“The Oncoming Storm” eBook was published in 2015 and was written by Christopher Nuttall (http://www.chrishanger.net). Mr. Nuttall has published more than 20 novels and this is the first in his “Angel in the Whirlwind” Science Fiction series.
I obtained a galley of this novel for review through https://www.netgalley.com. I would categorize this novel as ‘R’ as there are instances of Violence, Mature Language and Mature Situations. This Science Fiction novel is set in the year 2420. Humanity has spread to the stars, but there has been a rebellion and Earth is now gone.
The primary character is Katherine “Kat” Falcone who has just been appointed Captain of the newest Commonwealth warship, the HMS CA Lightning. Falcone has been through the academy and served aboard various ships, having just finished a tour as Executive Officer. As a result of her wealthy and powerful father’s influence she has unexpectedly been assigned as the Captain of the Lightning.
While Falcone resents her father’s unwanted influence, she does her best to step up to the responsibility she has been given. Her father has more than just his daughter’s professional success in mind with the appointment. He, and many others in the Commonwealth, believe that a war with the neighboring star system, the Theocracy, is looming. He wants Falcone to investigate what is going on in the Cadiz system where she and her ship are being posted. Cadiz is on the border with the Theocracy and there is considerable doubt in the minds of some if proper military preparations are being made.
After an eventful trip to Cadiz escorting a freighter convoy, Falcone arrives at Cadiz to find the situation worse than expected. She and her crew struggle to do what they can to ready the 6th Fleet stationed at Cadiz. It becomes a race to see what can be done before the war that she now sees as imminent crushes Cadiz.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 8.5 hours I spent with this novel. It reminded me a lot of David Weber’s “Honor Harrington” series. The premise was similar, but the plot was different enough to make it a fresh read. The radical, religious extremist controlled Theocracy makes for a good adversary in this story. Kat Falcone’s character makes another strong female role in Science Fiction. I look forward to reading more stories about her. I give this novel a 5 out of 5.
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John's Notes 