Deep Space: The Fourth Star Carrier Military Space Opera – An Epic Action-Packed Sci-Fi War Against an Evil Empire (Star Carrier Series, 4)

A good continuation of now a four book series. They can be read as stand alone stories, but the series is much more satisfying if read in order. Earth on the 25th century is the location, or rather Earth and galactic space. While you can read over the tech stuff, it's more fun, and enhances the read if you make an effort to understand, or imagine, the future tech, most of which is a continuation, at least in the authors mind, of our current physics. Fans of David Weber, Isaac Asimov and Bob Heinlein will enjoy the series, and I also recommend Ian Douglas' other series, particularly the Legacy Trilogy.

Overall story is great, epic. Humans vs a hostile galaxy. The main characters are generally outcasts turned to heros, as a deeper continuation of the underdog theme. The main problem I have is whole sections of the book just repeat histories or back stories. Find myself skipping pages to get back to the current story. I dont need to read how the main character grew up in manhattan with no tech 8x per book. Its like a tv series recapping the whole series at the beginning of each episode. Almost made me put the series down. Maybe 20% of the book could be removed and the story would be 100% intact. But the space battle parts are fast paced and scientifically accurate. The galactic empire species are unique and interesting. If you need constant reminders about the character history, or dont mind skipping pages, its a fun read.

Twenty years after book 3 ends, book 4 starts the story again. A distant Earth ship is destroyed, presumably by the Shaddar, signaling the end of the truce. The Europeans decide it is a good time to declare control over America's Navy and any US assets or territories the Euros can grab. Civil war erupts just as war with the Shaddar resumes. The technology is the same except for better Earth fighters and new alien tricks. The science stays solid and obscure but interesting bits of astronomy get woven into the story. Well worth the reading. Review by Steve Cole, Leanna's husband

I did like this book. As usuall there are great battle scenes and excellent plot. However, I am so tired of hearing about GRIN technologies that I could scream! You only have to tell me once in the book, I get it. Three or four times makes it look like you are padding the pages. I have only noticed this redundancy lately in Ian Douglas' books. It also happens in book 5 of this series. The action and drama are good as are the characters. There are some devastating surprises too. This series seems to be a bit of a stretch for the writer in five books so far. I have read several of the trilogies and they were excellent!! I really hope book five ties it all up. I am 25% of the way through it. This is worth the read though.

First I like this series. I like the fast than light travel. I like much of the tech. It’s cool! It's an interesting take on the future. What I'm not thrilled with is all the long alien names or gibberish that goes with it. Do I think that the new race should be called "Bob" or something similar? No. But having a bunch of consonants and asterisks in words tends to lose something in the translation, if you know what I mean. Truly I do understand what Mr. Douglas was going for in the “alien-ness” of it all, but it tends to bog the reader down and interfere with the flow. Now that is just my opinion but it’s how I feel. Book 4 takes place about 20 years into the future. An uneasy peace has held since Star Carrier America has gone back to Sh’daar’s past. Admiral Koenig is now President Koenig of the USNA. Lt Gray is now Captain Gray of the America. Something comes through the Omega Centauri vortex and destroys the monitor ships very quickly. At the same time something attacks the Arianrhod, 36 Ophicchi base. The Confederation is in turmoil, not only with these loses but with the underhanded schemes is has set in motion against the USNA. This book is not as good as the first three installments. I think it’s more to set up the future sequences of Book 5. Just my opinion again. It’s not bad but just a lot of set up.

I have read all of the published books of Ian Douglas. I saw some of the reviews of this book and I almost didn't get this book because of them. The only problem is that I am hooked with all of the stories and characters. This book was well written and there was not as much repetition as I expected based on the other reviews. I enjoyed the storyline as it is fast action and it starts early in the book and it does not let up. In all of the other series of books by Ian Douglas I was getting tired of somebody going through Marine Corp boot camp every book and 50% of the book was dedicated to that. In this book the action and conflict started early and stayed focused as a main theme of the book. The military action in the story is excellent and I like the characters and the contact with the alien races. I won't go into the story as spoilers are not required. I liked the book and I give it a 5 star rating. My only complaint is that every time I buy one of the books by Ian Douglas the price drops considerably shortly thereafter. I guess the message from the author and publisher is to wait a few months until the price goes down. After buying 14 books and having this happen, I am getting the message!

I'm OK with authors churning out books on an accelerated basis for a regular revenue stream when those authors can do so at a decent writing level while maintaining an interesting story. Some are better than others and Ian Douglas is one of the better ones I have read. You should get into this series if you like strongly visual military battles in outer space, encounters with aliens who prefer mankind dead, and a good roasting of hidebound Europeans who need to be cut down to size. It's all a lot of good fun while maintaining a feeling of tradition that goes back to the early 1800s in some cases. This fourth book in the series has, for me, restored the overall series following an inferior third book. The third book in the series balanced between retelling much of what had happened or explained earlier with a sense of paragraphs constructed around an outline. Imagine Cliff Notes plus? That's how I sometimes felt in the last book, but this one has a fresher feeling, throws in a couple of wrinkles, goes down a couple of unexpected paths, and has me looking forward to the next one.

This is the fourth book in Ian Douglas's Star Carrier series and continues to deliver great story telling and compelling space battles. Out near an enigmatic anomaly called "The Black Rosette" a research vessel and two marine spaceships are destroyed by some sort of weapon. Now Earth,and particularly the USNA, are concerned that the truce with the Sh'daar has just been cancelled by them. Adding to this impression one of the colonies settled by Earth has been attacked and reclaimed by a race known to work for the Sh'daar. We then find ourselves in a race to keep these divergent forces from attacking Earth. Douglas continues to spin multi arc story lines with compelling characters and situations that amaze and delight. There is great character development in this story along with great tactical manoeuvres both individually and fleet wise. Lots of action. You just have to keep turning pages to see what is going to happen next. You don't need the other books in the series but I do recommend that you read the other three books "Earth Strike" and "Center of Gravity" and "Singularity" as they are just as spectacular as this fourth book is. HIGHLY recommended. If you like military Sci-fi I also recommend Ian Douglas's Triple Trilogy Galactic Marine series consisting of "The Inheritance Trilogy" and "The Legacy Trilogy" and "The Heritage Trilogy".

Well, by now, you're a bit of an Ian Douglas enthusiast, and it's fair to say he's continued the work magnificently. All the old friends are there and we see whiffs and hints of more interest in the characters. It's a fine read, I'm glad to recommend it and I'll certainly be keeping an eye open for anything new from Ian. This story is great either under a dull lamp in a bitter winter at 1am, or in the blazing sunshine next to a beach. (Yes, out of scientific investigation both were tried). It's a good read whatever your circumstances. I truly recommend this and all of Mr Douglas' work.

I like space operas and this is another installment in a good series. It is a little bit formulaic with many of three characters almost shadows of others in books earlier in the series but hey, it is a space opera and they all fit some kind of a formula.

Ce roman se situe théoriquement vingt ans après la victoire qui a permis à l'humanité de « garantir « son avenir .. Le roman intègre dans la narration des évènements antérieurs qui rafraichissent la mémoire du lecteur . Personnellement , je trouve cela , pas inutile pour des textes qu'on lit a cinq ou six mois d'intervalle au minimum ... La dramatisation du contexte est toujours aussi efficiente et l'univers est suffisamment élaboré pour être crédible et même , il parvient agréablement , à devenir assez complexe pour le lecteur . Plus que jamais , c'est de la science-fiction populaire de qualité , pas mal d' action rédigée sur un mode assez soutenu et amenée de façons vraisemblables , des descriptions assez magistrales , et le volet scientifique est comme le plus souvent , crédiblement fonctionnel , sans être de la hard science ( définitivement pas ... ) . Le cadre stratégique est grosso modo le suivant : une paix froide règne avec l'ennemi alors que sur le front les lignes semblent bouger à nouveau ... Les arcs narratifs se déploient pour décrire cette paix froide , établir le réchauffement du front et repérer l'ampleur des opérations en cours . Définir celles qui seront nécessaires et poser l'ébranlement des forces militaires et politiques en présence ... Quelques passages d'engagements militaires sont superbes comme souvent chez l'auteur et quelques développements politiques sont au contraire et malheureusement , un peu trop surlignés .... Le volet politique est également à l'aeuvre dans la trame narrative et il délivre au récit et à l'univers un peu de profondeur supplémentaire ... L'auteur cherchant comme à son habitude à mettre en valeur le caractère dangereux des rivalités politiques qui s'affairent à exploiter les conflits armés à des fins de politique interne et au détriment de la sécurité des états , car l'histoire le démontre , l'union sacrée est d'être de mise systématiquement ... Un bon moment de science-fiction militaire .

The story progresses further, almost of its own accord. This is a great continuation, a sort of handing over of the torch to Sandy Gray who steps into his role of leadership with just the right mix of confidence, self-assurance and compassion. A great read, and I hardly can wait for the next segment of the saga.

to fast conclusion of most story-threads. A lot of Good starting points but a lot of them concluded to hasty.