Outsystem: An Aeon 14 Novel

This one will not win awards for originality or anything exceptional, but it was fairly easily read, did not have huge amounts of obvious proof reading problems (as self published sorts of books go) and was less silly than many a mass market best seller. However it was nothing great, either. The characters are cardboard, the settings stock, and the actions very predictable. Overall the writing quality was a bit below average. Certainly readable, but not anything to rave about.

As a professional futurist, I was interested in a story taking place thousands of years in the future.First, I must admit my positive bias. Any book will ALWAYS be more enjoyable when read on a physical book. (This also makes them easier to pass down to others, or to share.) As I finish these books I place them in my home library so that guests can enjoy them.I also have a background in engineering and science so it's always interesting to read someone else's point of view about the future. Of course, I realize this is a story of fiction, and not anyone's prediction actual things to come.The Intrepid Saga has a "Star Trek like” optimistic view of the future. Myself, I would be surprised if Man ever makes it to Mars. I say this not because of lack of technological progress but due to a lack of interest on the part of the public for space travel. Today, Americans care more about the Cardassians than they do about a manned return to the moon. But, things change.Mr. Cooper is a very good writer. He tells a good story with interesting plots that the reader can keep up with. It's very interesting to see the consequences of tremendous technological progress that takes place in his books. For one thing, lifespans have greatly expanded. Even in the first book, people are living to be nearly 1000 years old. In later books, man has become more or less immortal.A prediction that I agree with is that man is the only intelligent life form in our galaxy. In later books, man expands throughout a good part of the Milky Way galaxy and never encounters intelligent life other than our own. It would be nice to imagine a Star Trek like galaxy with many interesting lifeforms, but presently, the science does not support this. (A book on this subject, “Rare Earth" explains how animal life and more so intelligent life is exceedingly rare in the universe.)A few reviewers have complained that the main character (Tanis) always wins. I don't think that's exactly true, but I don't find this a valid criticism. Capt. Kirk always wins, James Bond always wins, Superman always wins. The story is more about HOW he wins.If you enjoy science fiction it's hard to imagine how you would not like these books. They are fast-paced, and have interesting characters that are fun to get to know. A mild criticism is that the series might go on a little too long. Of course, there's been about a 50 Godzilla movies, because people just can't get enough of the Big Guy, Godzilla.Another good feature of Mr. Cooper's writing is that it is devoid of politics. It's so refreshing to read fiction where someone is not trying to push their political ideas. Whether you are far left, or far right, or somewhere in the middle you won't find anything in his books to upset you. It reminds me of the great science fiction from the 1950s.A MILD negative aspect is that the books contain a FEW sections making it unsuitable for younger readers. But I suppose, a reader might wonder what sex is like when you're 700 years old.I think if you like one of the books in the series you will like them all.The Intrepid Saga would make a great movie. Unfortunately, the modern Hollywood would make them far too nasty. It's a shame that Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still) or Fred Wilcox (Forbidden Planet) are no longer with us to make a wonderful movie.I was also impressed by the fact that the author will sometimes comment and answer questions from an Amazon reviewer. In a couple of cases, this helped me understand his books better.( Sadly, Amazon has stopped emailing the reviewer when someone replies to reviews or comments on reviews. )

Bought the series but never made it through the first book. While the series does have a lot of supporting on-line features, M.D. Cooper goes into far too much detail (completely lost me after extensive details about the ships in the first book) at the expense of character development. Also the lack of paragraphs makes the book feel like one long stream of consciousness, and makes it difficult to pick up where you left off if you need to put it down. I'll probably donate the book series to my local thrift store next time I visit.

very good book. fast moving, well written with a couple of implausible choices to keep the plot rolling. (I mean, seriously, walking alone into a dark and know suspicious room when there have been attacks on you every day for a week?)a proofreader could have polished it, although there were very few misspellings / wrong words from the spell checker.

This is a very intriguing saga, full of plot twists,and interesting characters . I only wish that the entire saga is available on mp3 cd sometime soon.