• click here to return to the homepage •
or 
Home > Categories > Books > Sci-Fi > A Fury of Aces 3 - Onyx Javelin review
There is life everywhere throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. It takes forms that will astonish and frighten, that will challenge and terrify as they exist within the greater fight of existence: eat or be eaten.
But to the crew of the frigate Basalt, those alien life forms that exist in the near vacuum of interplanetary space only serve to be of fascination in the crew's quest for knowledge.
However, there is a vicious conflict brewing as the Octopoids test the occupants of an outer planet of Humanity, in all its varied forms, probing and looking for the weaknesses of the marshalled forces.
But who is the enemy really?
A Fury of Aces 1 - Burnt Ice
Wheeler Knives - Handcrafted Steak Knife
A Fury of Aces 2 - Crystal Venom
Digital Fortress
Spoon
The Kingdom
Creepella Von Cacklefur 2: Meet me in Horrorwood
Wise Cracks
Ghost Buddy: How To Scare The Pants Off Your Pets
Big and Small
The Republic of Birds
We Saw a Spinosaurus
Nee Naw and Friends StorytimeProduct reviews...
Review by: tucker (Karl)
Dated: 1st of January, 2015
There are space operas out there, by prolific and world-famous authors, that can captivate you within a chapter, and within 2 more can whisk you away to a world on the other side of the unknown universe and hold you there with stories so real you can't stop yourself from seeing them in your mind's eye. Then there are authors whose efforts to do this are just as powerful, and successful, but without the many years of experience and training. Steve Wheeler is definitely one of the latter.
One of New Zealand's own "Renaissance Men", Steve has a colourful and eclectic past which allows him to bring a medley of skills and experiences, plus a broad knowledge-base, to the fore and incorporate some really amazing details and plot elements into the tales. The third in the "A Fury of Aces" series, this is a far more polished book than the first in the series, and seeing how far the story has come, and knowing it still has a way to go does not in any way diminish the level of enjoyment I had reading this book. Despite having had the privilege of being able to read one of the early drafts, I still found myself utterly drawn into this tale as though it were still fresh and new to me.
The neat plot twists and 'new characters' introduced near the end of this one leave the story wide open to further exploration, and when some of the plans in play come to fruition, the AFoA universe will be greatly expanded in some wonderful ways. Reading this book will be an essential part of any good SciFi reader's mandate, and especially for any Kiwi SciFi buffs who, like me, love to support our home-grown talent.
The characters are well defined, and all the back-story has been covered in the previous books, leaving this title free to be the 'action-packed, full-detail powerhouse' in the series so far. You have so many levels of intrigue, betrayal, secrets, revelations, moments of humanity at its very best, and its very worst... all packed into 397 pages of WOW, on toast, with AWESOME sauce liberally applied. (And just a light sprinkle of cheese to keep the up humour quotient.) 
Overall, this book is a stunning tale in the AFoA universe, and I am keen to see more! Your local library *should* have the previous books on the shelves if you haven't read them yet. If not, you should prompt them to get copies in! (You'll be doing yourself, and all the other SciFi buffs in your area, a HUGE favour if you do!)
Random listing from 'Books'...
Kylo has moved to a new city with his parents and left his friends behind. He goes on a mission to make new friends. Trouble strikes as Kylo finds himself in misadventures instead. Will Kylo make new friends that will help him on his journey? Will he also discover what is following him?
This is the first book in the Kylo Kitty In The City collection about a young cat with big paws. Illustrations are by Katerina Kalinichenko.
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
Albert Einstein
