Flight of the Javelin is now a complete Boxset， following the exploits of unique group as they leave their home system， and end up in another system entirely， and must deal with what they face。 This is a series with exceptional Characters， and amazing world building， and some outstanding tech， but best of all， it has such a fantastic story that is full of action， great sci-fi， and a bit of humour to keep it fun。Following are the individual reviews of the 3 books in the Boxset， one that is absolu Flight of the Javelin is now a complete Boxset， following the exploits of unique group as they leave their home system， and end up in another system entirely， and must deal with what they face。 This is a series with exceptional Characters， and amazing world building， and some outstanding tech， but best of all， it has such a fantastic story that is full of action， great sci-fi， and a bit of humour to keep it fun。Following are the individual reviews of the 3 books in the Boxset， one that is absolutely worth it！！Black Sheep: Flight of the Javelin #1Black Sheep follows the crew of the Gabriela， a Colony ship that has set forth from ‘The Trappist’ System。 Originally， Earth sent colonists to The Trappist system， and they weathered the initial conditions， expecting more equipment and colonists， but this was not the case。 Since then they have established their own， rather robust， and distrustful Colony， and now， they are sending out their own Colonists， aboard the Gabriela， to go and find a new place to colonise。 On board the Gabriela are the 6 crew， they don’t stay in stasis like the colonists， they are awake， checking on the running of the ship， and making sure that everything runs all right。 Captain Halit “Throttle” Reyne， is the leader of the Gabriela’s crew， she is disabled， having no feeling in her legs， due to an accident when she was a child。 She has a special pair of leg bracers though that allow her to simulate movement in her legs， so she can walk， and run。 Throttle is a no-nonsense type of woman， she gives it to you straight， generally straight between the eyes if you have really annoyed her。 But she is also a very dedicated Captain， very loyal， she will do anything to look after her crew， including those under her protection， going to the ends of the galaxy and even giving her own life to save them。With her are Brik， her long-time partner， as well as her offsider in all her adventures。 Sylvian is the pilot of the ship， then there is Eddy， who although seems a bit on the eccentric side， is a brilliant mechanic。 Aubree is the Doctor， and is very caring as well as someone who doesn’t believe in violence。 Rounding out the crew is Nolin， who is a bit of jack-of-all-trades， able to help with the mechanics， with the operations with Birk， or help the Captain with anything else she needs。It is a very eclectic crew， but one that comes together nicely for working together in the confines of space， over long periods of time。 Aukes has done a masterful job of creating these outstanding characters that are totally believable and realistic， and yet fit so well together in this scenario， making for a brilliant story。 You are immediately drawn to these characters， wanting to learn more about them， and compelled to read on in the story as you become totally engaged in their lives。 The story starts with a bit of an intro to life aboard the Gabriela， before the ship is struck with a catastrophic failure， leaving the stuck in space。 The Captain makes the only decision possible （there is a real ‘Firefly’ moment here when the crew abandon the ship and take the shuttle to look for help， knowing that it is their only chance）， leaving the ship and the colonists， and taking their small shuttle to search for help。 It is whilst looking for help， two things happen that both impact the crew and change their lives forever。 The first is that they discover a mysterious vessel， unlike anything that they have ever seen before， different design， hull material and most interesting of all， no crew。 The second， and most devastating， is that whilst trying to find help， Pirates come and steal the Gabriela， along with all her sleeping Colonists。 Stuck in space， her ship and the colonists stolen， Throttle boards the other ship， and with Eddy’s help， they follow the Gabriela， and it is here that the real story starts， as Throttle and her crew find that they are in a lawless part of the galaxy， full of Ganglords and those that live by a very different code。 Throttle has to decide between her crew， the colonists， and what is wrong and right， otherwise no one is coming out of this alive。This is just a full on action/adventure， but it also has a lot of mystery， political intrigue， as well as just being a remarkable Sci-fi story， with some exceptional character work （The crew are brilliant， but so are the criminal element they meet）， and the story is just brilliant。 The world （or Galaxy in this case） building is just outstanding， with so much depth and detail， spanning not just planets， and systems， but timelines as well。 Aukes has put an immense amount of thought into this series， and it makes it an amazing read that once you start， you will have a really hard time stopping。Free Station: Flight of the Javelin #2The crew， Throttle， Eadie， Sylvain， Finn and of course， Rusty， are back in the second adventure in the ‘Flight of the Javelin series， and this one picks up almost a year after the events of Book 1。Throttle and her crew have been busy in that time， training， studying and learning the ways of the GP， the Galactic Peacekeepers， the law in the Ross System。 Throttle decided that this was the easiest way to be able to capture， and serve justice on Anna East， the woman who killed several of her crew， as well as her love， Brik。 As the book opens， Throttle and the crew， all but Eadie are getting their Peacekeeper Badges， having passed。 Eadie still hasn’t passed his shooting exam， and Chief won’t pass him without it。 At this time， they get a mission to go and look for a ‘seed’ ship， an automated giant of a ship that was attacked by pirates as it was travelling to its next location。 This is only the start of the story though， as a Peacekeeper has already been tasked， but has gone dark， the 3rd one in less than 2 weeks。 The Chief is not sure what is happening， and tasks Throttle and her crew to go and investigate this， as well as sending another peacekeeper to go and investigate the disappearance of the other peacekeeper。Right off， this is a mystery， thriller starting to form， and you are totally hooked， wanting to know what is going on。 Aukes has this beautiful and compelling writing style that is so easy to read， the words flow so easily making it a pleasure to read。 We have all read books that feel like you are slogging through mud when you try to read it， even if you like the book， the style can be hard。 Aukes is， without doubt， a true master at writing。 And she has created a stunning thriller， with a Sci-fi theme， and enough mystery to keep anyone interested。 What starts out as lost Peacekeepers， and a mystery， （without trying to give too much away）， quickly explodes into a massive life or death situation， not just for her， the crew and Rusty， but the entire system and possibly everyone in it。 Whilst everyone else was recovering and getting over the events of Book 1， Anna East has been busy， and things become pretty full-on in this book。 It is a really powerful story， with some very emotive and gritty scenes， as characters， both good and bad， fight for their lives。 Aukes has created some amazing Character work in this book， we have the core crew we are used to， but are introduced to some new people on both sides。 We get a deeper feel for the Galactic Peacekeepers， and it is fascinating getting to peel back the layers of this organisation， and see what is below。 At the top of it， is ‘The Chief’， the man who runs the show， and he is an old war Veteran， grizzled， powerful， in that he is very attentive， and he can shoot well， but he is also very fair， willing to give people a fair chance， bend the rules when needed to get things done。 His Character is exactly the type of person you would see in this role， he is just so real， so realistic， Aukes is so gifted at creating her characters， and the level of detailing around each of them， it makes her story so much better， with such intricacy。 It is not just the Good Guys that get new characters， there are a range of new bad guys （I am not going into detail as I don’t want to ruin anything）， but needless to say， Aukes has provided meticulous detail in each of these as well。 This is just a great story， with exceptional character work， against an outstanding backdrop – the world building is just exquisite in the detail， from Characters， to ships， to space stations， to weapons， everything is outstanding， making this such an inspired read。 The main characters are all back， Throttle， Sylvain， Finn and Eadie， and they all get various bits of time in the book。 There has been some effort in developing each of them， which is always great to see in this type of series。 The other ‘crew’ member is of course the ship ‘Rusty’， who is just hilarious with his interpretations of things。 This is a brilliant sequel， easily the equal of the original， and only bodes well for book 3！！！Rogue Planet: Flight of the Javelin #3Rogue Planet picks up a few months after the events of Free Station， in which Anna East attacked the Base of Operations of the Peacekeepers and tried to kill not only all the Marshalls， but destroy the Station itself。As a part of the clean-up operations， the Chief assigned Punch to Throttles crew， so that Punch could learn to be more of a team member， and learn to be more like a proper Marshall， after some of his activities were called into question。Having completed their latest assignment at the start of book 3， the crew and Punch are given some leave， and Punch is allowed his ship， the High Spirit， back again， under certain constraints。Punch immediately heads to a rather dodgy part of space， and Throttle and the crew follow him， worried that he is going to do something bad – because they know that during the raid on Free Station， he took a copy of sensitive data， using Sylvain to do it， and they want to know why。 However， all is not as it seems， and when Punch gets into trouble， Throttle and the crew intercede to help him。 It is during this engagement， that something very strange happens。 Whilst in an asteroid belt， known for being a bit of a Bermuda Triangle for missing ships， the Javelin is suddenly sucked down a black hole， and after an extended period in black space， they suddenly arrive in an unknown part of space。Disorientated， and with only the enemy ship on their scopes， they follow it， before discovering a Rogue Planet。However， this is not like any sort of Rogue Planet that anyone has seen before （If Han was here， he would say ‘I have a bad feeling about this…”， right before Obi-wan says， ‘That’s no Moon…”）， because what is before them is a planet that is teeming with Swarm。This book finally gives us some insight into the Swarm， the dreaded enemy that nearly wiped out humanity over 300yrs earlier， and has become nothing more than a Myth or something to scare children with now。However， they are very much real， and very much a threat， as the Ross System is about to find out。Rogue Planet however is not just about the Swarm， for we also get to see another side of Punch， the Marshall who operates differently to how Throttle and her team operate。 Even more interesting， is the evolving relationship between Eddy and Rusty， as well as getting to understand Eddy’s character a lot more in this book。 At the start of this book， we learn that Punch has a daughter， who has been kidnapped， and Punch will do just about anything to get her back。As such， this story has multiple facets， looking at Punch， and his Daughter and her abduction and rescue。 However， the much bigger threat， （without giving too much away）， are the Swarm。 This book is full on with more action than you know what to do with！！ There is some of the best ship to ship combat I have read this year， Aukes does an exceptional job in describing the ships firing on each other， ducking， weaving and in some cases， impacting with each other。 She has really thought through to， the outcomes of this in a vacuum， and described it with a clever and creative use of language， giving intricate details of the flash freezing of the vacuum， or the explosive decompression into space。 It was so well done。Something that is really well done in this series is the sheer complexity of the world building （or Universe building in this case）， in which Aukes has taken her crew from one Galaxy to another， there are Pirate organisations， Marshall organisations， multiple colonies and planets， an AI enemy， and not to mention， a massive amount of characters and ships etc。 All of this has been done with such depth， and intricate detail。 Aukes has really made a major effort to make sure that the story is fully supported with some spectacularly intricate multi-faceted， and in some cases， multi-dimensional， information， so that the reader can really immerse themselves into the story and get totally lost in it， and enjoy it completely for what it is – good old fashioned action adventure Space Opera with a twist of Mil Sci-Fi， and then some bits of Galactic Empire， Alien Invasion， Space Exploration and a bit of First Contact。 There is also some really good humour in there to keep it real。 Aukes is a gifted Author， and has created a magnificent playing field to tell her story。As with all the other books， the Character writing is exceptional。 There is some great Character development， not just of the crew， but surprisingly， from Punch and his Daughter。 It made for a really interesting side story。 Overall， this is a fantastic 3rd book in the series – and given that this is probably the best of the 3 books so far， it bodes well for a continuation of the series in the future， especially for the quality of the series。 If you have read the other books in the series， you will love this episode， and it is a must read。If you haven’t started the series yet， do yourself a favour – get into it！！ 。。。more