Sol Shall Rise (The Pike Chronicles Book 1)

I bought this three book series based on the "Sample" of the first book. I could not have been more surprised ... or frustrated. It was like the sample was written by one author and the rest of the books by another. The books did not live up to the sample. I've learned my lesson, and will no longer buy a whole series based on the sample.The more ebooks I read, the more it becomes clear ... the cheap books are self-published books that evidence a severe lack of editorial oversight ... by authors only fit to write for a pack of 9 year old children or those with I.Q. of a 9 year old. You get what you pay for ... the cheap books are CHEAP BOOKS, not worth reading to readers with an interest in serious quality SciFi.Overall, I think I would have to give this series a two or three stars ... an interesting premise ... a twist on the normal SciFi "Space Opera" ... but in my opinion, the books were:1) just rife with things that had not the first glimmer of an explanation ... "What's up with THAT????",2) a "Deus Ex Machina" count that was just through the ceiling) ... countless examples of a group JUST ABOUT to be exterminated ... AND THEN ...3) an uncompleted storyline (I felt as though there should have been 4 or 5 books to the series ... the last book ends right in the middle of the story with SO much was left unresolved) ... this was my biggest problem with the series. LOTS of action with NO resolution of ANYTHING ...4) too much that was just improbable,5) too many conceptual errors. A few examples: a) attacks on armor that eventually wear the armor down causing "fissures" ... where actual attacks on "modern" armor penetrate SMALL spots on VERY THICK armor, killing the crew with spalling or molten fragments, SELDOM causing massive system failures ... (a modern day RPG can penetrate 10-20 inches of ordinary armor. b) attacks on tanks that "imploded" ... tanks DO NOT implode, etc.) c) ships undefeated by FAST missiles are easily wiped out by slow moving atmospheric aircraft ... missiles DO move MUCH faster than aircraft do. d) crew of one ship requires a mechanical translator to talk to another ship, but when that crew alight planetside, they pick up a local radio and use it without problems e) computer systems between two sets of humans separated by 500 years mesh perfectly without error f) spaceships of one set of humans interface flawlessly with the docking areas of a station of another set of humans ... ... it seems to me that docking interfaces would be extremely specific and i think it highly improbably that this would happen so seamlessly, between two sets of humans who have been separated by 500 years6) Bad use of the English language, formatting and spelling errors ... all of which indicate a lack of editorial oversight,7) Foolish oversights. Ex: in one instant an alien is being stabbed in his face ... in the next the alien throws off his attacker FROM HIS BACK ... how do you stab someone in his face when you're on his back?I know i'm picking at details here, but when these details are either in error or HIGHLY improbable, or just not well thought out ... page after page after page ... it's apparent that the author knows very little about the military or actual combat ... nor does he know much about science ... if you can't do the SCIENCE, then you shouldn't be doing the FICTION ... isn't that what SciFi is about? I found myself skipping large sections of text, just HOPING that things would get better. Unfortunately, the further the (rather short) series went, the worse it got.I finished the whole series ... and it COULD have been a GREAT series ... but there was just too much WRONG with it ... and it was SUCH an inadequately finished series ... i just can't recommend this HIGHLY ... it's OK ... just not very GOOD.

I liked this book a lot. Reminds me of light (not hard) sci-fi written in the 1970s -- it has the same sort of urgency, character development, and sentences as a few books I remember from the time. The book is as detailed as it needs to be, but not overwhelming. I like the space the author leaves for the imagination to fill gaps. It's a simple read, but difficult to put down. I read the second and am starting the third. So look for my reviews on those pages.

I really liked the story in the beginning. We have a special ops person, enhanced like no other human has ever been enhanced by alien technology. Humans develop the Jump Drive system, allowing their ships to go huge distances with using Jump Gates. A great thing. In someone's finite wisdom, they decide to make our Special Ops hero the Captain of our Jump Ship. This is where the story takes a nose dive.The Jump ship goes on it's maiden voyage to find other Human Colones and bring them into the Galactic Accord (Or just to build up Human strength) and is attacked by the big, bad enemy, who just happen to have the same Jump Ship technology. So, we have a traitor(s) in the command structure. Nothing wrong with that, kind of figured that would happen given the mankind had been conquered by this enemy for over 500 years and quislings are bound the be there.We have our battle, and our ship Jumps away after basically fighting to a draw. What does the ship find? Humans, trying to kill them. Eh, works for me, nothing wrong with that. It's what happens next that drops the book for me. The Captain gets all emotional about finding other Humans and defending them of another alien race that is a slaver race. Ignoring the fact that the Humans have been playing Space Viking against this other species via another Jump Gate that the aliens don't know about. I don't want to put spoilers in it but I wasn't really happy with the Captains overall actions.They do however set the stage for book two which I will read because I want to see how it all ends up.Besides what I think is a poorly designed story in some respects, I like the political intrigue, the Human/Alien interactions and the widening scope of the story. Lots of movement in just a few hundred pages.

Some of the scenes are dramatic and then there is a lull. I could only read a few pages.

It's not a bad story, but definitely not even close to a great piece. It's too dry and reads like a report in places. He said, then they said, then he said....It is also lacking in background information and the detail you would expect from a work of fiction. There is also a frustrating lack of continuity in the abilities and weapons the characters use.Without ruining the plot I don't want to give away too much. But many story arks get scrubbed off too quickly which isn't a bad thing, but with the lack of detail and fast paced story it really feels disjointed. I wouldn't want to read though a second book like this.Hudson has a good grasp of writing a story and needs to expand on the finer details of a story. He don't offer suspense in the chapters where suspense is needed. I don't know much about his work but given time it might become a great author.

The story started well enough, although on rather a well worn track. It became slightly wobbly by the time the main protagonist became the captain of a star ship, before revealing that in fact the main character of the story is an imbecile. It's hard to continue with a book when you are so out of sympathy with all of the main characters. Won't read anymore of either this book or the remaining series. Can I get a refund?

If you are a fan of Space Opera then this series of books is for you, I cut my teeth many years ago on EE Doc Smith's Lensman series and I have been a huge fan of Space Opera since. This is the first series of books I have found which has given me the same reading pleasure as the Lensman books, This first book is a scene setter and should net be cosidered a stand alone book. Once you read it you need to get right into book 2 and then after that you will not stop.

Not a new theme, but some interesting twists and differences from other attempts out there. Enjoyable and well written. A few typos, but not enough to really annoy. Well worth a read.

great read