Formorian Brigade, Book 1
Pillarmen, Book 2
The Exalted, Book 3
Ghost Ship, Book 4
Xeno Mutation, Book 5
Inner System, Book 6
Infiltration, Book 7
Palacian Queen, Book 8
Hivemind, Book 9
I’ve not been a fan of Mr. Victor since his previous books seemed to have characters that were, ah, rather cowardly in my opinion. They were always trying to not kill the bad guys and instead wanting to “reason” with them first. I kind of got tired of those timid characters.
Well, this series of books kind of changes all that. It’s really the story Carl Sebastian a former United Terran Alliance (UTA) soldier who had undergone a terrible transformation in support of the Three World Offensive against the Palace Kingdom. He’s turned from a normal soldier doing his duty to a genetically enhanced super soldier that can tear through the enemy like they aren’t even there. His reactions/reflexes are faster than normal by a large degree as is his lust for violence. He and his fellow enhanced soldiers became known as the “Wardogs” and was one of the significant factors in bringing that war to its end.
After the war, the UTA had no need for soldiers like Carl. So they initially just released them from service, but upon second thought, realized that they might have let loose some terrible “creatures” upon an unsuspecting society. Wardogs seem like normal people usually, unless they get agitated or find themselves extremely stressed. So as to prevent a Wardog from going berserk upon the general population, the UTA military began hunting down these Wardogs and putting them in “rehabilitation” centers. No one ever came out of a rehabilitation center.
Carl has managed to stay away from the Pillarmen. These are the special operations military branch that is responsible for the capture and internment of these Wardogs. He has managed to take some odd jobs along the way and in particular he’s good at tracking down xenos (short for xenomutations). There is some kind of mutant virus going around space that affects some animals and humans. It turns them into vicious monsters and requires some very critical skills to eradicate anything turned into a xeno. Carl as a Wardog, has found he has the skills to do this dirty job especially when he’s stressed enough to become a Wardog.
But, eventually Carl is found by the Pillarmen. They do take him into rehabilitation, but it’s different than what he expected. He’s also given some additional gene therapy that should even make his Wardog abilities even more deadly. He also finds out that other captured Wardogs have also be given this new gene therapy and are now called the Exalted Wardogs. And the reason this program is still on-going is because they have found out that the Palace Kingdom may have started their own Wardog experimentations. Still, Carl has reacted differently to this new treatment. He can control his Wardog urges to the extent that he’s not just a mindless killing machine when he goes into combat. That’s a lot different than other Wardogs. They can and have killed their own since that’s all they can do went stressed to their Wardog state.
So, a new mission is planned where the new batch of Exalted Wardogs accompanied by the Pillarmen will be dropped on a suspected planet where they believe the Palace Kingdom is developing their version of the Wardog. Strangely, Carl is re-instated to the military as a Corporal and assigned to the very Pillarmen team that captured him! They hit the ground near a secret Palacian laboratory and are met with some horrible creatures which become known as the Formorians, the Palace Kingdoms version of the Wardog. They also encounter something else on this planet. Something that was entirely unexpected. That something seems to have taken control of these Formorian super soldiers and now it appears that it can take control of even the Exalted Wardogs. So Carl and the team of Pillarmen are fighting for their lives against not only the new and terrible Formorians, but against their own Exalted Wardogs. They do manage to get extracted from the planet only to find out that they have a worse problem than anyone ever thought.
The Palace Kingdom has been preparing to go back to war with the United Terran Alliance. One of their Lords has been experimenting and creating the Formorians. He has also become aware of this alien mutation that seems to be intelligent and seems to desire to take over all humanity. This Palacian Lord believes he can work a deal with this alien mutation that will allow him to conquer all of the UTA and all of humanity. Little does he know that this alien mutation is much, much worse than he ever anticipated or expected.
This is going to be a war that Carl Sebastian will have to fight using his skills as an Exalted Wardog and he’s lucky to now have that ability because it will definitely be put to the test. Very good story-lines in each book although some of the books do tend to be short. Still, this is a nine book set so it will take some time to read through them.