Fleet of Angels

Below, you will find some very favorable reviews for Fleet of Angels (of course). Not only will you eventually see more reviews from writers and professional reviewers, but also from a few friends. Look them over, and after you have read Fleet of Angels yourself, I'm sure you will agree with them.

Since there was an initial problem with the distributors, Carl's fellow workers at General Motors were the first people in the world to receive a copy of Fleet of Angels. Click HERE to see what they had to say!

"Carl has a talent for mixing the macabre and humor with spine-tingling suspense, a truly entertaining combination. And through it all, Carl shows us our weaknesses and gives us a clear picture of the price we must pay for those frailties."

-Terry Wright, author of The 13th Power, from Gardenia Press. Visit Terry's web site at: http://www.terrywrightbooks.com

"I've read a lot of books in my life, and let me tell you that Fleet of Angels is a novel that will keep you turning the pages until you go blind. It has all the elements of the classics that seem to be missing in the majority of the science fiction novels that you see in the stores today. Fleet of Angels is very hard to put down once started. When Carl asked me to do this review, regardless of the fact that I'm not rich and famous, it didn't surprise me at all. Carl usually has a unique way of doing things which, of course, is reflected in his writing. If you only buy one book in your entire life, Fleet of Angels would be a good choice. It's the type of book that you'll be reading over and over in the years to come."

75 years of War and the terror in the heavens continues unabated. The Satanians, the horned creatures from Andromeda, learn the secrets of a passive race and use it against Earth's Armada defending the Milky Way. Explosions after explosions rip through the blackness of space as both friendly and enemy ships, fighters, and asteroids disintegrate in a series of blinding radioactive light. Maxima, Earth's super battlecarrier, damaged in the war, now in the hands of the crazed enemy is limping toward the Satanians' home system, Andromeda. With all of the Umox technology they had confiscated on board, if they succeed in reaching Andromeda, it could mean the total destruction of all of Earth's forces, the Milky Way, and Earth. Commander Keller of Earth's Battlecarrier, the Titan, races after the Maxima at speeds he didn't know his ship could exceed. With the help of Earth's ally, the zTurms, the Titan is outfitted with Umoxian advanced technology and the race is on. Still, in the midst of all of this terror, destruction, and madness, there is laughter, humor, romance and a hope for the future.

Carl Merritt's Fleet of Angels will keep you turning the pages rooting for the good guys and dolls, who are also dedicated, courageous, and as determined to win as the men, in command of Earth's fleets including the 2^nd Armada . . . the Fleet of Angels.

Reviewed: by Elena Dorothy Bowman, Author of the Sarah's Landing Series, The House On The Bluff, and Time In A Rift.

"Carl has written the best science fiction novel that I've ever read. Fleet of Angels has the ability to grab you, and it won't let you put it down. It's in a class by itself. It's a MUST READ!"

Fleet Of Angels
Carl Merritt
Barclay Books
2002
288 pages
ISBN 1-931402-33-7

Carl Merritt's Fleet of Angels is a fast-moving, action-packed adventure in a science fiction setting. The plot and characters are as memorable as any found in many of the popular stories of the old west.

Set sometime in the distant future, the story reveals forces of the Milky Way galaxy composed of those from Earth and a planet called zTurm, defending the area against a hostile force from the Andromeda galaxy. The story begins with Commander Richard Keller, commanding the Second (space) Fleet, engaging the Satanian enemy upon arrival at the edge of the Milky Way. He knows that the Seventh Fleet, which had been deployed in the area, had been all but destroyed by the aggressors. In his initial engagement of the enemy, he discovers the Satanians possess an advanced technology that explains how they were able to overcome the Seventh Fleet. Battered but successful after the initial engagement, Keller's fleet withdraws to refit and study the situation.

Back on Earth, Keller's fleet is refitted and sent back to engage the Satanians armed with new technology to better defend against the enemy. Their mission is to rescue the Seventh Fleet survivors held prisoner by the Satanians and defeat the enemy.

Fleet of Angels includes continuous chapters of mind-boggling space battles like those seen in recent movies. The string of supreme moments include Keller and a host of subordinates in his fleet tracking down and battling the Satanians to a finite but conditional ending.

Although a reader of stories in the here and now may get lost in the extraordinary dimensions of the universe and the imaginative construction of futuristic scenario's component parts such as thousands of gigantic space ships, the tale is made easy by the author's flowing style. With the speed of light, Fleet of Angels keeps you engaged from beginning to end. Look out George Lucas!

Fleet of Angels (Carl R. Merritt)
A review

Carl Merritt's debut novel is a military SF story. Set in the year 2376, Earth is at war with the Satanians, an alien species broadly similar to humans except for their devil-like horns. It's not surprising they are similar, for the premise of the story is that both humans and their allies, the Zturm, are descended from the original species, the Umox, and were both created by the original Andromeda master-race as an experiment, before the Umox civilisation collapsed into chaos.

Fleet of Angels will appeal to readers who like authors such as David Weber, Steve White, Bill Baldwin, David Drake, W. Michael Gear, and Richard Fawkes. It reminded me of Henlein's "Starship Troopers" and, indeed, there is some ground-attack action, although most of the story deals with the space war.

The story is set on a grand scale, involving a war between the galaxies of Andromeda and the Milky Way. Earth's allies in the war are the Zturm, descendants of the original colony expedition, sent from Andromeda millenia ago, to explore our Galaxy.

Carl Merritt wastes no time with 'world building', one of the bugbears of the SF genre, but plunges straight into the story. Chapter one opens with Richard Keller, the hero and Captain of the Titan, in battle against a Satanian fleet. Devotees of SF military action will find plenty here:

". . . a young ensign named Wanda Collins took over communications. She had to stand, as the chair had been ripped away by flying debris. Feeling her feet slipping on the slick floor, she looked down and almost gagged. It was the decapitated head of First Lieutenant Sean Burke. It was oozing blood through the shredded neck . . . and staring straight up at her."

Fleet of Angels could be suitable for a young adult audience as well as adults, since there are no love scenes; this is fairly conventional for this genre. Equal opportunity is given to both male and female combatants in the story. Richard Keller, the commander, has to tread a narrow edge. His wife, Paula, is an Admiral in the fleet, and is determined to show herself the equal of any of the men, by charging into the thick of battle. Keller must balance his natural urge to protect her against his need to show his men that he doesn't pick favourites.

Just when it seems that the human forces are getting the upper hand, the Satanians turn up with advanced technology, looted from a dead planet originally inhabited by their Umox ancestors. The humans are faced with their biggest battle as they try to take over the planet to secure the same technology and close the gap. During this, they capture a half-human, half-Satanian female, Faleen. This could have led to an interesting sub-plot, but the author decided the space battles were the main interest, and we hear little more of Faleen.

Fleet of Angels is an easy and fast read, packed with action for fans of the genre. It will be interesting to see what Carl Merritt comes up with next!

- Clive Warner,
author of "Appointment in Samara"

Set in the year 2376, Carl R. Merritt's Fleet Of Angels is an epic science fiction war story about Earthmen and their technology superior alien ally called zTurms as they are locked in a lethal conflict with the hideous Satanians. zTurm technology and Earth ingenuity combine in the creation of a great fleet of gigantic warships to turn away the Satanian invasion. The second fleet of this production line is called the Fleet of Angels, and this is their pulse-pounding intergalactic story. Fleet of Angels is strongly recommended to science fiction enthusiasts as a world-spanning futuristic adventure that combines elements of the fantastic and the supernatural.