Customer Reviews

Alexander of Terra

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Alexander is one of those hero's that should be put under glass with the markings 'open only in time of crisis'. Great character. Development of the other characters and species would help this story line. Possibly woven into the follow-on books of this series? Completely believable as a scenario but yet one with another twist. Finally someone has written where we Humans are not the weaker or less capable physically. Found myself unable to put this book down after about the mid point.

I liked this book. It was refreshing in the sense that the main character was portrayed as a real adult, someone who realizes that life can really suck and not be fair, and yet not complain about it and get right down to figuring out the best way to make the best of the situations the author throws him into. And, there are quite a number of fun situations that were extremely creative, dramatic, and/or funny. The sci-fi in the book was very much in the background, this is very much a character driven book with an emphasis on clashes of cultures and how governments can interact and with an implied message that one person can throw a wrench into the best laid plans. There are many things the author could have done better, of course. The apex of the plot seemed somewhat rushed and this somewhat detracts from the last few chapters of the book. There is a romantic plot line that seems completely unrealistic and which I found myself skipping over. And, one gets the feeling that if the author only tried and had more reviews and time to let the novel sink in, he/she probably should have extended the novel longer and covered more areas of the universe that is created/portrayed....we're given small snippets here and there. It would have helped add to the strength of the book to have expanded things more, especially areas the main character was not directly involved in but which later impact him.

Pure and classic Science Fiction. Fast paced with unexpected twists and turns. I read it in one sitting and then reread it. This could be the beginning of a great series. My only question is when is the sequal due out?

Alexander Galaxus is a pretty good series. Alexander of Terra is an *outstanding* novel.

What we have here is something out of the ordinary. Eschewing contemporary literary convention, Anderson has thrown us back in time almost a hundred years to the Golden Age of science fiction. Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Doc Savage! In them you will see the seeds of Alexander Thorson, later known to the galaxy as Alexander of Terra.

In an unusual twist, humanity has been observed for tens of thousands of years -by a galaxy terrified of us. We are the largest, strongest, most innovative, and by far the most violent race in the known universe. The galactics pay appropriate attention, lest we burst onto the scene. Our legends have become their legends, foremost among them being the cult of Alexander the Great. Mindbending at first -but later a powerful observation on the power of perception over reality- the galaxy has created a universal phobia of humanity as conquerors, yearning to imitate Alexander's conquests on a galactic scale. When mischance lands a human in the clutches of the (second) most puissant warrior race in the galaxy, he finds himself fighting against misconceptions universally held for thousands of years. Prison worlds filled with dinosaurs, Wet-Navy Battleships resurrected as space fortresses, beautiful aliens, galaxy spanning romances, prickly honor and politics fit to drive races to genocide ensue.

It is onto this fascinating and original setting that the author drops The Great Man. Like authors of Sci-Fi's Golden Age, the author decided that representative "realism" be damned, Heroes should be Heroic: tall, strong, intelligent, educated, capable combatants -and attractive to women, whether or not they happen to be human! And the hell of it is, it works. Cliche or corny or retro or whatever you want to call it, this kind of storytelling has been so long out of fashion that it's fresh again, and surprisingly entertaining.

Buy this book. I cannot see how you could be disappointed. (Seriously! Dinosaurs!)

This is a review of the three books that currently comprise this series so please apply to all of them.

First, If I could have I would have rated this series at 3.5 stars, rounding down I gave it three but it is worth reading if you like the military science fiction genre. If it had better characterization and editing I might have given it four stars. The writer may be a new author? My recommendation is to buy the trilogy which is available as single download.

There are some very creative elements in these books as far as tactics and political structure goes, but there are some real leaps of faith around the structure of the formation of a global response here on Earth.

This is old fashioned science fiction where one man and heroic effort by a team of no nonsense military men deliver nearly impossible results in next to no time. You will read some political posturing based on today's situation and you may be tempted to stereotype the authors political views but don't be too quick to judge.

Now the story, it is a fast based space opera with elements of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the beautiful alien princess and archaic code of honor, E.E. Smith, the rapacious and clearly evil alien races (no, not as bad as the Chlorans or Boskone) but it is easy to identify the villains, both aliens and humans and often the human villains come across as worse than the

The hero is one Alexander Thorson, an ex-NFL player, ex-Air Force pilot and actually an ex-lots of things. Alexander is blessed with the physical capabilities of an older NFL player and a unique view of tactics, inter-species psychology as well as an interesting fount of experience.

The first book introduces us to Alexander as a victim, a captive of aliens right out of Area 51 and his unique approach and quick thinking in this circumstance and the further adventures he has with other aliens sets the stage for the entire series of three books. Lots of battles, personal hardships overcome, a love story, bad aliens and crooked Terran's to overcome, what more do you want?

This book has been out long enough for it not to have the nearly every other page formatting issues. As noted in another review--words run together ... without proper spacing. Yes, you can figure it out...but it detracts from a good read and cheapens the experience.

For centuries, a species of aliens has been using the threat of unleashing terrans on a otherwise peaceful alliance to control a galactic economy. The alies watch football think it is a battle and basically think that terran people are a bunch of barbarian warriors. They also have the ability to capture individuals for "probing", problem, is that they found the decendent or re-incarnation of Alexander the Great. They broadcast Alexanders last statements of humans taking over the stars and this has had the aliens basically keeping all of terra isolated. One species is sick of the other controlling the trade routes and decides to kidnap on the abductees problem is that it is someone they are not expecting.

Pick it up you will love it.

Story is interesting, however there were some basic issues that should have been caught in editing. Mainly words not spaced properly... perhaps a problem formatting for Kindle?

I have to admit, I was afraid I had wasted my time downloading the demo.
Boy was I wrong! the first few pages were kinda slow in hooking me in and had nothing to indicate just how good the story was going to get. I was afraid it was going to end up pretty cheesy and become an unfinished disappointment.

I'm happy to say that I Seriously under-estimated the author! In the end, I enjoyed it so much, I just bought the second book outright without even reading the demo ( Something I Rarely do ). I have read the whole series to date and thoroughly enjoyed them all. I really hope you continue on with the series like you hinted at Mr. Anderson. I added your name to my favorite authors list at newbookalerts.com.

Eagerly awaiting the next!

I struggled through the first part of this book trying to get past the basic premise that a genetic descendant of Alexander The Great could be a perceived threat to several advanced alien races. I'm not sure I ever got totally comfortable with the idea.

That said, the book was engaging, as the characters and plot held my Interest and made the book hard to put down. The science fiction aspect was satisfying. By the time I reached the riveting conclusion, I was glad I had stuck with the book through the initial chapters.