Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs

Showing posts with label Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs. Show all posts

Monday, July 12, 2021

Madame Guillotine (Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #3) ★★★★☆

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Title: Madame Guillotine
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #3
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 339
Words: 104.5K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com

Leave no man behind.

On Detron, a simmering protest boils over and turns deadly when militants hiding among the demonstrators deliberately shoot down a group of legionnaires, executing one survivor and taking two for ransom. The only Republic asset the captured leejes can rely on is a lone marine sniper who defies orders in a desperate attempt to save them.

But a troubled sea of hostile riots, looting, and murder is too much for anyone to navigate safely.

Except Tyrus Rechs. Following a trail that links the riots and deaths to a demagogue known in the underground as Madame Guillotine, the bounty hunter must fight his way above, beneath, and through the sweltering city to bring the prisoners back home…and make those responsible pay.

Join the adventure as Tyrus Rechs stops at nothing to take down a nefarious conspiracy before it has a chance to take root in the very Republic that wants him dead.

My Thoughts:

TYRANNASQUID!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And imagine if Jabba the Hutt was a 9ft tall warrior crocodile? What if R2D2 was a psychotic little warbot that dreamt of shooting guns and blowing things up? Then combine Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker into one person and BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM, you have the best Star Wars homage scene that has ever existed. I will be re-reading at least this book some time in the future simply for this part of the story, it was awesome!

Storywise, this felt like the weakest of the Tyrus Rechs series. It is evident that Rechs is reaching the point where he doesn't care about the Republic anymore but his duty is still driving him. He's not quite the man we meet in Season One of Galaxy's Edge but he's only one step away.

This was a very pointed political book in terms of just how corrupt the Republic has become. It's not as fun as the previous books nor as “rah rah kick their ass” either. Good soldiers die because of bad political decisions and it is sad.

This is the latest in the Tyrus Rechs sub-series. It was released last year (2020) and I don't know if there will be another one or not. Personally, this seems like a fitting place for this sub-series to end.

★★★★☆

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Chasing the Dragon (Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #2) ★★★★☆

Title: Chasing the Dragon
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #2
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 243
Words: 75.5K

Synopsis:

From Galaxysedge.fandom.com & Me

They all want the Dragon dead.

The Dragon was trained from his youth to operate as a lethal killing machine. He has tangled with crime lords, dangerous insurgents, even Nether Ops… and none of these forces has been able to bring the elusive warrior to heel.

Enter the notorious bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs.

Rechs takes on the job as a favor to an old Savage Wars buddy. Only Rechs isn’t out to kill the Dragon—his mission is to save the kid’s life. Unless the Dragon kills Rechs first.

The Dragon is the last of an experiment from the Savage Wars, an experiment meant to duplicate Tyrus Rechs. With speed, endurance, healing and other capabilities, the Dragon is a one man army meant to train an army. As a Sinasian, he's now using his skills to train the Sinasian worlds to break free from the Republic.

That war, justified or not, will cost billions of lives and Rechs can't let it happen. In league with a Nether Ops agent who wants the Dragon to live out a life of peace, Rechs must find the Dragon, convince him to stop and then get him to safety. When the Nether Ops agent shows her true colors and double crosses Rechs, a Republic Destroyer is on hand to use a crustbuster on the world the Dragon is on. Rechs rescues the Dragon and delivers him to a couple of Dark Ops agents who want what the Nether Ops agent claimed to want.

The books ends with the Dragon dying of old age surrounded by his family and him holding on until Rechs shows up.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit, this book made me feel really bad for the man known as Tyrus Rechs. He carries such a weight on his shoulders and his memories of his past are simply fading away. He remembers Earth, now mythical in status. He knows he's been around for thousands of years and knows there was a purpose he was meant to fulfill, but details escape him. The unstoppable killing machine he's become seems to be the only way for him to keep going. That is just very pathos filled.

As an action story, this was great. Rechs is facing off against someone who appears to be just as powerful as him. He's also going against Sinasians gangs, Sinasian ninjas, Sinasian special forces, Nether Ops, Legionnaires from the Republic as well as other bounty hunters.

It also excels at providing glimpses of backstory for the universe we're currently reading about. I never felt infodumped on or that “So Bob, let me explain....” feeling that sometimes happens. It really felt organic and like it was directly from Tyrus.

Another fantastic entry in the Galaxy's Edge universe. In terms of pure enjoyment, this is beating out even Asher's Polity series. I don't know how it will stand up to re-reads though. I guess I'll find out in a decade or so :-)

★★★★☆

Friday, April 02, 2021

Requiem for Medusa (Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #1) ★★★★☆

Title: Requiem for Medusa
Series: Galaxy's Edge: Tyrus Rechs #1
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF/Space Opera
Pages: 357
Words: 88K

Synopsis:

Medusa was a world class bounty hunter, with a disease, a disease that was slowly turning her into a machine. She was a doctor and used her bounties to search for a cure for herself and everyone else exiled by the disease. One job got her killed. The Bounty Hunters Guild isn't going to let that happen to one of their operators without severe repercussions. So they hire Tyrus Rechs.

For Rechs, this isn't just a job. He was a lover of Medusa and he doesn't want just Justice, but Vengeance. Wanted by the House of Reason, with Nether Ops continually on his tail, with other Bounty Hunters also gunning for him and his own past haunting him, Tyrus Rechs, a man over 2000 years old, is on the edge.

Rechs tracks down the client who hired Medusa, only to find out other bounty hunters, hired by other clients, had a hand in things. The trail takes Rechs to a rich gambling space station where 2 Crime Lords run a Death Game where hundreds of competitors vie to be the one lone survivor who will live in the lap of luxury for one year. The rogue bounty hunter who killed Medusa has entered the games and Rechs finds out that the Crime Lords are the one's who hired him. Said Crime Lords have also contacted Nether Ops so Rechs can't wait around to get the rogue bounty hunter. Rechs enters the game, kills the bounty hunter, escapes by the skin of his teeth and immediately faces off against a Nether Ops kill team. During this fight he also kills the 2 Crime Lords and finds out that in insane robot bounty hunter is the one behind it all. The robot dies, the space station is totally wasted and Rechs goes to a hidden asteroid to sleep for months to recover and to give his trail time to cool down.

My Thoughts:

After how much I was enjoying the main Galaxy's Edge series, I wasn't sure how a prequel trilogy was going to work for me. Thankfully, this was everything I could have wanted. I'll write about that in a second.

I am consistently giving these books 4 and 4.5 stars and raving about them and I had to think for a minute about what kept them from going into pure 5 star territory. I enjoy them enough, that is for sure. I think it is because these are pulpy enough that it is going to take a second read to see if the enjoyment stands the test of time. So it's not so much a bad thing holding it back, as my own hesitation in giving out a coveted 5star. Anyway, just needed to cement that in my own mind.

As I wrote above, this had everything I wanted. A quest, the chosen one, a hero of superb ability, evil villains, justice, vengeance, lots and lots and lots of action. It all was blended together and folded into a great story. I will almost always take a Lone Hero story over a Group, as I just enjoy seeing the Individual and how one person can make a difference.

In regards to Rechs himself, since we know his fate in the main series, this was all about finding out the tidbits of his past. We know he encountered something that gave him longevity and from this story it seems to have been some sort of Savage ship? It is not explicitly spelled out nor is it the main thrust. Anspach and Cole (the authors) aren't making the mistake that Star Wars made of making the Jedi be the center of attention nor are they filling the galaxy with Jedi barbers and Jedi mechanics and Jedi beauticians. The balance in these books just feels right.

This book has put to rest my niggling fear that GE was a fluke by the authors and that they couldn't keep up that level of great story telling. This was a fantastic story and I loved it and I am looking forward to the next two just as much now.

★★★★☆

All My "Galaxy's Edge" Reviews