Review of Forsaken Earth by Dalton Cortner

Forsaken Earth

by Dalton Cortner

Mil SF - 40 pages

Forsaken Earth is a prequel story (short novella) to Dalton Cortner's military sci-fi two-book series, The Athena Operation. It's a pretty good entry-point adventure focusing on two key characters in the author's main novels. This episode has Seraph, a human, and his alien soldier-at-arms, Sadhis, investigating a potential uprising on the long forsaken planet Earth. As the blurb states: "Earth is abandoned. Those left behind refuse to be silenced." I thought the action, tension, and revenge motivation reflected the war-torn environment of a future devastated Earth pretty well. The two soldiers are not on the same page with regard to the ultimate mission (the capture of the rebel leader), which makes for a nice subplot to the story. It's gritty, fast-paced, and without a lot of techno-jargon, which I appreciate. Now it does have a few too many f-bombs for my taste, but those of you who follow my reviews know this is a common complaint of mine - but then I am reading mil/sf. Heh. If you are looking for a new short series to jump into, grab this story and the two other books in The Athena Operation. I'll give it 3.5 stars, so not bad for a relatively new writer. The story telling is generally solid and gets the job done. You should know that the author contacted me and asked if I would review the story, but you can also get it free from his website by signing up for his newsletter at www.daltoncortner.com. Here's the blurb for The Athena Operation series: The entire universe is being purged. Seraph Aydrian is the furthest thing from a model soldier. He's one reprimand away from a dishonorable discharge. Time off from the military didn't sound so bad. But when the seythra betray the universe and start killing everyone indiscriminately, Seraph knows he is going to have to fight for every second he continues breathing. Forced to band together with soldiers, mercenaries, and civilians, Seraph is tasked with leading the fight against the seythra. He must uncover the sinister plot of why the most-trusted species in the universe turned on everyone at the height of their respect and accomplishments. Can Seraph and his team put a stop to the chaos and destruction? Or will the seythra put them among the numbers of the dead they've amassed? <><> PS Subscribe to my sf/f newsletter and receive an e-book as a thank you gift. (Affiliate links used above.)