Angel Six Echo

The description of this book hints at the creativity and propelling story within. As a science fiction enthusiast, I was not disappointed and found much to enjoy in this book.

There is something gleefully old school about this bit of space warfare and after a lot of cerebral sci-fi I have to admit it was welcome. We start in media res with out veteran putting on her inherited space battle armour despite being out of the game. The war isn't all that nuanced or deep - its settlers versus navy with a side order of alien intervention, but the hook is that the space armour is in itself alien and no human has ever successfully bonded with it before. Our heroine wants to enter the fray to keep her husband safe - he has signed up on a foolish whim. In many ways the motivation isn't the point, we have some moral dilemmas about the changes the alien tech is forcing on her, the effect of a free agent in a complex space war and the grunt side view of attrition warfare.

That makes it sound grim, but weirdly it is anything but. Appleton starts at a relatively staid trot but once he gets it it he lets loose on his language and the stuff flies like some gonzo fifties pulp. It doesn't all work - but there is a glorious sense of style in something like ""She's here to watch over someone, like an angel in the field. She's here for love, Trillion. Good old-fashioned crazy strike-me-down love." And actually out of what felt like a pretty generic set-up he manages to pull a few interesting metaphysical surprises out  of the bag  - along with secrecy and misunderstanding that would grace any half-arsed romcom. 

Fun, done in one and reveling in its stock characters, Angel Six Echo is no masterpiece. But it is also pretty honest about the thrills involved, and works as adventure, pulp, sci-fi and romance. And its been a while since I've read something that does all of that without pretension.

ANGEL SIX ECHO by Robert Appleton is the first book that I have read by this author. It is a combination of science fiction action-adventure and a love story and is told from three perspectives: Gaby Rojas, who has retired from the military black ops; her husband Dalton Volante who is a high school teacher history teacher that has volunteered to fight for the colonies, and law enforcement detective Ferrix Vaughn. Dalton is sent to Orontes, a disputed mining planet. Gabby decides to protect her husband, acquires a combat suit left to her by a dying warrior race, and heads to Orontes as well. What follows is an adventure that kept me captivated.

Gaby and Dalton are engaging characters that have a lot of depth. Volante is not quite as well developed. They are easy to like and root for. The secondary characters are not as well-developed but they enhanced the story. The internal and external conflicts were well defined; arising out of characterization and circumstance rather than feeling forced or contrived. 

The story starts out somewhat slowly and seemingly disjointed, but it gives the author an opportunity for both character and world-building. Then the story comes together and the story line advances rapidly with metaphysical surprises, action, betrayal, and some occasional humor. Themes also include friendship, love, officer expertise, and much more. What an ending!

Overall, this was an action-packed, compelling and entertaining novel with love and a fight over natural resources at its core. I highly recommend this to those that enjoy action-packed science fiction stories. The expected publication date is November 17, 2020. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

BooksGoSocial and Robert Appleton provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a unique take on scifi novel. I really enjoyed going on this journey and I look forward to more from the author.

This is a military space adventure on the front lines of a bitter standoff. Gabby, a retired black ops soldier, is on a one-woman mission to save her husband Dalton, a school teacher who volunteered to fight. The main characters are better developed than you might expect in an action story. This is a big war and a big world, but the story is focused on a small group of characters and mainly the story of Gabby and Dalton. There is interesting worldbuilding without being distracting or wandering into tangents. The story went places I did not expect. The action was exciting and tense. The love story was heartwarming without being too sweet or feeling shoehorned in. The end is great for a stand-alone and was not what I expected. I loved it. It was satisfying and fit the tone and themes. It leaves enough of an opening for a follow-up to make this a possible series in the future.

Tope rate Military Science-Fiction about true love. In all of it's violence there's a beauty to the whole tale that is forever in your mind. One for all sci-fi fans and even those for whom sci-fi isn't their main or even least favourite genre.

Highly Recommended

Angel Six Echo is one of the most original science fiction stand alone books I've read in quite some time. The story is told from two points of view the first being Gabby Rojas. She is a highly trained retired military fighter who obtains a warriors battle suit from a race of aliens she worked with closely in the past. The reason? To get to the planet that her husband went to fight on against her wishes. The other point of view is from her husband, Dalton. Fighting, on a planet far from home, for what he believes is a just cause. 
Gabby and the suit are slowly becoming one. With guidance from the lives of the previous warriors who had worn the suit, Gabby realizes that the changes that are going to take place cannot be reversed. If she can get her husband off this planet alive...it will be all worth it. 
So really, at this books heart, is a love story, and what you will fight to keep your loved ones alive. Definitely worth reading. It is a fast paced read, and like I said previously, very original. Loved it!

This was a thoroughly entertaining read. Gabby is a super-soldier, trained from childhood to become part of an infamous black ops unit. Until she broke – both physically and mentally. And Dalton, kind, non-judgemental and caring helped put her back together again – and in the process of doing so, they fell in love… The relationship between them is touchingly portrayed – they are clearly passionate about each other. And I liked them both very much. Dalton is rather goofy, easy-going and with a charm that is attractive. Not innate super-soldier material, so it’s just as well that he’s a coms specialist, tasked with keeping in touch with those out on the front line, trying to stave off the increasingly bleak odds they are facing. Gabby is driven, single-minded and ruthless. She doesn’t kill needlessly, but will do so without a qualm if it becomes necessary.

The supporting characters worked well and I thought the battle scenes were well written. Appleton manages to balance the necessary explanation and the full-on action without losing the reader or holding up the pace, which is harder to do than he makes it look. I liked the fact that things often went wrong – plans didn’t work out, and those in the front line paid the price. There are deaths of characters I’d grown to like, but nothing that felt manipulative or careless. Gabby’s relationship with the suit was well handled – inevitably there was stuff that wasn’t explained, because neither Gabby nor the suit really knew what was going on. But I felt that was okay.

What, for me, was never really tackled adequately, was why Dalton – kind, caring husband who knew his wife was emotionally very reliant on him – suddenly ups and leaves for the front line. He always talks of her with great fondness, evidently missing her. And yet, even though he knew she was desperate for him to stay – he left. I would have been a lot happier if he’d been randomly picked in some sort of lottery system, for example.

But other than that one niggle, I found this to be an engrossing and at times, really poignant story of love, loss and hard decisions made in the heat of battle. Oh, and some really nasty aliens! The ending wasn’t what I was expecting, but it did work. Recommended for fans of character-led military sci fi adventure.
8/10

This is an interesting look at the future.  There are two different alien forces that want to take over the world.  They fight with each other and the humans.  When her husband enters the war, she suits up and heads out to help protect him.

Book go social and Net Galley let me read this book for review.  It has been published so you can grab a copy now.

She used to be in Special Ops so she has all kinds of weapons normal folks don't.  She has a suit that forms to her body and gives her powers she didn't have before.  When she finds her husband, he's hunkered down trying to keep living despite the weapons the enemy uses.  She starts by taking out the snipers...

This is full of action, war in a new form. She's a determined war machine but will she be able to stop them?  She's by herself and she's fighting multiple aliens.  They call her Angel Six...

You won't be bored reading this.