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Technomancer #2
Astraeus Station
Scott Akin managed to not only survive but flourish with his allied family, friend, and lover, as well as other support.
Things are unsure for the space station. The country of his birth still wants to bring him up short. The one good thing is there’s almost as much potential and opportunity in his situation as there are dangers and hard work. Colony worlds, technical scientific advancements, new allies and friends, new enemies, and more to deal with.
If that wasn’t enough to worry about, the Grays see humans with their technology as a threat. They don’t like threats…
Author’s note: This is primarily a space opera. The fantasy elements of the book are tangential at best, and I don’t believe that will change through the rest of the series. Oh, there’s mages, shifters, witches, and vampires in these pages, but that’s really not the focus.
Things are unsure for the space station. The country of his birth still wants to bring him up short. The one good thing is there’s almost as much potential and opportunity in his situation as there are dangers and hard work. Colony worlds, technical scientific advancements, new allies and friends, new enemies, and more to deal with.
If that wasn’t enough to worry about, the Grays see humans with their technology as a threat. They don’t like threats…
Author’s note: This is primarily a space opera. The fantasy elements of the book are tangential at best, and I don’t believe that will change through the rest of the series. Oh, there’s mages, shifters, witches, and vampires in these pages, but that’s really not the focus.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 19, 2019
368 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
D.L. Harrison
105 books197 followersI've been an avid book reader since I was a teenager in the 1980's. My preferred genre's are science fiction and fantasy.
I wrote some short stories and was encouraged to try writing and self publishing by some friends. I work in computers and writing is an obsessive hobby I have been trying to hone for a couple of years now. I'll let you judge if I have succeeded or not.
I wrote some short stories and was encouraged to try writing and self publishing by some friends. I work in computers and writing is an obsessive hobby I have been trying to hone for a couple of years now. I'll let you judge if I have succeeded or not.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
December 8, 2019
Rating 2.0 stars
I liked the first book. While it did have its problems it was still very interesting. This book took the issues I had with the first book and expanded them to a ridiculous level. Scott has his own space station now and has set him self up as a power. He is not a bad guy so he tries to help the people left on earth whenever he can. The only way for him to work with earth is for him and his station to be considered its own nation and part of the UN. That would allow for trade and give Scott protections. The problem is the US still thinks of him as a terrorist. This part is just too simplistic. Yes part of the government might think like that especially people in the military and counter intelligence but the US is not just one thing. Scott kept saying the US government like it was one unified thing. In reality there is the President, Congress, Senate, Judges, and million other departments. So when the US attacked and threatened him in this story, I couldn't see how that could actually happen. Our government can't even decide to get rid of the penny despite it costing more to make than it is actually worth. My second issue was that everything was just too easy. Within 6 months of learning how to use the aliens technology they were making millions of space ships, weapons with advancements in energy, medicine, nanotechnology, etc. Those numbers were just to unreal. I skimmed through the last 1/4 of the book because it just became so tedious. Most of what I was reading at that point was being told how long things would take to make ( I could make this much in 1 week, which means I could make this much in 2 weeks, which means by 4 weeks I could make this many). I was glad I read the first book, but I really wished I would have stopped there.
I liked the first book. While it did have its problems it was still very interesting. This book took the issues I had with the first book and expanded them to a ridiculous level. Scott has his own space station now and has set him self up as a power. He is not a bad guy so he tries to help the people left on earth whenever he can. The only way for him to work with earth is for him and his station to be considered its own nation and part of the UN. That would allow for trade and give Scott protections. The problem is the US still thinks of him as a terrorist. This part is just too simplistic. Yes part of the government might think like that especially people in the military and counter intelligence but the US is not just one thing. Scott kept saying the US government like it was one unified thing. In reality there is the President, Congress, Senate, Judges, and million other departments. So when the US attacked and threatened him in this story, I couldn't see how that could actually happen. Our government can't even decide to get rid of the penny despite it costing more to make than it is actually worth. My second issue was that everything was just too easy. Within 6 months of learning how to use the aliens technology they were making millions of space ships, weapons with advancements in energy, medicine, nanotechnology, etc. Those numbers were just to unreal. I skimmed through the last 1/4 of the book because it just became so tedious. Most of what I was reading at that point was being told how long things would take to make ( I could make this much in 1 week, which means I could make this much in 2 weeks, which means by 4 weeks I could make this many). I was glad I read the first book, but I really wished I would have stopped there.
January 5, 2020
Not sure what this was
The writer loves the verb, the noun (and possibly their newly minted adjective) "smirk". It's hard to go two pages without being ambushed by a smirk (a bit of hyperbole, or is it? -cue sinister theme).
The magic has been utterly reduced to an overworked plot device, called in to solve almost every technical problem, meet new military need or whatever else pops up. The rest is solved by the brilliant girlfriend, who can break every advanced alien system and surpass its technology in just several days. So much for challenges that characters may or may not overcome.
The characters are all decals by this point. The billions of space ships reflects the writer losing any restraint in the depiction of the scope of a fifty galaxy civilization. Crossing hundreds of millions of light year is accomplished in a day? Why not just seconds? The story rest in the magic of wormholes with no explanation for the ability to open the far end where it needs to be, etc. The technology has slipped way past the Star Wars limit. The story has slipped way past the grand universe weaknesses of The Foundation or Dune. There are no characters on whom to hang any emotional connection.
Technology is awful. Magic is lost. Characters devolve. Too cardboard like to engage a reader.
The writer loves the verb, the noun (and possibly their newly minted adjective) "smirk". It's hard to go two pages without being ambushed by a smirk (a bit of hyperbole, or is it? -cue sinister theme).
The magic has been utterly reduced to an overworked plot device, called in to solve almost every technical problem, meet new military need or whatever else pops up. The rest is solved by the brilliant girlfriend, who can break every advanced alien system and surpass its technology in just several days. So much for challenges that characters may or may not overcome.
The characters are all decals by this point. The billions of space ships reflects the writer losing any restraint in the depiction of the scope of a fifty galaxy civilization. Crossing hundreds of millions of light year is accomplished in a day? Why not just seconds? The story rest in the magic of wormholes with no explanation for the ability to open the far end where it needs to be, etc. The technology has slipped way past the Star Wars limit. The story has slipped way past the grand universe weaknesses of The Foundation or Dune. There are no characters on whom to hang any emotional connection.
Technology is awful. Magic is lost. Characters devolve. Too cardboard like to engage a reader.
December 1, 2019
No challenge
No danger. The enemy never stood a chance.
At a certain point, the MC and his team are so over powered...millions of warships in less than a month and a half?!?!?...it becomes ridiculous. Limitless power, matter/energy transmutation, nanotech...the magic that supposedly exists never really appeared in this book. It is functionally useless.
Then there is the sloppy writing. Typos litter the book, with homophones on every other page.
The first book had some promise. This one broke the promise.
No danger. The enemy never stood a chance.
At a certain point, the MC and his team are so over powered...millions of warships in less than a month and a half?!?!?...it becomes ridiculous. Limitless power, matter/energy transmutation, nanotech...the magic that supposedly exists never really appeared in this book. It is functionally useless.
Then there is the sloppy writing. Typos litter the book, with homophones on every other page.
The first book had some promise. This one broke the promise.
December 20, 2019
In many ways this book is more Fantasy than Science Fiction,
In most SciFi books I expect the science to be ‘impossible’, but I want to be able to suspend my disbelief and just accept that this could happen. Unfortunately as Scott was producing millions of warships from nothing, all I could think was this is just ridiculous.
I was also disappointed with the big space battles, which consisted mainly of millions of missiles wiping out everything in sight. Even when they had a problem with the Grays that could have been a disaster, Diana just solves it in minutes.
Overall the story wasn’t bad, which is why I will try the next book.
In most SciFi books I expect the science to be ‘impossible’, but I want to be able to suspend my disbelief and just accept that this could happen. Unfortunately as Scott was producing millions of warships from nothing, all I could think was this is just ridiculous.
I was also disappointed with the big space battles, which consisted mainly of millions of missiles wiping out everything in sight. Even when they had a problem with the Grays that could have been a disaster, Diana just solves it in minutes.
Overall the story wasn’t bad, which is why I will try the next book.
July 2, 2023
Even better than the first book!
November 20, 2019
More more more
Lots of escalation here. With the threat of annihilation a constant friend the team must constantly improve and a a frantic pace. The universe as it is will change rapidly with the additions that are coming and that have been implemented. I like the pace of the books in this series but seem like there will be a top out sooner the tech is getting insane to some degree. Looking forward to the next book.
Lots of escalation here. With the threat of annihilation a constant friend the team must constantly improve and a a frantic pace. The universe as it is will change rapidly with the additions that are coming and that have been implemented. I like the pace of the books in this series but seem like there will be a top out sooner the tech is getting insane to some degree. Looking forward to the next book.
November 22, 2019
Whew! An adventurous brisk ride!
The pace of events is brisk and so is the pace of inventions! And the mc is developing himself, his status, and his relationships nicely. A really good read, looking forward to the next one!
The pace of events is brisk and so is the pace of inventions! And the mc is developing himself, his status, and his relationships nicely. A really good read, looking forward to the next one!
July 29, 2020
Great space opera crossed with fun techno-magic continues!
I really enjoyed this book and this series. So much so that I've reread it several times. I love the combination of space opera and magic. Scott, the main character, can magically understand, control and duplicate any technology, even alien technology.
Scott and his allies have created a huge space station in Earth orbit, Astraeus Station, and then opened it up for tourists and space based businesses. The space opera, advanced new technology and techno-magic continues and just gets better. Scott's girlfriend Diana, continues researching and creating very advanced new technologies on Astraeus Station.
This is a good thing because the alien Grays, who control 50 galaxies, have declared war on the Earth and have invited many other alien civilizations in their star empire to also attack the Earth. The excuse is a false video showing an Earth merchant ship attacking an alien race. This gives the Grays and their greedy allies the excuse they need to attach and try to conquer the Earth.
Great space opera warfare ensues! Can the Earth possibly survive?!
Read this book to find out, you'll be glad you did! I'm very much looking forward to reading book 3 in this series.
I really enjoyed this book and this series. So much so that I've reread it several times. I love the combination of space opera and magic. Scott, the main character, can magically understand, control and duplicate any technology, even alien technology.
Scott and his allies have created a huge space station in Earth orbit, Astraeus Station, and then opened it up for tourists and space based businesses. The space opera, advanced new technology and techno-magic continues and just gets better. Scott's girlfriend Diana, continues researching and creating very advanced new technologies on Astraeus Station.
This is a good thing because the alien Grays, who control 50 galaxies, have declared war on the Earth and have invited many other alien civilizations in their star empire to also attack the Earth. The excuse is a false video showing an Earth merchant ship attacking an alien race. This gives the Grays and their greedy allies the excuse they need to attach and try to conquer the Earth.
Great space opera warfare ensues! Can the Earth possibly survive?!
Read this book to find out, you'll be glad you did! I'm very much looking forward to reading book 3 in this series.
March 4, 2021
I liked the first book more than this book. The characters never really have any true obstacles. Enemy on the way. We can build "X" number of spaceships without issue. Enemy has secret probe. Problem immediately solved in an hour. Enemy figured out our secret weapon. No problem. Our scientist counters their response in just a couple of hours. You never get the sense that the characters or humanity is in any danger of losing. I really wish there would be more time spent with the space battles. There could be more build up and suspense. As it is now missiles are fired and next page the battle is over. To me a space opera should have really exciting space battles. Or at least subplots that generate suspense. My review for the previous book criticized the author for overuse of the word giggle. All of these super capable and overly smart female leads giggling all the time. This book, in addition to all of the giggling, there were over 30 smirks. Seriously? Again, maybe it's just me. But overuse of the the same words is frustrating to read. Even if the adjective is being appropriately used then it seems as if maybe the characters should have different reactions instead of always giggling or smirking.
August 2, 2020
There is almost no fantasy in this book, except for a couple of references to characters being elemental mages or were creatures. It also had almost no tension for me, I never felt like the main characters were ever in real danger. I did find the relations between the different species interesting and like the overall feel of the universe the author has imagined. The main character being Superman like made this book somewhat uninteresting for me. I also disliked the lack of any moral discussions or explorations; 100,000s of thinking, feeling beings die in minutes and then main characters go have a lovely dinner . . .
July 16, 2020
"No one looked happy with the plan, but I suppose that was proof enough that it was fair"
2.0/5.0 Astraseus Station is the sequel to Tech mage, and second in its series. It has all of the same problems I had with the first book but also added a slow and boring plot. Its a shame because the concept could have gone a long ways but I just did not feel it and will be most likely stopping the series here.
2.0/5.0 Astraseus Station is the sequel to Tech mage, and second in its series. It has all of the same problems I had with the first book but also added a slow and boring plot. Its a shame because the concept could have gone a long ways but I just did not feel it and will be most likely stopping the series here.
July 27, 2020
Not Exactly Enthralled
The author’s note claims that the fantasy elements are tangential at best and not the focus in this series. I might accept that prognosis except for the fact that the technology espoused is more fantasy than science, and that is a major part of the storyline. So far there has not been a typical “hanging ending” but these first two books have left the reader with unanswered questions at the end of books one and two.
The author’s note claims that the fantasy elements are tangential at best and not the focus in this series. I might accept that prognosis except for the fact that the technology espoused is more fantasy than science, and that is a major part of the storyline. So far there has not been a typical “hanging ending” but these first two books have left the reader with unanswered questions at the end of books one and two.
May 3, 2020
Enough Smirking
I like Harrison's books. They're nice simple space opera with interesting characters and plots. BUT, enough with the smirking already! Smile, grin, hand/face plant, grimace, whatever, but no more smirks. It's like a 😓 nervous tick. I've read 4 or 5 books so far and every 2nd page somebody is smirking. Where was the editor? Out for coffee? BobaRob
I like Harrison's books. They're nice simple space opera with interesting characters and plots. BUT, enough with the smirking already! Smile, grin, hand/face plant, grimace, whatever, but no more smirks. It's like a 😓 nervous tick. I've read 4 or 5 books so far and every 2nd page somebody is smirking. Where was the editor? Out for coffee? BobaRob
November 24, 2020
The Whole book felt like a rush job. The characters were in a rush everything was a rush. It was all going by in a blur. I don't have any clue what just happened or how or really why. I'm not even sure who all the characters were. Some of them just appeared without any introduction. I feel dizzy after reading this.
May 31, 2020
Great Science in Fiction
I honestly don’t know why he included urban fantasy people in this series world as they are not really used for this story. Only the Mc as a mage over devices is used. He could’ve just been talented and the story would stand. Great story
I honestly don’t know why he included urban fantasy people in this series world as they are not really used for this story. Only the Mc as a mage over devices is used. He could’ve just been talented and the story would stand. Great story
July 19, 2020
Tech
A nice mixture of tech, sci fi, and magical fiction. Dynamic female characters and enough alien bad guys to keep us applauding our heroes
A nice mixture of tech, sci fi, and magical fiction. Dynamic female characters and enough alien bad guys to keep us applauding our heroes
August 4, 2020
Excellent
A little wordy in spots but overall, a decent story. It is neat to read about the abilitys of the tech mage.
A little wordy in spots but overall, a decent story. It is neat to read about the abilitys of the tech mage.
January 26, 2021
Ok
An okay work. Not quite as good as book one, but not bad. Equivalent of gas station food to compare.
An okay work. Not quite as good as book one, but not bad. Equivalent of gas station food to compare.
March 19, 2021
4.25/5 Stars
March 29, 2021
Exciting
This is an exciting story in this series. You have romance and space battles and earth 🌍 going to new places and meeting new races.
This is an exciting story in this series. You have romance and space battles and earth 🌍 going to new places and meeting new races.
July 23, 2022
As good as the last one
January 6, 2021
Very enjoyable
I enjoyed the book very much. I like the plot and the characters. I found four typos in the last half of the book.
I enjoyed the book very much. I like the plot and the characters. I found four typos in the last half of the book.
February 26, 2020
I enjoyed the story. Let me add that I had a part of my brain nagging me about so many things that didn’t seem right. I had to read it the same way I read superhero stories. In fact it is very much written like a superhero story in a SiFi setting.
December 12, 2019
The Stuff of Future Tech
Unbelievable? That's what they said of Star Trek a and we have come to expect and rely on that technology, as unbelievable as it seemed at the time. Nobody thought cell phones (communicators) could work. Space travel was not really thought about. Inter-racial relations, especially involving aliens, were constantly talked about and many improvements made - although we still have a ways to go on that goal. Magic in Technomancer? Why not? What we now call technology was once called magic. I thought Technomancer a work of genius. There were parts that seemed anachronistic such as, why use missiles? But I appreciated that our heroes were human with human desires and goals, even to the point of falling in love, getting married, and (possibly) having children IN THE NORMAL WAY, so that the actual important things in life are not overshadowed by STUFF and technology. I hope we can keep our focus on what is good in the flood of technology that is seemingly overwhelming us.
Unbelievable? That's what they said of Star Trek a and we have come to expect and rely on that technology, as unbelievable as it seemed at the time. Nobody thought cell phones (communicators) could work. Space travel was not really thought about. Inter-racial relations, especially involving aliens, were constantly talked about and many improvements made - although we still have a ways to go on that goal. Magic in Technomancer? Why not? What we now call technology was once called magic. I thought Technomancer a work of genius. There were parts that seemed anachronistic such as, why use missiles? But I appreciated that our heroes were human with human desires and goals, even to the point of falling in love, getting married, and (possibly) having children IN THE NORMAL WAY, so that the actual important things in life are not overshadowed by STUFF and technology. I hope we can keep our focus on what is good in the flood of technology that is seemingly overwhelming us.
December 26, 2019
Empire-razing fun
Its a fun light read for a scifi fan. I recomend it!
But I had a terrible thought in regards to the self-creating nanites: by the end of this book, the MC could possibly end the universe... By programming these nanites to spread out and infinitely create more of themselves. They dont need mass or energy input. And they replicate QUICKLY! Send a softball-sized wormhole-capable infinitely-replicating glob of nanites to every galaxy, programmed to replicate and spread to every system and eventually the universe is filled with nothing but hypermassive black holes where galaxies used to be. And all it would possibly take is 1 messed up dude with access to the tech. No more universe! Hah!
Its a fun light read for a scifi fan. I recomend it!
But I had a terrible thought in regards to the self-creating nanites: by the end of this book, the MC could possibly end the universe... By programming these nanites to spread out and infinitely create more of themselves. They dont need mass or energy input. And they replicate QUICKLY! Send a softball-sized wormhole-capable infinitely-replicating glob of nanites to every galaxy, programmed to replicate and spread to every system and eventually the universe is filled with nothing but hypermassive black holes where galaxies used to be. And all it would possibly take is 1 messed up dude with access to the tech. No more universe! Hah!
November 26, 2019
Not bad, but it seems a bit bland.
The characters, sa few as they are , seem a bit shallow, the whole story lacks color (methaforically) , the idea that Germany would ally themselves with the us and the uk is absurdity ridiculous, the idea that a civilization owning 50 galaxies of 100 billion stars would have only a few million ships is ludicrous, and despite it all the story was entertaining and pretty gripping. definitely worth a read. Hopefully the next one will be better.
The characters, sa few as they are , seem a bit shallow, the whole story lacks color (methaforically) , the idea that Germany would ally themselves with the us and the uk is absurdity ridiculous, the idea that a civilization owning 50 galaxies of 100 billion stars would have only a few million ships is ludicrous, and despite it all the story was entertaining and pretty gripping. definitely worth a read. Hopefully the next one will be better.
January 3, 2020
Good second book
Just in time, I managed to finish this book before 2019 ends.
This is officially the last novel I read for 2019.
Good book.
While the plot was interesting and engaging, the technology parts of the story made it stall and make me lose interest some times. And the world building while sometimes was good, other times felt rushed.
Will still give the third book a try.
Just in time, I managed to finish this book before 2019 ends.
This is officially the last novel I read for 2019.
Good book.
While the plot was interesting and engaging, the technology parts of the story made it stall and make me lose interest some times. And the world building while sometimes was good, other times felt rushed.
Will still give the third book a try.
January 6, 2020
Book two
Mistakes: I only found two in this short story. Both where incorrect words.
Plot: One small battle based on greed from nations on earth. One huge battle with invading aliens. The battle wasn’t very detailed.
Characters: The Mc is fine. The support characters could be fleshed out some.
7/10
Mistakes: I only found two in this short story. Both where incorrect words.
Plot: One small battle based on greed from nations on earth. One huge battle with invading aliens. The battle wasn’t very detailed.
Characters: The Mc is fine. The support characters could be fleshed out some.
7/10
November 19, 2019
It’s a good book
I really enjoy the book and it was a great second entry to the series but some of theoretical stuff went over my head but even that still made it interesting I’m looking forward to what’s next for this series.
I really enjoy the book and it was a great second entry to the series but some of theoretical stuff went over my head but even that still made it interesting I’m looking forward to what’s next for this series.
November 20, 2019
Really enjoyed this one
I really enjoyed this one, but it was a little bit simplistic. Scott, the main character, reacts believably to the attacks, and there are some fun battles and technology. Other than the main character, everyone else is a little two dimensional.
I really enjoyed this one, but it was a little bit simplistic. Scott, the main character, reacts believably to the attacks, and there are some fun battles and technology. Other than the main character, everyone else is a little two dimensional.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews