Fleet of Angels

Terror in the heavens! The year is 2376. The war in space has been going on for three quarters of a century. Earth, along with its only ally, the zTurms, fought an impossible battle to defend the Milky Way from the horned aliens from Andromeda known only as . . . the Satanians. Having been given advanced technology from the zTurmia, Earth builds eighteen fleets of gigantic warships to turn back this invasion.

This exciting adventure is about one of those great armadas, the 2nd Fleet... otherwise known as the Fleet Of Angels.

Carl Merritt's debut novel is a military SF story. Set in the year 2376, Earth is at war with the Satanians, an alien species broadly similar to humans except for their devil-like horns. It's not surprising they are similar; the premise of the story is that both the humans and their allies, the Zturm, are descended from the original species, the Umox, and were
created by the original Andromeda master-race as an experiment, before the Umox civilisation collapsed into chaos.

Fleet of Angels will appeal to readers who like authors such as David Weber, Steve White, Bill Baldwin, David Drake, W. Michael Gear, and Richard Fawkes.
It reminded me of Henlein's "Starship Troopers" and, indeed, there is some ground-attack action, although most of the story deals with the space war.

The story is set on a grand scale, involving a war between the galaxies of Andromeda and the Milky Way. Earth's allies in the war are the Zturm, descendants of the original colony expedition, sent from Andromeda millenia ago, to explore our Galaxy.

Carl Merritt wastes no time with 'world building', one of the bugbears of the SF genre, but plunges straight into the story. Chapter one opens with Richard Keller, the hero and Captain of the Titan, in battle against a Satanian fleet. Devotees of SF military action will find plenty here:

". . . a young ensign named Wanda Collins took over communications. She had to stand, as the chair had been ripped away by flying debris. Feeling her feet slipping on the slick floor, she looked down and almost gagged. It was
the decapitated head of First Lieutenant Sean Burke. It was oozing blood through the shredded neck . . . and staring straight up at her."

Fleet of Angels could be suitable for a young adult audience as well as adults, since there are no love scenes; this is fairly conventional for the military SF genre. Equal opportunity is given to both male and female combatants in the story. Richard Keller, the commander, has to tread a narrow edge. His wife, Paula, is an Admiral in the fleet, and is determined to show herself the equal of any of the men, by charging into the thick of battle. Keller must balance his natural urge to protect her against his need to show his men that he doesn't pick favourites.

Just when it seems that the human forces are getting the upper hand, the Satanians turn up with advanced technology, looted from a dead planet originally inhabited by their Umox ancestors. The humans are faced with their biggest battle as they try to take over the planet to secure the same technology and close the gap. During this, they capture a half-human, half-Satanian female, Faleen. This could have led to an interesting
sub-plot, but the author decided the space battles were the main interest, and we hear little more of Faleen.

Fleet of Angels is an easy and fast read, packed with action for fans of the genre. It will be interesting to see what Carl Merritt comes up with next!

- Clive Warner...