Michael R. Hicks

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Mistress Of The Ages (The First Empress, Book 3) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on August 17, 2015
Posted in: Book Review, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

MistressDescription/Blurb:

In the final volume of THE FIRST EMPRESS Trilogy, the Kreelan warrior priesthoods, once charged with teaching and preserving the tenets of the Way, have sown the seeds of their own destruction by allying themselves with the Dark Queen and letting loose the ancient evil of Ka’i-Nur.

All that stands against the looming darkness is young Keel-Tath and a handful of surviving priests and priestesses of the Desh-Ka. Battered and bloodied from their own brief, vicious civil war, their honor and swords are now bound to the Child of Prophecy, come what may.

Review 5 of 5 Stars

I have been waiting for this book since I read the last page of the second book in The First Empress trilogy. As expected, the author did a fantastic job with this story. I’ve fallen in love with the universe and the characters he has created. Not only did I enjoy reading this story, but it couldn’t have come at a better time. I was really looking for some distraction and it fit the bill very nicely as it whisked me away to the Kreelan empire to watch as Keel-Tath prepared to confront her nemesis. It was also intriguing enough to drag me away from my summer fun for which I have to give it some credit. When a story starts traveling with me everywhere I go, I consider it a win.

In this story we get a lot of action as one would expect from a warrior race. This is a sweeping epic that casts you from one side of the universe to the other in the blink of an eye. Needless to say a lot of characters die given that Kreelan society is entirely a warrior society that follows The Way, the Kreelan code of conduct. The Dark Queen’s forces are blessed with overwhelming numbers as Keel-Tath’s forces prepare to respond to the threat offered in this latest installment of the series. I was surprised and pleased with the turns the story took, but don’t want to give away too much since we’re so far along in the series. Pretty much everything was well done. The foreshadowing for the very end wasn’t as subtle as I had expected and I had a pretty good idea what was going to happen with that, but it did leave the doorway open for another book in this quite enjoyable series.

Michael Hicks has done a great job. There’s battle, strategy, plotting, trickery, love and much more to keep you interested. I was pleased with the story and the outcome of the arc as a whole. I can’t wait to see what the next story in this epic series brings to the table. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Michael R. Hicks gives away the first book of the trilogies that start this series so if you want to check it out, it won’t cost you a thing.

 

Book Review: The Black Gate by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on October 15, 2014
Posted in: Book Review, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Black GateDescription/Blurb:

It is early 1945 and Nazi Germany, reeling under the relentless onslaught of the Allied armies, looks to futuristic superweapons like jet fighters, V-1 buzz bombs, and V-2 rockets for its salvation.

But Peter Miller, an analyst at the headquarters of the Office of Strategic Services in Washington D.C., learns of a secret Nazi weapons project that may pose a far greater threat: the Black Gate.

Sent alone on a perilous mission into the heart of Germany in the guise of an SS officer, Peter discovers that Nazi scientists have recreated an ancient machine that opens a portal to another universe, a gate they believe literally leads to Hell.

With the help of Mina Hass, a beautiful woman who is also the lover and confidant of the madman leading the project, Peter must find a way to close the gate forever before the Nazis unwittingly unleash Armageddon…

Review 4 of 5 Stars

I wasn’t feeling well yesterday and I chose Michael R. Hicks’ new book, The Black Gate, to keep me company. I always read a few reviews before I purchase a book and I saw several that mentioned they did not like this book as much as the In Her Name series and therefore gave it a lower rating. I prefer to rate the book based on its own merits rather than the merits of another series so that is how I’m going to handle it. I will mention here that the In Her Name series is one of my favorite new series. In fact I re-read the whole thing after reading the most recent installment. What does that have to do with this book you may ask. Not much really, aside from that series is the reason that I follow Michael R. Hicks and found out about this book. On with the job at hand.

The Black Gate was a really fun read. I very much got that Indiana Jones feel from it, but somewhat darker. There is a lot going on in this book and Hicks has managed to somehow wrap it all together to achieve a story that was pretty fun to read. Peter Miller is a really good character and I easily found myself looking at things from his point of view. From the time Peter Miller starts out on his adventure until the end it is pretty much an action-packed ride. I very much got the feel of the old Saturday matinée shows they used to show on TV.

As a description think Indiana Jones type relic meets Stargate, with some serious coordinate problems, and bring along the Nazis to try to take over the world with super soldiers. There you have it. A really fun ride with lots of action. Hicks does a good job building the back story for the gate through Peter Miller’s investigations. He created a history and mystery for creating the relic instead of just digging it out of the ground as we find so often. All in all I really enjoyed this book. There were some strange errors in it grammatically/typographically where it almost looked like track changes had been used and the author chose both words to describe what was going to happen (e.g., stepped onto/walked off – that kind of thing, but not those exact words). That was kind of strange and caused me to pause when I found those places, but there were only a few of them. I only mention them because they brought me out of the story to think about the language.

I’m not going to say this is high literature or anything, but I really had fun reading this book. It’s not at all like the In Her Name series or the Season of the Harvest series. I think that’s fantastic. I like to see a writer stretch their mental muscles so to speak. I don’t know if I would be up for a whole series about this, but it was definitely a good standalone adventure and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you’re looking for a good read that will give you a little of that 1940’s serial adventure feel then I think this will fit the bill. There’s a good story here. Some of it is easier to believe than other portions, but that makes me wonder about what could be and I enjoy that. The characters are interesting, believable and do their jobs in the story. I would especially recommend this book to those that love Indiana Jones or the 1940’s serial adventures, as mentioned above. All in all, a good reading day for me and I enjoyed it. I hope some of you may enjoy it too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Season of the Harvest (Harvest Trilogy, Book 1) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on June 24, 2013
Posted in: Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

harvestDescription: 

You Are What You Eat
 
At a genetics lab where a revolutionary strain of corn is being developed, FBI Special Agent Jack Dawson’s best friend and fellow agent is brutally murdered, his body torn apart.
 
Jack is convinced that Naomi Perrault, a beautiful geneticist and suspected terrorist, is behind the murder. But when Jack is framed for setting off a bomb that devastates the FBI lab in Quantico, Naomi becomes Jack’s only hope of survival.
 
Confronted by the terrifying truth of what the genetically engineered seeds stolen by his friend are truly for and who is really behind them, Jack joins Naomi in a desperate fight across half the globe to save humanity from extermination…

Review 4 of 5 Stars

Anyone who reads this blog knows that  I’m a Michael R. Hicks fan. I fell in love with the In Her Name series and have not only read, but re-read those books. So I came into this book with a love of the writer’s work and great hopes. I did enjoy Season of the Harvest. It won’t be a book that I re-read over and over, but as a writer I was intrigued through much of it and completely understand how you get from researching food allergies to alien story about GMOs.  It just happens.  Something grabs your attention, you start investigating and researching your topic and the next thing you know it is ever-present in your thoughts and the imagination machine starts turning.

I too have done a lot of research into GMOs and I was curious how it would shake out in a sci-fi story, but there are a couple of reasons that I had not read this book earlier. The first of those is that I’m not a big conspiracy theory fan in fiction or in real life for that matter and that tends to influence my feelings about such stories. The second was that I loved the In Her Name series so much and didn’t want to be disappointed if I couldn’t make my way past the conspiracy theory element.

I know. There is that nasty conspiracy theory dislike rearing its ugly head again, but I did enjoy several things about this book.  The bad guys were truly formidable, fascinating structurally and I definitely wouldn’t want to encounter them. There was plenty of action, the story moved along at a good pace and I was also interested in the gene manipulation to a point. Lastly, I loved the cats probably just because I love cats. On several occasions the cats and their warning behavior as well as the bad guys’ feelings about the cats kept pulling up visions of the Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser.  However, I must say that Alexander (lucky little critter that he is) was one of my favorite things about this book and I was pulling for him.

I enjoyed the book for the most part, but this was a 3.5 to 4 reading experience for me (I always round up when undecided). Some of it was really interesting, but the ending didn’t quite do it for me as the president didn’t seem realistic in what he was doing and the deals he wanted to make. I don’t want to give too much detail as I try to avoid spoilers, but the ending just didn’t ring true for me even in a fictional sense.  In fact, several of the characters just seemed a little off (perhaps overly dramatic) and the romance was too immediate for me when what it might have been in real life is the oh crap we might die, hey you’re kind of cute thing. I liked Renee’s character as well, but with regard to some of the others I hate it when characters know there are bad things going down, their equipment inconveniently won’t work and they do something stupid on top of it.  It’s kind of like in a horror movie after three people have died and they decide to walk in the dark through the forest down to the lake and you can almost hear the audience screaming at them to go back. There was some of that to this book and I just couldn’t get past the end even though it wasn’t necessarily rushed or anything like that.

So there you have it from my view. If you like conspiracy theory stories, especially ones that have to do with aliens then this may be just your kind of book. I will continue to follow Mr. Hicks’ writing because he has become one of my favorite new authors and I really enjoy his work. Even Robert Heinlein who was one of my all-time favorite writers had a story or two that didn’t particularly interest me and that is how I feel here as the majority of what I didn’t like about this book really comes from my own likes and dislikes along with some overly dramatic moments more so than the story itself. It was an interesting read and I enjoyed it, but I doubt that I’ll be following this particular series given the reasons already explained (perhaps overly so) above.

Serial Expectations

Posted by tjhapney on June 11, 2013
Posted in: Random Thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I was talking/writing with someone I know today about how we develop expectations about what we see or read, especially when it comes to a series. With a book blog, even though it’s a voluntary labor of love that you have put upon yourself, once you get going you have people contacting you for reviews, blog tours and the like and you end up with things on your schedule (so to speak) to read that you didn’t necessarily search out for yourself. It’s actually cool and I have read some really good books that way. Presently, I’m doing my best to work my way through the commitments I have made, but I bought/pre-ordered Dust by Hugh Howey the other day and I swear I can hear it calling to me as I read the other books on my list.

I loved Wool and cannot wait to read Dust, though perhaps the waiting is good for me because once I have read it and it’s over I’ll have to wait a while to find another book that truly draws me to it. I have a few fairly new authors right now that really draw me in and I can’t wait for them to put out new books.  Hugh Howey is one of them because I was just blown away by the Wool series. Michael R. Hicks is another and the last time I read one of his books from the In Her Name series, I ended up re-reading the whole series and reading the current book again before I could even get around to reviewing it. I’m hoping Dust will be like that too. I also keep an eye out for Christian Cantrell’s stuff because Containment was a good read and Peter Cawdron’s stuff because of the unique perspectives he offers in his books with Monsters being the most recent one I have enjoyed reading. So I’m currently reading a book I was requested to read and it’s really pretty good. The author might even be one I start looking out for, but when I’m standing at the sink washing dishes and such I still find myself wondering what will be there when I open Dust.

I hope the distraction is worth the wait, but the book I’m reading is good enough to not put down as an orphan and I can’t read Dust until it comes out in August so I’ll have to wait. However, I wait with happy expectations of what I will find when I open Dust.

Forged in Flame (In Her Name: The First Empress, Book 2) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
Posted in: Fantasy, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

forged

Original review posted Friday, May 3, 2013

Description: This is the second book of the First Empress saga, following From Chaos Born.

Keel-Tath, the child who would unite her people as foretold by an ancient prophecy, has grown to be a young warrior in the confines of the Desh-Ka temple, where she has been sheltered by her old friend and mentor Ayan-Dar from the clutches of Syr-Nagath, the Dark Queen. But when Keel-Tath is forced to choose between sanctuary and her honor, she goes into exile, leaving behind a broken-hearted Ayan-Dar.

Captured and bound in chains by those who serve the Dark Queen, she is rescued from an unspeakable fate by a warrior from the shadows. Thus begins Keel-Tath’s perilous journey to the ends of her war-ravaged world, through deadly wastelands and even deadlier seas, unaware that some of those she holds most dear stand ready to betray her…

Review 5 of 5 Stars

This was a fantastic book. I don’t know that I can give this book a better recommendation than that after I read it and was not ready for the story to be over, I reread the entire series and then read this book again before even writing the review for it.  It made for a long time between reviews for the blog, but I really enjoyed the time of self-indulgence that I took to bury myself in Mr. Hicks’ universe. Long before the Redemption and The Last War trilogies, this story takes us back to the rise of the First Empress before humans are a consideration in the universe or story.  Keel-Tath’s struggles in her bid to fulfill the prophecy that may save her people from destruction are fascinating, riveting and very well written.  The characters are flesh and blood and I love the story on many levels. I’m sure this series will remain with those others that I read again from time to time like visiting old friends. Michael R. Hicks has done an amazing job of world building in this series from the very start and I can’t wait to read the next book. If you enjoy good fantasy/military science fiction this will be right up your alley.

From Chaos Born (In Her Name: The First Empress, Book 1) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
Posted in: Fantasy, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

chaosOriginal review posted Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Description: 

CHAOS

For long ages, the Kreelan race has been ruled by war. Only the priests and priestesses of the ancient martial orders prevented total annihilation as countless times civilizations arose, only to collapse again into savagery.

RISE OF THE DARK QUEEN

Near the end of the Fourth Age, a powerful warrior from a brooding fortress deep in the Great Wastelands began her bloody rise to power. Syr-Nagath, known as the Dark Queen, began a brutal war of conquest across the face of the Homeworld, secretly planning to destroy the martial orders and resurrect the dark ways of her race’s apocalyptic past.

A CHILD FORETOLD

What the Dark Queen did not anticipate was the birth of Keel-Tath, a child unlike any other. A child foretold in an ancient prophecy, who was destined to wield the powers of the ancient orders and unite her race.

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.

Final Battle (In Her Name: Redemption, Book 3) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
Posted in: Fantasy, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

finalOriginal review posted September 2, 2012

Description: In the final book of the In Her Name: Redemption trilogy, Reza Gard awakens in a hospital on Earth after having been in a coma for months. Charged with murder and high treason, he finds himself the scapegoat for a daring plot to assassinate the President of the Confederation.

Escaping with the help of Jodi Mackenzie, who is now hunted for what she knows about the death of the president, Reza discovers that something is deeply wrong with the Empire: the warriors have lost their will to fight. Compelled to step into a trap set for him and Jodi, the two once again find themselves bound for Erlang.

But this time it is to meet Tesh-Dar, who has been taken prisoner. Captured and sentenced to death, Reza can only watch as a human armada gathers for a strike against the Kreelan homeworld. But the human fleet – and humanity itself – will be doomed to utter annihilation unless he can reach the Empress in time…

Review 5 of 5 Stars

Altogether this has been a great series and I was thoroughly disappointed when I reached the end of Final Battle, the last book in Michael R. Hicks’ In her Name: Redemption trilogy because I truly didn’t want the story to end. Reza is a fantastic character who is incredibly interesting and easy to empathize with while reading. There’s a lot going on in this book and I think Mr. Hicks did a great job of wrapping it all up, though I can only hope that there’s another book after this one that will delve into other issues that would lead to a spoiler alert if I were to discuss them here.  Once again there’s lots of action, intriguing characters and a gritty feel to the portions of the story that need it.  These stories are filled with so much that it has become more difficult to review them for those who have not read the others in the series as I truly don’t want to give away too much and take away from the reader’s enjoyment of their own discoveries and realizations. This is great science fiction / fantasy (as there are some elements that could be considered fantasy by some) and I thoroughly recommend it.  Mr. Hicks is a very good writer and I greatly enjoyed this book and the series as a whole.  So 5 stars for Final Battle and 5 stars for the In Her Name Redemption trilogy as a whole. If you’re looking for something fresh and well thought out that will whisk you away to another place and time this may well be a story for you.

Confederation (In Her Name: Redemption, Book 2) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
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confederationOriginal 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.

 

Empire (In Her Name: Redemption, Book 1) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
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EmpireOriginal 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.

Dead Soul (In Her Name: The Last War, Book 3) by Michael R. Hicks

Posted by tjhapney on May 31, 2013
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Dead SoulOriginal review posted Monday, August 13, 2012

Description: Three years after the brutal first contact encounter with the alien Kreelan Empire, the human Confederation is desperate for a victory. With over a dozen worlds under siege by legions of Kreelan warriors, President McKenna orders the Confederation military to deliver a victory to give humanity hope.

Ichiro Sato and his wife Steph, Roland Mills, Valentina Sikorsky, and the irrepressible General James Sparks are once again at the sharp end of the spear in a mission to take back the colony of Alger’s World from the alien invaders before the Kreelans have exterminated the human population.

But the overwhelming firepower that they plan to bring to bear on the Kreelans may not be enough. For leading the invasion of Alger’s World is Ku’ar-Marekh, a warrior priestess who is feared even among her own kind. With her spirit trapped between life and death, she is called Dead Soul…

Review 4 of 5 Stars

I was completely sucked in by the first two books.  Though I enjoyed this one, it wasn’t quite as much of a draw for me.  I wasn’t as drawn in by Ku’ar-Marekh, the Kreelan warrior priestess that was the Kreelan focus for this volume and I really don’t feel that I need to be told multiple times that she cannot feel any emotional attachment in great detail.  I got it.  I would have really liked to see more about Tesh Dar, the warrior priestess from the first book as she was a very interesting character and I had hoped she would be back in business by the last book in the trilogy, but we did get more time with the Empress this time and that was pretty interesting.  I will say that I read the prequel series first after having read Mr. Hicks’ Foreword at the beginning of Empire from the Redemption trilogy because I wanted to read the story in chronological order so there may be more of what I’m looking for in that story line later, but I can’t say at this point as I have just begun reading Empire. Additionally, things with the main human characters all wrapped up a little too quickly in the last chapter of the book like it was an afterthought.  Other than Ku’ar-Marekh and the final few pages, I enjoyed the read and continue with my recommendation of the series, but do have to say that the third book, in my opinion, wasn’t quite as good as the first two; however, that may not be the case for others.  I really like Mr. Hicks’ storytelling style and think he’s a very good writer. If you enjoy an science fiction adventure of the military flavor you could certainly lose yourself in the series for a couple of days.