Rogue World

Undying Mercenaries, Book 7

By: B. V. Larson

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way. Today, Battle Fleet 921 is returning to Earth. It hasn't been seen by human eyes since our blissful day of Annexation. But what should be a joyful occasion, a chance to grovel at the feet of superior lifeforms, is rapidly becoming a nightmare. Over the last century, humanity has engaged in many activities that our overlords find...questionable. A panic ensues, and Legion Varus is deployed to erase certain "mistakes" our government has made. Projects must be purged to stop Imperial military action. Among the thousands marching to war is one man no politician has ever enjoyed dealing with. One man who's destined to follow his own unique path through galactic law, morality and the stars themselves.

James McGill is about to make history.

Rogue World is the seventh book of Undying Mercenaries series, a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author B. V. Larson.

©2017 B. V. Larson (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

I kept thinking about his Toes

I thought this was a good James McGill story; another promotion which brought its own set of interesting interactions with some of the characters familiar in this series, another world for McGill to do his thing and take matters into his own hands as he usually does, and of course more Galactics to piss-off, but less than halfway through the story all I could think about was his toes. McGill goes through a bad re-growth and his toes didn’t form properly, the description is very graphic, but for reasons that are made clear in the story it’s not corrected. I kept wondering if he was going to die again and just be re-cycled but, until the very end, never happened. I know this must seem a trivial point and the characters don’t ever appear bothered by such things but toes do help in balance and walking; It was just something I kept thinking about while he went through his typical heroics.. In the end, bad toes and all, McGill saves the day as usual.
About the narrator; I would not listen to this series if Mark Boyett ever stopped being the voice, he is James McGill.

Same as the last 6 books

What did you like best about Rogue World? What did you like least?

I really like the concept of this universe. Unfortunately, the author is clearly following a formula he established earlier in the series. This book is exactly like the previous books in the series. James McGill gets in some trouble before shipping out with the legion, he gets promoted, ships out, sleeps with several women, gets in trouble for not following orders, and somehow miraculously saves the day, and even though everyone in his chain of command hates him, he's still the hero. I just saved you the cost of buying this audiobook. Read/listen to the first four books, then stop. While the first four are also following a formula, the locations and situations change just enough to keep from getting too old, but 5, 6, and 7 are just too much of the same. It's a shame, because B.V. Larson has a great concept, but I think he's too afraid to deviate from his established formula, and he's killing the series.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting, the alien revival tech and the concept of humans being subjects of a galactic empire instead of being at the top of the hierarchy. Least interesting, if you've listened to the first couple of books in this series, then you already know pretty much everything that will happen in this book, the only differences are a few minor details.

What does Mark Boyett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration is great, no complaints here.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Assuming they'd made the previous books into movies, no. This would be exactly the same.

Any additional comments?

Mr. Larson, please please please mix things up a bit. I really like the core concepts of this series, but you've gotten too predictable. You're clearly following a formula, and that's fine up to a point, but it's as if you've got a story template, and you just fill in a few blanks and create a new title.

Just read another book in the series, save $

I have really loved this series. Larson built a fascinating world filled with so many possibilities and crafted a fun and interesting cast of characters. Larson's writing is fun and entertaining and he manages a great balance of gritty action and entertaining dialog. However, we are seven books into the series now and very little has happened, very little will happen, and we will probably never get a good look behind the galactic curtain.

Larson is like a guy who went to a prestigious culinary school, graduated with honors, and then all he ever wants to cook are pancakes, sure they are great but he is capable of so much more. This book is completely indistinguishable from books 2 through 5. Frankly, I can't think of a single thing that occurred in this book that is even going to be memorable. Even the solutions to some of the plot points are literally referenced by the main characters as solutions that have worked for them in the past.

Furthermore, without getting into spoiler territory there is a certain re-occurring arch nemesis that has been in almost all of the books and happened to inexplicably pop up several times in this book for no understandable reason other than to extract characters from dead end plots. I mean come on man, I would rather read a book about this arch nemesis instead of James at this point, at least he appears to be doing something interesting.

I started off this review / rant by telling you that I loved this series, and I still do. However, this isn't a set of books that I can recommend anymore and its place on my shelf is very much diminished. Enjoy it as a short little action romp and resign it to nothing more than that, this author isn't going step outside his formulae even to dip little a toe into the vast world he has created.

Groundhog Day

Any additional comments?

The first couple of books in this series were very entertaining. The idea of a never dying soldier seemed fresh and new.

After 7 books, plots are now running together. James Mcgill kills the bad guy. Bad guy comes back later in the book, later in the series. James Mcgill dies. James Mcgill comes back.

Rinse and repeat.

James McGill & BV do it again

I admit I was beginning to wonder if the author can keep this up and the short version is "Yes, he can!" No spoilers here but if you like the series this could be one of the best.

That said, like all series jumping in at this book may make it hard to appreciate all the players as they show up with limited introduction (Claver)

Do yourself a favor and start at the beginning-it is worth the ride.

Getting repetitive

This entry into the undying mercenaries series is not bad, actually the story is clever. However, the storyline is way too similar to previous books. The characters escalate in rank, but the plot is very reminiscent of Death World, Tech World, and even major portions of Dust World.

It's not laziness of the author, but the narrative in the series that lends itself to the deja vu listening experience. Recurring characters do exactly what you expect them to do even if it's supposed to be unexpected.

Larson should either wrap up the series or inject some major changes into the cyclical "go, fight, deceive, outsmart, clean up any traces of trickery".

Repetitive. Same as the last story.

Common patterns are emerging, and becoming more obvious. McGill gets / takes new responsibilities, meets a new girlfriend, saves humanity through typical McGill bullshitting / hilly billy charm.

It was a decent sci-fi story, but not the best in the series.

Live Die Repeat

Like many people have already said, it's too similar to the other books in the series, but still a fun listen. I will listen to the next one too. I just hope it's storyline broadens a bit.

I have stuck around through seven books

I am finished with this book series.. I purchase every new book hoping for a story advancement but it is always the same.. always! go to space.. fight...die.. earth gets threaten to be desroyed...they find a loop hole...earth is saved. That desribes the story for all seven books.. no plot advancement.. no changes.. same story diffrent world. You had seven chances to build a good story, this was the last for me.

Cheese ball

This series is so cheesy, predictable, and so much more but damn are these books fun to listen to!

Filler World?

Rogue World was a book I'd been waiting for a long time. I really like the Undying Mercenaries series of books and have, thus far, found them to be probably the best long running saga just ahead marginally of Larson's other excellent 12 odd Star Force series However, Rogue World, although a decent story, isn't quite up to the level of other stories in this excellent series. Perhaps, as one reviewer said, it's somewhat formulaic format means that it's more or less the same fare with a slightly different setting. Having said that, I did enjoy the book so I wouldn't say it's a "bad" book, not at all. It's just I believe Larson could have done better and I get the impression that this story was a bit of a filler before he gets back into the meat and potatoes of what makes the Undying Mercenaries an entertaining and gritty set of stories.

The main problem I see with Larson is of his own making which is that he is such a prolific writer that he has his finger in several pies as it were. This inevitably means that he is not able to fully devote his time and focus on penning a complete series and instead dives in and out of multiple series he has while seemingly also starting new ones!. Although I don't know for sure, it does appear to me that what made the Star Force series so consistent was perhaps that he concentrated on that series most of the time, if not all of it. In the course of the Undying Mercenaries series, Larson has also written two books in his new "Rebel Fleet!" collection and has recently released book 1 of the Galactic Liberation series. In addition, I believe Larson also branched into a 3 book "Lost Colonies" series as well. All this jumping about leads to delays in currently running saga's being delivered and in the case of Rogue World, also below par and with errors in both plot and continuity. I think I've seen Larson do this before and it does tend to make one think what ever happened to proof reading by the publishing house. Such errors, I can only surmise, must be largely due to not focusing on one book at a time or rushing to finish one book while another is being started.

There are two errors I spotted, both relatively subtle I suppose but nevertheless unacceptable at this level of writing. The first silly error occurs near the start of the story at chapter 2, I think, where the protagonist, James McGill, is having a heated conversation over the phone about having his ill mother treated. he is told that nothing can happen until next year as it is "early July" now. Hours later as he heads into town he remarks upon the fire flies all around as it is "early June". The second error is a plot one I noticed that saw McGill's love interest accompanying the boarding party with McGill to assault a Nerb ship. No escape from this ship is possible in the interim and we face various battles as the crew party penetrates further into the Nerb ship helped by McGill's love interest in the early stages. Then, we hear nothing of this character as McGill and co. fight for their lives until, all of a sudden, she is somehow back aboard the Nostrum, McGill's own ship? This sort of mistake is far less forgivable than the first as it undermines plot continuity. I'd go so far as to say that this is a clumsy error likely caused by poor editing or that Larson was rushing this out while he was tied up on other projects. So, as I'm looking for work, if anyone wants to offer me a proof "listening" role then I'm available :)

All that aside, what we're left with is the potential platform from which the series can return to its visceral roots. If so, then I look forward to the next instalment.

Rogue World is not the best in the series but it isn't a disaster either. Worth a read and especially so if you've been with the series to date as I have.

Overall good but sort not so great

Don't get me wrong overall I enjoyed this book but they are getting a little bit old, not so bad as I would not buy the next one though!

Really enjoyed

While this was a slow start , setting up a family start to the book .. once it started going it was very enjoyable. We come across the usual characters but not over crowding a new story. The end came too quickly and I wanted more ... and there were more than a few twists left yet to be explored

Written and performed too well

More of the same, but written so well that the character flaws really start to annoy you.

A masterclass in performance but plot holes

First off, I am glad that it wasn't just me (see review by J Morris) that spotted those glaring errors caused by a lack of proof reading (assuming the text was done first and should have been checked before going to audio production). That is just really sloppy and is just not up to professional publishing standards. Having said that, (takes deep breath) the overall series has been inventive and reminiscent of classic SF from the 1950s to the 1970s but up to date in terms of tech. In fact the scientific extrapolations in some areas don't seem that far off. The exchanges between other characters and McGill as well as the observations he makes have made me laugh out loud. This is largely achieved by the masterful and engaging performance of Mark Boyett. And that is why I am now on book 9. An audio delight.

Excellent

Great book liked the direction the story took. Its very easy to listen to and a fantastic performance from narrator

More please

Great story, great narration. More please. a b c d e f g h i

Addictive

Fairly basic story premise , but amazingly addictive series- performance is good and it’s sucking away my credits :)

Funny, gripping and awesome!

It's jaw-dropping to follow the antics of James McGill as he is constantly put from one precarious situation to the other. This has to be one of the best series I've ever read and Rogue world is definitely up to scratch.

Another hit!

Another hit story from this gripping sci fi epic series. I find myself truly hooked to find out where the exploits of our hero, and he’s troops, will lead us next.