The Clone Betrayal [Kindle Edition]

Steven Kent (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Lt. Wayson Harris was born and bred as the ultimate soldier. But he is unique, possessing independence of thought. And when the military brass decide to blame the clones for the decimation of the U.A. republic, Lt. Harris decides to stop being the scapegoat, with all the firepower he can muster.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 673 KB
• Print Length: 382 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0441017878
• Publisher: Ace; Original edition (October 27, 2009)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002QBV8J8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,403 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Steven L. Kent has published several books dealing with video and computer games as well as a series of military science fiction novels about a Marine named Wayson Harris.

Born in California and raised in Hawaii, Kent served as a missionary for the LDS Church between the years of 1979 and 1981. During that time, he worked as a Spanish-speaking missionary serving migrant farm workers in southern Idaho.

While Kent earned a Bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in communications from Brigham Young University, he claims that his most important education came from life.

Many of the lessons he learned from the Mexican field workers in Idaho have appeared in his stories. Later, from 1986 through 1988, Kent worked as a telemarketer selling TV Guide and Inc. Magazine. His years on the phone helped him develop an ear for speech patterns that has been well-reflected in dialog in his stories.

As a boy growing up in Honolulu in the 1960s, Kent developed a unique perspective. He spent hours torch fishing and skin diving.

In 1987, Kent reviewed the Stephen King novels Misery and The Eyes of the Dragon for the Seattle Times. A diehard Stephen King fan, Kent later admitted that he pitched the reviews to the Times so that he could afford to buy the books.

In 1993, upon returning to Seattle after a five-year absence, Kent pitched a review of 'virtual haunted houses' for the Halloween issue of the Seattle Times. He reviewed the games The Seventh Guest, Alone in the Dark, and Legacy. Not only did this review land Kent three free PC games, it started him on a new career path.

By the middle of 1994, when Kent found himself laid off from his job at a PR agency, he became a full-time freelance journalist. He wrote monthly pieces for the Seattle Times along with regular features and reviews for Electronic Games, CD Rom Today, ComputerLife, and NautilusCD. In later years, he would write for American Heritage, Parade, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and many other publications. He wrote regular columns for MSNBC, Next Generation, the Japan Times, and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

In 2000, Kent self-published The First Quarter: A 25-year History of Video Games. That book was later purchased and re-published as The Ultimate History of Video Games by the Prima, Three River Press, and Crown divisions of Random House.

During his career as a games journalist, Kent wrote the entries on video games for Encarta and the Encyclopedia Americana. At the invitation of Senator Joseph Lieberman, Kent has spoken at the annual Report Card on Video Game Violence in Washington D.C.

In 2005, Kent announced his semi-retirement from video games so that he could concentrate on writing novels. Though he still writes a monthly column for Boy's Life, he has mostly concentrated his efforts on writing novels since that time. His first efforts in science fiction, The Clone Republic and Rogue Clone were published by Ace Book in 2006.

Despite his "retirement," Kent continues to write the occasional game article or review. His sixth novel, The Clone Empire was released in October, 2010, and a seventh novel is due in 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Viva la Clones!, October 29, 2009

By 

JenMo "JenMo" (Layton, UT United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Clone Betrayal (Mass Market Paperback)

Wayson Harris, the infamous, deadly, and one of a kind Liberator Clone is back on Earth, after fighting for his life and a planet's freedom on New Copenhagen. As with the war against the Morgan Atkins Followers, the "natural born" officers fed their clone army into the war machine, not expecting, or caring, if any game out alive. It's two years later, and the idea that the Avatari, the mysterious alien conquerors, don't seem concerned with coming back after Earth or New Copenhagen, and Congress is looking to find a scapegoat for the failure to defend the other 178 Unified Authority worlds. Who does the blame fall on? The clones.

Congress decides that clones are no longer useful, with only two planets to defend, they aren't even necessary as a galactic standing military. Time to sweep their dirty laundry under the rug. They start by rounding up all the clones on Earth and putting them in a concentration camp in Texas, dubbed Clonetown. Harris, who is the only clone alive who knows he's a clone, and doesn't have to fear the "death reflex" that finding out about his origin would cause, has always been bitter the way the system chewed up clones, using them as tools, not people. The UA's intention to lay all the blame on the clone's feet, when it was the clone's that had saved their collective rear in the last two world ending crisis, is too much for Harris to stand. He wants to act, and when General Smith comes to him with a new assignment, this could be chance he's always wanted, or is the UA just giving him enough rope to hang himself?

Harris is sent to the Scutum-Crux arm of the galaxy, as far out as you can go, to take command of the fleet station around Terreneau. His first order of business is to liberate Terreneau from the alien technology cutting it off from the rest of the galaxy. But Harris has some baggage, in the form of the only female clone in the galaxy. He can either hide her, effectively protecting her, or let her loose in a world of thousands of clones, most of which haven't seen a woman in four years. He also has to deal with the time old naval and marine feud, that threatens to stall any plans before he can even get the clone liberation moving. That added to the fact that every man Harris deals with, believes he is the one and only natural born soldier among the enlisted ranks. A genetic deception that has kept the clones compliant for two centuries. Harris can't even ask the clones to stand up for themselves, for their own kind, because none of them believe they are clones.

When the fighting starts, he buts heads with naval officers, he finds himself outclassed strategically, and makes some big mistakes along the way. Harris has been tipped off, the UA is coming for the clones and their new fleet, to use as training practice for their new, all natural born, military. The clones are convinced that they need to fight for their lives, but they aren't bred for leadership, they aren't designed to seek out command, and the deck is stacked against them.

As a female reader of science fiction, I appreciate Steven Kent's writing style. He doesn't go on for pages about the technology, weapons, and systems that make many scifi military novels feel more like tech manuals than fiction. Kent also corrected what I've felt like is a weakness in his novels, and the genre on a whole, and put a woman in his book, in a strong role. She isn't over-tough, or super feminine and helpless, but is the right balance of lovely, pragmatic, and courageous.

We see Harris grow as a character as well. He's all marine, but he shows insecurities, and fears. Harris screws up on large and small scales. He isn't thrown in this book as the last, unlikely, crazy plan that can save everything, but will probably kill him in the process. This time he's the one calling the shots, and he finds himself in over his head. One of Harris' strengths as a character is his self-awareness as an individual, but as a leader of more than a platoon of men, he flounders. He learns from his mistakes, but is it too little too late?

The Clone Betrayal is a great read. It's fast paced, feels genuine, and hits on subjects that other authors in military scifi never dare touch on. I mean, what will hundreds of thousands of men, in close quarters do when they can't leave their ship and no women are around? Kent hits on drug issues in soldiers, and PTSD. The book is action packed, but it also takes the reader deep into the psyche, and the resourcefulness of men at arms. I couldn't put it down.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You've done it again, Kent!, November 19, 2009

By 

Aaron Spuler (Round Rock, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Clone Betrayal (Mass Market Paperback)

After a year-long wait, I devoured this book within three days. I simply could not put The Clone Betrayal down -- it has been a while since I've been so reluctant to put a book down. I read quite a few books since the previous installment in the series was released (that was a 2-3 day affair as well), and thought I had forgotten a fair amount of stuff. But as I got to reading The Clone Betrayal, it all came back to me. I won't go and re-hash the plot here as reviewer JenMo covered that in depth, but I will say that it is very engaging. There was less action in The Clone Betrayal than the previous book, but that one set the bar quite high. Mr. Kent more than made up for that with some excellent character development. I really enjoy how every time I read a Clone book of his, it's something different -- no rehashing of the same bits over and over again. Each one builds upon the others and explores different topics, thus keeping the experience fresh and new (even though I'd already read 4 books with these characters before). There are always twists and turns that I did not anticipate or expect, yet they feel as they belong there.

I assume that the next book in the series will come out around this time next year.... It'll be a long wait. I'm wondering where the rest of the Scutum-Crux fleet go? As far as I could tell, they hadn't gotten self-broadcasting engines installed on the ships yet. I could be wrong though. Yes, I was happy to see the term 'Scrotum-Crotch' in there. I got 1/2 way through the book before seeing the term in there... gives me a chuckle just thinking about the name. I won't tell the end, but it left me wondering what will happen next for Wayson and the clones. There are many questions as to how the next book ends up, and judging from those unanswered questions, the next book in the series is going to be incredible.


If I can offer any advice to Mr. Kent it would be this: "Keep on keepin' on. You're good at what you do and just need to continue as you have been."

Thanks for letting us visit Clonetown once again.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Add this to your must-reads sci-fi fans!, November 4, 2009

By 

Geoffrey Ali "Vivi9087" (Ocala, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Clone Betrayal (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is the 5th installment to the "Clone series" written by Steven Kent. Once again the author does not disappoint in the telling of this wonderfully crafted and unique story. The book picks up where the last one leaves off and brings you up to date with a unique time-line that was started in the last book. Harris, the hero of the story, remains very true to his character but still surprises with some of the drastic decisions he makes during the book (hint is in the title). The action is frequent and intense at times and constantly evolving so you'll never find yourself bored and wondering when it'll stop. Also, unlike some authors out there, Kent is not afraid to kill of a character and no matter how important they are to the story you need to remember that everyone is equally expendable. This just further adds to the excitement of the story where you really never know who is going to die. I think the only part of the story I didn't like was that the ending felt a bit abrupt, but that really only left me wanting more. The story is unique, the characters develop in a logical manner, and the overall feel of the book is a positive one. If you like military sci-fi then this is an absolute must read series.