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Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars #1
Savage Wars
WINNER 2020 Dragon Award for Best Military Science Fiction Novel!
The greatest conflict the galaxy has ever known…They were the Savages. Raiders from our distant past. Elites who left Earth to create tailor-made utopias aboard the massive lighthuggers that crawled through the darkness between the stars. But the people they left behind on a dying planet didn't perish in the dystopian nightmare the Savages had themselves they thrived, discovering faster-than-light technology and using it to colonize the galaxy ahead of the Savages, forming fantastic new civilizations that surpassed the wildest dreams of Old Earth.
Until the Savages came in from the Darkness...
When a Savage hulk lands on glittering New Vega, one of the crown jewels of the post-Earth galaxy, a coalition of planetary governments amasses their forces to respond to the post-human Savage Marines who’ve come to sack and enslave. But what the coalition forces find is something far more sinister than the typical Savage this time, the Savages have come to stay.
Witness the intense beginning of THE SAVAGE WARS, the epic conflict, built into the lore of GALAXY'S EDGE, that will encompass over a thousand years of brutal fighting. Only the greatest military force in the galaxy can bring this war to an end… and the galaxy will never again be the same.
Experience the beginning of the Legion. Experience the Savage Wars.
Also available in audio book format performed by Stephen Lang (Avatar, Gods & Generals).
The greatest conflict the galaxy has ever known…They were the Savages. Raiders from our distant past. Elites who left Earth to create tailor-made utopias aboard the massive lighthuggers that crawled through the darkness between the stars. But the people they left behind on a dying planet didn't perish in the dystopian nightmare the Savages had themselves they thrived, discovering faster-than-light technology and using it to colonize the galaxy ahead of the Savages, forming fantastic new civilizations that surpassed the wildest dreams of Old Earth.
Until the Savages came in from the Darkness...
When a Savage hulk lands on glittering New Vega, one of the crown jewels of the post-Earth galaxy, a coalition of planetary governments amasses their forces to respond to the post-human Savage Marines who’ve come to sack and enslave. But what the coalition forces find is something far more sinister than the typical Savage this time, the Savages have come to stay.
Witness the intense beginning of THE SAVAGE WARS, the epic conflict, built into the lore of GALAXY'S EDGE, that will encompass over a thousand years of brutal fighting. Only the greatest military force in the galaxy can bring this war to an end… and the galaxy will never again be the same.
Experience the beginning of the Legion. Experience the Savage Wars.
Also available in audio book format performed by Stephen Lang (Avatar, Gods & Generals).
508 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 25, 2020
671 people are currently reading
428 people want to read
About the author
Jason Anspach
187 books842 followersJASON ANSPACH is the author of Galaxy's Edge, Wayward Galaxy, Forgotten Ruin. and more.
He lives in Puyallup, WA with his wife and their seven (not a typo) children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
March 4, 2020
A lot of us have been waiting for the Savage Wars, and to fill the gap for us non-audiobook types as we wait for the beginning of Galaxy's Edge Season 2.
I'm having a hard time getting motivated for a lot of the GE spin-offs but I always have time for Tyrus Rechs. It's a tricky universe to track as the books jump around in time, but if you've read the main series to this point, Savage Wars is where the Legion is conceived. I assume that gestation and birth will come in the next book, so I'm waiting for that.
I'm having a hard time getting motivated for a lot of the GE spin-offs but I always have time for Tyrus Rechs. It's a tricky universe to track as the books jump around in time, but if you've read the main series to this point, Savage Wars is where the Legion is conceived. I assume that gestation and birth will come in the next book, so I'm waiting for that.
March 5, 2020
Begun, the Savage Wars have.
Jason Anspach and Nick Cole take us back to the beginning of the Legion. To those desperate battles that rent the galaxy in twain, yet at the same time also called forth humanity’s greatest heroes. And it is very much humanity versus… something else. While the denizens of the lighthuggers that left Earth before the invention of the hyperdrive do share common ancestry with the varied multitudes that inhabit the far-flung worlds of the galaxy, being a homo sapiens isn’t necessarily the same thing as being human.
Exactly what humanity entails of you is the living core of this book of military space opera with a very hard look at the horrors of war. War, as such, is horrible. This war, is something else entirely, and if you want to know why, you should take a short detour into the universal phenomenon known as millennialism.
The name for it in English implies a particularity it does not possess. The name comes from the Book of Revelation, referring to the an age of 1,000 years in which Christ rules the Earth. That meaning has been extended to refer to all movements that believe that the end of the world, or the end of an age of the world is imminent, and that therefore radical changes are called for with special urgency.
When the lighthuggers, giant colony ships with the capacity to achieve an ultimate velocity a substantial fraction of lightspeed, abandoned the dying Earth, that seemed abundantly true. An age of the world really was ending, and people responded accordingly. What was different here, is that in our history millenarian movements have always needed to physically co-exist with everyone else. The precursors of the Savages took the equivalent of a commune, a kibbutz, or a cult, and separated it from the rest of humanity for generations, at least.
If you want to know how nutty millenarian movements can get, here are a few real examples. The Skoptsys. The Cattle Killing of the Xhosa. The Taiping Rebellion. The Münster Commune. There is a tendency for such things to get to the point of self-destruction, like the Jonestown Massacre, but there is also the reaction of the rest of society to such things, illustrated by the Taiping Rebellion or the Münster Commune, which were crushed with alacrity.
The Savages are the survivors of a Darwinian process that eliminated those who self-destructed, and protected the dangerous ones, who had an opportunity to consolidate their power completely free from outside interference that might have ended their menace when they were weak. Thus, when the monsters come roaring out of the depths of space on their massive ships, those ships contain every horror mankind has ever feared, dialed up to eleven. Their ideologies swollen to madness, in their isolation, and powered by the wonders produced by the best minds of Earth, unmoored from restraints.
Against these post-human hordes, only one response is possible. WARRE. War to the knife, nuclear weapons, fire, and destruction. Or is it? Thus we return to the question I posed at the beginning? What does our humanity require of us in this situation? The Savages deliberately left their humanity behind, seeing it as weak and broken. For them, the question has been definitely answered.
For the Savages distant cousins who leapt to the stars ahead of them, this is the question that will determine who they will be. Do you need to become a monster, in order to fight them? Can you lose by winning? And at the heart of this question is also a relationship, between two men who understand each other as no one else possibly could.
In many ways, they are utterly different. One is a warrior. The other a magician. Their personalities and habits of mind are opposed, but also complementary, rather than contradictory. Or at least it is possible for them to be so. Coming to agreement for such stubborn and willful men cannot be easy. Which is why the ultimate resolution requires the intermediation of a woman. And from that, great things shall come.
That Anspach and Cole can manage to combine such subtlety with great action in an expansive universe that feels like home will never cease to amaze me.
Jason Anspach and Nick Cole take us back to the beginning of the Legion. To those desperate battles that rent the galaxy in twain, yet at the same time also called forth humanity’s greatest heroes. And it is very much humanity versus… something else. While the denizens of the lighthuggers that left Earth before the invention of the hyperdrive do share common ancestry with the varied multitudes that inhabit the far-flung worlds of the galaxy, being a homo sapiens isn’t necessarily the same thing as being human.
Exactly what humanity entails of you is the living core of this book of military space opera with a very hard look at the horrors of war. War, as such, is horrible. This war, is something else entirely, and if you want to know why, you should take a short detour into the universal phenomenon known as millennialism.
The name for it in English implies a particularity it does not possess. The name comes from the Book of Revelation, referring to the an age of 1,000 years in which Christ rules the Earth. That meaning has been extended to refer to all movements that believe that the end of the world, or the end of an age of the world is imminent, and that therefore radical changes are called for with special urgency.
When the lighthuggers, giant colony ships with the capacity to achieve an ultimate velocity a substantial fraction of lightspeed, abandoned the dying Earth, that seemed abundantly true. An age of the world really was ending, and people responded accordingly. What was different here, is that in our history millenarian movements have always needed to physically co-exist with everyone else. The precursors of the Savages took the equivalent of a commune, a kibbutz, or a cult, and separated it from the rest of humanity for generations, at least.
If you want to know how nutty millenarian movements can get, here are a few real examples. The Skoptsys. The Cattle Killing of the Xhosa. The Taiping Rebellion. The Münster Commune. There is a tendency for such things to get to the point of self-destruction, like the Jonestown Massacre, but there is also the reaction of the rest of society to such things, illustrated by the Taiping Rebellion or the Münster Commune, which were crushed with alacrity.
The Savages are the survivors of a Darwinian process that eliminated those who self-destructed, and protected the dangerous ones, who had an opportunity to consolidate their power completely free from outside interference that might have ended their menace when they were weak. Thus, when the monsters come roaring out of the depths of space on their massive ships, those ships contain every horror mankind has ever feared, dialed up to eleven. Their ideologies swollen to madness, in their isolation, and powered by the wonders produced by the best minds of Earth, unmoored from restraints.
Against these post-human hordes, only one response is possible. WARRE. War to the knife, nuclear weapons, fire, and destruction. Or is it? Thus we return to the question I posed at the beginning? What does our humanity require of us in this situation? The Savages deliberately left their humanity behind, seeing it as weak and broken. For them, the question has been definitely answered.
For the Savages distant cousins who leapt to the stars ahead of them, this is the question that will determine who they will be. Do you need to become a monster, in order to fight them? Can you lose by winning? And at the heart of this question is also a relationship, between two men who understand each other as no one else possibly could.
In many ways, they are utterly different. One is a warrior. The other a magician. Their personalities and habits of mind are opposed, but also complementary, rather than contradictory. Or at least it is possible for them to be so. Coming to agreement for such stubborn and willful men cannot be easy. Which is why the ultimate resolution requires the intermediation of a woman. And from that, great things shall come.
That Anspach and Cole can manage to combine such subtlety with great action in an expansive universe that feels like home will never cease to amaze me.
May 16, 2020
Must’ve Missed a Book or Two
This book, in 50 words or less, was basically Tyrus Rechs return to humanity and detail of humanity’s archenemy for the other series. It also establishes How n Why the Legion came to be and the authors didn’t convince me here.
Despite having read first series, I felt a bit lost for most of this story. Non stop action, for the most part, from start to finish but lacking detail and perspective. The authors establish the enemy, called or referred to as Savages, as evil. They regard their‘cousin’, former fellow humans, as food. Don’t really need anymore justifications than that to think of them as evil.
Come to think of it, this first book is probably more about the former human Savages, and how they got to be what they’ve become than anything else. Problem for me is I didn’t need 300+ pages of it.
Non stop action, reasonably done, against an evil foe....what’s there not to like? The MC, whose kinda the MC and a legend to humanity throughout the entire series , wasn’t like-able, at all. He wasn’t engaging nor very interesting. I say that as I read about a leader who doesn’t care about his own men. Towards the end, he’s changing tho, but too late for me. A member of 75th Rangers from our time with leadership skills and a personality that begs for friendly fire.
Other characters are stereotypical and authors don’t spend much time developing them. They depend on us, reader, to understand their roles from previous Mil books we’ve read and like them. Bottom line, I didn’t care who survived and who didn’t.
A good story for me, I need to embrace and engage with characters. There weren’t any, some here were like able , but no one I cared about. Authors threw in mystery, unless I missed a book or two, and just left me confused for most of the book. Story lacked depth, detail and w no characters to embrace .
Not sure if I’ll continue.
This book, in 50 words or less, was basically Tyrus Rechs return to humanity and detail of humanity’s archenemy for the other series. It also establishes How n Why the Legion came to be and the authors didn’t convince me here.
Despite having read first series, I felt a bit lost for most of this story. Non stop action, for the most part, from start to finish but lacking detail and perspective. The authors establish the enemy, called or referred to as Savages, as evil. They regard their‘cousin’, former fellow humans, as food. Don’t really need anymore justifications than that to think of them as evil.
Come to think of it, this first book is probably more about the former human Savages, and how they got to be what they’ve become than anything else. Problem for me is I didn’t need 300+ pages of it.
Non stop action, reasonably done, against an evil foe....what’s there not to like? The MC, whose kinda the MC and a legend to humanity throughout the entire series , wasn’t like-able, at all. He wasn’t engaging nor very interesting. I say that as I read about a leader who doesn’t care about his own men. Towards the end, he’s changing tho, but too late for me. A member of 75th Rangers from our time with leadership skills and a personality that begs for friendly fire.
Other characters are stereotypical and authors don’t spend much time developing them. They depend on us, reader, to understand their roles from previous Mil books we’ve read and like them. Bottom line, I didn’t care who survived and who didn’t.
A good story for me, I need to embrace and engage with characters. There weren’t any, some here were like able , but no one I cared about. Authors threw in mystery, unless I missed a book or two, and just left me confused for most of the book. Story lacked depth, detail and w no characters to embrace .
Not sure if I’ll continue.
July 28, 2021
Audiobook - 1.5/5
For what was one of the most referenced periods in Galaxy's Edge, this was a miss on all sides:
- The first half of the book is completely discard-able and confusing.
- All characters were dull and 2 dimensional. Nothing memorable here.
- Stephen Lang had the same exact voice for every character. I could never tell who was talking.
- Stephen Lang basically read the entire book in a monotone.
I won't be continuing the Savage Wars series.
For what was one of the most referenced periods in Galaxy's Edge, this was a miss on all sides:
- The first half of the book is completely discard-able and confusing.
- All characters were dull and 2 dimensional. Nothing memorable here.
- Stephen Lang had the same exact voice for every character. I could never tell who was talking.
- Stephen Lang basically read the entire book in a monotone.
I won't be continuing the Savage Wars series.
September 28, 2020
Lame. As military-based Science Fiction it's good military-based fiction. Well, okay. Sorta.
I seriously doubt that 2,000 years from now or whenever the hell it's set people will be using DNS attacks and talking about Barett sniper rifles. Blah.
Has taught me not to buy an entire trilogy without reading the first book. Oops.
I seriously doubt that 2,000 years from now or whenever the hell it's set people will be using DNS attacks and talking about Barett sniper rifles. Blah.
Has taught me not to buy an entire trilogy without reading the first book. Oops.
July 5, 2021
"Strike Force Warhammer had been reduced to combat ineffectiveness within the span of less than a minute."
Book is over and I'm only at 39%. Not sure what they filled the rest of the series with but the fact they could have solved this problem in the first chapter with some Rods from God makes it really uninteresting. Oh will. Gg.
Book is over and I'm only at 39%. Not sure what they filled the rest of the series with but the fact they could have solved this problem in the first chapter with some Rods from God makes it really uninteresting. Oh will. Gg.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2021
The writing is all over the place
I got about 80 percent through book before giving up. Main character willing kill millions people and not save any of them. But goes back for one person to try and save. Save your time and don't read this book
I got about 80 percent through book before giving up. Main character willing kill millions people and not save any of them. But goes back for one person to try and save. Save your time and don't read this book
August 20, 2020
Pretty awful machismo science fiction, de-emphasis on science.
July 21, 2023
Diemžēl sērijas jaunpienācējam, kurš kādā nebūt veidā atradis šo triloģiju kā pirmo no kopējās Galaxy’s Edge sērijas, Gods & Legionnaires galīgi nav ko meklēt. Pasniegšanas stils ļoti nedraudzīgs, lai neko nezinot par pamatsēriju, varētu puslīdz noorientēties, kas gan šeit vispār notiek.
https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...
https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...
February 14, 2022
This one's so bad I can't even finish it as an audiobook, driving across the country.
Had to stop it and find another audiobook for the rest of the trip.
Had to stop it and find another audiobook for the rest of the trip.
January 16, 2021
This is Galaxy’s Edge: Savage Wars #1. It's a spin-off of Galaxy’s Edge and kind-of a prequel series. I have read all of the original Galaxy’s Edge books (so far), and bought this book thinking I would learn more about the series’ Legionnaires but was initially disappointed that this wasn’t the case. In fact, it started as a comic book-like read – but I quickly changed my mind and forgot about the Legion (still hoping that more background will come in another book). I ended up really enjoying this book, a cross between the Space Opera and Military Science Fiction genera.
The premise of the series is interesting. … The first groups of people to leave a dying earth – the ‘elites’, of course – did so with slower-than-light technology. Over centuries of travel, each spaceship, like different tribes, evolved into just ‘things’ – once-human/almost-human/post-human monsters! The last to leave the earth used a newly discovered faster-than-light technology, retaining their humanity and populating the galaxy. Over the their centuries LONG journey, these first-to-leave elites had evolved according to their predilections, unique to their spaceship, – techies, animal lovers, theologists, etc. – into monsters and humanities most heinous enemies. Inevitability, there is war between the post-humans (‘savages’) war humans (‘animals’). As in any good thriller, the 'bad guys' need to be really bad – and the Savages are EVIL!. Add to all that, the reader is able to decide if the ‘hero’ for much of this and other of Jason Anspach and Nick Cole series, Tyrus Rechs, may be just a war criminal.
Beyond this, it’s just ESCAPISM – but at its best. It’s good guys versus bad guys. Constant action. Still, this military science fiction is an acquired taste (and 2/3 the way through this one, I acquired book #2). OK, OK, this book/series “ain’t literature”, but I liked it – so sue me. Sometime in the future when I’m in a different mood, I’ll ‘reset’ my preferences with “Jane Eyre” or something. … …
The premise of the series is interesting. … The first groups of people to leave a dying earth – the ‘elites’, of course – did so with slower-than-light technology. Over centuries of travel, each spaceship, like different tribes, evolved into just ‘things’ – once-human/almost-human/post-human monsters! The last to leave the earth used a newly discovered faster-than-light technology, retaining their humanity and populating the galaxy. Over the their centuries LONG journey, these first-to-leave elites had evolved according to their predilections, unique to their spaceship, – techies, animal lovers, theologists, etc. – into monsters and humanities most heinous enemies. Inevitability, there is war between the post-humans (‘savages’) war humans (‘animals’). As in any good thriller, the 'bad guys' need to be really bad – and the Savages are EVIL!. Add to all that, the reader is able to decide if the ‘hero’ for much of this and other of Jason Anspach and Nick Cole series, Tyrus Rechs, may be just a war criminal.
Beyond this, it’s just ESCAPISM – but at its best. It’s good guys versus bad guys. Constant action. Still, this military science fiction is an acquired taste (and 2/3 the way through this one, I acquired book #2). OK, OK, this book/series “ain’t literature”, but I liked it – so sue me. Sometime in the future when I’m in a different mood, I’ll ‘reset’ my preferences with “Jane Eyre” or something. … …
June 28, 2024
Savage Wars is exactly that: savage and a war. The Savages, if you don't know already, are post-human colonists who left Earth in massive sub-light colony ships. In the cold, dark void of space, they evolved or perhaps more accurately, devolved into the worst part of humanity. Each Savage group was different but the same in their hatred. When they arrived at the settled space thousands of years, humanity who did use FTL colony ships had created new settled planets with "civilization" - cities, law and order. This predates the Republic and the House of Reason we know from Season 1 of Galaxy's Edge.
We learn more about the history of Tyrus Rechs and Casper Sulla who will become Goth Sullus. (This should not be a spoiler alert.) Anspach and Cole suggest that their fans to have read GE season 1 in order then the prequels (Savage Wars, Gods and Generals, and The Hundred) before proceeding to Season 2. However, the authors did not require the prequels. You just get more background.
This is a great book but felt long. It did evoke the old saying from the Vietnam War: "We had to destroy the village to save it." The debate was over Rechs' prior conduct of destroying the planet to deny the Savages or trying to drive them off. That is what makes it great military scifi; you can explore the same issues in a different format without having to attend a military staff college.
We learn more about the history of Tyrus Rechs and Casper Sulla who will become Goth Sullus. (This should not be a spoiler alert.) Anspach and Cole suggest that their fans to have read GE season 1 in order then the prequels (Savage Wars, Gods and Generals, and The Hundred) before proceeding to Season 2. However, the authors did not require the prequels. You just get more background.
This is a great book but felt long. It did evoke the old saying from the Vietnam War: "We had to destroy the village to save it." The debate was over Rechs' prior conduct of destroying the planet to deny the Savages or trying to drive them off. That is what makes it great military scifi; you can explore the same issues in a different format without having to attend a military staff college.
April 17, 2020
The Savage Wars
What was introduced as a background conflict in the history of Galaxy’s Edge is now by popular demand a trilogy.
The writers eschew trying to cover a conflict that raged for fifteen hundred years and served as the crucible that birthed the Legion, and instead focus on a key moment in galactic history, as well as a key moment in the very long personal history of a certain hero of the ages.
Because the Savages are here.
Once human beings who boarded world-sized craft to abandon Earth and pursue their insane ideologies unhindered by any other concerns in their drive to create utopia, they have become something horrific and other than human, and a threat to mundane humanity that cannot be negotiated with.
While describing the blow-by-blow account of a single battle is not my preferred format of story, the horrific imagery of the Savage war machine and the question of how far a certain character might go will keep the reader on tenderhooks throughout, and the fun is just starting.
In terms of the performance, I preferred the prior reader, but only by a narrow margin. Lang brings some impressive vocal talent to bear in helping bring to life what the writers describe.
What was introduced as a background conflict in the history of Galaxy’s Edge is now by popular demand a trilogy.
The writers eschew trying to cover a conflict that raged for fifteen hundred years and served as the crucible that birthed the Legion, and instead focus on a key moment in galactic history, as well as a key moment in the very long personal history of a certain hero of the ages.
Because the Savages are here.
Once human beings who boarded world-sized craft to abandon Earth and pursue their insane ideologies unhindered by any other concerns in their drive to create utopia, they have become something horrific and other than human, and a threat to mundane humanity that cannot be negotiated with.
While describing the blow-by-blow account of a single battle is not my preferred format of story, the horrific imagery of the Savage war machine and the question of how far a certain character might go will keep the reader on tenderhooks throughout, and the fun is just starting.
In terms of the performance, I preferred the prior reader, but only by a narrow margin. Lang brings some impressive vocal talent to bear in helping bring to life what the writers describe.
July 4, 2020
Powerful and Tragic
This may very well be the best of the GE novels so far, in a series with an overall excellent track record for quality and thoughtfulness. Savage Wars features the best written action scenes I can remember reading since early Tom Clancy at least, and they gave that same "authentic" vibe especially as they follow the ordinary soldiers of the Galaxy.
If that's all SW had to offer, it would be a very good book. However, the way it delves into the horrors and costs of war, the underlying tensions of just war theory, even if it's not called out by its formal name, raise it to another level. Spoiler-free, the debate over the actions of Tyrus Rechs, and what constitutes jus ad hello and jus in hello, are crucial to this book, and this phase of the story. If you've heard critics say that GE "glorifies war," or is "nothing but action," this entry should put those criticisms to bed once and for all. If you've heard that it espouses an Utilitarian "ends justify the means" POV, then it's coming from someone who hasn't read the series, and especially this book. Yes the action is adrenaline pumping. Come for that, but stay for something much, much deeper, and full of tears.
This may very well be the best of the GE novels so far, in a series with an overall excellent track record for quality and thoughtfulness. Savage Wars features the best written action scenes I can remember reading since early Tom Clancy at least, and they gave that same "authentic" vibe especially as they follow the ordinary soldiers of the Galaxy.
If that's all SW had to offer, it would be a very good book. However, the way it delves into the horrors and costs of war, the underlying tensions of just war theory, even if it's not called out by its formal name, raise it to another level. Spoiler-free, the debate over the actions of Tyrus Rechs, and what constitutes jus ad hello and jus in hello, are crucial to this book, and this phase of the story. If you've heard critics say that GE "glorifies war," or is "nothing but action," this entry should put those criticisms to bed once and for all. If you've heard that it espouses an Utilitarian "ends justify the means" POV, then it's coming from someone who hasn't read the series, and especially this book. Yes the action is adrenaline pumping. Come for that, but stay for something much, much deeper, and full of tears.
August 28, 2022
This is the first book in the Savage Wars series, but it's a back story to how the Legion was ultimately formed by Tyrus and Casper to fight the Savages. It starts out with the Coalition landing near the city of New Vegas, where a Savage Hulk has landed earlier. The coalition is lead by an officer more concerned on how his actions are perceived in the media, and so he's hopelessly inept, and manages to get most of his men killed.
Tyrus is masquerading as a colonel in the coalition special forces, and he leads a small team of soldiers he slowly gathers to him to infiltrate the secret base hidden beneath the Savage Hulk in order to find a piece of new tech that will allow communication through hyperspace, before the Savages get it.
Along the way, they run into different groups of Savages, and see that they are gathering the humans of the planet to store in cryo chambers for food. Tyrus's team plant a nuke, intending to detonate it after they leave, but just as they make their escape, Tyrus aborts the blast.
As usual, Nick and Jason have created a world rich in detail and their characters almost jump off the page, guns blazing.. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
Tyrus is masquerading as a colonel in the coalition special forces, and he leads a small team of soldiers he slowly gathers to him to infiltrate the secret base hidden beneath the Savage Hulk in order to find a piece of new tech that will allow communication through hyperspace, before the Savages get it.
Along the way, they run into different groups of Savages, and see that they are gathering the humans of the planet to store in cryo chambers for food. Tyrus's team plant a nuke, intending to detonate it after they leave, but just as they make their escape, Tyrus aborts the blast.
As usual, Nick and Jason have created a world rich in detail and their characters almost jump off the page, guns blazing.. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
April 12, 2021
Is this the first Tyrus Rechs story? I don't know. It's my 4th (after the trilogy "Tyrus Rechs: Contracts and Terminations"). It starts off apparently not about Tyrus Rechs as the main character is Colonel Marks, fighting as part of a Coalition led by a rather suspect General with political ambitions.
Lots of pulsers, blasters, Savage savagery, and a cohort of endearing, odd-ball characters, including a "wild man" with PTSD who talks to his dead wife and who has superhuman sniper skills but is not part of the coalition, or of any army at all. Lots of male warrior camaraderie, as usual. Some political backstory as to why and how the old Earth civilization fell apart and fragmented: turns out the Savages are human offshoots.
Will Tyrus rescue everyone on New Vega? Or will he decide the collateral damage is worth it and pull the plug on the planet, sacrificing tens of thousands of innocents in order to completely destroy the Savages? And what's with this ominous new Savage strategy of cooperation? That doesn't augur well at all.
Lots of pulsers, blasters, Savage savagery, and a cohort of endearing, odd-ball characters, including a "wild man" with PTSD who talks to his dead wife and who has superhuman sniper skills but is not part of the coalition, or of any army at all. Lots of male warrior camaraderie, as usual. Some political backstory as to why and how the old Earth civilization fell apart and fragmented: turns out the Savages are human offshoots.
Will Tyrus rescue everyone on New Vega? Or will he decide the collateral damage is worth it and pull the plug on the planet, sacrificing tens of thousands of innocents in order to completely destroy the Savages? And what's with this ominous new Savage strategy of cooperation? That doesn't augur well at all.
December 31, 2024
Unfortunately, this installment didn’t live up to the hype, especially considering how often the Savage Wars had been referenced in the broader Galaxy’s Edge universe. The first half of the book felt largely unnecessary, leaving me confused about the story’s direction and wondering where it was headed. The characters, too, were disappointingly flat and lacked the depth and personality I’ve come to expect from this series.
On top of that, Stephen Lang’s narration didn’t help the experience. His voice work for each character was almost identical, making it difficult to tell who was speaking at any given moment. The monotone delivery didn’t provide the emotional engagement I was hoping for, which made the already underwhelming story feel even more sluggish.
All in all, I will be continuing this series out of fan service but I hope it gets better.
Listened to as an audiobook on Audible.
On top of that, Stephen Lang’s narration didn’t help the experience. His voice work for each character was almost identical, making it difficult to tell who was speaking at any given moment. The monotone delivery didn’t provide the emotional engagement I was hoping for, which made the already underwhelming story feel even more sluggish.
All in all, I will be continuing this series out of fan service but I hope it gets better.
Listened to as an audiobook on Audible.
March 30, 2020
After reading several books by these authors I’ve come to expect very good fiction and Savage Wars delivers. I enjoy stories where there is depth, color, and emotion. Where characters become more than just words on paper. In this tale, the characters are as large as life with tributes and faults. There are some great tag lines and nonstop action, too.
When I saw Rechs leading his squad...company...band into the corridors of the old ship on New Vega, I swear I saw Gandalf leading the dwarfs into the mines of Moria. There is a spark of Tolkien lighting the worlds of this galaxy.
They say shared hardship forges the bonds of friendship. If so, this band of brothers will emerge hard as diamonds. There is an interesting subtext here, too. Rechs seeks revenge on the savages for what they’ve done to the galaxy, while Wildman seeks revenge for the loss of his family. Will either find comfort? I’ll keep reading...
When I saw Rechs leading his squad...company...band into the corridors of the old ship on New Vega, I swear I saw Gandalf leading the dwarfs into the mines of Moria. There is a spark of Tolkien lighting the worlds of this galaxy.
They say shared hardship forges the bonds of friendship. If so, this band of brothers will emerge hard as diamonds. There is an interesting subtext here, too. Rechs seeks revenge on the savages for what they’ve done to the galaxy, while Wildman seeks revenge for the loss of his family. Will either find comfort? I’ll keep reading...
December 28, 2020
Savage Wars features non-stop military action, appealing to readers who enjoy one battle followed by another. The writing was tight and offered a harrowing military experience of life on the edge, and death one step behind. I found the action gripping at first, then grew a little tired, a bit too repetitive, blowing up one building after another, and the unending onslaught of savages on the attack. I yearned for an intelligent plan to win and an occasional rest to develop the main characters, which finally developed half-way through the book when Wild Man became an enduring character, and Tyrus Rechs unveils his backstory, setting up a satisfying ending. My help to read some of the earlier books in the series to form the story's foundation.
January 26, 2021
Space Opera fun
I like Anspach and Coles sci-fi epics, fun to read, good chacters, good plots, quick reads.
This time our enemy is ourselves....kinda. The first humans in space have evolved into the Savages, cannabalistic beings intent on wiping out the rest of the human race.
Of course we have to stop them, although they keep coming up with new methods that stymied the efforts, rather creative really.
We have the United Worlds force, including a man known as a hero and mass killer, depending who you ask.
And he has a trigger nuke.
Just a fun read, first of a trilogy, an adjunct to their Galaxy's Edge series, also recommended.
I like Anspach and Coles sci-fi epics, fun to read, good chacters, good plots, quick reads.
This time our enemy is ourselves....kinda. The first humans in space have evolved into the Savages, cannabalistic beings intent on wiping out the rest of the human race.
Of course we have to stop them, although they keep coming up with new methods that stymied the efforts, rather creative really.
We have the United Worlds force, including a man known as a hero and mass killer, depending who you ask.
And he has a trigger nuke.
Just a fun read, first of a trilogy, an adjunct to their Galaxy's Edge series, also recommended.
May 23, 2020
Every time I finish a galaxy wars book, and put it up on the shelf next to the rest of the series, I stare in wonder. Just looking at how many excellent books are a part of the series, and think to myself for just a moment "I think I'm starting to neglect my other favorite authors". Then proceed to crack open another Galaxy's edge book.
The whole series reminds me of the 40k series, you look at how many books there are, and it looks like a daunting task to tackle all of them... Until you crack open the first book, and realize you're starting to run out of books.
The whole series reminds me of the 40k series, you look at how many books there are, and it looks like a daunting task to tackle all of them... Until you crack open the first book, and realize you're starting to run out of books.
August 27, 2020
We have met the enemy and they are....
Savage wars take place after man travels to the stars and had the option leave and find their own world. The first groups left in colony shops with generations of travel ahead.
The second wave occurred after hyperspeed and allowed new colonists to leap ahead and establish colonies. Prior to the arrival generation ships They had devolved so much the were known as Savages.
In this book, War is ongoing and characters are described. This is an action packed space warfare series.
Savage wars take place after man travels to the stars and had the option leave and find their own world. The first groups left in colony shops with generations of travel ahead.
The second wave occurred after hyperspeed and allowed new colonists to leap ahead and establish colonies. Prior to the arrival generation ships They had devolved so much the were known as Savages.
In this book, War is ongoing and characters are described. This is an action packed space warfare series.
March 24, 2021
I'll be honest. Ever since I first heard mention of the mysterious and apparently terrible "Savage Wars" in Legionnaires, I was hooked; and the first entry into Anspach and Cole's titular series on the topic absolutely did not disappoint. Find out what happens when small insular groups, driven mad by the oppressive loneliness of space and gifted longevity from their mad scientific research and experimentation, finally make contact with their now-galaxy-spanning distant cousins. Do another one babe (you'll see).
April 2, 2021
If you're interested in non-stop action and are willing to suspend belief as to what one person or a small band can accomplish, this book is for you. If you have difficulties with heroes who take on thousands of enemies, you may find Savage Wars a bit trying. I'm clearly in a small minority here given the positive ratings I've seen from others, and I must admit, I did enjoy Anspach's Legionnaires, but I got a bit tired of saying: "Oh, really?" to myself over and over as the book moved along. Mostly fast action, but not always believable
April 20, 2021
Continuous Battle
The story begins with action and continues throughout with little development of character beyond stereotypical individuals who seem appropriate to a WWII buddy film. The protagonists are beings who might as well be featureless robots. There is lots of action that keeps the story moving but does little to develop the characters or bring nuance to the conflict between “species.” It was a quick read for the action but left little to interpret in terms of motives and the larger conflict that has resulted in this battle.
The story begins with action and continues throughout with little development of character beyond stereotypical individuals who seem appropriate to a WWII buddy film. The protagonists are beings who might as well be featureless robots. There is lots of action that keeps the story moving but does little to develop the characters or bring nuance to the conflict between “species.” It was a quick read for the action but left little to interpret in terms of motives and the larger conflict that has resulted in this battle.
March 3, 2022
It took me a couple of chapters to get into this story. I had just finished the season 1 finale (Retribution) and immediately dove into this story, which should be read next according to the author's recommended reading order. However, in the audiobook version they apparently decided to change narrators for this Savage Wars trilogy, and that bumped me straight out of the story again. Not that the new narrator is bad, but he's no R.C. Bray. Bray is THE perfect narrator for the Galaxy's Edge saga.
But, eventually I managed to get over that and got into the story. Mainly when I reached the point that I recognized Rechs, even though in this book he's known by another name. Once he was there, I was there with him. He's my absolute favorite character of this entire series.
It's a great story, and the Savages are truly savage. A special note of recommendation goes to the authors for writing little girls expertly. We already know Prisma from the main series, but in this book, somewhere near the end, two little twin girls are introduced. They are extremely well written, heart-wrenchingly so. And so is Rechs' interaction with them. I was absolutely mesmerized, and at the end even moved.
Highly recommend this book. Wish R.C. Bray had been available to narrate it though.
But, eventually I managed to get over that and got into the story. Mainly when I reached the point that I recognized Rechs, even though in this book he's known by another name. Once he was there, I was there with him. He's my absolute favorite character of this entire series.
It's a great story, and the Savages are truly savage. A special note of recommendation goes to the authors for writing little girls expertly. We already know Prisma from the main series, but in this book, somewhere near the end, two little twin girls are introduced. They are extremely well written, heart-wrenchingly so. And so is Rechs' interaction with them. I was absolutely mesmerized, and at the end even moved.
Highly recommend this book. Wish R.C. Bray had been available to narrate it though.
February 27, 2020
Great Reas
In depth military precision sci-fi! If you have served you will instantly be able to relate, the authors do an excellent job of getting you into the head of a boots on the ground warfighter. Read at your own risk, once you read a Galaxy's Edge book you will want to read them all! DO-19 signing off, keep up the good work Leejee's!!
In depth military precision sci-fi! If you have served you will instantly be able to relate, the authors do an excellent job of getting you into the head of a boots on the ground warfighter. Read at your own risk, once you read a Galaxy's Edge book you will want to read them all! DO-19 signing off, keep up the good work Leejee's!!
February 27, 2020
Savage indeed
At last the the start of the Savage Wars!! An absolute must read, I listened as well as read and stephen langs narration is outstanding, not RC Bray but very good and so much better than Ray Porters tyrus rechs interpretation, my only complaint is having to wait a month for the next book in the series.
At last the the start of the Savage Wars!! An absolute must read, I listened as well as read and stephen langs narration is outstanding, not RC Bray but very good and so much better than Ray Porters tyrus rechs interpretation, my only complaint is having to wait a month for the next book in the series.
April 9, 2020
Wanting More!
It felt like this was one of those short novella things, you know, those things that feel like an incomplete book, BUT it's not. This is is full length book. It's just not the whole story and it doesn't pretend to be that. The whole story, I mean. It's with no doubts in my mind that I ordered book two. I'd give KU a plug but....!
It felt like this was one of those short novella things, you know, those things that feel like an incomplete book, BUT it's not. This is is full length book. It's just not the whole story and it doesn't pretend to be that. The whole story, I mean. It's with no doubts in my mind that I ordered book two. I'd give KU a plug but....!
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