Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion

Showing posts with label Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion. Show all posts

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Stryker's War ★★✬☆☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Stryker's War
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion #3
Author: Josh Hayes
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mil-SF
Pages: 197
Words: 63.5K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

Feel the thunder!

Stryker Company always brings the fight, but when they relieve embittered and embattled Republic marines, they find an enemy unwilling to stand up and face them. Tasked with protecting the Republic's interests on a mining world, the legionnaires face roadside ambushes, double-dealing locals, and constant sabotage.

And the mission isn't as straightforward as they thought it would be.

As skirmishes escalate into coordinated ambushes and assaults, two squad leaders, Talon and Lankin, are forced to chase after the sparks threatening to ignite the entire populace into a full-blown insurgency. Denied the legionnaires and resources they need to contain the situation, a single platoon fights to complete a mission requiring all of Stryker Company. The outnumbered platoon must work their way from glittering coastal ports, through steamy jungles and dust-covered mines, to find an enemy hidden seamlessly among the indigenous populace.

The cost is high; the sacrifice great...but nothing short of death itself will stop the legionnaires of Stryker Company from completing its objective. In this stand-alone tale of combat, brotherhood, and sacrifice, these legionnaires will learn what it truly means to make the ultimate sacrifices for their friends.

My Thoughts:

This Order of the Centurion sub-series is straightup Military Science Fiction without a hint of the Space Opera that I enjoy so much from Anspach and Cole.

I had the exact same issues with this book that I did with Iron Wolves. The main character/s are a bunch of worry warts with possible mental issues all the while operating in a hostile environment with idiots for bosses. I'm sure this would appeal to military vets, as it seems to be aimed at that crowd but as someone who came in on the Star Wars'ish space opera vibe for the Galaxy's Edge, this is not for me.

As such, I'm abandoning this sub-series and will start another one. Sigh, my first letdown in this series :-/

★★✬☆☆

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Iron Wolves (Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion #2) ★★★☆☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Iron Wolves
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion #2
Author: Jonathan Yanez
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mil-SF
Pages: 212
Words: 62K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com/Publisher's Summary

The Iron Wolves are a company of legionnaires whose legendary exploits date back to the Savage Wars. When they are invited to be guests of honor at a ceremony on a small, backwater planet, they look forward to some precious time away from the constant conflicts of galaxy's edge.

But when a neighboring country invades, disrupting the ceremony and killing innocents, the Wolves are forced to make an impossible decision. Aid a people pleading for their protection... or obey the cynical orders of their Senate to stand down and see how the dust settles.

Taking their careers and lives into their hands, the Iron Wolves and local militia form a brotherhood determined to fight for what they believe in. War is on the wind, the battle is at hand, and the Legion is on the move once more.

My Thoughts:

This is the first GE book truly written by another author. While Anspach and Cole's names are on the cover, this is all Yanez. As such, it is a very different book from what I've read before. In many ways, it was almost straight up Mil-SF, just like the first book that kicked this whole series off, Legionnaire (by the by, can you believe it has been over 2 years since I started in on the Galaxy's Edge series? And man, it is still going wicked strong!). There was no space opera about this novel, only the grim side of a war for a Republic that was downright dirty.

The main character, Sam, is a real basketcase. He suffers from flashbacks & nightmares and has bad enough anger issues that he's constantly being busted back in rank. His life is the Legion though and there is nothing he won't do for his brothers, including disobey direct orders from their Point Major, who is safely ensconced in a spaceship high above the world.

I understood what Yanez was writing here and why he wrote Sam as he did but I did not enjoy it nearly as much as some of the other GE books. Without that space opera element, that “fantastical other”, Mil-SF has to be really interesting to keep me engaged.

I'll definitely be adjusting my expectations for the rest of this sub-series. Hopefully that will be enough to keep me motivated.

★★★☆☆

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

The Order of the Centurion (Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion #1)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Order of the Centurion
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion #1
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 218
Words: 73.5K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

“The Order of the Centurion is the highest award that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in, or with, the Legion. When such an individual displays exceptional valor in action against an enemy force, and uncommon loyalty and devotion to the Legion and its legionnaires, refusing to abandon post, mission, or brothers, even unto death, the Legion dutifully recognizes such courage with this award.”

Tired of sitting out the war on Psydon in a mobile office hab, Legion Lieutenant Washam agrees to undertake a covert and unsanctioned mission with a band of Republic Recon Marines. Inserted deep behind enemy lines, the strike force uncovers a surprise key to ending a bitter war. Now they must navigate a hostile jungle teeming with murderous alien rebels, pushing themselves to the limits of their abilities, to get this vital intel to Legion Command--if they can survive that long.

THE ORDER OF THE CENTURION is an all-new series of stand-alone military science fiction thrillers set in the GALAXY'S EDGE universe, ranging from the Savage Wars to the arrival of the Black Fleet. Each book features the legendary heroes of the Legion who forgot nothing in their earning of the Legion's highest honor.

My Thoughts:

As the blurb above states, this series is actually a bunch of stand-alone novels dealing with various heroes of the Legion over time. I'm good with some stand-alones at the moment. A good solid Mil-SF book filled with heroics aptly fits my needs.

I was kind of expecting this book, by Anspach and Cole alone, to be about the first time the Order of the Centurion was awarded. But instead they chose a time period soon after the Savage Wars had ended and as the Republic is stretching its wings. It's also when the Republic's House of Reason began appointing Officers to the Legion in an underhanded way to bring it under their control. So not only do the authors choose that time period, they choose 2 Points (short hand for Appointed Officer) to tell the story, as one of them is the guy who gets the award, post-humuously. It also does a fantastic job of showing how much politics goes into even something that should have been sacred from the filthy hands of the politicians.

Usually I thoroughly enjoy the characters portrayed but not so much this tme. The Point who gets the award is everything that the Legion feared a Point would be. The other is his friend but actually went through Legionnaire training and successfully become a Legionnaire on his own. The problem is that the friend kept excusing the Bad Point for the whole book and even at the end thinks well of him. Thankfully all of the supporting characters were great and really pushed the story on.

One of the side characters is an actual Leej and not only that, but a Dark Operator. He's just biding his time per his commander's orders so that he can retire with full benefits and get his pension, which will allow him to live with his wife and two sons and reconnect with them. He was the character I connected with and wished that he had received the medal and recognition. He showed the spirit of the Legionnaires and that was enough to carry the story, thankfully.

Like I noted before, this was by Anspach and Cole alone. After this, other authors are going to be writing the stories under the direction of A&C. I am hesitant about that. For my own sake I hope it turns out well but I've experienced too many instances of other authors playing in someone's sandbox and, while not ruining things, just not getting it and so being out of step and awkward for established readers.

★★★★☆