Forsaken Skies

October 24, 2016
Horror author David Wellington's first book under the Clark pseudonym is an entertaining military space adventure tale that's got just enough new twists to keep readers interested, even when they think they know where it's going. Tannis Valk is an injured war veteran who's working on a space station, where the low gravity won't aggravate his burns. Thanks to a series of events triggered by a nearby space battle, he meets up with legendary pilot (and former foe) Aleister Lanoe, and the two of them are in turn drawn into an alien invasion of a distant agricultural planet. Clark throws a lot of characters into the mix, including the stowaway "elders" from the planet, an AWOL con artist soldier, and the patricidal son of a rich man who was created solely as an organ donor. The invaders are interesting and threatening, and though their eventual big revelation isn't a shocking one, they still make for solid antagonists. The thorough world-building (including an interesting political system) makes this is a solid series launch, and readers allergic to cliffhangers will be delighted by the firm ending. Agent: Russell Galen, Scovil Chichak Galen Literary.

First, juiceless, installment of a space opera trilogy from Clark, a pseudonym for David Wellington (The Cyclops Initiative, 2015, etc.), author of zombie, vampire, werewolf, and action thriller series.Star Wars meets The Seven Samurai in this far-future galaxy where only Earth maintains a space navy and the space lanes are riven by wars between interstellar corporations, or "polys"--none of which have any interest in the barely habitable, backwater planet Niraya. So when it's brutally attacked by insensate machines from who knows where, the religious, contemplative inhabitants send representatives Roan and Elder McRae to the Hexus space station to plead for help. Luckily, 300-year-old ex-space navy pilot Aleister Lanoe has pursued his quarry, the young murderer Thom, there. Lanoe rescues the naive Nirayans from the clutches of treacherous ex-navy conman Auster Maggs and agrees to help their cause. Both Thom (extenuating, if not exonerating, circumstances) and Maggs (no choice--he's a deserter) sign up. Also joining the venture will be Lanoe's ex-shipmates Caroline Ehta (her guilty secret is she has PTSD and can't fly), Bettina Zhang (Lanoe's wannabe flame), and legendary hero Tannis Valk, severely injured fighting on the opposite side to Lanoe in the last corporate conflict and now working space traffic control. The usual complications, heroics, and surprises ensue, all professionally packaged and produced and entirely unmemorable. Does anyone need to read this? No. Will anyone want to? Shrug. Maybe on the beach. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2016
Humanity cannot work miracles . . . What we can do, when faced with impossible odds, is build a solution. And so the citizens of the distant planet Niraya are in desperate need of a solution, if not a miracle, when it becomes apparent that they are about to be at the mercy of an alien invasion. Having been abandoned by the rest of humanity, the Nirayans' solution comes in the form of Aleister Lanoe, a much-hailed famous fighter. In a space that is set centuries in the future, it is up to Lanoe and his motley crew to defend the planet of Niraya from the alien armada. But can a jaded fighter pilot, his former second in command, and the rest of his crew defeat an entire alien fleet? Though the writing can be stilted at times, it never takes away from the action. This debut from Clark (a pseudonym) touts unforgettable characters and is jam-packed with action, adventure, and even a little romance, and it is the first in a trilogyone readers will not want to miss.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)