[Flight of the Hawk 04] • Hawk Seven

The story deals with an invasion into human occupied space of a huge alien fleet of warships. Humanity has been enjoying the benefits of nearly a century of peace, and her military is woefully inadequate. Worse, behind this invasion comes yet another, even larger fleet, intent on destroying the first invasion, and those pesky humans who stand right in their path. A lowly JG and his navigator discover an old assault craft, retrofit it and set about trying to save their fleet from total destruction. They discover large amounts of rot and corruption within earth's fleet, as well as a comely female Marine; plus, they learn some new lyrics to an ancient naval tradition, called "Going Downtown".

Hawk Seven appeared in February, 2011. It was originally intended to be a standalone story, but the author, like so many science fiction writers, found that the effort to create a logical and believable future was so enjoyable that he wanted to populate it with more stories. In June, 2011 it reached #4 on the High Tech bestseller list.

At the present time, Hawk Seven will probably end up coming chronologically fourth. Hawk Genesis: War comes first (published December 2011), with a direct sequel, Hawk Genesis: Peace appearing August 2, 2012. Third and probably last will be Hawk Flight: Rank and File, that will take place about twenty or so years prior to Hawk Seven, and will deal with the early years of Chief Kana and Admiral Lee.

This update cleans up a few errors and is designed to better fit with it's direct prequel, due out in November, 2013. "Flight of the Hawk" is a two-part book, with the first section introducing two officers and one enlisted man as they enter the military and endure some tough early years; the second section will look at the events found in "Hawk Seven" through their eyes, the two officers now being admirals, and the enlisted man, somewhat more disenchanted.

The author (that would be me) apologizes for the extraordinary delay in getting this book to (digital) print. It's been far more difficult than imagined, but I hope that my readers will appreciate the effort.

Authors Note: A typical hardback novel will cost about $25 while earning the writer roughly $2. This is not a slam of traditional publishing, but it is a fact of life that the 1000 hours or so of intense creative labor required to produce a novel are more likely to lead to bank accounts that are overdrawn than offshore.

The exploding field of ebook publishing offers new writers an opportunity to neatly sidestep the abysmal odds of ever finding an agent or the even worse odds of finding his work in a Barnes & Noble. On the other hand, ebooks typically lack elitist Phd editors, cranky proofreaders and graphic artists who insist on creating book covers that resemble nothing remotely like the work found inside. The reader pays $21 less for the book, but will possibly find 21 more typos. I pray that is not the case with my latest effort, and I believe that the third volume in the series is far and away the best, but hopefully not as good as the next one. You should read the 4th first, and if you like it, read Hawk Genesis: War, and Hawk Genesis: Peace, and finally Hawk Flight, which takes you back to the time of Hawk Seven.

If you find the books to your liking, please let us know - my banker will greatly appreciate it.