A Sword Into Darkness

De: Thomas A. Mays

Narrado por: Liam Owen

Humanity is no longer alone in the universe. An unknowable threat approaches Earth - and we are completely unprepared to face what's coming.

Aerospace tycoon Gordon Elliot Lee cannot stand idly by while a mysterious alien presence from Delta Pavonis bears down upon mankind's only home. Shut out from NASA and military support, Gordon is forced to go it alone, to sow the seeds for an entirely new sort of planetary defense: a space-based naval force.

Joined by Nathan Kelley - a bloodied naval warrior, scarred by his own actions in the waters off North Korea - and Kris Munoz - an avant garde scientific genius with more ideas than sense - these three will scour the very edges of fringe science and engineering to attempt development of Earth's first space navy in time to oppose the Deltan invasion.

Beset by ridicule, government obstruction, industrial espionage, and their own personal demons, it will take a miracle just to get off the ground. But the challenges on Earth are nothing compared to what awaits them in space. Against an unknown alien enemy with vastly superior technology, a handful of human scientists and warriors must become the sword that holds the darkness at bay.

Missiles will flash, railguns will rumble, lasers will burn, and defenders will die. If they fail, our end is at hand.

©2013 Thomas A. Mays (P)2014 Thomas A. Mays

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Solid adventure, intrigue, and speculative space-tech, from a rising star in military science fiction." (David Brin, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Existence)

"There are brilliant first contact stories, great space combat stories, and amazing stories of technological discovery. Rarely do you find all three in the same novel. Remember the name Thomas A. Mays. You're going to be seeing it on the best-seller list." (Jeff Edwards, award-winning author of Sea of Shadows and The Seventh Angel)

"Sharply written, suspenseful, and tightly plotted, A Sword Into Darkness reads like the best Tom Clancy novels, with a science fiction heart provided by Arthur C. Clark. Can't wait to read more from Thomas Mays!" (Graham Brown, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Zero Hour)

Great Audio Rendition of Military Sci-Fi

What did you love best about A Sword Into Darkness?

The concept of humanity having two decades to prepare for first contact, the vivid description of the technology, and the high-stakes plot were awesome.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was the brilliant girl who blew up her developing the futuristic propulsion system. Who doesn't like a girl like that?

Which scene was your favorite?

Describing my favorite scene would be a spoiler because my favorite scene was near the end. Suffice to say, it was the final battle scene.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The launch of the Sword was a pivotal moment that moved me.

Any additional comments?

I gave this four stars in its Kindle format, really 4.5. I gave 5 stars to the audio version because it felt more real and alive hearing it. The reasons I withheld the 5th star in the written version were washed away by the audio.

Tight story

I don't actually buy into some of the premises of the story but it is never the less well crafted and enjoyable.

Indulge in some war sci-fi

It's not a complex story or full of mind bending ideas, but is instead a classic story about human pererverance, ingenuity and blowing shit up. Take a break from the brainy stuff and indulge in some unadulterated space war.

Not the best

In this audiobook, a rich businessman named Gordon Lee has detected an alien ship approaching Earth from a nearby star. NASA believes it to only be a solar fragment ejected from the star, and thus refuses to entertain the idea of aliens. Gordon takes it upon himself to invent and acquire technology to help Earth defend against the aliens should they be hostile. Thus he hires Nathan to lead up this endeavor. The book follows this process all the way through to first contact and shortly beyond that.

Overall I found the beginning of the book to be entertaining and imaginative. Eventually though the constant success after success and mere good luck really takes a bit away from the realism here. They don't really encounter many setbacks or challenges..it just all happens easily for them. And this continues throughout the entire novel. Most of them just skate through the whole novel without too much of a scratch.

Another issue is the romance between Nathan and Kris. It just felt completely fake and ultimately whenever they were together in romantic mode, the book just ground to a halt.

And lastly, the aliens theirselves... they could have been much more mysterious, intimidating, and ALIEN, but ultimately they just throw out a completely ridiculous reason for coming to Earth and it really ruins the whole thing.

Overall its not a terrible story, but its not great either. A solid 3.

NOTE: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

exciting story

Exciting story. Hated getting out of the following commute to and from work.