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Title: Counterstrike
Series:
Empire Rising #11
Author: David Holmes
Rating:
3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages:
458
Words: 180K
This is where Humanity tries to turn things around and go on the offensive against the Karacknids (giant xenophobic space spiders). So far, Humanity has been playing nothing but defense but here, Emperor Somerville and other top notch Space Commadores take various fast attack groups behind the front lines and attack the support structure enabling the Karacknid War Machine. It works well, very well. The only problem is, unknown to Humanity, the Karacknids are moving in a massive space fleet from another front and they plan to use all 10,000 ships to absolutely crush Humanity and the Alliance.
This was another chunkster of a book. Every time I pick up one of these Empire Rising novels, it always surprises me just how long they are. But then I start reading and I’m never bored, never.
It was quite the interesting dichotomy as a reader, knowing from the get-go that the Karacknids had a massive fleet on the way, while we are reading about the successes of Humanity in the war on their infrastructure. It was hard to be excited for the victories because we knew the giant hammer was looming, just out of sight.
The book ends with humanity once again on the back foot and all is in doubt. Now, we know that isn’t the truth because every chapter starts with a saying from the book Empire Rising, written in the year 3000, which chronicles the history of the rise of the Human Empire. So I know that Humanity is going to win, eventually, against the Karacknids. I think it is a testimony to Holmes’ skill as an author that I can still feel trepidation about the outcome even while knowing the eventual longterm outcome.
I can’t remember if I’ve stated it before or not, but Holmes has passed from the realm of mere writer/scribbler into the realm of Author in my opinion. He writes real, different, compelling characters (everyone is not the same character with just a different name), with exciting scenarios that do not feel repetitive. My only niggles are that he really needs to tighten up his prose (450+ pages is long, period) and he needs to make his characters actually grow. While distinct in voice, they remain the same. James is pretty much the same now as he was in the first book, The Void War. Like I said, minor quibbles.
Otherwise, I remain quite happy to keep reading this series a couple of books at a time. Holmes has been writing this series since 2015 and book 19 just came out this past March. I’m ok with that given the quality shown here.
★★★✬☆
From
the Publisher
The Karacknid invasion of Human space has been
temporarily thwarted. A window of opportunity has opened up. Through
it Emperor Somerville hopes to strike deep into Karacknid territory
to buy Earth and the Varanni Alliance the breathing space they need
to replace their losses. On the other side of the Karacknid Empire,
Rear Admiral Becket and the Conclave species are planning a
pre-emptive strike of their own. With relatively undefended borders,
Becket has seen an opportunity to hit the Karacknids where they least
expect it.
Yet the Karacknid’s power is far from diminished.
After the series of defeats the Karacknids have suffered, their
Imperator has now focused his full attention on destroying Humanity
and the Varanni Alliance. Nothing short of the total conquest of
Humanity’s colonies has been ordered. The full might of the
Karacknid Navy has been tasked to bring it about. For James,
Christine, Lightfoot, Becket and all the others, their own lives and
the future of the Empire is at stake.
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