Audio Book Review: Radioactive Evolution by Richard Hummel

I liked this action story with a dragon companion.
Radioactive Evolution
Written by Richard Hummel
Narrated by Armen Taylor & Anneliese Rennie

Release Date: November 15, 2018
Publisher: Hummel Books
Genre: Cyperpunk, Fantasy Gaming, Post-apocalyptic, Sci Fi
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Content 4.25; Narration 4.25.

Publisher's Summary
How far would you go to change humanity's fate?
Jared Cartwright grew up in a loving, caring community, completely isolated from the horrors of the outside world. When tragedy leaves him alone and untethered, Jared sets out to explore the unknown: a world where twisted, scarred creatures roam an earth ravaged by nuclear war while the rich fled to the skies on floating utopias, escaping destruction and leaving the rest of humanity to die.
To face his new reality, Jared must learn to survive in a cold, harsh world. A twist of fate changes Jared's destiny when he discovers dragons are real. The dragon unlocks a hidden technology within his body, giving him powers he never imagined existed.
With deadly adversaries above and below, he must evolve beyond mere human limitations to defeat the powerful rulers of the cities and the rabid beasts lurking in the shadows.
Amazon number-one best seller in Post-Apocalyptic & Cyberpunk!
©2018 Richard Hummel (P)2019 Richard Hummel

Review:
Jared is a lone explorer in a post-apocalyptic world that is full of ravaged cities and twisted creatures. The elites who survived live in floating cities far above the radiated earth. Jared scavenges for supplies, including food, weapons and nanite injectors. The nanite injectors are necessary to preserve the nanotechnology within the humans which corrupts over time.

Jared descends into the tunnels of the city (once New York) following another explorer. After facing off with giant lizards, Jared finds the explorer buried in a pile of what appears to be a nest. Jared snags the pack of the other explorer and an unusual object with radiating heat. He fights his way out of the tunnels to his safe space. There he uncovers secrets about the nanotechnology and, more importantly, he inadvertently bonds with a newborn dragon! The dragon, nicknamed Scarlet, can share nanotechnology with Jared providing him the opportunity to increase his physical and mental skills so that each has super powers.

Having bonded, Jared and Scarlet have to agree to help each other’s species rather than be enemies. They set off to find other surviving humans who can be recruited to bond with dragons, or other creatures. Once they have a force the plan is to challenge one of the sky cities. The pair fight off and escape from enemies ultimately saving a strange community of water people.

This story has a definite LitRPG vibe with plenty of mutated creatures, such as killer bunnies, to battle, and nanites and powers to be absorbed and assigned to increase (‘level up’) skills. Jared is a surprising survivor considering his naivety. I enjoyed the relationship between Jared and Scarlet who communicate through telepathy and share their growth journeys. The writing kept me engaged even though it is not complex. The world building is good with lots of strange creatures. I do want to read/listen to the next book in the series. I recommend this to fans of action and fantasy gaming.

Audio Notes: Armen Taylor & Anneliese Rennie make a good narration team. I liked both voices and energy for the characters. I hope they will be the narrators for the next book which I plan to get on audio.

Source: October 2020 Chirp $2.99. This qualifies for 2021TBR and 2021Audiobook goals.

Book Review: The Forever Gate Book One by Isaac Hooke

This is an engaging introduction to the series.

The Forever Gate Book One 
by Isaac Hooke

File Size: 1717 KB
Print Length: 100 pages
Publication Date: January 2, 2013
ASIN: B00AVXHRAM
Genre: Sci Fi, Cyperpunk
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

The world as we know it is about to end.
Hoodwink Cooper has been sentenced to death. His crime? Attempting to blast a hole in the Forever Gate, the colossal wall that surrounds the city and protects the denizens from the uninhabitable Outside. There's only one problem - he isn't the one who planted the bomb.
His daughter did, at the behest of a secretive society known as the Users.
As the gols, the humanlike automata who have enslaved the humans, prepare to carry out Hoodwink's sentence, the Users plot even greater turmoil. If Hoodwink gives up the ghost without first extricating his daughter from their clutches, she will most likely join him in the afterlife.
What Hoodwink and the Users don't realize is that they are all pawns in a greater game whose stakes are the very survival of humanity itself.
Will Hoodwink escape in time to save his daughter? More importantly, will he break free of the invisible forces that guide him?
Or will he succumb to the domination of his unseen masters and cause the breaking of the world, losing not just his daughter, but everything?
---THE FOREVER GATE combines elements of science fiction & fantasy to evoke a unique setting entirely unlike anything you've ever read before.

Review:
Hoodwink has been sentenced to death for threatening the Forever Gate. His accusers do not know that he accepted the crime and punishment to protect his daughter. He does not know why she wanted to bomb the forbidden gate but he will do anything, even die, to save her.

Yolinda, now Ari, is working with a secret group of people who are no longer shackled by the collars that prevent most citizens from using super powers of fire and electricity. Since they can still use the powers they are called the Users. A team rescue Hoodwink from the executioner’s blade and steer him to the outskirts of town. There he is given a choice: return for his punishment or climb the forbidden wall.

Hoodwink accepts the task and promises to come back to his daughter. That is a promise he may not be able to keep. Once he passes over the wall he meets a dwarf who is mysterious and dangerous. Hoodwink appears to be captured, maybe killed. But he awakens to find himself in a layered world under the control of others whose motives are unknown.

The story is set in a future world that has a feel of the middle ages. There are gols who are not human but rather government-controlled workers. Hoodwink lost his daughter to the Mayor and has had to learn to live with his guilt. The layered worlds had me thinking of the body pods in the Matrix. I enjoyed the creative world and I enjoyed the action. Hoodwink is a likeable, strong character – maybe not completely good but with a renewed integrity that seeks to protect those he loves. The ending has an "argh" moment and left me curious to discover where the story goes from here. I am glad that I have the next books.

I received this book and some of the sequels from the author for an honest review. 
I actually had this in my Kindle Library from 2014 so I am counting it towards TBR Challenge also.