Swarm (Star Force Series) [Kindle Edition]

B. V. Larson (Author)

Book Description

Earth arms marines with alien technology and builds its first battle fleet!

Kyle Riggs is snatched by an alien spacecraft sometime after midnight. The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there....

SWARM is the story of Earth's annexation by an alien empire. Long considered a primitive people on a backwater planet, humanity finds itself in the middle of a war, and faced with extinction. SWARM is an 88,000 word novel of science fiction by bestselling author B. V. Larson.

Product Details

• File Size: 857 KB
• Print Length: 263 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1460953134
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004H8FVEQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,754 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Science Fiction > Alien Invasion
  • #27 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Technothrillers
  • #38 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Technothrillers

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

130 of 142 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heck of a page turner! February 20, 2011

By Jeffrey W. McClure

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been reading science fiction for half a century. I read Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov in first edition. In all the years that have passed I have never before read a book that I would realistically compare with Heinlein. Now I have. When you pick up this book, physically or digitally, be prepared to be unwilling to put it down until you finish it!

Swarm is just sufficiently full of true science and seasoned just enough with fiction to pass muster as something Heinlein would have written. Joe average is quite literally yanked out of his calm, pleasant life and forced into a life or death situation not only for himself but for all of humanity. In classic science fiction commonly the protagonist was an egg-head who was fully up to date on the newest radio technology, in this case a computer science professor has to shoulder the responsibility of saving the world.

Heinlein was convinced that a well-educated American engineer or scientist could take on the most advanced tyrants in the universe. More, he was convinced that given a hint of whatever was behind the technology of that tyrant, American academics and engineers could reproduce and even better it. His optimistic view was overshadowed by the post-apocalyptic mood that seemed to grip scifi writers in the waning years of the 20th century. B.V. Larson has recaptured that indomitable spirit exemplified by Heinlein that sees the best of American scientific culture and the self sacrificing nature and courage of professional soldiers as a force that makes humanity far too much to chew for any alien invader.

The highest complement I can give is due this book. I squirmed with the lead character as he faced the death of his family and again and again the horror of total war. In the end though Larson make me feel good to be an American and a human being. I ache to read the next in what I sincerely hope is a long series.

73 of 85 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Over-rated April 13, 2011

By agarose2000

Format:Kindle Edition

I was surprised to find that I did not like this book, given the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I've concurrently purchased and read quite a few of the other similarly priced indie sci-fi ebooks written at the same time, and I enjoyed all of them, and found them almost all high quality, well written, and entertaining. However, this one was the one that I felt underperformed by a fair margin - even given the low price ($2.99)

The book is fast-paced, but at great cost to the characters. As an adult reader, I found none of them believable - they all seemed to me oversimplified caricatures of a teenage boy's fantasy reality. This is coming from a reader who loves action, no less.

In particular, I found the protagonist's development completely unrealistic. A schoolteacher by background, becomes a military genius on his very first battle, manages to forget the graphic deaths of his two kids within days, and is found busily carousing intimately with a too-conveniently placed naked early 20s female sidekick in that time. This oversimplified character and plot development is so cliche and unoriginal that I thought only kids would be able to overlook it. The descriptions of the female sidekick pretty much sum up the level of writing in this book - in the midst of a high-tension, life-or-death scenario, generous wording is given to pay particular attention to her shapely form, state of undress, and appealing features. Oh yes, and she's naked pretty much the entire first few days they're together. Seriously? This sort of writing is straight out of a low-budget "B Movie" script - it was a shock to me to encounter such banality in sci-fi book.

The rest of the book is also greatly oversimplified for a fan of hard science fiction. If you like reading stories with detailed, unexpected and deep twists, this definitely is not one of them - I could predict every encounter and the outcome way before it even happened. I'm doubly surprised so many reviewers here found the "challenges" imaginative. When the key idea of the protagonist is to repulse an alien attack with no more complexity than aiming all your weapons at one spot instead of all over the place, I'm not impressed. (That was the main strategy for the initial few encounters, and is responsible for major successes!) I'm not expecting something as original and well done as "Ender's Game" here, but I was beyond underwhelmed with the military strategy demonstrated in this book.

I suspect I would have enjoyed this a lot more as a 13 year old male with little experience with hard scifi and the reality and complexity of adult human interaction. But let me be absolutely clear here - this is not even close to what the old masters of scifi (Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc.) would produce in terms of quality, despite what some other reviewers have implied. One idea in a single sentence from those authors has more depth and complexity than anything found in this work.

65 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another nice read from Larson January 12, 2011

By Read2Much

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having read a number of books now from this author, I felt safe in just grabbing this one without reading the synopsis or the reviews. My faith was justified as this turned out to be a great book. A real page turner. I sat down and read it in an afternoon and was left wanting more. Larson states that he may turn it into a series if it does well enough. I hope it does!

More About the Author

B. V. Larson is the bestselling author of over twenty novels, two of which have reached the Amazon/Kindle Top 100 bestseller lists. Writing in several genres, most of his work is Fantastic in nature, and spans from Military Science Fiction to Epic Fantasy to Paranormal Romance. As a California native, B. V. Larson's stories often take place on sunny beaches and in cities such as Las Vegas. He has three kids living at home and currently teaches college. He writes college textbooks as well as fiction.

For more information check out the author's homepage: BVLarson.com

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#20 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

#24 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

#36 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#48 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#51 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#20 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

#24 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

#36 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#48 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#51 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense