Armageddon - Osguards: Guardians of the Universe

Science Fiction & Fantasy

By Malcolm Petteway

Publisher : Rage Books LLC

ABOUT Malcolm Petteway

Malcolm Petteway
Malcolm Dylan Petteway is a senior military analyst, a retired military officer and a twenty-year veteran of the United States Air Force. He flew B-52's as an Electronic Warfare Officer and has 3,000 flight hours and 300 combat hours. In his distinguished career, Malcolm has used his knowl More...

Description

There is a thin line between justice and vengeance. In a vast universe of advanced weaponry and superior technology, a century-old dispute causes two powerful armies to speed past that line in furor. With the defeat of the Kulusk Empire, the First Osguard, Michael Genesis, and the Universal Science, Security Trade Association of Planets -- USSTAP face their greatest military challenge ever -- the Tuit Consortium. In the name of justice, the Tuits introduce a new era of war fighting, employing a planet killing weapon, which obliterates entire solar systems within minutes. USSTAP is outnumbered and outgunned. With the association disintegrating; the continuing rise in the USSTAP body count; and Osguard 11, Jarod Stone missing and presumed killed in action, Michael forms a daring military plan and forges unlikely allies to combat the Tuits and end the Universal War once and for all.

Founded by Malcolm Petteway, Rage Books LLC publishes science fiction, fantasy and horror. Malcolm published three books through Iuniverse between 2001 and 2004 while he was in the military. After retiring from the military, Malcolm looked to begin his writing career in earnest. James Barnes came on board as the chief editor and between the two of them they decided to release Malcolm’s literary agent and begin Rage Books. Malcolm and Jim saw Rage Books as a publisher of trade paperback books for the new and struggling writer with a unique story. With the aid of family and friends, Malcolm launched Rage Books with his first Osguard book, Homecoming in September of 2009. Since then, Malcolm has printed second editions of the second and third books, Revelations and Armageddon, and released the fourth book in the series Revenge. With these novels as the launch pad, Rage Books’ goal is to grow and eventually contend with other independent trade publishers of science fiction, fantasy and horror, like Tor, DAW and Baen publishing.

“Malcolm Dylan Petteway has done it again. He has written a futuristic saga of revenge and redemption that boggles the mind and keeps you turning those pages. It is number three in a series of stories about the Osguards but he gives enough background information that the storyline can be easily followed. The Osguards are like old friends and the new characters are well fleshed out.”

   -- Reviewed by Alice Holman,
The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers Black Book Reviews



“Entertaining novel with vivid imagery!” The author, a retired AF officer, brings his knowledge of tactical weapons and strategic military background to the series in creating the universe of the Osguards: Guardians of The Universe. The story is well  written, and the characters come to life. Battle scenes are fast and furious, with vivid descriptions. My main problem with the story was my own fault. I read the first two novels in the series years ago, and have read hundreds of SF books since, so my memory of the previous entries was foggy, the characters not as clear as they should have been. This is a series the reader needs to read in sequence, and not with a long lapse of time between each story. I also felt there was too much of the story taking place on Earth, when the action should have been kept in space. For instance, when the Tuits destroy the five-planet solar system with thirty-five billion inhabitants, the reader is at a wedding on Earth. True, we are learning more about the characters, and Earth does have a role in the story, but I felt the action is unnecessarily slowed down to lengthen the book. Being a military science fiction novel, especially of this length, it should have had more space battles and less inaction to keep the story moving. Still, the author spins an exciting tale, and the Osguards have a fascinating history, with an even more interesting future.

Although each book is a stand-alone novel, I highly suggest the reader start with the first novel in the series. These are thick volumes, and the price is right, so begin reading them today!

   --Tom Johnson, Editor, Fading Shadows Magazines