One Day as a Lion

A Military Sci-Fi Series (Gordian Knot, Book 1)

By: Jonathan Hernandez

Narrated by: Ryan Kennard Burke

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Two civilizations clash. A rebellion grows. The fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance. 

Technical Chief "Pappy" Gunther is a grizzled, burning out commando in the United Earth Armed Forces. He ponders a return to civilian life, yet feels a strong sense of belonging to his elite team. When colonists on a far-flung world request aid, a task force from several allied systems is assembled. Pappy and his crack unit are sent to investigate, and to engage a mysterious alien force from beyond. 

Talks-to-His-Spear is the warrior-caste champion of a matriarchal space empire called the Regime. Leading an army of fanatical, genetically enhanced super soldiers, he dreams of dying in battle for the glory of his queen. However, he’s beginning to question the motives of this new campaign and fears that he may have to compromise his own deep sense of honor in order to fulfill his tasks. 

Nobody expected the two alien cultures to have so much in common and for friendships and alliances to form alongside rivalries. However, when Pappy discovers a rebellion spanning worlds, everything changes. The growing insurrection threatens to tear the Regime - and the galaxy - apart. 

Don't miss the exciting start to a military sci-fi series from debut author Jonathan Hernandez. It's perfect for fans of Rick Partlow, Jay Allan, and David Weber.

©2021 Aethon Books (P)2021 Aethon Audio

Unique take on not-so-alien aliens

I had a hard time really deciding what to say about One Day as a Lion and how to rate it, as there are tons of great things about the book, but also a few nagging issues. At the start, I was pretty convinced this was going to end up as a three-star book, but by the end, I’d give it four stars. Averaging it out, it’s a solid three and a half stars, but I think there is a good chance future books in this series will be better. So overall, I’m rounding it up to four stars (since we don’t have a half rating).

The world-building was my favorite part of the novel and it involves a really unique take on human colonization and evolution. The Regime was a different kind of antagonist that I haven’t really seen before and I really found their xenobiology-based technology and distinctive culture fascinating. The level of development and detail put into the Regime is impressive. Talks-To-His-Spear’s POV chapters were great and everything involving the Regime was well done. I’d quickly pick up a novel that focused on the Regime’s POV that explored their culture, politics, and history.

My main critique of One Day as a Lion boils down to the quality of writing, particularly throughout the first half or so of the book. At the beginning of the book, most of the text is heavy on plot-driving dialog and action, but short on the descriptive text to really describe what’s going on and who the characters are. The pacing is odd and the story skips forward without transition text, which makes it hard to figure out how characters moved to a new location or scene. The missing transitions and “travel” scenes also meant less opportunity for character development, so most of the characters end up feeling flat and didn’t grow beyond their cliche military character tropes.

But, from what I understand, this is Hernandez’s first published book and the writing continued to improve as I moved deeper into the story. By the end of the book, I felt like there had been a dramatic improvement. I think the next book will be even better.

Ryan Kennard Burke narrates the audio version and does a good job with the story and unique characters. I don’t have any complaints about Burke’s performance, voices, or accents.

Special thanks to Aethon Books, who provided me this book free of charge at my request.

Good storyline; However

The stilory was goog, but the narrator's voice was too similar between some characters - hopefully better as series goes on.

Excellent military sci-if!

This book is a compelling story of two very different human cultures with different military technologies integrating. The human story is as interesting as the very thoroughly worked out military details. Highly recommended!

very good story

I didn't like it at first, but it drew me in and I found myself intrigued by the story and characters

I never quite connected with this tale!

First off Scifi military isn't my usual fare, so it's without any fault of the author or narrator, that I found I never quite connected with the story 🤔!
The characters were well thought out, and I found it interesting to view both sides of this first-contact situation and skirmish. Both sides similar, but culturally they were miles apart.
Unfortunately for me, I found that the balance between world building and action was so skewed that my action-lovin heart just wanted to hibernate through big chunks of the book!

Intriguing Start to Series

The Gordian Knot series promises to be a fun and twisting tale if One Day as a Lion is any indicator. The characters are relatable, even those from the Regime once the cultural context is understood, and make very human decisions when faced with unusual or new circumstances. There are some unexpected twists and turns along the way that make me look forward to seeing where all the series goes with the characters and the overall conflict. I enjoyed the audiobook enough that I went back and purchased the ebook as well, since while listening is fun, I tend to get even more out of the written word. Recommended for military sci-fi fans.

Disclaimer: I was given a review copy for free and have voluntarily left this review.

Exciting

This writer shows us that regardless of where you come from we can find friends or like minded people. Looking forward to the next audiobook in this series.

"It's a grunt's world."

A superb military science fiction novel, first in a series.
When a call to help is received from a small 10,000 person community in Madron, Pathfinders sent to assess the problem encountered ships of unknown type and origin, neither Commonwealth nor Consortium. And Pappy and his patrol soon found themselves on an inhospitable and bleak yellow sand planet, with active geysers and vicious storms with no easy way off, facing alien technology which far surpassed their own.

For those readers looking for action, it's here in abundance, with fighting scenarios which are a!most visceral, inclusive and atmospheric. But there is also so much more, with the protagonists all being given good background histories and the major players being fully fleshed out into realistoc, living entities so that an empathy forms even with some who might otherwise be left simply as villains. This is also a first contact meeting between two very different cultures and technologies, the differences imaginatively presented. To survive, and end the fighting, the earth team will have to not only get very creative but also learn to put aside prejudice - and trust.

Narration in the Audio book is excellently performed by Ryan Kennard Burke, who puts the reader right into the heart of the story. He makes it feel personal. Altogether a very good read with even has an amusingly satisfying ending. I look forward to the second in Jonathan Hernandez's Gordion Knot .