The Independent Command (Flight Engineer) [Hardcover]

James Doohan (Author), S.M. Stirling (Author)

Book Description

Series: Flight Engineer | Publication Date: October 31, 2000

THEY'RE SWARMING FOR THE
KILL...AND WE ARE THE PREY!

Everybody knows how despicable the alien Fibians are. Allies of the fanatic Mollie rebels against the human Commonwealth, they show no mercy, they have no remorse, and they find human flesh delectable -- at least when served live. Fielding a gigantic starfleet against Earth and its colonies, they march like the giant spiders they resemble through humanity's nightmares, and soon they will march across its devastated worlds.

When the captain of the starship Invincible is incapacitated after a Fibian attack, only Peter Raeder -- former fighter pilot, starship flight engineer, and unorthodox hero of the war against the Mollies -- can be entrusted with command of the ship. His mission: to track down the alien raiders who took out his captain, and then to start hitting the enemy behind the lines.

It's a suicide mission, and Raeder knows it...until the fortunes of battle drive him deeper into alien space than he'd ever intended to go, the Invincible too damaged ever to return home. There he discovers that the monstrous Fibians may not be monsters after all...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The third Flight Engineer yarn seems to conclude the adventures of Peter Raeder, at least as a Star Command officer. He and convalescing Sarah James have just become lovers when the insectoid Fibians launch a major attack on Star Command bases and human-inhabited planets. Succeeding to command of Invincible , Raeder takes her out on an improvised reconnaissance mission and, by a freak of physics, ends up taking a Fibian prisoner. He steadily unravels the Fibians' secret, which is that they are divided into a number of clans, of which only one, the youngest and most ruthless, is allied with the fanatical human Mollies against the rest of humanity. Horrified at their cousins' penchants for recreational sex and torturing prisoners, the other Fibian clans, who may have a hivelike society but include many admirably individualized characters, ally themselves with Star Command. That ends the war, reduces Star Command strength, and leaves Raeder anticipating a new career as a freelance explorer. Without pretensions and, of its kind, nearly flawless entertainment. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Baen (October 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671319515
• ISBN-13: 978-0671319519
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,954,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Good series, but not great, November 23, 2010

By 

B. Weckerly "paratwa" (Chandler, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Independent Command (Flight Engineer) (Hardcover)

After reading the first 2 books in this series I was all set to write a rant about how bad it was. But the 3rd book changed my mind.

I still feel that the writing was kind of amateurish and stilted, but I grew to like the characters. Many times I had to re read the last paragraph just to figure out what was going on. Scenes were a bit disjointed. But like I said, I grew to like the characters a lot. So, for that fact I am giving this a rating of 3 stars instead of the 1 star I initially was going to leave.

The plots for this series are very basic and very transparent. In all 3 books I figured out the endings before I was half way through them. But, if you like a fast paced space opera, then go ahead and read this series. It is not unenjoyably, it is just plain and very basic.

I am a huge fan of S.M Stirling's books, and I will read anything he releases.

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read, February 10, 2010

By 

K. Fody (PA, United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Independent Command (Flight Engineer) (Hardcover)

Each book in the Flight Engineer series was an enjoyable read. I picked up the first in the series because James Doohan was the co-author. I read all three because I enjoyed them. These are not groundbreaking or deep thinking sci-fi books. They are just fun outerspace action adventures that show a nice sense of humor here and there.

If you are looking for something fun to read you can't go wrong with these books since you can get them used on Amazon at very reasonable prices.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good story, good series... wish there could be more, January 20, 2010

By 

J. W. Dietrich - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Independent Command (Flight Engineer) (Hardcover)

Good story, good series... wish there could be more (and that saids it all), but of course not very likely.

Not a Trek story at all, if that is stopping you from reading it now you don't have that excuse. Good enjoyable space story with too few of it's kind now-a-days.