Rebelia

Rebel Fleet #1

by B.V. Larson

Polują na nas. Dla treningu bombardują nasze światy. Gromada gwiazd w konstelacji Oriona co tysiąc lat wykonuje pełny obrót. Rządzący hołdują pradawnej tradycji: na koniec każdego cyklu wysyłają floty na ćwiczenia, podczas których przelewana jest krew pośledniejszych istot.
Wrogie floty znów nadciągają. W tej sytuacji Światy Rebeliantów gromadzą okręty wojenne, by stawić czoła przerażającemu zagrożeniu. Tym razem ludzkość jest proszona o wsparcie. Gdy ostatni raz rozważano udział Ziemi w konflikcie, wikingowie w swoich drakkarach plądrowali wybrzeża Anglii. Dziś jesteśmy mniej prymitywni. Dziś stanowimy cel.
Jeden człowiek zostaje wybrany na dowódcę jedynego reprezentującego Ziemię okrętu we Flocie Rebeliantów. Kiedy wojna wybuchnie, Leo Blake musi ją wygrać… albo zginie, próbując.

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

432 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2016

About the author

Brian Larson is an American science fiction and fantasy author

Reviews

[Empress Reece (Hooked on Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars...

The first part of this story was an enigma to me. Just when I thought I finally understood where the author was going with it, he ended up taking the plot in a totally different direction. After I made it through all of the "wtf are they doing sections" and the pieces started to finally come together I enjoyed it a lot more. If you like lots of action, fighting and aliens then you are in the right place. This book has that in spades and it's great entertainment if you can hang in there past that first thirty percent or so.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may have to list B.V.Larson among my "I'm a fan of this author" list.... I think I've liked most of the books I've read by him and I'm coming to think of his books as "safe to buy".

Note I listed this among my 5 star reads. The basic idea behind this book has been done elsewhere and as I started it i kept thinking of ways I thought might have been a better way to go. That said, as I went along I became more and more interested, more and more enthralled.

Okay...Earth didn't know it (that is we didn't know it) but we (our part of the galaxy) out here on the arm away from the central part of the said Galaxy happens to be in the "Rebel" part of the (again "said") Galaxy. See, the thing is that to the Imperials "we" (that is the beings outside the Empire) were/are sort of considered...well beasts. Think the movie Predator. Every 1000 years or so the Imperials sweep out of their Empire and kill a few planets, you know...for sport.

Now so far Earth has been too primitive for the Rebel Fleet to bother with even though we get their protection. Now however they have decided that it's time for "us" to "chip in" so to speak.

But their recruitment and training practices are a true bitc err I mean are very...nasty, yes that's it nasty. As a matter of fact living through them is, unusual.

The novel rolls along and draws you into it's logic and reality. If you're like me (and especially if you like military science fiction, military fiction, action fiction, science fiction...and maybe even space opera) you'll get really involved. I recommend this one.

The second is already out, at least in Ebook form. I noted it took a few months for the first to come out in other forms after it was originally published. So I plan to watch for a few months (I mean it's not like I don't have "other stuff" to read) and hopefully it will be released in audio. if not I'll have to get in E form...life huh?

Good book, highly recommended.

[Joseph Millo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just about the worst SF I've read in decades. Characters are one dimensional and not even believable. the story is shallow and stupid. I've seen better plots in Dr. Seuss books. I'm embarrassed to admit I read 50 pages before deleting it from my Kindle. A total waste of my money.
The fact that there are so many Amazon 5 star reviews confirms how worthless Amazon book reviews can be.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

17% in and had to stop. Why plagiarise yourself, this is star force all over again ??? BV you are creative, surely you could have done something better. Your main characters are generally super gifted fellows who every chick wants to bang, this is bearable but copying your own story lines & the same type of hero ?
Have you run out of puff ... stop writing a book every month. Then go have a long deserved holiday and come back with something new.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can turn off your brain for this one. You won't need it, or even particularly want to have it around.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the premise was good. It progressed steadily and the environments were well imagined, the different races of aliens were distinguished by more than just appearance and the humans were the heroes (without being TOTAL a**holes). HOWEVER, the author took 'sex sells' way too literally. I'm amazed the main character had time to get anything done, and I'm still not sure what value it even added to the story.

[Kirin171]

Nope

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 1 out of 5]

See this review and more on Books and Ladders!

Don't look any further for Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays!

Actual Rating: 0.5*

This was just really not good. I wish I could give it 0 stars. I got this as an Audible Daily Deal and honestly it just reminds me that sometimes those are misses. This had absolutely no redeeming qualities and made me want to stop listening about 100 times but I felt like I had gone too far in the audiobook to stop. Plus, after our main character had sex with a humanoid-cat-alien, I just had to know what that would lead to (more sex). Definitely think this is a pass, my friends.

[Tarik · Rating 5 out of 5]

It started off uniquely enough and, while there were some sci-fi archetypes to the story, it did go and directions I didn't necessarily expect. This is the first Larson book I have read. There have been reviews that say this book is very very similar to and copy of another series of his. With that said, I may not continue with this series and read the other series first instead. I'm not sure yet.

It was a really engaging sci-fi story that got me hooked.
I'm looking forward to reading other books from the series.

[Jason Porter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book because I wanted something light and simple...it was light and simple and yet so odd. It started out very good and I was very intrigued but it slid into oddness. Worth the listen if you're bored out of your mind.

[Virginia Rand · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book seriously felt like it was written in the 1990s with it's dealing with gender, and only one of the characters was really fleshed out past a nationality. It felt like reading someone else's self insert fanfiction.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have to have a pretty good willing suspension of disbelief for this one, and there is a bit too much telling rather than showing. The characters are pretty flat, and the protagonist is always the smartest guy in the room. All that not withstanding, this was a really fun science fiction adventure. If I could get them really cheap, I would probably read more in the series.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this is going to be a fun series! Leo Blake reminds me of James McGill of the “Undying Mercenaries Series” also written by B.V. Larson. They are both irreverent, cocky and don’t follow the rules. McGill gets into more trouble, but Blake has his hands full in this series. There’s just enough comedy thrown in to make the story mildly amusing, but not to the point it gets ridiculous.

Aliens have dropped some kind of rock in the water just off an island in Hawaii. Blake and a friend of his swim out to find out what it is, showing off for their girls who remain on the beach. Blake’s friend disappears below the water and doesn’t come up for way too long. So, Blake dives down and finds Jason stuck to some kind of glowing rock. He doesn’t appear to be breathing. Blake attempts to pull him away from the rock and eventually gets a rocking motion that succeeds in getting his friend free. He drags him to shore and start CPR, but it doesn’t look good. By this time, the girls have called for help and a doctor arrives on the beach to pronounce Jason as dead. Then one of the girls suddenly notices that Jason’s hand is missing. Blake must have broke Jason loose from the ice block holding his hand to the stone by just ripping the limb off. There was blood everywhere on the beach.

That’s starts off this adventure that will take Blake and one of the girls to outer space, far, far from the Earth. Earth hasn’t developed any kind of space exploration capabilities than we have now, yet the have positive proof that aliens do exist and they are visiting Earth. In fact, aliens are now on Earth recruiting humans for their interstellar war. Actually, it’s not a war so much as a rebel uprising against the Imperium which has been devastating alien planets all along the frontier. It turns out the Imperium is using these planets a training grounds for it’s Imperial space forces. They are only sending their inexperienced space craft out to fight against the rebels and not worrying much about the outcome. Except, they don’t expect nor like to lose these battles.

So, as you guessed it, Leo Blake and one of the beach girls have been recruited by the aliens to be members of their space force. That recruiting effort was in the form of nanites passed into their blood stream causing them to act differently than they normally would. In fact, the initial reaction to the nanite infection is a dramatic increase in aggression. Those people effected become murderous. Blake finds that out when one of the beach girls tries to kill him in a hotel room.

As Blake is a former Navy pilot, he attempts to contact the Pentagon and inform them of what he’s found out about that mysterious artifact in the ocean near Hawaii. Unknown to Blake, the US government has known about the aliens and their recruitment efforts and have agreed to it. So, Blake quickly finds himself and four other Earth humans on a huge star ship headed for who knows where. He also finds out that the aliens intend to prove that he’s worthy of being in their space force by making him and his fellow humans fight each other and then other aliens. They have a point system which is how you gain rank and prestige about this starship. Fortunately, Leo Blake hasn’t been effected by the nanites as they were expecting and these aliens don't seem to have a clue as to how humans think. That’s when the fun starts.

A good start to what could become a great series along the lines of the “Undying Mercenaries”. I hope so because I liked that series very much and the writing in this book seems very familiar and that’s very good.

[David P. Duffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Poor, Lame, and Unsatisfactory Product from Mr. Larson

The "Rebel Fleet," is classic B. V. Larson-somewhat potentially interesting storyline that is decimated by author's pretentious, overbearing, inept, cartoonish, and juvenile execution. The author is symptomatic of the current state of eBook writers-someone who thinks they are so smart, so clever, so talented, that prodigious amounts of their hackneyed, drivel produced, under the guise of SciFi, is an acceptable commercial product.

The author in "Rebel Fleet," writes poorly (his favorite word is "...but...," appears in nearly every other sentence), repeats portions of narratives as "filler" towards word count, creates cartoonish one dimensional characters, "purloins" freely from a multitude of other SciFi works ("Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Twilight Zone," to name but a few), and favors interspecies copulation-beastiality.

The storyline has an central galactic core Empire, that comes out every millennium to "hunt" other species, and hone their combat skills through interstellar warfare. The "tribal" non- Imperial species, the "Rebel Fleet," dust off their technologically inferior vessels, go around shanghaiing "volunteers," implanting them with symbiots for conditioning, morph into a ragtag fleet, and fight the Empire. It is poorly conceived, lamely written, and boring.

The eBook was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.

The "Rebel Fleet," is not recommended.

[Craig Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

B. V. Larson has a real talent for originality that is tarnished by an uncomfortably perverted streak. Reading his characterisations of women too often leaves you feeling like the voyeur of a troubled mind. These diversions are more troubling in their lack of necessity, doing nothing to further an otherwise fascinating plot; instead they diminish one’s ability to route for heroes that, too often, objectify the female characters. At least in this series they are alien females, but it does nothing to diminish the profound sense of unease generated by the nonchalant way Larson’s heroes satisfy their rampant libidos.

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I got 10 pages in before I closed it and deleted it off my Prime library. The extensive avoidance of 'said' in dialogue felt forced, 5 pages in the main character tries to hit on a girl that's already refused him because "no doesn't mean never," and all it all it reads kind of like a mediocre self-insert except it's an original story instead of fanfic. Would rather just read good SI-fic.

[Radosław Magiera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Space Opera to dla mnie dość specyficzny gatunek. Jedne z dzieł stanowiących kanon tego stylu uwielbiam, a innych nie cierpię. Po zastanowieniu doszedłem do wniosku, iż przyczyną są dwa nurty SO, z których jeden plasuje się w hard science fiction, a drugi, mimo anturażu zaczerpniętego z SF, tak naprawdę w mniejszym lub większym stopniu ciąży ku fantasy, tylko zamiast czarów i zaklęć mamy tu technikę i technologię, lecz nie takie, jak w Hard SF, czyli przekonujące i logicznie powiązane, ale nieco infantylne i mniej nawet realistyczne niż wspomniane czary mary.

Sięgając po „Rebelię” otwierającą cykl powieściowy „Rebel Fleet” pióra amerykańskiego współczesnego pisarza B.V. Larsona miałem nadzieję na coś naprawdę mocnego w stylu Military SF z wyraźnym rysem klasycznego SF (Hard). Niestety, dość mocno się zawiodłem.

„Rebelii” daleko, i to bardzo, choćby do „Ekspansji” Jamesa S.A. Coreya (spólka Daniela Abrahama i Ty Francka), za to bardzo blisko do najsłabszych filmów cyklu „Gwiezdne Wojny”. Oczywiście, te ostatnie też mają swoich zagorzałych fanów, i dla czytelników o podobnych gustach pewnie „Rebelia” będzie super, ale to nie moja bajka. Nie, żeby całkiem mi się pierwsza powieść cyklu „Rebel Fleet” nie podobała - była OK - ale do zachwytów mi daleko.

Pomysł na fabułę dobry, kreacje głównych postaci w normie, sporo strawnego humoru, ale im dalej, tym to wszystko płytsze i bardziej koturnowe. Nie komiksowe, a przegięte i wysztucznione, zaś najgorsze to narastające wrażenie płytkości. No i drzewo technologiczne się sypie, podobnie jak związki przyczynowo-skutkowe. A szkoda, bo na przykład wspomniany humor jest lekki, awanturniczy, którego w filmach już się nie zobaczy, i który sprawia wrażenie jakby pochodził z dzieła dużo bardziej udanego.

Fabuły nie będę przybliżał. Całe szczęście, że notkę wydawcy przeczytałem dopiero po poznaniu powieści, gdyż zdecydowanie jest to spojler i straciłbym wynikającą z niewiedzy część czytelniczej przyjemności, której i tak nie było w nadmiarze.

Moje wrażenia dotyczą audiobooka w interpretacji Rocha Siemianowskiego. I tu wielkie uznanie dla wydawcy za wyjątkowo umiejętne wprowadzenie (na bieżąco) treści odsyłaczy, odnośników, itd., co jest w świecie audio rzadkością, niestety. Jak zwykle nie mogło się jednak obyć bez drobnych wpadek jak na przykład „pod rząd” zamiast „z rzędu”. Sam Roch Siemianowski stanął na wysokości zadania, ale jeśli już stwierdziłem, że „Rebel Fleet” to nie „Ekspansja”, to i Maciej Kowalik z tego drugiego audiobooka lepiej sobie poradził od Lecha.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't at all what I was expecting, thankfully. Because I was kind of preparing for a rouge human fleet gone off against some oppressive earth or human government / empire: a last stand of noble rebels against the fascist powers that be. I actually avoided starting this one for a pretty long time because of that false expectation. That is not at all what I got! And had I known how unique this was (for me at least given what I've read), I would have been all over this series long ago.

Now there is obviously a rebel fleet, but ... well ... you'll have to dig in to find out. Let me put it this way: I don't think you will be able to guess, or even come close to guessing, what this Rebel Fleet really is before picking up the book.

This book has one of the most strange beginnings I have encountered, and the book seems to make no sense at first. It seems to be leading us one way, or I thought so at least, but then ... LOL, you'll see! It all comes together into something bizarre, and I thought, became a hilarious and a fun-filled action packed pile of awesomeness.

If you are looking for plausible, hard sci-fi with lots of good science, technological speculation, with seemingly accurate technical jargon, etc. then this is going to miss the mark big time for you. But if you are in the mood for a unique, stand up - drag 'em out - no holds barred - action adventure in space then give this a try and you will have a good relaxing rainy Sunday. It has loads of different aliens, and is dominated by a super interesting kinda'-friendly alien military culture with human underdogs using their wits to show the friendly's who's boss and also, as is right and proper in this kind of romp - bring the pain to another group of super baddie genocidal aliens.

I listened to this in one go. That is a clear indicator of a great bit of entertainment! For those audiobookers out there: Mark Boyett did an awesome job on this one. He is most definitely one of my favorite narrators for military science fiction.

[Renata Riva · Rating 3 out of 5]

In “Rebel Fleet” Earth is visited by aliens who have seeded the galaxy a long time ago and want now soldiers to fight for them. Leo Blake is one of these unwilling recruits. He adjusts to the new situation and manages to become the captain of a group of humans who will distinguish themselves in the upcoming battles.

“Rebel Fleet” is fun to read, although there is quite a lot of physical violence in it, especially in the first third of the book. The characters move from a difficult situation to another, always finding a way to succeed, but they don’t change much during the story. There are many twists that keep the reader engaged.

It is not a thought-provoking book, but if you are looking for a light, humoristic read, and you don’t mind violence too much, this might be the ideal book for you.

[Edward III · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I would have enjoyed Rebel Fleet more if I hadn’t read Old Man’s War before it. These books follow the same path: earthling joins the galactic fight, goes through training, and ends up being the best soldier. In this case it was because of human's cunning and ability to deceive. Fair enough. The story, plot and characters are vanilla, which is fine because this book is about the adventure. The journey. Problem is I felt like I’d been on this journey several times before, and there was nothing new to carry the show. The writing needed another pass or two, there was mucho telling. He was scared. He was nervous. Gets old. Rebel Fleet has 550 Amazon reviews with a four-plus star average.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leo Blake, a former soldier, is bumming around Hawaii when he accidentally comes into contact with an anomaly from outer space, which infects him with a symbiotic organism that makes him an instant target for a succession of deranged attackers. Soon Leo discovers that Earth is part of a galaxy-wide war and the "sym" is preparing him to be one of the next batch of conscripts to the Rebel Fleet.

The good: The author's total commitment to his ridiculous premise, and his inventive ways of furthering it, keep things moving. Several times our main character seemed backed irrevocably into a corner, and suddenly the story opened up in a different and unexpected direction.

The bad: The characters are one-dimensional and the plot has many holes. The fight scenes (both physical violence and, later, space battles) are too protracted for my taste.

The verdict: Not a bad read if you like space romps and don't mind violence and can handle a completely average main character who is somehow miraculously the smartest and most attractive guy in, literally, the galaxy.

[Kylie Kabibi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this story. The premise was pretty good, but the execution left a lot to be desired. To be honest, I didn't read the synopsis and went in with no expectations. I found an insufferable protagonist and supporting characters with less depth than an eggcup.

Leo is trash! He is tiresome in the extreme and super self-absorbed. He is attracted to far too many alien women over too short a time to be reasonable. Since contraception is never mentioned on Earth or in space, I'm not convinced he behaved responsibly. All the women want to sleep with him or have to explicitly state they DON'T want to, which just proves they thought about it.

All the other characters are cardboard cutouts. They aren't really people because they have been designed to make Leo look good. Dalton is cunning and sly like Leo, but Leo is the hero, so Dalton is conniving and sneaky. Samson is all brawn and very little brain, which automatically makes him inferior to Leo. Gwen is the only human woman and is thoughtful and strategic, but she also has a thing for Leo. Then we have Doctor Chang. He is smart, strategic, and thoughtful, but he is the worst written character. The author consistently makes Doctor Chang the weakest member of the team for no discernible reason.

All in all, I doubt I’ll be reading this author’s work for a while.

[Jim Jam · Rating 2 out of 5]

No idea how this got so many good reviews, the worldbuilding just didn't make sense or feel believable, and basically there are no redeeming features - no interesting sci fi concepts, no interesting character drama, the writing quality is very average... I won't be bothering to read any further in the series, and would not recommend this book to anyone.

Short summary: clichéd washed up fighter pilot gets abducted by aliens, has to compete in a series of battle royale style challenges, is super clever and lucky and wins everything, has Sex with an alien, is the best fighter pilot ever, the alien society is all status based and they're all competing with each other trying to beat each other to gain rank etc, yadda yadda yadda.

[Steven Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in 2 days so must have liked something about it. I'm starting to read more space sci fi stuff and this is the first Larson book I've read. The plot moves fast, and opens up an interesting universe of humanoid species, though I feel that it does get a little far fetched in places regarding the exploits of the main character. That said, I do like the well placed spots of humour in the story and the space battles are well described. I felt that the book got better the more I read and I gradually found myself enjoying the story, so I'm going to give book 2 a chance and read on. If like myself, this is a genre you're just getting into, then this is a decent read.

[Victor Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right off the bat, this is not 'Hard Science' fiction or even that serious. It is a fun romp with some interesting ideas. The hero always swaggers (and I mean swaggers a lot), makes out with whatever he can, and always comes out on top. Normally that'd make the book a wash, but the background helps out here. The alien society isn't one normally presented. They are advanced in the way we'd normally see them, and there is a clear tension between what the definition of what an 'advanced' society really is. It also plays on the duality of being a human being that balances both raw aggression with cleverness.

[Patkós Csaba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. Not the best I've ever read, but I liked it. In fact, I liked it enough to immediately continue with the second one in the series.
The book starts slow, and with a strange set of actions. I was king of bored with the first half of the book. It was slow going, and without a direction I could figure out. Then it picked up the pace and it became very good.
I understand the desire of the author to provide a complex buildup to the interstellar universe in which the story takes place, but it was just a little too much. However, it turned out to be worth the effort.
The second book seems much better so far, I'm about 30 percent done with it.

[Roger Lind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebel fleet by B.V. Larson is a sci-fi book about someone who gets abducted by aliens. The aliens are part of a smaller rebel fleet that is rebelling against an oppressive Imperial Fleet. The Rebels recruit groups of aliens from many different planets.
I liked this book because it makes the space travel simple enough that it doesn’t distract from the story. The beginning starts off kind of slow but it gets more interesting the farther the story goes on. I like how the characters seem like normal people but they are excellent soldier in the rebel fleet.

[Chip · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never read this guy's stuff before and I decided to try it as I had an audible credit and it had Goodreads recommendations. It was dire. There are no plot twists, no real conflict. The story flip-flops and makes next to no sense. The problems all just go away or are miraculously solved a few minutes after. There are phrases like 'That was the last I ever saw of Dave.' followed by him seeing Dave a bit later.

There are better things to spend a credit on and I'm not going to be following this series.

Voice performance on Audible was pretty good though.

[Don Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating: TREMENDOUSLY Clever

This is a stupendous read. What an inventive, clever mind B.V. has, and with it he's imbued this book with a witty, fast-paced, improbably-probable look at a galaxy sown with carnivore and omnivorous predators, capped off with primates, and their only slightly inhibited interactions against an arrogant, vicious foe.
Thanks for a great read!
How did you come up with this? Fascinating!

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Turn your brain off", another review said and that is exactly what I think too. It's written like he wanted it to become a movie script, but still is somewhat fun to read. Pretty shallow character development, pretty shallow good vs uncaring evil, with some ok ship combat action scenes. And like any good pulp sci-fi these bad guys don't know how to build a starship without an easily exploitable weakness.