Hi, all.
I was just wondering: has anyone else read the military-scifi series: "Helfort Wars" by Graham Sharp Paul?
I read the first three a few years ago when they came out, but I haven't touched 'em since. Now I find that number five is out I felt like starting again.
I'm about 82% (according to my Kindle) through the first one, and I'd forgotten how much I liked it.
I think the main reason I like it is the "space physics", if that's a term. I've always been slightly annoyed that in "most" scifi you get starships arrive on the same plane as each other, and within visual range of each other, and sometimes even fighters, or interceptors, are launched. While I claim to be no astrophysicist, it seems that "most" scifi forgets the 3D, 360 degree, unimaginable void that is space.
These are rectified in Helfort. Ships never "see" each other, other than through super-zoom holocams, and ships engage each other from around 800,000 km away. Missile strikes take 12 minutes to reach you, and rail-gun volleys, travelling at mind-boggling velocities, can take a while to reach you, too. Fighters don't exist as space is too vast, and you never get that close.
Also, I like the "ballet" of space battles in the books: ships are always moving, at speeds of something around 300,000 kmh, and at that speed, it takes hours to slow down, so combat is a game where each side tries to judge where the enemy will be and launch their salvoes to meet the enemy ships 14 minutes away, all the while lasers, which don't miss, are flaying your armour apart. just like shooting at aeroplanes now, but over 3 billion cubic kilometres.
All the technology in the book is also very believable, but maybe not to the extent that humanity has colonised hundreds of solar systems in only three-hundred years. But who knows?
My only "gripe" with the stories are I don't think the character development is all it could be. Characters seemingly just become "names" on pages, even the protagonist to some extent. A solar map would be nice, too.
Normally I would hate that, who doesn't want believable characters, but I'm still reading, so maybe I like the "space ballet" more than I thought I did.
I'm read a two of David Webber's Honor Harrington books, but I think that Helfort is better, and a lot easier to read. However, saying that, Honor got the "space ballet" correct.
So, has anyone else read these? What did you think? Is there anything else like them out there? Please, no Lost Fleet, I really didn't like that.
I was just wondering: has anyone else read the military-scifi series: "Helfort Wars" by Graham Sharp Paul?
I read the first three a few years ago when they came out, but I haven't touched 'em since. Now I find that number five is out I felt like starting again.
I'm about 82% (according to my Kindle) through the first one, and I'd forgotten how much I liked it.
I think the main reason I like it is the "space physics", if that's a term. I've always been slightly annoyed that in "most" scifi you get starships arrive on the same plane as each other, and within visual range of each other, and sometimes even fighters, or interceptors, are launched. While I claim to be no astrophysicist, it seems that "most" scifi forgets the 3D, 360 degree, unimaginable void that is space.
These are rectified in Helfort. Ships never "see" each other, other than through super-zoom holocams, and ships engage each other from around 800,000 km away. Missile strikes take 12 minutes to reach you, and rail-gun volleys, travelling at mind-boggling velocities, can take a while to reach you, too. Fighters don't exist as space is too vast, and you never get that close.
Also, I like the "ballet" of space battles in the books: ships are always moving, at speeds of something around 300,000 kmh, and at that speed, it takes hours to slow down, so combat is a game where each side tries to judge where the enemy will be and launch their salvoes to meet the enemy ships 14 minutes away, all the while lasers, which don't miss, are flaying your armour apart. just like shooting at aeroplanes now, but over 3 billion cubic kilometres.
All the technology in the book is also very believable, but maybe not to the extent that humanity has colonised hundreds of solar systems in only three-hundred years. But who knows?
My only "gripe" with the stories are I don't think the character development is all it could be. Characters seemingly just become "names" on pages, even the protagonist to some extent. A solar map would be nice, too.
Normally I would hate that, who doesn't want believable characters, but I'm still reading, so maybe I like the "space ballet" more than I thought I did.
I'm read a two of David Webber's Honor Harrington books, but I think that Helfort is better, and a lot easier to read. However, saying that, Honor got the "space ballet" correct.
So, has anyone else read these? What did you think? Is there anything else like them out there? Please, no Lost Fleet, I really didn't like that.
