The Oort Perimeter

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The oort perimeter.jpg
Title: The Oort Perimeter
Cover Artist: Don Semora
Genre: Military, Sci-Fi
Series: The Earthfleet Saga
Publication Date: August 2009
Media Types: Ebook
ISBN: 978-1476416465
Followed By: Destiny's Mission

The Oort Perimeter is the first in the four part series The Earthfleet Saga and introduces the universe of Earthfleet, and all of the political turmoil that both exists around Sol Space, and across the universe at large.

Back Cover Blurb

Born of a need to protect their homeworld, Earthfleet, the military arm of the Society, struggles continuously to insure the safety of Earth and all who live on it. But a dark force moves within the galaxy, one who wishes to use Earth as a pawn in its quest for power. In a struggle for survival, the Society, Earthfleet and their allies must race against time to uncover the identity of this dark force, before it can destroy Earth, and the nine races. Failure means extinction of the human race.

Summary

The story begins with a quick introduction to the status of the galaxy, then moves to an overview of life in Sol Space, including politics, both galactic and internal, and the trials that these bring. The story then shifts to the galaxy at large where dark forces are quietly working in the background, plotting Earth's demise, and that of the galaxy as a whole. Out on the UGW homeworld, Phyland is busy about his daily political duties as ambassador for Earth amidst the dirty politics and rampant corruption that is common to the UGW homeworld, and does so alongside his friend, and fellow ambassador, a G'Fondo'Nah (or just "Fondo" for short) named Finch. Around this same time, Adjutant President V'sin of the Gayik'Von is sent to Sebius to help root out and discover who it is that has Earth in their crosshairs, and why. As they are busy doing this, Lars and his partner Vlad are doing some research of their own, and stumble across a group who nearly assassinates them.

Not long after this, a group of Transform assassins is sent to kill Phyland, but ultimately fail. In doing so, they reveal that there's more to the old diplomat than mere politics. This further deepens the mystery of who is trying to destroy humanity, and drive the entire galaxy to war. Back on Earth, in the midst of this, the Brayburn Society is revealed to be doing what they do best, which is to take tough technical, and scientific problems, and solve them in the best way possible. This occurs through them assisting the G'Fondo'Nah in gaining bio embedded translator technology similar to what Earth, and many others have. It is also during this time that the troublemaker Zoahn is revealed, as well as his rivalry to Sarah. As this is happening, Phyland receives rumors that the Varnok Black Fleet is in motion, with the intention of attacking and destroying Earth. This fact is later confirmed by Finch. Taking this info to V'sin, the Gayik'Von Adjutant President confronts the Varnok ambassador about it, who brushes it off as a mere training exercise.

Meanwhile, back in Sol space, as the Varnok fleet stealthily approaches, a weakness in the shield array that makes up the Oort Perimeter is revealed, and efforts are made to begin finding a solution to this issue. Not long after this the Black Fleet shows up and begins attacking the Oort Perimeter. Choosing to lead from the front, Grand Admiral Mike Clayton immediately climbs into his flagship, the Sergenious, and flies out to where the battle is unfolding, leaving Vice Grand Admiral Alfred Bofenheiser to monitor and command Sol's inner defenses, as well as the Oort and Kuiper Perimeter shields. After fruitlessly bombarding the shields for a time, the Varnok seek to exploit the shield's weakness, which they fail to do. But in doing so, they force Earthfleet to open the shield to prevent the creation of a singularity that would, by itself, destroy all of Sol. Unable to properly restart the shields, Mike sends his fleets forward to plug the gap that's been opened as the Varnok Black Fleet plunges into the gap, hoping to overwhelm Earthfleet's defenses, and then drive on towards Earth where they intend to complete their extermination of all human life. But the fleet will have none of that and pull off a brilliant, spectacular defense of the breach, costing the Black Fleet a high price in ships and men.

Unfortunately for Earthfleet, it's having much the same effect, causing their numbers to be slowly whittled down to dangerously low numbers. Even so, Earthfleet bravely hold on, despite the odds quickly stacking against them. Eventually Mike is forced to commit the last of his forces, including his command fleet, into the fray to hold off the Varnok for as absolutely long as they can, hoping beyond home for someone to rescue them. Back on Sebius V'sin argues before the Council of Nine the absolute travesty that the Varnok are committing and requests the right to defend Earth. After some back and forth, he wins that right, and sends help to Earth.

Back on Sol sector the battle is still a grinding fight of attrition as both sides continue to suffer heavy losses as one struggles to defend Earth, and the other seeks to destroy it. Eventually Earthfleet's losses become great enough that they're unable to hold the line and the Varnok begin to break through. Even with everything committed, Earthfleet is still unable to do more than slow down the Varnok advance. A such, Mike strongly considers pulling back to the Kuiper Perimeter to improve their chances of defending Earth from almost certain destruction. But, before he can, Admiral Sevok shows up with two Gayik'Von battle armadas and defeats the Varnok Black Fleet. This loss is immediately reported to Phillip Augustus, who takes it surprisingly well, even though it has ultimately changed his long term plans to destroy all of Humanity, and take planet Earth for himself.

Reviews and Awards

The reviews and awards collected below are both reader and professional reviews, as well as any reviews the book has received that I am aware of at this moment.


Award: This novel has won a Blue Nebula award for indie scifi writing excellence.


Review:
October 20, 2009 (Ricky Sides - Amazon)
Format: Paperback
4 Stars
I must say that the author has produced a very good book. Overall I give him four stars. I have good things and bad things to say about this book. I'll begin with the bad. The author uses the word smirked too much. In some cases he uses it with the good guys thus making them appear a bit arrogant and condescending. He also has the alien races smirking. In one case the author has a guard instructing the Admiral in how to utilize a palm opened door lock. I understand that this was a means of explaining the technology to the reader, however I would not have went about it in the manner that the author utilized. It made the Admiral appear foolish. The author attributed human facial expressions to a reptilian species. A reptile cannot pence his lips. After reading that list of bad things you are probably wondering why I would give the author 4 stars. The answer is that the author has created a superb universe. The main storyline is creative. The society has great potential

The issues referenced in the negative did not prevent me from enjoying the read. The space battle scenes depicted are superbly well written. The espionage aspects are equally compelling. The interplay between the alien races with their underlying hostilities was great. What the author does well, he does very well. This author has the potential to become a superb scifi writer. If I could speak to him directly I would advise him to revise the book. Add a prologue which details the society and their advance into space. Flesh that out. I recommend this read to the scifi fans. It's a shame it hasn't been added to Kindle and other electronic formats such as Smashwords. (author's note: Yes, this is now available on Kindle, Smashwords and B&N)


Review:
September 14, 2009 - (Demnays - Amazon)
Format: Paperback
5 Stars
It's about time! This has to be one of the best scifi books that I have ever read. I might even go as far as to compare it to Startrek and Starwars, but faster paced. You know a book is good when you stay up late reading "just one more chapter". I can't wait untill the next book is released!


Review:
August 11, 2013 - (Carol - Smashwords)
Format: Ebook
5 Stars
It took me about half the novel to get a grip on all of the characters and what was happening. Then it became engrossing. Lots of action, back-stabbing intergalactic politics, interesting ideas and twists. Although it was the first of a series, the ending was satisfying while still leaving the threads for books to come.