Buy used:
$4.90
$3.99 delivery May 20 - 24. Details
Or fastest delivery May 16 - 21. Details
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by HPB-Diamond
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Breach the Hull (A Defending the Future Anthology) Paperback – June 26, 2009

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

The first book in the Defending The Future anthology series.

HARDCORE NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEGUNS  Get Ready for plenty of action-packed military science fiction as the dogs-of-war are let loose on an unsuspecting universe in sixteen hard-hitting stories by: Jack McDevitt, John C. Wright, Mike McPhail, James Daniel Ross, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, James Chambers, Jeffrey Lyman, John G. Hemry (Jack Campbell), Bud Sparhawk, Lawrence M. Schoen, Patrick Thomas, Tony Ruggiero, and C.J. Henderson. 

Winner of the Dream Awards for Best Anthology.
Read more Read less

Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There is more than enough great SF in Breach the Hull for any true fan of the genre, military or not." - Will McDermott, author of Lasgun Wedding

"Pick up Breach the Hull. You're sure to find stories that you like." -David Sherman, author of the DemonTech series and co-author of the Starfist series

"[Breach the Hull] kicks down the doors in a way that allows anyone access to the genre[ . . . ]it read like a bunch of soldiers sitting around swapping stories of the wars. Fun, fast-paced, and packed with action. I give it a thumbs up." -Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award-winning author

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dark Quest, LLC (June 26, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 222 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0979690196
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0979690198
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.51 x 9.02 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2009
A delightful collection of stories. I thought several were outstanding, and all were engaging. Perhaps I should mention that the publisher, "Dark Quest, LLC," is a small outfit. The look and feel of the book (font choice, dimensions) is not quite the same as you would get from a major publisher, and there were a handful of spelling errors of the sort that a spellchecker doesn't catch. These points would be annoying if the stories were subpar, but I find them endearing when the content is so good. I'm eager to read the next book in this series, and also to order books from some of the authors in this volume who I hadn't read before.
2 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2012
This book is an anthology of Sci-Fi short stories. There are some fairly interesting ones, but also a bunch of just okay stories that seem as though they were the abstract or outline for a longer work. This results in some sudden and unsatisfactory conclusions. I don't mean surprising, which is often an element of the best short stories by O'Henry or Forsythe. These endings are simply jarring, as though the author ran out of paper. And at least one of the stories is nearly illiterate, with so many grammar errors and wrong words that it is obvious the editors did not do their job.

So, a little light reading on the Kindle to fill in brief moments of boredom, but for the most part unremarkable.
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2012
Original ideas and just some outstanding prose. I love that Jack Campbell. You know when you read a collection of short stories how you find one story that just surprises you? In this book it was "Peter Power Armor" by John C. Wright.
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2013
Between ordering and reading, I had forgotten that this was a collection, so was a little surprised when the 1st story ended, and there was a new story & author. But it worked - short story collections around themes don't always have enough cohesion, but I liked them all, and did enjoy the different approaches / ideas.
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2015
I don't usually give bad reviews, but I'll make an exception in this case.
I deleted this before I even finished reading it.
Was that bad.
I kept hoping there was a jem buried in there somewhere but if there was I never found it.
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2009
This was a great collection. They were the right length of each of the stories. It was great on the Kindle. I had half of them read to my by the kindle while riding in a plane cross country and the other half I read when I had time travling.
One person found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2012
Someone once said it's harder to write a good short story than a novel. For a short story the author has to set the scene, develop characters, set up a plot and provide an interesting conclusion in just a few pages. The authors of the stories in Breach the Hull do not have the writing chops to pull it off. I would give most of the stories a C minus, with a couple of the ones toward the end a B plus.
One person found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2010
The stories are excellent, but the ebook formatting is poor. Random hyphenations mid-line and carriage returns mid-sentence breaking the text flow. Despite these distractions, the stories are first rate.

Top reviews from other countries

Bob
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2013
Like most collections this is a mixed bag of military style short SF stories. The two best ones are Jack McDevitt's 'Cryptic' and 'Black to move'. Neither of which are military at all. One concerns a SETI researcher who discovers a possible signal and the other is about an exploration party on a deserted world. Both are worth reading even if you don't get this book. Of the remainder the better ones are those which, although they have a war setting, are not set in any military unit. For example, where a powerful and well armed agent has been sent on a relativistic journey alone to discover who attacked his home-world and exact retribution.

The tales set in units such as platoons, ships or squads do not work very well. It seems to me, in general, that the authors wrote the characters as speaking to each other in staccato orders and being martinets all the time. With only a couple of exceptions, they have taken the concept of military discipline and inappropriately applied it through ignorance. Anyone who has ever worked in those circumstances, or even watched a decent documentary will know that just does not happen. It is the opposite. Conversation and behaviour relaxes, rank drops in importance and the jobs get done. Any staff who behaved as the characters in the stories do would be moved out.