[Abyss]

I've been throwing this series around enuf now to give it a thread...

Abyss, on 10 February 2014 - 04:52 PM, said:

...

Did a little vacation reading while i was away...

...

R. M. Meluch's TOUR OF THE MERRIMACK sf series. HOLY. FUCKSTARS. Where has this series been hiding and why have none of you told me to read it?
Y'know that time when you glance at a book in an actual mortar and brick, it catches your eye, and for no good reason at all you simply MUST buy it? And then despite all indications to the contrary, IT IS GLORIOUS!?
Well that was this series... the first four books (written 2005-2008 or so) were repackaged as two collections THE MYRIAD/WOLF STAR and SAGITARRIUS COMMAND/STRENGTH AND HONOR... i was passing thru a monster Barnes & Noble down south and these caught my eye... scanned the first book back blurb, nothing particularly original... mil sf, mighty ship, brave crew, bold captain, evil bugs enemy, military ubermench other enemy... seen it all before and have a stack of similar already in the TRPFHAB.... looked inside despite myself, read a page or two... wtf space marines with swords... seriously....? Pass. Put it down. Picked it up again... read another page... oh fuckit why not Ill Wind is pissing me off anyways... and grabbed the second too because vacation/money/drunk/whatever.
And the books rock. Seriously i enjoyed these beyond all expectation and more. Devoured the first set, and well into the second, will grab book five the instant i'm done with four and probably pre-order six. Think my reactions to Lee's BREACH series, Campbell's LOST FLEET, maybe even Clines' EX-HEROES series... these books are a fuckload of fun. Not quite really mil SF... the focus is the crew of a military ship but the books don't go full mil SF a Weber/Ringo/White or even Campbell, a tad less time is spent on tactics/strategy and a bit more on the personalities. There is some time spent on the logistics of fighting bugs and ubermench, the proper use of big ships and fighters, etc etc but not as technical as the usual mil sf authors go. Plus with way better characters than usual... seriously... i wavered on writing this more than once, but fuckit, i'll just say it... US Marines, 89th Brigade, Blue Squad, Alpha Flight of the Monitor-class battleship Merrimack fast became my favorite fictional military marine squad since the Bridgeburners and Bonehunters. And Capt John Farragut my fave commanding officer since Whiskeyjack. Meluch nails the combination of misfits, incompetents and outright idiot men and women who also happen to be asskicking bug hunting badasses when things go sideways in a way i don't think i've seen since SE did it so very well. She even managed to create an entirely rational, logical reason for them to carry swords and use them on a regular basis. Ok, fine, the groundpounder marines also fly fighters... it's a stretch, but Meluch manages to make even that make sense, albeit a bit creatively handwaved (short version... fightercraft are cheap, marines are cheaper, so they're essentially expendable infantry in space). And yes, i wrote 'she', R. M. Meluch is a female author, writing military sci fi... and doing a great great job of it.

Recommended, esp for anyone who liked the LOST FLEET series but wanted more starfighters and hand-to-tentacle and away missions.

Abyss, on 17 February 2014 - 05:14 PM, said:

Abyss, on 14 February 2014 - 03:34 PM, said:

Imperial Historian, on 13 February 2014 - 10:42 PM, said:

I had an 18 hour bus journey so I picked up the Merrimack series on Abyss's recommendation (this wasn't easy as it isn't available on kindle in the UK, I had to pretend to be American)

Popcorn reads, but fairly entertaining, there is a moment towards the end of the first book which really sold me on the series, puts a whole new perspective on things for the second book. I wouldn't praise them as much as abyss, but I did enjoy. And Augustus is definitely a fun character. Definitely what I needed to distract me from the bus ride though.

Glad you liked. There are definitely popcorn elements, it's not MoI, but there were moments of surprising depth for mil sf and that moment at the end of bk 1 you're referring to definitely has cool effect for bk 2, which is actually where i went from like to love for most of these characters.


3, THE SAGITTARIUS COMMAND, is somewhat slower (if you can call a book that starts with aliens eating a planet 'slower') but appears to be building to something insane, brings back a great character who was mostly missing in bk 2, and has the greatest drinking contest ever.

Finished 3. Good fun.

Meluch shifts focus away from the marines a bit (except for one in particular) to more time on the higher ups, but does a really nice job with the upper ranks. This book wasn't perhaps as tense as the first two, but still a fun fast read. And I have to give Meluch credit, she always manages to end a book with a major shift.



On to 4 shortly.

Abyss, on 21 February 2014 - 05:27 PM, said:

...
TOUR OF THE MERRIMACK bk 4 STRENGTH AND HONOR is fairly awesome, solidly consistent with the rest of the series so far. Meluch writes great space battles with a nice side of political intrigue and world eating tentacle monsters. Have purchased bk5.

Abyss, on 28 February 2014 - 01:57 PM, said:

TOUR OF THE MERRIMACK bk 5, THE NINTH CIRCLE. Slower start than the previous books (no planets were eaten), with a few major changes for some key characters. Good pacing tho'. and most of these characters are now familiar so they can breath a bit. If you call a meteor chase 'breathing'.

Abyss, on 03 March 2014 - 05:22 PM, said:

Finished Meluch's TOUR OF THE MERRIMACK bk 5 THE NINTH CIRCLE.
Not as sheer awesome as the previous four, and far more SF than milSF. Very much a set-up novel for the new status quo/storyline after the overarching plots of the first four concluded.
Having read the first four and enjoyed them, the characters carried this for me more than the actual story. If you read those and enjoyed them you'll like this.
If you didn't love them, i don't think i would bother until there are a few more books in the series... i think she's going somewhere cool with this, but it's not there yet. There were a few moments of fist-raising greatness, a few laughs, but i thought that only one character got a moment that outshone anything she did in the previous books. Everyone else was par for the course. One new charcter was interesting, but i didn't think Meluch gave us quite enough to invest in him just yet, tho he ends the book in a place ripe with potential.

Three and a half planetary bombardments out of five, vs the previous four books which were solid four/four and a half right thru.

...all of which is to say i think books 1-4 are totally worth your dollars, time and eyeballs.

And if you do happen to read them, post below and let me know what you thought.

[Tiste Simeon]

I now have these 5 books and will be reading at some point later this year. Looking forward to it!

[Morgoth]

Well, you convinced me to buy the first book. Pray that I am not dissapointed.

[Abyss]

Tiste Brent Not Abyss Weeks Simeon, on 04 March 2014 - 09:54 AM, said:

I now have these 5 books and will be reading at some point later this year. Looking forward to it!

Cool, i hope you enjoy!

Morgoth, on 05 March 2014 - 07:13 AM, said:

Well, you convinced me to buy the first book. Pray that I am not dissapointed.

Cool. I ...pray.... you enjoy!

[Hound]

Read the first one a while ago, liked it a lot. SF is normally not really my thing, but when I was a third through I couldn't put it down. I liked that the focus was on the characters; I found Farragut sort of refreshing for a commanding officer type of character, loved the plant thingy and Augustus was awesome. Itching to read the 2nd book, but haven't been able to find the other books as ebooks yet.

[Abyss]

Hound, on 05 March 2014 - 09:37 PM, said:

Read the first one a while ago, liked it a lot. ...Itching to read the 2nd book, but haven't been able to find the other books as ebooks yet.

Amazon has them as ebooks all. Having paid mmpb price for them, I thought I got more than my money worth.

[Tiste Simeon]

Abyss, on 06 March 2014 - 06:51 AM, said:

Hound, on 05 March 2014 - 09:37 PM, said:

Read the first one a while ago, liked it a lot. ...Itching to read the 2nd book, but haven't been able to find the other books as ebooks yet.

Amazon has them as ebooks all. Having paid mmpb price for them, I thought I got more than my money worth.

Amazon has them in the US as ebook. Key difference... Someone on the forum had to send me all the ebook versions... I'm debating whether to read them next actually...

Also did I see a recommendation to just read the first 4 & wait for more before starting with the 5th?

[Abyss]

Tiste Brent Not Abyss Weeks Simeon, on 06 March 2014 - 04:36 PM, said:

...
Also did I see a recommendation to just read the first 4 & wait for more before starting with the 5th?

Yes. I should probably qualify that... i seem to be in a frame of mind lately where if i'm not already committed to a series (Malaz, Dresden, LFFH...), i don't want to bother unless/until it's completed.


Put it this way... reading 1-4 spoiled me. Each book is nicely self-contained, but fundamentally 1-4 are one big wild ride of a complete story that concludes with a bang (several of them) in 4.



I came out of 4 utterly psyched for more, and 5 gave me more, but it's like the way TB is more of what you got in GotM thru HoC... at the end of the book you know there's much more to come before you can see where this is going. 5 is still more or less self-contained, but it's clearly (to me) more of a a set up novel for the new storyline after the roller-coaster ride of the first four. Same characters (the ones still alive), same world(s) (mostly) (albeit turned on its ear in a few ways from the last 4) and i enjoyed it, but i selfishly wish I had more standing by.


5 was also a shift from mainly MilSF to SF with military elements. Meluch makes it work, but she clearly had something different in mind... of course, whenever 6 comes out she could take everything from 5 and militarise the fucksteroids out of it, so what do i know....?

[Hound]

Tiste Brent Not Abyss Weeks Simeon, on 06 March 2014 - 04:36 PM, said:

Abyss, on 06 March 2014 - 06:51 AM, said:

Hound, on 05 March 2014 - 09:37 PM, said:

Read the first one a while ago, liked it a lot. ...Itching to read the 2nd book, but haven't been able to find the other books as ebooks yet.

Amazon has them as ebooks all. Having paid mmpb price for them, I thought I got more than my money worth.

Amazon has them in the US as ebook. Key difference... Someone on the forum had to send me all the ebook versions... I'm debating whether to read them next actually...

This ^^ .

Anyway, after another internet search I finally found and downloaded them. So, on to the 2nd book now...

[Garak]

So I finished my re-read of HoC somewhere around midnight and decided to read the first chapter from the first Merrimack book. Two hours later I realized I should go to sleep because I had to get for work in 5 hours.

I'm liking a lot so far. That first meeting between Farragut and the Archon was hilarious.

[Abyss]

Garak, on 07 March 2014 - 06:33 AM, said:

So I finished my re-read of HoC somewhere around midnight and decided to read the first chapter from the first Merrimack book. Two hours later I realized I should go to sleep because I had to get for work in 5 hours.

I'm liking a lot so far. That first meeting between Farragut and the Archon was hilarious.

She does some really strong comedy dialogue. I enjoyed the banter as much as anything else.

[Garak]

Oh the dinner with the LEN guys. That was glorious - I'm liking Augustus more every time he opens his mouth. And I feel sorry for Farragut regarding his rank and the number of attractive women on the ship.

[Abyss]

Garak, on 07 March 2014 - 11:49 PM, said:

Oh the dinner with the LEN guys. That was glorious - I'm liking Augustus more every time he opens his mouth. And I feel sorry for Farragut regarding his rank and the number of attractive women on the ship.

Heh... You're picking up a lot of the same interactions I liked.
We should probably block spoilers for a little while tho...

[Garak]

Finished the first book. That was awesome - great action, great characters, great humor .... all I can ask for. And that ending. Now on to Wolf Star.

[Abyss]

Garak, on 08 March 2014 - 11:40 PM, said:

Finished the first book. That was awesome - great action, great characters, great humor .... all I can ask for. And that ending. Now on to Wolf Star.

Oh yeah... Now you're going straight down the rabbit nebula... Everything you liked about one goes haywire in 2 and 3...

[Tsundoku]

Wow, I haven't heard R.M. Meluch mentioned since I read Sovereign back in the 80s. I seem to recall I thought it wasn't bad, if a bit gay for the teenage country lad I was back then. Didn't know the author was female. There you go.

[Garak]

Liking Wolf Star a lot. More Calli is good but I want to punch some officers right now. Bunch of baboons.

[Abyss]

Garak, on 09 March 2014 - 02:24 PM, said:

Liking Wolf Star a lot. More Calli is good but I want to punch some officers right now. Bunch of baboons.

Cali in WOLF STAR is going to steal all your love. Just watch.

[Garak]

So I finished Wolf Star yesterday night. Now I've ordered the second Omnibus but again, I have to wait for it to get here. Sigh.

Spoiler

I liked the plot, I liked the action but it's the characters that sold this series to me. Farragut is a pure joy to watch - every time one of his crew is in trouble I just grin knowing he's going to storm in and nothing can stop him. Including the fact that he'll make an ass of himself over another man's wife - or that he has to rescue two people from a black hole (that was pure insanity). I like how everyone on the Mack knew about his crush on Hamster - except her and he was sure the crew didn't know. I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope for that to work out in his favor.

Calli was a great supporting character, a fine foil for Farragut. She was Spock to his Kirk. A much better looking Spock I might add. I actually got angry anytime someone dismissed her because she studied at the Roman school or because of her looks - I don't know who got under my skin more, Numa Pompeii or the LEN guys. I'm glad she got her own command, and she totally kicked ass in her first battle, but I'm sad she's off the Mack. Oh and Rob Roy is one lucky son of a bitch.

The squad is another patch of insanity on a ship filled with it and I love it. No heavy swearing because Hazard doesn't like it, everyone telling Dak to shut up, Kerry being ... Kerry (she doesn't have the lizard plant anymore does she? because Donner never gave it to her as a present - dammit), Cowboy being a running gag - should just call him Kenny. Them also being pilot's didn't bother me and actually reminded me of an old show Space: Above and Beyond. As for the swords ... well the amount of Star Wars and especially 40k I've read makes me think something is wrong if a SF doesn't have swords of some kind.

Steele is made of pure undestructium isn't he? Nothing can destroy that man and he's either being the stoic or shouting in your face like any good marine officer (and he'll shout at Kerry just to cover up the fact that he has the hots for her - poor guy). I like how he hates everything Roman and refuses to learn latin or anything in latin .... and then Augustus goes Semper fi. I swear Augusttus does it just because Steele is so easy - you never see him get under Farragut's skin. First time I saw Augustus I thought he had Trajan's column stuck up his ass. I still think he has that there but his comments are spot on hilarious. I wonder what the Romans did to him, to make him like that.

So the ending of the first book left me going "What?!?!?!!?"And I dived into the Wolf Star hungry for more. I like the fact that first we saw the crew of the Mack experienced at fighting the Hive and then we got see their first encounter all without the use of flashbacks (while I was thinking "The timeline doesn't matter" and laughing about that). When the bugs went nuts in Wolf Star, I just kept hopping someone would wise up and get the hell out of there - I winced every time they used res. That was well done and the fight aboard the Mack was frantic (seriously, who tried to stomp a gorgon?).

So Abyss, thank you for suggesting this series. It's made of pure fun and I'm enjoying the ride.

[Abyss]

Garak, on 10 March 2014 - 10:30 AM, said:

So I finished Wolf Star yesterday night. Now I've ordered the second Omnibus but again, I have to wait for it to get here. Sigh.

I did say buy both up front.... i DID!

Spoilery responses w/in the spoilers....

Spoiler

Quote

I liked the plot, I liked the action but it's the characters that sold this series to me. Farragut is a pure joy to watch - every time one of his crew is in trouble I just grin knowing he's going to storm in and nothing can stop him. Including the fact that he'll make an ass of himself over another man's wife - or that he has to rescue two people from a black hole (that was pure insanity). I like how everyone on the Mack knew about his crush on Hamster - except her and he was sure the crew didn't know. I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope for that to work out in his favor.

I wasn't kidding when i called him my favorite officer since Whiskeyjack. He's so over the top awesome yet... humble isn't the right word... likeable, i suppose. Meluch does a glorious job of showing exactly why his men and most of his enemies (Augustus) would cheerfully die for him. She tells it up front, but then she proves it again and again... The bit where the captured Roman soldiers realize that the Mack was boarded by Hive and survived was stunning.

Quote

Calli was a great supporting character, a fine foil for Farragut. She was Spock to his Kirk. A much better looking Spock I might add. I actually got angry anytime someone dismissed her because she studied at the Roman school or because of her looks - I don't know who got under my skin more, Numa Pompeii or the LEN guys. I'm glad she got her own command, and she totally kicked ass in her first battle, but I'm sad she's off the Mack. Oh and Rob Roy is one lucky son of a bitch.

Cali stole this book again and again. The bit where she steals back the Monitor... from when she says 'let's do it' to when she makes it happen, was so over the top awesome i read it twice.
Her rivalry with Numa is one of my favorite bits in the series. They have a scene in bk 3... i won't spoil, but it's beyond LOL-worthy.

Quote

The squad is another patch of insanity on a ship filled with it and I love it. No heavy swearing because Hazard doesn't like it, everyone telling Dak to shut up, Kerry being ... Kerry (she doesn't have the lizard plant anymore does she? because Donner never gave it to her as a present - dammit), Cowboy being a running gag - should just call him Kenny. Them also being pilot's didn't bother me and actually reminded me of an old show Space: Above and Beyond. As for the swords ... well the amount of Star Wars and especially 40k I've read makes me think something is wrong if a SF doesn't have swords of some kind.

SAAB was one of my fave sf shows ever, but the pilot/infantry thing really didn't make sense. Meluch made it make sense. Same for the swords. When you have personal fields and lasers and crap, swords are just visually cool but physically awkward for no good reason... until your enemies can zap all your tech out of hand, and then they're the greatest thing ever.

As for the marines.... Kerry... i kept expecting Meluch to go archetypical sex kitten tuff chick with Kerry and she kept dodging the obvious for a really endearing character. And Cowboy... as pleased as i was he died (again) (and again), the bit in the elevator shaft when Steele tosses him the sword and he drops back down to protect the rest of the squad made me like him just a bit. also, YAAAAAAAR cracked my shit up.
Dak and the rest don't get quite as much eyetime, but enough to make them endearing as a group even so.

Kerry has the plantzard. The Mack did go to the Myriad and most of what you read in bk 1 did happen. The only major changes in the timeline were that the Don and Augustus weren't there, and no Hive and no Roman surrender at that stage, it just happened later.

Quote

Steele is made of pure undestructium isn't he? Nothing can destroy that man and he's either being the stoic or shouting in your face like any good marine officer (and he'll shout at Kerry just to cover up the fact that he has the hots for her - poor guy). I like how he hates everything Roman and refuses to learn latin or anything in latin .... and then Augustus goes Semper fi. I swear Augusttus does it just because Steele is so easy - you never see him get under Farragut's skin. First time I saw Augustus I thought he had Trajan's column stuck up his ass. I still think he has that there but his comments are spot on hilarious. I wonder what the Romans did to him, to make him like that.

That semper fi thing was so great. Augustus and Steele's interactions are always a treat... Steele is so thoroughly outmatched yet refuses to back down
You're going to love what's coming for those characters ... your questions re Augustus are answered eventually... and Steele has a moment in 4 that's just exactly what you want to see him do.

Quote

So the ending of the first book left me going "What?!?!?!!?"And I dived into the Wolf Star hungry for more. I like the fact that first we saw the crew of the Mack experienced at fighting the Hive and then we got see their first encounter all without the use of flashbacks (while I was thinking "The timeline doesn't matter" and laughing about that). When the bugs went nuts in Wolf Star, I just kept hopping someone would wise up and get the hell out of there - I winced every time they used res. That was well done and the fight aboard the Mack was frantic (seriously, who tried to stomp a gorgon?).

I really liked how she turned the timeline on its side and then showed us all the craziness we had only hints of in bk1, without going over old ground the way some timetravel plotlines tend to do.
There are a few great moments in WOLF where you realize 'holy fuck we're about to see THAT'.... in particular the first battle vs the Hive, the Merrimack being taken instead of the Monitor, and the Roman surrender... as opposed to the 'oh this again only different' trap so many authors fall into. The bug thing was great.

Quote

So Abyss, thank you for suggesting this series. It's made of pure fun and I'm enjoying the ride.

Very welcome and glad to hear it. get into 3 and 4, you won't be sorry.

In fact, 'reliving' 1-4 now makes me realize 5 was actually tied much closer to the first 4 than i thought... of course now i want 6 that much more badly...