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The galaxy is on the brink of disaster, the long-awaited truce torn apart by an unprovoked attack. The colony whose residents represented more than a hundred planets has been destroyed, and the new vision for unity in the universe is at risk.

Faced with a war that would mean destruction and chaos, one man has stepped forward to lead those fighting for their lives. Undeterred by insurmountable odds, his courage inspires a team—the Morcai Battalion—to battle for the cause of peace…and love.

Average Customer Rating:

Couldn't Put It Down

Customer Rating:

I love Diana Palmer's writing for her vivid descriptions that make you lose yourself from the reality where you sit, and feel transported to a new and different place! The phrase "couldn't put it down" is overused, but I literally couldn't put it down to eat or go to bed! Her delightful main characters are well-developed and the relationship between them is what makes the story run, for me. Her plot and conclusions were well-thought out. Her wonderful sense of humor permeates the work, as well as her sensitivity and caring nature. If you like Diana Palmer's other works, remember that this is a different genre and so the plot has to be different. But, if you put aside the usual romance paths and open your mind to a new experience, you will not be disappointed. As usual for a Diana Palmer book, this one is researched to the hilt to give a realistic feel. One of the best things about this book, in my humble opinion, is that it is rated G to PG if you count the "h" or "d" words and mild violence, since there are battles and aftermath and torture. It ranks up there with Robert Heinlein's young adult books, though Diana Palmer's style is much different. I encourage readers who didn't rank it highly to give it a second read. Without the expectations, you might find it deserves more stars. If my children were still children, I would encourage them to read it. My now college-age daughter did, and loves it! She's an avid Diana Palmer fan like me and loves romance. We also enjoy science fiction/fantasy. A writer can write well regardless of genre. Just because Diana Palmer excels at romance doesn't mean she can't also excel at science fiction. Many of her romances involve mercenaries or have a police connection. There are many technical points in most of her books; an early one had a survivable small plane crash and a well-researched plausible cause for it: a magneto failure. It is a logical extension of her talents to imagine plausible tech for a future war, with medical tech and living computers. As Diana can give beautiful and vivid descriptions of the land and small-town people in her romance books, so she gives wonderful descriptions of technical points in Morcai Battalion that are clear to laymen. Anyone can find mistakes in an author's works, if you look hard enough. Good writing shines despite. So does the love that goes into it. I love the Morcai Battalion, and can't wait for the sequels!! Disclaimer: Although, I try to be objective, I am Diana Palmer's sister. Usually, I don't review Diana's books but this one outdid them all, so I couldn't resist. I don't read her books to be nice, I read them because they are excellent! Morcai Battalion is my favorite, because I was 11 when she let me proofread her pages, eagerly waiting by the typewriter for the next page! I saw this book in its original form, and I love the new one even better. Because I had read the original many times, I expected it not to surprise me, but I didn't see the years of edits. All of my comment here is how I really feel about the book:) Literally, when I ripped open the box, I couldn't put it down and read it right there and then. Her dedication brought a flood of pleasant memories from the old days and I thought there was no way she could improve the original. Happy to say I was wrong. It's a mesmerizing read!

Solid Sci Fi

Customer Rating:

This book was a little bit confusing at first but turned into a solid piece of Sciene Fiction. Just don't expect any romance. I think that is why so my other reviewers are dissapointed. This book is all space adventure with no romance. I stayed up all night till I finished this book. You could tell it was written over 20 years ago but it still was a good story and worth reading. I hope we see more of these characters from Diana in the future.

Give Me More	Customer Rating:
I was very pleasantly surprised to read this type of book by Diana. It was a terrific change for her and I've read just about everything she has ever written. I found myself absorbed and fascinated and truly wanted more. I would love to see Diana continue with some other books in this genre!

Well worth the read

Customer Rating:

I actually got this book not too excited to read it...so I waited a week and ended up listening to it on CD while driving to MI from VA. It was painful to turn it off when I had to get out of the car to get gas or food. The characters are engaging...there are hints of future books and stories, and the plot was very interesting with hints of things that have been driving me crazy...I have since listened to it again, and am reading it and still catching glimpses of hints! I will say that somethings were repeated a little too much - Maddy's calerian medicine, the neutering, and the clone thing. But next to the plot and the possibility of the future for those characters and the hints of romance in the future (I'm a sucker for that stuff) it is only a mild irritation. I think that the next book should be outstanding...Diana has matured a great deal since writing this book originally...and if she can capture that same imagination and the sort of innocent sort of hinted romance again and mix it with what she writes in her books now, it should be excellent. I'm waiting for baited breath to find out what happens next!!

Flawed, but still enjoyable

Customer Rating:

The author tells us up front that this was originally written when she was 17, some 42 years ago before Star Trek and Star Wars. Sadly, it sometimes shows. However, if you can forgive it its flaws, it still makes a pretty good read. The Terravegan starship Bellatrix arrives at a colony that has been ravaged by the Rojok. Lt. Commander Madeline Ruszel is a doctor and is concerned with getting the many casualties cared for and evacuated before the Rojok forces return. She's aided by her friend and ship-mate Dr. Strick Hahnson. A second ship arrives: a Centaurian warship led by Dtimu, commander-in-chief of the Holconcom, the most elite commando force in the three civilized galaxies. They are looking for any survivors of a diplomatic mission that included two members of the Centaurian royal family and a Jaakob Sphere that contains information that the Rojok could use against the Tri-Galaxy Federation. Unfortunately, the Sphere and one of the royals have been taken and the other royal, a young boy, was tortured to death by the Rojok. Dtimun takes his ship through enemy space in search of the kidnapped princess, and along the way rescues the humans of the Belltrix--and although allies, the Centaurians and the humans do not get along well in the close confines of space--AND there may be agents of the Rojok on the ship attempting sabotage. There is a lot of action, mostly amongst the quarrelling allies at first. Madeline is sometimes a bit over the top as the feisty ship's doctor, ready to throw a punch or fire a weapon almost at the drop of a hat; only somewhat explained by the fact that she used to be a captain of a squad of female warriors before she went into medicine. Dtimun is almost your archtypical mysterious legendary warrior commander. It's still interesting seeing the characters interact, and although they aren't terribly well-drawn, they are still sympathetic. If you want to see romance, there is little here, although things promise to get more involved between several possible couples. The two biggest problems I had with the book is that they can clone someone almost instantly AND they retain all their memories (clones are made from DNA from the bodies--but no explanation is given about how memories are transferred). Also, there is "heart surgery [that] still demanded this ancient butchery of opening the ribs to access the heart." Even nowadays they are beginning to operate on the heart without doing this, and this society supposedly has advanced technology. Such things definitely shook me out of the story and kept me aware that the original manuscript was written decades ago. It's too bad that a little tighter editing and some more careful re-writing wasn't done to make this a better book. But the basic story, as I said, was still a good one. Not great, but still good enough that I am interested in reading any sequels.