The Messenger cover art

The Messenger

The Messenger, Book 1

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The Messenger

By: Terry Maggert, J. N. Chaney
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
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About this listen

Dash never asked to be a mech pilot, but fate has other plans.

On the run and out of chances, he guides his ship and crew into the heart of a relic older than the galaxy itself - and find himself on the edge of an eternal war he never knew existed.

The relic is a mech, lost to history and forgotten by all who remain. Built by an ancient race to be the ultimate weapon, the machine is capable of unspeakable destruction, and its discovery could unhinge the balance of power throughout known space.

Worse still, the A.I. inside the machine speaks of an ancient evil that will soon arrive - a race whose power far exceeds anything humanity has ever witnessed.

Only the Messenger can stand against them, the A.I. tells its new pilot. Only you can do what must be done.

©2020 J.N. Chaney (P)2020 Podium Audio Adventure Fiction Military Science Fiction Space Opera War Aviation
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It’s just that! Well done in every area, I found myself hooked on the story, and it all seemed so realistic. It was well written with just enough detail, I didn’t think it went too far like some books, now too sparingly like others, but it gave you just what you needed and made you feel like a part of the story. The voice acting was pretty great, it was maybe a little hard to differentiate between side characters at times, but I didn’t really care. All in all a great read for lovers of space sci-fi.

Great Space Tech Sci-Fi!

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This book is better than expected with Jeffery giving another enthralling narrative and great character voicing.
I was quite entertained

An Entertaining Yarn

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the story is a bit cliche but the characters are fun, the action suspenseful and interesting. it's worth a listen for a bit of fun

A fun story for sci-fi mech fans

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Right, let's get this out of the way first . The Messenger is generic, cliched and predictable. But for all that, it's fun! As long as you know what to expect, this is a great read. It's like pulp fiction for sci-fi nerds with a dash of star wars thrown in. Chicken soup for the soul. The perfect beach read. Just don't expect a literary masterpiece, and don't think too hard about plot.

The basic plot revolves around Hans Solo... cough, sorry Dash Someone-or-other... piloting the Millennium Falcon... sorry 'The Slipwing' when a distress call leads him to two passengers and a precious cargo. This in turn leads him to discover an ancient, alien mech, which of course he boards and proceeds to kick butt in.

'Dash' as the MC is as Hans Solo as you can make someone without infringing on Star Wars copyright. Pilots a rickety spaceship? Check. Known to carry dubious cargo? Check. Wisecrack humour, antagonistic personality, daring flying skills, uses a blaster, rogue with a heart of gold, ladies love to hate him, only-after-money-sweetheart (but not really)? Check, check, check, check, check, check and check.

Honestly, there's not much to hate about this book as long as you know the clichés you're getting into. The book runs pretty short (the last hour is actually a preview for book 2) and the MC makes some pretty dubious the-plot-needs-to-go-this-way decisions, but as long as you're willing to switch off your brain and just go with the flow, this is a surprisingly decent listen. Narration is top notch, too - to the point that I'm going to search out other books Jeffrey Kafer has narrated.

Will I get book 2? No - the book was a little too cliched for my liking, and the main character made one too many 'I'm going to risk it all when I really don't have to' decisions, but don't let that stop you if you just want something light and full of action to pass the time.

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Hans Solo meets Mechwarrior Cliched Goodness

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Book 1 and Book 2 are fine for entertainment. But so far there are 14 books in the series. And that's a lot of books. I'm not sure the story is good enough to warrant that kind of investment.

Read at your peril

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the last chapter is the first chapter of the next book. talk about bullshit padding of a book. i as a rule never by a 7 hour book. if i knew it was actually even less than this i would not have paid for this audio book.

under 6 hours

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