DESTROYER OF WORLDS by Cameron Cooper
Imperial Hammer 5.0
Space Opera Novel
More books by Cameron Cooper
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The Empire is crumbling and humanity is on its knees.
The petulant, self-aware Array has retaliated. It has destroyed a space station, home to a million people, and stranded Danny and her crew on the surface of the tidally locked Nijeliya II. They must scratch for survival as best they can.
While Danny works to save the city and her people, her fury over the Array’s murder of her friends and loved ones stews deep inside. She will have her revenge, no matter what the cost.
Only Nijeliya is a red star and notorious for throwing out superflares that can threaten the life of everything living thing. Time is running out, not just for Danny and her crew, but for everyone in the galaxy.
Destroyer of Worlds is the fifth and final book in the Imperial Hammer space opera science fiction series by award-winning SF author Cameron Cooper.
The Imperial Hammer series:
1.0: Hammer and Crucible
1.1: An Average Night on Androkles
2.0: Star Forge
3.0: Long Live the Emperor
4.0: Severed
5.0: Destroyer of Worlds
5.5: The Imperial Hammer Series Box Set
Space Opera Science Fiction Novel
This series is also available as a Special Bundle
{Also see: Space Opera, Science Fiction, Novels}
Reviews
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I loved this book!! This is a stunning last book for a fantastic series!! Well done on an excellent book Cam!
All our beloved characters are racing to redesign and modify old ships to leave the planet that will become life threatening. As usual, nothing is as it seems or even remotely easy.
As expected, Cam throws in surprises that makes you gasp and sit up. The action is satisfyingly realistic, the drama and tension tangible and the array of human emotions are raw and real. The plot sucks you in and immerses you as reader completely.
I even felt sorry for the Array, for a split second that is! I am pleased to report this book has a happy ending. I do recommend reading the series in order.
I absolutely love Cam's galaxy building and space engineering concepts!! They are brilliant and awe- inspiring, yet remain understandable.
It is an amazing adventure to open and read Cam's Sci-fi, as you are NEVER disappointed and can escape reality, GARUANTEED!! His writing style is a pleasure to read. I can' t wait for your next book of a brand new series!!
Cooper is a masterful storyteller, the story in this book did not disappoint. It was an engaging fast-paced read full of adventure, danger, political intrigue and even a little romance. There is conflict on every level making for a rich complex plot. The ending was inevitable, and satisfying - but not completely predictable. Character driven sci-fi in a well build, consistent world that doesn't get bogged down with info dumps explaining the science.
The only thing noticeably missing for most of the story was the Array. While that conflict was conclusively ended in a way that will change the empire forever, the timetable and pressure to solve the problem was pushed not by the Array but by other external forces. Given the Array's history and resourcefulness with exploiting holes and weaknesses and the size of the empire I expected to see more fight from the Array in this book.
Book 5 in the Imperial Hammer series, this is is the epic conclusion the series has been building towards. It contains a full story arc and enough background info that it can be read as a standalone, but the richness of the character development, the plot complexities, and the relationships are best appreciated by reading the full series in order.
This is a great wrap up for a series I have adored. While I am sad to see the end come to this wonderful group of people I have come to know and love, I just know that whatever Danny and the crew of the ship Lythion are doing, in the future, it is going to be a grand adventure. Thank you to Cameron Cooper for giving us such an entertaining and well written series.
Hopefully you’ve read the other stories in this series. A self-aware array has had a temper tantrum and destroyed a space station, housing millions. Danny and her crew are stranded on planet. No more printing food or clothes. A need to grow food and sew clothes suddenly takes life to a very basic level.
When flares occur, the focus of all on the planet changes. Teams must create or convert ships.
Our crew is still clever and creative. But this is a true make or break moment for them. Even if they can leave the planet, does danger still await them in space? Spectacular story with everything on the line
An edge of the seat ride all the way through with tension abounding. After the drama and wrenching finish to book four this story picks up the thread and tells us what goes on in the aftermath. For a story that deals with life and death challenges and seemingly hopeless odds there was a fantastic balance of insights into characters' perseverance and incremental progress to keep the characters, and me as the reader, in a positive frame of mind.
There was lots of political and 'spacer' drama going on but the real heart of the story for me was the rich and insightful portrayal of the relationships between characters. Every character personality was complex and interesting.
This book, WOW! It moved me!! I gasped; I cried with sadness and I cried with delight! Not many books move me to tears despite the claims of others' reviews but this one delivered heartfelt emotions in spades!
I left the series satisfied that there were no loose ends and feeling good about the characters and their future...whatever it may hold.
I highly recommend this series and especially advocate reading all the books in order (including the short novella between, about Varg).
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Excerpt
EXCERPT FROM DESTROYER OF WORLDS
COPYRIGHT © CAMERON COOPER 2021
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
It only took a couple of hours to walk the length of Eventide following the central avenue, but you could wander for much longer if you headed into the irregular streets and corridors among the buildings on either side of the avenue. There were few ground cars, for they couldn’t navigate through the narrow mazes.
I walked most nights. “Night” was an objective measure based upon the time displayed on one’s pad. As Eventide was tidally locked, the sun never set. It stayed exactly where it was, providing an eternal gloaming.
These days, evenings were marked by people returning home dirty and tired, often carrying the tools of their work over their shoulders. Cooking smells had become more frequent, too. No one could print food, anymore. Grown food prepared in traditional and ancient ways was the new norm.
I wandered the streets and after twenty minutes of taking random corners, always moving, I heard a soft yip behind me and held out my hand.
Varg came up beside me and nudged my hand with her nose. I plunged my fingers into her ruff and scratched. “Hello to you, too.”
Pedestrians stepped aside for us as we passed. Varg was the only parawolf in the city and tended to turn heads. She liked the attention, here in Eventide, for everyone adored her.
She expressed the hope that we were heading to her second favorite place in the city, beloved only slightly less than her heated sand pit onboard the Lythion.
I smiled at that. “Maybe,” I murmured. “I just need to walk awhile, okay?”
Varg settled into a matching pace beside me.
I can’t remember why or even when I started walking. It was beyond a habit now. It was something I had to do. It helped me sleep. A little, at least.
It helped time pass. It helped with a great many things.
Eventually I ended up outside the dodecahedron shaped building with the plasteel walls which spilled yellow light into the intersection of streets where it was located. I paused, listening to the cheerful sounds inside, watching the patrons laughing and talking at the many tables.
Varg sat on her haunches and sniffed, her nose up. Her tail wagged hopefully.
“You reckon?” I asked her.
She whined.
“Okay.”
Varg didn’t barge into the bar, but trotted ahead of me and waited for someone to stumble out of the joint. She slid through the gap. As I got my hand on the doorhandle, I watched her through the windows slink between the tables like a silver grey shadow, over to the bar itself.
Everyone sober enough to notice her looked up. Some turned their heads to look for me.
I stepped in and moved over to the bar myself, ignoring the lifted hands, the calls, the waves. Jeohannan moved up the length of the bar to where I stood, wiping her hands on the towel about her waist. She smiled in welcome. “The usual, Danny?”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
Jeohannan lifted herself up on her toes to look over the front of the bar. “You there, Varg, honey?”
Varg raised up on her haunches and put her feet on the bar. She grinned, her tongue lolling.
Jeohannan rubbed her head between her ears. “Good girl! I have a treat for you tonight.”
“So do I!” someone called from behind me. “When you’re done with Jeohannan’s shitty scraps, I got something for you here, Varg!”
I rolled my eyes. Varg loved coming here because everyone brought food for her and some of it wasn’t scraps. She would accept food from anyone in the bar because I had told her she could trust them. It wasn’t the food that she adored, though. In here, Varg could get the attention I was really bad at providing, these days. I tried not to feel guilty about it. I was busy. We were all busy with a little problem called survival.
Jeohannan put a plate on the bar in front of Varg’s nose. It was piled with three chops sitting in a pool of blood. Varg eased the first off the pile, dropped to the floor and crunched her way through it with two powerful bites, then licked her chops and jumped up for the next one.
Everyone in the bar watched with amused or indulgent expressions.
Jeohannan slid a glass of whisky in front of me and beside it, a small vial filled with yellow liquid. I put the vial in my pocket. That was for later.
I knocked the whisky back with a hiss of relief and pleasure.
Jeohannan had my second drink already sitting where the first had been.
I pushed the empty glass aside and reached for the fresh one.
When Varg had finished her three chops, I told her to talk to everyone else. She bounded happily through the tables, her haunches bumping into hips and chairs and table edges, for the tables were packed in close. No one minded. She got scratches and pats and food in return for panting happily. Occasionally she would reward someone with a lick upon a hand or even a cheek.
Only once had she growled and backed away. That asshole had been doped up on a chemical concoction which removed all his inhibitions and made him think longingly about the clever nestled under his arm.
Jeohannan and I had wrestled the cleaver off him before he got to wield it, and had him bound up with strips of bar towels when the Ranger domestic unit arrived to take him away. Jeohannan had fed Varg fresh meat every night since.
I didn’t have to watch Varg or worry about her. I was free to get on with drinking.
No one bothered me. And if they did, I’d explain why I wanted to be left alone. Often, they’d go away without arguing the point. Sometimes they didn’t, which was fine by me.
That was case tonight, when the giant who took the stool next to mine and offered to buy me a drink.
I explained once. Nicely. He was stupid and pushed the point. So I ducked my head coyly and suggested we step outside.
He grinned and followed me out.
I saw Jeohannan call Varg over to her and tuck her behind the bar and out of sight of me and the idiot.
Everyone else pressed up against the windows to watch.
It didn’t take much. A double fist to the stomach. A punch to the throat, which left him gagging and clawing for air. Take out his knees, then set to work on his face.
He passed out way too quickly. I stood over his comatose body, my chest heaving, my knuckles aching. The hard lump was still sitting in the middle of my chest. Aching. Making me walk. Pushing me on.
I nudged the giant, hoping he’d stir and sit up for another round, but he refused to budge.
“Varg!” I called, resentment building in me. The vial in my pocket was supposed to be backup, just in case I couldn’t get through the night without it. Tonight was going to be one of those nights.
Again.
