Space Battles is the sixth anthology of the Full-Throttle Space Tales series. Edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Space Battles contains 17 tales of spaceship battles, by established and rising-star authors. Explosive tales in this volume include: "Between The Lines" by Anna Paradox: A utility truck in space comes under attack from a colony ship to which they once gave aid. "The Thirteens" by Gene Mederos: Soldiers fight against Purists determined to purify a diversified world. "Like So Much Refuse" by Simon C. Larter: A saboteur is pitted against an experienced admiral and her dedicated crew. "Jump Point Blockade" by David Lee Summers: Captain Ellison Firebird and the crew of the Legacy find themselves facing a formidable enemy. "First Contact" by Patrick Hester: Two buddies on a lone patrol ship square off against an unknown enemy. "Isis" by Dana Bell: A sentient ship helps a spacer rescue human survivors from a horrific alien attack. "Book of Enoch" by Matthew Cook: Amish space truckers fighting to survive. "Joystick War" by Jean Johnson: Explorers discover a targeting drone with Artificial Intelligence in a storage bunker. "Never Look Back" by Grace Bridges: Fascinating questions about the will to live and the will to die. "The Gammi Experiment" by Sarah Hendrix: A disgraced former officer leads an untrained crew of miners against a powerful enemy. "Space Battle of The Bands" by CJ Henderson: The crew of the Roosevelt faces off against an enemy using destructive sound waves. "Battle For Parantwer" by Anthony R. Cardno: A military ship squares off against space pirates. "With All Due Respect" by Johne Cook: A space marine turned ambassador heads home for trial when his escort encounters deadly aliens. "Final Defense" by Selene O'Rourke: A lone military vessel on a mission to rescue a stranded civilian up against three giant enemy ships of unknown origin. "Bait and Switch" by Jaleta Clegg: A cadet brought aboard a warship winds up manning weapons when the ship comes under attack. "The Hand of God" (A Davi Rhii Story) by Bryan Thomas Schmidt: Military pilots confront pirates attacking shipping lanes. "Guard Dog" by Mike Resnick and Brad R. Torgersen: A father protecting Earth from threatening invaders finds himself fighting the last person he expected.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Author
The sixth in the popular series of old fashioned, action packed science fiction tales, this anthology covers both space opera and military science fiction, and its family friendly, unlike a few of the others. More than ever, if you enjoy old fashioned heroes against tough odds in tales of action adventure, this collection's the one for you. Includes several stories tied to author's novels or those in other FTST anthologies.
From the Back Cover
Red alert! Battle stations! Incoming enemy craft! Come join the fight against all odds to protect life, liberty and property in the far reaches of space. You and a few loyal crew members have one choice: fight or die together. The outcome depends on your skills, your speed and your wits, because your craft alone won't be enough.
Would a sentient ship sacrifice itself to save its occupants? Would you risk your life to save those who arrested you and scheduled you for trial? Is there redemption for a failed soldier leading a ragtag crew? These questions and more lie at the heart of this collection: seventeen such tales of soldiers, pirates, smugglers, miners and civilians in over their head against both known and unknown enemies.
With brand new tales from Hugo and Nebula winner Mike Resnick, Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell nominee Brad R. Torgersen, Philip K. Dick Award nominee Jean Johnson, and Hugo nominee Patrick Hester, this collecton also includes tales from David Lee Summer, C.J. Henderson, Matthew Cook, Jaleta Clegg and nine more authors.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Solid and fun, all the way through. Some of the stories are better than others, but there's not a true stinker in the lot. Some of the standouts for me were:
"The Thirteens": Enjoyed the nautical flavor and the plot twist in the end.
"Like So Much Refuse": Nice balance of two enemy POVs, making both sympathetic.
"Jump Point Blockade": Good conflict catalyst with the hero blithely starting a war.
"First Contract": Loved the banter.
"The Book of Enoch": The Amish go to space? What's not to love?
"Space Battle of the Bands": Cool weapon idea.
"With All Due Respect": Nice new angle with the hero being a diplomat instead of a fighter.
"The Hand of God": Good use of full-on action.
"Guard Dog": Chilling and haunting - in a good way.
"The Thirteens": Enjoyed the nautical flavor and the plot twist in the end.
"Like So Much Refuse": Nice balance of two enemy POVs, making both sympathetic.
"Jump Point Blockade": Good conflict catalyst with the hero blithely starting a war.
"First Contract": Loved the banter.
"The Book of Enoch": The Amish go to space? What's not to love?
"Space Battle of the Bands": Cool weapon idea.
"With All Due Respect": Nice new angle with the hero being a diplomat instead of a fighter.
"The Hand of God": Good use of full-on action.
"Guard Dog": Chilling and haunting - in a good way.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Often Sci-Fi is appealing to readers because it provides an escape while simultaneously bringing the reader into an intelligent and logical look at problems found in our present society. It is sharp in its manipulation of the reader's contemplation. The stories found in this genre bring to the readers mind, almost subconsciously, difficulties in our culture with the treatment of females, race, religion, violence, and justice. They twist the subject into a forgivable future that can shape our thinking. Reading this book has reminded me of all the reasons I love Sci-Fi.
In Space Battles: Full-Throttle Space Tales #6, the reader is privy to tales of characters who are attacked because of race or religion, hunted by an avenger, hunted for food, attacked by an unknown enemy, and given no quarter. Each of the stories in this anthology brings the reader into the life or death struggle of war in the Sci-Fi medium of space travel. This is a book both to be enjoyed as well as savored.
Short fiction gives the reader the opportunity to peer into a short moment of a "person's" life. These battles are turning points for the characters. The authors of these tales can be lauded for their abilities to develop credible people who we care about as they battle for their lives. If you are interested in adrenaline pumping suspense combined with clever twists in short bites this one's for you.
In Space Battles: Full-Throttle Space Tales #6, the reader is privy to tales of characters who are attacked because of race or religion, hunted by an avenger, hunted for food, attacked by an unknown enemy, and given no quarter. Each of the stories in this anthology brings the reader into the life or death struggle of war in the Sci-Fi medium of space travel. This is a book both to be enjoyed as well as savored.
Short fiction gives the reader the opportunity to peer into a short moment of a "person's" life. These battles are turning points for the characters. The authors of these tales can be lauded for their abilities to develop credible people who we care about as they battle for their lives. If you are interested in adrenaline pumping suspense combined with clever twists in short bites this one's for you.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Space Battles is a collection of 17 different short stories centered on, you guessed it, space battles. They each have their own unique way of displaying a battle and include anything from one-on-one gun fights, to dogfights between single ships, to even full scale assaults on battle cruisers. Space Battles has a good mix of female and male characters, and generally speaking the women kick even more tail than their male counterparts, a refreshing thing to see especially in this genre. In Space Battles you will find mixtures of humor, a wide variety of sub-genres such as Space Opera and Military Science Fiction, as well as all the action you can handle and more. You will find sentient spacecrafts and Amish space truckers, that's right I said Amish which are shown in a way you could never imagine! There is a little something in Space Battles for everyone.
The character depth is excellent despite the fact that the average length of the stories is about 15 pages or so, quite an achievement when you consider that they have to pack these short stories with as much action as you can handle as well. You have some stories that will make you laugh such as The Thirteens by Gene Mederos where a particular incident involving slippers had me in a fit of giggles. Others will make you appreciate those in the military as admirals valiantly fight to save their ship, and their way of life such as in Like So Much Refuse by Simon C. Larter. Some examine the will to live and the will to die such as in Never Look Back by Grace Bridges. I was hardly able to set the book down as each new story sent adrenaline into my system.
If you enjoy anything in the realm of science fiction this is a book I highly recommend you go out and get. The writing is excellent and if battles themselves are your thing, regardless of genre, than this book will suit your fancy just fine as well. Honestly if you just want some quick reads that are done very well Space Battles is a good choice. The characters do not suffer for the short length of the stories, even in Bait and Switch by Jaleta Clegg which is a mere eight pages! Obviously if you have read this far you can tell I thoroughly enjoyed Space Battles. I really don't have any complaints.
Recommendation: Buy it now!
5/5
The character depth is excellent despite the fact that the average length of the stories is about 15 pages or so, quite an achievement when you consider that they have to pack these short stories with as much action as you can handle as well. You have some stories that will make you laugh such as The Thirteens by Gene Mederos where a particular incident involving slippers had me in a fit of giggles. Others will make you appreciate those in the military as admirals valiantly fight to save their ship, and their way of life such as in Like So Much Refuse by Simon C. Larter. Some examine the will to live and the will to die such as in Never Look Back by Grace Bridges. I was hardly able to set the book down as each new story sent adrenaline into my system.
If you enjoy anything in the realm of science fiction this is a book I highly recommend you go out and get. The writing is excellent and if battles themselves are your thing, regardless of genre, than this book will suit your fancy just fine as well. Honestly if you just want some quick reads that are done very well Space Battles is a good choice. The characters do not suffer for the short length of the stories, even in Bait and Switch by Jaleta Clegg which is a mere eight pages! Obviously if you have read this far you can tell I thoroughly enjoyed Space Battles. I really don't have any complaints.
Recommendation: Buy it now!
5/5
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Cohesive Collaboration of Talented Authors
Anthologies usually have a recurring theme, but rarely do they contain such a multiple of varying ideas while still maintaining an element of familiarity. Read more
Published 11 months ago by R.L. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
Red Alert! This is not a drill!
This collection was extremely fun. Most of the stories are short enough to read on a daily commute (don't read while driving, please! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Benjamin
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