There is nobility in people who are common and baseness in people presented as Noble. This story is alive with its description of people – even for those characters with an obvious bittersweet destiny – because of the authenticity of their introductions and the details of their personalities beyond an easy white hat or black hat caricature. Discovering who are the good guys and bad guys in this tale is an adventure and there is an ever-present and somewhat eerie sensation within the plot (Ah ha!) of who will rise or fall next. This epic-in-scope journey is alive with characters – some for all-too-brief an experience – and settings. If you like an adventure, this work has many – and more-to-come too it seems! I thoroughly enjoyed the reading, finding goodness and badness, experiencing hair-raising reminders from my own past during the process, and wondering “What next?” at turn-after-turn of the pages. Well done!
From the Ashes of a Dead World
Pavel Marino commands one of the last remaining squadrons in the final days of an unwinnable interstellar conflict. He must now spirit his government’s leadership across the stars to a forgotten planet whose inhabitants were believed destroyed in an ancient war. There, far from the reaches of a ruthless foe, they can regroup their forces in order to fight again.
But his ships were never designed to travel such a distance. Along the way many difficult decisions are made so that a few can survive. And when they finally reach their anticipated refuge, they discover that the planet is already inhabited by billions of humans with industrial-level technology, driving cars with internal combustion engines, flying airplanes with propellers, and waging a brutal world war.
Desperate, and with nowhere else to go, the weary space-farers make contact with their primitive cousins. They must now make a fateful decision: Should they strive for peaceful coexistence or domination?
About the Author
Shane Gries, I’m a career soldier, student of history and writer. I’ve spent over fifteen years serving overseas in Europe, Asia and Oceania, and can order beer in several languages. I started off as a young enlisted man and then commissioned later on as an Infantry officer. I’m a graduate of Airborne School, Ranger School, earned my Expert Infantryman Badge, and did some time in combat. I’ve even got a family around here someplace that constantly puts up with my nonsense.
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