Occupied Earth (The Sequel to First Encounter) (Ascension Wars Book 2)

After reading through Book 1 - First Encounter (which was a great read full of twists and turns itself), I was eager to find out what would happen to our characters such as Captain Clayton Cross, Keera, and Lori in the next book which I saw was on the way at the end of the story. After the events of First Encounter, I was not too sure what to expect in this new world they found themselves in. Without getting too spoiler-ish, the future seemed rather bleak. When this book - the second in the series - was released, I immediately placed an order for a paperback copy. The day it arrived in the mail I quickly hopped right in. Occupied Earth is a book that is over 400+ pages long, but after two days of intense reading, I satisfyingly completed it. If there is one way when I know a book is good, it is when it has me completely captivated to keep reading in order to find out what happens next. That is exactly what happened to me with this one. I loved reconnecting with several characters from the previous book, such as Clayton Cross, who now had a totally different set of challenges facing him versus the ones he previously faced in First Encounter as captain of Forerunner One. In addition to reconnecting with the familiar characters, we are introduced to a whole new set of characters, one in particular we can describe as 'man's best friend' *wink* which definitely made the story much more captivating. To keep my plot summary simple, it was a story full of many ups and downs, plot surprises, and riveting action that kept me anxious to find out what would happen next. In addition, while a lot of the story focused on survival in the wastes outside of the city, I really enjoyed how Scott explored sci-fi concepts that could both one day become reality in our real world and influenced the story significantly, from invisibility cloaks to faster-than-light space jumps to name a couple. I found this dynamic between futuristic technology and primitive survival to be an interesting balance that made the story unique. A lot of the survival in the primitive wastes outside of the city reminded me of one of my other favorite post-apocalyptic type series - the Metro series by Dmitry Glukhovsky. In the end though, I was happily satisfied with the outcome at the end of this book. As others have mentioned in their reviews, you definitely do form a bond with the characters as you progress throughout the story. However, just like at the end of First Encounter, it made me wonder what could possibly happen next. I'm currently trying to think if there was any foreshadowing Scott sprinkled in the book that could give me an idea of what to expect in the next installment of this series. I am certainly excited for book three! In conclusion, If you are looking for a fun, adventurous, and nonstop action type science-fiction/post-apocalyptic book, I definitely recommend this one along with its prequel First Encounter.

I have really enjoyed the series thus far. It contains all the elements of a great trilogy (or more). The story is fairly easy to follow but it could use more of the Clancy(esk) detail behind describing things that are alien to us. This has improved from book 1 to book 2 but still there are many unanswered questions that I just beg to know that are not well explained. While a very good read, it is reminiscent of a throwback horror film where you yell at the screen for the person to not do X, knowing full well they will do X and pay the price for it. So parts of the story are infuriatingly predictable. People make the most obvious of human mistakes. I.E. my wife thinks I'm dead, I'm trying to get back to her, but let me sidetrack to a building and investigate a noise. Oh I think I'll keep this dog I found. Noooo this dog won't we loud at inappropriate times in a world where hiding and keeping silent is key. You know I'm thirsty and the dog is probably thirsty, lets go get some water... and food. Oh yeah... my WIFE. To salvage this, the pacing is really driven enough that you plow through despite some of these odd distractions. Overall, very enjoyable, and leaving me wanting more. I like that on the surface the book doesn't give you the easy and obvious victories that most books do. Good people die (for good). The ending is not neatly wrapped with a ribbon. And you know that in the next book all hell will continue breaking loose. Kudos to the author for what I feel is ultimately a successful series.

The storyline is well developed from book one. Characters old and new fit in well. I loved the family ties that took hold throughout the book. There is no break for the human survivors on earth. Another entertaining read, Thank you.

An entertaining follow-up to the first book in the series. Definitely a different feel to it than the first, more focused on the human element.

I almost did not read this book because I was so underwhelmed with the first one in this series. But writing here is far better and structure and plot make a lot more sense, even if it is still not without a few problems. The main problem with the first book is that it did not make a lot of sense and to me at least, seemed pretty implausible. Yeah, I know, it's science fiction. But an alien somehow impregnating a human via mere contact then producing some human/alien hybrid. Sorry, I just did not buy it. The writing was also extremely clumsy and the pacing was very uneven. Endless pages describing some action. Some major event written off in a few pages. Thankfully, this book is far better and is more of a straight up humans vs aliens treatment, with zombie like flesh eating creatures thrown in for good measure. Mostly following a couple of main characters from the first book through life on occupied earth. You care more about the characters here, which are fully fleshed out, and there is plenty of action to keep your attention. The pacing is good for the most part but falls apart at the end, where a major plot development gets reduced to a few pages..... setting up the next book. Perhaps the author was tired. You could easily skip the first book entirely and just start here. And frankly might enjoy it more. Unsure what the third book will look like but this one makes me more inclined to want to read it.

I enjoyed Occupied Earth. Who wouldn’t like a good old fighting Alien bad guys after all. In the following I try to cover things I liked; didn’t like; and that maybe would have liked to see. Yes, there are spoilers, lots of them. The story is basically one of a mission to colonize another solar system encountering a somewhat more advanced and quite warlike alien civilization. These aliens learn of the location of Earth and go there. Unfortunately, as the title says they have occupied Earth and subjugated it mostly to provide soldiers to fight another alien species that is encountered late in the story. THE GOOD I thought the characters were pretty well developed, especially Clay Cross the main character. He has gone from being a captain of a star ship to driving a garbage truck. I think this kind of makes him more relatable to typical people, and more sympathetic as well. Clay’s co-driver Alan gave the same sense that in occupied earth having been a big shot didn’t count for a lot in the “new” world. Enemy Admiral Kiera ultimately gives up everything to save her mother, showing that even bad guys have family and priorities other than conquest. The story kind of tells you enough to figure some things out before they happen. I like that, but maybe some readers wouldn’t. For example, in conversation it is noted that the occupying aliens destroyed all of the robots on earth. The aliens like biologicals to do things for them. They would have loved the old time south before the Civil War apparently. This makes you think robots will play a role in the fight with the aliens and they do. The level of technology seems plausible, or at least as plausible as in most hard science fiction. Earth has reached another star, but in 90 years. The aliens are ahead of Earth in having faster then light travel. Cloaking and bioengineering are very present in the story. The aliens don’t like robotics but have advanced life science, and thus have long extended biological life, including for humans. THE NOT SO GOOD Some things were not followed up on that I might have thought would be. One is the fate of creatures encounter as they reach another star, but before they encounter the hostile aliens. I’d like to know what became of them. Clayton is pursued by a bounty hunter, that I thought would prove to be someone Clay knew from his past. That did not happen, however. The thing that I was most bothered about here is the end of story is kind of easy to expect. This comes from a premise that you learn early. Aliens, at least those with technology, are going to be bad. There are no exceptions as of the end the second book in this series. This makes it easy to see a double cross that is supposed to be a surprise, I think, anything but. Some things seemed implausible, or at least the process to get their should have been fleshed out more. In particular, Admiral Kiera became part of the resistance. I understand why she lost her position of command with the aliens, but it seems like she would have been without a country so to speak, not welcomed by the resistance to the aliens on Earth. The plan to overcome the aliens late in the story didn’t seem to me to address the likelihood that some, maybe many, humans and the chimera might well fight for the aliens. The oppressed sometimes come to identify with their oppressors. I will likely purchase the next two books in the series and read them. I hope that other advanced aliens may be encountered that will actually be helpful to humans. We’ll see.

Occupied Earth, the sequel to First Encounter pulls your back into the story from word one and keeps you there right to the end! I don’t believe in spoilers so this will be rather generalized. If you haven’t read any of Jasper Scott’s work you are really missing out. I’ve been an avid Scifi fan since I first began to read sixty some years ago. Jasper Scott’s is a master of his craft and deserves a place with the likes of Asimov and Arthur C Clark. As with all his work the characters are deep and believable you may even recognize them if they knocked on the door. You’ll love and commiserate or despise them as the case may be. The venues are vividly described and easy to put yourself into. The plot is action packed and the story line consistent. This is a first contact series about slower than light speed explorers meeting a faster than light speed alien race that takes an interest in Earth and comes to visit long before the original explorers can get home with the news. That’s all I’m going to say you will have to read it to find out what happens! I can’t wait for the next installment, That said the ending of each book is satisfying enough to make you want to read more while not keeping you hanging on an uncomfortable edge.

The Kyra is on Earth. Occupied Earth is an exceptional book #2 in the series which picks up where book #1 left off with a nice recap of book #1 in the beginning, which I appreciated. Occupied Earth is a story about surviving an alien-occupied Earth, where children are educated and trained to be future soldiers and a resistance struggles to change things. Follow Captain Clayton Cross in his journey as a husband and probably the only human to have a pet dog. I couldn’t put the book down, and it ended perfectly, leaving me waiting for the next book. If you like a sci-fi story centered on survival, adventure and the goal of taking back your home planet, this is for you.