Terra Ascending

De: J. R. Wise

Narrado por: Patrick Kelly Shannon

The Sol System is a powder keg waiting for a spark. Corporal James Aurelius didn’t sign up for this. Fancy hotels, powerful politicians, and… guard duty. Two years into his enlistment and the young marine has yet to see combat, while all his buddies from boot camp have done at least one tour in the war that raged with the Caliphate back on Terra. During a routine security mission in a cloud city on Venus, Aurelius is thrust into the center of a high stakes espionage mission gone wrong that threatens to upset the balance of power in the Sol System. In over his head and on the run, will Aurelius rise to the occasion or falter when he’s needed most?

Back on Terra, the United Republic and its allies prepare to knock the Caliphate out of the war for good, but a nasty battlefield surprise throws a wrench into their plans. As the battle grows more desperate and loyalties are tested, Aurelius and teams from across the UR military cross paths at a critical moment that could mean the end of everything… again.

Join the marines, soldiers, and sailors of the UR as they struggle for survival against enemies within and without as the Sol System stands on the precipice of system-wide war in the thrilling debut by United States Marine Corps combat veteran, J.R. Wise.

©2024 J.R. Wise (P)2024 J.R. Wise

So... need the next installment

Waiting to see what happens next and how you develop as an author... good story line and characters. I can tell they will develop nicely over the upcoming years... so keep at it...

Great

This is a great start to what could be a new exciting alternate universe for us military sci-fi fans!

Grabbed my Attention right from the beginning.

J.R. Wise's Terra Ascending grabbed me from the first chapter and held my attention until the end. I listened to the audio version of this book. Patrick Kelly Shannon, the narrator, was masterful in his presentation. If you like action and fast pace you will want to read/listen to this book. I could feel the author's deep knowledge of his characters and what it is like to be a marine during battle. I am looking forward to the continuation of J.R. Wise's Sci-Fi world.

The storyline really grabs your attention!!

Love! love!! love!!! Five different short stories that combined to form a larger narrative ❤️ I love using audible when commuting, the length and the intensity of the stories had me constantly ready for the next listen. The audio really brought out the action.

A Breathtaking Space Marine SciFi

Succinctly told, Terra Ascending is a fast story that follows a couple different strike teams on missions within a larger conflict.

I wish it could have taken more time for inner-world exploration and down time, but in its own way it does make space for strike team dynamics, warrior relationships, and mid-combat hilarity.

I laughed a lot more than I expected to at the banter between comrades.

I've never read a military sci-fi as realistically military as this one before. And while it took me a bit to learn to follow the radio com and military lingo, the authenticity made it that much more amazing. The action was only difficult to follow in the way that battles are chaotic cr*pstorms. When one thing went right for our boys in the fight, two things went wrong. And that pacing keeps you clinging to the edge of your seat.

Corporal James Aurelias is a realistically dimensional and compelling character to follow, and I'm only sad we don't yet have a feature length novel from his pov alone.
Terra Ascending puts us in the boots of several other strike teams as they battle the Caliphate empire on earth. Then snatching us into orbit to defend one of the UR's naval space craft where all players...and spies, converge.
The details of munitions, loading, staged firing sequences, troop movements and ground tactics, paired with futuristic exo-suits, vehicles called Mammoths, and explosive drones, not to mention surface to orbit missiles (and vice versa) made this feel so real and now.

The ending is both satisfying and left me with a huge hankering for more.
Highly recommend to thrill-seekers wanting to get lost in something brisk.

One thing I REALLY SUPER loved about this story was how the author portrayed the female team members. They were realistic. They were valued and held their own in a firefight, whatever their specialization. I'll be coming back if this author writes any more combat girlies.

Never a dull moment

The story might have started off slow, but once it got going, it never stopped. I'm just mad I have to wait for the second book to come out.

Fan. Big Fan.

When I finally reached the end of my military occupation school in Virginia, they chose one Marine to receive the “Gung-Ho” award. This wasn’t about finishing top of the class; it was given to a Marine who was fired up about everything the intelligence training offered. Part of the award was a slick copy of Starship Troopers. No, not the movie—the original book by Robert Heinlein.

Deservedly, I did NOT get the Gung-Ho award. But I did walk my happy ass into a Barnes & Noble before hitting the airport to fly to Camp Pendleton. I cracked open Starship Troopers on the plane and read nearly the whole thing in one sitting. The book is incredible. It makes perfect sense why the intelligence community would appreciate it. Written by a veteran of the U.S. Navy, the language and concepts are rooted in reality—you can feel it.

When I finished reading, I found myself wondering what future book could ever stack up for 02xx Intel Marines like Starship Troopers did.

I listen to a lot of techno-thrillers when im not consuming a bunch of military history for my podcast. Some of the techno-thrillers are more believable than others and you can tell a massive difference when you read stuff from the likes of Dale Brown. He was a prior Air Force Intelligence Officer and his books are awesome. I appreciate realism in my fiction. I call it passive learning. It's awesome. “You can't fake war, you know. Not really. When it's real, it's real.”

Sci-fi has been hard for me to enjoy ever since I finished every single Dune book Frank Herbert personally wrote. He ruined sci-fi for me. I even tried three of those Expanse series books. Couldn't do it. But! Mr. Wise has given me hope. He even added many moments of moral quandries! I love moral quandries! (That of which war has many)

You can tell from the pages of this book that every scene is dripping with real-life experience. It’s authentic, immersive, and thrilling. As a podcaster who covers military history, I read a ton of nonfiction. Like Dan Carlin says, history ruined fiction for me—it’s hard to beat true stories that sound like insane Hollywood blockbusters (and often become just that).

Point being: this book doesn’t feel cheesy or fake like a lot of the stuff I come across. J.R. Wise writes dialogue that snapped me back into deployment mode—talking shit with brothers who’d take a bullet for me.

To bring it full circle, I really appreciated the nods to different angles of military intelligence. The author lays out tactical philosophy brilliantly. Watching the wheels turn on the page—and in my own head—was invaluable. If I could sit down with my old intel schoolhouse instructors, I’d nominate this book for the next Gung-Ho Award recipient.

As soon as I’m done writing this review, I’m tracking down everything else this author has written. Bravo. Five stars.