I did not request this book but was invited to read it and it automatically added itself to my shelves. I have no interest in this title.

"New Praetorians 1" eBook was published in 2017 and was written by R. K. Syrus. This is Mr. Syrus' first novel.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in more or less contemporary times and mostly in the Eastern Mediterranean. The primary character is West Point graduate Colonel Sienna McKnight.

McKnight was born in a military hospital and never knew her parents. She grew up as a military brat, then went through West Point. She proved herself an outstanding leader and, through unusual circumstances, received a field promotion from 2nd Lieutenant to Colonel at the age of 23. She leads a small ragtag group that is low on discipline but a highly effective special operations team.

Her team is sent on a mission which she hopes to use to satisfy a long-standing need for vengeance. She "borrows" an advanced weapon system for the mission. The mission seems to go well, but on the way back there is an accident. An accident she should not have lived through. Then things really start to get interesting.

I enjoyed the 6 hours I spent reading this 286-page military thriller. The story is a little far-fetched, but that is not too unexpected for a thriller. The character of McKnight is interesting. She is different from the heroines of most stories and I look forward to more novels in this series. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

"Sienna has always had a unique perspective on inner beasts and the sinews of will holding them back. If anything gives her quest and her struggle meaning, it is those rules. They sanctify the righteous struggle. To Sienna, they are the consecration of her battlefields. They are hallowed."

When I was first contacted by the publisher to read and review this book, I was a little hesitant. I felt that the multiple comparisons being made between this book and popular culture – for example, the back cover reads “Imagine The Avengers as a Tom Clancy novel featuring an outstanding female lead. Perfect for fans of Ripley, Katniss, Diana Prince, and Sarah Connor.” – was more than a little ambitious. While I don’t think the book itself fully lived up to these ambitious and well-known descriptors, it wasn’t a bad start to an interesting new series.

Sienna McKnight takes place in the near-future and is the first installment in R. K. Syrus’s technothriller series New Praetorians. Sienna McKnight is a graduate of West Point and has been recently promoted to the rank of Colonel. On a mission to take out a terrorist in Khorasan, above the Gulf of Oman, Sienna will be tested more than she ever thought possible; she will fall and be reborn into something stronger than she ever was before.

This book was a little difficult to get into initially, primarily because of the abundance of military speak – which makes sense since the genre can be categorized as military science fiction technothriller. It was also a little difficult to get used to the technological advances in this near-future world, which integrate into a world so like that of today. However, don’t let that deter you! If you can get past the slight initial confusion (well, and possibly intermittent confusion during the rest of the book as well – which is probably why the author has a helpful Glossary in the back of the book), then it is worth the read.

Overall, this was an interesting introduction to a new series of characters and events that I would not have otherwise chosen to read. The title New Praetorians is a subtle (or not-so-subtle) nod to the Praetorian Guard, an elite force of the Imperial Roman Army, whose primary duty was to guard the Roman Emperor and other high-ranking officials. This was a good, solid read that fans of the genre will enjoy. I will probably check out the sequels when they come out, especially since the end of the book stopped so abruptly. Sienna McKnight is a pretty cool badass female heroine that I want to see more of, and I am excited to see where her story will go next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Yuan Kun Publishing Ltd., for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Full review can be found on my blog, Allison's Adventures into Wonderlands (link below):
https://wordpress.com/post/allisonsadventuresintowonderlands.wordpress.com/2638

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

It such a shame that I couldn’t enjoy this book even despite the fact that I thought it has the potential to became something phenomenal. The first thing that caught my attention about it was the beautiful and intriguing cover then after reading the synopsis it quipped my curiosity even more. Unfortunately, after starting reading things went downhill really fast.

First of all the writing style has such a poetic flare to it that makes the story hard to understand. I usually love books written in a more artistic style, but in this case the writing took the open interpretation side of the poetry so it took me serious effort to puzzle out what the hell it wants to say.
This also got complicated by the jumping in the timeline. Not so as back and forth but just forward. I mean things start as Sienna is just a little girl and starting from there it jumps years, month’s ahead between chapters mentioning only small snippets of her life. Maybe they are the important parts but without creating a consistent back-story it’s hard to piece things together.
Also another big flaw, at least for me it was, that I just didn’t find the world building detailed enough.
Putting the things mentioned above together meant that I didn’t have the slightest clue what was going on even when I was halfway through with the book. And that’s a problem for me. So unfortunately I couldn’t enjoy the story even if I saw the potential and loved the ambitious, hardworking and hard edged main character.

The idea behind it was interesting, but the was it was written, was very confusing. I wasn't sure what is going on.

Sienna McKnight was a novel whose premise was enough to interest me, but a storyline that I just could not connect with. To tell the truth all the way at the end I was still confused about what was going on and the whole thing left me pretty unsatisfied.

I came into this novel expecting a sort of superhero action type story with a strong heroine that I could really connect to, and while the heroine was truly strong I never connected with her and the action while there was a little lack-luster for me. This novel being the first of many in a series, I was hoping that I would really love it so that I could enjoy the next books when they came out, but I didn’t really enjoy this all that much and I felt like there was a lot missing to the story.

Most of all I think that the writing was too jammed with seemingly random sayings and unnecessary words that it was almost impossible for me to see what the actual story was about and what the purpose of any of it was. There were still parts and sections that were really cool to read. These parts appearing making me have bursts of interest in the story, but they were so few and far in between that I just felt so lost while reading.

Sienna McKnight was a book that I really wanted to enjoy, but it didn’t quite make its mark.

The book had excellent bones to it! Sienna was an interesting character. I found her to be extremely strong and hell bent on revenge. I truly feel that she could kick even the most muscly guy's butt. I was happy that she did in fact remind me of Sarah Connor from Terminator just like the blurb said. She only gets more awesome as the book progresses. I could tell that there were hints of a very interesting story as well but it lacked description and world building. Why is there a war going on? Where did all of the technology come from? Is it supposed to be set in the present or in the distant future? I wanted more from the plot of the book other than Sienna being focused on revenge. There is also a portion of the book in the second half that is trippy. I didn't understand what was happening or why. I imagine that it is what is feels like to be on drugs. I basically had to guess what had happened during that portion of the book.
I will say that the author did a good job of making this book a thrilling, action-packed ride. There is no point in this book that I would consider boring. Once the action starts, it does not stop or even let up for a second.

Thank you for the opportunity to read New Praetorians 1 by R.K Syrus - I am embarrassed to admit I requested this book based on the wonderful cover! Unfortunately though this book wasn't for me & it was a DNF at 35%..
I was not able to connect with the character or the story line.

Thank you kindly for the opportunity to read this title.