Purgatory

A Military Sci-Fi Series

By: Jaime Castle

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin, Marc Thompson

Abandon ship, or go down in a blaze of glory.

Commander Predaxes, former Marine in the Lazaab military, has been recommissioned to Prison Station 12, known colloquially as Purgatory. On the outskirts of the Centridium, PS12 relies solely on a wormhole for contact with the government—not to mention supplies. His newest inmate, Samea Malik, is more than a bit of trouble.

Son to the Minister of Justice, Malik is the target of both assassination and recovery. When the station is attacked and chaos rains down upon them all, those onboard must abandon their posts for the closest habitable planet, Faebos. With what little planning they could do, Predaxes and crew discover an old, defunct mining colony and quickly discover why the project was deserted.

Faebos is home to violent and nasty creatures, but also great beauty. Survival will mean cooperation between PS12’s captives and captors. But will it be enough? Faced with hardship no one expected, needing to tap into old skills and new, Predaxes and Malik find themselves in their own form of Purgatory.

Rogue Stars is a brand new military space opera series by #1 Audible and Washington Post bestseller Jaime Castle, creator of the Black Badge series. Perfect for fans of David Weber, Larry Correia, JN Chaney, and Rick Partlow.

©2024 Jaime Castle (P)2024 Recorded Books

Yes yes and yes!

Second book has been pre-ordered. Cant wait to get it. Sci-fi books feel tricky bc you have to find the balance of giving characters depth without ruining the fantasy. Mr Castle nailed it!

Pace and characters/interactions

Right off the bat the reader isn't treated like an idiot, there a lot of in and outs of scifi and one of the worst things a writer can do is try to explain how everything works in the first chapter. That does not happen here, starts off at a great pace and manages to maintain it until the end. Next the characters are wonderful introduced and the relationships that are cultivated between the "Guards" and the "Inmates" is masterfully orchestrated allowing a real conflict within the reader to develope, where is the moral high ground? Is there actually any? Finally the performance was amazing and what you expect from two excellent performers. All in all its a great start to a new, and hopefully long (hint hint), series. Ready for book 2!

Excellence!

Jaime Castle is one of the most versatile writers I know, from paranormal horror westerns to fantasy, to LitRPG, and now military sci-fi. I was really excited to get this one and man it did not disappoint. The characters are raw and real, and the action is gritty but also fun. Fans of Star Wars, the Expanse, and military Scifi in general should really find a lot of stuff to enjoy here. This is a series you won't want to miss. I can't wait for book 2!

I loved the ebook. Audio is better.

The dual narration is top notch for what should run for best SF of the year. Rogue Stars is economical and efficient with dry humor and incredible action. The setting on the prison and in the jungle is lifelike and breathtaking. Jaime continues to be my favorite Jaime. Keep it up!

When the prison is a planet full of marines

There is honor even in prison for those who once fought for the Lenzaaban government. This makes Commander Predaxes's job both easier and harder. Well, much harder, since the arrival of a new high-profile prisoner named Malik coincides with an attack on their space jail. The resultant struggle to survive on the nearby world of Faebos combines all of the best mil sci-fi aspects of Avatar and Pitch Black.

Jaime weaves his usual magic in bringing to life Predaxes, Malik and a platoon's worth of supporting cast members. He balances the setup like a roller coaster climbing to the top of the first drop then after you've had a chance to get to know your seat mates, the ride really starts. One of the best mil sci-fi stories I've enjoyed in years.

Absolutely awesome

A little bit of intrigue. A lot of firepower. Great voice actors. You might recognize Thompson from Star Wars books. Cronin holds his own as well. This is military science fiction in the vein of Rick Partlow or JN Chaney. Brutal fights. Smart dialogue and an intriguing story. Don’t let the dual narration fool you. There are two main characters, each performed by a different actor. Both POVs are smartly written and unique. The author clearly separates the two expertly.

The story starts on a space station with a bit of a space opera feel, but quickly chaos descends and the military action begins. There’s not a lot of gun porn or heavy descriptions, but it’s still obvious the author knew his stuff. Glad book two is only a month away!

A miss

The story starts off well enough but the initial narrator is a bit on the heavy-handed emotional yelling scale. Not that he's a bad narrator it's just that this narration was bad. The second narrator did a better job but his narration seemed to be more easy going carefree relaxed which was a complete juxtile position compared to the first narrator. The story is rather convoluted and sort of cheesely detailed in its execution. At some points the story wasn't sure if it wanted to be a Prison Break Story, A spin-off of avatar, Or something entirely different. There were good elements that could have been expanded upon to make a more interesting story but the author went off on tangent and the story fell flat.