The Honour of the Knights [Paperback]

Stephen Sweeney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2009

When starfighter pilot Simon Dodds is enrolled in a top secret military project, he and his wingmates begin to suspect that there is a lot more to the theft of a legendary battleship and an Imperial nation's civil war than either the Confederation Stellar Navy or the government are willing to let on. Within weeks of being reassigned to the Confederate border system of Temper, the five would begin to untangle a web of lies and a cover-up that seemed to span the entire galaxy. And it would not be long before they would come face to face with that which destroyed an empire: an unforgiving, unstoppable, and totally unrelenting foe. There seemed to exist only one glimmer of hope of driving back the darkness: The ATAF Project - a secretly developed set of starfighters that well may just harbour some terrible secrets of their own... To discover more, visit http://www.battleforthesolarsystem.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: Stephen J Sweeney (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955856108
• ISBN-13: 978-0955856105
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,271,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Sweeney was born in Brighton, UK in 1977 to Terry and Emma Sweeney and has spent many years thereafter making up stories about stuff that doesn't exist.

He attended Worth School in West Sussex before studying Environmental Biology at Oxford Brookes University.

He currently lives in London where he works in the City performing various IT related bits and pieces (although he's worse than useless if you ask him to help fix your computer).

When not working he enjoys listening to music, reading, snowboarding (or at least attempting to) and spending time with friends (generally talking nonsense to them in the pub).

His favourite authors include JK Rowling, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, Iain Banks and Stephen King (although he doesn't read too much King any more since he's too scared of finding an old decaying dead woman lying in his bathtub, grinning at him).

Website: www.battleforthesolarsystem.com
Twitter: stephenjsweeney
Blog: stephenjsweeney.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad SFdebut, September 7, 2009

By 

N. Brett (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Honour of the Knights (Paperback)

Advertised as having an appeal to those who enjoyed "Babylon 5, Star Wars and Battlestar Gallactica (tos)" this is a space actioner with a fair bit of characterisation thrown in.
The focus is on a small team of pilots who are trained up on a secret star-fighter, only to not quite make the grade for further testing, only to find circumstance will put them back in the cockpits once more.....
The environment is somewhat confusing with two space Empires at odds with each-other (one of whom is going through a civil war) and it took me a while to work out the background as to who was who.
Then we have secrets and conspiracies as we realise there is more to the secret star fighters and the bad guys then we suspected......
Not bad and one has to admire a self published novel. This works better at the sharp end with fully rounded characters who do have personalities and flaws but is weaker in conveying the bigger picture. It's a nice book, with an eye-catching cover but probably a little bit expensive for what you are getting. So overall this is okay, not spectacular page turning stuff but solid, reasonably well written and dependable SF reading.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good fast paced military SF, June 25, 2010

By 

Norm Birndorf "normb" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Honour of the Knights (Paperback)

Simon Dodds is on leave from his duty as a Confederation Stellar Navy fighter pilot working for his father running an apple orchard. It's not all good. He is on forced leave after a court martial for trying to be a hero and disobeying orders. His reckless actions resulted in the death of 2 civilians.

A dying Stellar Navy Pilot inexplicably winds up on his doorstep with gunshot wounds, and begs not to tell the navy or authorities about him just before he dies. Very mysterious.

In the middle of the investigation of the pilot's death, Simon is suddenly recalled because there is a crisis. The political situation is convoluted, but the Confederation is being threatened by another entity of allied planets, the Imperium, which itself is embroiled in what appears to be a civil war.

Simon is sworn to secrecy about the dying pilot, and rejoins the fighter force in time to train with his old squadron mates in a new, highly classified fighter.....but there is a lot more to the new fighter, the conflict, and what is ultimately in store for him and his squadron.

Comment: Fast paced with interesting characters. A very good read, especially if you like military SF. If I have any criticism it is trivial; the story wanders a bit trying to identify with and explore the nature of the major characters, and it's difficult to initially sort out the political background of who's fighting whom and why. Minor issues in what is a fun read. The next part of the Trilogy of the "Battle for the Solar System", "The Third Side" should be forthcoming, and I anticipate it's release.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written, Science Fiction At Its Best, January 22, 2012

By 

ArcadeAddict - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) (The Battle for the Solar System) (Kindle Edition)

I enjoy sci-fi, but was a bit wary of picking up a random book. It had reasonable reviews, though, and the price was right, so I took the plunge. I have not regretted it. Period.

The story centers around Simon Dodds, a star-pilot who is out of active military service because of unintentional manslaughter. He is recalled to take part in a special project with his wingmates, but ends up failing the final test and being shipped of to a backwater star system. He is then called forward for a massive assault, and becomes involved in a plot to overthrow his government.

Be forewarned, though, that this is part one of a trilogy, and that you will probably find yourself willing to pay handsomely for the next part, which in NOT free.

Whilst the story may seem a bit cliche, Sweeney's fast paced story telling will have you on the edge of your seat! I highly recommend this story to any fan of good Sci-Fi, especially at its low price.