Alternative reality » Cybermage

The alternative universe we plunge into has the same characters but with different roles. Here they are in some kind of rapid deployment force for dimensional rifts. They operate out of a place quite like Stargate Command or Threshold’s HQ. I must say Olivia looks good in red hair. They work on that universe’s Fringe Division. But they don’t know about the other universe until Olivia and her team crosses over and they find a 20 dollar bill on a corpse that didn’t make it across and Walternet tells them the truth about the other side.

Olivia and Walter travel to the other side with the help of her fellow Jacksonville kids. To somehow return with Peter before he explodes like a bomb. Before they cross the kids get a night on the town where I get a Heroes wibe with their superpowers. Olivia takes farewell of her nice and sister before leaving. Walter Prime continues to convince. He is quite convincing as he lead them to the other side.

They cross over about the same time Peter wakes up on the other side, he doesn’t know he is a bomb that can destroy the universe, and at least he gets to see his mother.

One thing I wonder over is the other side why do they have rationing? They seem so much more technologically advanced than us.

Walternet wants Peter to help him with building a bomb to destroy our universe/planet, that is my guess. What Peter doesn’t know is that he will fuel the bomb and it is finished ready to go.

Olivia’s team set up a meeting with Bell but they are betrayed. Walter and Olivia escapes. Olivia follows alt-Olivia to her apartment and while she stands there Bell shows up, telling her Walter is in trouble.
Interesting times, I can’t wait to this week’s season finale.

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This is a continuation of the Tour of the Merrimack series’ arc about how to deal with the ravenous Hive, a race of space traveling insects that devour all life they come across. In The Myriad the Mack was out looking for the Hive’s Home world when they stumbled on the time traveling aliens who eventually caused the universe to throw them into an alternative reality to avoid paradox. In Wolf Star the war between Earth and the New Roman Empire is going at full blast and Merrimack is in a deep strike mission behind enemy lines when they meet the Hive again and the Romans have to bow down and admit they need help. The Emperor choose to surrender to John Farragut the Captain of U.S.S. Merrimack.

Title: The Sagittarius Command
Author: R. M. Meluch
Series: Tour of the Merrimack 3
Genre: Military Science Fiction | Alternative Reality
Cover art: Stephan Martiniere
Publisher: DAW, October 2008
Order: DAW | Amazon US | UK | B&N

After the finest battleship-class spaceship in Earth’s fleet, the U.S.S. Merrimack, rescues a near-space Roman world besieged by a destructive alien life-form known as the Hive, the Romans’ leader, Caesar Magnus, insists on honoring the ship’s captain, John Farragut. But when Caesar is assassinated, Farragut must lead a mission into the heart of Hive territory in search of a Roman who has been presumed “dead” for decades.

The Hive is back with a vengeance and human forces are hard pressed. They thought they had a good hold on the time table but the Hive learn. When the Hive attacks a Roman world near Earth without any warning the Roman defenders have to make what they think is a last stand in a recreated old fortress only to be rescued by the arrival of the U.S.S. Merrimack. The ability of large groups of Hive to take control of advanced electronics makes it plausible to use low techs like swords to fight them. This is one of the charming aspects of the Mack series, I always have been weak for science fiction with medieval tech and here it is pre medieval. Rebeca M. Meluch show genuine expertise in the details.

The Romans are a proud folk and the Subjugation doesn’t sit well with them. There is lots of resentment around. Further fueled when Ceasar Magnus, the Emperor decide to honor Farragut. The Emperor is assassinated before the cermony can complete and his son Romulus take charge. The relations between Romans and Americans tense further.

If you read my review of the previous books you know the Roman Empire never died back in the eight hundreds, they went into hiding. Ever wondered why lawyers, scientists and doctors talk Latin? They are in secret societies biding their time to the return of the Roman Empire. At some stage they broke away the colony world Palantir and formed the New Roman Empire. Members of secret societies revealed themselves and joined, splitting families and breaking loyalties. Resentment was great at both sides. It was only a matter of time before a war between America and Palantir broke out. Rebeca crafts an interesting background, it is definitely one of the wow points in this series. I have always been suspicious of lawyers and now I know. :)

The return of Augustus, the patterner puts U.S.S. Merrimack on the trace of an even bigger mystery. The founder of Roman displacement and automation technology was believed to have been killed decades ago when he started to become a threat to the throne. Augustus deduce that he is still alive, living on a planet inside Hive controlled space. He might hold the secret to defeat the hive or might be the one responsible for it’s attack. Farragut’s task force is sent to investigate.

I am not sure but I sense that the Hive here might be a force of nature corrupted or striking back at humanity much like mother nature might do if we don’t stop polluting her. They do react to resonance signals used in faster than light communication. Maybe I am seeing environmental issues where there is none? The answer might be in the next book.

What really made book one and two is Rebeca’s fantastic characters and their interaction. That continues here but on a somewhat less intensity. For the characters there is not as much resolution in this book. There is some new ones Constantine the missing inventor and Herius Asinius a disgruntled Roman legate. Steele and Kerry impeded love affair continues to amuse. Augustus features more in this book and his relation with Captain Ferragut is going towards new places. I am not sure where the author is going with Augustus, he could be a brewing villain or Ferragut’s next best friend. I am looking forward to more resolve on that issue in the next book.

I prefer to read a book in one go and due to reasons not connected to the this book I wasn’t able to do that even if I wanted to. It is captivating to read and you feel that it brings us closer to a resolution, but I should also be honest and tell you I didn’t have that many wow moments in this book as in the previous.

The Sagittarius Command is another great swashbuckling space opera from Rebeca M. Meluch. Tour of the Merrimack is one of the best and most entertaining military science fiction series I have found in recent years. I recommend it to all secret swashbucklers and readers of military scifi, ahoy mates!

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It is always with anticipation and a bit of worry I open the second book in a series where I loved the first book. Will it be as good as the first one? Will it be more of the same? It’s not often an author succeeds in resetting the world and start over in an alternative timeline. Yes, we return to square one with the story, with the characters reset, but us knowing what happened to them at the end of the last book. Rebeca M. Meluch bring us another mesmerizing tale of warriors, Romans, Americans, star ships and relentless aliens.

Title: Wolf Star
Author: R. M. Meluch
Cover art: Romas Kukalis
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: DAW (January 2, 2007)
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Series: Tour of the Merrimack 1
Order: DAW | Amazon US, UK | B&N | Sfbok

The U.S. Merrimack was the finest battleship in Earth’s fleet, able to withstand the best the Palatine Empire could throw at them. Only her sister ship, the Monitor, was her equal. So when the Palatine forces secretly captured Monitor, Merrimack’s security was compromised-and that was just the opening salvo of a whole new stage of war between Palatine and Earth.

A time paradox was created towards the end of The Myriad and the Universe protected itself, reseting to a different timeline with slightly different reality. Rom didn’t die here either, and they did break free from Earth just like before. But here the Hive hasn’t attacked. The Palantire Empire and Earth are at war. The plot: USS Merrimack is on a deep strike mission into Roman territory to find their new Slingshot facility and destroy it. Slingshot technology allows a ship to instantly skip space between slingshot and catcher stations possibly bypassing hundreds of light years held by the enemy. Earth have the technology and have been using it to bypass the Romans and expand towards the center of our galaxy.

Unknown to them their sister ship USS Monitor have been captured by the Romans and they are now herded into a trap. The space battles here are just as good as in The Myriad but different when they are human to human. Much is about warriors facing warriors.

Captain Ferragut plays a major role in this novel too. Agustus is missing to a large extent since USS Merrimack doesn’t have a Roman Liaison Officer here. He is here though, just fighting for the other side. I think I am not alone in hoping for more Ferragut Agustus interaction in the coming books, that was a good part I enjoyed with the first book.

Calli Carmel is one of the main characters here, and her daring exploits as an undercover Roman is tense and funny. Kerry Blue and Cowboy’s story takes another twist in this installment of the Merrimack universe, still entertaining. Colonel Steele is still carrying the torch for Kerry and causing all kinds of merriment to the reader. Even the Captain is on the brink of indulging in relations. I am in awe of Rebeca’s ability to recreate the same characters but with a different history and still make them as good as in the first book. Only thing I miss is Agustus but I expect him to be back in book three.

If you thought the Hive was gone, you thought wrong, before it is all over they will be back and the Merrimack’s luck will turn, and turn, and turn many times before the magnificent finale.

You could call Wolf Star an entertaining do over of The Myriad and I liked the Myriad a lot. The Time paradox resets the world and the reader gets to explore the same charming characters’ alternative history once again before going where they never gone before.

Wolf Star is another great space opera by R. M. Meluch with fantastic characters and epic combat scenes. It made me happy to read the story and I am even happier now when I have the two next books in the series. Happy reading!

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I stumbled on this entertaining military science fiction on my latest trip to Stockholm and it is the first of a series. The battleship Merrimack is on a mission to find the home world of the ravenous Hive and destroy it when it stumbles on the Myriad, three populated worlds the Hive have overlooked. Adult with charming and colorful gung-ho characters just as I like it.

Title: The Myriad
Author: R. M. Meluch
Cover art: Romas Kukalis
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: DAW(January 3, 2006)
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Series: Tour of the Merrimack 1
Order: DAW | Amazon US, UK | B&N | Sfbok

The U.S.S. Merrimack was the finest battleship class spaceship in Earth’s fleet, able to stand up against the best the Palatine Empire could throw at them, even able to attack and kill swarms of the seemingly unstoppable Hive. But nothing could have prepared the captain and crew of the Merrimack to face the Myriad-three colonized worlds in the midst of a globular cluster that the Hive had somehow overlooked.

The plot is as stated above by the publisher, USS Merrimak is on a deep strike mission to try to find the home world of the Hive, a race of ravaging space traveling insects that have been striking ships and planets, eating anything living that comes their way and leaving only lifeless shells behind.

They come upon three inhabited worlds in a star cluster that seems to have been overlooked by the Hive. They meet a mystery. The Myriad as the inhabitants call themselves don’t have faster than light travel, but how do their three worlds broadcast the same news at the same time? The crew sets out to find out more before the Hive could find them.

The World building is intriguing and inventive. The Roman Empire never died, it just went underground. Have you ever wondered why most scientists or intellectuals speak Latin? They are part of a secret society that eventually will break loose from earth civilization and start their own Palantire Empire. The Hive onslaught forced the old enemies of the New Roman Empire and Earth to an uneasy peace to fight the new threat. The Romans are a nice twist.

Rebeca holds degrees in Communications and Classical Civilization which is noticeable in the rich historical backgrounds and the historical basis for some of her characters. She also talks Latin…

She also has a delightful and endearing ability to create lovable and colorful characters like Captain Farragut and his Roman liaison Augustus. Characterization is an important part of my enjoyment when I read, and I am very happy that I found another author that write characters I can love and root for.

I think you will enjoy this entertaining book. The Myriad has space battles, relentless insects , sword play, first contact, steamy relationships and surprising paradoxes. The characters Rebeca M. Meluch created here are on pair with the ones by some of my favorite authors like Elizabeth Moon and Lois McMaster Bujold. I can recommend the next book in the series too, a Review of Wolf Star is coming up.

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