Tag: SciFi (military)

Book Review (SERIES): The Biogenesis War / R is for Richman

Erin Penn 2 Comments

Welcome A-to-Z crowd. Once a month, I review a series. I guess I could have cheated and just said “R is for Review”, but instead I want to push R is for L.L. Richman. The author is an amazing hard science fiction author, specializing in military techno spy thrillers in space with special forces. This is the second of their series I have reviewed. See also Book Review (SERIES): Vision Rising (6/18/2024).

Now back to our normally scheduled blog.

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This is a bundle of the first three books of the Biogenesis War includes The Chiral Agent, The Chiral Protocol, and Chiral Justice following the life of mirror clones Micah and Jonathan as they deal with the Alliance and Akkadia fighting a spy and science cold war, mirroring actions with opposite spins of democracy and authoritarianism.

Where space opera mixes with hard science with a sprinkling of medical thriller and political spy drama mixed in, this multi-POV series will keep you turning the pages.

I have reviewed the books separately below. Considered as a series, I enjoyed these good military science fiction books individually and as a unit. It is best read in order.

The Biogenesis War by L.L. Richman
Book 1: The Chiral Agent
Book 2: The Chiral Protocol
Book 3: Chiral Justice

Related – The Biogenesis War Files: Ambush in the Sargon Straits

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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE CHIRAL AGENT

WINNER OF THE 2021 Reader’s Favorite Book Award for Science Fiction

First, they stole his identity. Now, they want him dead.

Shadow Recon pilot Micah Case awakens above an alien world, with no memory of his past and a mysterious voice inside his head. Worse, his own military is hunting him… and he has no idea why.

His genetic code could destroy all life.

The voice leads to a discovery so unbelievable, enemy nations would kill to control it — to control him. Now, Micah must use every skill in his arsenal to secure the stolen research.

The stakes are impossibly high, but failure is not an option. The alternative could mean the extinction of a people Micah can no longer call his own. Humanity.

THE CHIRAL AGENT is a fast-paced, cerebral thriller that’s part hard science fiction, part spy novel, and one hundred percent adrenaline. It’s sure to keep you guessing every step of the way.

MY REVIEW for THE CHIRAL AGENT

The science behind Chiral has always interested me. While the author, L.L. Richman, concentrates on the fiction and military part of the science-fiction military genre, the base for the science-fiction element has a solid reality.

But first and foremost, this is a science-fiction spy thriller – we wake up in a morgue about to be incinerated with our hero and keep moving from there. I really enjoyed the ride.

 

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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE CHIRAL PROTOCOL

Countdown to Annihilation

An Alliance asset is found brutally murdered, a deadly biomaterial stolen, and their top scientist kidnapped.

Shadow Recon pilot Micah Case is the only human in existence immune to the viral weapon the Akkadian Empire would unleash on the settled worlds.

It’s up to him to stop them — before millions die.

MY REVIEW for THE CHIRAL PROTOCOL

Chiral Protocol starts by leaping into the fire, then enters a whirlwind when stellar politics and intrigue take over. The Biogenesis War includes bioweapons and all the devastation that entails. The story can be hard to follow as there are three theatres of action: the kidnapped scientist, the political summit, and a cruise ship. But each of far flung location is entangled with the others at a quantum level, needing to be resolved by our heroic Chiral pairing: Jonathan and Micah – plus a ferret and a large dark cat.

Where secrets meet, the microscopic spins everything around. This science-fiction techno thriller delivers on the science, the fiction, and the thriller.

Content Warning: Plague Ship.

 

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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for CHIRAL JUSTICE

* 2023 International Book Award Finalist for Science Fiction *

Old enemies never die.

The unthinkable has happened: an Akkadian assassin has helped broker peace between her star nation and the Alliance. Micah Case and Task Force Blue watch the peace talks with guarded optimism—but they know one thing the rest of the settled worlds don’t.

Clint Janus has vanished with the Alliance’s most closely-held secret.

And Micah Case holds the key.

Janus is now allied with Akkadia’s new premier, Asher Dent, and the man is not as peace-loving as he might seem.

It’s going to be up to Micah Case and Task Force Blue to prevent Dent from achieving that which he wants most: total space supremacy over all the settled worlds.

MY REVIEW for CHIRAL JUSTICE

The action-packed conclusion of the Biogenesis War delivers on everything which has gone before. Asher Dent now controls Akkadia, and plans to keep it that way. Pascal now has access to steaks and plans to keep it that way. Micah now has a date with Sam and plans to keep it.

But Clint Janus has disappeared, interfering with some of those plans and helping others. By the end of the mission, politicians will race in the sky, cats will walk on water, and a Chiral will die. Nanotechnology, political intrigue, desert prisons, cloaked spaceships – this exciting series is where hard science meets military space opera. Be prepared to have your molecules spin in a different direction.

While Chiral Justice could be read as a stand-alone, don’t cheat yourself out of maximum enjoyment of this sci-fi goodness. Start with The Chiral Agent and work your way through the whole series.

 

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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for AMBUSH IN THE SARGON STRAITS

It should have been a simple extraction.

Rumors of unrest have caused the Alliance to recall its consulate stationed on the Khufu torus. Elodie Cyr and SRU Team Five are there to ensure it happens smoothly.

But the intelligence geeks’ estimates were wrong — way wrong — and Ell and the team are in for the fight of their lives.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a 13,000-word, 75 page novelette in the Biogenesis War Files series.

MY REVIEW for AMBUSH IN THE SARGON STRAITS

A novella/short story from a series of three novels and four short stories/novella – I picked this one while free and it delivered enough I found the series in a package deal and picked it up.

Standard military science-fiction faire, at least to start. War is brewing on the horizon and an air-force/land-force special-forces mix is sent to extract the consulate from the disputed territory before the war comes over the horizon. In this case, the “air-force” crew a very small space ship and the extraction team has to exfiltrate the consulate from a colony-sized space station. Their sovereign planet, while allied with one side, is not actively part of the coming hostilities nor wants to precipitate the conflict. Problems start when the brewing aggression reaches boiling during the operation. All your favorite tropes delivered in a small package.

80% of the kindle edition is devoted to the short story and 20% is a teaser from the first novel of the Biogenesis War.

Book Review: Pogue One

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Pogue One (Anthology – see author details below)

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON

The purpose of this anthology is not to denigrate pogues. On the contrary, we felt their representation in fiction (military SF or otherwise) a bit lacking. What about the kid with the thirty-pound brain locked away in the vault, like in Gene Rowley’s tale of a lance corporal in the Cyber Corps? The medical ninjas who’re willing to move heaven and earth to save one more life feature prominently in K. Anders’s story. Chris DiNote shows us there are worse things lurking within the depths of the military machine than mere pogues. In “The Troll,” Jim Curtis reminds us that the hardest working folks in the military just may be the apes whose job is to keep aircraft in the sky. Wrapping up our ensemble of storytelling is Liska McCabe, who reminds us that no matter the MOS, we all endure check-out in the end.

 

MY REVIEW

Raconteur Press is single-handedly attempting to bring back the (1) anthology, (2) the pulp anthology, (3) short story goodness. In 2025 they are attempting to publish 25 short story anthologies. If you have been hungering for good pulp anthologies – from fantasy to detective noir to cats in space, they got you covered.

Pogue One feed my particular love of support-staff of the military. Instead of the man in the mechsuit taking names of aliens on a star-flung planet, I want to know about the people that (1) built the suit, (2) maintain the suit in the field, and (3) arrange the logistics to get the suit from point A to the infantry wearing them at point B. Yes the TIP of the spear is interesting, but there is a whole lot of spear and very little tip and the tip wouldn’t reach where it does without the spear shaft. (I really need to write some military-support stories. But fortunately, in the meantime, other people have wrote some!)

Overall, Pogue one delivers as promised. Pogue stories! Being an anthology, some are great and some are good.

Breakdown by story with a short review of each
1. A Dzar Wars Story by K. Anders – Medtech are used to keeping others alive, less so, themselves. (4 star)
2. To the Letter by S.J. Fazekas – Public relations. Love, following orders, and meeting mission goals – you can have any two, but not all three. What is a public relations officer to do? (Loss of stars for weight hate, 2 star)
3. F$%n Guard Guys! – Finances. Nepotism and Old Guard vs. Bean Counters; both combatants waging war through the old boy network and budget line items. Who will win? (3 star)
4. Unsung heroes of Cyber Corps by E.G. Rowley – Computer maintenance. Remember to always report phishing emails to security promptly. (3 star)
5. Big Mama – Logistics usually is about getting shields to the right location; other times they are the only shield between disaster and the civilians. (4 1/2 star). This is the story I want expanded into a full novel and get an expanded ending. Yes, complete story, but I want what is next!!!
(UPDATE!!! – full length novel – A Kiss from Damocles (book 1) is available. Set in the same world, but not the same characters. Still, I get to find out what is next.)
6. Forge of Hephaestus by William Meinert – Analyst (taking all the data collected and teasing out the secrets). The military is always looking for the right tool for the right job, but when technology advances, can old tools be used again? (2 stars – I personally hate the friend zone trope. Other than that, the story is great.)
7. Bits and Parts by Josh Hill – Maintenance Tech. When a gutter rat gets inside the fence, can the Master Gunnery Sergeant save him before the dangers outside the base and the dangers inside the base find out exactly what the rat can do? (5 star)
8. Chow Hall – Installation Techs. They say know your enemy, but it also pays to know your allies. (5 star)
9. The Troll by J.L. Curtis – Machinists. God bless the reservists brining their specialties to the services. (4 star – note, technical heavy)
10. Moto-Morphosis by Liska McCabe – Accountant. Accountability during out-processing can be worse than the enemy. I am amused the last story of the anthology is about trying to turn in the equipment so a military member can leave. (3 star)

Overall, a broad range of skills covered.

Flash: Fish Boy

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Borrowed from the Interwebs

“Ledbetter, Presby. Fresh meat incoming.” The nonce glanced around the triple-berth in a split-second inspection. “It’ll do,” he banged the ‘lock edge in approval before he swam down the corridor to inform the other understaffed berths of new pilots arriving. They had been under zero g maneuvers for the last hour to match paths with the incoming staff-and-stuff ships.

“Time to roll out. Why don’t you go first?” offered Ledbetter to his wingman, while he tucked a picture into his quick-dress under vest.

Presby rolled out of his hammock-like bunk where they had been ordered to out of the way of the real sailors working the zero-g maneuvers. The sprawl of limbs to stop twists and torques, his brace to open his steamer, and his adorning of quick-dress took a simple handful of minutes. By unmodified human standards, Presby executed an elegant ballet of movement within microgravity, showing skills developed over three relative-years in space

Once Presby was dressed, Ledbetter did the same maneuvers in a quarter of the time, with Presby in the same space attempting to secure his bunk against the wall. Every rotation Presby needed to control, Ledbetter used to his advantage. A quick flick from Ledbetter’s foot pressed the bunk’s rail hard enough for Presby to twist the knob into place; Ledbetter let the push off from the rail to tuck his legs for positioning the hem loops under the boots which kept the pant lines of the quick-dress pants regulation straight. He landed by the airlock between their berth room and the corridor waiting for their nonce to return.

“Fish, I hate you,” Presby said, hanging sidewise to their one egress in the middle of the room.

Ledbetter smiled, “Come on unmod, bossman says we got fresh meat to tenderize.” He watched as Presby grasped one of the handles and pulled himself in the regulation up-down the regular unmods needed for orientation.

Presby had been broken of that three-dimensional limitation the first month of pilot training. Those that didn’t stop vomiting washed out and became simple sailors stuck inside the big belly beasts. Then Presby had passed muster for fighter training, something only one in a hundred pilots qualified for. He was as close to three-dimensional situational awareness as an unmodified human could get.

“Four relative-months setting up for them. They better be worth it,” Presby said.

“Nonce let me look through the profiles. One for red side is a birdman.”

“Of course red is getting that one.”

“You guys got me. It’s only fair.”

“Can you imagine a triple of natural three-D thinkers?” Presby got a far away look in his eyes. “If only they could drop the mod in after birth.”

“Modify to the planet, not to war.” Ledbetter quoted one of the Tenets of the Human Unity.

“And draft them all come war.” Presby snarked back the solider corollary, one of the several perverted adages the front-line men had developed from the high-brow political Tenets humanity had crafted since jumping to the stars.

Nonce Curtis swam back their way while the other two berths prepped for the receiving presentation. “Belay that chatter boys,” he ordered.

Kempler, the furthest away, who had been running simulations when zero-G had been announced, fell out into the corridor in his flight suit, with the blue strip of their squadron along the legs and arms of the suit. Pilots got a regulation exception, with flight suits treated as equal to quick-dress or anything less than full dress, and sometimes the brass let the fighter pilots have flight suits count as full dress if they at least tossed on their rank jacket with patches.

Elrod and D’Aunno came out of the middle berth. Each triple berth had room for the primary three of a triple flight, an alternate, and two trainees. Ledbetter was the First for his triple unit, D’Aunno was First for his, and Kempler was First by default for the last group, but nonce flew when they were understaffed and therefore was acting first. Kempler spent a lot of time in simulations trying to be worthy of being wingman to Twenty-Clash Curtis. Blue Wing at full staffing had twenty members. Nonce and his second, plus the full squad with alternatives and trainees. They had six.

Ledbetter knew the staff-and-stuff drop was about to double their numbers to twelve. Red, Yellow, and Green Wings after the last year’s battle had been equally stripped, and were about to be equally re-staffed. They would have two relative-months to get the new guys seaworthy as the Determination returned to the front lines. Ledbetter had been through fifteen cycles of picking up fresh meat, train, going to the front lines, getting blown to bits, and returning when the ship had bled out all the air, people, and replacement parts.

He touched his vest where the picture of him kissing his girl rested against his heart. Nearly nine relative-years in battle since leaving home. The draft demanding regular tribute from the mermaids of his planet. The perfect three-dimensional thinkers made perfect fighter pilots. Those below the surface tossed their throwbacks to the Unity draft, the ones whose modifications had failed, the ones lacking fins and gills like him, stuck between sky and sea. He, like an open clam, had dove at the Duty and Honor to keep the Galactic Incursion from crossing the line into humanity’s colonies.

And, most importantly, to swim among the stars like his brain had been built to do within a sea.

He didn’t know how many years had passed at home since he left. Misty’s last letter had caught up with him toward the end of his first relative-year; it had been bundled together with all her other letters in his first staff-and-stuff drop when he had returned from the front, the sole survivor of his Wing.

She had been dying at a hundred and fifteen; she had never received a single letter he had written her but had written him every year on his birthday faithful to him through two husbands and nine children, two of them his, born from the required donation so his home world wouldn’t lose his genetic diversity. They tweaked his kids enough they swam true.

He remembered Presby’s shock at discovering his “five-year contract” had been five relative-years and what it meant. He wondered how many of the new Fresh Meat would suffer a similar shock.

That the speed ship out, a quick five relative-days for them translated to fifteen years for most of the Unity.

That this Duty and Honor was a one-way trip.

That the front lines drafted until death do us part.

(words 1,104; first written 2/23/2026)

 

This was a Writer’s Group assignment: “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.” Write a 1,000 word story based on a randomly drawn picture. I got the above. Now I can’t ever do anything the easy way, so even though it is February and I had already decided to do a romance for whatever I drew, once I had that picture in hand it had to be anything EXCEPT for a romance. The story in my head was much more complicated with, space battles and the Fresh Meat guy discovering exactly what he had signed up for instead of me just telling what happened with Presby. But when I hit 500 words, I sped things up, and when I hit 940 words I did it again. Beside it is 10:30 pm and the group meets tomorrow. Today was it. Write or die. It is written – now I sleep.

 

Editing Rant: Unwavering Support Trope

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Photo by Jocelyn Allen on Unsplash

Within military science fiction and military romance and military fantasy, and well everywhere, is the trope of a woman standing by her man with great understanding. She knows he has “Gone Through It” (Trademark) and quietly supports him through everything – whether him blowing up in anger or never expressing his softer feelings because of his trauma.

He never has to apologize.

She is a saint for this.

And yet … and yet. If the Understanding Woman makes a mistake or the Damaged Man misinterprets something, she must apologize and go through the obstacle course he puts in her way.

He never has to understand her, because she understands him. She gives everything.

I would like to see this trope start working its way out of our collective consciousness. It isn’t that those who stand between us and darkness shouldn’t get special treatment, but that the special treatment should be in the way of therapy, not the privilege of damaging their loved ones.

Special treatment should be in the way of therapy, not the privilege of damaging their loved ones.

Especially if the author is writing science fiction where the dream of amazing therapy is available.

It is time to do away with the martyrs on both sides of the damage. Adults need to apologize and work toward their healing, whether the Damaged Warrior or the Understanding Loving One.

No one should accept anger without an active change in behavior to prevent future woundings of the relationship. If you love someone, remember to say it, show it, share it, not just take it.

While not a toxic trope as yet, without changing with the times, the Unwavering Support is damaging both to those wounded and those supporting the walking wounded. One of the places we, as writers and editors, can help society is changing the dynamic of this trope by including in the Unwavering Support driving to therapy, supporting roleplay to relearn emotional skills, and setting up clear borders to develop a healthy relationship.

Book Review: The Weight of Command

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The Weight of Command by Michael Mammay

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON

Lieutenant Kiera Markov is a scout platoon leader for a peacekeeping force on the remote planet of Tanara, where little has happened for decades, and the only mission is to keep the lithium flowing up the space elevator to feed the galaxy’s incessant demand. But when an unprecedented attack kills the entirety of the brigade’s leadership, the untested lieutenant suddenly finds herself in command.

Isolated and alone, Markov must contend with rival politicians on both sides of the border, all of whom have suspect motives and reason to take advantage of an untested leader, while an unseen enemy seeks to drive the two sides toward a war that Markov has a mission to prevent. It’s enough to test even a seasoned leader.

Markov isn’t that.

With challenges from all sides, and even from her own troops, Markov will have to learn quickly and establish her authority. Because what hangs in the balance is not only the future of the peacekeeping force, but of the planet itself.

 

MY REVIEW

What happens when a lowly lieutenant finds herself the highest ranking officer on planet? And unlike some “any-man” armies, in this science-fiction world, officers come wired for bear. They are the only ones who are completely wired to connect to the command network. A master sergeant can’t step up to the plate without several surgeries and nearly a year of specialized training.

After the chain of command is snipped to its last link, the lieutenant has to figure out how to operate a division instead of a platoon, deal with escalating tensions between two powers on the planet while obeying the peace-keeping directive, and connect back to her command-structure after all space-communication goes down. She is fortunate to have amazing non-coms at her side.

The constant escalation of tension, changing of stakes, and juggling of external political & internal military command balls brings the full Weight of Command to Kiera’s shoulders in this pulse-pounding can’t-put-it-down book.

(Originally created as an audio-book exclusive – now available in kindle and print formats.)