Review: Play-by-play account of space guerilla warfare
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 3, 2013
Commander Prime Jefferson Grant has had his family obliterated by an alien invasion, and henceforth, he becomes an alien fighting force. For all intents and purposes, he is purely a fighting machine.  Every fibre of his being is solely dedicated to fighting the aliens.  No injury, odds, nor overwhelmed squadrons would deter him from his ultimate goal - eradication of the alien forces for once and all.The entire book feels like a play-by-play of battle, after battle.  Every maneuver is detailed.  He is promoted many times, to the ultimate command position of Commander Prime.  There are also authorities within his command who feel that he is too dedicated to his goals; such that he is willing to sacrifice the soldiers under his command.  For some battles, he is indeed the only survivor of thousands of casualties.I felt the book was missing the essential ingredient: a story.  The story starts off with the motivation for the resolve of Commander Prime Jefferson Grant - the attack on his family.  Near the end of the book, he finally wonders if the loss of his soul was worth all the piles of bodies - those of his forces and those of the aliens, as well.  In between, page after page recounts the numerous battles.  I feel there should have been more drama.  Battle scenes, however intense and exciting, are not drama by themselves. We need a story of the how the battle fits in the emotions of those affected.I see that the author has other books that look very interesting: a non-fiction history of the major catastrophes of mankind.  I would like to read that!  However, for his first science fiction story, I feel he needs to craft together a compelling narrative that explores the essential question: who is Jefferson Grant, and how does he evolve his strategy and his feelings toward the alien invasion?  Aside from eradication of the aliens, what do we readers learn about the characters and the battlefield?