is also really rather clever is that the Rucker Syndicate makes an appearance – again linking the original series to this one.
Overall this is a really engaging story, one that you will not put down once you start (I did it in 2 sessions and that was only because of Children issues!). As far as a spin-off series, this is just outstanding, but totally superior in every way.
For fans of Black Ocean – this is an absolute must!!
November 17, 2022
Amazing concept, gloriously detailed, but. ...
I thought I eas buying an omnibus of 4 ebooks. It turned out to be an omnibus of 4 novellas in reality. Directly consecutive, episodic almost. Book 1 was of the highest order exciting, mesmeric, chilling, enjoyable. Books 2,3 + 4 (novellas really) were predominantly self-indulgent moralistic draen out ramblings, action few and far between. Tedious individual moralistic ramblings detroying the magic imagery created by book 1. Book 4 yet again presented overlong, ovetused moralistic self indulgences, tedious to the point of distraction.
It could have been a wondrous 4 book/novella journey of incredible literary magic. I strughled with its moralistic ramblings to the point of untold tedium.
The omnibus did contain some degree of enjoyment I admit but really I asked myself at the end, should I have bought omnibus 2 as I had done. I am really, really doubtful it will re-energise my interest level in this series. I will give it a try but am expecting another piece of moralistic ramblings in the guise of Space adventures/excitement. No doubt the omnibus of books 5-8 will turn out to be novellas again as a method to soak up readers cash. Not too pleased. Give the series a go if you are a somewhat profound thinker who can't get to sleep at night usually. The tedium will help you drift off. Pretentious drivel in the main.
I thought I eas buying an omnibus of 4 ebooks. It turned out to be an omnibus of 4 novellas in reality. Directly consecutive, episodic almost. Book 1 was of the highest order exciting, mesmeric, chilling, enjoyable. Books 2,3 + 4 (novellas really) were predominantly self-indulgent moralistic draen out ramblings, action few and far between. Tedious individual moralistic ramblings detroying the magic imagery created by book 1. Book 4 yet again presented overlong, ovetused moralistic self indulgences, tedious to the point of distraction.
It could have been a wondrous 4 book/novella journey of incredible literary magic. I strughled with its moralistic ramblings to the point of untold tedium.
The omnibus did contain some degree of enjoyment I admit but really I asked myself at the end, should I have bought omnibus 2 as I had done. I am really, really doubtful it will re-energise my interest level in this series. I will give it a try but am expecting another piece of moralistic ramblings in the guise of Space adventures/excitement. No doubt the omnibus of books 5-8 will turn out to be novellas again as a method to soak up readers cash. Not too pleased. Give the series a go if you are a somewhat profound thinker who can't get to sleep at night usually. The tedium will help you drift off. Pretentious drivel in the main.
August 29, 2020
What happens when you find out your whole civilization was an experiment?
Earth is not alone. We are but one of many sentient species in the galaxy and one of four space-faring races. As dissimilar as they all are, what happens if you find out you were all nothing but an experiment by a long-gone super race?
This is a great series and it got me hooked on the authors. As soon as I was finished, I went and bought two more series that they wrote. Great stuff.
Earth is not alone. We are but one of many sentient species in the galaxy and one of four space-faring races. As dissimilar as they all are, what happens if you find out you were all nothing but an experiment by a long-gone super race?
This is a great series and it got me hooked on the authors. As soon as I was finished, I went and bought two more series that they wrote. Great stuff.
July 14, 2019
Epic, expanding the scope of Black Ocean
I really enjoyed the focus on a space station and a cast of ragtag staff trying to make something of it and themselves. The tie in to previous Black Ocean series was great, and the bonus story was as always an amazing piece of nostalgia to finish.
I really enjoyed the focus on a space station and a cast of ragtag staff trying to make something of it and themselves. The tie in to previous Black Ocean series was great, and the bonus story was as always an amazing piece of nostalgia to finish.
August 8, 2019
Ope read this out of order, but still loved it. It's a long one, not quite as long as the other Black Ocean books but still great. Cedric the brown tries to make amends but some stuff goes down and he becomes the protector of progenitor technology. Pretty dope story. Can't wait for the next 3 books to come out in audio book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2020
It's ok. I didn't like it as much as the Black Ocean collection
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews