Onslaught by D. Rebbitt is a war story set in the future, depicting what it would look like if mankind was attacked by a hostile alien race with similar but far superior military capabilities. The human empire is vast, encompassing many planets and star systems yet humans had become comfortable in their technology and were completely unprepared for the sudden invasion. This is part three in The Globur Incursion series. I did not read parts 1 and 2 and can only assume they included the events leading up to the all-out attack that Onslaught focuses on. In this book, we are witness to the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of the military personnel tasked with fighting the aliens. The story focuses on a number of characters that range from the highest-ranking officers to a platoon of Marines. Most of the battle scenes happen out in space between huge war vessels and fighter spaceships. These scenes are reminiscent of classic sea battles on earth that involved aircraft carriers and fighter planes.

Onslaught is most effective when it is describing the theater of war in space. The descriptions of space vessels battling it out are thrilling. Readers who like detailed accounts of large-scale wars will find much to enjoy in Onslaught. Author D. Rebbitt seems to revel in giving his readers intricate details about every space vessel, its officers, and the capability of its weapons. I enjoyed Onslaught for the most part, but I would have liked the story to include more of the human element in the midst of the war. Some of the characters had lots of potential, but we didn't get to know them very well. However, I highly recommend Onslaught for anyone who likes a good military yarn that trades the vastness of an ocean on Earth for the emptiness of space light years away from our solar system.

Rear Admiral Shin of Imperial Task Force 3 prepares to respond to a disastrous situation in Onslaught, the third installment of D. Rebbitt’s Globur Incursion series. After centuries of space exploration and planet colonization, humans have made first contact with alien life forms in the Brahma system, and they are aggressive. The Globurs have already destroyed the small fleet task force sent to secure the system, and only the Imperial survey vessel, Profectus, escaped. Shin orders two corvette battleships to the Brahma system for a very risky rescue mission to pick up what marines and scientists remain on the planet’s surface while the remainder of Task Force 3 rendezvous with a first contact team in the Harlow system.

One of the most remarkable elements of Onslaught is how convincingly different the alien Globurs are. This transcends simple differences in appearance. Rebbitt builds a sense of intrigue around these beings, in particular how they’re capable of tracking marines in full stealth mode and detecting ships in quantum drive. Globur and human technology are remarkably alike in some ways, with the battleships having weapons with similar capabilities. The battle scenes in Onslaught are nothing less than astounding and had me on the edge of my seat. A colorful mix of personalities populate this world and provide satisfying tension as lower ranked captains challenge age-old tradition in an attempt to adapt to the new conflict. The politics are almost depressingly realistic, and the marines are nothing less than awesome. Onslaught is a highly entertaining read with a conclusion that promises the fourth in the Globur Incursion series will be even better.