Star Nomad
Fallen Empire, Book 1
By: Lindsay Buroker
Narrated by: Kate Reading
Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 10-18-16
Language: English
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Genre: Military Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Space Opera
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.
Publisher's Summary
The Alliance has toppled the tyrannical empire. It should be a time for celebration, but not for fighter pilot Captain Alisa Marchenko. After barely surviving a crash in the final battle for freedom, she's stranded on a dustball of a planet, billions of miles from her young daughter. She has no money or resources, and there are no transports heading to Perun, her former home and the last imperial stronghold.
But she has a plan.
Steal a dilapidated and malfunctioning freighter from a junkyard full of lawless savages. Slightly suicidal, but she believes she can do it. Her plan, however, does not account for the elite cyborg soldier squatting in the freighter, intending to use it for his own purposes. As an imperial soldier, he has no love for Alliance pilots. In fact he's quite fond of killing them.
Alisa has more problems than she can count, but she can't let cyborgs, savages, or ancient malfunctioning ships stand in her way. If she does she'll never see her daughter again.
Fans of Firefly and Star Wars should enjoy this fun, fast-paced new series from USA Today best-selling author Lindsay Buroker.
©2016 Lindsay Buroker (P)2016 Podium Publishing
Review:
Captain Alisa Marchenko is a former Alliance pilot who was stranded on a foreign planet while in the hospital recovery from wounds in the final battles. The determined Alliance troops have surprisingly beaten the Imperial with their superior cyborg warriors. Now Alisa wants to repair her mother’s downed freighter and get back to her home planet, Perun, and her daughter. Unfortunately, Perun is the only planet still in the hands of the Imperials.
Alisa and a friend she has brought along for her mech skills make it to the dilapidated freighter only to find it is already occupied by a cyborg soldier. She expects resistance but the cyborg agrees to go with them provided they detour to a planet as the first stop of their journey. Alisa takes on a security guard and manages to attract two passengers: a religious man (carrying a secret) and an ethereal woman who trades in herbs, mushrooms and other unknown products.
This motley crew must survive the journey across the universe to get to their goals. They will face ruthless pirates, hideous monsters and who knows how they will be treated if they can get to Perun.
I enjoyed the strange crew and how they end up helping each other. Apparently even cyborgs have honor and he is a fascinating character. It is vaguely reminiscent of Firefly which I really enjoyed. There is humor and lots of danger and action. The story moves along well to a point but does not resolve. It will continue in the next book. I recommend this to fans of sci fi adventure.
Audio Notes: Kate Reading does a good job with the narration. She provides distinct voices, emotions and energy. The narration helped to make this an easy and fast listen.
Source: November 2016 Audible Sale. This qualifies for 2019TBR and 2019Audiobook goals.
