- Constitution: Book 1 of The Legacy Fleet Series

Currently about 30% through the book, so consider this an incomplete review. First, some non-spoiler-y things... Writing style is really solid. Dialogue is easy to follow and makes sense with the characters' styles. Nothing seems stilted or artificial. Even with the downsides that I'll list below, this is a solid read and I plan to finish it.Now, fair warning... ****** POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW ******If you're moderately well-versed in popular sci-fi of the last 10 years or so, let me toss out a couple of plot points for you to consider...* Aliens nearly wiped out humanity, then disappeared back to the depths of space.* Aliens have been absent for the last 75-ish years.* One of the last of the warships that humanity used in the first war is on its way to being decommissioned and turned into a museum-piece.* The captain was a bit of a troublemaker and is nearly the only one in the fleet preaching readiness instead of complacency.* The XO is the captain's best friend, and is an alcoholic.* Some people in humanity have 'sold out' and made a deal with the aliens.* The aliens are going back on their deal and have come to wipe out humanity.* There's a 'back door' in humans' new generation of starships that will allow the aliens to easily destroy all of them...except for the one retiring ship.Ummm...don't know about you guys, but I saw Battlestar Galactica too.

This is my first review. I don't normally review anything. But I bought this book and felt the need to comment because, well, it's really not very good. I'd like to comment constructively in case the author reads, I don't want to denigrate the effort that it took to write this book.In a nutshell, this book is Battlestar Galactica, as everyone else has commented. I mean, not just derivative, but like a direct copy of it. I'd go so far as to say it's plagiarism... I couldn't get past chapter 25, and I have always finished every book i ever start except for one. Why read this when I know exactly how the story goes?I mean, the basic narrative structure of all stories is very similar (check out Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey). So many stories share a similar plot STRUCTURE. But not the actual plot points. Changing the names of the characters but using the same plot is unoriginal at best. Here's a quick summary of all the points this story shares with BSG:1. Cantankerous old captain in outdated starship2. Grouchy alcoholic XO3. Old ship slated to be turned into a museum4. Alien battle almost destroyed earth 70 years ago5. aliens disappeared then, haven't been seen since6. A traitor to humanity gave them the backdoor to our current tech7. They use this backdoor to attack8. Outdated spaceship is only one immune to this attack9. this ship shepherds a civilian fleetI can't even bring myself to continue.This author also needs a bit of work and critique to up his game. The characters are flat, unchanging, and boring. The dialogue is stilted and unrealistic. The cast is shallow and monochromatic, and as other reviewers have pointed out, anglocentric, white-centric, us-centric. It's just not believable.In any case, it takes a lot to write something. I certainly haven't written a novel. There's a value to putting out work even if it's not great. I just wish I'd not spent the money on it. I hope the author can continue to write and continue to improve. But this feels like a student novel, not something a reputable publisher would put out.

Hadn't read any of Nick Webb's books before but boy am I glad I finally gave Constitution a whirl. When the book gets going, its really never lets up. Nick Webb is a fantastic writer, and creates a blistering pace that flows so well. The action is solid, suspenseful and each chapter ends in ways that demand you keep reading. I found myself having to force myself to stop so I could do other things, like sleeping and eating! All in all this is a great, rock 'em sock 'em military sci-fi adventure and great start to the Legacy Fleet trilogy.There are a few reasons why I couldn't give this book a five-star review:1.) The Battlestar Galactica similarities are glaring, especially in the beginning. Even down to the titular ship about to be turned into a museum and being the one ship that can repel the Swarm when all newer vessels' tech is compromised. And let's not forget that Abe Haws, the main character's XO is basically Colonel Saul Tigh in everything but wife and name.2.) A small gripe, but the characters's physical descriptions were almost non-existent. Other than maybe Haws (who I just imagined as a bearded Col. Tigh), I really couldn't tell you want any other character looked like. Again, a personal gripe of mine but I like being able to visualize the characters through the writing and didn't feel I could do that here.3.) This was a big issue I've noticed in many futuristic sci-fi novels. The story takes place in the 27th century and there is like ZERO diversity among the main characters. Not really realistic at all given how diverse the US and other parts of the world are. We should have seen some Indian or Chinese characters in the main cast since in 2016 both countries combined equate 1/3 of Earth's population.4.) The threat to Earth was too focused on the US. The Swarm should have felt like a more global threat and not so US focused. Just saying.5.) The main character at times was stubborn to the point of stupidity in several instances, basically got a get out of jail free card for what should have been a terminal health issue at the end. I'm hoping that will be explained further in the next two books.Don't get me wrong, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. Those points just subtracted from what could have been one of the best sci-fi novels I've read this year. Looking forward to reading Warrior!

Generously giving one star!I have read better pre-teen essays written by those who prefer mathematics than EnglishThe author appears to have been motivated to write this rubbish after having read "Ark Royal" but omitted much of the jeopardy and character build-up. Story is further ruined by silly parts such as flight commander ordering individuals to kamikaze and them happy to obey! And how silly it is that despite the ""swarm's" vastly superior fire power, the human fleet somehow seems to not be whittled away. Then, finally, the silly ending that sets up more silly questions presumably to be addressed in the sequel. I won't waste any more money on that!!!

Well, Star Trek it definitely isn't. I know you can't expect everyone in SF to write like Banks, Hamilton or Asimov etc., but it's difficult to describe just how poorly written this book is. It's had some reasonable reviews so I maybe expected too much.It's very old-fashioned, like it was written in the 1950s when the Cold War was still going strong. The Russians are responsible for all the bad stuff (even for the aliens, unbelievably). The characters are incredibly 2 dimensional (Fishtail, Ballsy, Pluck, etc - I kid you not), and poorly written with the lead character being particularly bad. He says Damn, Dammit, Dammit all, or DAMMIT! on almost every page. This reminded me of a sketch by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie some years ago where they kept shouting Damn every couple of minutes. In the book, this becomes so funny that for the first couple of chapters I thought it might be a spoof comedy."Get the old bird in the air commander". "Aye aye Cap'n". We'll give them an ass-whooping they won't soon forget" I'm not making this up. These are actual quotes and it's how the book is written! It alternates between shooty chapters and schmaltzy chapters. I ended up skimming through the chapters but still couldn't finish it.If you can disengage your brain and accept it as a simple shoot-em-up comic, written for kids, then you may get through it. If not, then don't waste your time.

Got this as it was advertised cheap on Kindle for just £2.99. An enjoyable, fast-paced read that's difficult to get bored with because it doesn't stand still for long. However, the characters are paper-thin and there's not enough world-building. It pretty much reads like the script for the first episode of a TV series. I know it's the first in a series but it's essentially just one long battle and seems to take place in a single day or so. Only near the end is a larger conspiracy cited at.I would like to continue reading the rest of the series but I do find the next books are a rip off. I bought the first for £2.99 but the rest are £5.99 each, which is expensive for such short books. The cheapness of the first book seems like a sales pitch to get you hooked.

A terminal cancer diagnosis. The faithful XO, about to retire, with a major alcohol problem. The last ancient but still active warship being decommissioned and turned into a museum. An unstoppable alien attack which, for no known reason, pulled back and departed some 75 years previously never to be seen since. Until now. Sounds familiar?But don't let these similarities with Battlestar Galactica put you off. The initial scenario might feel familiar but the story progresses into new conspiracy ground and looks promising for future volumes. The battle scenes are well written, dialogue and interaction between protagonists is good and the whole is an interesting start to what promises to be a very readable series.

As an avid reader of Science Fiction/Space Operas it can be difficult to find books with original ideas or an author with talent enough to approach the familiar from a fresh angle.First off I'm surprised at the amount of reviews which have negatively and quite incorrectly compared Constitution to Battlestar Galactica, admittedly there is a small similarity at the start of the book however it soon breaks away from this to stand on its own as a strong story with well developed and realistic characters who the reader warms to as the story goes on and they become fully realized individuals who I as the reader wanted to succeed against the enemy. There is also a thread of political intrigue which runs through the book but this takes the back burner against the main story however I'm sure this will be expanded on over the next 2 books.But really Battlestar Galactica? Nope, those readers either didn't get past the first few chapters of the book or beyond the pilot episode of BSG.I actually purchased the next 2 books Warrior and Victory when I was about a quarter into Constitution and found the story compelling, finishing the book in around 3 days. I don't need to go over the story line or throw in any spoilers as there are plenty of other reviews to read for these details.The Legacy Fleet world has also been been expanded on further by Authors Moira Katson (Meridian) and Saul Tanpepper (Ascendance). Moira kindly sent me a copy of Meridian to read for and give an honest review but as I wasn't familiar with The Legacy Fleet series I felt the beginning is always a good place to start and I strongly recommend you do too. I don't think you will be disappointed.