Hell Fleet: a science fiction adventure of fire and blood and fury.: Book 5 of the Sliding Void space opera series

Sliding Void #5

by Stephen Hunt

Something shockingly scary this way comes?

Commander Adella Vega of the Alliance navy - aka Hell-Fleet - is stuck at the dog-end of the galaxy on punishment duty with the Fleet's losers, thieves and pedantic pen-pushers.

Adella thought that was bad enough, until large portions of her sector just went dark. Is something big, bad, and particularly nasty now heading her way?

And what does her predicament have to do with the free-trader captain Lana Fiveworlds, her rickety ship, Gravity Rose - and its misfit crew?

Sadly, all their troubles are about to collide and multiply in the most horrific manner since the Vela Supernova Remnant detonated.

Sometimes, the future's so bright you better bring lead-lined shades ... and a rail-cannon or three.

Because Earth's best space opera series just met the page-turning universe of military science fiction! --------------- ABOUT THE BOOK 'Hell Fleet' is the 5th book in Sliding Void series. It's a completely stand-alone adventure, not directly linked to the first four books. --------------- ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Hunt is the creator of the much-loved 'Far-called' fantasy series (Gollancz/Hachette), as well as the 'Jackelian' series, published across the world via HarperCollins alongside their other fantasy authors, George R.R. Martin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Raymond E. Feist and C.S. Lewis. --------------- REVIEWS Praise for Stephen Hunt's ‘Mr. Hunt takes off at racing speed.’
— THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ‘Hunt's imagination is probably visible from space. He scatters concepts that other writers would mine for a trilogy like chocolate-bar wrappers.’
- TOM HOLT ‘All manner of bizarre and fantastical extravagance.’
- DAILY MAIL ‘Compulsive reading for all ages.’
- GUARDIAN ‘Studded with invention.’
-THE INDEPENDENT ‘To say this book is action packed is almost an understatement… a wonderful escapist yarn!’
- INTERZONE ‘Hunt has packed the story full of intriguing gimmicks… affecting and original.’
- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ‘A rip-roaring Indiana Jones-style adventure.’
—RT BOOK REVIEWS ‘A curious part-future blend.’
- KIRKUS REVIEWS ‘An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels.’
- THE TIMES ‘Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension.’
- TIME OUT ‘A ripping yarn … the story pounds along… constant inventiveness keeps the reader hooked… the finale is a cracking succession of cliffhangers and surprise comebacks. Great fun.’
- SFX MAGAZINE ‘Put on your seatbelts for a frenetic cat and mouse encounter... an exciting tale.’
- SF REVU --------------- FORMAT Full novel - a stand-alone adventure. Book 1 - Sliding Void Book 2 - Transference Station Book 3 - Red Sun Bleeding Book 4 - Anomalous Thrust Book 5 - Hell Fleet

Book 6 - Voyage of the Void-Lost --------------- AGE ADVISORY Age 13+ - mild violence and language. --------------- READ THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE THESE AUTHORS... Douglas Adams Neal Asher Iain M. Banks Jack Campbell David Drake Orson Scott Card James S.A. Corey Evan Currie Peter F. Hamilton Ric Locke

Genres: Science Fiction

234 pages, Hardcover

Published August 12, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Stephen Hunt is a British writer living in London. His first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994, and introduced a young officer, Taliesin, fighting for the Queen of England in a Napoleonic period alternative reality where the wars of Europe were being fought with sorcery and steampunk weapons (airships, clockwork machine guns, and steam-driven trucks called kettle-blacks). The novel won the 1994 WH Smith Award, and the book reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase Flintlock Fantasy to describe the sub-genre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.

Reviews

[Julian White]

A longish but fast-moving read. The Triple Alliance is threatened by an alien incursion by the Quazalrats, an amphibious race (frogs crossed with sentient velociraptors is the description given) with the ability to impact hyperspace travel. Adella Vega is stuck on punishment detail at the far end of Alliance space and somehow has to make it back to the Core with the forces and civilian traders that have washed up at Dark Viking Station. Throw in a Rear Admiral promoted well above his capabilities and the usual politics (the Unity) and she has her work cut out.

Shades of Hornblower and Bolitho (reflected in the choice of a quote from Nelson as an epigram) though not Jack Aubrey (inimitable!) Adella faces escalating problems as the Quazalrat fleet nears.

A full length novel rather than the episodic serial of the first book Hell Fleet features the return of Calder Durk but is essentially a stand-alone. There is a brief link into a (presumed) follow-up.

Splendid stuff.

[Bob]

Space Opera/Science Fiction.Consortium navel fleet fighting invading aliens with overpowering numbers and forces. consortium nave captain assigned to a backwater scrap yard run by an incompetent vice admiral manages to put together a force from resurrected war ships to fight the invading aliens, but has to deal with the Admiral whose plans lead to disaster. There are other actors in the mix as well as the Captain fights her way back to the home worlds. An ok read as such things go.

[Will]

This was pretty good. Told from the perspective of a new set of characters, but the original cast does make an appearance.

Much more on space strategy than the previous which was a fun change of pace.

Need more in the series...

[Eddie Mae Clendenin]

Sad sequel to fairly good read