Counterstrike

Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 3

By: Joshua Dalzelle

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Captain Jackson Wolfe never thought he'd see the end of the Phage War in his lifetime. The enemy was too powerful, too numerous, and utterly determined to exterminate humanity.

But the appearance of a new ally in the fight has changed all of that. For the first time since the original incursion, Wolfe thinks that maybe there's a chance to stop their implacable enemy before they have the chance to wipe out any more human planets. That opportunity comes at great cost, however, and even as he makes plans for their first offensive move on the Phage, Jackson is all too aware that most of them will not survive.

©2015 Joshua Dalzelle (P)2016 Podium Publishing

Awesome series!

I loved it! I loved the entire series! Mark Boyett could narrate an instruction manual for my Ikea furniture and would gladly listen. The story is engaging and the characters are easy to relate to. I haven't listened to many of Joshua Dalzelle's books but I will definitely start now.

A 'meh' ending.

Wraps everything up, but as predictably as possible. Not a terrible end to a trilogy, but each novel is slightly weaker than the last.

You knew the ending before the book started.

Wont give it away but it is one of those books after half way through the second book the "Big reveal" in book three was not surprising. This was a let down. Other than this it was not a bad book Mark had yet another great performance it was just the story was a bit lack luster.

Satisfying trilogy closer

Counterstrike is Joshua Dalzelle's 3rd and final installment of the Black Ship Trilogy. With human forces now focused on addressing the alien invasion and coming to understand the nature of their new alien allies, Captain Wolfe remains unique as the only human who has experienced any contact with the phage which places him in a unique light with their new allies. He becomes privy to the background of Robert Blake and his crew as well as the humanity's place on the galactic pecking order. Wolfe's main character attribute of following his gut rather than his orders, forces him to go rogue and end the phage conflict in his own unique way. At the same time, he learns the frightening origin of the phage themselves and its implications for humanity.

The sci-fi elements are in line with the earlier installments with a greater focus on alien biology and intelligence. Dalzelle creates a striking juxtaposition of a super-intelligent race unable to defend itself nor contemplate genocide against an intelligent predator species without regard for alien intelligence. Wolfe recognizes this dichotomy leaving him and the listener to ponder the possibility of a third way. The battle scenes are quite well done with humans recognizing the inevitable impossibility of fighting a hive mind mentality from the outside that results in Wolfe's 'hail mary' attempt for closure. Overall, this installment is more cerebral than earlier ones and ponders the various possibilities for future human evolution.

The narration is solid with an excellent range of voices of both genders. Alien conversations are particularly satisfying without the more typical nasally or psychomotor retardation renditions. Pacing and mood are appropriate making for an easy listen.

The wrap up to a decent but not spectacular space opera

Compelling story and compelling characters. unfortunately there were a couple of major issues. Air Force Colonel Blake’s character arc was somewhat disappointing. Blake said he had 16 or 17 compadres. But we never got a chance to meet them. But more importantly - nobody asked where were they? Other than those issues it was a decent story and I would recommend it to anybody who loves navy in space.

3 Ed book disappointing

First two had everything. But zero story here. It should have been handled in one chapter author used functions of ship as plot… clamps cannons torpedoes were substituted for story.

Under-whelming

The story premise felt like it had promise, but I feel like the author failed to deliver. What could've been a very interesting tale of interstellar warfare felt like it was dealt with in a half hearted manner. Not enough time taken to elaborate. Battles that were described as taking hours gave me no sense that they actually took that long, they felt like they took a handful of minutes. Disappointed, and will not listen to again

And finally the interesting part is here!

That's the problem - the author has tried to made a trilogy, when he could put all of this content in to 1 or max 2 books and write further development of the story. In general that's the most interesting book from the trilogy, but still the chatty filling content is too much. I highly recommend the author to re-think the way he makes new books - I get that the commander has good management skills, but I get tired of listening the same commands he give over and over again.. who cares - we are not ship commanders and we are not so much interested in the so detailed way the commander controls the ship. That kind of development is kinda slow and not so fascinating. There are times when I was forcing myself to listen to the book, while with other authors I simply crave to have free time and listen them.
M.Boyett - one of my favorite narrators, simply amazing job, especially in this book, where the chat is a lot and many voices are required.

Had to get through it

I originally got a refund for this, before seeing a spin-off series and going back to buy it again. It's painful to listen through, as a series that has been grounded in reality and the collective war effort takes off on a journey of "one person needs to kill one little thing" that makes Hollywood movies so bad. Whatever else this series and book has going for it, I personally cannot justify going down that route. I only hope the spinoff series will be better.

Loved the series

Had listened to several of the Heppner and Larson series and liked them. Saw that Mark Boyett narrated this series so I thought I'd give it a try, listened to the series straight through and enjoyed every minute.

Excellent Conclusion to a Fine Series

I love it when a series sticks true to from throughout and this one does just that. It’s a great fun series which evokes the original Star Trek ethos but set in amongst a major conflict rather than an exploratory situation. Maverick captain, enigmatic aliens, an implacable enemy and lots of “all ahead full” action all set among the stars. Possibly in truth this concluding part is probably a little lighter on the action than the previous two but it brings this long story to a conclusion in fine style and with plenty of cliff-hanging tension.

The fine narration makes the story rattle along at a pleasing pace and the whole thing is wrapped up neatly at the end with possibly a slightly more subtle end game than might be expected.

As I’ve said in the reviews of the previous two this is not heavy duty sci-fi this is a good old-fashioned story of humanity attempting to survive against evil alien hordes albeit with some rather unpredictable allies “helping” out here and there.

If that’s your kind of thing then this series delivers in fine style.

Fizzled Out

Having found the first two parts of this trilogy absolutely fantastic, it was with great anticipation that I awaited the release of the final part of this Black Fleet trilogy. James Dalzelle had really impressed me and was one of those writers you stumble upon that hasn't published a lot of stuff but all the same puts together a well written story.

This final instalment is another well written book but, I'm afraid to say, exhibits a trait I've seen in the excellent Fear saga series where we are built up and up to a finale that manifests itself in a rather underwhelming way. it seems to me that in the case of the final parts of the Black Fleet trilogy and the Fear saga that the authors sort of wrote themselves into a corner by being so darn good at constructing the previous books. Perhaps they had both worked so hard on the build up that by the time they had to actually write the final and climatic last part that they simply ran out of steam. Dalzelle ran out of steam or it felt to me as the resolution of this epic confrontation was something that was rather a damp squib. I do have to wonder if pressure from the publishers had something to do with these outcomes which is a real shame.

An enjoyable if not particularly satisfying read. I hope Dalzelle revisits this Black Fleet universe and has more time to pen something of epic proportions as I am certain he is quite capable of.

An A for effort but a B minus for execution.

Never really finished

I'm assuming there is more to come in this universe and it was a good listen but - and a big issue for me - it pretends the stuff in the first book with the invasion and worm like creatures never happened. Also, the plot is so straightforward it's painful. I enjoyed it, just won't be recommending it to anyone.

Such a great easy to listen intelligently written series

Author has an effortless way with words and is a master storyteller. I can’t wait to listen to more having listened to this series back to back. Entering my lists as one of the greatest science fiction writers. This narrator is superb and a perfect fit for this writer. More please!

GREAT STORY

I only started listening to the first book as it was free. And what a result, great story which had me hooked all the way through. I thoroughly recommend all three books to anyone

rushed ending

loved it until the quick wrapping up at the end, very dissatisfying. I expected more from this trilogy :(

amazing

I didn't expect to love this series so much, but much like the bobbiverse, this was a very smooth space opera

Fabulous!

Loved this. Simple but effective story. Narration takes a bit of getting used to but overall really enjoyed.

Poor conclusion.

Of the 3 books and to bring the series to a close it went out with a whimper not a bang. Found it hard to stay engaged on times, quite surprised I finished the book nearly gave up.

A good tale well told and thought provoking with the rise of AI

This is the third book in the series of nine and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Given the rise of AI in 2023, I think the alien species might be here sooner than we think!