Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets Book 1)

First and foremost, this is a fun read. The entire series (21-books) never drags or repeats. Each story is unique and continues the plot line established in Book 1, "Death Becomes Her". While there are sections in all of the books that make you want to read several chapters so you can come to the conclusion of an action scene, there are lots of places you can put the book down and pick it up later. I grew up on Space Opera (Doc Smith and the Lensman series, and continued with Lee & Miller's Liaden series) and am also a huge fan of Military Sci-Fi. How wonderful to find a series with a bit of both. The emphasis in this series is on the story and the characters. And yes, the characters are unique and supportive of the main character. Throughout the series you see them grow and develop. Unlike some authors, Mr. Anderle doesn't develop a character just to kill him/her off in the next book. The reader has an opportunity to engage with the characters and follow them throughout this extensive series. Several of the characters have spin-off series (e.g., Nomad series, Bad Company series) so you can find out more about the character or follow their exploits that are related to but independent of the main story line. Book #1 is required to understand and appreciate the entire story line. What if Werewolves and Vampires actually exist? What if, just like real people, there are good, bad, and indifferent members of their society? What kind of interrelationships would develop? How about aliens? What would advanced technology bring into the mixture? This series has it all. Mr. Anderle sets up a universe with a social/economic/political setup similar to Earth - i.e., there are bullies and victims, 'politicians' who have their own interests foremost as well as those interested in serving others, etc. Now bring in a group of long-lived characters who want to help others, have the skills and talents to make a difference, and the aliens and technology to go boldly forth. Go Bethany Anne.

Although this is his first writing effort (and what an effort!), I have read several of Michael Anderle's books/series. Honestly, this series is the best of the bunch. I'm not a big fan of military books because I just don't enjoy the lengthy discussions of various manuvers, armament, and so on. These books manage the manuver, etc., discussions, interspersed with quips from the warriors, such that anyone can understand them and can skim over anything that gets too much. The same thing can be said about computers. While I used to have a fairly good understanding of computers, they have moved so far beyond what I knew that I have trouble getting my current laptop to work. Anderle managed to hit the sweet spot between barely mentioning computers (which would have ignored a great deal of the plot, as it turned out) and going into such detail that only total geeks would understand what was going on and the rest of us would have tried to read the text with our eyes increasingly glazing over. Needless to say, when we are trying to read text that puts us to sleep, we usually put the book down, do something else, and never pick it up again. You won't have that problem here. Whether you read the books one at a time or as an omnibus like this, you will find yourself enthralled, reading one after the other, until you reach the end. I confess, I don't remember the titles of each book (although they are included at the beginning of each book in the omnibus); I just read straight through the entire group of seven books without pause, except to eat and sleep. I plan to tackle the next omnibus (books eight through fourteen) the same way. I stopped here to leave a review because I thought the book(s) deserved this. I suspect a lot of people are suspicious of omnibus editions in general (were the individual books such bad performers that they were thrown together in hopes of better sales? or maybe buyers wouldn't recognize the original titles?). Untrue here, entirely, but maybe this review will ease the minds of readers who are still unsure, despite the Anderle name. I would recommend this omnibus (or these individual books) to fans of science fiction, horror, fantasy, AI fiction (you know who you are), political fiction (barely), and space operas. As for age, I wouldn't have a clue. I guess if you're old enough to read, maybe give it a try. If not now, then maybe a few years from now. Give it a try every five to ten years until you have matured enough to appreciate it. Personally, if I'm still alive (I'm 72), I plan to revisit these books every few years. I have a feeling there's more here than I caught the first time around. Anyway, good reading! I'm on to the next omnibus.

It’s now day two of staying up till two am and I’ve exhausted my eyeballs and have to force myself to put my phone down. Just wow. These books are so freaking cool. I totally love the science aspect of everything instead of supernatural. Just beyond an epic concept. Love where things for from and all the relationships form. I can’t wait to see where things go from here. I just devoured these and having an omnibus that was so beefy was beyond amazing. I should’ve taken notes after each book to have something for each book but I didn’t. The character development is ridiculously rich and textured. The characters are so three dimensional you get to know them very well. I love all the relationship dynamics between people and how they change and grow. I love the plot points and driving focus of the story. This is such an epic read. Like reading it I know it’s epic. Just like when I read LotR or GoT. It has that wide beyond all feeling. Man was this super cool and interesting and mind boggling. So INTENSE. Bethany Ann is so INTENSE. I LOVE HER. I love that the main character is a strong female. Executed wonderfully in an engaging story with so much camaraderie. Loved this book and I’m checking out the next book as soon as I finish this. But I have to promise myself I won’t start it until tomorrow as it’s past two am. Epic read. MUST READ SERIES!!!

I bought the First bookset and decided to give it a go! I am not an military or spacefan so I was a bit sceptic. But Boy was I wrong! These series is written in a way that had me glued to my tablet! I have Read this boxset in 30 hours and I still want more! I just love BA and her guards! Thank you for pulling me out of the real world and into a Fantasy world where I can just say, you know this actually makes me doubt! Are there aliens?!

Ich finde diese sieben Bücher wirklich sehr gut. Die Bücher hab ich schon einzeln bewertet und kann sie absolut weiterempfehlen. PS: Leute, guckt auf den LMBPN Timetable mit der Lesereihenfolge, wenn ihr alles lesen wollt.

I came across this somewhat by accident. As a voracious reader with a personal library of well over 3000 printed books, my relatively recent introduction to the 99p boxed sets for Kindle Prime, and then Kindle Unlimited, were eye-openers. Not only fabulous value for someone like me but hey, no more wasted shelfspace. Win-win. So, after a few weeks of exploring various boxed sets, most of which I enjoyed, I finally got around to some of Michael's work, namely, the Kurtherian Gambit, books 1-7. What do I think? Well, the short version is I ended up downloading the next two boxed sets too. For a more nuanced appraisal, it all depends what you're looking for. If carefully crafted and finely honed Booker prize winning prose is your thing, move along. This probably isn't for you. Well, maybe not. There are times I want serious read too, which these aren't. But if you're looking for outright escapism, if you don't mind comparatively shallow characters but just a trip-roaring good tale .... and if you can put up with the utterly potty-mouthed lead character (don't say you weren't warned) then you WILL NOT get better value than these, especially in the boxed sets. There's a good dollop of humour, some romance and truck-load of ass-kicking. All told, you'll either love it or hate it. These aren't perfect. The 'universe' isn't deep and detailed and there's an element of cartoonism about the characters. Tolkien, this isn't. Nor Jordan, Weddings, nor Piers Anthony. But given the speed with which they're turned out, and given the payment per page, they cannot be. The author(s) of this and other boxed sets like this would starve. But given the timetables involved, they are very well done indeed. And that's what it comes down to. This sort of publishing is relatively new, can only exist in today's online world and is a business model not suited to books that take a year or more to write. And that's why this review asks you to decide what you want. If you are looking for page-turning escapism, a LONG storyline and a damn fun read, look no further. If you want fine literary art, look elsewhere.

Originally became aware of this storyline while reading through all the sub-arcs in the Age of Magic series that Michael Anderle wrote with several other writers. After reading through the various segments, each with their own heros and villains, you just have to go back to the origin to find out just who Bethany Anne, the QB is! Zipped through these first seven books of the Kurtherian Gambit series and have eagerly moved onto the next set of eight books. In a nutshell, Michael Anderle has done a phenomenal job weaving together a ton of characters and sub-plots into an entrancing combination of science-fiction and fantasy. Bethany Anne, the primary protagonist is of course the biggest bad-ass but her cast of merry men, and women, has you cheering for the good guys while laughing yourself silly. Great job! I am enjoying the series immensely and while having a hard time putting down the Kindle (getting my money's worth out of Kindle Unlimited!) I am at least taking time to get the dishes done and enjoy the odd frosty beverage. Cheers Michael!

A terrific fast-moving tale of vampires as the ultimate law enforcers, taking on those cases normal justice can't touch. aided by werewolves and a secret alien intelligence. Book one was great: now I'm looking forward to the rest. What a treat: 21 books in this saga!