Review of Land Sea Book 1 by Blaine Lee Pardoe

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https://www.amazon.com/Splashdown-LAND-SEA-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0BM3Y926T

An unknown enemy waits for war.

From the bottom of the oceans of the world a hidden threat stalks mankind – probing, testing our weapons and defenses, biding time to strike. In the summer of 2039 this aquatic foe unleashes surprise attacks against coastal cities around the globe. Mankind faces a sophisticated new enemy, arrived from the depths of space and lurking in the dark blackness of the seas.

The United States and the rest of the world are ill prepared for such an attack.

Humanity’s only hope are ASHURs, powerful armored combat suits named after the Assyrian god of war. The fight for survival will require ingenuity, cunning, and a furious application of destructive violence against the most unrelenting enemy mankind has ever known!

Tom Clancy and the Expanse meets Mecha-charged combat in this thrilling series that pits humanity, world governments, and deadly alien invaders against each other.

The fight for tomorrow begins with the initial SPLASHDOWN…

Blaine Lee Pardoe’s new series begins in January with book 1, Splashdown. You can pre-order it now, but I had the opportunity to read an early-release copy and I wanted to post a review for it in appreciation.

SPLASHDOWN is very much setting the scene for this series, for which I understand the author has already finished the fifth book, so don’t worry–there’s a LOT of story to go. Splashdown introduces you to a world and the characters who populate it, and does so at a slow-burn pace, allowing you to really get into their heads and come to care about them. The research Pardoe must have done for this in-depth worldbuilding is very impressive and his world has a very lived-in feel to it, his characters each with a past that hangs over them like a cloud.

When it comes to the military portions of this book, I got a very Tom Clancy-esque vibe, particularly with the sections dealing with the intelligence analysis and the submarine hunt for the aliens. Pardoe has the same respect for the military and engages in a similar description in loving detail of the procedures that it uses to process information.

But on top of all this realism and verisimilitude like the cherry on the whipped cream are the mechs. It wouldn’t be a Blaine Lee Pardoe mil-SF book without the mechs, and the ones used in this book are very cool, sort of proto-mechs that I expect will see refinement as the series progresses. I’m not spoiling anything if you’ve looked at the cover, but I can’t wait for book 2 to see more of the mech combat.

My recommendation? Buy Splashdown and settle in for a long and ultimately rewarding experience as this series unfolds.