Burning Sky (The Burning Sky Trilogy Book 1)

In Burning Sky, Michael Wallace has returned to his absolutely outstanding Starship Blackbeard Universe that has run through an evolution of 14 Books now (and a few short stories?). This is easily one of the best ‘Long Running’ Sci-Fi Space Opera/Mil Sci-Fi series that exists on the market today, and if you have not read the other 14 books, you should most definitely read them before you read this. Whilst you could at a pinch get away without having read the previous books, the incredible wealth of information from what is a seriously complex, and multi-faceted, within a multi-faceted plot line, would diminish the joy you will get from Burning Sky.Because that has been one of the real hallmarks of Wallace’s writing, the sheer complexity, and depth of not just his storylines, but the stunning and beautiful ‘Universe’ building that has gone into creating this epic adventure.What has kept this story so amazing, fresh, and remarkable, is that with each new evolution, Wallace has introduced a new ‘Sector’ of space that the Albion’s are exploring/conquering, or having to fight some Alien species.From the Hroom and the Death Cults, to the Singaporeans and the Apex, to the Scandinavian’s, and the Adjudicators, each new series has included this incredible new aspect – all the while, there has been this underlying thread that those of the Royal Navy under Drake have been trying to find their way home to their original ancestors thousands of years ago, to a little known planet called ‘Earth’.In Burning Sky, it is with great delight that we finally get to see Lieutenant Capp in Command of a Ship, albeit a smaller ship, the Copperhead, a Scorpion class vessel of ‘Terran’ design. In the next stage of this enthralling series, Wallace has taken us to the ‘Terran’ systems, introducing us to the what remains of Albion’s ancestors. Unfortunately, they too have been at war with the Adjudicators, ravaged, leaving most of the systems either decimated, or with refugees, homeless, broken and nothing but starving and injured people. In some areas, the Terrans have managed to start to pull together, and it is in one of these small pockets that Capp finds herself with Carvalho and Smythe.Capp find herself in charge of the Terrans, and sent to investigate a listening post that has gone dark in a system that was meant to be empty. Only, it isn’t empty, in the system, are the Insectoids, or ‘Roaches’ as they are more commonly known amongst the Terrans and Royal Navy.And this is where the story gets really interesting, as it kind of splits into two major story arcs.The first follows Capp, and her leading her forces as she has them, they are split up, put back together, subtracted from, added to… Capp finds herself in charge of the Scorpions, then a slightly different fleet, and later she finds herself on the ground, leading a mechanised unit, being the most senior person with experience.It is not only Capp, there are a few other friendly faces from the earlier series, but I will let you discover that yourself. Needless to say, that these characters are outstanding. The addition of the Terrans to this book adds a new level of intrigue as well, as we find out some of what has happened to Old Earth in the intervening years. Again, the Universe Building is just amazing, with so much depth, the Authors office wall must look incredible with all the details for this story!! But it is the complexity, and multi-dimensional nature of the characters from so many races and sectors that really make this such a great read.The second follows the Roaches, mainly from the point of view of one of their leaders, Ast. It is fascinating getting this point of view, trying to understand the aliens and their motivations. However, we get to see both sides of the coin as the two forces come into the system, meet, both with little or no understand of the other, and, due to the unique communication method of the Roaches (mainly a scent/pheromone based form of communication), there is little or no hope of any sort of quick diplomatic options. It would take Xenobiology teams years to decode the language structure, if the managed to at all.I don’t want to give too much away, as it makes for a really interesting read, Wallace has made a real effort to make it feel like there is a proper Hive mind mentality to the Insects, and make them feel alien, whilst at the same time, we have humanity on the other side, unsure of how to act, but acting with the usual militaristic caution.As with all of his books, especially in this series, Wallace has again written a compelling and intriguing story that you will not want to put down and find yourself utterly captivated in.You might think after 14 books that this might not be as good, but if anything, this has only gotten better, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series ‘Dark Star’. If you have read any of these, you will love it, if you haven’t grab Starship Blackbeard and jump in – you won’t be disappointed!

Michael Wallace has done it again and written another exciting adventure for Admiral Drake and his friends. Capp is the heroine of this story as she leads a group of Earthers on a mission to explore a new area where they come across Roaches mining a planet. McGowan is in the system unknown to Capp. You must read this book to see how it unfolds. It is very difficult to put down this book. I look forward to the next book in this series..

Well, it’s like the characters are frozen in time, and never managed to outgrow themselves. So that’s one star off... on the other hand, the new aliens are certainly a refreshing idea, and carry this book very well , probably also the rest of the series.

I like his style, and characters. Have to continue to put up with McGowan(oh, well),but love the series, and the characters!

Another good read from Michael Wallace. I have enjoyed every one of this author's books. I can't wait to start the next one!

This is a gift that was received and put a smile on a face.

This was another fun book in the starship black beard universe. Plenty of action, plenty of thought provoking moments about communication, and how intelligent life of two wholly different evolutions might miss understand each other. Burning Sky is a fun read that moves at a good pace and keeps you turning those pages.

A new twist. Seeing both sides. One human and one insect based lifeform. Neither really good yet neither evil. Makes a very interesting space tale. Now this book is good but it is not one that is hard to set aside. The first one is very entertaining one to the second.

The Blackbeard series was excellent. I am not convinced that this is as good as the Blackbeard series. Perhaps I should compare the two? This is more bug wars. I am not sure if I will buy the other two books.

This new series is one step to far. More bug wars. It is a shame as I enjoyed the Blackbeard series.