Conquest: Star Force, Book 4

With the 4th installment, Riggs is finally back on home court and preparing for the eventual round 2 with the macros. The same cast of characters is back with Sandra getting creepier due to the microbiological/nanite combo in her. Crowe is still his "time to flee and hide" self. Much time is spent on defense, followed by a counterattack. At the same time, he is dealing with assassins gunning for him. Riggs also gets to call in any chits he's obtained with alien biota.

While the plot is compelling, the pacing well done, and the battle scenes well executed, the overall story suffers from Riggs being forced to carry the whole load. Without Riggs, earth would have been toast long ago and it's not due to a one time superhero feat. Rather, every interaction with aliens of any type always needs Riggs to save the day or at least manage to prevent a catastrophe from developing. Crowe is simply tiresome with his cowardly lion act and Sandra is just plain weird to everyone. Everyone else is extremely formulaic and stereotypical. At the very least, Riggs needs a Mr Spock to figure out what most of the stuff they find actually does. Noticeably absent in this installment is any discussion of the alien race responsible for all this stuff. With a well deserved lull, perhaps Riggs can outfit a more diverse and capable star force (a physicist and biologist would be nice additions).

The narration is passable, but unremarkable. For a group that is suppose to represent a swath of earth's population, everyone sounds like they come from a Hollywood studio's caricature department.

Good listen! Story picks up where book three left off. B. V. Larson’s Star Force series is very similar to my favorite Military Sci-Fi author John Ringo and is certainly a must read for Military Sci-Fi fans. The entire book is written in the first person and gets a little old at times. Conquest also compresses a very large scale battle into a relatively short book, leaving very little for additional story or character development. Although constant action is what Military Sci-Fi readers are looking for, and Conquest provides plenty.

First off, let me explain that I have listened to about 10 Audible Audiobooks, yet this is my first review of one of them. Actually, I found the Star Force series by mistake when trying to search for the sequel to one of the audiobooks that I had read in the past.

Well, I am delighted to have found the Star Force series, and although they are all overwhelmingly addictive, I must say that this one is my favorite in the series. Are there drawbacks, yes, but I won't bore you with the details, I always hate when reviewers give you spoilers, just tell me if you like the book or not! Besides, the drawbacks are more like very old, highly abused speedbumps, they only slow you down if you let them.

The storyline gets deeper and deeper, and I hate to be cliche, but the plot thickens. And I mean, it's thicker than the nose cone of a Macro cruise ship! Crowe has been busy in Riggs' absence. Earth has better defenses now, but the Macro's are back with a vengeance! The author uses more humor in this latest part of the series as well. He seems to know exactly when to innoculate the reader with an oddball joke that no one else in the world would appreciate except a die hard Star Force Marine, or a Star Force audiobook listener.

Everyone who survived the recent inter-stellar campaign has developed as a character significantly. The action is seemingly non-stop, even when there aren't any lasers firing. Don't even think twice about it, hit the "Add to Cart" button asap. If you liked all of the other books up until now, you will love this one.

And if you loved all of the other books up until the release of Conquest, well, need I say more.

book 4 and still loving the storyline :) the hard choices and moves the characters have to make keeps the book exciting and keeps me wanting more... the relationships of characters, how they evolve, and decisions that they make keep me engaged till the book ends and then i find myself trying to find out when the next book will come out :) a great syfy novel

Excellent chapter/episode. this series continues to impress with each instalment off to read episode 5. give this man a movie contract please.

All 5 books in the series so far are very well written and well narrated! Waiting for book 6.

I originally picked up this first book of this series because there seemed to be a lull in my normal authors putting out books. I have to say I was very happy with the storyline and the narrator. Needless to say, after I finished the first book, imagine my delight in finding three more books of the series already on audible.

The books are pretty standard military sci-fi, with the equally standard super-power alien race (in this case robots) and little hope for success. While the story is a bit cliche it is very well told and has its own spins on the classic. Sandra continues to be my least favorite character in the books, I wish she would just get killed off already... but I guess I see her necessity in the story.

Overall a great book in a great series. Worth a listen if you like military sci-fi

The tireless conquest of Colonel Riggs and the Starforce Marines was phenomenal. As they relentlessly pursue the Macros across the universe I was left feeling almost sorry for them as it seemed they never got much R&R. While all of Earth hung in the balance, and their mission was crucial to survival, I couldn't help but think how heroic the characters were. I wondered, would I have that stamina, that resolve to keep on going?

Seeing Marvin return from his little adventures of hunting and gathering was a wonderful surprise toward the end. I can see where that character might be going and I am anxious to find out if I'm right.

Hands down,Marvin. Boyett did a superb job of personalizing each character and I will be watching for more Boyett narrations.

My work productivity slowed due to this great performances of Boyett and the excellent writing of B.V. Larson...couldn't put it down. Also discovered that I need to turn down the volume of my headset so the wife can sleep better. She didn't appreciate the battle for Andros Island at 3 in the morning like I did.

Conquest left me anxious for whatever is coming next.

Story - 3
I found the book interesting as I am a fan of sci-fi/fantasy with space and aliens. I am not a great writer of reviews but the book itself had some parts that fascinated me with logistics and the survival of the main characters of the book, but it over time, would drag on in a diatribe or personal reflection of the mail characters. Now, sometimes these are not a problem in some books, but these tend to be a little more annoying than most.

Narration - 3
Now the book's narrator was ok (not great, not bad).

Overall - 3
I gave this a 3, as frankly, I consider this about an average story in its writing. The story line is probably a little better but some slow spots tend to drop it down a little.

Fast paced, exciting, well-narrated

Kyle Riggs is intriguing in his compartmentalization of the events around him. Most people would have crumpled under the emotional stresses. Although after playing this on our family trips in the car my daughter loves Alamo, but then she is weird.

Mark does a great many accents to differentiate the various characters and keep the dialog clear. I happen to greatly enjoy his rendition of Jack Crow

The opening moments of the book were an "oh-sh*t" moment that often continued throughout the book

Well worth the read and like a French fry, if you read the first one your not going to want to wait the month to burn through the next few book. Each book was a great read seeing where the story goes.