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Title: Shadow Strike
Series:
Empire Rising #16
Author: David Holmes
Rating:
3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages:
450
Words: 177K
Publish: 2023
The last time I read an Empire Rising novel was back in July 2025 (Into the Breach). I enjoyed it but knew I needed a break. So I gave myself 6 months and here we are. I admit I went into this with some trepidation. The series is now complete with the release of Book 22 in the middle of 2025 and I have to decide if I’m going to stick things out to the end or not.
On the
positive side:
I enjoy these stories and consistently give them
3 or 3.5 stars.
There is plenty of little and big space battles.
Alien cultures out the wazoo!
There is always another threat on the horizon so the universe is never in danger of getting stale.
On the negative side:
Characterization is pretty basic. We have moved on to the children of the guy who started the series and they are exactly like him in tone and manner.
Space battles, nothing but space battles! Earlier books used to have some good ground pounder action but that has almost ceased to exist.
The time commitment. Each book is 300 to 500’ish pages long. After this book, I’ve still got 5 more to go.
So I enjoyed this book BUT the whole time I was reading this I was wondering about all of those positives and negatives and if I wanted to finish things up. By the end of the book I decided that I will finish this series. I don’t know if I’ll read all 5 or space things out however. I also began to wonder if the author uses AI to help him churn these out. The first book, The Void War, was published in 2016 and the twenty-second book was published in 2025. You’re talking 2 books a year for 10 years. It is possible but I find it highly unlikely. I will probably speculate more, with numbers(!!!), in future reviews.
★★★☆☆
From
the Publisher
Six months ago the Eaglaton Protectorate launched
an unprovoked attack against Humanity and her allies. Only a daring
strike led by Georgia Somerville managed to reopen the Gift wormhole
and allow Imperial reinforcements into the conflict zone. Now,
Admiral Becket has the full might of the Imperial Navy flowing to her
banner. Yet time is of the essence, for there are signs the Karacknid
Civil War is coming to an end and Humanity’s old enemy may soon
seek its revenge.
Becket, aided by Jonathan and Georgia Somerville, must strike hard and fast against the Protectorate. For if they cannot end the unwanted war quickly, it may drain the Empire and her allies of all the strength they have spent two decades building.
However, lurking in the shadows, another foe watches, determined to do whatever it takes to see the two enemies fight it out to the death.
One way or another, something must break, for if the war cannot be ended quickly, Humanity will find it impossible to defend itself on three fronts.
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