Audible Book Review: Phule's Company by Robert Asprin

This is a fun Space Military story and I want more in the series.
Phule's Company
Phule's Company, Book 1
By: Robert Asprin
Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
Released: September 20, 2017
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Genre: Humor, Sci Fi, Space Military
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
After being court-martialed by the Space Legion for ordering the strafing of a treaty-signing ceremony, multimillionaire Willard Phule receives his punishment: He must command the misfit Omega Company on Haskin's Planet, a mining settlement on the edge of settled space. At his duty station, he leverages his personal money and a knack for managing people to get the company to come together as a unit. Phule convinces the governor to leave the contract for an honorary duty up for competition between the Space Legionnaires and the Regular Army. The Army sends some of their most elite troops to take part in the competition, but Phule's company operates with their own unique tactics....
©1990 Robert Asprin (P)2017 Tantor

Review:
William Phule (pronounced “fool”) was a junior officer who made some inappropriate decisions based on lack of pertinent information. The judges at his court-martial have to issue appropriate punishment. The problem is that Phule’s family is excessively wealthy and an important military resource. They decide to punish Phule by promoting him to give him command of the Omega Company. That is the company where all the military misfits go and their duty is limited on the edge of settled space.

Phule, who travels with his faithful Batman, Beeker, takes his command seriously. He quickly begins to get the misfits into shape, helping the individuals to find the tasks they each can do well. He provides them with state-of-the-art facilities, uniforms, and tools/weapons. As they train on a specially prepared “obstacle course”, aka “confidence course”, he trains with them and shows them how to succeed by being creative and thinking outside of the box. Bit by bit he builds their confidence. He believes in his company so much that he is willing to set them up in competition with the Regular Army in order to win a special contract. Phule didn’t expect that the Army would send their most elite force to the competition.

Can the Omega Company show how much they have improved? And if they succeed what will the higher command choose to do with the misfit troop?

I felt like a Space Military story and this was recommended by my son. I enjoyed to the creative way that Phule manages to get around all of the obstacles – not just the course. There are fun supporting characters, including a very shy officer who comes to life in the right job and gets dubbed “Mother”. I do plan to pick up more in the series soon. I recommend this to fans of fun space military action.

Audio Notes: Noah Michael Levine provides good accents that make the characters easily distinguishable. I enjoyed his energy and presentation of this story. The narration added to my engagement.

Source: 9/20/22 Audible under $3.50. This qualifies for 2023TBR and 2023Audiobook goals.

Audible Book Review: The Ember War, Books 1-2, by Richard Fox

I enjoyed this first contact/space military adventure. I’ll be continuing the series.

The Ember War
Publisher's Pack, Books 1-2
By: Richard Fox
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
Series: The Ember War, Book 1-2
Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
Release date: 02-23-16
Language: English
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Genre: Sci Fi, Space Fleet, Space Military
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
The Ember War, book 1: The Earth is doomed. Humanity has a chance.
In the near future, an alien probe arrives on Earth with a pivotal mission: to determine if humanity has what it takes to survive the impending invasion by a merciless armada. The probe discovers Marc Ibarra, a young inventor who holds the key to a daring gambit that could save a fraction of Earth's population. Humanity's only chance lies with Ibarra's ability to keep a terrible secret and engineer the planet down the narrow path to survival. Earth will need a fleet. One with a hidden purpose. One strong enough to fight a battle against annihilation.
The Ember War is the first installment in an epic military sci-fi series. If you enjoyed A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo and The Last Starship by Vaughn Heppner, then you'll love this explosive adventure with constant thrills and high stakes from beginning to end.
The Ruins of Anthalas, book 2: An ancient holocaust holds the key to humanity's survival.
Only a sliver of mankind survived the Xaros invasion. With Earth's defenses in ashes, nothing can stop the aliens' inevitable return. Hope arrives through a cryptic message from a long-lost alien race, promising the means to rebuild the shattered space fleet. Captain Valdar takes one of the last strike carriers, the Breitenfeld, and his shell-shocked crew on a desperate mission to the dead world. Unfortunately humans aren't the only power that received the ancient message....
The Ruins of Anthalas is the second book in The Ember War Saga, a military sci-fi space opera. If you like David Weber and John Ringo with a touch of Isaac Asimov, then you'll love this fast-paced and captivating adventure where humanity survives at the edge of a knife.
©2015 Richard Fox (P)2016 Podium Publishing

Review:
Book 1: The Ember War.
An alien probe made contact with one nerdy college student on earth. The alien had decided a scientific theory of Marc Ibarra might give the planet a marginally better chance to survive the coming attack by the Xaros, an alien army that wipes out all sentient life it finds. Marc and his alien probe only have sixty years to prepare.

Sixty years later the wealthy Ibarra Corporation has spear-headed space exploration and space mining. Ibarra has kept secrets and made plans to hopefully save a small fraction of humans. He didn’t want to be the one to choose those who survive but …someone has to make the hard choices.

Lieutenant Ken Hale of the Atlantic Union Marine Corps is an experience team leader who runs missions from the spaceship Breitenfeld under the command of Captain Isaac Valdar. Valdar hadn’t really wanted to leave his family but answered the call from his good friend, Admiral Garrett. Valdar had no idea that he’d be leaving for more than a short mission. The Bretenfeld is carrying a precious cargo: Ibarra’s heir and secret weapon, Stacy.

Valdar and his crew will experience events no one else has faced and discover secrets that will tear apart their lives. The space fleet has survived the first devastating attack of the Xaros and even manage to capture an important space travel station from the Xaros. But how will the fleet stay hidden and keep mankind from extinction?

I enjoyed Hale and his Marine team who use their skills well together. They get extra rescue help from some massive, armored humans (I think referred to as Iron Hearts).

Book 2: The Ruins of Anthalas.
If the human race wants to survive, the fleet needs to obtain certain elements and secrets that might be found on the destroyed planet of Anthalas. The Breitenfeld is directed to use the Xaros jump station to reach Anthalas and find out if they can mine the needed elements. It is supposed to be an exploratory mission only but the away teams run into opposition and end up stealing crucial artifacts in addition to obtaining important information. Unfortunately, the fight with the natives draws the attention of the Xaros and exposes the humans.

Hale and his brave team are joined by some alien allies in these battle adventures. Steuben is a bit arrogant and sometimes treats the humans with contempt. Still, the longer he fights along side them the more he begins to appreciate their quick reactions and shear drive.

I won’t say that the writing is brilliant, but the world building and aliens are imaginative, and the action is fast paced. The hand full of important characters are likeable and developed so that I was rooting for them all to stay whole and return to the ship alive (at least alive enough to be healed with regeneration).

I am glad that I got the first two books in one and I have added book three to my list for future purchase. I recommend this to reader’s who enjoy space battles from authors such as Isaac Hooke, David Weber, and John Ringo.

Audio Notes: Luke Daniels is a reliable good narrator. As usual, he does well with the pacing in this sort of book and he gives the characters their own voices and personalities. His narration adds to the book and my enjoyment.

Source: November 2016 Audible Sale. This qualifies for 2019TBR and 2019Audiobook goal.

Audible Book Review: Ghost Squadron Boxed Set by Sarah Noffke

This is fun space military entertainment.
Age of Expansion: A Kurtherian Gambit Series
Ghost Squadron Boxed Set, Books 1-4
By: Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle
Narrated by: Chris Abernathy

Series: The Kurtherian Gambit Universe, Book 104, 106, 108, 111, The Ghost Squadron, Book 1-4
Length: 26 hrs and 6 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 02-20-19
Language: English
Publisher: LMBPN
Genre: Genetic Engineering, Sci Fi, Space Military
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4,25 and Narration 4.25.

Publisher's Summary
After 10 years of wandering the outer rim of the galaxy, Eddie Teach is a man without a purpose. He was one of the toughest pilots in the Federation, but now he's just a regular guy, getting into bar fights and making a difference wherever he can. It's not the same as flying a ship and saving colonies, but it'll have to do.
That is, until General Lance Reynolds tracks Eddie down and offers him a job. There are bad people out there, plotting terrible things, killing innocent people, and destroying entire colonies.
©2018 Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle (P)2019 LMBPN

Review:
Eddie Teach was a Federation Pilot who stepped away from the stress and has been traveling around as a - mostly – regular guy. What isn’t really regular is that he tends to pick fights with bad characters whenever he gets the chance. He is a bit surprised when General Lance Reynolds and a strong human female, Juliana, show up to offer him a spot as pilot on a special team that is secretly fighting evil.

Captain Teach and Commander Juliana Fregin begin with a refurbished craft and the aid of an E.I. (Extended Intelligence) named Pip who is connected to Juliana and ArchAngel, the ship A.I.. Their first few missions are to recruit more unique crew members. There is a many tentacled creature (a Londil) who is a genius mechanic; an unexpected addition of a Kezzin soldier; a whiz-kid hacker and a few others added to fill out what is dubbed the Ghost Squadron. Fortunately Juliana is an enhanced kick-butt leader as she and Eddie face multiple dangerous engagements before they add a true fighting force to their team.

The primary characters are well developed. The bantering dialogue and heckling relationships among the characters add a fun aspect. The story is full of dangerous action from the beginning to the end. The alien characters and world building are creative. The alien species include violent Trids – a form of hammerhead shark who carry their own mechanism to help breath out of water and the Kezzin, a species with red, scaly skin and yellow eyes. The Kezzin were once isolationists but have recently been pulled into territorial wars.

The writing is on an easily readable level and moves along well. The only drawback for me was some (though not necessarily excessive) cursing. (The blurb does include a warning which is nice.)

This collection includes Noffke’s first four books in this Kurtherian Gambit Age of Expansion side series: Formation, Exploration, Evolution and Degeneration. These four books create a consistent plot line that is mostly resolved in book four. Still, it is clear there are new adventures and missions and I may be willing to continue in Noffke’s world.

Audio Notes: Chris Abernathy does a very good job with the narration. He provides distinct voices for the characters. The delivery moves well with strong energy, including the humor and fighting. The audio enhanced my enjoyment of the story.


An interesting note: The original Kurtherian Gambit Series consists of 21 books. The world created by author Michael Anderle who then worked with numerous other sci fi authors expanding the Kurtherian Universe to over 111 titles. I do plan to read book one, Death Becomes Her, later this year.

Source: 2019 Audible credit from Author. This qualifies for my Audiobook Goal.

Audible Book Review: Gracie’s Touch by S.E. Smith

This is spicy sexually but a very warm romance in a space sci fi.

Gracie’s Touch
By: S.E. Smith
Narrated by: David Brenin

Series: Zion Warriors, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-03-17
Language: English
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Romance, Sci Fi, Space Military
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of science fiction and paranormal romance brings another action, adventure, and suspense-filled story to transport listeners out of this world. Gracie Jones was little more than a child when Earth was invaded by an alien species. Escaping into the subway tunnels of New York City, she hid in fear of being captured. Discovered by four men who became her protectors, she fought alongside them, and they became known as the Freedom Five. At 17, she made a decision that turned the tide in the war between Earth and the Alluthans, but in exchange, she gave up all that she knew. Kordon Jefe is a Zion Warrior and the commanding officer in charge of the Confederation of Planets' military. When an unknown species begins attacking some of their outer settlements, he is assigned to discover who they are and stop them - at any cost. Gracie finds herself stranded millions of light years and hundreds of years in the future in a distant galaxy on an undeveloped moon. When an old enemy threatens once more, she does not hesitate to use her knowledge to try to stop them once again. Only this time, it is not just Earth she will be saving, but the Confederation itself. When their two worlds are thrown together, Kordon is unsure what to do with the strange, delicate creature who fights and behaves unlike anyone he has ever encountered before. One thing he does know - he plans to keep her.
©2016 S.E. Smith (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Review:
Gracie was just a child when she survived the invasion of a brutal alien attack that decimated humanity on earth. Gracie hid in the subway tunnels until she was brought under the protection of a group of young men. The five rebels became known as The Freedom Five who led a revolution against the aliens. The only way to defeat the enemy was for Gracie to risk infiltrating the enemy mothership. She succeeded but instead of returning to earth the stolen ship she was on was hurtled deep in space to an “unknown” planet. Gracie survives on the planet and after three years despairs of ever hearing another voice. To her surprise her radio outreach attracts a lead military ship of the Confederation of Planets'.

Gracie’s gentle voice pulls in captain Kordon Jefe, a strong, usually unexcitable, Zion Warrior. Kordon becomes obsessed with finding the woman behind the voice even as his team warn him that it might be a trap as the ship is similar to a recent mysterious enemy who has been attacking isolated mining worlds.

Gracie has linguist and technical knowledge that can help the Confederation. The time travel changes the situation for Gracie. Her joy at being rescued soon turns to devastation. How can Kordon and his crew convince Gracie to fight the common enemy? And how can Kordon convince Gracie to forget her first love and take a chance on a current love? He’ll figure a way to woo her since he isn’t going to give her up.

I enjoyed the space sci fi elements, the danger and the action. In addition to the threat of the Alluthan enemy, there is an enemy closer to home who poses a threat particularly to Gracie. Not all of the plot threads are realistic so some of that has to be overlooked to enjoy the rest of the story.

All of this is a setting for a strong romance between an emotionally hurt human and a normally unemotional warrior. Kordon wants to be this big, protective mate, but of course, there is no real way to control an independent human female! Part of the fun of the story is watching (listening to) the couple grow in their relationship. (There is a secondary romance between other crew members too.) The sex elements are a little to heavy for me – Audible labeled “hot d..n”.

The world building and writing is clean and strong. The action story is still engaging but the romance takes over the story. I recommend this to sci fi readers who like heavy romance… or even more to heavy romance readers who like sci fi elements.

Audio Notes: David Brenin does a very good job with the narration. He provides believable female voices as well as strong male voice. He carries the story plot lien with appropriate pacing and energy.

Source: August 2017 Audible sale $4.95. This qualifies for 2019TBR and 2019Audiobook Goals.

Audible Book Review: Of Treasons Born by J. L. Doty

This is an engaging sci fi - character profile.
Of Treasons Born
A Novel of the Treasons Cycle
By: J. L. Doty
Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
Unabridged
Release date: 05-03-16
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Studios
Genre: Sci Fi, Space Military
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
A gripping military science fiction adventure starring the hero of A Choice of Treasons.
As a lifer in the Imperial Navy fighting in a war that has lasted for generations, York Ballin's only hope for an honorable discharge is the grave. But what events led up to his reluctant enlistment? What spawned York's almost fanatic loyalty to his friends - and his doubts regarding the imperial uniform he once wore with such pride?
York rarely recalls his childhood, which began with a mystery and ended at age 11 when he was given a harsh choice: Join the navy or face certain death on a prison asteroid. The navy has its own code of justice, but a youngster with curiosity and grit is able to rise in the ranks...if he's given a fair shot.
A few rigorous years later, as a newly commissioned ensign, York is assigned to the hunter-killer ship The Fourth Horseman. But when an unexpected foe kills his superior officer and leaves the crew stranded in enemy territory, the young ensign must do whatever he can to save the ship - even if it means he'll be court-martialed for treason.
Of Treasons Born is a novel of the Treasons Cycle; the series was written so that it can be listened to in any order.
©2016 J. L. Doty; published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Review:
York Ballin was mostly raised on the streets. He was pressured by the wrong sort of friends and at age 11 he ended up with a conviction for murder. He is sentenced to a prison asteroid where he will no doubt be dead soon. He is surprised when he is confronted by naval officers who “offer” him a place in the space navy. It isn’t really a choice.

York has to start at the bottom swabbing floors – he learns they are called ‘decks’. He is smart and picks up quickly… if only someone is willing to train him. He learns that there are bullies in the navy too and he ends up caught in a bad situation again. He takes the punishment and is sent to the Marines for further discipline. They figure he is a loser who will wash out but soon discover that he learns quickly and is willing to take risks for others. Bit by bit York makes friends and shows himself as more than a loser.

He is sent to Naval Academy where he bunks with three others of totally different backgrounds. One comes for power, one from money and one from influence. They realize that York is the one from experience. There are superiors who feel that street kids have no business in the Academy – they aren’t smart enough to learn and not worthy of the training. These men make trouble for York but fortunately there are others who see the potential for leadership in York and want him to succeed.

I found this story very engaging. I liked how Doty develops York’s character and how friends and staff along the way contribute to that character. York is a sympathetic character who is able to rise through the ranks even when he doesn’t even know what the space war is all about. There is a suitable balance between the strong action and human elements. I have the next book in the series (although this was actually shown as book 2) and I am looking forward to reading/listening to more. I recommend this to fans of space military tales.

Audio Notes: Noah Michael Levine does a great job on the narration. The voices are varied and the inflections are conveyed to share the nuances of the situations. I really enjoyed the listen.

I picked this from my Audible Library. It qualifies for Mount TBR and Audio Challenge.