Review: One of the most fun plots I have read in a long while...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 3, 2013
Okay, lets get the bad stuff out of the way first of all.  Yes, Mr. Phipps, you need to either purchase a Strunk & White or a Chicago Manual of Style, or you need to find an editor.  Your grammar and punctuation was atrocious and it is the reason (and the only reason) I gave you a four-star rating.  You also made a few moderately amusing gaffes here and there, but that's okay.  Considering the length of the story and what you were trying to accomplish, that final criticism should be taken gently.But now that the purist in me is satisfied that I have not forgotten a few moderately important (actually I consider them immensely important) items, let's talk about what was good about this novel.  Well, to be blunt, just about everything else!  The characters were fun though a tad shallow, the story line upbeat and the pace was breathtakingly fast.  Those of us who like techie toys, well this novel's got them in spades, and they are just plain fun the way Mr. Phipps uses them.I will say that I was originally kind of surprised at how quickly a certain individual was moved from second class petty officer to commander under the Terran Space Navy, but that was explained later on in the story and it was an acceptable explanation in my sight (that is, I found it easy enough to suspend disbelief).Mr. Phipps does have a few areas he needs to think about.  If I were a sovereign nation and some other sovereign power came to my doorstep and said, "We want to recruit your people for our navy!" My initial reaction would be swift and intense, "Not just no, but..." well you get the idea.  A nation does not give up good people willingly unless there is something in it for them, and asking them to help?  Uh uh! Fuggedaboudit!I suppose that the TSN offering to provide additional technology might be incentive, but I would still think twice about it.  In fact, if push came to shove, I would offer only the lowest, dirtiest, slimiest, most unsuitable offerings possible, which of course the TSN would reject.  No, Mr. Phipps, what the TSN needs to do is build its own recruiting organization apart from the U.S. Government.  They would probably have to wait twenty years before they had really seasoned troops, but with their AIs and their technological innovations they could do it, and the wait would not be intolerable.I also suspect that with the terms they offered, any number of retired military would step up to the plate.  All the TSN needs to do is ask.  Better yet, set up an office in San Diego, Alameda (CA), Norfolk, and a few other choice spots where the military population, including the retired military population is large, and they won't have to expend much effort at all (from my time in a certain water-bound recruiting organization I can tell you that those recruiting station made their goal by the recruiters sitting behind their desks, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee).  But alas, I digress from the central point of this review.  TSN: Epiphany was fun, it was exhilarating and it was entertaining.  Yes it has its issues with punctuation and grammar and a few other bugaboos, but if one can overlook them (and it took me only a few pages to do so and I am pretty unforgiving, usually, when it comes to both) then the ride is great, non-stop and prepares you for the next in the series.  I usually hold fast to a rule which prohibits me from reading the next novel in a series right after reading its predecessor, but in this case, I just couldn't wait.  Keep them coming Mr. Phipps!  If you look for help, you'll improve, I guarantee it!  And I promise to read them!