"The Oppressed" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Matt Thomas. This is Mr. Thomas' second publication. This is the first in his "Wroth Worlds" series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in the far future. The primary character is Bryan Howe leader of Free Human Special Forces Detachment 8222.

Earth had been invaded and conquered by the Hetarek. Much of the human population on Earth has been exterminated. The remainder has become Hetarek slaves. A few from Earth escaped the Hetarek and, with the help of the Ahai, have fled to the stars. The Free Human forces have begun to fight back against the Hetarek. They have already taken a few systems, now they have set their sights on Earth.

Howe and his team are inserted on Earth to start building a guerrilla army to rise up and assist in an invasion of Earth. But Howe and his team have a difficult job. Not only do the Hetarek keep a close and ruthless watch on the remaining humans, but the humans consider Howe and his colleagues "Runners'. They are looked down upon because the humans that have survived on Earth feel that they were abandoned. With a generation having passed, it is difficult to recruit survivors to risk everything to support the 'Runners'.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 11+ hours I spent reading this 375-page science fiction novel. I liked the plot of a conquered Earth being retaken. There is a lot of action and not all of the characters you start out with survive. This is just the beginning of the story of a much longer struggle. The cover art is OK, but I would have preferred something closer to the storyline. I give this novel a 5 out of 5.

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The Oppressed centers around an alien invasion. Twenty years ago aliens culled 90 percent of the population. Some called the runners escaped into space. They have returned to free those trapped and oppressed on earth. Nothing ever goes like it should though. It's an engaging story with a unique premise. The story moves at a good pace with plenty of action. Overall a good read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a well written 'first contact' after the fact - 20 years after the Hetarek had 'culled' 90 percent of the human population. The humans who escaped into space (the Runners) return to try to free the Eart and those left behind. As usual, the best laid plans go astray...
Excellent book, ready for the next in the series!

Okay, so this was an interesting premise. I really loved how complicated the plot was and shows how the author must've planned out the book to ensure all loose ends were tied up. I immensely enjoyed this story. It is set in space so of course it's my cup of tea. The action and character arc were intriguing but left me unsatisfied with the ending.

Still, I recommend it to sci-fi fans!

This is onr of those stories that you have to be patient and get through the dull set-up necessary for a complicated plot. The Special forces characters are well developed, the others not so much. The two alien species are different enough and realistic that they work well in the story without getting too complicated. I do hope that this book will recieve further editing because there were many places where words and letters are mis-placed or missing. It was almost fun to try and figure out what the correct word should have been. Otherwise the writing was well done.

The book is fast paced. Plot was non stop action. I enjoyed the story Thomas told. It is an original tale.