Drysine Legacy

Spiral Wars, Book 2

By: Joel Shepherd

Narrated by: John Lee

The legendary battle-carrier UFS Phoenix is on the run in Outer Neutral Space. Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande and Major Trace Thakur are determined to use neutral territory to broker a peace between humanity's warring factions, away from Fleet's strong arm. But as machinations in Fleet Command send a legendary warrior from Trace's past on a sworn path to kill her, there arises in the territory of an insectoid foe an ancient enemy from the nightmares of Spiral history, bent on Phoenix's destruction….

©2015 Joel Shepherd (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Fabulous

A class book. I was hooked and couldn't stop this book! One of the best books!

Holy crap!

I read a lot of classic and military sci-fi and this is probably my favorite universe so far. Amazing, I accidentally bought the first book with out even reading the plot or listening to a sample, 2 books now I under 2 weeks.

Worlders, Spacers, Aliens, & Intelligent Machines

I'm hooked on this series now, and the narration is perfect. I'm glad Shepherd decided to write in 3rd person, and from more than one character's perspective. The first book began slowly, but I skimmed the celebration speeches / infodumps and bookmarked the spot for future reference. (I did refer back, later). Then, at about 25% it got going with action, suspense, conspiracies, battles, etc.

Now, with book 2, a new element is brought into the mix, and the conspiracy grows, spanning space and time across the galaxy.

I like the new character, Styx. Her characterization deliberately leaves me guessing about her true intent, but I want to trust her, somewhat. And given her age, and her memory banks, she's a living history lesson. I appreciate how this author slowly reveals the past, beginning with the Ancients 3 million years ago, and the Fathers 50 thousand years ago, etc. Readers slowly realize that history books have been severely revised over the eons. What to believe? Who to trust?

The crew of the Phoenix are renegades because they know too much. Erik, Major Trace, and the rest of the outcast are learning to trust one another and to seriously question Fleet propaganda. Tentative trust develops with a few allies from non-human races. These credible, three-dimensional, and mostly likable characters continue across the series, although some fall in battle.

This feels more and more like the unveiling truth in Sullivan's Riyira series, even though that's dirt-bound fantasy. The characters are upbeat and likable, but imperfect, as with Riyira. It also feels a bit like the space opera series The Expanse, with the political mess between Worlders and Spacers, and an unknown secret 3rd element.

Enter the Drysine

Straight out of history to the present. The greatest foe of the entire spiral awakens as Phoenix encounters the queen.
On the run and looking for answers and allies, the crew of the UFS Phoenix stumble upon something of unimaginable power and the stuff of horror stories and ancient legend. Styx.
Hold on for action and twists as the crew learns what they have on their hands and what they should do about it.

Fun & Fast

Spiral Wars books 1 & 2 feel real; the events feel unexpected, like the world is living and not just crafted around the story. The combat descriptions paint the right level of detail for my imagination. Its semi-hard sci-fi with no artificial gravity, G-Force limits, and a slightly different take on FTL mechanics which is hand waved, but believable.
The characters have some depth and there's some fun conversations that made me laugh. This story has made my lunch breaks very enjoyable the last few weeks.