Brilliant.

Absolutely fantastic story. Fast paced, doesn't linger, great characters and as always with Nick Podehl (the very reason I purchased this book) the narration was on point.

Thoroughly recommend for those who love a good sci fi novel.

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OMG!!!! What a adventure.

Excellent from start to finish, great story with amazing characters, all so colourful and full of personality, a lot of references to sci-fi pop culture was great, and to top it all of all bought to life with the man with a 1000 voices the amazing Nick Podehl.

Can’t wait to start book 2 that’s in my library

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Awesome

Bought this book based on the narrator nick podehl. Well it was a good choice, gripping from start to finish.
Perfect narration, great voices and great story. Bring on the next one and I’ll be there ready to listen

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Fantastic narrator and well written characters

Loving the series so far, halfway through the book. Mostly an introduction to the characters and a lot of worldbuilding without being too detailed. Perfect pace. Narrator really brings the characters to life.

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Shows real potential.

The overall idea is excellent and, with the exception of some stereotyping the characters are great (unless you have very specific views on what's allowed in sci-fi). The idea of a group of diverse characters fighting to save the world by being smart and humane is really needed right now and was a breath of fresh air.

Looking around at some of the other reviews it seems that some people would prefer the main character to be a stoic man of few words, (which is fine, each to their own) but, If you don't have a problem with strong women standing up for themselves, (or with the fact that some people are religious), you really might enjoy this. Is it a groundbreaking work of genius? No, but it's a good romp.

My main issue is the amount of pop culture references. A little of this can be cool, but the amount in this book is reminiscent of ready player 1 and it feels like the author is trying to show his nerd credentials. This is a shame because the in-universe logic behind the references, as a kind of Shibboleth between those in the know, is really good, it's just overdone. Hopefully, as the author becomes a little more confident in his own universe he will rely less on others.

The narrator is really excellent, he makes a real effort at all the accents and does a reasonable job of them. As an Irishman I was just glad to hear a real attempt at the accent, it's not perfect but it's good enough, especially considering he's jumping around the world between sentences.

I think this is quite good sci-fi, it doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also has some really good ideas, taking a novel and interesting spin on some tropes. I'm happy I picked it up and I look forward to the rest of the series (although I said the same thing about expeditionary force ...)

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Brilliant 1

Mr Ross has done it again! What a great book! Had me hooked in the first chapter! like previous series great characters which I already feel for. Still love the pop culture references which still work in a book set in 2045 which is great!

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Absolutely Brilliant Listen

I'm not a fan of writing reviews but I felt that I actually wanted to for this book because I enjoyed it so thoroughly. It keeps you riveted from the start and doesn't abate at all. I found no section hard to listen to and the humour was marvellous. The narration is excellent and the accents are all perfect. Irish is often massacred in audio books, as is the King's English but this time it was bang on the mark and you could believe with all sincerity that the characters were as they were supposed to be. The science is all believable and after a ten minute discussion at the end held by the author, you find that it's believable because it is based on realities that exist now. I hope this review conveys just how much I enjoyed the book and you will have to trust me when I tell you I have already purchased the next two with excited anticipation

I highly recommend this to all and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

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A nice surprise

I got this book on a whim, Nick Pohdel drew me to this as he is an amazing narrator.
The book itself is great, such a great take on first contact. The characters themselves are perfectly suited and easily likeable, a dynamic mix, they compliment each other making the story all the more enjoyable.
Nick Pohdel delivers as expected a perfect performance.

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Leaves me wanting more

Loved the novel and can’t wait for the rest of the trilogy. A few lovable characters with a few very strong characters that just leaves me wanting to know more of the story. Feels like it has some parallels with the expeditionary Force books which I would recommend to anyone who has read this book or the
expeditionary Force books

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Awesome narration

I have over 200 audio books from a wide variety of narrators; Nick Podehl beats the lot! I hope RC Bray doesn't read this.

But the narration is only part of the beauty of this audio book.

it is very well edited and produced, as well as being a really good (1st in series) book.

Highly recommended.

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