Audible Book Review: Dragon Planet by Dan Wells

This is fun, easy listening, good for middle graders.

Dragon Planet
By: Dan Wells
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Steve Rimpici, full cast
Series: The Zero Chronicles, Book 2

Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
Publisher: Audible Originals
Categories: Children's Audiobooks, Science Fiction & Fantasy
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Content 4.0; Narration 4.25.

About This Audible Original
The much-anticipated sequel to Zero G and the middle grade debut by Dan Wells.
The colonists from the Pathfinder have arrived on Kaguya, a planet with low gravity but a very dense atmosphere. It’s fun to jump around, but the air makes you loopy. Even worse than that, the heavy atmosphere means that wind storms, although rare, are absolutely devastating.
Zero and Nyx help to get everything locked down before the first big storm, but they stumble onto a group of thieves who have stolen some mining equipment. Before the kids have a chance to get away and tell anyone, the storm hits and the massive winds carry them far away. Zero and Nyx are stranded on an unknown planet with no way to communicate, being chased by thieves, and with another storm bearing down on them.
And, oh yeah, this planet has dragons.
It will take more than just good luck to get back to the colony. It’s going to take science.
©2019 Dan Wells (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC

Review:
Zero and Nyx have arrived on the planet Kaguya where the gravity is low and a dense atmosphere. They are told the colonists will be living in shelters to protect them from the unknowns of the planet and the big wind storms that ravage the surface. The young people are skeptical about the planet until they get excited seeing a dragon outside the windows. The adults are alarmed by the damage the dragon does to a digger, an important piece of equipment. They are more disturbed when they realize that another digger is missing and was apparently not loaded on the ship.

The kids decide to investigate and soon stumble onto the thieves. Before they can escape, the kids and thieves are blown away from base by the heavy winds. Zero and Nyx find themselves in a strange, beautiful but frightening world. They have to be careful what they touch and what they eat while running from the twisted thieves and racing to get back to base before another storm hits.

Okay – so it is not so realistic that two children can manage on a strange planet, but it is fun. And the author makes it particularly interesting by having the kids use their knowledge of basic science principles to solve dilemmas. I really enjoyed this aspect. I enjoyed this second book a bit more than book one. The world building was well done and I look forward to reading the next book. I recommend this for middle grade students and adults who like light, sci fi listening.

Audio Notes: Emily Woo Zeller, Steve Rimpici, and a cast of other narrators make the listening fun. There is background sound that also enhances the story. This is a fun story in audio.

Source: August 2020 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2021TBR and 2021Audiobook goals.

Zero G By: Dan Wells, Book 1 My Rating 3.75.

Audible Book Review: Zero G by Dan Wells

This fits the target audience - children.
Zero G
By: Dan Wells
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Margaret Ying Drake, Josh Hurley, Eddy Lee, Jennifer Van Dyck, Allyson Johnson, David Shih, Betsy Hogg

Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 12-06-18
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Studios
Genre: Kids, Middle Grade (ages 8-10)
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.5 and Narration 4.0.

It’s one kid versus an entire band of space pirates in this cosmic middle grade caper from New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells.
Zero is just one of 20,000 people aboard a spaceship bound for a new planet set to be colonized. The journey is over a century long but luckily, everyone is in stasis, so they’ll be safe and sound asleep during the trip. Everyone that is, except for Zero, whose pod has malfunctioned, waking him up a hundred years early. His initial excitement in roaming the ship alone quickly turns to a heart-stopping interstellar adventure when a family of space pirates show up, trying to hijack the ship and take the colonizers hostage. With everyone he knows fast asleep, it’s up to Zero to think fast and find a way to stop them–all on his own.
The full cast for this production includes Emily Woo Zeller, Margaret Ying Drake, Betsy Hogg, Josh Hurley, Jonathan Davis, Jennifer Van Dyck, Chelsea Spack, Charlie Thurston, David Shih, Eunice Wong, Eddy Lee, Allyson Johnson, and Polly Lee.
©2018 Dan Wells (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Review:
Zero is a Tweener who is traveling with his family to colonize a new planet. Zero’s father is one of the space engineers who helped build the spaceship which will carry 20,000 people in stasis for 105 years. Zero is a typical young boy full of energy and mischief, poking at his older brothers. Before settling into the stasis pod, Zero bounces around the ship where he meets the pilot and the onboard navigation AI.

Everyone buckles into their pods hoping to wake up “tomorrow” in the future. Unforntunately for Zero, he is the only one whose pod malfunctions resulting in his waking after just a couple of weeks. Zero knows from his discussion with the navigation AI that no one out of a pod can survive the upcoming jump through space. That is worrisome but then Zero discovers that the pilot has disappeared, and space pirates are boarding the ship.

The pirates are a back biting, dysfunctional, misfit family who quickly move to disable the AI so they can redirect the ship. This leaves Zero as the only person who can protect everyone else on the ship. After stealing a pirate communicator, Zero struggles to foil the enemy with common life tools which he finds as he was exploring the cargo bays. There are tense moments mixed with comical situations.

The story is an easy listen although it is requires embracing unbelievable coincidences and a manipulated plotline. That’s okay as it is fun and appropriate for the middle grade bracket. I was not impressed with the boyish pranks but young people would probably appreciate that childish humor. I think this would be a fun listen for families with middle graders.

Audio Notes: The mix of narrators makes this story fun and easy listening. The voices should help keep the attention of young listeners.

Source: Free Audible Original December 2018. This qualifies for 2019TBR, 2019Audiobook and 2019Alphabet Goals.