Koban: The Mark of Koban, Volume 2

I was astounded and impressed by these independently published books. I dug around for at least an hour trying to find what all other books Mr. Bennett had published, because they read like the finished product of an author with quite a bit of experience under his belt. If I had any clout at all, I would walk down to Baen books and beg them to consider making an offer to sign this author so these books could be more widely marketed. I have been recommending these books to anyone who I vaguely think might be interested in them.I read the first book in pretty much one sitting, and immediately purchased the second book which, (due to the constraints of family life), took me two days to complete. The storytelling sucked me in and left me craving more like a drug. The science (especially the bio science side of things) was convincing and believable, even to a reader who has more than a passing interest in science, biology, and physics. The conflict over the ethics and legality of altering the genome of themselves and their children is a compelling part of the story as well. I have to say that my angsty inner teenager is really looking forward to seeing how the author handles the eventual clash of Kobani and Hub societies.I read a very nasty review earlier mentioning some similarities to the Science Fiction classic "Space Prison" by Tom Godwin. To be honest, it ticked me off. Having read both stories, I would have to say that they are similar to each other in the same way that "Planet of the Apes" is a knockoff of "Farnams Freehold" or "Twilight" is a plagiarism of "Romeo and Juliet."I actually asked around about this to a few authors that I occasionally chat with on a social networking site, and this is what author Ryk Spoor had to say to me:"I'd look at "The Fountains of Paradise" and "The Web Between the Worlds". As Clarke himself pointed out, both books came out within a year of each other, both involved a man (whose name was Merrick or Merrin) who was famed as the builder of the biggest bridge in the world, approached by a wealthy industrialist to attempt a far more ambitious undertaking, the construction of a space elevator, etc... There were a LOT of parallels between these books, yet they were written entirely separately.Unless "Koban" duplicates characters, dialogue, and detailed events from Godwin's work, at MOST it's going to be "inspired by" and at best it's "I had no idea Godwin wrote such a book". Many casual reviewers simply don't realize how many times the same ideas and even general plotlines have been used, and will continue to be used. I haven't read both books so I can't comment on the specific case here, but I'd bet there's no more plagiarism in it than there is in most other books."Enough with that nastiness, anyhow.I had a question about availability and distribution of the books. Is there any chance of the author contracting through one of those online companies that print and bind books? I would love to purchase a (preferably signed) hardbound or paperback copy to add to my bookshelf, as well as some others to loan out to my non ebook reading friends.I just wish I didn't have to wait until Fall to read the rest!

I LOVE this series -- but, I haven't reviewed all the books! Why you may ask . . .Because I'm too busy listening to them!Every summer I re-listening to this series, and once I start, I’m hooked until the last word is spoken — and I don’t touch any another books during that time. Why would I? It’s Koban all day, every day, until I’m done. Nothing else compares to the gorgeous mind movies these books create for me. NOTHING.This year marks my 4th listen, and Book Six is out on Kindle, and will be released on audio in time for Xmas! (Oh, rapturous joy!) Having just finished The Mark, again, I decided to check out my review for it — only I never reviewed it!The problem is, I hate to give spoilers when I review a book I love, so reviewing this series is very hard for me to do. Books are a journey, yada yada -- and I don't want to spoil anyone's trip — but I can’t keep this great series to myself! You deserve to know!So . . .Spoiler Alert——- Spoiler Alert ——-Spoiler Alert ——- Spoiler Alert——-Spoiler AlertBook Two: The Mark of KobanIn 600 years, humans have colonized over 700 worlds in the Milky Way Galaxy, and they’ve never met an alien race in all that time. They also haven’t had a war in 300 years. They’re peace-loving, civilized, and very, very polite.But now the Krall have left Koban, and their gunning for humanity.The humans have no idea that a completely savage, technologically advanced, 7 ft tall, 600 lb reptile analogue ARMY is coming for them, so when the Krall start attacking the unprotected and minimally populated outer Rim worlds, it’s a slaughter. Fortunately, humans don’t taste good to the Krall, or they’d eat us as well as fight us. (Yea us! We’re ‘bland!’)Unfortunately --- the only thing most humans know about fighting a war is what they’ve see in old war movies. (Doh!) The Krall know this, so they decide to go slow, attacking a few human worlds just to get the humans started in re-learning their lost skills. And they do.Meanwhile, back on Koban: The human captives are in a struggle to survive the harsh and dangerous planet’s heavy gravity, deadly insects, giant predators, and 20 lb killer bats -- just to name a few. It’s going to take a miracle for them to survive on Koban, because everything that crawls, flies or grows on a bush can and WILL eat them.They do survive, of course, but it’s HOW they survive that makes the series so amazing and compelling to read. So, I’ll say it again:DO NOT MISS THIS SERIES. If this is the ONLY Sci fi book you ever read, START WITH BOOK ONE! I guarantee you're going to love it, and this book, Book Two, is even better, with a better narrator!I envy you the journey because you can only ever read a great book for the first time, once -- but even the 4th time with this series is FANTASTIC!

this one and the other in this series (koban) were real page turners. i would highly recommend these two books

Space opera at it's best.

verry goog

I was expecting more of the same and a long, drawn out development of the plot but this is a roller-coaster ride which I couldn't put down. Totally believable and really well written. Just about to dive into the next episode!

The author used the first book in which to lay down the foundation for his jolly romp. If you bought the first, this one is much,much better, faster, funnier and all in all, much more enjoyable.