Captain Jacob Valance has no memory of his past. Left on a strange ship in an unfamiliar sector of the galaxy, he was forced to begin a new life.
Years pass and after much hard work he's earned a reputation as a man who can recover lost property, hunt down hardened criminals and go where others fear to tread.
All the while he's been searching for clues to his past and a better method of making his way through the galaxy for himself and his ragtag crew. Little does he know great change and the path to his past lay before him.
The Spinward Fringe series follows the three volumes of the First Light books, (Collected in the First Light Chronicles Omnibus), continuing the adventures of characters connected to Freeground Station. This is the first volume of the Spinward Fringe series.
Born in 1974, Randolph Lalonde has worked in customer service, sales, played drums for several heavy metal bands you've never heard of, dealt blackjack in a traveling casino, and serviced countless computers. He's also owned businesses in the design, printing, collectible and custom computer fields.
He completed writing his first novel in the fantasy adventure genre at the age of fifteen and has been writing ever since.
He self published his first novel; Fate Cycle: Sins of the Past in 2004 and after taking a break has begun to release his work again starting with the First Light Chronicles series.
Randolph Lalonde has sold thousands of eBooks to date, enough to keep writing full-time for fifteen years so far. He is deeply grateful for his following of readers and strives to improve his skills to entertain them better. The Spinward Fringe Space Opera series has proven to be his most popular offering.
He currently resides in Sudbury Ontario and manages a chapter a day writing habit.
In his diminishing spare time he reads voraciously, tinkers with design, video editing and reviews the occasional film or television show. A science fiction and fantasy fan, he often comments on the state of the entertainment industry on his website, www.randolphlalonde.com.
I got this book when I purchased my Nook only because it was free and I was exited to put something on my Nook for the first time that I didn't have to pay for and wasn't War and Peace, or whatever they pre-loaded onto the very first Nook edition.
However, I was very surprised at how much of a page turner Lalonde's book(s) turned out to be. This is the first of many that he has written over a fairly short period of time, and if you like star trek, Firefly-type books, then this series is for you!
It is fast moving, easy to follow, with each book expanding the story again and again.
For a free book in this day and age, it ranks up there pretty high!
This is my all time FAVORITE scifi series, possibly my favorite of any genre. The only problem is i get hacked off every time I read it cause it isnt long enough, short books, is actually pretty frustrating ;).
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1: Resurrection follows on from the end of The First Light Chronicles, picking up the story of Jake Valance when he wakes up alone on the Samson, a strange derelict ship drifting through empty space.
Jake Valance has no memories of his past when he wakes, knowing nothing about his life except that he has a daughter, Alice, who woke him out of cyrogenic sleep before having to abandon him to escape the men hunting her. Determined to find his daughter and unravel his past, Captain Valance turns to the only skills he has to make a living, paying his mercenary crew via privateering, repossessing illegal space ships and chasing lucrative bounties.
Resurrection is a faced paced novella and is full of action from its start to finish. Lalonde's prose-work is engaging and creates a host of dynamic characters who respond to events around them in a believable manner, unlike those in some books. This, along with the realistic social infrastructure of his universe, gives the book a sense of plausibility that added greatly to my enjoyment of it.
Thus, I would recommend reading Resurrection to any fan of science fiction, space opera or anyone who's just looking to kill a few hours! I would say though, before reading Ressurection, that you took the time to read Origins. Origins is free from most ebook suppliers and contains the entire First Light Chronicles (Freeground, Limbo and Starfree Port) that are the prequels to Resurrection and make its events much more understandable.
People seem to compare this with Fire-fly a lot and that sort of works. I like how the main character of the previous book(s) is in a different environment with a different crew, and the original storyline is basically put on hold. It's not high caliber literature, nor very original, just good fun. 75/100
Apparently, I really need to sleep before writing a review :D.
Edited: I really like where this is going. Mr. Lalonde has done an excellent job of taking the ending of Spinward Fringe 0 and turning into the beginning of something that I can't wait to read.
Just when I think it is safe to relax for a moment, Lalonde kicks the story into hyperdrive, pulls some crazy maneuver and almost throws me out of my seat. Over and over. Great characters, awesome action, cool technology, and a well-realized, if not always comforting, vision of the future.
I had some trepidation starting this book [SPOILER] with Jake having no memory of his past life, on a new ship with a new crew. But Within a few pages it was riveting and I am looking forward to book 2.
Freshman attempt at space opera. Characters were not fleshed out very well. Background was shallow. Too much time and effort was placed on settings that did not help propel the plot. Common new writer problem with focusing on technology rather than the plot.
Read this after reading the free book that was on Kindle. I have to stay that it is really addictive and is a great page turner if you are looking for something simple to read. However, there were two big draw backs to the book. The first is that it's not very original. it's pretty much a combination of a whole bunch of different sci-fi series especially Star Trek and Fire Fly. This in itself is okay if you're looking for a just a time killer. The annoying part of the book is the main character who is just all things to all people: an engineer, a captain, a fighter and he really has no flaws at all.
But these two problems aside, it's an enjoyable story that's very fast placed with lots of twists and turns.
Great follow-up to his freshmen effort, writing is much tighter, characters and plot are more complex. Really enjoyed the twist (but no spoilers here). Good sci-fi fare and if that's your fancy, this is a great book from a new author, but read the prequel (now repackaged as Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0, first).
About a bunch of v-friends who break in to military simulators to do war games. They get recruited and are sent out. Corporations own various parts of the universe and their goal is to acquire tech and assets to help their free world survive. 1 in a series. OK, but not great writing.
The time jump; and first story of Jacob Valence. He is now a bounty hunter on board his own ship - the Sampson. But, after a morality issue comes up, Jake decides to help many thousands of refugees, at the dismay of some of his crew. A great 'start' to the series proper.
At first I didn't think this instalment would live up to Origins but by the time it got to the end it certainly had. The story keeps me engrossed and I went straight on to Broadcast 2.
Just like the previous books in the series, difficult to put down, was up till the wee hours of dawn when I finished the book and still couldn't wait to start on the next book in the series.