C.C. Ekeke, Star Brigade: First Renaissance

Star Brigade: First Renaissance

C.C. Ekeke

Llumina Press, May 2006, $21.95

ISBN: 159526387X

In 2403, POW fighter pilot Habraum Nwosu is freed, having been captured during the Ferronos Sector War. He does not know what to expect in terms of an assignment, except probably some desk job when he comes home to Cercidale, though he knew he would receive heroic accolades from the leaders of the Galactic Union of Planetary Republics. Instead, to his shock, because of his training and genetic engineered skills, he is placed in charge of a new elite unit, the Star Brigade consisting of the most experienced best of the best to fight invincible ever changing enemy terrorists.

Almost a decade later, a weary defeated Habraum goes home to mourn his wife's death in a horrific cargo freighter incident, and to wallow with guilt as a sneak attack wiped out his Star Brigade unit. He takes full responsibility for the latter, as she should have been prepared, so he plans to rusticate while raising his son as a single dad. Without him, the Star Brigade cannot function, so when the Korvenite Independence Front (KIF) begins assaults on Union planets, the leadership asks Habraum to rebuild his unit with mostly soldiers not battle tested to fight the deadly KIF, users of WMD.

Though somewhat overwhelming, as author C.C. Ekeke combines too many subplots (easily could be three interrelated novels), FIRST RENAISSANCE is a fun military science fiction that sub-genre readers will enjoy. The storyline is loaded with action and adventure (much more than described above, as there still remains for instance the Kedri Imperium-GUPR trade negotiations) that never ends, from the moment that the new Star Brigade is formed, that serves as the basis of readers believing in the Ekeke twenty-fifth century universe. Habraum is a fine star figure holding this future together, even as he struggles to hold himself together. This is an interesting tale, making sub-genre readers want to join the Star Brigade.