Steel World
Undying Mercenaries, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Mark Boyett
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Written by:
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B. V. Larson
About this listen
In the 20th century Earth sent probes, transmissions, and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers…someone had to do their dirty work for them, their fighting and dying.
I, James McGill, was born in 2099 on the fringe of the galaxy. When Hegemony Financial denied my loan applications, I was kicked out of the university and I turned to the stars. My first campaign involved the invasion of a mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World. The attack didn't go well, and now Earth has entered a grim struggle for survival. Humanity's mercenary legions go to war in Steel World, best-selling author B. V. Larson's latest science fiction novel.
©2013 B. V. Larson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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Star Runner
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- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
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Two centuries after humanity colonized the stars, new dangers emerge. The peaceful inhabitants of the Conclave are threatened by expanding alien powers. Invaders threaten the star cluster, attacking our fringe settlements. Captain Bill Gorman has mysteriously disappeared. His clone, set aside for a dark day like this, awakens and begins to put together the pieces. What’s gone wrong out on the frontier? Why are our colonies being attacked by aliens while the Conclave worlds dream of better days? And what happened to the original Captain Gorman?
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Very entertaining.
- By Meredith on 2021-05-14
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Swarm
- Star Force, Book 1
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Kyle Riggs is snatched by an alien spacecraft sometime after midnight. The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there.
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Could Not Finish
- By Greg Foster on 2024-02-07
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Extinction
- Star Force, Book 2
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
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In the second book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs has another bad year. The Nano ships have a new mission--one that sentences their pilots to death. Meanwhile, the governments of Earth want to steal Star Force's Nano technology for their own. Worst of all, Earth has made a promise to the Macros, and the machines are coming to collect.
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Was hoping it would get better
- By Slap Chop on 2022-01-17
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Rebellion
- Star Force, Book 3
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Rebellion is the turning point in the great interstellar war between all living creatures and the machines. Star Force is on the side of the machines...but for how long? In the third book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs learns just what kind of war Earth is caught up in. At the mercy of the Macros, his marines fight against new alien races, big and small. They battle the innocent and the vile alike, until their situation becomes grim. Rebellion is a military science-fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Storm Assault
- Star Force, Book 8
- Written by: B.V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Storm Assault , the eighth book of the Star Force series, the story moves in a new direction. Massive fleets are built by both Star Force and the Imperials - but there is a third player in the game: the Blues.
Written by: B.V. Larson
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Conquest: Star Force, Book 4
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Conquest is the next chapter in the great interstellar war between all living creatures and the machines. Star Force must stop the machine invaders once again - but how?
In the fourth book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs has freed Earth from the chains of the Macros - but at what cost? The Macros no longer trust him. He is a mad dog that must be put down - and all Star Force must be stamped out with him. The war expands in this story, and mankind is once again faced with annihilation.
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Star Runner
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Two centuries after humanity colonized the stars, new dangers emerge. The peaceful inhabitants of the Conclave are threatened by expanding alien powers. Invaders threaten the star cluster, attacking our fringe settlements. Captain Bill Gorman has mysteriously disappeared. His clone, set aside for a dark day like this, awakens and begins to put together the pieces. What’s gone wrong out on the frontier? Why are our colonies being attacked by aliens while the Conclave worlds dream of better days? And what happened to the original Captain Gorman?
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Very entertaining.
- By Meredith on 2021-05-14
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Swarm
- Star Force, Book 1
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
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Story
Kyle Riggs is snatched by an alien spacecraft sometime after midnight. The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there.
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Could Not Finish
- By Greg Foster on 2024-02-07
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Extinction
- Star Force, Book 2
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the second book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs has another bad year. The Nano ships have a new mission--one that sentences their pilots to death. Meanwhile, the governments of Earth want to steal Star Force's Nano technology for their own. Worst of all, Earth has made a promise to the Macros, and the machines are coming to collect.
-
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Was hoping it would get better
- By Slap Chop on 2022-01-17
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Rebellion
- Star Force, Book 3
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rebellion is the turning point in the great interstellar war between all living creatures and the machines. Star Force is on the side of the machines...but for how long? In the third book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs learns just what kind of war Earth is caught up in. At the mercy of the Macros, his marines fight against new alien races, big and small. They battle the innocent and the vile alike, until their situation becomes grim. Rebellion is a military science-fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
Written by: B. V. Larson
-
Storm Assault
- Star Force, Book 8
- Written by: B.V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
In Storm Assault , the eighth book of the Star Force series, the story moves in a new direction. Massive fleets are built by both Star Force and the Imperials - but there is a third player in the game: the Blues.
Written by: B.V. Larson
-
Conquest: Star Force, Book 4
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conquest is the next chapter in the great interstellar war between all living creatures and the machines. Star Force must stop the machine invaders once again - but how?
In the fourth book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs has freed Earth from the chains of the Macros - but at what cost? The Macros no longer trust him. He is a mad dog that must be put down - and all Star Force must be stamped out with him. The war expands in this story, and mankind is once again faced with annihilation.
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Rebel Fleet
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
They hunt us. They bomb our worlds for target practice. A star cluster in the constellation of Orion rotates once every 1,000 years. Those who rule there have an ancient tradition: When each cycle ends, they train their fleets by spilling the blood of lesser beings. The enemy fleets are coming again. In response, the Rebel Worlds gather their starships to face the terrifying threat, and this time humanity is asked to stand with them. The last time they considered Earth, Vikings in longboats were raiding English coastlines. Today, we're less primitive. Today, we're a target.
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Good enough for a first book
- By Slap Chop on 2022-04-12
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Battle Station
- Star Force, Book 5
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In Battle Station, Kyle Riggs faces new challenges, new alien fleets, and learns the secrets behind the war he has been fighting for years. In the fifth book of the Star Force Series, the Eden system is in humanity's grasp, but can they keep it? Star Force is weak after a long war, and many yearn to go home. Knowing the machines will return with a new armada eventually, Riggs seeks a more permanent solution. Along the way, worlds are won and lost, millions perish, and great truths are revealed.
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Consistently superb writing
- By M. Heaton on 2019-03-16
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Empire
- Star Force, Book 6
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Kyle Riggs has been away from Earth for a long time.... What’s happening back home? In Empire, the sixth book of the Star Force Series, the story moves in a new direction. Earth falls quiet, and the few reports coming out of the homeworld are increasingly strange. Isolated in the Eden system, Riggs realizes his enemies are forming an alliance against him. Crushed between two monstrous fleets, the last defenders of Star Force must forge their own alliance with the biotic aliens. But which alien race can Riggs truly trust?
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Ascendant: Book 1
- Written by: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The Wizard's Council of Tarador was supposed to tell young Koren Bladewell that he is a wizard. They were supposed to tell everyone that he is not a jinx, that all the bad things that happen around him are because he can't control the power inside him, power he doesn't know about. The people of his village, even his parents, are afraid of him, afraid he is cursed. That he is a dangerous, evil jinx.
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As predictable as vanilla soft serve
- By Aidan on 2021-03-10
Written by: Craig Alanson
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Annihilation
- Star Force, Book 7
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Kyle Riggs is in for a rough ride. In Annihilation, the seventh book of the Star Force Series, nothing goes as planned. The three fledgling human colonies in the Eden System are beginning to take hold, but the forces threatening to root them out are many. The Crustaceans are calling for help, despite the fact they are the sworn enemies of Star Force. Are they potential allies, or vicious tricksters? And why are the oceans of their world heating up?
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Columbus Day
- Expeditionary Force, Book 1
- Written by: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.
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Easily one of the better books I've read..
- By jesse cornelious on 2018-10-31
Written by: Craig Alanson
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The Dead Sun
- Star Force, Book 9
- Written by: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Kyle Riggs sits uneasily upon Earth’s throne. He’s liberated his homeworld from a tyrant, only to replace him. In The Dead Sun, the ninth book of the Star Force Series, the Great War between life and the machines reaches its final chapter. Both sides have new technology and expanded industrial bases. Star Force and the machines attempt to exterminate one another in a final, glorious conflict. Along the way, Riggs finally learns who his real friends and enemies are. The Dead Sun is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
Written by: B. V. Larson
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Red Company: First Strike!
- Red Company, Book 1
- Written by: B.V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, mankind has searched for nonhuman civilizations in the cosmos. These lost alien societies have finally been discovered—but they were destroyed long ago. Devin Starn starts off as a lowly rock rat aboard Borag, a mining ship working the dangerous end of the asteroid belt. Slowly, he gains prestige and purpose. When an alien base is uncovered, however, he must risk everything to protect his ship and her crew. What wiped out all the civilizations that came before humanity?
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Meh.
- By VyTri on 2023-09-25
Written by: B.V. Larson
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Infinite
- Written by: Jeremy Robinson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The Galahad, a faster-than-light spacecraft, carries 50 scientists and engineers on a mission to prepare Kepler 452b, Earth's nearest habitable neighbor at 1400 light years away. With Earth no longer habitable and the Mars colony slowly failing, they are humanity's best hope. After 10 years in a failed cryogenic bed - body asleep, mind awake - William Chanokh's torture comes to an end as the fog clears, the hatch opens, and his friend and fellow hacker, Tom, greets him...by stabbing a screwdriver into his heart. This is the first time William dies.
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Excellent Excellent Excellent
- By daniel on 2018-05-14
Written by: Jeremy Robinson
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Ruins of the Galaxy
- Ruins of the Galaxy, Book 1
- Written by: Christopher Hopper, J. N. Chaney
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The mission is simple. Escort an emissary to an intergalactic peace summit. Try not to get in the way. Lt. Magnus and his 79th Recon Team have certainly handled worse, after all. But when an explosion rocks the tower and sends everyone into a panic, Magnus and his asset find themselves cut off from the rest of the team. Worse still, a dying alien chieftain gives them a priceless drive of intel, marking them for death. The mission has officially changed. With enemies on all sides, Magnus must do everything in his power to protect the emissary and escape the tower.
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R.C Bray is the only good thing about this book
- By Jim Fernuik on 2020-12-28
Written by: Christopher Hopper, and others
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First Command Box Set: Spacers, Books 1-6
- Written by: Scott Bartlett
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 43 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Out of the blue, a young Space Fleet officer's dream becomes reality: He's made captain of a starship. Just in time for the return of humanity's most terrible enemy, after 50 years of peace. To survive against this enemy, Captain Tad Thatcher will have to do more than learn how to become an effective commander, or how to wrangle his wayward crew. He will need to reinvent space combat. From scratch.
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Wtf, no ending
- By Anonymous User on 2022-09-20
Written by: Scott Bartlett
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The Last Hunter
- Written by: J.N. Chaney, Terry Mixon
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Two centuries after the Confederation staved off an invasion by the robotic Locusts, Captain Jack Romanoff faces mandatory retirement from an ever-shrinking navy. Actions speak louder than words. The Confederation doesn’t think the Locusts are coming back. But what if the politicians are wrong?
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Great storyline
- By James on 2022-10-29
Written by: J.N. Chaney, and others
What listeners say about Steel World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joshua
- 2024-09-22
Great First Entry To A New Series
Very unique premise and executed very well. Ignore the "politically correct" police reviews. This book tells a good story. If that story, and its well written main character, offends those who hate all male protagonists, that's their fault. Don't let them steer you away from a worth while series.
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- Peter
- 2018-01-28
A fun read
A good story and build up to a great series, I cant wait to get all the other chapters.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Kris Noyes
- 2023-06-14
Great start to a great series!!
First, the Narrator is excellent. The story is well paced, lots of action but measured. The character development of the main protagonist is slow but appropriate for the breadth of the series as a whole. Highly recommend this series.
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- Nicholas Furlong
- 2020-02-21
Thoroughly enjoyed, pumped that there's more!
Didn't know this was the 1st book of what looks to be a long series. Right from the get go I was drawn in. Perfect mix of action, humour and story. Characters started to grow on me as the story progressed!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Howard Heer
- 2024-09-05
Great sci fi and enjoyable plot
Fun easy listening space marine storyline. I enjoyed the overall plot with unique and engaging technology as well as background buildup to an interesting finish. Looking forward to the next book
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- Meredith
- 2021-04-17
New series (to me!)
I really like long series, and got the first in this series at a discount. The writer is very imaginative and the narrator was very consistent. I liked so many of his voices, I couldn't pick a favorite! I am pretty sure this series will be my next binge :)
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2 people found this helpful
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- crow
- 2021-09-29
it was great it was full of adventure and teach
it took awhile to finish but it was great you will love it to the finish
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- Psamathos
- 2024-08-15
Awesome
This has been my favorite series on Audible and I'm currently relistening to the series for the third time. Even though it's the first book in a long series, it stands alone and it's not just a drawn-out introduction. True, it's not a complex plot, nor ground-breaking science fiction, but it's light, entertaining military sci-fi with a great backstory and a solid set of characters. It's not silly enough to be comedy, exactly, but not so serious as Starship Troopers, so it strikes a good balance of action and entertainment. You can just kick back and listen. Mark Boyett does a fantastic job bringing the character to life and does so for the entire series. Give it a listen, you won't regret it.
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- Fabien L.
- 2021-11-28
Great ideas crumble under lots of flaws
The first half of the book has enough interesting ideas with the setting, technology and premise to make you ignore the more goofy aspects and straight up bad parts.
About 2/3 of the way through the hook gets brushed under the rug and the rate of inconsistencies, plot holes and just plain bad passages goes up high enough to make the cons unbearable.
- Uncomfortably sexist depiction of all the female characters. Which could be ''explained'' by the fact that the book is written in the first person by a horny male protagonist, but considering the only female characters in the book are either love interests or hysteric antagonists, it just comes off as misogynistic.
- The main protagonist has no skillset besides being tall, lucky and somehow always intuiting the right course of action through sheer plot armor, since a lot of his ideas make absolutely no sense to begin with. Also has no personality, which somehow makes him the most interesting person in the room. ''Useless rogues'' type characters only work if they're supported by a very good entourage, while not consistently being shitty (See, The Expanse).
- The whole ''reviving tech'' concept starts off extremely interesting as a main plot device, but repeated plot holes and inconsistencies eventually ruin it. Same goes for most ideas in the book.
Stellar performance though!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dave Coles
- 2020-03-08
Dumbed down to my frustrations
I couldn't believe how much over explaining
this author provided which spoiled the flow of action. The lead character was not believable since he was brilliant in one moment and completely obtuse in the next.
Also, this book must have been written pre-me too movement considering all the mysigony.
The story, potentially, was a good idea but assumed the listeners were idiots. The writing was somewhat cliche and could have taken place on Earth, rather than a futuristic story.
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6 people found this helpful