Review USS Hamilton: Ironhold Station
The surprise attack within the Auriga Star System was worse than brutal, it was heinous—leaving the US-Navy's 3rd Fleet decimated. Thousands of crew are reported dead, including the ship’s Captain. Reluctantly, the young XO, Galvin Quintos, will be taking command of the fleet's crippled dreadnaught, the USS Hamilton, while doing his best to bring fleet survivors back to Earth. Going from bad to worse, there’s a murderer running loose onboard the ship. Add to that fuel levels are critically low, and the Grish are back and in fast pursuit—ready to finish what they’d started. Only by sheer luck, along with a good measure of cagey smarts, will Quintos be able to rise to the challenge. USS Hamilton: Ironhold Station
Non stop action from start to finish. We run into cocky space pirates, advanced races, even more advanced races, a captured princess and a murderer onboard the USS Hamilton.
You know what happens when you grab a space station and proceed to haul it to speed and then launch it towards an enemy fleet?
You're just going to have to read this book to find out.
Great characters and a well paced story means this is GOOD READS.
I can't wait to start book 2. RECOMMENDED English A number of my Sci-Fi series have come to an end. I have been looking for some more to replace them. With the mood I have been in lately, I don’t want to read anything that requires thinking. I just want to be entertained. I thought I would give the USS Hamilton series by Mark Wayne McGinnis a try. He is a new author for me.
The story is fast paced; the characters are interesting. The story has a bit of everything from space battles, a murder mystery, aliens, ships with AI’s operating them, an unusual seven-foot humanoid AI robot and some humor tossed in. The first-person narrative works quite well in this story. I will try book two of the series.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is nine hours and fifty-five minutes. James Patrick Cronin does a good job narrating the book. This is my first experience listening to Cronin narrate. He has an easy to listen to voice. Cronin started his acting career at age two and narrated his first audiobook at age twelve and has gone on to a long career narrating audiobooks.
English excellent read
non stop action as only Mark Wayne McGinnis can provide, i am looking forward to further adventures of the USS Hamilton and crew in book 2 English This is a very good book! You ought to read it right now! I have read some of Mark Wayne McGinnis’ books before and they were good, but tended to be a little more scientific than I cared for. This book is a really down to earth story-line that is very exciting.
We have Commander Galvin Quintos, Executive Officer (XO) of the USS Hamilton thinking about his upcoming new assignment away from the USS Hamilton. He’s been the XO for this ship going on two-years and that’s about the length of a tour in that position. The thing is, Commander Quintos likes being an XO, he doesn’t want to become a Captain of his own ship and that is something he’s heard rumors of just recently. He knows the overwhelming responsibility placed on a ship’s Captain and he feels that it’s just not something he wants to do.
Yet, things are about to change and change drastically for not only Commander Quintos, but for everyone aboard the USS Hamilton. They are on a diplomatic mission, escorting two VIP diplomats to the Auriga star system and the planet, Bon-Corfue. The Grish, an alien and semi-hostile, civilization was making aggressive moves towards Bon-Corfue as though they wanted that system which currently belonged to Earth. It was hoped the diplomatic mission would prevent any kind of warfare which certainly wasn’t desired by Earth.
Unfortunately, the Grish had other plans. The USS Hamilton was part of the U.S. 3rd Fleet and was considered a definite show of force any where she went. It was hoped that the USS Hamilton’s presence would dissuade the Grish from taking any kind of unwanted military actions. Didn’t happen that way. As the USS Hamilton was preparing to disembark it’s diplomatic VIPs, all heck broke loose! And that’s where the fun starts!
Of course, one of the very first casualties of this surprise attack by the Grish, was Captain Tannock, Captain of the USS Hamilton. He suffered a sever head injury and had to be carried to HealthBay. With him out, command of the ship falls to none other than Commander Galvin Quintos! Although he doesn’t think he’s ready for command, he’s a very well trained XO and he knows his ship. The crew respect him and his abilities so he has no problem assuming command other than his own reluctance. As it turns out, Galvin is much, much more capable of doing the job than he ever though and that’s a very good thing since the USS Hamilton is about to be destroyed if someone doesn’t do something.
To say the ship and it’s new Acting Captain are in a bad way is a vast understatement. They can’t even move initially, but the Grish have left the immediate area to lick their wounds and assess the damage they have done. Most likely, they will jump back in and finish off what they started. Acting Captain Quintos has no way of preventing their defeat unless he can solve some very critical problems and do so immediately.
There are several characters in this book, all developed pretty well. There are aliens and a giant robot that also shows up and you get to see all of these people working the numerous problems that arise. I like the way the author writes. The book just kind of flows from one event to the next and it’s logical. There are periods of downtime when the crew is actually recovering from the most recent incident which has to happen in real life. Oh, the author does have a penchant to write terrible long paragraphs, so be ready for those. Still, with the ship’s AI gone bonkers, Acting Captain Quintos has to rely on his own grey matter and that of his fellow shipmates to pull the USS Hamilton out of this terrible fix they are in. Great reading! English If you are looking for a Mil Sci-Fi story, then this is absolutely the best book to grab without a doubt. It is not only brilliant in its fast-paced action, but the first person storytelling, and just the quality of the characters lends this breathtaking urgency and excitement to what is just an outstanding opening episode to the USS Hamilton Series.
We are introduced to Commander Galvin Quintos, the XO of the USS Hamilton, one of the Earth’s Navies Dreadnaughts, an ageing starship that has seen better days, but is still a powerful and deadly ship, and one of the centrepieces of the fleet.
When they are ambushed by an alien race known as the Grish, an aggressive race that Humanity is in a multi-sided war with, that they are struggling to stay ahead of, the USS Hamilton, and the fleet that they are with is decimated, the 8 ships being culled to 3, and those 3 in a very bad state. One of them is the mighty USS Hamilton, battered, but far from defeated.
However, during the battle, Captain Tannock, the Hamilton’s Captain, is severely wounded, and is not able to continue. Further to this, both of the captains on the other 2 surviving ships have also been killed, leaving our main character, Galvin Quintos, as the highest ranking officer in what remains of the battered fleet.
Quintos quickly steps up, although he feels out of place, and like he is not fit for the job. He has a long history of insubordination, and not following the rules both in his role as a former fighter jock, and in his current role as an XO. It is not so much that he is a bad officer, just that he does things that aren’t regulation when he tries to find a solution to a problem. He tends to think outside of the box, and in his early years, this got him into trouble for his unconventional thinking. However, he has not been without supporters, with Admiral Block having noticed him, and taken an interest in his career.
Now onboard the ship, he and the bridge crew must face a slew of challenges, for the ship is without its A.I. system, known as “Mother”, which has been damaged in the fighting. Mother controls just about everything onboard the ship, from propulsion, so missile targeting and food dispensing.
To make matters even worse, Quintos has only just learned that he has two very important delegates on board his ship that are desperately needed on Earth as it is a matter of life and death for basically the human race.
As Quintos is trying to save his ship, the fleet, determine how to save Earth, he learns that someone on board is killing crew members in a very graphic way. So now he has a murderer to hunt.
The story is just incredibly fast-paced, compelling and utterly engaging. Although the story is in first person mode, and it is largely from Galvin’s point of view, it does hop to other characters at the time as well, building this tension so that you never fully understand what is happening, even though you have just been with some of the primary characters.
McGinnis uses his characters to tell the story with such realism, it is so gritty and at times intensely brutal. Galvin Quintos is just brilliant as he tells his story. His character is fascinating, a mix of this complex in-depth background, and yet, he is a very impulsive character that follows his emotional instincts. It is these instincts that have allowed him to make some inspired decisions (albeit ones that are totally against any sort of regulation or previously approved tactics), and whilst they are effective, they go against everything that he has been taught. McGinnis has captured this character so well, just the cocky attitude, the underlying insecurity, but also his uncompromising courage and determination when it really comes to crunch time. His character has so much depth, and there is a lot of history and complexity within his personality that makes Quintos not only captivating but just fascinating to.
The Commander/Captain is not the only character who engages you though, as there are so many others, from the beautiful, but fiery Dr Vivian Leigh, the always morose Chief of Security Alistair Mattis, to his direct opposite, the very perky, and always happy Gail Pristy. Also on the bridge is the Science Officer Stefan Derrota, and at the start, there is the original Captain, Eli Tannock.
Along with this, there is the Chief of Engineering, Craig Porter, and the Commander of the Pilots, Wallace Ryder.
All of these characters are just brilliant, a couple get their own individual storylines, and the chance to have their own chapters, but most just turn up in Quintos’ character feed. However, McGinnis has provided so much depth to each of these characters that we feel that we know them.
The character and world building is another exceptional part of this story, in which McGinnis has provided so much incredible depth and detail that you quite literally feel that you are walking the decks of the Hamilton with Quintos as he tells his story. By the end of this book, you really feel like you know the Hamilton like you knew the Enterprise from Star Trek, and it just adds so much more depth to what is such an extraordinary Mil Sci-Fi story.
If you love Mil Sci-Fi, you have to read this, as it is one of the best Mil Sci-Fi, I have read, from so many different aspects, story, characters, world-building, tech, the USS Hamilton herself, McGinnis has just excelled with putting together what is an exhilarating thrill-ride as an XO, thrust into a role he doesn’t want, and doesn’t think he is ready for, must face off against a dangerous foe, to save his ship, and 2 others, thousands of lives, and what he is told is potentially the lives of everyone on Earth. On top of that, someone is killing crew members in a brutal manner, his ship doesn’t work, and he has one officer with a crush on him, and another contacting high command trying to get him sacked. This book has everything you could want and more. It is an absolute must read!!
English
Non Stop Peril
Galvin Quintos is the XO of the USS Dreadnaught Hamilton. In a horrific space battle, he is thrust into the role of Acting Captain. He doesn't feel ready for the position, but there are no other senior officers left. It seems that there are many who want to do harm to him, the ship, and Earth. The characters are well done to the point that I feel bad that when a likeable minor character is offed. I like the action, humor, and romance. I look forward to another book. English Made a Mistake Here
Downloaded the space-opera book based on supposed good reviews & then realised a quarter of the way in what was niggling me - & why I was thinking this is crap - the same author as the Junkyard Spaceship series ...
There were times - as per the previous books mentioned - where you just think a 10 year old would write a better story
Whilst it follows a storyline, it’s predictable but at the same time you think why would they do / say / carry that out! It’s really hard to put into words, but it just doesn’t work for adults. Kids & teenagers would love this though!
The characters & storyline has lots of cliches from other sci-fi. You can also tell the author has no real military background for some of the stuff the characters would say or do.
Wont be finishing this series & in future will make more effort to avoid the author. Better than the junkyard series but instead of absolute crap, it’s just crap. English Simplistic and a waste of time
This is a waste of electrons. Poorly written, terrible plot, and bad editing. In one sentence alone the subject changes gender at least three times. The characters are poorly defined and their motivations are wildly simplistic. The opening battle was poorly drawn, and the sudden introduction of the ancient super weapon ludacris. Adding in the complication of the brain damaged captain was stupid fluff, the alien robot no one had ever heard about suddenly infected with the personality of a previously deceased crew member, again from a sudden introduction of a previous unknown alien ship interaction, well it just beggars the imagination. Pure garbage. I love the blurb, WOW. Yeah wow indeed, even for self published stuff this is trash. English That was a fun read!
I went in resigned, I could not find a good stand alone novel. This was a super nice surprise.
Well thought out characters, very good dialogue, the whole thing, just great.
The story unfolds naturally and is none of those books you want to keep reading, but don't want to end.
Best part, it's part of a series, but it is, indeed, a stand alone. If you don't go on to read the others you still have a satisfying story.
More than a few editing and formatting mistakes, I'm afraid, but they don't take away from the story.
Pick it up and have some fun. English A great read!
As a fan of military sci-fi, I've read and enjoyed this author's other books. I wasn't surprised when again I was drawn into his book and couldn't wait to finish it. The story has interesting characters, novel plot development and enough twists & turns to keep it interesting. Looking forward to the next book. English
