Book #1 in the Invasion series.

It’s been a long time since I attempted to venture into any fiction series by an author I’d never read before. For whatever reason, I’m not keen on trying books written by new-to-me names, unless they come highly recommended by a trusted friend, yet that’s not how I stumbled upon Vaughn Heppner.

Occasionally I’ll search for books about China, and generally the titles that come up are either along the lines of “China’s Going to Eat Your Economy” or “China’s a Sham.” Individual opinions about China, no matter how well-grounded, become outdated in minutes, so I never enjoy wasting my time on non-fiction pieces like this. But when I found Heppner’s fiction series that deals with “what if?” scenarios regarding China’s future, I was immediately intrigued.

Book 1 in the five-book Invasion series, Invasion: Alaska, hooked me from the beginning. I’m used to fast-paced adventure novels like those by Clive Cussler, or politically plausible stories like those by Joel C. Rosenberg, or technically heavy war books like those by Oliver North. Invasion: Alaska contained all these elements at a superior level, not to mention well-drawn characters with strong backstories, making Heppner one of my new favorites. I highly anticipate the next four books in the series.

A few points I’d like to make about the series so far:

• I loved the time-line Heppner adds to the beginning of the story, streamlining his readers from reality into fiction and setting the stage for the story’s plausibility.
  
• Although the war occurs about twenty years in the future (from publication), the advancements in technology aren’t so overwhelmingly futuristic as to be unbelievable. What actually is unbelievable is that the world’s militaries haven’t yet perfected the jet-pack.
  
• I don’t know Heppner’s religious background, but it seems that even his fantasy novels and historical books have at least a friendly relationship with the Bible. That being said, I’m actually happy to see the roughness of his characters, many of whom are Marines or soldiers of some kind. Their language is coarse and downright dirty sometimes, but it’s believable.
  
• Having never visited Alaska before, I was a bit thrown by the geography. One location seemed as essential as the next, and they all eventually felt jumbled together. Directional or distance cues would have been helpful, for example how long had they traveled and in what direction since that last lynching until this one? That would have given me a bit more perspective on the goings on.
  
• The concluding article from Reuters was quick yet clear. It mashed up something like 8 months into just a few short paragraphs, but it helped set the “New Cold War” stage for the future installments.

I’ve already recommended this series to my buddies with whom I had lived in China, and I haven’t even started the second book! But I feel it’s warranted, so I recommend the series here as well.

©2018 E.T.

Read More from Vaughn Heppner:

• Invasion: Alaska (2011)
• Invasion: California (2012)
• Invasion: Colorado (2013)
• Invasion: New York (2013)
• Invasion: China (2014)