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Title: Forge and Steel

Subtitle: Three Plague Wars/Stellar Conquest Novelettes

Author: David VanDyke

Narrator: Artie Sievers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-05-16

Publisher: David VanDyke

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Three Plague Wars/Stellar Conquest novelettes in one volume.

Steel's First Temper: Jill "Reaper" Repeth must complete a tough rescue mission on a Meme asteroid base while beginning to train a new protégé, Joseph "Bull" ben Tauros. Also published in the military science-fiction anthology Riding the Red Horse 2.

A Hotter Forge: Bull and Reaper are assigned to capture one of the Pure Race, but a Blend throws a monkey wrench into their plan, forcing them into a no-win battle. Published only in this volume.

What Price Humanity?: Vincent "Vango" Markis awakes to find himself blind and helpless. Soon it become apparent that he and his fellow pilots are trapped in a situation with no choices and only one way out. A slightly shorter version was previously published in Jerry Pournelle's anthology There Will Be War X.

Members Reviews:

These are great action pieces in a well constructed universe as humanity ...

This book is composed of three novelettes: Steelâs First Temper, A Hotter Forge and What Price Humanity?*. Having not read all of the authors Plague Wars series and none of the Plague Wars: Stellar Conquest series I'm not certain which series these stories fit into. But I don't really think that matters. All of the stories fit into the Space Opera sub genre. Although the stories mention the Eden Plague, it is not necessary to have read the plague war books before reading these staoreis.

The first two stories center on a new Space Marine lieutenant Joseph âBullâ ben Tauros. and a somewhat mysterious character, Jill âReaperâ Repeth . These are great action pieces in a well constructed universe as humanity battles an ongoing war with aliens called Memes. There is great interplay as Bull goes on his first official mission and Reaper guides him to understand her experience as he learns to lead.

These two stories want me to read more about this pair of warriors but also, I want to read more about who Reaper is, her history and development .

The last is a Vincent âVangoâ Markis story. This is set further in the future than the previous stories. Based on information from A Hotter Forge, I thought I knew where this story was going. VanDyke had me fooled. Not quite as action packed as the prior stories, it was still a good and fast read. Now I want stories on Vango and how he became the person he is in What Price Humanity?.

All of these stories also drive home the the cost of battle without going on a diatribe, Great action and fast paced reads. I rate them 4.5 out of 5.

Humanity, humanity, humanity

This collection of three stories from the Stellar Conquest series might be a good place to start for readers new to VanDyke's Plague Wars/Stellar Conquest series (of which there are 15 or so in total).

The third story in the collection is particularly good, and could be a candidate for the Hugo award. Whether you've read the Stellar Conquest books or not, this story is an interesting exploration of humanity, in a vein similar toEnder's Game (The Ender Quintet).

What's great about these stories is to see some more interaction and adventures with Jill Repeth and Bull.