Dark Matter audiobook

Probably shouldn't rate it this high, but these books really excite the imagination with a plausible sounding evolution of the human species in about 200 years. Sure, character development is a bit weak, but for me that's forgiven by the imaginative look at how humanity might react at being faced with powers beyond its ken. Coupled with varied, truly ALIEN aliens (no Klingons or romulans here!!), I can't say no to this series and eagerly awaiting the next installment.

The great story continues with new aliens and new characters and new politics, but gets bogged down in places with very long and tedious explanations of esoteric background issues. That costs Bill K a star on this one.He continues to use the term "capital ship" incorrectly, it should mean only battleships and heavy carriers. He referred to "the fifth regiment of the first battalion" of Marines which should have been the "first battalion of the fifth regiment." His great story allows me to forgive such things but I am shocked that his editors allowed such mistakes to escape.As always, I am military engineer, intelligence analyst, and game designer Stephen V. Cole posting on wife Leanna Cole's account.The series was ok but by the time I got to the fifth book I realized that the author kept repeating how the universe and different things worked. It was ok in the first few books but gets really annoying by the fifth book.There are more books to the series but I didn’t like it enough to keep paying $7 per.

Slow going but it finished well...Book 5 in the series was very much like its predecessors. So much so that it might have become too boring of a read. However, the story finished well with enough interesting surprises that it merits 4 stars, again.

I thought it was a well written book. Ian Douglas is a good writer who keeps the readers engaged. There was plenty of action.

Very nice SiFi series. The writer does a excellent job mixing real and theoretical science into the story. Fast paced and action packed makes this a great read. Very recommended

When I got to the section that was pages and pages explaining memes I knew this was it. I've reached the pinnacle of sci-fi and it's all going to be downhill from here.

As always a Page turner. may me think about where we are in our tech evolution.

Interesting reviews. I like the change of pace in this book, and the previous one. You can only live through so many star battles in which the author has to remind, or instruct, you about the background of a technology or nomenclature; so that gets old. I like the political bent. It's not too overdone, trust me, I don't like politics. The way the story is old is though provoking and prompts me to do research on the concepts involved, specifically (view spoiler)[memteics (hide spoiler)] which I found an interesting topic. We'll see how I feel when I complete the book.

Dark Matter, Star Carrier, Book 5The Star Carrier series is one of the best examples of space opera, military fiction on the market. Each book in the series can be treated as a standalone story or part of the larger whole with equal satisfaction. Book 5 covers events from January 2425-March 2425. Where the prior stories in this series were mostly military science fiction with the politics and scientific explanations taking a secondary role,this story turns that formula on its head. The politics, philosophies are front and center with the descriptions of the battles and their tactics take a suffering for it. There are long passages dicussing political theory, quantum physics,and cosmology. For readers looking for traditional military science fiction this is book’s major weakness. One of central conflicts of the story is the political and military struggle between the United States of North America and the European Confederation. The key question is, do you concede to the demands of aliens asking you to give up certain types of technology or do you continue to battle on when victory is a possibility but not a certainty? The readers of and actors in this book are faced with this intellectual dilemma. Another question that is raised is: What are you willing to do in order for your side win? The answer to this question is played out in space where one side chooses a dubious ally with negative consequences, and on earth where one side secretly uses an AI to create a religion to undermine a nation’s will to fight. Last but least what is the role of religion in a modern scientific society? Science fiction is often used to get the reader to contemplate larger issues in society. On that level I found the the story compelling.

I like this series and I recommend it to any who like Science Fiction and learning new things. Or just like a good fun read. It is number five in a series so get the others first but get it. I call it hard Space Opera for a reason. As expected in Space Opera there is fighting-ship to ship and person to person-but as I said already you learn things. In writing there is talk of memes. In this book I learned where that term comes from and what it really means. At least in science. I suspect it is similar in speculative writing. The action scenes are supreme. Ian gets into the emotions and deeper thinking of his characters. His descriptions are easy to understand and to see. There are multiple POVs, and it is easy to tell who is thinking what. The characters stay in there character. There are twists therefore not everything happens as you might expect, which can be good. There is one complaint I have-it's not just Ian who does this but most SF writers. Whenever there is an alien who want to fight humans-for what ever reasons-they are usually bigger and stronger than humans. Star Wars is one exception to this. But I would if there are aliens all of them would not be bigger and stronger than humans.Still as I opened with I fully recommend this book.

This is the 5th book in the Star Carrier series by Ian Douglas. In this one Earth is faced with two new problems. A new enemy, the Grdoch, who consider all species that they meet as prey and food animals. They attack an Earth colony and intermediately start feeding off the population. At first Earth thinks that they are allied with the Sh'daar who still want to make the human race subjects of their empire but they soon learn that the Gedoch are no ones allies. Meanwhile a new highly advanced group 0f aliens have appeared and may be from an entirely different dimension. All this and the USNA is at war with the Confederation after the Confederation makes unprovoked attack against the USNA. This is a great read in the series and I recommend it to all fans of Space Opera/Military Science Fiction and fans of Ian Douglas.

Great story, tedious background The great story continues with new aliens and new characters and new politics, but gets bogged down in places with very long and tedious explanations of esoteric background issues. That costs Bill K a star on this one.He continues to use the term "capital ship" incorrectly, it should mean only battleships and heavy carriers. He referred to "the fifth regiment of the first battalion" of Marines which should have been the "first battalion of the fifth regiment." His great story allows me to forgive such things but I am shocked that his editors allowed such mistakes to escape.As always, I am military engineer, intelligence analyst, and game designer Stephen V. Cole posting on wife Leanna Cole's account.

This was another good read in the series. I enjoy the universe but I am beginning to get bored with the story lines. The greater story line does not seem to be moving but it also doesn’t seem to be in a place where it can stall and let sub plots flourish. Hopefully the next installment will move the larger story line along so it doesn’t get too boring.

Has a interesting description of religions. Agnostic in views but most likely atheist.

if you like military scifi like me you will like this 5th book in the Star Carrier series ! there is plenty of military action and battles and plenty of detailed science content !

Douglas continues his engaging series, with his signature focus on what the most advanced technologies will mean for the future of warfare and the people who conduct it.