Eagle Station
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆
Eagle Station (Patrick McLanahan, Book 24) by Dale Brown
Stalls out while venturing into space. 🌙😩
Previously, in my review of The Kremlin Strike:
I would love to see Dale Brown write an actual hard science fiction novel. With his military expertise and prowess for fast paced action, I have no doubt it would make for some interstellar warfare that’s actually interesting (because it often isn’t).
Previously, in my review of Planetside:
A lot of military jargon about what’s going on, who’s doing what, what they need to do, why they need to do it, what their next step is, and what will happen if they don’t. [...] Stop talking about some random attack, or the consequences thereof, or the danger of what’s to come, and let me actually see these events unfold.
Eagle Station offers just a tiny taste of thrilling space action, but not before delivering a near-endless barrage of slow pacing and filler.
Starting with the ending, it’s about five pages of pure awesomeness. The kind of explosive, fast-paced climax you expect from Dale Brown, set on the freakin’ moon no less 🌙. It’s exciting, intense, and reminiscent of the classic McLanahan action. The problem is that it’s over far too quickly.
At the start, the story feels like a game of political nuclear chess, and I mean that in a good way. Pieces are moving, overtaking each other, and each side tries to stay one step ahead in this new space race. The tension builds, gearing toward a crescendo. Then about halfway through, everything screeches to a halt.
Dale Brown basically says, “Nope! 🛑 We’re going to cancel the mission the reader would’ve loved. I have a better idea for the next 200 pages.” Then the story switches to why they can’t do the mission, what the enemy is capable of, what their options are, and a few ideas that aren’t ready yet because they need time to invent new technology.
While we wait for this technology, the story checks in on the bad guys, who are gearing up and waiting for an inevitable attack... eventually. Since we are here, they talk about everything we already know, just to kill time.
Finally, the technology is ready, yay! But it’s experimental and they only get one shot, so they have to plan carefully. Planning, planning... okay, now we’re ready. 🎉
On paper, this might sound like a decent structure for a story. But it takes so long to get through all of this, literally about half the book. The good parts are there, but dear God, it takes forever to reach them.
