Christopher

LOTS of exposition...tiresom.

Revisado: 03-29-25

This author never learned the rule of "Don't show, reveal."
My main gripes:
1. He goes on and on and on for at LEAST 5 chapters and NOTHING of great and awesome importance happens. Neither does anything of meek or insignificance happen.
2. The author sounds like he was born in the Bronx and so do all of the characters.
3. In one breath, aliens invade Earth and they capture one. That capture added NOTHING to the story AND the invasion has NO detail before a bunch of ex-army dudes are drafted to go and fight in an interstellar war. OK! NOW we're getting somewhere!
4. NOPE! The next 5 chaps are about training and "army life" and the main character getting it on with one of the few females they have around. No aliens, no fighting, no nothing! Just Blah-Blah-Blah-de-be-Blah and MORE Blah-Blah.
5. I've has enough, I'm done with this book.

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I REALLY want to like this book!

Revisado: 04-23-23

Great concept, but poorly executed. He's been alive since Christ...okay. But the story is disjointed and I barely know ANYthing about the "Sam" character. A man of this many years should have a DEEP back story and it's barely touched upon and when it is, it's all combat and "the mission." Um...yeah. A person living this long would have MANY more experiences beyond the mission. Pass on this book. I won't be listening to part 3.

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No tension, bad narration

Revisado: 10-29-22

I REALLY want to enjoy this book! However, so far there aren't any characters that stand out and the tension for what is happening in the story has not risen to the necessary level. The narrator's delivery is flat, like a drill sergeant who decided to stop yelling and start talking dispassionately and perfunctorily. Imagine Will Robinson's robot using the same inflection for EVERY-thing it said as it did when saying, "DANGER WILL ROBINSON."

I also don't like the millitary guys. They have a disdainful attitude for anyone not one of them. Like unless you've been a tier one or tier two "OPERATOR," you're somehow less than useful or worthy. It takes many types to survive a situation like they are in. But it feels like the "operators" have no respect for those other types. Like they're people to be tolerated, barely, if not just shot on general purposes. I will finish the book. But unless something changes, a new narrator for instance, I won't finish this series.

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Blah-blah-blah-de-Blahbidy-Balh......

Revisado: 07-23-22

My title pretty much sums up this book. The characters aren't people you care live or die except for the girl trapped in the elevator. HER back story is compelling as all get out. Other than that, a book, like a movie, is made up of scenes. Some set tone, others set the scene and all progress the story. The fact that this is a disaster story means I won't be giving anything away if I say imagine the characters being caught in a whirlpool. At some point the reader wants to know what happens when they finally reach the bottom, or the funnel, if you will. Well, this book, with 5 hours left, just keeps spinning and spinning and spinning with more blah-blah-blah than any scene NEEDS.

My outlook on this book may lift beyond the first half. But if the first is any indicator, that's not going to happen. If it DOES, I'll change my review accordingly.

As to the narrators, the man is okay, but the woman reads almost every line of all female cahacters as if she's kneading her fingers with a furrowed brow and it gets tiresome.

Stay tuned for an update if the quality in any three categories shifts.

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Drudgery

Revisado: 06-15-22

The book as a whole is fine and I have enjoyed it thoroughly.

However...the narration...is stilted...and tedious. The way...this is typed...is the way...Joe Mazzello...reads the script. After two hours...it...is setting...my teeth....on edge...

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Boring, Two dimensional. (Minor spoilers).

Revisado: 04-21-22

I am halfway through book two and I am STILL waiting for this story to "pop." There seems to me no emotion within the main character, or any character. They are two dimensional at best. When the plane crashes, the survivors offer a character bonanza a-la "Lost" fame. But the author is not up to the task of taking advantage of that and as of book 2, I don't care who lives or dies and that is problematic.

For instance, they are trapped in 1620 and two of the survivors are black. That alone could have accounted for a tremendous opportunity of conflict and story. But, alas, the author delves nowhere into this dynamic. Instead, he brushes over the slavery aspect with a, "its the times and they can't change that." While he is right about slavery in that period not being changeable, it doesn't stop him from going on a short, but pointed, screed about how much "cleaner" the ocean is without it being as polluted as today's. (Face palm.) The one character I REALLY liked, the historian lady, gets killed without ANY fanfare or sense of loss by the main characters. It's like hearing that a co-worker has died and going about your day as though nothing has happened.

The main character is logical and BORING. He NEVER approaches a situation colored by emotion...EVER. And, while a lack of emotion in decision making is a boon in the real world, fiction is BUILT on it. At the end of book one the main character wakes up back in the future having left behind a slew of people he, supposedly, cared about and a woman he loved. Yet, the reader gets no sense of desperation of his desire to get back. He, like he does everything else, methodically sets about trying to get back and succeeds through almost no fault of his own.

The main character also does dumb things. He makes a big deal of having a modern Glock, but it provides him NO benefit because he is often too afraid to use it, or have it confiscated because it might will mess up time too much.

Unless something happens to make this story "pop" between now and the end of book 3, it is plodding and seeded with TMI (too much information) about the day to day of getting themselves set up in their new time. I'm hoping things change for the better and if they do I will amend this review.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Blah...Blah...Blah.....

Revisado: 10-25-21

After over 10 hours in this book, NOTHING HAPPENS. The most momentous thing is they found the ship. I'll finish the book, but can't recommend this lame nonsense. It's a shame, really, the concept is VERY compelling, but the story falls flat.

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Yakkity YAK!

Revisado: 09-23-21

I am FIFTEEN cha[ter into this book and it has ben NOTHING but yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak!

1. He talks about the military.....yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak
2. He talks about his wife.....yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak
3. He talks about the PRCs.....yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak
4. He talks about the ship.....yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak
5. He talks about rank.....yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak
6. He talks about his ship's XO.....yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak
7. He talks about NOTHING of consequence for FIFTEEN chapters.....yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak...huff-puff, wheeze..........yak-yak-yak-yak-yak-yak!!!!!!!!!!

I have read ALL the books in this series and have never been bored until now. Matter of fact, my boredom is finished because I.....AM......DONE!

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Flat...

Revisado: 08-24-21

Just a few points.....
1. After half the book I don't care about any of it's characters. Flat, one dimensional. They are all cut off from Earth to the point that there looks to be no way to ever get home again and yet, there's less emotion about that than if the Captain's dog had died. How does that even factor within the bounds of reason?
2. They keep mentioning this "alien menace" the "Xantac" or whatever...(see how memorable the aspects of this story are?) Yet, the "Xantac" never present themselves.
3. Apparently, the future of space exploration is about ex-PLOI-tation. The future is run by "evil corporations" that are more concerned with battling each other than they are with creating or supplying superior goods and services to serve their customers with. How does that make ANY sense? Think McDonalds Corporation hiring mercenaries to do battle with Microsoft....HUH?!?!?!?
4. Economically, this book makes NO sense at all. Corporations are created to organize companies for the sole purpose of generating wealth. They do that by figuring out ways to best serve their customers at the lowest cost to themselves in order to maximize profits. Yet, these "Corps" buy mercenary starship fleets in order to fight pirates and do battle with each other. So much for profits.

Finaly, there is no sense of urgency, or desperation or even anxiety at having been cut off from home. It's like, "We need to consolidate our forces to defeat the pirates so we can face the Xantac threat. Oh, and by the way, the wormhole is closed and we're cut off form home forever. Are there any danish left?"

Look for better fare.

The only good part of this book is Mark Boyet's narration.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

No story here.

Revisado: 08-02-21

I have listened to this entire story and have been intrigued. But my interest is waning in the face of one sided battles that have been given no context within the wider story. Character development has also fallen off. Very disappointed.

Also, does the narrator NEED to SUCK in enough breath to "huff and puff and blow your house down?!?!?!" I mean, seriously?!?!?! His intakes of breath every 10 seconds are intrusive to say the least.

Debating whether or not to even consider the next installment.

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