Hammond’s Hardcases by Jack Colrain is your standard military sci-fi brain candy. I read the complete series omnibus, so this review includes all three books. Overall, the series isn’t exceptional, but it’ll be solid entertainment if you are into the military/space marine sci-fi genre and like lots of well-written action. It’s certainly worth giving the series a try now that it’s a 3-for-1 omnibus deal on Audible and Kindle (and free on KU).
Like most omnibus editions, I didn’t feel like all three books earned the same rating or could be reviewed together. Thus, there may be some spoilers in the review below as I focus on the highs and lows of each book included in the trilogy omnibus. You’ve been warned.
The first book (Mozari Arrival) was my favorite of the series. There was a focus on character development, lots of mystery involving the Mozari, and new and exciting technology. I found the plot intriguing, and the book really kept my attention. I’m a fan of the character and relationship development in a series, and it was balanced with action sequences, so I really enjoyed it.
However, I was immediately turned off to the second book (Trojan Colony) when its ridiculous premise became clear. Here’s a minor spoiler: The target world for a new earth colony was discovered to be right in the middle of humanity’s worst and far superior enemy’s territory. And the military, civilian government, and colonists all just say, “Oh well, we are already halfway there. Let’s just do this thing anyway.” Once you get over the absurd way the plot was set up, the rest of the book was pretty enjoyable. Lots of gold ol’ shoot em’ up action, cliche military vs. civilian headbutting, and just in the nick of time rescues.
The last book (Gateway War) just felt like a series of explosions, space battles, and ground-pounding space marine engagements. Again, the earth’s civilian and military leadership is still packed with morons whose poor decisions set up the action-packed plot. The book’s last half degrades into a non-stop action-packed slugfest. It wasn’t really my thing, and getting through it was a bit grinding, but I can certainly see the appeal it may have for many readers and fans of action-based sci-fi.
Overall, I found the first book excellent and the following books just okay. Had there been more plausible plot devices and a bit more even pacing in the later books (between plot and character development and action), I would have enjoyed them much more. But I think some of this may just be my tastes in books. All-in-all, it was good enough that I’d give other Jack Colrain books a shot as well, particularly if I was in the mood for something fast-paced and action-oriented.
I also listened to some of this series on the audiobook edition from Audible in addition to the kindle book. Like the Hammond’s Hardcases series, Andrew Tell’s performance is good, but not without its flaws. The narration kept me interested, the tone projected the proper emotions, and the pacing matched well with the action in most of the series. However, Tell pauses a lot, which makes the cadence of the reading a bit uneven. It annoyed me initially, but I became used to it as the series went on. There are also many secondary characters throughout the series, and I feel like the narrator exhausted his range trying to come up with unique voices for each. Occasionally it was difficult to tell who was talking by their voice alone (particularly with female characters, who sounded very similar).
Special thanks to Jack Colrain, who provided me with these books at my request.