Storm Assault

Star Force, Book 8

By: B.V. Larson

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Kyle Riggs has been away from Earth for a long time… but that's about to change.

In Storm Assault , the eighth book of the Star Force series, the story moves in a new direction. Massive fleets are built by both Star Force and the Imperials - but there is a third player in the game: the Blues.

A three-way battle for the known star systems breaks out, with the fates of many worlds and species hanging in the balance. Riggs realizes he must destroy his enemies before they destroy him. Seeking justice and revenge, he gathers his strength and ventures out on a mission of conquest from the Eden System. Humanity must fight to survive, and Riggs is the right man for the job.

Storm Assault is a military science-fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson. To listen to the series in its entirety, start with Swarm (Book 1).

©2013 B. V. Larson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

And this is where the series jumped the shark.

I can forgive the rise to megolamania but not the rise of stupidity. So many stupid decisions made simply to push the plot forward. I couldn't even finish.

It had a goodish run until now.

Entertaining story but frustratingly stupid hero

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This books targeted audience is someone with the intelligence of a 12 year old boy.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The basic concept of the series was very creative and the alien species development is actually fairly good and entertaining.

Any additional comments?

But the hero has every characteristic of a horrible leader.Stubborn beyond belief.ArrogantStupid eager to kill off men without a good reason to do sounwilling to listen to adviceTears down the moral of his teamemotionally unstable Unable to learn simple obvious lessons from his repeated mistakes.(these characteristics have continually worsen as series progress)Victory is usually achieve by the hero denying reality long enough for it to magically change. Either the enemies weakness change or actual physics of armor/weapons change. reads like a really cheep action movie where the hero wins in spite making extraordinarily stupid mistakes that hand victory to the bad guys. But then by shear stubborn will power manages to pull off an unrealistic victory.

worst of a bad series

it is easy to see that the "author" believes he would be the main character if this was real. He thinks he knows real military strategy but shows how little he knows. He repeats statements that were said only minutes before. Just all out a poor book and series with the only decent book being the first one. Only reason I got this far is because I have bad OCD and had to finish the series. I am so glad there are no more books and I will never ever get another book by this "author"

One book too far

I thoroughly enjoyed the Star Force Series up through book 7. Regrettably, Book 8 was a huge letdown for me. First, it uses an inexplicable Deus Ex Machina battle station creation by the Blues (similar to that of John Ringo's Troy Rising except this one uses black hole projection instead of lasers.) Predictably, Star Force (with the ironic help of an equally inexplicable cyborg creations from Earth's imperial megalomaniac, Admiral Crow) to take over this death star and eventually use it to defeat Earth's imperial forces and ungratifyingly end the series.

If this was a SciFi TV series, I would put it on par with BSG season 4.5.

Mark Boyett's oral performance was as well done as I've come to expect.

Can't take anymore.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No

What could B.V. Larson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Learn more about basic command and tactics

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, irritation.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the series at first but the as it progressed the series has mainly come to resemble a 12 year old boys fantasy more than anything else.

Space men are hormonal and stupid

What disappointed you about Storm Assault?

This series was never intellectual but this is insulting. It's like Larson got lazy and couldn't come up with and better ideas.

What could B.V. Larson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Thought

What aspect of Mark Boyett’s performance would you have changed?

The performance was good by comparison.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

None

Worst book of the series.

As another reviewer explained, Kyle turned into a bumbling egomaniac. He was one of my favorite characters in SF up until this book in the series. What happened to the smart leader that put his people first and made outrageous but intelligent and fact-based decisions? In this book, Kyle was a jerk and turned into an incompetent leader bent on acting put his every fantasy and lying to his friends and colleagues about almost every decision he made. Author B.V Larson is a wonderful storyteller but he really missed the mark on this one. I won't be finishing the series.

A wasted opportunity.

I’m pretty torn about this book. I’ve tried to be patient with BV Larsson’s lack of true understanding of basic discipline, military organization and tactics but good god this book is ridiculous.

Kyle Riggs is the most idiotic, unrealistic and narcissistic main character that I’ve ever had to slog through in 40 odd years of reading scifi. The book has great action if you can get past the childish attempt at military doctrine and basic character development.

Mark Boyett yet again makes this book tolerable on Audible. The books have gone downhill as they progress. Not sure I’ll get through the remaining 4.

1 book too many, two hours too much.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I think that this series has played itself out. The story was kind of dull.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'm going to give Star Force a rest for a while. I couldn't wait for the next one to come out after my first listen and now I'm just no longer interested.

What does Mark Boyett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The reader does a good job of using voice to differentiate characters. I actually like him as a reader very much.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I just couldn't wait for the book to end by the last third.

Any additional comments?

I hope that this is the final book in the series but I'm sure it isn't. The last 3 hours of the book just dragged. There was a ridiculous fight scene near the end that had to make even the most die hard fan grown. In the last 10 minutes 2 characters are taking and character 1 asks character 2 if they can just go the evening without talking about something (trying not to spoil anything) and character 2 says "sure, I just want to make sure you know . . . " then rambles on again for another minute. Then character 1 asks again if they can not talk about it again and character 2 says "yes, as long as you understand that. . . " then rambles on again about pretty much the same thing.

Welp maybe you oughta quit

The lead, Kyle Riggs seems to lose his focus. While his exploits have always been fantastical, they now border on "where's the cape" stuff. The real treat is the guy reading. I was and have been entralled by his interpretations. My only concern was his attempt at "ethnic characters." Some might say those potrayal might be racist, sexist and a bit dumb. Korean farmers/Marines are pretty articulate (and big). Latinas are not raging jealous sex pots and Black assassin's aren't "Urban."