The Thunder of War

The Thunder of War is the first book of a new military SF series, Thunder In The Heavens.

The Tyrell are a race that loves to fight, and they're very good at it. The harder they fight, the better they like it. Whenever they discover another intelligent race, they force them into combat whether they want it or not. When humans are warned of an inevitable confrontation with the Tyrell, they attempt to form a multi-species Alliance, but the challenges are great, and they know it's only a matter of time before a Tyrell fleet of massive ships will arrive in Earth orbit. Cate Harrow and Gort Eagleton are two Aerospace Force officers with the kind of strategic and tactical skills that the Alliance needs to win this war, but before they can even begin to defeat the Tyrell, they must survive the incompetent leadership that threatens complete disaster.

Read more

Defeating the Tyrell will be far more difficult than the Alliance initially believes unless they can discover their one weakness. This action-packed series has lots of space battles and political intrigues, as well as personal triumphs and tragedies.

Excerpt:

"Flight Ops to Skydiver. You and your squadron have the green light, Commander. Good luck."

"Thanks, Ops. Skydiver to Squadron. We have a green light. Sound off when you've undocked in sequence order. Here we go." She turned and nodded to her co-pilot who would maneuver the corvette out the half kilometer wide maw of the carrier, Ranger, while she monitored the rest of the squadron. As Skydiver gently pulled away from the docking bay then past the baffles and moved towards the opening, Harrow switched one of her displays to the rear external view, using computer enhancement to compensate for the low level of light inside the main hangar space. Each corvette in the squadron was undocking and maneuvering in a specified sequence in order to avoid collisions.

"Skydiver is clear of Ranger," said the co-pilot. As the ship began to accelerate, Harrow watched the carrier start to recede into the distance. Just as she began to shift her gaze, she saw a streak of light hit Ranger from below, penetrate up through the interior of the huge hangar and come out the top of the ship.

"FLIGHT OPS! WHAT THE HELL—" shouted Harrow.

"—BEEN HIT! RANGER'S BEEN HIT!"

Harrow recognized the voice of the Flight Operations Duty Officer.

"OH GOD! BISMARK REPORTS BEING HIT TOO!"

Harrow thought fast. The Tyrell had obviously detected the four carriers and were firing their long range, faster-than-light kinetic energy projectiles from below. The mission was clearly compromised, and to her way of thinking, getting the carriers to a safe distance was now not only their top priority, it was their only priority.

"SL to Flag!" said Harrow quickly.

"We're kinda busy right now, Commander!"

Harrow didn't know who was replying, but she did know it wasn't Vice-Admiral LeClair, and that's who she wanted to talk to.

"You tell the Admiral that he needs to order his carriers to jump RIGHT NOW, Goddamit! We're sitting ducks here!" Without waiting for a reply she turned to the co-pilot. "How many of our ships have cleared the Ranger?"

"They're all out! Do we try to dock again?"

"God no! No time for that. We'll have to catch up with her at the rally point if our carriers bug out in time!" She looked at the display that was still showing a now much smaller Ranger.

Audience
adult

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The Thunder of War? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Thunder of War. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Path of Justice Shares space opera, science fiction
  2. Bonds of Resolve Shares space opera, science fiction
  3. Warrior's Realm Shares space opera, science fiction
  4. Fortress Earth Shares space opera, science fiction

“If you want more of the same (space opera), start with these.”

  1. Interstellar Mage (Starship's Mage: Red Falcon Book 1)
  2. Veil of Reality
  3. Web of Truth
  4. Persephone Station

“If it was the science fiction that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. For the Triumph of Evil
  2. The last Emperox
  3. Freedom's Fray
  4. Boomer

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942
  2. F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-9
  3. Aircraft Carriers At War: A Personal Retrospective Of Korea, Vietnam, And The Soviet Confrontation
  4. The Unknown Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons