Wow... this was going to be a longer review but the final final sequence was so incredibly dumb in its attempts to be awesome, that i’m feeling a little drained.
Also there wasn’t a single action sequence in this entire thing (and there are a lot of them) that i was able to completely follow but a lot of the hand-to-hand stuff seemed utterly ridiculous.

This started off really well actually as a sort of dickensian, dystopian nightmare. I was hopes of at least 4-stars, but the changes of scene and supporting cast made it impossible for me to keep caring.
I had become utterly uninvested by the time we entered the final quarter.

This is an easy read, but its mostly trash in my opinion. ( )

A hero is made! Is he good or is he just lucky?: Remember his name, Carl, because you will never see it again. He is Sten! The warrior about whoom legends are told accross the Galaxy. Cole and Bunch know their military tactics. Special operations is their motto! It was refreshing to read a series of books which describes SpecOps the way it could happen, or should be done, not the HolyWeird version. The authors also know their history and make various references which I on a rare occasion had to look up. It is refreshing to read a book that doesn't play down to the LCD. And The EE can really cook. I've even tried the recepies personaly :-) One small complaint is their use of Galaxy, Universe, stelar distances and time spans seems inconsisten at times, and I couldn't build even a simulated map of the Empire.

I bought this book because I couldn't find anything else remotely interesting at the bookstore and I generally like action sci-fi book. Its is a great action book, however, I was suprised at how good the writting was especially during "down time" and character development. These areas are usually a little lacking in this kind of book. All in all I found the books writing to be great and the story to be well balanced between action and development. The plot and story line are quite good and interesting in their own right. The only slight problem I had is that there are often large jumps forward in time that I didn't notice right away and had to go back to find out what was really going on. Not a big deal really. I think this is a great book for people who like sci-fi adventures! Plus, there are sequels. ( )

A solid start to a modern space opera. The Sten series was one of my first introductions to the realistic military Sci-Fi which has become more prominate in recent years. More than most series, this series should be started at the beginning. Sten provides much of the groundwork that the rest of the series uses as a jumping-off point. ( )

The series charts the rise of a relative nobody to captain of the Imperial Bodyguard, friend and ultimately betrayer of the Emperor. The author's own notes point out the falacy (as he sees it) of the older SF systems with galaxy spanning empires. The betrayal at the end of the series is thus essential so that the society can become a free democracy.