(First Conquest) (Stellar Conquest Series Book 1)

Lots of sci-fi battle action and alien warfare. The book involves a whole fleet of human made warships tasked with conquering the enemy aliens and establishing a new human civilization - or to die trying. The final battle is complex and there are many twists and turns, in an exciting battle to the death.

DVD hads written a SyFy novel of the 23rd century where humans are attempting to settle planets to organize an intergalactic war. The war is to attack the aliens that attacked Earth. This novel appears to be the first of many to follow. This is an excellent read for the genre..... ER

Spinoff of the Plague War series which was excellent. This series is also excellent. Fast moving and engaging and easy to read. With these books you get a great detailed in depth story that is science fiction all the way. If you want something entertaining that will keep you tied up awhile, I would definitely recommend both series.

The battle scenes are flat, which is a problem because most of the book is a space battle. Some of the ideas are interesting (launching rail gun projectiles to arrive in clouds of tens of thousands at very high speeds), but overall it just isn't gripping.

The other problem is that despite the title, this book occurs about the middle of the story arc. The result is a lot of confusion and missing back story.
Oddly that doesn't matter much because the characters are so uninteresting.

Seems a bit overrated to me. There's nothing new or innovative about the science side of this sci-fi tale. Both the general idea of cybernetic implants and even the specific detail of a woman with retractable razor-blades in her fingers were done better by William Gibson in 1984's "Neuromancer". Characters were flat and one-dimensional. One thing which grated on my nerves was the way that, even in this distant future where humanity is waging a fight for its very survival against an alien force bent on extermination and which has already killed billions of people, the characters are all drawn with an eye to early 21st century US identity politics. So we get the careful 50-50 balance of male and female soldiers, the black one, the Hispanic one, the Asian one, the Jewish one, the homosexual one, etc - though no transgender character, which suggests Van Dyke is not quite up to speed with the latest American craze.

On the plus side it's fairly fast paced, action-packed space opera, and the "Memes" are good villains. So if you can overlook the problems I mentioned, give it an extra star.

This was a another book in a string of wonderful books, beginning with the Plague Wars series and progressing through this first of the five books of the Stellar Conquest series.

It has been a fantastic ride, each book with a new set of twists and rolls through the fabric of a plausible galaxy starting in our own times today. His characters have remained with us, a collection of dutiful, farsighted, a-political, honorable men and women who sometimes break stereotypes.

As a series should be read in its entirety, I feel it's best to state all of this up-front, and I did, so readers will stick with the series.

Thanks, David, to the amazing ride from our near future and out into the Galaxy!

I received a copy of this book for my honest opinion, but I would have happily paid for it.

I read this story a couple of years ago and reading it now brings rays of sunshine trying to get out of my body to light the way for others to read this amazing story.

Marines fighting aliens (Memes) in their home world. Taking it to them and making friends along the way with the new found aliens of the Hippos. Back to characters that I know and love and new characters as needed. All our heroes are blessed with The The Eden Plague (Plague Wars Series Book 0), from the first book , which quickly heals broken, shot and/or injured bodies. Then, along came the nanonites, which made for either super men or super psychos. I would especially like to see more Blends of Humans and Memes in the future. I really appreciate good strategy and there is plenty of it in this story. Onward and outward.

Many many thanks to David VanDyke who provided me with the gifted kindle book from the store and who just happens to be my favorite author.

This book was a very enjoyable read. It reminds me of David Weber in all the right ways.
~The author has created a comprehensive galaxy. The technology and implications of that technology are well thought out and developed.
~I really enjoyed the tactics of the space warfare were great, and there were weapons new and old. I enjoyed the tactics this spread of weapons enabled. You can tell the author has a very good understanding of military doctrine and life from direct experience.
~The alien life is interesting and the different races well developed. I appreciate how each has their own unique culture and personalities to bring to the story.
~I find the story engaging almost the entire way through the book. It is well written and continually makes you want to know what will happen next.

I liked this book, although I thought it was really combat heavy. Describing ships, weapons and tactics. I would have preferred to see more character development. I realize the humans were at war for their ultimate survival so I give it some slack. I'm hoping the next book focuses more on the characters. I think sci-fi and military genre lovers would both like this book.

Let me first start by saying that even though this book is the beginning of a new series, if you want to enjoy the whole journey please read the "Plague Wars Series" first..This book takes you in an incredible journey where humanity survival is at stakes...humans have left earth trying to colonize new planets in order to guarantee the survival of the species..finding new planets is not hard, trying to take them from the meme is another story...we have spooky doing what he does best(creating trouble lol) along with some old friends...an epic space battle where sacrifices are made and the possible gain of new allies make this book a worthy start of a great series..highly recommended..

-1 star

You pay a dollar and that is what you get. This so-called story is terrible The characters are one dimensional and card board cutouts. The so called Senior Master Sargent, whom is a female by the way, would have never, and I repeat never made it past week ten in any real Marine Corps.

As a former military person I can tell you hat this author has never served in any military, and hasn't a clue about how the military works.

If you want to read "Military Sci-Fi", then read the likes of J Allen and a few others here who are real authors, not this one. I'd return it, but it was only a dollar and returning it isn't worth my time.

I first read this book as a novella before it was turned into a stand alone book. This was the book that introduced me to two great series of books, Plague Wars & Stellar Conquest. While the Stellar Conquest books can be read on their own merits you will get a lot more out of it if you read the Plague Wars series first. Anyway, why would you not want to miss the opportunity to read a great series and get to know the characters right from the beginning.
This books charts humanity's first journey out of the solar system as they take the fight to the dreaded, cunning, heartless calculating Meme...Great stuff!

The book that started it all. I read this book as part of a bundle. The only thing I can say is that David vandyke's books are, easily, on the top 3 in my list. This was the book that started my endless Chase for indie authors and indie books. Mr. Vandyke's books are well written , the plot are VERY interesting and they have the scenes make sense. I would give 6 starts if I could.

A real scenario...our government has contingency plans for alien contact, we even have a " space" liaison in our government, not sure if that's the actual title, but firemen and some schools on earth have drills for it! So, very well written and enjoyable.

The battle scenes are flat, which is a problem because most of the book is a space battle. Some of the ideas are interesting (launching rail gun projectiles to arrive in clouds of tens of thousands at very high speeds), but overall it just isn't gripping.

The other problem is that despite the title, this book occurs about the middle of the story arc. The result is a lot of confusion and missing back story.
Oddly that doesn't matter much because the characters are so uninteresting.

Seems a bit overrated to me. There's nothing new or innovative about the science side of this sci-fi tale. Both the general idea of cybernetic implants and even the specific detail of a woman with retractable razor-blades in her fingers were done better by William Gibson in 1984's "Neuromancer". Characters were flat and one-dimensional. One thing which grated on my nerves was the way that, even in this distant future where humanity is waging a fight for its very survival against an alien force bent on extermination and which has already killed billions of people, the characters are all drawn with an eye to early 21st century US identity politics. So we get the careful 50-50 balance of male and female soldiers, the black one, the Hispanic one, the Asian one, the Jewish one, the homosexual one, etc - though no transgender character, which suggests Van Dyke is not quite up to speed with the latest American craze.

On the plus side it's fairly fast paced, action-packed space opera, and the "Memes" are good villains. So if you can overlook the problems I mentioned, give it an extra star.

This was a another book in a string of wonderful books, beginning with the Plague Wars series and progressing through this first of the five books of the Stellar Conquest series.

It has been a fantastic ride, each book with a new set of twists and rolls through the fabric of a plausible galaxy starting in our own times today. His characters have remained with us, a collection of dutiful, farsighted, a-political, honorable men and women who sometimes break stereotypes.

As a series should be read in its entirety, I feel it's best to state all of this up-front, and I did, so readers will stick with the series.

Thanks, David, to the amazing ride from our near future and out into the Galaxy!

I received a copy of this book for my honest opinion, but I would have happily paid for it.

I read this story a couple of years ago and reading it now brings rays of sunshine trying to get out of my body to light the way for others to read this amazing story.

Marines fighting aliens (Memes) in their home world. Taking it to them and making friends along the way with the new found aliens of the Hippos. Back to characters that I know and love and new characters as needed. All our heroes are blessed with The The Eden Plague (Plague Wars Series Book 0), from the first book , which quickly heals broken, shot and/or injured bodies. Then, along came the nanonites, which made for either super men or super psychos. I would especially like to see more Blends of Humans and Memes in the future. I really appreciate good strategy and there is plenty of it in this story. Onward and outward.

Many many thanks to David VanDyke who provided me with the gifted kindle book from the store and who just happens to be my favorite author.

This book was a very enjoyable read. It reminds me of David Weber in all the right ways.
~The author has created a comprehensive galaxy. The technology and implications of that technology are well thought out and developed.
~I really enjoyed the tactics of the space warfare were great, and there were weapons new and old. I enjoyed the tactics this spread of weapons enabled. You can tell the author has a very good understanding of military doctrine and life from direct experience.
~The alien life is interesting and the different races well developed. I appreciate how each has their own unique culture and personalities to bring to the story.
~I find the story engaging almost the entire way through the book. It is well written and continually makes you want to know what will happen next.

I liked this book, although I thought it was really combat heavy. Describing ships, weapons and tactics. I would have preferred to see more character development. I realize the humans were at war for their ultimate survival so I give it some slack. I'm hoping the next book focuses more on the characters. I think sci-fi and military genre lovers would both like this book.

Let me first start by saying that even though this book is the beginning of a new series, if you want to enjoy the whole journey please read the "Plague Wars Series" first..This book takes you in an incredible journey where humanity survival is at stakes...humans have left earth trying to colonize new planets in order to guarantee the survival of the species..finding new planets is not hard, trying to take them from the meme is another story...we have spooky doing what he does best(creating trouble lol) along with some old friends...an epic space battle where sacrifices are made and the possible gain of new allies make this book a worthy start of a great series..highly recommended..

-1 star

You pay a dollar and that is what you get. This so-called story is terrible The characters are one dimensional and card board cutouts. The so called Senior Master Sargent, whom is a female by the way, would have never, and I repeat never made it past week ten in any real Marine Corps.

As a former military person I can tell you hat this author has never served in any military, and hasn't a clue about how the military works.

If you want to read "Military Sci-Fi", then read the likes of J Allen and a few others here who are real authors, not this one. I'd return it, but it was only a dollar and returning it isn't worth my time.

I first read this book as a novella before it was turned into a stand alone book. This was the book that introduced me to two great series of books, Plague Wars & Stellar Conquest. While the Stellar Conquest books can be read on their own merits you will get a lot more out of it if you read the Plague Wars series first. Anyway, why would you not want to miss the opportunity to read a great series and get to know the characters right from the beginning.
This books charts humanity's first journey out of the solar system as they take the fight to the dreaded, cunning, heartless calculating Meme...Great stuff!

The book that started it all. I read this book as part of a bundle. The only thing I can say is that David vandyke's books are, easily, on the top 3 in my list. This was the book that started my endless Chase for indie authors and indie books. Mr. Vandyke's books are well written , the plot are VERY interesting and they have the scenes make sense. I would give 6 starts if I could.

A real scenario...our government has contingency plans for alien contact, we even have a " space" liaison in our government, not sure if that's the actual title, but firemen and some schools on earth have drills for it! So, very well written and enjoyable.

Starship Conquest was my first foray into the Plague Wars universe created by David VanDyke. Consider me a fan. I loved the story, the characters, and the world-building. It was tough to put it down. I just finished Reaper's Run, and can't wait to read all the books. I most definitely recommend!

Great use of technology. Really enjoyed the high level of action. I thought story had an excellent story line with very good editing. The entire series - this being first story of this series - is well worth reading. Highly recommend book & series.

I originally read this as one story in a collection, then proceeded to rapidly read the other books in the series. This is a good series. Read it starting with this book and also read the Plague Wars series starting with The Eden Plague.

A good read. A phyric victory that will lead to racial survival. Not a new theme but with a few novel twists to give this book that extra bit of originality. And of course a baddy gets away so that we can have more.

This book starts after the Eden Plague War Series, which is an excellent series, it is not necessary to read them as the author does a good job of getting you up to speed. If you are in to sci fi combat/ space opera type books, you will enjoy this series.