Solar Warden by
Peter Fuller
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
An exciting and suspenseful military sci-fi that will have you on the edge of your seat!
Forty-some years ago my uncle gave me a science fiction anthology. It was a thick red hardback that I read from cover to cover. It inspired a lifelong love of the genre. The stories in that book made me think outside the box. They filled me with awe for the imagination it took to write them. That book still remains in my collection today. The title is OMNIBUS OF SCIENCE FICTION, edited by Groff Conklin, a well-known and prolific editor of the genre. It was published in 1952, the Golden Age of Science Fiction. It’s a substantial volume, 562 pages, with 43 stories divided into sections relating to a common theme. Some stories are fun, some are thought-provoking, and some are adventurous. I love them all.
Author Peter Fuller worked in the Military History Department of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for eight years. He has studied military history for decades. He has also written numerous articles and lectured at major museums and universities on the subject of military history. He is a regular panelist at NORWESCON - the Pacific Northwest’s Premier Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention.
He's a student of the UFO phenomenon since grade school, a member of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), and legend has it, he's had a few “close encounters” of his own! Having recently interviewed the son of a US military officer about his late father’s work on several special access projects for the secret space program, it’s no wonder this book had to be written!
Solar Warden by Peter Fuller is a wonderfully written and richly descriptive novel with brilliantly drawn settings and characters. The author weaves a well-crafted Military Science Fiction that will captivate the reader’s attention from the start. Skillfully constructed, this exciting and suspenseful sci-fi will have you turning the pages from beginning to end. There’s plenty of imagery in the writing style that makes you feel you are right there in the story, and that’s something I look for in a good book.
The book description gives a sneak preview: ‘US Air Force combat pilot Colonel Steve Richardson suffers a severe head injury when his F-35 crashes in the mountains of northern Afghanistan. Awaiting death, Richardson is convinced he's hallucinating when an unusual craft appears and rescues him. It conveys him to a massive spaceship in orbit where he receives treatment for his wounds.
Once recovered from his injury, Richardson is introduced to a covert space force called "Solar Warden" – a secret space program that has been in operation for forty years. It utilizes futuristic technology to defend earth against a paranormal alien threat determined to destroy earth's inhabitants. Everything he discovers is part of a breakaway civilization, completely unknown to the inhabitants of earth.
Richardson agrees to join the program, but he struggles to master technology half a century beyond his training and experience – technology that utilizes physics that hasn't even been discovered yet by the greatest minds back on earth.
Doubtful he can learn the skills necessary to become an asset to the program, Richardson fears he may become just another casualty in this interstellar war. Regardless, he presses forward, hoping he can help turn the tide of battle against an alien enemy that is even deadlier than it seems. An enemy with a supernatural, demonic nature that if victorious, could mean the end of humanity.’
This for me was a phenomenal read. It’s one of those stories that stayed with me long after I finished reading it. The vivid descriptions of the settings, situations, and the people were stunning. The author’s use of genuine dialogue further added to the overall atmosphere of authenticity. The contrast between tone and content is a characteristic talent of only a few authors. Fuller pays as much attention to his sentences as he does to his plots, shifting or consolidating meaning with the use of a single word. His writing is impeccably honed, full of juxtapositions and qualifications that help to create a genuine and realistic contemporary sci-fi novel.
It’s one of those books that comes along occasionally that will make you want to read it non-stop until you get to the end. For science fiction fans looking for an interesting, three-dimensional, and stimulating read, this would be a great find. I’m giving nothing further away here. And this, I hope, will only add to the mystery and enjoyment for the reader.
I’ll be looking forward to reading more from Peter Fuller in the future. I would recommend this book and also add that it has a distinctly cinematic feel to it. Highly recommended reading and a well-deserved five stars from me.
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