Justin Bell was a dreamer, but a tough one and after two trials by fire, he still dreamed of reaching for the stars. Unfortunately, the beckoning stars were becoming sinister. Contact had been made with extraterrestrials, and the visitors were not friendly. And this was the worst possible time for hostile visitors, with the Solar System on the verge of civil war. If Justin could deflect the coming firestorm of war and solve the secret of the invading aliens, he would be enshrined in the history, books. If he failed, there wouldn't be anybody left to write any history books.
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WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN has a Ph.D. from Purdue University with specializations in Military History and the History of Technology. He is a Faculty Fellow and Professor of History at Montreat College. He is the author of over forty books, including the New York Times bestselling series Gettysburg and Pearl Harbor (coauthored with Newt Gingrich), as well as the award-winning young adult novel We Look Like Men of War. He has also authored numerous short stories and articles about military history and military technology. His interests include archaeological research on sites in Mongolia, and as a pilot he owns and flies an original World War II "recon bird." Dr. Forstchen resides near Asheville, North Carolina with his teenage daughter Meghan and their small pack of golden retreivers and yellow labs.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good read... if it had been in another series!,
By
This review is from: Prometheus (Paperback)
This is a very well-written bit of military/political SF, with a strong foundation of historicity. However, it bears no relation at all to the first 2 books in the series, which were pleasant, updated versions of Bob Heinlein's old "Space Cadets." After reading just the first chapter, my son and I almost hurt ourselves laughing, as we tried to imagine what happened to Bill Forstchen in between the completion of book 2 and this sequel. Our best guess was that his wife left him for another woman and sued for divorce, his kids left home and changed their names, the bank foreclosed on his boat, and an editor said nasty things about a work-in-progress! Seriously, Bill, the reason most of us pick up a sequel in a series is that we liked some element of the first books! In this book, the idealistic young hero of books 1 and 2 becomes a bitter, alcoholic hermit civilian-- and oh, yeah, Atlanta and NYC and a bunch of other cities get scragged by alien nukes. This is not a plot-spoiler-- this all happens before the end of chapter one! And there is nowhere near enough character development to emotionally adjust a fan of the series to Justin Bell's new persona. This is a good book, yes-- but it should be the first book of an all-new series. Should you read this book? If you like solid military SF with a strong dose of realistic politics, yep. But if you were a fan of the first 2 books, I recommend that, before you read it, you have a friend go through the book with white-out and a pencil, changing the names of the three protagonists to Smith, Jones and Johnson. Oh, and while you're thinking about it, send Bill Forstchen a "get well" card, too!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An entertaining sequal,
By A Customer
This review is from: Prometheus (Paperback)
Prometheus is the sequel to Article 23 and Star Voyager Academy. Instead of picking up the story where Article 23 ended, the way a sequal should, twenty years have passed since we last saw the characters.This book reunites the heroes Justin, Matt and Tonya in a war fought against an alien invader. The story is entertaining and the plot is NOT predictable. Mr Forstchen, as always, tells a good story. My only complaint is the missing twenty years. Apparently the civil war between the Colonies and Earth that we saw coming in Article 23 happened during that missing time. Justin fought for Earth, Matt fought for the Colonies, and Tonya joined a neutral peace keeping force headed by Thorson their mutual mentor. Apparently the three fought some battle together before splitting up and this experience changed them. Then their seperate experience on different sides of the civil war changed them some more. The people that they are at 36, their age when this novel opens, are not the people they were at 16, their age at the close of Article 23. That made empathizing with the characters more difficult than it should have been and the transition from one novel to the next a bumpier road than it needed to be.Even with that chunk left out, it was an enjoyable story; especially when read with the first two books. I read this book in about four hours, it flowed nicely and pulled my attention smoothly through the story. If you enjoy military science fiction, you will enjoy this novel.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book of the series by far.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Prometheus (Paperback)
The first two books in the Star Voyager Academy series (SVA itself and 'Article 23') struck me as amusing Young Adult titles but in general not quite on par with his usual work. The 3rd book is a dramatic departure from the mold of the first 2. set some 20 years after 'Article 23', it shows a harder, more mature side and interweaves his usual solid Mil-Sci-Fi battle scenes with political intrgue and lots of character development. One of Forstchens best efforts, imo
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