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Vaughn Heppner
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The Lost Starship (Lost Starship Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Vaughn Heppner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 15,540 ratings
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Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.

In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them. Their spies have infiltrated the government and traitors plague Earth’s military.

Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence wonders if the ancient legend could be true. Would such an old starship be able to face the technology of the New Men?

On the run from killers, Maddox searches for a group of talented misfits. He seeks Keith Maker, a drunken ex-strikefighter ace, Doctor Dana Rich the clone thief stuck on a prison planet and Lieutenant Valerie Noonan, the only person to have faced the New Men in battle and survived to tell about it.

Maddox has to find a place hidden in the Beyond and bring back a ship no one can enter. If he fails, the New Men will replace the old. If he succeeds, humanity might just have a fighting chance…
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  1. Book 1 of 21
    Lost Starship Series
  2. Print length
    392 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    August 27, 2014
  6. File size
    762 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Lost Starship Series Book 1 - Book 10
Lost Starship Series Book 1 - Book 21
Bundle price: Kindle price
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Bundle price: Kindle price
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Bundle price: Kindle price
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Bundle price: Kindle price
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Space opera at its best. Mystery, adventure, and big ideas--all the things I love in a great science fiction novel." --A.G. Riddle


"The Lost Starship -- Quite enjoyable easy to read military sci-fi adventure story." --PG's Ramblings


"The story is good old fashioned space opera and the action starts right from page one." --A Hail Mary play, Ciao

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00N3NAY2K
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (August 27, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 27, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 762 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 392 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 15,540 ratings

About the author

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Vaughn Heppner

Vaughn Heppner

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You can visit Vaughn at www.vaughnheppner.com

I was born in Canada and remember as a small boy crawling in my snow-fort. I closed my eyes, and when I tried to open them, they were frozen shut. I didn't panic, but wiped away the ice crystals, unglued my eyes and kept on building my tunnel. Those were great days! I moved to Central California before seventh grade and couldn't believe I lived in a land where oranges grew on trees and you could pick grapes from the vine.

I used to wonder what I wanted to do with my life, what kind of work specifically. I was miserable not knowing and bordering on desperate. Then one day a friend gave me his typewriter. I began working on a novel. A different person told me it was much easier on a computer, so I bought one and began getting up at 4:30 A.M. each morning before work, writing for three hours. My eyes were unglued once again as the pang of misery left my gut. I knew exactly what I wanted to do: write. So now that's what I do, I write, and write, and write, and I love it.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
15,540 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book great, exciting, and fun. They describe the story as interesting, full of action, and adventure. Readers find the characters interesting and likable. They also mention the pacing is well-paced and the buildup is great. Customers mention the story keeps them interested with a sense of discovery. However, some customers find the writing quality poor and rife with grammatical and editing mistakes.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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ReadabilityStory qualityCharacter developmentPacingInterestStartEase of useWriting quality
1,100 customers mention "Readability"1,080 positive20 negative

Customers find the book engaging, fun, and well-written. They say the idea is good and the story is well-executed.

"I'll keep this short. This is a super great series, full of action and adventure and never dull. I am on book 17 and never lost interest...." Read more

"...A good mix of adventure, action and a decent enough background plot...." Read more

"...but it has enough surprises and avoids enough tropes that it stays interesting...." Read more

"...Some readers will not enjoy those abrupt leaps. The proofreading is above average and well done. The price is great at $3...." Read more

1,078 customers mention "Story quality"821 positive257 negative

Customers find the plot interesting and the premise good. They describe the book as full of action and adventure. Readers also mention the book is strong enough to stand on its own right. They mention the battle scenes are scary and exciting. They also appreciate the good writing and mention the story is above many sci-fi ebooks out there.

"I'll keep this short. This is a super great series, full of action and adventure and never dull. I am on book 17 and never lost interest...." Read more

"...It is a good adventure story. It is a fairly light and quick read but, at least as far as I am concerned, it is an enjoyable story...." Read more

"...He's also a total warrior: fast, deadly and a better fighter than nearly everybody in known space...." Read more

"...Finally it reaches a satisfying conclusion. Other authors would have dragged us through a trilogy to cover this much material...." Read more

560 customers mention "Character development"440 positive120 negative

Customers find the characters interesting and likable. They also say the book is a fun read with a conflicted hero.

"...It is an interesting mix of, mostly likable, characters that are having very different personalities...." Read more

"...them, but at the same time the reader might find a generally fun read with interesting characters. This is a solid book.3.2 Stars" Read more

"...with the book-- it may start slowly, but with time the characters are well-developed, and the plot takes you for a roller-coaster ride...." Read more

"...You can see his inexperience in the one dimensional characters, the hyper competent, super powerful, yet playfully irreverent lead...." Read more

285 customers mention "Pacing"200 positive85 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book well-paced, exciting, and seamless. They also mention the buildup is great and takes the bulk of the novel. Readers also say the book keeps them guessing and isn't predictable.

"...He's also a total warrior: fast, deadly and a better fighter than nearly everybody in known space...." Read more

"...Sometimes the point of view changes, and this is done well so it seems natural...." Read more

"...The antagonists are incredibly overwhelming in their capabilities and similarly underwhelming in their use of said capabilities...." Read more

"...The book moved along seamlessly with no lingering section that you would want to hurry through ...." Read more

195 customers mention "Interest"189 positive6 negative

Customers find the book interesting. They mention the premise is interesting, the story keeps them interested, and there is a sense of discovery. Readers also mention the book is full of mysteries, surprises, and captures their attention from the first page.

"...It ticks all of the usual boxes, but it has enough surprises and avoids enough tropes that it stays interesting...." Read more

"...The book is full of mysteries - the origins of the New Men, their goals and extent of their abilities are all unknown, and the Captain is full of..." Read more

"...Another thing it has going for it, at least for me, is that it has a real old-time (good-ol) Sci-Fi story feel to it...." Read more

"...Interesting storyline and the action holds attention...." Read more

71 customers mention "Start"71 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a good read and a promising start to a series. They say it has great potential to be a book and premise. Readers also mention it's exciting from beginning to end and explains the idea of us versus them.

"...What I like about this story most is that the possibilities are endless and we should get to see a substantial portion of the galaxy as well as..." Read more

"I wanted to really like this. Its a great idea and the initial revelations are strong.Sadly, the story didn't come out well...." Read more

"...Hence my wish for more. He did a good job of introducing and developing some interesting characters and complex situations. Come on, Vaughn...." Read more

"This book is a good introduction to the idea of us versus them. It took me awhile to get going in this book but once I did I enjoyed it...." Read more

105 customers mention "Ease of use"72 positive33 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the ease of use of the book. Some mention the sophistication and use of language is entertaining, while others say the dialog is cumbersome, trite, and frustrating.

"...stories feature strong characters faced with intense, almost impossible challenges...." Read more

"...I also found the conversations perfectly natural and take issue on this with one of the popular negative reviews. You can't please everyone...." Read more

"...There aren't twists, just inexplicable plot turns. Challenges appear illogically and are solved only with a wave of the magic plot wand...." Read more

"...to what I think of as fiction based on science, but instead an easy book to pick up and enjoy...." Read more

210 customers mention "Writing quality"48 positive162 negative

Customers find the writing quality of the book rife with grammatical and editing mistakes. They say the dialogue is not as crisp as it could be, and the typos, punctuation issues, and auto-correct issues are there. Readers also mention the story is sound and interesting, but underdeveloped.

"...Also, their dialogue is remarkably dull.6. Are the characters likable?..." Read more

"...some spots where whatever editing was done was done is pretty bad, wrong words, incomplete sentences, but for the most part, leaving aside the..." Read more

"...There were typos, punctuation issues and I believe auto correct issues in the book which were an issue...." Read more

"...ticks all of the usual boxes, but it has enough surprises and avoids enough tropes that it stays interesting...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Thomas E. Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Great
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
I'll keep this short. This is a super great series, full of action and adventure and never dull. I am on book 17 and never lost interest. I really wish it would continue past book 21.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Quite enjoyable easy to read military sci-fi adventure story
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is indeed a quite enjoyable science fiction adventure. I would not exactly call it hard science fiction but nevertheless the action, ship movements and tactics are plausible for a science fiction novel.

Although the main story is one of war between entities spanning numerous worlds the core story is one of a small team of heroes, sometimes quite unwilling ones, embarking on a quest to find the legendary starship, which has given the title of book. It is an interesting mix of, mostly likable, characters that are having very different personalities. Their quest is an adventurous one which spans various tasks like escaping the traitors in the commonwealth, getting themselves in and out of a prison planet and, of course, finding the previously mentioned starship (and surviving the encounter).

I fail to see why so many people seems to dislike this book according to the reviews. Yes it is a bit of simple pulp fiction but I have definitely read much worse stories. It is a good adventure story. It is a fairly light and quick read but, at least as far as I am concerned, it is an enjoyable story. A good mix of adventure, action and a decent enough background plot.

The final encounter with the lost starship was perhaps a bit of an anticlimax though in that, I felt, that it was not really the powerful warship that I was hoping for. Granted, it was not operating at full capacity and it was still powerful and it will, if the author so decides, have a fairly large impact on the future war. I could also have been without some of the “The New Men have infiltrated more or less everything” parts of the story but then, that is just a story type that I am not so found of. Nevertheless I am definitely looking forward to read the next instalment in the series.
2 people found this helpful
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Michael MacLeod
5.0 out of 5 stars great setup for a series
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2024
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In a saturated market, The Lost Starship manages to stand out with a unique voice. It ticks all of the usual boxes, but it has enough surprises and avoids enough tropes that it stays interesting. It can be a bit dry at times, though honestly wonder if that isn’t partly the audiobook narrator. I look forward to seeing where the series goes.
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J. Perez
3.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Starship Adventure Story
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book.

(Minor Spoiler Warning)

1. What type of book is it: adventure, action, drama, etc? Initially I thought it would be a military sci-fi space opera. It is not. This is a sci-fi space adventure.

2. What is the story about, in general? The story is about the difficulties Agent Maddox and his team face as they search for a legendary ship that might have the technology to give humanity a fighting chance against the unstoppable New Men.

3. What/Who is the target audience? Teenagers and young adults seem to be the target audience. There is something for adults as well, but not much. On top of that, those that like space-adventures might find the book enjoyable.

4. How is the proofreading? It is pretty good. I saw only two errors and I think they were more kindle format problems than actual editing and proofreading mistakes.

5. Is there character development? Yes and no.

Romance wise, this volume leaves a lot to be desired. Any romance was abrupt, badly implemented and uninteresting. There was no build up to it. There was no growth. It felt very superfluous.

On other character aspects, I am well satisfied. None of the protagonists are automatically perfect. They have serious emotional issues, insecurities, desires, crippling faults and manias. The development of trust between the protagonists follows an impressively realistic timeline of character evolution steps. In short, character development gets its due in this book. It is not perfect (because nothing is), but better than a lot of attempts I've read.

Antagonists are incredibly one dimensional and illogical. They are immensely powerful, but don't use their abilities effectively throughout the story. Also, their dialogue is remarkably dull.

6. Are the characters likable? The characters, as individuals, are more interesting than they are likable. I couldn't quite empathize with any of them. I did enjoy that most of them are three dimensional. They have good points and bad points. They have physical characteristics that set them apart and which speak about their origins and dispositions. They have certain mentalities that are specific to the character in question. Some of the characters have particular speech patterns that allow you to identify who is talking without having identifiers. That's very well done.

As part of a group, the characters are very interesting. Story character synergy flowed well. With the exception of romance, character conflicts were very believable. Sometimes they got a little too wordy, but not particularly uninteresting.

7. Does the story keep its pacing? The story keeps its pacing for a lot of the read. It rushes like a runaway train at the end and at some other story points. It's like, pacing wise, everything goes well for 95 percent of the book. The remaining five percent is not merely `off pace' from the rhythm the author established, but ridiculously `off pace'.

8. Do you have to suspend disbelief? Well, you're going to have to decide if my logic is faulty or not.

The enemy has been created far too powerful for it to be held back by human capabilities and numbers. I think the author went much too overboard on this.

The antagonists in this book can: subvert human warships and plant them AT EARTH, have infiltrated the highest levels of critical agencies on the planet (including Fleet and Intelligence), control vast wealth within human space, have sensors that can track the tiniest ships in a vast galaxy, have enough influence to manipulate critical components of Earth defenses on a whim, are ruthless and intelligent, have many warships (not as many as humans but given the differences in capabilities...) and are physically superior in every way. Imagine Khan, from Star Trek, multiplied by a billion, immensely rich, with a vast intelligence network and with Borg or Fluid Space alien technology.

Considering all of this, there is absolutely no reasonable way that the protagonists should win. Earth has no advantages it can exploit that might hold the New Men back. Reasonably speaking, human space should have fallen to the New Men before the protagonist's mission was complete.

Why don't the New Men cleanse humanity? No reason. That's it. We can speculate about it, but we don't know.

9. Is the book worth the asking price? I paid $3. That's smack in the middle of a standard ebook price and fairly cheap.

In conclusion: This is a sci-fi adventure that requires significant suspension of disbelief. The antagonists are incredibly overwhelming in their capabilities and similarly underwhelming in their use of said capabilities. This is contradicting and unreasonable given what we learn about them. The protagonists are pleasantly three dimensional and feel quite real except for the clumsy romance attempts. The pacing is pretty quick and engrossing, with an artistic thinner thread of hope as the story develops. At times, though, pacing is abandoned and the story timeline leaps forward, glossing over battles and engagements. Some readers will not enjoy those abrupt leaps. The proofreading is above average and well done. The price is great at $3. If you look for flaws you'll find them, but at the same time the reader might find a generally fun read with interesting characters. This is a solid book.

3.2 Stars
497 people found this helpful
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VA-Dad
4.0 out of 5 stars hoping the next books are as good
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
Reasonable space story, good read, hope the next issues are as compelling. Wish there was more description of the battles in kind with Campbell booms
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Top reviews from other countries

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Laura
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun
Reviewed in Italy on June 29, 2024
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Original story full of action and fun to read. I am looking forward to see how It develops. If you like SF you'll love It
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michael balla-goddard
5.0 out of 5 stars exciting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2023
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Suspenseful and absorbing read good characterisation and interesting plots and sub-plots. Many of the characters are nicely developed through the story
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Raistlin Majere
2.0 out of 5 stars Not that good - Boring & Predictable to be exactly
Reviewed in Spain on February 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
I have one word - Boring.
After reading Marko Kloos I've tried this one because it remind me of Stargate Universe so I tried and was really upset it didn't check my internal boxes. Probably it was my own fault... But alas...

So humanity is facing extinction due to some really powerful called "New Men". Why the name? Don't know. Makes no sense - but let us see in the next novels ; oh wait will not see because I will not read the next one.

One of first things that bother was the almost perfect captain (genius and physically).
Second some parts of the novel were so boring that I skimming some pages.

All other characters are also very normal in the 70's and you've seen everywhere.
I really don't want to read more books on this series. I will rather read Marko Kloos second novel.
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Client Kindle
4.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in France on October 4, 2016
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Un très bon livre qui se lit avec plaisir, ma rappeler la flotte perdue. L'intrigue est intense et les personnages attachants, j'attend de lire la suite avec impatience...
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Lori Stewart
4.0 out of 5 stars A great ride!
Reviewed in Canada on March 12, 2015
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An exciting story, just the right amount of mystery and intrigue! A great group of characters, Captain Maddox is thoroughly entertaining. I would recommend this book to Sci-Fi fans as well as mystery fans. I would definitely like to meet these characters again!
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