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Backyard Starship by [J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert]

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JN Chaney

Terry Maggert

Backyard Starship Kindle Edition

by J.N. Chaney (Author), Terry Maggert (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

2,164 ratings

Book 1 of 4: Backyard Starship

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When Van Tudor returns to his childhood home, he inherits more than the family farm.

His grandfather used to tell him fantastic stories of spacemen and monsters, princesses and galactic knights. Little did Van realize, the old man's tales were more than fiction. They were real.

Hidden beneath the old barn, Van’s legacy is waiting: a starship, not of this world.

With his combat AI, an android bird named Perry, Van takes his first steps into the wider galaxy. He soon finds that space is far busier and more dangerous than he could have ever conceived.

Destiny is calling. His grandfather's legacy awaits.

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with USA Today Bestselling Author J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert in this brand new science fiction series. If you're a fan of found spaceships and galactic quests for glory, this might just be the story you've been waiting for.

Print length

510 pages
Language

English
Publication date

September 19, 2021
File size

1517 KB
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Books In This Series (4 Books)

Complete Series

Backyard Starship

Kindle Edition

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

1
Backyard Starship
J.N. Chaney

(2,164)

Kindle Edition

$4.99
2
Red Bounty (Backyard Starship Book 2)
J.N. Chaney

(1,293)

Kindle Edition

$4.99
3
Anvil Dark (Backyard Starship Book 3)
J. N. Chaney

(145)

Kindle Edition

$5.99
4
Legacy of Stars (Backyard Starship Book 4)
J.N. Chaney

Kindle Edition

$5.99

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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B099LJNCHQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Variant Publications (September 19, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1517 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 510 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #324 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2 in Space Fleet Science Fiction eBooks
- #2 in Space Marine Science Fiction eBooks
- #2 in Space Marine Science Fiction

Customer Reviews:
2,164 ratings

About the authors

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J.N. Chaney
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You can join the Facebook group, "JN Chaney's Renegade Readers" for the latest news and discussions.
J. N. Chaney is a USA Today Bestselling author and has a Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. He fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. He migrates often, but was last seen in Las Vegas, NV. Any sightings should be reported, as they are rare.

Renegade Star Series:

Renegade Star
Renegade Atlas
Renegade Moon
Renegade Lost
Renegade Fleet
Renegade Earth
Renegade Dawn
Renegade Children
Renegade Union
Renegade Empire
Renegade Descent
Renegade Rising
Renegade Alliance
Renegade Evolution
The Variant Saga includes:
The Amber Project
Transient Echoes
Hope Everlasting
The Vernal Memory
The Last Reaper Series:
The Last Reaper
Fear the Reaper
Blade of the Reaper
Wings of the Reaper
Flight of the Reaper
Wrath of the Reaper
Will of the Reaper
Descent of the Reaper
Bastion of the Reaper
The Fifth Column Series:
The Fifth Column
The Solaris Initiative
The Forlorn Hope
The Orion Colony Series:
Orion Colony
Orion Uncharted
Orion Awakened
Orion Protected
Renegade Prequels:
Nameless
The Constable
The Constable Returns
Warrior Queen
Ruins of the Galaxy Series:
Ruins of the Galaxy
Galactic Breach
Gateway to War
Void Horizon
Black Labyrinth
Imminent Failure
The Messenger Series:
The Messenger
The Dark Between
Star Forged
The Silent Fleet
Rise of Empire
The Sol Arbiter Series:
Sol Arbiter
Intrinsic Immortality
The Resonant Son Series:
Resonant Son
Resonant Abyss
Other Books By JN Chaney:
Their Solitary Way

Short Stories:
The Other Side of Nowhere
The Forever Family
See more on the author's page
Terry Maggert
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Left-handed. I like dragons, coffee, waffles, running, and giraffes; order unimportant. I write the Backyard Starship, Halfway Witchy, Messenger, Starcaster, and Shattered Skies series. I don't sleep, but you probably guessed that already.
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

5 star		61%
4 star		28%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Its...... Arrrgh!!! How do I put it.

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2021

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This story is just hard to review. Its an interesting idea, and the writing wasn't bad, but at the same time I never felt compelled to read the next page or chapter. This one took me far longer to read than most. I found it far too easy to put down to do anything other than read, and for me that's not normal.

It's not a bad tale, just lacking in that special something that makes one want to find out what happens next. The main character is interesting, but lacks the heart that turns a character into an audience proxy. And the world he's in is just.... rather unpleasant to think about.

It's a high three star. Good, but I can't see putting it into my "I'd recommend this to lots of people" bracket which leaves it at 3 stars. It's just missing something.

27 people found this helpful

Helpful

C. W. Lampert

Space Opera or Military Sci Fi? It Doesn’t Matter What You Call It, Read This Book!

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2021

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I have read nearly everything J.N Chaney and Terry Maggert have written but “Backyard Spaceship” is, in my opinion, their best collaboration yet.

Van Tudor is a white hat hacker who, as a boy, was regaled with tales of aliens, space wars, beautiful alien women in distress, cruel criminals, and murderous interstellar crime syndicates, by his grandfather who, as far as Van knew was a black ops agent working for the Government. What if those stories were true, and Gramps was an agent, not for a super-secret agency of the Government, but a member of an intergalactic police force? And what if his grandfather left him a starship, two snarky, self-aware, hyper intelligent AI’s, so he could follow in his grandfather’s footsteps?

That is the world created by Chaney and Maggert in “Backyard Spaceship.” The characters include the aforementioned snarky AI’s, a gorgeous heiress who can kick ass with Kung Fu, shoot off the antenna off of a spaceship from 500,000 kilometers, and pilot a spaceship like Han Solo, humans (remember all those alien abductions?) and of course, plenty of bad aliens and good aliens.

This book was fun to read and the characters and story reminded me of the many Robert Heinlein books I devoured as a kid. Humor and action galore abound in “Backyard Spaceship;” I highly recommend this book and can’t wait until the next volume, “Red Bounty,” comes out on November 28th.

18 people found this helpful

Helpful

it’s good, but

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2021

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It’s competently written. Nothing that really makes me say, ‘this is *bad*’. Good grammar, well paced, solid world building, clear characters…even the handwavium is kept to acceptable levels for a light novel.

It just didn’t thrill me.

The MC has little agency, pretty much goes where he is told and does what he is told. He also thoroughly lacks skepticism, taking everything at face value with almost no questions. Astonishingly naive, he accepts a passenger without checking credentials or confirming identity. While trusting his various AIs to keep him on track is reasonable given his situation, taking strangers’ statements as true without question is just…stupid.

I haven’t finished, so it’s quite possible the MC gets taught this important lesson later. But for an adult —with his background and relative— to be so blatantly gullible and not even express a single misgiving…I’m done.

DNF

15 people found this helpful

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A surprise delight

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2021

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Backyard Starship was a surprise delight -- everything to like.

One way I know a book is terrific is when I start highlighting phrases or sentences in my Kindle, usually with a note like "Nice!" In other words, "Dang, I wish I wrote that. Sweet!" This book got a bunch of notes like that -- not a common thing at all. Rare praise.
Another point: I finished the book. I start many books but finish few because they're not worth my time.

BACKYARD STARSHIP pulled me along relentlessly, every time I had a few minutes to read.
The origin story was believable, even compelling. That's key with the first book in what may be a series. (A second book is due in a few months.)
It was easy to identify with the characters, pulling me into the story. While I'm perfectly content with a cast of hundreds, this book neatly kept the central cast small. It also kept the team-building to a minimum. I liked the way AI characters meshed with biological characters.

A particular strength here is the author's grasp of fundamental facts of space and engineering. The plot flits from star to star, with a believable approach to FTL travel. All sorts of details of chemistry, engineering, physics and astronomy pop up, but never impede the story. It felt like Arthur C. Clarke was the author's godfather, or keyboard uncle, or something. Impressive. Unusual. Good!

I would have liked to post one of the first 5-star reviews. It was clear within three chapters that this book would excel. However I actually finished the whole book before writing this review. I'm happy to say that I'm looking forward to Book 2. Enthusiastically!

I hope that's helpful for someone. Be well. Read often. Enjoy.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

m. rrrogers

Excellent new sf series about.. People

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2021

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In the tradition of Heinlein, the tech is just background to the story about people.

The start is kind of a repeated theme..
The story starts slow, but introduces many many different threads, and only one is resolved.

Makes this universe incredibly diverse.

Reminds me of "Have space suit, will travel "
And "Have Gun, will travel "
Crossed with a computer game rules of a Quest and market based upgrades to your Hero.

Really kind of hokey, but in an excellent way.

Good fun, no gore and gratuitous stuff.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

John F Vermillion

This writing team just keeps bringing the fun

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2021

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I read Backyard Starship prepublication, and I found the premise a fun throwback to SciFi I read as a kid in the 70's. The action is interesting, the characters are well developed, and as is a Hallmark of Chaney's work, the AI's provide a bit of levity (snark sometimes). The idea reminds me a bit of a combo of Judge Dredd, Green Lantern and and other earlier ensemble works with lots of different alien cultures. Worth the read!

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

jjdrymiller

Well written and entertaining story.

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2021

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Occasionally unbelievable but 100 percent enjoyable. Enough information so as to not be left hanging with interesting characters and an intriguing storyline. Loved the epilogue and ending. Wishing I didn’t have to wait for book two.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Nigel Frankcom

Some good yuk-yuks…

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2021

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I mistook this for a series of a similar name, it turned out to be a happy mistake. While the theme may not be new this story has some significant props of its own.

There is a lot of humour, much of it dry, all of it written with an excellent turn of phrase. The characters seem to mesh better for all the badinage. Great fun and a decent sized story to get one’s teeth into.

3 people found this helpful

Ron Robson

What an excellent read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2021

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I really enjoyed this book. It was a good solid read with plenty of excitement and action. The Peacemakers are so real and the main characters are just so payback, yet I never felt they were out of context. Don't miss this one. I am just going to preorder the next book.

2 people found this helpful

Ktesis

Enjoyable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 22, 2021

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This is an excellent read with plenty of action and humour! The main character has a lighthearted attitude to his tasks as a galactic cop but with a steely determination.

2 people found this helpful

John

Another good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2021

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Another good read which I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to reading the follow up book. It's a new series I have already booked the download of the next book so get the book and give it a read of you like Chaneys books you will enjoy this. First book read of Maggert so if this anything to go by then will enjoy and look forward to more books to read.

Beachbum

A good start to a potentially great storyline

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2021

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Nothing to original but a mix of previously written storylines that mixed together work well
Human taken off of earth with no knowledge that the wider universe has alien life and then told he is to become A member of the galactic police force
Everything just sea to hang together nicely and it's well written