Henry Gallant is the captain of the spacecraft carrier Constellation. He is the last hope of the Marines stranded on a volcanic wasteland nine light-years from Earth.
Not since Guadalcanal has the 2nd Marine Division faced a grimmer struggle to hold on against a powerful and ruthless enemy.
As the Titan invaders close in, the Marines wonder if there is the 'will' to save them.
Top Gun pilots Rob Ryan and Lorelei Steward take a desperate gamble to save Nathan Steward and the remnants of the 2nd Division.
Will they be in time?
Will they be enough?
For fans of Honor Harrington and Horatio Hornblower.
I love words, but that wasn't always true. I grew up with a talent for numbers, leading me to follow a different path. I went to Annapolis and MIT and became a nuclear physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Only after I retired was my desire to tell stories reawakened.
In recent years, I have immersed myself in the world of words, drawing on my scientific knowledge and personal experience to shape my writing.
As a scientist, I explored physics and technology, which enabled me to create informative and insightful books, sharing my knowledge with readers who sought to expand their understanding in these areas—contributing to their intellectual growth while satisfying my own passion.
But it was my time as a naval officer that ignited my imagination and propelled me into science fiction. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy and serving on nuclear submarines during both hot and cold wars, I witnessed firsthand the complexities and challenges of military operations that seamen face daily.
This allowed me a unique perspective, which I channeled into creating Henry Gallant and a 22nd-century world where a space officer fought against invading aliens. Through this narrative, I explored the depths of human resilience, the mysteries of space, and the intricacies of military conflict.
My stories let me share the highlights of my journey with you. I hope you enjoy the ride. (www.hpeteralesso.com)
CAPTAIN HENRY GALLANT is the fifth book in the series and a major change from the previous volumes in that our protagonist is no longer the callow youth that he was in previous volumes. He's risen to the rank of O-6 and now has the respect as well as cachet to make real decisions. Unfortunately, the people in charge of the fleet are morons and our protagonist is given orders to go into the belly of the beast. This is very entertaining and shows the character development of the protagonist but is somewhat less exciting than previous versions. I'm also not a huge fan of the new characters or how Allaine has lost much of her previous character to become a housewife.
(Format : Audiobook ) "The waiting was always the worse." Henry Gallant was a Natural, born without genetic engineering. Which often made life doubly difficult, as he had to fight not only the alien Titans but also the prejudice of some of the other officers in the Fleet who believed that only the genetically enhanced humans were fit for command positions. But he had repeatedly proved his abilities, and, despite strong opposition, found supporters in high places and risen through the navy command. Now he was to become captain of the Daly commissioned ship the Constellation. Gallant's first true love, Kelsey, will also be one of the serving officers as they face the Titans yet again.
The Henry Gallant series, with the military action fast and the personal lives of the characters explored, just keeps getting better. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the narrator. Previously performed by either Theodore Copeland or Rich Miller, this time the book was read by Jennifer Groberg. And yes, read, not performed. Although her voice was not unpleasant and the narration clear and well intoned, her delivery was slightly jerky, rather than smoothly spontaneous, each word separated and precise: distracting. As were the mispronunciations, such as 'supetuous' instead of 'superstitious', and later an apparent merging of 'artistic' and 'autistic' on numerous occasions. And, although a much lesser point, she seemed to make no attempt to differentiate between the protagonists voices when they were speaking. Narration is such an integral and important part of an audio book and, especially coming after two talented voice actors, sadly Ms.Groberg's performance failed to enhance the story.
This is a very enjoyable series with a good balance of action and personality. Although each part could be read selerately, one of the pleasures is following Henry Gallant in his progress through his life and career, book by book. My thanks to the rights holder from whom I received a freely gifted complimentary copy of Captain Henry Gallant and I am looking forward to the next in the series.
Unfortunately this book suffers from the same issue as the other books in the series. Maybe even more so.
The story advances and yet again Gallant gets thrown into battle and, yet again, he has to save a good part of both the human fleet from the Titans but also from its own arrogant, stupid and totally incompetent Admiralty. Of course a whole bunch of other humans gets saved in the process.
These utter imbecilles and egomaniacal Admirals that seems to have invaded the human military is simply too much for me to stand. I was hoping that the fact that the President seemed to be somewhat more competent would bring about some improvement but there was not much improvement to be seen in this book at least.
What really made the book go bad for me was (spoiler alert) when Gallant returned home, after having saved the day, and these asshats actually try to court martial him. Fortunately he is saved by the few reasonable characters in the book.
I was waiting the entire book for Gallant to get some credit and for the asshats to be exposed as the blundering idiots they are but no. Instead that blundering idiot Admiral Graves gets the credit for what Gallant achieved. What the f....?
I'm going to persist another one or two books but I am very, very close to drop this series.
Politics becomes much more important in the Henry Gallant series with this latest book, and Alesso’s handling of it rises to the occasion. Admirals are trying to disregard Gallant’s reports on enemy activities and capabilities because they do not support their preconceived notions. This obviously does not bode well for humanity as the next big battle in the war against the Titans commences. As usual, Gallant is smack in the middle of the action.
In this volume, Alesso also introduces a new wave of fighter pilots, each with their own personality quirks. Gallant has trained these men and women to fight and now must lead them in war as they try to reinforce stranded marines despite the incompetence of the commanding admiral.
I think the best addition to this novel was the ground action focusing on the marines. Alesso has always done a good job with the naval action, but now he shows a flair for ground combat as well. The battles move quickly and were always exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing more. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
I like the series and Henry is a devoted soldier as well as honorable. But I still wish the story incorporated more detail and depth to other characters. It becomes a little stale to always have the story revolve completely around him, to always know that no matter what he does, somehow he will always get the short end of the stick. I think if this is a true indication of how things really work in the military leaders upper command then idk why anyone would ever choose or accept a command. It’s a common thread to his story—do some really creative military strategy and win the day, yet, somehow, the opposition (which is crazy because the alien enemy should be the only opposition not your own military or political leaders) turn it around to negate or villainies those accomplishments. Truly sad! No matter, I’m glad (at least so far) Henry has had true friends and those who will go to bat for him.
This book was the best ever, of the Gallant series! The action puts you on he planet with the Marines. It was very well written, on the edge of your seat reading. The end has a surprising twist, but the end is ok! Am just starting Commodore Gallant now. He feels like a brother in arms,and I will be very sorry to finish the series! This is a book that is very entertaining, yet very down to earth with married life!!10/10 I heartily recommend this book,and it is not a follow on, so this can b read without the earlier books, but reading them makes each book a better read!! Go for it!!!!!
Author H. Peter Alesso keeps the series rolling with new foes for Captain Henry Gallant and more action-packed battles. I think this book has some of the best battle scenes.
The more this series continues, the more it reminds me of the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. There are similar political struggles. Both protagonists are self-sacrificing and dedicated to their cause of defending humanity. And there are a wide variety of personalities they interact with that reveals more about them and their influence.
It was a good book in this continuing series, but not nearly as good as the other first 4 books that I read to start the series. It seemed to hurry through scenes and leave out important details about the story line that were present in earlier books.
Great plot and challenge for our hero. Tells a very accurate story about the band of brothers, the shipmates that are dedicated and serving now and hopefully into the future. The politics and chicanery are too true as well.
The whole saga continues to enthral me - Henry Gallant fighting the enemy whilst being attacked at home by corrupt politicians and businessman and incompetent senior officers.
I found the style of writing to be bland and the story itself predictable as to the entire outcome of this book...I suggest making more detailed sub plots!
Can't take the elementary school prose anymore. Decent structure but weak, uninteresting writing. Very halting and uninspired writing. Work a little harder please.
This was mostly a straight-forward war story. Lots of shoot-'em-up action on, but not as much character development as the first four books. If you liked the first four books, you most likely will find this one enjoyable as well.
The main character was a pilot..then a bridge officer... then engineering... then back to the bridge....and in this book a Top Gun instructor and back to the bridge.
The story is still interesting but needs more editing.
I am rereading the series because more books have been added! H. Peter Alesso writes books that allows your mind to think you are actually there with Henry Gallant! Great!
After a lengthy pause our "Natural" Henry Gallant returns to defend earth. Th He time of this book is a little different from the others in that it is not just from Henrys perspective but includes other support characters more than in the past books. It also has less daily detail on Henry and more of a strategic view vs tactical minutia. I liked the book and am glad for Henrys return to our pages however I personally hate when political bad guys win or not lose. I hope the next books help cement Henry's position and lock down the bigot/racist/political entrenchment prevalent in the government/military establishment before that cause the humans to lose it all. Looking forward to more..... And hopefully less of a delay.
The only thing I don't like about the series is there's too long between books. It reminds me of Horacio Hornblower. The series show the character moving through the ranks, the good officer who hates politics and must deal such. A man who deals shelf , at same time making important decisions while showing creative and daring. I look forward to future books.
I love this series!! I consider it to be one of the best space stories going. The characters and situations are very believable. The action is always exciting. I anxiously await the the next book!
This is another winner by Peter Alesso, his characters are friends or enemies , Henry fights honorably and get beat up by dirty, unscrupulous politicians and arrogant military superiors. When will be finally get the respect he richly deserves?
Unlike the last book in this series Alesso does a fine job of character development and keeps the plot fast paced. Very enjoyable and difficult to put down. Highly recommended.
I love these books. They are well written, they grab and hold your attention. I only have one complaint. The time lag between the books. I'm 79 and I hope to read the whole series.