In my effort to read more indie books—a task I’ve failed at for the last couple of years—I thought I’d put down what I’ve read or tried. I’ve had a few recommendations and enough to at least get me going this year. What did I try?

I kicked off with Jeffrey H. Haskell’s first space fleet novel, Against All Odds. Being critical of space fleet novels for many obvious reasons, this novel surprised me. Yes, it relied on some tried and true military science fiction tropes, but it does a few things well: 1. world building is top-notch; there’s a good feel for the technology, the astropolitical arena, and warfare itself. 2. characters have good depth. It leans into the duty trope, but just enough to pull you with the characters, not as a substitute for rational thought. 3. the story turns in expected, but interesting ways and yet keeps the pages turning. By the second novel With Grimm Resolve, I warmed up to the characters, but for drama things got stretched thin—things were just too convenient for the character, or the enemy was simply too stupid. You lose that sense of tactical commanders in battle to simply playing out as usual. In this, Haskell falls short. However, that’s not to say the series doesn’t remain strong. One Decisive Victory leans harder into the set pieces, so I know how it will end, but I’m along for the ride because I’m invested. If you didn’t like the poorly done romance or dumb-as-a-starfish enemies of Campbell’s Lost Fleet series but enjoyed the space battles, read Grimm’s War. If you don’t want to get bogged down in Weber’s political and Mary Sue death spirals, read Grimm’s War. It’s by far some of the best space fleet you’ll find today by any metric.

Next, I picked up Doc Spears’ Warlord novel based on recommendation and the amazing cover. Sadly, this novel lived up to the trope of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. It’s billed as a love letter to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Marsseries but is really a what-if that misses the mark by a mile. John Carter was an adventure story of a stranger in a strange land, of an Earthling making his way through the barbarically high tech world of Barsoom. Warlord is what happens when a special forces team shows up on Barsoom instead. What ensues? Well, you don’t get an action adventure and the story of a stranger in a strange land. Instead, you get a book full of backstory flashbacks filled with SF jargon, lingo, and things best left in the story binder. The characters are also more lingo and caricatures than people. It wasn’t a man on an adventure, it was a to do list for Mars Team Six. If you prefer SF to mean Special Forces and not Science Fantasy, this novel is for you. If you like it the other way around, give this novel a pass.

Last, someone recommended a historical fiction novel halfway out of my wheelhouse (I love most things naval, but the age of sail isn’t a particular draw for me), Alaric Bond’s His Majesty’s Ship was a well written, slow burn novel steeped in an immense amount of knowledge of the era, both in terms of naval ships, warfare, doctrine, but also the British and French navies and the historical period. Some characters were forgettable, having names, but nothing much beyond that. But others were notable, and the battle scenes were excellently written if cryptic trying to hide the tactical reveals. An excellent recommendation and I’ll return to this series after some time to reflect. There were a couple of typos in the layout, but nothing to trip you up as a reader, if that’s bothersome. Read if you love naval warfare in the age of sail and depth of the era.

That’s it for January. I have another post for February as I continue on and reach my goal. Have you read any of these? What are your thoughts?