Science Fiction

Scorpio

Scorpio

  • Downloads：8358
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2023-12-21 07:22:04
  • Update Date：2025-09-08
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Marko Kloos
  • ISBN：1491595094
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Leanne Hardy ，

So I was reading this and over half the book was on earth and very military but wow I do not remember the last time I was SO gripped that I stayed up well after 2am reading this major stronghold shootout just wow。 I didn't know I even like this genre so this book has been a superb eye opener for me so much so that I have just downloaded the second book。 So I was reading this and over half the book was on earth and very military but wow I do not remember the last time I was SO gripped that I stayed up well after 2am reading this major stronghold shootout just wow。 I didn't know I even like this genre so this book has been a superb eye opener for me so much so that I have just downloaded the second book。 。。。more

Lori ，

The first 2/3 was fabulous。 The rest was pretty good， filling in some interesting cultural facts。 I will probably track down the sequel。

allbythebook ，

Thanks to Amazon First Reads for this ARC copy of Scorpio by Marko Kloos。 This gripping scifi novel is quite thought-provoking and is 4⭐️ from me。It’s Alex’s 21st birthday， and she’s the dog handler in a military vehicle as part of a scavenging mission on a remote colony on an alien planet。 8 years ago， aliens called Lankies invaded their partially-terraformed planet and killed most of the colonists （including her parents）， and she’s grown up knowing that they are on their own against the Lankie Thanks to Amazon First Reads for this ARC copy of Scorpio by Marko Kloos。 This gripping scifi novel is quite thought-provoking and is 4⭐️ from me。It’s Alex’s 21st birthday， and she’s the dog handler in a military vehicle as part of a scavenging mission on a remote colony on an alien planet。 8 years ago， aliens called Lankies invaded their partially-terraformed planet and killed most of the colonists （including her parents）， and she’s grown up knowing that they are on their own against the Lankies – there’s no one to come and save them。 So when things go wrong on their mission， Alex is facing down survival。I’m being deliberately vague here， but this book is quite strongly in two parts。 The first is beautifully reflected by the description， and is really gripping。 The second was totally unexpected， and also excellent but for a very different reason – it’s very psychological。 To begin with， I wasn’t sure about this structure。 Was it anti-climactic？ Maybe。 But after sleeping on it， and ruminating a bit more， I definitely like it a lot， despite it being very unusual。 It’s clearly setting up a series， but even without that element， I think I really liked this even as a standalone， because it really made me think。If this were a standalone， I’d have liked more build up of Alex’s life in the Vault before the mission。 We got to see some of her relationships with other colonists like Val and Blake， but I’d have appreciated more of that， and it would have made later events hit differently。 But as an opener for a new series， I can forgive that。I also would have liked to see more buildup of the fear of the Lankies， and the near-miss encounters with them previously。 It would have helped make their appearance more dramatic if the fear of them and what they could do was built up more – and it would have made the disaster hit harder too。I really liked the development of the relationships with both Ash and Lopez though， for very different reasons。 I’m hoping this will be continued in subsequent books。 However，the romantic element is definitely not a major subplot in this book， in case that is a dealbreaker for you。It was scifi enough for me， without getting into heavy science or fantasy-science – this is probably pretty good gateway scifi， or lighter relief scifi for those who are into the heavier stuff already。This book is for you if you liked The Martian by Andy Weir， or The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson but wanted something simpler， shorter and more female-focused。 。。。more

JAMES WEINKAUF ，

Pretty good。 Not the best but a decent read。Overall it's a good book。 I feel like some parts are trying to build suspense but I already knew what was coming。 There are some aggravating parts that read like I'm watching a movie。 Characters do something it seems to me that a normal human in similar circumstances would not。 In my head， I'm yelling at them。 The main story is good tho。 I'm ready for the next part。 Pretty good。 Not the best but a decent read。Overall it's a good book。 I feel like some parts are trying to build suspense but I already knew what was coming。 There are some aggravating parts that read like I'm watching a movie。 Characters do something it seems to me that a normal human in similar circumstances would not。 In my head， I'm yelling at them。 The main story is good tho。 I'm ready for the next part。 。。。more

R Moltzon ，

3。5 rounded up to 4。 It was an easy read with relatable characters in jeopardy， confronting aliens determined to kill them; a page turner until around the 70% mark。 Then the plot fell flat and read like a future-world creator， describing changes to earth， military weaponry with no tension at all， continuing until the final pages。 I obtained this as an Amazon First-read。 It's the first book in a series that I don't think I'll be continuing with despite good writing。 3。5 rounded up to 4。 It was an easy read with relatable characters in jeopardy， confronting aliens determined to kill them; a page turner until around the 70% mark。 Then the plot fell flat and read like a future-world creator， describing changes to earth， military weaponry with no tension at all， continuing until the final pages。 I obtained this as an Amazon First-read。 It's the first book in a series that I don't think I'll be continuing with despite good writing。 。。。more

Hugh Butler ，

very comfortable， easy read， sort of a slice of life where life is perilous on a distant planet cut off from Earth during a war with powerful creatures called "lankies。"Alex was born on Earth but left too young to remember so life on Scorpio is all she knows。 for eight years the surviving colonists have hunkered in The Vault， a hardened administrative center， sending squads of scavengers out to harvest equipment and supplies they cannot produce for themselves。Taking her dog， Ash， with her as a L very comfortable， easy read， sort of a slice of life where life is perilous on a distant planet cut off from Earth during a war with powerful creatures called "lankies。"Alex was born on Earth but left too young to remember so life on Scorpio is all she knows。 for eight years the surviving colonists have hunkered in The Vault， a hardened administrative center， sending squads of scavengers out to harvest equipment and supplies they cannot produce for themselves。Taking her dog， Ash， with her as a Lankie alert system， Alex is a key part of the squad and saves lives with Ash's early alerts。 Still， the lankies finally locate the Vault and attack it in strength。Not sure I would read any more like this。 Kind of sentimental。 Ending is wistful。 。。。more

Harry ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The first half of the book is 5 star material。 The tension of the giant aliens， Lackies， attacking the lone space outpost is very palpable。 The dedication of Alex Archer， although not an enlisted soldier， and her Lacky sniffing dog， Ash， is heartwarming。This atmosphere is not carried through in the second half when 150 colonists are rescued and resettled on 22nd Century Earth。 Except for a mugging， life on Earth is a Shangri-La compared to what Alex had to endure during the previous eight years。 The first half of the book is 5 star material。 The tension of the giant aliens， Lackies， attacking the lone space outpost is very palpable。 The dedication of Alex Archer， although not an enlisted soldier， and her Lacky sniffing dog， Ash， is heartwarming。This atmosphere is not carried through in the second half when 150 colonists are rescued and resettled on 22nd Century Earth。 Except for a mugging， life on Earth is a Shangri-La compared to what Alex had to endure during the previous eight years。 I would have liked to have seen more disillusionment in that life on futuristic Earth is not all that it is cracked up to be。 And it takes a while for Kloos to bring the story full circle and unite the characters in the first half with those in the second。 Otherwise， a well-written， engaging book。 。。。more

Ray Banks ，

Wow， first time reading a Marko book， great storyline。。。。。。。。all killer no filler。

Colm Jennings ，

Great to get a new book from FrontlinesI really enjoyed the original Frontlines series and was very much looking forward to this novel when I received the notification of its pending publication。 It does not disappoint。 A great read with some new characters and who knows what the future may hold for them。

Kayla Adams ，

Nothing really happened in the book， and there were a lot of plot holes。

Paul W。 ，

First time in a long time…I am not a sci-fi reader。 I read action/thriller novels。 But this book got my attention。 I loved it。 It was like reading a thriller set in a foreign country that I’d never heard of。 The setting didn’t distract me。 It enhanced the action。 I’m hooked。

James Zike ，

Quite a rollercoaster rideA good thriller， the story held my attention thru the first 80 percent of the book。 Then there was a lull， but a fine finish

Debra ，

Loved it！ I had not heard of this author before， but now I will have to check out his other work。 This book is of course， #1 in the series。 I realized that too late that my story would not really end~ Yikes。 Science Fiction at its finest。

M。D。 House ，

Good pace， writing， and character development made this book enjoyable to read。 It also wasn't very long。 :）I still can't square how low-tech the surface enemy is， compared to what is encountered in space。 Though perhaps the author has more in store to explain the apparent discrepancies。 Good pace， writing， and character development made this book enjoyable to read。 It also wasn't very long。 :）I still can't square how low-tech the surface enemy is， compared to what is encountered in space。 Though perhaps the author has more in store to explain the apparent discrepancies。 。。。more

Jessica Ring ，

I wasn't sure what to expect since I haven't read any of the other Frontline books。 I honestly didn't feel like I was missing anything。 Starts right in with a young woman who is a dog handler out on a salvage mission on a planet overrun with huge， aggressive aliens。 Fun read with just enough happening to keep me compelled and wanting more。 Looking forward to another book with these characters and this universe。 Recommend for anyone who likes military sci-fi。 I'll be going back and starting the o I wasn't sure what to expect since I haven't read any of the other Frontline books。 I honestly didn't feel like I was missing anything。 Starts right in with a young woman who is a dog handler out on a salvage mission on a planet overrun with huge， aggressive aliens。 Fun read with just enough happening to keep me compelled and wanting more。 Looking forward to another book with these characters and this universe。 Recommend for anyone who likes military sci-fi。 I'll be going back and starting the original Frontline series now to see how it connects。 。。。more

Steve Royster ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Sci-fi danger in the first half， as human colonists abandoned on an outpost face extinction from alien invaders。 Yes， that again。 Twists include the protagonists: a strong， young woman and a dog。THAR BE SPOILERS （predictable， but spoilers nonetheless）After the improbable， last-minute rescue， the last half of the book abandons the colony the settlers abandon。 We follow the inconsistent timeline of their return from deep space to Earth， which， for the survivors who'd spent eight years surviving th Sci-fi danger in the first half， as human colonists abandoned on an outpost face extinction from alien invaders。 Yes， that again。 Twists include the protagonists: a strong， young woman and a dog。THAR BE SPOILERS （predictable， but spoilers nonetheless）After the improbable， last-minute rescue， the last half of the book abandons the colony the settlers abandon。 We follow the inconsistent timeline of their return from deep space to Earth， which， for the survivors who'd spent eight years surviving the invasion， is in many ways also a brave new world。 Recognizing this launches a series， we've met people who doubtlessly will pop up throughout the universe over the next few novels。 But it's jarring how little happens in the last half of this one。 I'm disappointed that I don't have a clear insight into the lead's personality - when so little besides her inner dialogue was on the last 100 pages。 All credit to editors who （I think） cut a long portion of the trip home。 The final version adequately described the awkward return to a home the survivors don't fit into。 Adding 75 more pages describing the spaceship journey home might have kept me from finishing。 It's well written， with hints at character development and interesting events。 I sure hope we get action and adventure in the series。 。。。more

Tom Hardinger ，

Great read and wonderful charactersHard to put down and smooth transitions to the action and back again。 I loved it and his ending too。

Lindan A。 ，

can’t wait to read book 2This was different and yet similar to Kloos’ other series。 Just from a different point of view。 Looking forward to more

Joel Allan ，

Scorpio （Frontlines: Evolution #1） by Marko Kloos is the beginning of a new series set within his Frontlines universe。 However， it does not require you to have read any of those mainline novels。 I did read the first four of eight upon their releases ranging from 2013 to 2016， yet all I remembered upon opening Scorpio was the name of the alien menace， Lankies。 That small amount of knowledge was more than even I needed and I truly believe that this could be an entry point to Marko's books and you Scorpio （Frontlines: Evolution #1） by Marko Kloos is the beginning of a new series set within his Frontlines universe。 However， it does not require you to have read any of those mainline novels。 I did read the first four of eight upon their releases ranging from 2013 to 2016， yet all I remembered upon opening Scorpio was the name of the alien menace， Lankies。 That small amount of knowledge was more than even I needed and I truly believe that this could be an entry point to Marko's books and you wouldn't feel like you were missing out。Frontlines is military science fiction and even though our MC， Alex， isn't enlisted this is a miltary tale。 Alex is a dog handler who assists a small squad on their resource gathering missions on the depleted， Lankie infested world of Scorpio。 Ash， her shephard， has the unique ability of detecting Lankies， the twenty metre tall， dinosaur like aliens that are seeking to eradicate the remainder of human life。 Things start slow and everything is going to plan， until it isn't。 When the action starts and conflicts rise the book truly started to shine and I found it immensely difficult to put it down。 It may only be 280 odd pages， but those pages were packed with superb prose， characters and realistic action。 I never knew how the characters were going to get out of any given situation and that had me saying， just one more chapter as my eyes begged for me to sleep。The Lankies are a terrifying threat and this is military fiction so none of those characters bar our heroine， Alex， were going to be safe。 Let's just say， don't pick a favourite because they just might not survive。When the plot turned on it's head and went in a wildly unexpected direction I was cheering for the hopefulness of humanity。 I am so excited by what comes next from Marko for Alex。 The possibilities truly are endless。I was so happy reading certain passages between Alex and the military personnel and feeling like maybe Marko had a secret past in the military that I don't know about。 What one character said about reinlisting was so poignant and accurate that I was nodding along in agreement。 The world is a hard place to survive， especially for those who have experienced such trauama as Alex。I would be remiss to not mention the gorgeous cover art which， even if this hadn't been a novel by an author whose name I recognise， would have drawn me in。To close out the review I will mention the one small factor that made this novel a four star read and not a full five stars。 That was that some of the dialogue was a bit stilted and awkward。 Not glaringly so and perhaps I would even bump this up to 4。5 if Goodreads allowed half stars。I'm a renewed Marko Kloos fan like I was after reading the first Frontlines novel in 2013 and as soon as I have time I'm going to binge all of Frontlines and his Paladium series too。 。。。more

Warren ，

Couldn't put it downContinues the story of the Lankies， with a new heroine that I hope we read more about in the coming books。 Couldn't put it downContinues the story of the Lankies， with a new heroine that I hope we read more about in the coming books。 。。。more

Larry Jones ，

This is a most excellent startI’ve read most of Markos’ work in the Frontlines series， and this is a tremendous beginning of a new series。 Alex and Ash were a unique team， in a unique situation in a very strange world。 Just when you think it’s become predictable， Markos creates a situation that could take the story in a number of different ways… great storyline and story telling。 Highly recommend。

Dave ，

4+

Amy ，

4-

Andy Coleman ，

A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:The first half of this book was awesome！ Suspense， aliens， a dog， and a human colony barely hanging on。 The world-building was great， although a bit more about the aliens would have been nice， but you get what you get， right？ And then they get "rescued"。。。The second half of the book was staggeringly un-climactic。 It's a superficial story about trying to adjust to life back with humanity and how it was hard。 So just go back to what you know， right？ This whole part of the boo A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:The first half of this book was awesome！ Suspense， aliens， a dog， and a human colony barely hanging on。 The world-building was great， although a bit more about the aliens would have been nice， but you get what you get， right？ And then they get "rescued"。。。The second half of the book was staggeringly un-climactic。 It's a superficial story about trying to adjust to life back with humanity and how it was hard。 So just go back to what you know， right？ This whole part of the book felt like an epilogue， without emotion and a general feeling of tying up loose ends。 I don't regret reading this book but it won't stick with me for very long either。 So。。。Your call！ 。。。more

Devin Coryell ，

4。5 / 5

Aristotle ，

Colonist are terraforming a distant planet when Lankies show up turning the planet into Los Angeles smog。 The struggle to survive。A good stand alone story set after book 8 of the Frontline series。

Derek ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I did enjoy this book but there were a few things that mildly annoyed me。I would have probably appreciated this book better if I had read the previous books set in the same universe。 As it was i was confused about how the situation arose in the first place。 There is an alien race whose primary attribute is their huge size， they don’t seem to have any ranged weapons， relying on the “hulk smash” for offense， nor do they seem to have any capability for atmospheric flight ， so how did they manage to I did enjoy this book but there were a few things that mildly annoyed me。I would have probably appreciated this book better if I had read the previous books set in the same universe。 As it was i was confused about how the situation arose in the first place。 There is an alien race whose primary attribute is their huge size， they don’t seem to have any ranged weapons， relying on the “hulk smash” for offense， nor do they seem to have any capability for atmospheric flight ， so how did they manage to invade and having done so how could they not locate the survivors？ 。。。more

Marta ，

I got this free from Amazon Prime and I am so glad I did！ I don't know how I had missed this author before but I loved this book。 I'm dying to go ahead to book two of the series but I believe I will go back and read the first Frontlines series first。 Alex is a great character。 Kloos managed to describe exactly what it feels like to leave the military environment。 If I weren't too damn old， I'd be tempted to sign up again just to get back to my tribe。 I got this free from Amazon Prime and I am so glad I did！ I don't know how I had missed this author before but I loved this book。 I'm dying to go ahead to book two of the series but I believe I will go back and read the first Frontlines series first。 Alex is a great character。 Kloos managed to describe exactly what it feels like to leave the military environment。 If I weren't too damn old， I'd be tempted to sign up again just to get back to my tribe。 。。。more

Charles ，

Alexandra Archer was a member of a large group of survivors living underground， for years。 They scavenged for survival on a Lanky occupied human colony world slowly being xenoformed。 Rescue and repatriation began a different struggle。 First book in a new series set in Kloos’ Frontlines Universe。 My ebook version was a modest 277-pages。 It had a US 2023 copyright。 Marko Kloos is an American MIL-SF and fantasy fiction author。 He has written more than ten novels， primarily in two series。 This Alexandra Archer was a member of a large group of survivors living underground， for years。 They scavenged for survival on a Lanky occupied human colony world slowly being xenoformed。 Rescue and repatriation began a different struggle。 First book in a new series set in Kloos’ Frontlines Universe。 My ebook version was a modest 277-pages。 It had a US 2023 copyright。 Marko Kloos is an American MIL-SF and fantasy fiction author。 He has written more than ten novels， primarily in two series。 This was the first book of his Frontlines Evolution series story arc。 The last book I read by him was Centers of Gravity （Frontlines， #8） （my review）。Its strongly recommended to have a solid familiarity with the original Frontline series。 This book heavily leverages a reader’s familiarity with its world building。Alex Archer grew from childhood to young adulthood in a deep bunker， as the alien Lanky occupiers of her ex-human colony planet slowly xenoformed it。 She and her extended group of Disaster Scavengers are rescued in the human liberation of its occupied colonies as described in Centers of Gravity。 However， repatriation to an alien Earth with its complicated civil society from her tight-knit group of Lanky survivors proved a different challenge。 This was the best written book by Kloos I’ve read， and I’ve read several。 This story had almost exclusively ground combats。 Kloos does exceptionally well with these。 He’s writing about what he knows with them。 They’re always very engaging engagements。 In the past， Kloos’ stories suffered from both poor copyediting and proofreading。 I found surprisingly few errors。 However， he still needs to rein in his technical exposition dumps， or find a good Technical Editor， if he wants to be like Michael Crichton？ For example: （view spoiler）[”…when they enter the denser layers of the atmosphere， and the view from her windows turns into a peek into the core of a fusion reactor， white-hot plasma streaming past the porthole…” Both atmospheric re-entry and fusion reactions involve plasmas。 However， re-entry is breaking apart of heavy element， two atom air mixture molecules， like O2 and N2， into a plasma， whilst nuclear fusion is the combining of light， element single atoms， like 2H and H-3， already in a plasma。 Kloos’ error was like not knowing the difference between divorce and marriage？ （hide spoiler）]While the original Frontline series was middle of the road YA， this book is somewhat adult。 I always found that YA narrative to be at odds with the hyper-realism， and ultra-violence of Kloos’ action scenes？ The narrative of this story， particularly the dialog was more natural。 For example， some， but not all: soldiers， sailors， Marines， and airmen use F-Bombs as punctuation， particularly amongst themselves。 The story was more realistic that way。 Unfortunately， the profanity was not original。 （With some folks， it’s an art form。） Characters actually were sexually attracted to each other， and referred to “doing it”。 The protagonist， even had sex outside of marriage。 There was also intemperate use of alcohol alluded to， although， nobody was cook’n MDMA up on the MedBay printer。 Nobody listened to music。 （So much for Sex， drugs and Rock'n Roll in a Kloos story？）Kloo’s protagonist Alexandra Archer， 21-years old and an orphan was not the Marty Stu-protagonist Grayson was of the previous story arc。 I give the author kudos for trying his hand with a female protagonist。 It must have been hard？ However， she was not the most feminine character， I’ve read， created by a male author。Plotting was very linear。 Kloos has a love for The Cavalry trope， that can’t be broken。 （view spoiler）[The Vault was adjacent to a complex with an intact， large LZ。 You’d think the NAC fleet in orbit would have had Long-Range Recon Patrols with boots on the ground and satellite recce in low orbit at the time， to detect the scavenger’s radio distress transmissions and the movement of their two armoured vehicles over 30 klicks of open ground in clear daylight entering and leaving the Vault？ They would have made contact long before the Lanky attack on the Vault。 （hide spoiler）] I did think he did a good job with trauma the expatriate， orphan Archer experienced。 However， Archer’s story arc was too predictable， as to where she belonged。A perennial problem with Kloos is his idealization of military service。 In general， all the soldiers and sailors， both men and women are noble warriors。 Soldiers under the stress of combat screw-up， and do bad things。 Idle troops do worse things。 That the bunker’s platoon of infantry stayed loyal to their oaths of Duty， Honor， Country for 8-years was remarkable？ （view spoiler）[A better story might have been， if they had executed their leaders， and enslaved the civilians in the bunker？ Then they get rescued。 Although， that’s not a story Kloos would write。 （hide spoiler）]Likewise， there was the chronic devaluation of urban civil society in his stories。 This story interestingly riffed on it with the Crapsack Only by Comparison trope。 Kloos was not particularly artful in setting-up Archer to fail， despite life expectancy in a PRC-ghetto being considerably longer and more comfortable than on a Lanky occupied planet。Another issue that continues with this book， is that in the Frontline universe， there was no diversity。 Black and brown are not skin colors in the story。 All the author’s characters were also heterosexuals。 I would have thought there would be ethnic and sexual diversity in the NAC population somewhat like the present？I started the Frontline series with Terms of Enlistment （Frontlines， #1） read in paperback。 My reading experience with the series has been mixed。 It’s taken Kloos 10-years to write this better book。 I have always thought the earlier books which were mostly ground combat centered， like this one was， were the best。 This book also shows a greater attention-to-detail than previous books in its presentation。 The author’s love of details is apparent and entertaining， when he writes about what he knows。So， for this book， the ultra-violence of fighting monsters with heavy weaponry was good。 The boy/girl， soldier/sailor stuff was OK。 In general， there was a higher standard of prose， proofreading and copyediting in this story then in any previous books by Kloos I’ve read。 This story is better than your average MIL-SF （a low bar， I know）。 However， the story was predictable in the author minting himself a new protagonist to take his new series forward。 Kloos needs to jump his self-imposed rails with his next story to continue Leveling Up。 。。。more

James R Brown ，

Great start to a new phase of the seriesGreat start， very well established approach in setting the ground work。 Glad to see the author back in print！ Missed the stories and hope the books come out a bit more quickly。 Highly recommend！