The Hundred (Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars #3) ★★★★☆

 

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 Hundred
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars #3
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 251
Words: 109.5K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

THE LEGION HAS LANDED.

One hundred men met the brutal standards of General Tyrus Rechs and became legionnaires.

One hundred men embarked on a suicide mission to retake New Vega from the Savages.

One hundred men stood up... for the galaxy.

Galaxy's Edge: The Hundred is the exciting conclusion to the Savage Wars trilogy as the Legion launches a desperate, brutal assault against the overwhelming forces of the Savage Alliance.

My Thoughts:

Out of the 250 pages, the battle was about 200 of them. So if ultra-tough space marines on steriods, ie, the Legionnaires, don't get your motor running, this book definitely isn't for you. In all honesty, this sub-series of the Galaxy's Edge series isn't for you and I'd even question if the entire GE series was for you or not. This is Mil-SF with enough Space Opera to keep it from becoming Tom Clancy Presents: Jack Ryan the 15^th, In Space!

Where the previous book, Gods and Legionnaires, was divided into 2 books, one about the Savages and one about the Legionnaires, this was 90% about the 100 Legionnaires taking back the planet New Vega. The book actually starts 50-100 years after the events take place with the few surviving Legionnaires from that battle being honored. Coupled with the vague references from previous GE books, we knew that the 100 were whittled down to almost nothing before kicking the Savages off New Vega.

Even Tyrus Rechs dies. Of course, because of the magic scyenze mojo the Savages did on him when he was their prisoner, he comes back to life, but he takes a new call sign so that as far as the Legion is concerned, Rechs is dead. He set out to do what he needed to and now it is time to recover.

We're also introduced to Aeson Ford, the guy from the first season of Galaxy's Edge. Considering this took place 1500-2000 years before those books, I was wondering if it was the same guy. But right at the end of the book he gets drafted into some sort of Super Magic Scyenze Cryogenics program, so yep, it's him. That was fun to see.

This was the final book in the Savage Wars sub-series and I thought that Anspach and Cole did an admirable job of relating a story that took place 2000 years before. They didn't go overboard and try to describe every nut and bolt or color of every bird's feather but neither were they Idea Only people like some of the old masters like Asimov or even Clarke. The blood, the grit and the determination were here in spades and I loved every second of it.

Next up for me and Galaxy's Edge is the Order of the Centurion series. I'll talk about exactly what they entail when I review the first book, Order of the Centurion, but it will be something a bit different as each of the 5 books in the series is mainly written by some other author while Anspach and Cole stamp their name on the book and keep control of their universe. I hope it turns out ok. Sometimes letting other authors play in your sandbox doesn't turn out well. But for the first time in my entire life, I'm going to think positively and believe that I'm going to love Order of the Centurion as much as all the previous GE series :-D

★★★★☆

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Gods and Legionnaires (Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars #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: Gods and Legionnaires
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars #2
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 390
Words: 132.5K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

The Coalition is reeling. New Vega and its other worlds have fallen beneath the boot of the newly allied Savage marines, and the death count continues to rise at a staggering rate. One thing is clear: the war to come will be a fight for the very survival of the species. For both sides in this conflict, now is the time to become what fate, and victory, demand.

The Savages—post-human monsters who believe themselves to be gods—are intent on remaking civilization in their own violent and pathological image. Yet their alliance is tenuous. Among the many tribes of the Uplifted, as they call themselves, the struggle for supremacy rages on. All know that in the end there can be only one tribe. One leader. One truth.

Meanwhile humanity’s last, desperate hope is the formation of a new kind of fighting force: The Legion. Those select few who are hardy enough—or foolish enough—to undertake the relentless, grueling, and merciless candidate training will have the chance to be transformed into mythical heroes… or die trying. They will be pushed beyond their physical and mental limits as they seek to survive an unforgiving planet, lost and derelict ghost spaceships, and worst of all, the cold, unflinching brutality of Tyrus Rechs. At the end of this crucible, only the one percent of the one percent will earn the right to be called ….. Legionnaires

My Thoughts:

In many ways, this was 2 books. The first part, Gods, followed one Savage Marine from after his time on New Vega to a new joint operation by another clan of Savages. What the rest of the Savages don't know is that the Savage Marine (who I'll call Johnny) has been tasked by his masters to introduce a virus into the Savage Alliance to subtley draw all the savages under control of one clan, Johnny's clan.

Between fights we get Johnny's history from when he fled from Earth during the scattering thousands of years ago, to what happened on the Savage Ship. We also realize how technologically advanced in some areas the Savages are and yet how internally focused they are which only heightens their arrogance, paranoia and sense of godhood. Then you come to realize just much they've messed with their minds and you can't believe a thing they think about themselves. It was intriguing and disturbing all rolled into one.

The second part was about the formation of the Legion itself. Nobody but Tyrus realizes just how brutal the training must be and that only a total bastard can forge others into being the tough mothers the galaxy needs at the moment. Opposed by the very Alliance that is placing their hopes on him, by his best friend Caspar and even by the very soldiers he is trying to train, Tyrus doesn't let any of that slow him down or stop him. He has a job that only he can do and he'll finish it.

While I enjoy a good military training montage, something about this one just didn't quite grab me. Part of it is that Tyrus isn't much of a person any more. There are a squadron of Legionnaires who we get to know which was good but it wasnt “quite” enough either.

Overall, this was a really enjoyble story and gave a lot of backstory. This Galaxy's Edge universe continues to keep me interested and to tell a good story.

★★★★☆

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Savage Wars (Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars #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: Savage Wars
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars #1
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF / Space Opera
Pages: 397
Words: 118K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

The greatest conflict the galaxy has ever known…

They were the Savages. Raiders from our distant past. Elites who left Earth to create tailor-made utopias aboard the massive lighthuggers that crawled through the darkness between the stars. But the people they left behind on a dying planet didn't perish in the dystopian nightmare the Savages had themselves created: they thrived, discovering faster-than-light technology and using it to colonize the galaxy ahead of the Savages, forming fantastic new civilizations that surpassed the wildest dreams of Old Earth.

Until the Savages came in from the Darkness...

When a Savage hulk lands on glittering New Vega, one of the crown jewels of the post-Earth galaxy, a coalition of planetary governments amasses their forces to respond to the post-human Savage Marines who’ve come to sack and enslave. But what the coalition forces find is something far more sinister than the typical Savage hit-and-run: this time, the Savages have come to stay.

Witness the intense beginning of THE SAVAGE WARS, the epic conflict, built into the lore of GALAXY'S EDGE, that will encompass over a thousand years of brutal fighting. Only the greatest military force in the galaxy can bring this war to an end… and the galaxy will never again be the same.

Experience the beginning of the Legion. Experience the Savage Wars.

My Thoughts:

This new trilogy starts before the Legion existed and before the Savages were vanquished. This mainly takes place on one world that has been invaded by the Savages. To this point, the Savages have always operated alone and conducted hit and run raids, sucking an individual world dry of all resources, including people. This time is different. They've set down roots. They've allied with other Savage clans.To date, the only way to destroy a Savage Ship has been to nuke the world and burn it to its underbed. And only one man has had the courage to do so, Tyrus Rechs. Declared an enemy of humanity, Rechs has his fans and detractors amongst the various politcal factions out in the galaxy.

Embedded secretly amongst the military forces, Rechs has a plan to nuke the planet. He has help from Caspar, another Immortal who has worked his way up to become an Admiral amongst one of the Factions. He covers for Rechs and gives him the opportunity to use the nuke.

Tyrus saves a small group of soldiers who then pledge themselves to help him get the nuke to the grounded Savage ship. Along the way they realize the Savages have put the entire population into cold storage as a food source. Rechs can't bring himself to nuke the planet knowing the population is still alive. He does get the idea to start a military force made up of the best of the best and answerable to no one but himself. Thus the seed of the Legion is planted.

This felt like a long book. It was good, with some serious ground pounder military action but it just felt long, if you know what I mean.

Overall, this was another great entry in the Galaxy's Edge universe. It was also a great peek into the far history of Tyrus Rechs. 1500 years is a long time. There are 2 more Savage Wars books, so we'll have to see if we take great big time jumps or if it really focuses on the creation of the Legion. Either way, I'm looking forward to them :-)

★★★★☆

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