Tag: #AUDIOBOOK

I recently listened to Buried Starship and Relic Fleet from the Shadow of War series by Anthony J. Melchiorri, both narrated by John Pirhalla. I made it through the first book, but the second is going to be a did-not-finish. I enjoy found star ship books, but this series isn't that. The story follows Veteran Marine Jace Hawthorne after humanity fell to the alien Overlords. Now a smuggler, he ends up in hot water. Jace reluctantly joins the resistance and ends up in command of a superweapon left to humanity by another alien race to exact revenge on the Overlords.

I can't seem to find it now, but I saw a review for the book that said "This would be a good story without Jace". To put it bluntly, the main character is dumb. Jace's whole purpose and motivation is to get medicine for his mother and provide for family. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes along in the first few chapters of the book, but turns it down due to his 'rules'. The story just kind of goes down hill from there.

Jace gets infected with a 'microbial key' which means Jace and only Jace can command the super starship that was left behind. This makes no sense. If you are building superweapons to exact revenge on the alien race that wiped you out, why would you lock it behind a key that is next to impossible to find? It doesn't protect the ship from being physically seized and striped for information and technology; which is why they must escape from the Overlords. It just makes it useless to the people the ship is meant to help. Later when we finally get to the 'buried star ship' it burst out of it's tomb and fights off an enemy fleet. Shortly after becomes completely useless due to being damaged and incomplete.

This brings us to the second book where the crew is on a mission to fix the ship so they can be useful again. At one point, they find an automated cargo ship that contains rare materials needed to fix the ship. Jace notices that the ship has an atmosphere and life support running, which is odd for an automated vessel. It is then reviled that, in addition to the rare materials, the ship is also caring alien super soldiers in stasis pods. Instead of doing the logical thing which would be to vent the ship to space and there by eliminating the threat, they just keep going as is, hoping to not wake them. It was at this point I decided to stop listing.

I hate when an MC is dumb just for the plot. I rate these books 2 out of 10 Overlords.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/239719039-buried-starship https://www.amazon.com/Buried-Starship-Shadow-War-Book-ebook/dp/B0FL6QH6VY

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242152218-relic-fleet https://www.amazon.com/Relic-Fleet-Shadow-War-Book-ebook/dp/B0FSYWP5Y7

My first audiobook review! I recently finished Unmapped (The Completionist Chronicles, Book 13) by Dakota Krout. As with the rest of the books in the series it's narrated by Luke Daniels. The story continues the adventures of Joe the Ritualist in the realms of Eternium. Joe is trying to find a path forward in the wake of soul damage and shattered skills. Along the way he commits to helping one of the towers from Vanaheim to obtain a mystic core.

Overall it was a great addition to the series. One issue with LitRPG series (and any long running series) is they tend to slow down after the first few books and become formulaic. The Completionist Chronicles is no exception. With Unmapped the overall story is starting to progress again, but the book itself is still on the slow side.

The writing is what I have come to expect from Krout. Lots of puns and is generally pretty fun. He does a great job of diving into details instead of glossing over elements because its magic. Although the system and magic are starting to get more and more complex. Luke Daniels is a fantastic narrator. He does a great job of making the characters feel alive and distinct.

If you haven't given the series a try and enjoy puns and LitRPGs, then I highly recommend it. I will say the start of the story is a bit rough with the writing and dated. Some readers might not make it past how Joe ends up in Eternium, but the story gets better and the whole Elon Musk part is a small blip. I am excited for the next book in the series and see where the story goes. I give the book 7 out of 10 wheels of cheese.

goodreads

Audible