Silver Enigma

The ISC Fleet Series, Book 1

By: Rock Whitehouse

Narrated by: Jeanie Talbot

It all began as a routine port-of-call at a friendly alien planet....

Ensign Carol Hansen is six months out of Fleet University, and six months out of a toxic relationship that made no sense to anyone but her. Serving aboard Liberty is everything she had aspired to. But that sweet time comes to an abrupt, violent end when Liberty is destroyed in an unexpected attack. Carol is lucky enough to be "ashore" in the alien city below, and barely survives the death raining down from space.

Can she overcome the shock and grief of loss and meet the challenge of combat leadership? Is she ready to transform herself from raw ensign to battle-tested warrior? Can she likewise face up to that failed relationship, and perhaps see with more seasoned new eyes someone who had always been right beside her?

David Powell, his dreams of a Fleet commission crushed by a family tragedy, is pulled into the same unforeseen conflict. He must now find his way back to his true future. And, somehow, to the woman he fell for that first day of freshman year.

Caught at the sudden and violent collision of three cultures, they find themselves inexorably drawn into Earth's first interstellar war, a war for which no one is fully prepared.

©2018 Rock Whitehouse (P)2023 Rock Whitehouse

Intricate

Brilliant space opera, with people from all over the world working together to defeat a mysterious enemy. Well written and well performed.

Great Sci Fi Adventure! Great Reader!

A beautiful new planet..... but filled with mystery and at the core, genocide. Trekkies will love this book.

Quite Enjoyable

The first book follows several young people from academy to war. Excellent world-building and a very good performance. Nicely handles several plot lines without getting out of control. I really hope that the rest of the books in the series get to Audible soon !

Somewhat Confusing Space Opera

I'll admit I don't read pure sci-fi often, but I do occasionally enjoy it. Like all space operas, this one has a large ensemble cast with a lot happening all over the—and uncharted—universe. Things started out simply enough when mayhem breaks out, and our band of future heroes and other humans are attacked without warning and by an unknown alien enemy. The bulk of the book is about trying to figure out what precisely went down, why, how, and who were the perpetrators. Unfortunately, I found this book confusing. It would have been easier to understand as an ebook because you could flip back if you couldn't quite remember who was who, who had prior relationships, their skills/abilities, etc., their military ranks, or remember what created-for-this-book space tech was. As you can't really do that in an audiobook, and this is very long with a complex world, I found it hard to keep track of everything and everybody. This will probably sound silly, but I don't like to have to work that hard for what should simply be enjoyable escape! I felt the ensemble cast was too large to really get to know and care about as individuals. A larger tragedy strikes at the end, and while it was jarring to learn of so many lives lost of those for whom we knew just a little, it lacked emotional resonance for me. This is book one in the series, and I can't say whether I like it well enough to continue.

Pleasantly Suprised

Thurley enjoyed this book. I thought the primes of early FTL flight and having only meet several aliens before meeting an unknown hostile was a good beginning. Establishing how bad the hostile aliens are established the good guy - bad guy foundation without any communication between the antagonist.

The weeding out of an overabundance of characters was expected and I thought was done well. I enjoyed the over all character build of the main cast members.

I found the use of delayed communication a unique way to show that Headquarters has to let their captains command and captains need to send information clearly and quickly to let smart people solve problems. Also that war at distance is stressful, confusing, frustrating and emotional for all involved.

For me what I enjoyed most was the authors ability to tell a compelling store that kept me interested to the end and I will read the next book in the series.

Not deep, but thoroughly enjoyable

Ok, it’s not going to win any literary prizes, but I found this to be fun military SF with minimal politics. Great set of characters and pretty plausible scenarios. Of course some things bugged me, like this fixation on phones. But they don’t get in the way of a good story

Terrible writing and narration.

Couldn't finish. Be wary of books with high rating but few reviews. I will seek to return this is possible.