Swarm: Star Force, Book 1

Warning - spoilers if you are just starting to read either the Star Force or Lost Fleet series.The current 7 book `The Star Force Series' (SFS) is every bit as satisfying as is Jack Campbell's `The Lost Fleet' (TLF) series. The obvious similarity pits the hero commander against an overwhelming enemy who must devise new battle tactics that often bend conventional rules of warfare, rely on the esprit de corps of ground-troops and fleet personnel, or employ trickery and bluffing to triumph in desperate battles. In TLF the action pits the planets of humans rule by a corporation call the Syndic against the planets of humans ruled by an elected government called the Alliance, while in the SFS humans are fighting intelligent machines with no other program than to eliminate biologic life from the universe. Whereas the battles in TLF are dominated by big fleet maneuvers and space action with just an occasional ground-troop foray, the SFS battles are split about equal between fleet and ground; however, know that Larson saves the most intense written action sequences for the ground troop segments. Although the actions of the two commanders will ultimately alter the course of human society and the direction of human history, it is their individual motivations, backgrounds and skills which dictate two radically different approaches. `Black-Jack' Geary from TLF is a strategic thinker whose inner turmoil is the misrepresentation of a hundred-year old legacy of aggressive self-sacrifice. Yet, his battle decisions are not a barbaric suicidal charge into the strength of the enemy but disciplined brilliant strategies designed to inflict the most damage on the enemy with the fewest loses to his fleet ships and crews. SFS's Kyle Riggs, on the other hand, is a college professor thrown head first into an inter-galactic war of extermination. He evolves into a gutsy, ruthless commander who understands he is fighting for the very survival of humanity and alien biological life so he accepts the necessity of using up his troops in win-at-any cost campaigns. Here's one illustration from SFF: the humans are allied with a centaur-like aliens who willing strap thermonuclear mines to self-sacrifice in their hundreds or thousands bringing down enemy ships and troops. Riggs may feel bad about using the Centaurs this way he does not stop them from doing this when the battle is on the line. There is one annoying similarity between the two series. It's the main reason for my four star review. Both series have a triangle relationship between two beautiful women and the hero commander. The authors must believe their books are filling some pre-teen fantasy for which they feel the need to write because the woman-man-woman triangles do nothing more than break the flow of a good plot line. Better that the authors wrote more to the consequences on human society of their actions that spending page after page of the inane jealousy between two women for the affection of the hero commander. If you want well-plotted space war saga let me recommend either series with a slight nod to Larson's The Star Force because the growth and actions of his main characters are well-suited to a universe out to crush humanity.

This is my second reading of this series. Yes . . . It was that good--at least for me.I guess my excuse for not reviewing this or any of the rest of the books in the series was that I was too busy reading. Would I recommend it? Yes for anyone who enjoys military SF. And except for Kyle having tactical skills far beyond his experience would suggest, the author does seem to understand the inner workings of the military mind and a lot of the terms and slang I recall from my service in the Navy.So if it’s good enough to want to read it again why only 4 stars?The not so Good• This is not classic literature. It is a fun read and should be taken as such.• The main character, whose voice tells us the story, is something of a cartoon hero. How can one be a college professor and a farmer? Both--when done well--are full-time jobs. To enjoy the story, you must be willing to suspend disbelief and accept that he acquired his superior skill from reading of military history from Sun Tzu to the present day. On the other hand Kyle does make costly mistakes. So he is not perfect.• There is graphic violence throughout the series. One can easily counter that this is a galactic war and war is a messy business.The Good• Excellent world building is evident throughout. New solar systems and sentient creatures are identified and given unique language and mannerisms. In fact a good share of the comic relief throughout the series comes from one particular population.• The battles in space are very credible. Exotic and not so exotic weapons have their own strengths and weaknesses that have great effect on the outcomes of battles.• There is intrigue throughout as numerous assassination attempts are made on the main character.• There are very few mistakes in the text. There are no more than a handful of grammar or word usage “speed bumps” to stop the flow or the story in each book.• Kyle has character flaws that make him more appealing and the story more interesting. That he recognizes and agonizes over them gives him character.While this may be read as a stand-alone story, its real value is in establishing the world and some of the characters that will carry it forward. If you enjoy a good military SF yarn, I believe you will enjoy the entire series. And you might want to purchase the collection. Highly recommended!

While feeling in the mood for a new sci-fi read on my Kindle I came across this, surprisingly good read. The reason I say surprisingly, is typically I wouldn't impulse buy. A few of the already posted reviews, provided the extra push to purchase this e-book and I'm very glad I did.*Minor story spoilers*The book is a sci-fi action book, focusing on a ongoing battle between 'Biotics' (gooey, flesh bags like me and you) and the 'Macros.' While it may sound like your fairly standard affair, there are some interesting takes on the genre with the inclusion of the 'Nanos' - 'Sort of friendly(debatable)' defenders of biotics. The Nanos come to earth, and their first task is to recruit command personnel to command...well them, to ultimately provide a defence against the 'Macros'.It sounds complicated, but its really demonstrated & presented in a very straight forward understandable way. The whole book is easy to read and it has that 'Just one more chapter' effect in some parts. After finishing it I promptly purchased the next 2 books in the series, and I'm looking forward to the 4th.A couple of criticisms that have made me give this a 4, instead of a 5 - There is something of a lack of explanation for various things that occur which is a flaw present throughout all the books so far. (e.g. By the end of book 3, we still only really know a relatively small amount of info about the Macros.)Also some of the character emotions/responses to events around them are almost a bit stilted. Without giving too much away, the main character, Kyle Riggs, ultimately seems rather detached after a rather personal traumatic event happens early on in the first book. There are some brief mentions of this event further on in the books, while it's possible it can be argued, Kyle Riggs is being swept along by events beyond his control there is just some emotional oomph missing.Also the character of Sandra, while changing slightly in the 3rd book, remains a 'sexy-pouty-crazy-angry' lady throughout. I wouldn't say this is neccesarily a bad thing but her presence can on occasion grate a little.Overall I'd highly recommend this book to those looking for military sci-fi fix.

Fast paced, well written and well constructed. I did not like it as much as Steel World but if you liked that you will enjoy this.The most interesting aspect is Larson's view of flying saucers and why they abduct people. They are basically composed of nano-machines (Nanos) seeking a control unit (sentient being) to aid them in their fight against another machine race, the Macros. Earth is invaded and the motley group of survivors who survive the very harsh selection methods find themselves in the front line against the invading Macros.I have no wish to spoil the story for new readers but Larson has several unexpected twists up his sleeves and offers a lot of new ideas regarding alien invasion of Earth. This has, unfortunately, been done to death by film makers over the past few years. Good action sf with some novel ideas. Highly recommended.

This is an OK book with a reasonably entertaining story, however there is something about the style of writing which seems almost child-like in its naivety which I found a bit off-putting and stops me rating the book highly. Literature is very subjective and others may well not share my criticisms, but for me the characters have not been sufficiently developed and seem very one dimensional. The fighting scenes are similarly shallow and distant, somewhat more like watching a computer game , than real people battling for their lives. At under £2 for the kindle version, I cannot say I have wasted my money as it was distracting enough for me to finish the book.

I'd been thinking of buying this for a while. Ever since I'd read Vaughn Heppner's Doom Star series and realised Sci-Fi and military warfare in space etc went very well together.The start of this book wasn't like I expected due to some of the other reviews I've read to date. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the manipulation of the ships, the change in relationships between the command personnel and the ships and then the ever changing types of Macros the soldiers came up against. Good ideas throughout the book and I'm now half way through book 2.These are very easy books to read, descriptive but not overly so.

I loved the whole series which at the moment consists of 9 books. I read them all in 2 weeks.The author brings a fresh approach and avoids the tired cliches so many others fall prey to, and doesn't get overly bogged down into the nitty gritty of his technological "inventions", yet manages to explore the human flaw in great detail. Give us more power than our neighbour, with very little chance of retribution, and watch our evil streak really take off. The action is fast, plausible, and keeps you yearning for more. Because of the nature of the alien he creates, and the technology that comes with it, you're only limited by the imagination of the author which really isn't lacking. The characters are all flawed in various ways, and by the end, I even found myself disliking our protagonist due to his arrogance, even if he did mean well. That is intended as a compliment to the author, because in many books of this genre, the characters are all either 100% good or 100% evil, whereas Larson goes for 95%-5%, and the 5% imperfection is where the beauty lies. All in all, this is the best sci-fi book I've read in years, not since Iain M Banks and his culture novels have I looked forward to a new release from an author this much.