Spacers 1 by Scott Bartlett

An Upstream Review

Hey Space Cadets, here is the next installment in my series of book reviews. It was written by an author whose work I love, none other than Scott Bartlett. This is one of my favorite space fleet series, so I wanted to share it with you. I rank it up there with the expansive nature of The Last Hunter Series by JN Chaney & Terry Mixon, The Empire of Bones Series by Terry Mixon, The Ember Wars Series by Richard Fox, The Lost Fleet Series by Jack Campbell and the Renegade Star Series by JN Chaney. It isn’t quite as gritty as the Galaxy’s Edge Series by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole, but it has the same expansive feel to the world.

This is the first book in the Spacers Series, and I can’t wait to dive into the rest of it. This book was written in a new universe, not connected to Scott’s other worlds, but it had the same vibe as his other writing. This world is the tale of a galactic corporate empire with a large UNC controlling the known galaxies in a sweeping space opera storyline. Even cooler, it has all the kick-butt military science fiction that I love. Plus, the fun alien invasion tropes that keep me up at night. No worries, this isn’t a spoiler, it’s in the ad copy!

Before we go any further, let me show my bias. I’m such a fan of Scott’s works that I volunteered to run his Facebook fan group, Scott Bartlett’s Spacers. It’s a motley collection of super nerds who also geek out over the books this author creates.

When I picked up this series of books, I was already a fan of his works, so I was primed to like it. After liking the first novel in this series, I bought the other 9 books that complete the series. And then I bought all the paired audiobooks. Those are published in 5 pairs of two books in one or in one massive box set of audio goodness. It’s written like most of Bartlett’s books, with an emphasis on the sensory details and a focus on the emotional resonance between the readers and the characters. If you don’t love that, if you’re not a fan of rip-roaring action scenes, then this novel isn’t the book for you. However, this is my jam, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Okay, about this cool series. There are ten books released in this completed series, but I want more from this world! Maybe I can peer pressure Scott to give us more? Or to bring in other authors to expand this world? I truly believe that after reading this book, you’re going to join me in begging for more of the men and women who crew the space cruiser New Jersey!

I’ve met Bartlett in person at one of the 20 Books to 50K author conventions a few years back. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he’s as nice there as he is online. He truly engages with his audience and values them, which I’ve learned to appreciate even more after I started managing his fan club. He’s thankful that they let him get paid to share these romps through the voids of space. I’m thankful too, since it lets me read these fun books!

Now, more about the author, Scott Bartlett. He’s a Canadian science fiction author specializing in military space opera and action-packed narratives. His tales all focus on the futuristic awesomeness that makes science fiction fun, maybe the maple syrup or poutine help him write better? Anyway, he was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, which Google and his Amazon bio tell me is the easternmost province of Canada. On my maps, it’ll just say “here be moose.” Or is it “meese?” What is the plural of moose? Anyway, he lives in the frozen northern waste lands and fights frost giants before breakfast, writes a novel before lunch and wrassles dragons to cool down before bed. True story, honest.

He loves to tell you that while he pursued writing as a career, it wasn’t an easy journey. It took over a decade, where he supported himself through various jobs while honing his craft. In some of his rare interviews, he’s talked about how he had to overcome challenges like the “inner critic,” the Canadian need to apologize and maintaining consistent output. Way back when dinosaurs roamed the land, in the late cretaceous era of 2014, he achieved his goal of becoming a full-time novelist and has since produced science fiction prolifically. He must be part machine, because when does he have time to sleep?

As for a focus, Scott mainly sticks to the military science fiction that I love, though he has explored other areas of fiction in the past. A staple of his works is how his immersive worldbuilding brings the stories to life, making the high-stakes battles feel more real. Throw in the advanced technology that he creates, and you’ve got a gripping plot that pays homage to the classics of the genre like Ender’s Game. He’s been known to remind us that he’s reread the book multiple times, but I think he’s just showing off!

Now, about the series that brought us here today! The basic premise of this series centers around the main character, Commander Tad Thactcher, and his quest to survive a hostile galaxy where even your allies might be your enemies. More than that, he has to build a bulwark to hold the line against an unknown alien threat. All of that while desperately searching for a way to re-open the wormhole and return to his pregnant wife. I don’t know where this series will go, but the tension that Scott Bartlett set up in this has me hooked from the first chapter.

In pursuit of his drive to survive and thrive, we get to see Tad adapt and evolve. He goes from the untested spaceship’s Executive Officer (XO) in the US Space Fleet who’s serving as the second in command of the USS Hepburn into a competent combat leader commanding the spaceship New Jersey. During the course of this novel, he takes the blunt force tactics common in the universe until he changes the rules to the game. We get to see the officer become the seasoned warrior that we’d want to serve with if we were in void combat.

What I love most about this book is that the main character isn’t static. No, he’s evolving from page to page and hopefully from book to book. Time will tell, but I’ll be there for the ride! He’s a man with a mission, driven to swim upstream against the galaxy as he fights for what is right. As he fights to lead as his grandfather taught him, as an officer in the US military should, instead of like someone serving as a corporate mercenary might. Despite that, Tad is grappling with worries and his love for the wife he’s cut off from and the baby he wants to live to meet. But before I say more, you need to read the book for yourself!

(August 19, 2019)

If this cover looks like it’s up your alley, click the link here and give it a read! Seriously, this book will have you hooked on page one! Keep reading my review to see why you should be reading it!

The Story

Now, let’s talk about the story that brought us here! Just so we’re clear, I’m going to prove a spoiler free review for you today… here goes nothing!

At its core, Spacers is a book set in a post Great War era where the military has drawn down and privatized most of its capabilities. They believe that the alien threat is gone, and militaries are expensive, so they made adjustments. Humanity was neutered by the regulations from the UNC, much like Japan was after World War II. This extra national organization limited how many ships, and what kind each nation could produce. They went on to limit what technology they could develop, hoarding the good stuff for themselves. This left humanity woefully unprepared for what was coming.

Like many space operas, this used the trope of the mega corporations that run everything while the regular governing bodies were anemic. I find it an interesting trope, though I don’t know how realistic it is. I can’t imagine any politician truly surrendering power to an outside organization. Would the UN want that amount of extreme power? Sure. Would the national polities surrender their sovereignty? Maybe not? Again, this is a common trope, it is just one that never resonated with me. I also suspect we’ll never see the one world government or empires spanning multiple systems. So, circling back to Spacers, while I am not sure about the realism of the tropes, I think Scott Bartlett executed them with precision.

This novel starts out with Tad Thatcher being recruited by Frontier Corp to captain the battle-damaged New Jersey. He’s tasked with getting the ship back in shape and ready to re-engage the pirates. Further, he was to investigate the re-appearance of the alien threat who seemed to be working with the enemies of the UNC and Frontier Corp. Then the aliens started appearing on many of the human planets. This isn’t a spoiler, again, this happened in the beginning of this book. What would be a spoiler was how they handled it.

As the story progresses, we get to explore the evolution of void combat tactics. The story starts with very simplistic tactics. They show up, shoot the under armored and under armed pirates. It’s the classic story of small warships, reminiscent of the old Mosquitos Fleet of old, fighting against pirate ships made from converted civilian liners. As could be expected, the battles were one sided. However, those tactics don’t work as the situation on the ground, err… in the voids… changes. Now we see near peer spaceships fighting against each other in small fleet engagements.

Now let’s talk about the writing in this book. In this book, Bartlett avoids the flowery descriptions often found in high space opera. Instead, his writing is stripped for combat with a Tom Clancy-esq writing style. His prose used short and punchy sentences, which kept the pacing and tension high during complex maneuvers. This creates an explosive reading experience that mirrors the high-G environment of the ships. Look at me, acting like I know science and stuff.

One of things that I like about Scott’s writing is that he has a talent for using technical jargon in a way that feels natural. Even better, he makes it feel believable with how he describes these technical details. Scott doesn’t stop to explain a ‘thermal signature’ or ‘vector thrust;’ he assumes that the reader is in the cockpit with the characters. In a world where some authors speak down to their readers, I like that Bartlett assumes that we’re intelligent human beings capable of thinking about issues. This builds trust with a military science fiction audience who values competent characters.

Another aspect of Scott’s writing that I like was how realistic he was about the world. He leaned into the sensory details, no matter how un-sexy and unromantic it is. He covered the smell of scorched electronics, burnt ozone and stale coffee. Because Scott and coffee go together like chocolate and peanut butter. I loved how he described the scenario when gravity failed, the feeling of enginemen working in the cramped engine rooms and the feeling of what life inside powered armor feels like.

Since this is a space fleet novel, let’s talk about the void combat we experienced. When combat begins, Bartlett describes the 3D space battles with remarkable clarity. I could picture the scene like I was looking at the battle space like I was looking at a three-dimensional sand table mapping out the battlefield. Because of his skill at these descriptions, Scott made sure that the reader understood the geometry of the fight without getting lost in the math.

Overall, the pacing of this book was well done and kept me reading. There were plenty of lulls in the action, so you’re never stressed out or fatigued from the adrenaline rush. The slow parts were descriptive and evocative, painting a picture in my mind. However, the action scenes moved at a breakneck pace that kept me on the edge of my seat and happy that I picked up this book. I really think that anyone who likes Mil SciFi, space opera and science fiction in general will really enjoy this novel.

The Characters

In this novel, we get to interact with a smaller cast of characters than in Scott Bartlett’s other novels. We have Commander Tad Thatcher and his supporting cast of subordinates and his attractive corporate boss Veronica Rose. Many of these secondary and tertiary characters were fun, but they could’ve been replaced with other folks, and the main story would not have changed. However, that could not be said if something happened to Tad Thatcher. All of the characters were fleshed out, and three-dimensional. Even the bit characters and cab drivers! I found them all to be a lot of fun to get to know and they left me wanting more. Seriously, I was left feeling like these were real people.

Since Tad is the main character, let’s talk about him! Tad’s the central pillar holding up the galaxy of this foray into the Spacers series. Without him, the galaxy would fall after the wormhole collapsed for reasons as yet unknown. He was a character defined by the tension between his prestigious military lineage and his own pragmatic, modern-day gumption. He’s torn between his duty to America and humanity and his drive to return to his wife and unborn son. As the grandson of the legendary Admiral Thatcher, the man who originally defeated the Xanthic, Tad begins his journey living under the shadow of his predecessors. This drive to live up to the deeds of their ancestors is so quintessentially human that it is a trope that we just expect in action movies. Can Will Smith’s son act as well as his dad? Can Michael Jordan’s son play basketball as well as his dad? Can Muhammad Ali’s daughter box as well as he did? We ask these questions of ever “Great Man” and Tad was no exception.

In this novel, Thatcher represents a shift in the philosophy of space warfare. He’s characterized by a cold, analytical mind that views space combat as a series of high-G vectors and kinetic equations, rather than a search for gold and glory. He doesn’t just want to win; he wants to solve the ‘problem’ of the enemy engagement. This makes him unpopular in a world where captains use simplistic tactics and then rush in to loot the enemy for the prize money.

What I like about Thatcher is that he’s a ‘reluctant warrior’ who wants to do his duty because he believes he has a responsibility to protect civilians of his nation. He is acutely aware of the rot within the United Nations and Colonies (UNC), but he sees it as a necessary evil. He’s a man of the system who realizes that the system is broken. During this book, his arc is characterized by his willingness to discard outdated military dogmas in favor of radical, effective tactics. This makes him the symbol of the intergenerational hand-off that every great war has. We saw that between World War I & II, between WWII and Korea and so on. Tad respects the traditions of the past but understands that humanity’s survival requires a reboot away from the old ways.

Thatcher earns his authority through the terrifying accuracy of his tactical decisions and combat genius. His relationships, particularly with his boss Veronica Rose, show a leader who values intelligence and competence over blind obedience. He works for a more sophisticated audience because he’s a competent hero who still feels human. He is often exhausted, frequently outmatched, and constantly forced to make choices that carry a heavy moral weight. He isn’t a ‘superman,’ he’s a highly trained professional doing a nearly impossible job in a universe that is falling apart. Once you understand Commander Tad Thatcher, you can understand why Alexander The Great famously said “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”

The World

The world where this book takes place is in a universe 50 years after the initial alien war with the bug like Xanthic fleet. Since then, humanity has used a wormhole to colonize both sides of the galaxy and used the resources on the other side to gain unprecedented wealth. Ultimately, this move proved to be disastrous when the wormhole collapses and chaos erupts. This isn’t a spoiler; the aliens arrive in chapter one and so too does the information about the conflict between the major corporations and against the pirates. And, of course, now the alien enemy strikes back.

The major faction that oversees the galaxy is the United Nations and Colonies or the UNC. Clearly, this evolves from the modern-day UN and was an attempt to prevent the devastation of an orbital bombardment from allowing humanity to destroy itself. This organization represents the primary governing body for humanity’s expansion across the stars, but at the outset of this book it is struggling to maintain control over the other worlds just as the Xanthic threat returns.

While earth exists, and we briefly see Norfolk, Virginia in this book… most of the action takes place aboard the bridge of a starship, deep in that same said ship’s guts or on some remote space station. Most of our focus is on the ship that the main character, Commander Tad Thatcher, is captaining for Frontier Corporation, an American corporation struggling to preserve what’s left of the American ideals. But what we do see of this ship is compelling, something the literary types might label as “blue-collar realism.” The focus is more on functionality and grit than the sleek, pristine vessels often found in “high” space opera. These ships feel less like elegant chariots and more like complex, industrial machines. They are dirty, lived in and take battle damage. Everything you want in science fiction!

The ships are what I’ve come to think of as basically submarines in space, because you get the Hunt for the Red October vibes from this novel. I think, if I am honest, this is mostly Scott Bartlett’s style and less a universe specific thing. Much like the vessel in Operation Petticoat, the iconic WWII war film, these ships are characters in their own right. They are cranky, they have ‘personalities’ born of their mechanical quirks and the quirks of their crews, and they represent the only thin layer of metal standing between the UNC, the corporations and the crushing voids of space.

But that is just the ‘what’ of for the worlds of this novel. Now let’s look at the ‘how,’ as in, how did Scott Bartlett handle the worldbuilding. In Spacers, Scott Bartlett handles world-building through a technique often called ‘Internalized World-Building.’ This invisible style of sharing information, what Ernest Hemingway called ‘the iceberg method,’ works for Scott’s workman like prose. Instead of stopping the story for a data dump about the history of the galaxy, he filters the lore through the mechanical necessities of the ship and the daily survival of the characters.

Politics

This was an apolitical novel, in that none of our current zeitgeists made it into this book. However, the political and military struggle between the opposing polities; the corporations, the UNC (United Nations & Colonies), the pirates and the hidden aliens. This book would appeal broadly to people on all sides of the political spectrum; the book was pure escapism in the best possible ways.

Content Warning

If this book were a movie, it would be rated as PG-13. There was space and ground combat, and a few characters died, but nothing gratuitous and nothing on screen. The blood didn’t run red on the page, much to my dismay. What can I say, Scott Bartlett is classy like that. Alas, as my dear ole mom is wont to remind me, I am not. The good news, however, is that Scott’s discretion means that I can confidently show this book to my kids and not worry about emotionally traumatizing them.

Narration

The audiobook for Spacers was part of a dual pack where the first two books in this ten-book series. However, I think there is value in reviewing each individual books, so here we are. This story was performed by the legendary narrator Mark Boyett, who did an amazing job reading this book to me. You can’t walk away from this performance and not want to buy more of his book performances. Mark’s the ‘gold standard’ for the awesome style of military sci-fi that Scott Bartlett writes. They’re the perfect pairing, like chocolate and peanut butter. The narrator has a natural, gravelly resonance that lends immediate credibility to military hierarchies. It works, even with my tinnitus and hearing loss from years hearing the sound of freedom over the 8 years of time spent playing soldier for Uncle Sugar. He excels at capturing the tense bridge atmosphere we see in the space fleet subgenre of military science fiction. When he voices a captain or commanding officer, there is a rhythmic, clipped quality to his speech that makes the orders feel urgent and professional. It fits with what I remember from every time I was yelled at or did the yelling. In the high-stakes space battles that Bartlett is known for, Boyett’s pacing is masterful. He knows when to speed up the delivery to mirror the adrenaline of combat and when to slow it down to let the technical jargon land. Mark Boyett’s narration is the ‘engine room’ of the Spacers experience. He doesn’t just read the technical specs of a railgun firing; he makes you feel the vibration of the deck plates through his vocal grit. If you want audiobook excellence, look no further!

Who is it for?

This book is for fans of military science fiction (Mil-SciFi) and space opera, especially those who enjoy fast-paced stories blending starship battles, tactical command decisions, interstellar politics, alien threats, and character-driven growth within a military framework. This is for readers who like action-heavy narratives with detailed space combat, fleet maneuvers, and high-stakes conflicts are going to love this book. Seeing humanity facing the returning of alien invaders in a colonized galaxy connected by wormholes and grit will hook you just like it did me.

Why buy it?

This book, and the broader 10-book Spacers series, is a binge-worthy joy for those seeking gripping, accessible sci-fi with military influence, pulse-pounding battles, and a “solid science fiction universe.” It’s not heavily focused on hard scientific speculation but prioritizes adventure, strategy, and human (and alien) drama in space. In short, if you love the space fleet side of military science fiction, alien invasion stakes, and engaging characters in a sprawling series, this novel is for you. It will hook you on the entire 10 book series and leave you wanting more.

If I sold this book to you, then I highly recommend that you click here and buy Spacers, the first book in the Spacers Series by Scott Bartlett!