Adventurous Romp at the Edge of Human Space

I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and rarely leave reviews. I don't usually read a lot of military sci-fi even though it is a subgenre that I like. I received a promo code for this audiobook from the author, and decided to review it even though I didn't have to. I'm not a big literature nerd so I can't really speak to the quality of the story or the quality of the writing. I base my reviews on whether or not I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to other people. In this case I did enjoy it! More than I expected. it's predictable in the places I expected to be predictable and it surprised me in a few other places. I just wish it was longer because I want to see how everything plays out.

In regards to the narration, I get worried about indie publishers' narrator quality, but the narrator here did a good job. I was able to differentiate between characters based on his voice. That's what really matters to me.

I probably would not have picked this up on my own because there are so many entries in this subgenre, it feels like the signals get lost in the noise. I am glad I heard about this one as it was an enjoyable read for me. Anticipating the next one!

1 person found this helpful

Good story, Narrator okay

The story is very good. The narrator is very believable and great as a gruff military type; however his attempt at a feminine voice a little hard to swallow at times. All his male character voices are pretty distinct, all his female character voices all sound the same. None the less it is a good story.

too slow

I wanted to like but to me it was just a little too slow as I listened to about half the book and it really didn't get into anything.

Outstanding

What an intriguing, full of action story. Are the Aliens going to attack and what will happen. He has to find out. The narrator draws you in and doesn’t let go until the end.

Highly Intelligent, Character Driven Story!!

This is Mil Sci-Fi at its absolute best, with just lots of fun characters, intrigue, combat in various places between ships, in ships, on a space station, this book has it all, including some really great surprises you don’t see coming.
The main part of this story follows the Captain of a Starship, Devlin Carter, of the Union Starship the Walker Pierce. The Walker Pierce is on the outer rims of Human Territory, checking rim markers, to make sure they are still operating properly, and make sure all is good along the border.
A while back, Humanity was at war with an alien species called the Kaxek, whose space is on the other side of this border. They have a temporary truce at the moment, and are having peace talks, after several brutal battles finally made the Kaxek think twice about War.
However, Carter believes it is all rubbish, and that the Kaxek are just biding their time, and that they will strike again soon, and it is his job to find this evidence. His new XO, Lt Jaime McWarren, however, thinks the Capt might be going over the edge, seeing things, and looking for things that aren’t there, pushing the ship, which is well past due for a serious overhaul, and as such, needs to go to a Union Space Station for an extensive refit. She also believes that Capt Carter should be relieved and be subject to a fitness test to see if he is fit to command, as his behaviour is actually threatening the ship and the lives of the crew. She repeatedly tries to tell him these things (both in a nice way, and just plain out straight forward), much to the detriment of her own position.
At the start of the book, a starfighter crew are on routine patrol, when one of the ships has a malfunction, and needs to return to the Walker Pierce. The other ship, flown by the CAG, Commander David Hewett, stays to check out an anamoly, but soon after, his ship is discovered destroyed,
On top of that, the Walker Pierce needs to get an engine fixed, as well as other repairs, and there is not a ‘Formal’ Union station, so they decide to stop at the closest station as they are desperate, it happens to be on a station in which Carter has an old acquaintance.
And this is where the intrigue starts, as the station is not all it appears.
I don’t want to go into details, as I don’t want to give away spoilers.
The XO is in a real bind, given that the ranking officer of the sector who is giving orders, her former Commanding Officer, and the reason she came to the ship, happens to be her father. It is also why she takes her Mother’s name not her Fathers. There are some complex, realistic, fascinating, cringe-worthy, and rather interesting storylines that come out of these relationships, including Capt Carters involvement.
The character work is exceptional, with gritty, realistic people, that remind me of real people I have known (Like Capt Carter, reminding me of a grumpy Sgt I used to have in the Police). Reading this story, I actually pictured Carter looking like this Sarge, as he was so similar, but it wasn’t about looks, it was the characteristics, and how he acted, he was so real. McWarren is another character, with her consistent attitude of harassing the Captain, she is very realistic, how she speaks, her fears, concerns etc. The dialogue between this two is incredibly well written, very intelligent, but at the same time, there is a connection between the two, Carter almost understands why she is asking these questions, so doesn’t give too much pushback, and McWarren, for her part, although she asks them, she doesn’t get out of control, only pushing for the safety of the crew and to get her point across, but not to be insubordinate.
It is this sort of realistic dialogue and character interplay that makes this book so good to read, as it feels so real.
Without giving too much away, this is the first in a series in which there are all sorts of complex relationships, between the crew of the Walker Pierce, as well as those of a station that they need to gain repairs from, and even some aliens as the story progresses. This is a story of how politics and war can see those that are within the inner circle be looked after fine, but those that are on the outer rim, get abandoned, as we see so often, not only in Sci-Fi stories, but even in real life. Promises of aide, and support are suddenly withdrawn once the war is over, and suddenly smaller settlements (or in this case, space stations), are left out in the cold. And if they are near demilitarised zones, it can mean that they are open to aggressive actions by the enemy, or even possibly bullying actions by former allies who are looking for supplies.
This leads to complex relationships, as people begin to do things that they might not normally do, make deals with either side for protection. This sort of fascinating dynamic is part of this story, and makes for a really interesting read, as those in ranking positions on the Walker Pierce are left with choices they don’t want to make.
This is a really intelligent, and clever story, and I am eagerly awaiting the next part!!
Daniel Dorse has a rather fascinating voice, it is very deep and gravely, and so makes for a really great voice for the gruff older Capt Carter, as well as a couple of the other male characters. However, his voice does not lend itself well to creating a more ‘feminine’ voice, and these don’t come across as well, sometimes you have to focus a second to realise it is a female talking. Having said this, Dorse does a really good job over all for the narration, he is clear and concise, you can understand everything he says. For the majority of the male voices, he is exceptional, and he provides a great range of emotional output as well. With the female range, again, it is a bit difficult sometimes to tell it is a female, given his deep voice, but, he does do their emotions really well, so once you tell the character is female, you can easily pick up their emotional state.
Overall, the narration is pretty good, I will be listening to the next one on Audio (I have it already!)