Proving Grounds

Reclaimer, Book 3

De: Waldo Rodriguez

Narrado por: BJ Harrison

The Crucible made him a warrior. It didn't prepare him to face the demons within.

Reeling from the salvage site massacre, Gabriel wonders if he's a hero, a monster, or just a pawn in The Herald's games. Whatever the case: He's ready for war.

Command has other plans.

Enter the Proving Grounds: A site designed to test the Reclaimers' ability to survive a hostile environment with minimal supplies. Desperation is quick to turn allies into foes.

And they aren't alone.

Aid comes from an unlikely source. Dark forces strike from the shadows. And old weapons are set loose upon them.

Caught between losing his people and becoming a pawn for a greater evil, Gabriel fears he just doomed humanity's last chance for survival . . .

©2022 Waldo Rodriguez-Santiago (P)2023 Tantor

Great book

Proving Grounds, the third book in the Reclaimer series, takes Gabriel, a hardened warrior, on a new challenge. After a devastating encounter at a salvage site, he’s forced to confront his inner demons while facing grueling trials in the Proving Grounds. This desolate environment tests the Reclaimers’ survival skills and pushes them to the limit.
Fans of the series will appreciate the fast-paced action and the exploration of Gabriel’s psyche. The introduction of new allies and threats keeps the plot fresh, and the ending sets the stage for even more exciting adventures to come. If you’re looking for a thrilling military sci-fi read with complex characters, Proving Grounds is a must-read.

Enjoying the series

Loving the series so far buuuut fair warning. Don’t get too attached to any of the characters. I think the author doesn’t like to voice too many at once so your new fav might have a short shelf life. Also I think the narrator is saying one of the characters powers wrong. I think it’s supposed to be ‘pro-jekt’ force but the dude keeps pronouncing it as ‘prod-jerk’ force

Definitely an amazing addition to the reclaimer series!

This third installation was so much more. More high octane. More collaboration. More ups and downs.. Super entertaining and leaving me wanting more immediately!

My only nitpick would be that the narration for "Project Force" was pronounced wrong every single time except the final utterance. He kept saying Praw-ject instead of PRO-ject.

Much Better than 1 and 2

Proving grounds starts getting better once they end the training. Since book one the training as been the second worst part of the series, main character is still the worst part. But I rank it high at 3 stars, simply because while still bad, it is SO MUCH BETTER than book 1 and 2. The story is getting more complex, but weirdly. Without spoiling, just understand real story progression happens in this book, I could argue book 1 and 2 should have been summarized for this book, as Gaberial goes to the final real test and learns the dark history of this world, I would almost think the story is consistent if the author did what I was thinking. However, it feels like this author is trying to pull a Star Wars type of story, after book four is the "next part" so to speak.

Hmmm, it is hard to rate and not spoil, but I guess there is no real innovation in this story. If you can ignore the origin (as most origins claim originally for copy right reasons) of the main character, then you will notice that he is a carbon copy of any "White Knight" hero with demons, it is almost like he is the META for characters. Now that I am typing this, I can make the same argument for all the characters accept maybe Sarah, as they fit a mold. Then, there is the various cliché elements introduced, seen way too much in other stories. I will just say Starcraft, Warhammer 40K, and Halo. I guess for me the only real new thing is the design of making the highly functioning SCI-FI being implemented in this book just for it to go deeper and deeper in fantasy. This is to say, anyone just really beginning in their adventure of reading stories will find this new, but for those reading 100's of books not so much.

Also, I found any conclusion regarding any of the big fights at the end regrettable. Why, I will not say as it would spoil, so in summary, the story is very predictable, and not in a good way, the mc is still bad, and the author also created an overpowered healing item, that feels more akin to magic then what it is described as, then again seeing what's in the books, maybe it is.