#SciFiMonth2025 Outcast’s Oath (military scifi)

by Richard Tongue

Finish date: 04.11.25
Genre: novella
Rating: D
#SciFiMonth25 – #NovNov25

Conclusion:

Good News: I finished it. It may sound corny but this is a giant step for someone who does not like Scifi…but I’m giving the genre at least a chance.

Bad News: Typical military elements: conflict, heroes, empathic commanding officer, soldier who has to prove himself, body count loss of friends in battle, squadron regroups after defeat….to fight another day. That will probably be #2 in the Maxwell’s War series. Note: I still don’t know what the aliens looked like, no description at all!

Bad News: The pace was good….but the writing was just filled with military clichés (“We’re going to hunt it down and we’re going to kill it, an Outcast’s Oath).  The only  cliché  I missed was the famous “Hoo-wah” we all know and love in the film The “Scent of a Woman” by Al Pacino!

Personal: The book felt “sloppy” not accurate with spelling mistakes (pg 93 – “Our orders game through, Ryder guessed.” Also…how can the crew find rusty hulks, components, buggy, mechanisms in a desert environment? (Hùh?). In 23 chapters we did keep up with the “Star Trek” vibe (sensors, thrusters, escape pods), a dash of “Dirty Dozen” team spirit and a whiff of  “Saving Private Ryan” as soldiers regret losing one of their own and a pinch of  “Top Gun” with daredevil aviation dog fights!
In conclusion, I am still not the target audience for (military) SciFI…but I will keep reading until I find a book I like! Never give up, “Hoo-wah”!

Quick Scan:

Outcast’s Oath (Maxwell’s War Book 1) – Richard Tongue – 190 pg (novella)

1. Ten years ago, the Terran Commonwealth dispatched its most advanced ship,
2. …CSS Eudoxus, on a top-secret mission.
3. A mission so secret that when the ship failed to return!
4. Flight Lieutenant Carter Maxwell, commanding a crew of misfits and outcasts,
5. …must win the race to uncover the truth of the mystery that sent Eudoxus and her crew into the dark,
6. NOTE: This is my first experience with “Military SciFi”.
7. I did not know this was a “thing”. 
8. But I’m ready to board  the patrol ship, CSS Endurance  and I heard
9. … I going to meet an alien doomsday cult!  Yikes!
10. BTW…the book cover is impressive!