Original review posted Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Description: 

CHAOS

A child the Dark Queen must kill, no matter the cost…

Review 5 of 5 Stars

From Chaos Born is the first book in the third trilogy that Michael R. Hicks has done in the In Her Name series and is a prequel that takes us back to the time of the first empress of the Kreelan civilization to observe the beginning of the changes to the Kreelan culture and honor system that will eventually lead them to human space far in the future.  I really enjoyed it and it was interesting to see the societal struggles that this race faced as it was developing and reaching for the stars in an endless cycle of destruction. Syr-Nagath, the Dark Queen, is truly a brutal character with no redeeming qualities as far as I could tell.  Of course, though, in its slanted way this story is about good trying to triumph over evil as has been the rest of the series.  This is a story of hope for an embattled people who have carried on for generations watching their civilization rise and fall. In Keel-Tath there is hope and prophecies of greatness as well as warnings of dire events to come.  Since this is a beginning to a story that we’ve already witnessed in the current books of this series I was really glad to see that it didn’t founder and the storytelling was as strong and imaginative as in the previous books. Can’t wait to read the next one when it comes out.

Original review posted Sunday, August 26, 2012

Description: In Book 2 of the In Her Name: Redemption trilogy, Reza Gard has been banished from the Kreelan Empire and is once again a stranger in a strange land as he returns to the human Confederation. Befriended by a marooned Confederation naval officer leading a desperate fight against the Kreelans on a distant colony world, she reunites Reza with Nicole Carré. With their help, he fulfills his childhood dream of becoming a Confederation Marine.

Reza will need all the help he can get, for dark forces are at work at the heart of the Confederation, and Reza becomes a pawn in a lethal power struggle that leads him back to the planet Erlang. There, a heartbreaking reunion awaits him, along with the discovery of an ages-old power that the Kreelan Empire will stop at nothing to control.

Review 4 of 5 Stars

Confederation, Book 2 of the In Her Name: Redemption trilogy has us following Reza Gard as he tries to acclimate to being human.  I enjoyed the book, but didn’t find it to be as gripping as Empire, the first book in the trilogy. However, it is a necessary piece in an evolving story. There’s a lot of exploration of the human attachments that Reza makes and though he is still the proud and dangerous warrior that we know him to be, he is also out of his element in his dealings with his own kind shall we say. That isn’t at all unexpected at this point in the story and though I completely understood the reasoning behind all of that and how it affects the story arc, I just wasn’t as drawn in by this volume as I was with Empire and the fascinating Kreelan culture. Book 2 is more about exploring humans at their best and worst and there’s a lot of character and relationship building taking place to set up for the third book. As with the other books in this series by Mr. Hicks it was quite enjoyable and I dove into the next one right away. It really picks up after the second half of the book and propels the reader forward toward the third book, but the start of this one was a little slower paced. I’m further ahead in the reading than I am in the reviewing, but can comfortably say that this series will be one I read over in the years to come and will wait expectantly for new stories in the fascinating universe created by the author.

Original review posted Thursday, August 16, 2012

Description: Empire is the coming-of-age story of Reza Gard, a young boy of the Human Confederation who is swept up in the century-long war with the alien Kreelan Empire. Nightmarish female warriors with blue skin, fangs, and razor sharp talons, the Kreelans have technology that is millennia beyond that of the Confederation, yet they seek out close combat with sword and claw, fighting and dying to honor their god-like Empress.

Captured and enslaved, Reza must live like his enemies in a grand experiment to see if humans have souls, and if one may be the key to unlocking an ages old curse upon the Kreelan race. Enduring the brutal conditions of Kreelan life, Reza and a young warrior named Esah-Zhurah find themselves bound together by fate and a prophecy foretold millennia before they were born.

Review 5 of 5 Stars

I read the In Her Name: The Last War series before beginning on the Redemption trilogy so I could read it in chronological order and am really glad I did.  I feel it gave me a better understanding of the Kreelan culture before beginning Empire. That said, the character building and overall storytelling involved in this book was fantastic. The story is compelling, harsh and brutal at points while allowing the reader to love the same characters who sometimes make the harshest decisions as well as delivering a love story to rival some of the classics. It’s so easy to tell someone why you didn’t like a book, but when a writer produces a story that really has that extra something so captivating that it draws you in to where you sit up all night reading even knowing full well that you have to be up early for work and that you’ll be tired all day it’s harder to express. How do you share that with someone else?  So, I’ll do my best to tell you that it was heartwarming and fascinating to follow Reza. You share his fears, friends, struggles, accomplishments, love and heartbreak as he grows up in the alien culture of the Kreelans that become more his family than any he had ever known. Mr. Hicks has created a host of interesting and complex characters to draw the reader into this story. Tesh-Dar became a favorite character while reading The Last War trilogy and I was glad to see her and other intriguing characters were explored much more in depth in Empire. It was a great read and I’ll be sad when I run out of books in the series.  Mr. Hicks has done an outstanding job of telling his tale. If you love great storytelling I’m sure you’ll enjoy Empire.

Original review posted Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Description: Six months after the alien Kreelan Empire launched its invasion of human space, the Confederation of Humanity, a coalition of human worlds banding together for self defense, is rapidly growing.

As Tesh-Dar and her warriors wreak havoc on the two human fleets and Saint Petersburg itself, Ichiro, Roland Mills, and a Confederation spy known as SCARLET are faced with desperate choices from which they learn the true meaning of sacrifice.

Review 5 of 5 Stars

I finished Legend of the Sword, the second volume in Michael R. Hicks’ In Her Name: The Last War series yesterday. The second book was as good as the first so I started on the third one and am about halfway through it at this time, but that’s a review for later. I’m really enjoying this series. The Kreelan priestess Tesh-Dar is fascinating as is the entire culture that Mr. Hicks has brought forth here. Not very long after the first book ends we rejoin our characters as the crisis is picking up between the Confederation and the totalitarian government of Saint Petersburg.  Just in time for the fun the Kreelans arrive to join the party.  We are introduced to some interesting new characters who keep things exciting and moving along, as well as giving the reader a few new characters to follow that will tug at your heart. This is military science fiction, but it’s so much more. What I’ve read so far has been really well done and Mr. Hicks is an excellent storyteller. There’s lots happening all the time and you have to pay attention because he does a really good job with character relationships and wrapping things up. If you skim through parts, when you get to the wrap-up you’ll feel like you’re missing a piece (I say this from guilt of trying to see what was going to happen next to a particular character lol). This would be a fantastic science fiction action flick. I heartily recommend it for summer reading if you enjoy action with a great story.

Original review posted Monday, August 6, 2012

Description: Young Midshipman Ichiro Sato joined the Terran Navy to escape a tyrannical father and find freedom among the stars. He had no idea when he boarded the survey starship Aurora for his first assignment that he and his crew would make humanity’s first contact with a sentient alien species. In an uncharted star system where Aurora’s crew discovers two planets inhabited by a non-human civilization, Aurora is disabled by gigantic alien starships before she can escape. Boarded by nightmarish blue-skinned warriors with claws and fangs, the aliens learn all there is to know about the ship, including all its stored information about humanity, before the crew is slaughtered in a series of ritual combats. Ichiro, the sole survivor, is returned to Earth as a messenger to warn of the aliens’ coming invasion of human space.

With Earth leading a fragile coalition of military forces to mount a defense against what many believe is nothing more than a hoax, Ichiro again finds himself at the sharp end of the spear aboard a Terran destroyer. Together with journalist Stephanie Guillaume, Legionnaire Roland Mills, and the irrepressible General James Sparks, Ichiro and the other men and women of the coalition put their lives on the line against an enemy none of them could ever have imagined.

Review 5 of 5 Stars

First Contact from Michael R. Hicks’ In Her Name, The Last War series was a great science fiction read…and I do mean great. I really enjoyed it and have happily moved on to the next book in the series to continue reading this fantastic story. The book description does a good job of describing what is going on in the book, but in no way leads readers to believe that the book is going to be as good as it really is. This is a great story and is really well-written. I enjoyed it from start to finish and was irritated with myself when I could no longer stay awake to read more. The book is filled with action and battle, as well as great characters and the story doesn’t stumble at any point in the telling.  The Kreelan Empire, its culture and characters are fascinating with the author doing a superb job of world and character building. I’ve been pretty lucky lately on my book choices and this one was no exception.  The characters have depth and you find yourself feeling along with them. I even cried a little at one point. All in all this was a great story and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys excellent world building and characterization with almost non-stop action.  At no point in the book was I bored and often I was irritated when the reading was interrupted. So, if you’ve got some free time, find a place to hole-up and enjoy the journey.