I have read this book series multiple times. I've noticed when driving long road trips, when I'm in a slump, or feeling down this Book Siri brings a smile to my face. It It is well written and feels like a comfortable set of jeans. It happens to be one of My favorite all time book series


Edit: I will say whenever I'm in a funk or want to read something that feels like "home" this is the series. I loved this book so much I find myself reading it (this book and series) over and over. ( )

The story is told in a kind of flat, matter of fact tone, with some degree of small and maybe not so significant details.

It advances slowly, growing in intensity so little over each chapter that you'd think is going nowhere. No fancy turn of phrase, no sparkling shining flashy wording. Just the bare as-it-happened listing of ordered events and their consequences. No humor either.

So why am I reading it? And why do I seem to crave more?

It is the story. It is simply interesting. It unfolds slowly but it grows and it is fresh and good enough to make up for the lack of literary oomph.

Halfway through it I was sure. The story is just great. I think what caught me was the idea of a less technologically advanced ship facing a powerful adversary and standing up to it just fine albeit for a single trick up their sleeve while otherwise entirely outgunned outpowered and outnumbered.

Looks like Evan had the story well planned out. Things happen, a lot, there is logic to it it never seems artificial or forced, it still keeps growing, it does not stop, and it does not even slow down.

What a rush.

Plus, he is self published. You can buy all 5 books now from Amazon for 12 dollars. ( )

Heavily military SF, not really my sort of thing, but entertaining some of the time. Too many long-winded descriptions of every weapon and every shot, every explosive and the messes they made. I started skimming "action" scenes, which is never a good sign - too many people stopping mid scene to dwell on the capabilities of the guns they held. ( )

Into the Black Odyssey One by Evan Currie. This is a classic military science fiction story. It is heavy on the military and light on the science. It faithfully follows all of the cliché of the genre. It is the story of Earth’s first space ship capable of instantaneous interstellar travel. Like other recently published military science fiction series such as Ian Banks Star Carrier series and Mark Kloos’s Frontline's series, Earth is politically divided and has just survived a recent non nuclear war. Unlike the two previously mentioned series this aspect of the story is given short shrift . It is used as a reason to arm the ship, theoretically tasked for exploration and research, with every conceivable weapons system and special operations operator and super pilot in the North American Alliance. In retrospect this turns out to be a fortunate design feature. As soon as the Odyssey leaves the solar system it and her crew find itself caught in the middle of an interstellar war. The rest of the book focuses on one battle after another. The good aliens look human and are inexperienced in the ways of war. The bad aliens look like insects and have unbeatable weapons and tactics. A riff off of Star Ship Troopers. It is no surprise given the genre that the bad aliens can’t beat the Odyssey. If Captain Kirk and the Enterprise had been as well armed it would not had gotten its butt kicked regularly by the Klingons. The elements that make military science a fun read are the descriptions of the battles, the description of the weapon systems and how the writer is able to raise the immediate stakes for characters and long term stakes for the solar systems or alliances involved. On this score Currie gets a passing grade. The battles are well written, the weapon systems are believable, and although the outcome was never in doubt Currie was able to keep tension high. This book is the first book in a four part series. I will read them as they become available in my library. I don’t think they will be good enough to buy/ ( )

I enjoyed reading the book and the only reason I am giving it 4 stars rather than 5 is lack of character development as well as lack of deeper sci-fi concepts involvement. There are good deal of dogfighting scenes in the book if you are interested but if you are looking for a more or less classical sci-fi with some taste of romance this book is not something you I recommend.

While reading it, to some extent it is reminding me of Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds and whole idea of the Inhibitors. I will be more certain of the theme when I read the next 3 books in the series.

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