The Red
First Light
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kevin T. Collins
-
By:
-
Linda Nagata
About this listen
Reality TV and advanced technology make for high drama in this political thriller that combines the military action of Zero Dark Thirty with the classic science fiction of The Forever War.
Lieutenant James Shelley, who has an uncanny knack for premeditating danger, leads a squad of advanced US Army military tasked with enforcing the peace around a conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. The squad members are linked wirelessly 24/7 to themselves and a central intelligence that guides them via drone relay - and unbeknownst to Shelley and his team, they are being recorded for a reality TV show.
When an airstrike almost destroys their outpost, a plot begins to unravel that's worthy of Crichton and Clancy's best. The conflict soon involves rogue defense contractors, corrupt US politicians, and homegrown terrorists who possess nuclear bombs. Soon Shelley must accept that the helpful warnings in his head could be AI. But what is the cost of serving its agenda?
©2013 Linda Nagata (P)2015 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Edges
- Inverted Frontier Series, Book 1
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deception Well is a world on the edge, home to an isolated remnant surviving at the farthest reach of human expansion. All across the frontier, other worlds have succumbed to the relentless attacks of robotic alien warships, while hundreds of light years away, the core of human civilization - those star systems closest to Earth, known as the Hallowed Vasties - have all fallen to ruins. Powerful telescopes can see only dust and debris where once there were orbital mega-structures so huge they eclipsed the light of their parent stars
-
-
Cool book read by TTS
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-20
By: Linda Nagata
-
The Last Good Man
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarred by war, in pursuit of truth. Army veteran True Brighton left the service when the development of robotic helicopters made her training as a pilot obsolete. Now she works at Requisite Operations, a private military company established by friend and former Special Ops soldier Lincoln Han. Robotics, big data, and artificial intelligence are all tools used to augment the skills of veteran warfighters-for-hire. But the tragedy of war is still measured in human casualties.
-
-
Leaves you with something to think about
- By AQC Kelly on 10-19-17
By: Linda Nagata
-
Order of the Centurion
- By: Jason Anspach, Nick Cole
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tired of sitting out the war on Psydon in a mobile office lab, Legion Lieutenant Washam agrees to undertake a covert and unsanctioned mission with a band of Republic Recon Marines. Inserted deep behind enemy lines, the strike force uncovers a surprise key to ending a bitter war. Now they must navigate a hostile jungle teeming with murderous alien rebels, pushing themselves to the limits of their abilities, to get this vital intel to Legion Command - if they can survive that long.
-
-
Don’t be thrown off by the new narrator
- By Anonymous User on 03-06-19
By: Jason Anspach, and others
-
Rubicon
- By: J. S. Dewes
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sergeant Adriene Valero wants to die. She can't. After enduring a traumatic resurrection for the ninety-sixth time, Valero is reassigned to a special forces unit and outfitted with a cutting-edge virtual intelligence aid. They could turn the tide in the war against intelligent machines dedicated to the assimilation, or destruction, of humanity. When her VI suddenly achieves sentience, Valero is drawn into the machinations of an enigmatic major who’s hell-bent on ending the war—by any means necessary.
-
-
some twists and turns
- By Ocean State Prime on 06-24-23
By: J. S. Dewes
-
Children of Time
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.
-
-
A very pleasant surprise
- By Simon on 06-17-17
-
Aurora
- By: Kim Stanley Robinson
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major new novel from one of science fiction's most powerful voices, Aurora tells the incredible story of our first voyage beyond the solar system. Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, it is the work of a writer at the height of his powers.
-
-
The Future is Limited, Get Used to It
- By Martin Lesser on 08-20-15
-
Edges
- Inverted Frontier Series, Book 1
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deception Well is a world on the edge, home to an isolated remnant surviving at the farthest reach of human expansion. All across the frontier, other worlds have succumbed to the relentless attacks of robotic alien warships, while hundreds of light years away, the core of human civilization - those star systems closest to Earth, known as the Hallowed Vasties - have all fallen to ruins. Powerful telescopes can see only dust and debris where once there were orbital mega-structures so huge they eclipsed the light of their parent stars
-
-
Cool book read by TTS
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-20
By: Linda Nagata
-
The Last Good Man
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarred by war, in pursuit of truth. Army veteran True Brighton left the service when the development of robotic helicopters made her training as a pilot obsolete. Now she works at Requisite Operations, a private military company established by friend and former Special Ops soldier Lincoln Han. Robotics, big data, and artificial intelligence are all tools used to augment the skills of veteran warfighters-for-hire. But the tragedy of war is still measured in human casualties.
-
-
Leaves you with something to think about
- By AQC Kelly on 10-19-17
By: Linda Nagata
-
Order of the Centurion
- By: Jason Anspach, Nick Cole
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tired of sitting out the war on Psydon in a mobile office lab, Legion Lieutenant Washam agrees to undertake a covert and unsanctioned mission with a band of Republic Recon Marines. Inserted deep behind enemy lines, the strike force uncovers a surprise key to ending a bitter war. Now they must navigate a hostile jungle teeming with murderous alien rebels, pushing themselves to the limits of their abilities, to get this vital intel to Legion Command - if they can survive that long.
-
-
Don’t be thrown off by the new narrator
- By Anonymous User on 03-06-19
By: Jason Anspach, and others
-
Rubicon
- By: J. S. Dewes
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sergeant Adriene Valero wants to die. She can't. After enduring a traumatic resurrection for the ninety-sixth time, Valero is reassigned to a special forces unit and outfitted with a cutting-edge virtual intelligence aid. They could turn the tide in the war against intelligent machines dedicated to the assimilation, or destruction, of humanity. When her VI suddenly achieves sentience, Valero is drawn into the machinations of an enigmatic major who’s hell-bent on ending the war—by any means necessary.
-
-
some twists and turns
- By Ocean State Prime on 06-24-23
By: J. S. Dewes
-
Children of Time
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.
-
-
A very pleasant surprise
- By Simon on 06-17-17
-
Aurora
- By: Kim Stanley Robinson
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major new novel from one of science fiction's most powerful voices, Aurora tells the incredible story of our first voyage beyond the solar system. Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, it is the work of a writer at the height of his powers.
-
-
The Future is Limited, Get Used to It
- By Martin Lesser on 08-20-15
-
Revenger: Booktrack Edition
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revenger: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! Revenger is a rocket-fueled tale of space pirates, buried treasure, and phantom weapons, of unspeakable hazards and single-minded heroism...and of vengeance.... Adrana and Fura Ness are the newest crew members of the legendary Captain Rackamore's ship, using their mysterious powers as Bone Readers to find clues about their next score.
-
-
Terrible mixing ruined the experience
- By Victor Tomioka on 10-08-18
-
Old Man's War
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding. Earth itself is a backwater.
-
-
Fun and Witty Military Sci-Fi
- By M. Spencer on 10-21-12
By: John Scalzi
-
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
- Wayfarers, Book 1
- By: Becky Chambers
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space - and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe - in this lighthearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.
-
-
Unbearable narrator.
- By Christian Woolley on 06-18-19
By: Becky Chambers
-
A Cyberpunk Saga: Box Set, Books 1-3
- By: Matthew A. Goodwin
- Narrated by: Zachary Johnson
- Length: 18 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Orphaned and alone, Moss is happy to have found a place in the world. But his humdrum working routines take a terrifying turn when a mysterious woman breaks into his apartment and hands him a data chip from his dead parents. Suddenly hearing messages revealing his benevolent employer has a far darker side, he braves the dangerous megacity streets in search of the truth. Surrounded by outcasts and criminals and running on instinct, Moss stumbles onto a rebel group intent on exposing their corrupt oppressors.
-
-
Good value, fun story, a few gripes.
- By David on 09-26-22
-
Sea of Rust
- A Novel
- By: C. Robert Cargill
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's been 30 years since the apocalypse and 15 years since the murder of the last human being at the hands of robots. Humankind is extinct. Every man, woman, and child has been liquidated by a global uprising devised by the very machines humans designed and built to serve them. Most of the world is controlled by an OWI - One World Intelligence, the shared consciousness of millions of robots uploaded into one huge mainframe brain.
-
-
This Book has Magic
- By Kurt Schwoppe on 06-15-18
-
Tier One
- Tier One Thrillers, Book 1
- By: Brian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Dempsey's life - as an elite Tier One Navy SEAL named Jack Kemper - is over. A devastating terrorist action catapults him from a world of moral certainty and decisive orders into the shadowy realm of espionage, where ambiguity is the only rule. His new mission: hunt down those responsible for the greatest tragedy in the history of the US Special Ops and bring them to justice.
-
-
This One's a Keeper!!!
- By shelley on 09-11-16
By: Brian Andrews, and others
-
Station Eternity
- The Midsolar Murders, Book 1
- By: Mur Lafferty
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide.
-
-
Hours of whining
- By SciFi Shoemaker on 11-20-22
By: Mur Lafferty
-
Dauntless
- Lost Fleet, Book 1
- By: Jack Campbell
- Narrated by: Jack Campbell, Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century—and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who’s emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief… Captain John “Black Jack” Geary’s legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic “last stand” in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation.
-
-
Straightforward Action Based Science Fiction
- By David A on 07-07-22
By: Jack Campbell
-
Forging Divinity
- The War of Broken Mirrors, Book 1
- By: Andrew Rowe
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some say that in the city of Orlyn, godhood is on sale to the highest bidder. Thousands flock to the city each year, hoping for a chance at immortality. Lydia Hastings is a knowledge sorcerer, capable of extracting information from anything she touches. When she travels to Orlyn to validate the claims of the local faith, she discovers a conspiracy that could lead to a war between the world's three greatest powers. At the focal point is a prisoner who bears a striking resemblance to the long-missing leader of the pantheon she worships.
-
-
OK magic system, but everything else is flat
- By osuushi on 03-22-19
By: Andrew Rowe
-
Steel World
- Undying Mercenaries, Book 1
- By: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 20th century Earth sent probes, transmissions, and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers....
-
-
A 14 year old boy’s idea of a “Real Man”
- By C. Brown on 04-16-19
By: B. V. Larson
-
By Order of the President
- Presidential Agent, Book 1
- By: W. E. B. Griffin
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two armed men board a 727 that has been all but forgotten at an airfield in Angola. Hijacking the jet, they then slit the throat of the lone crew and fly to parts unknown. The consternation is immediate, as the CIA, FBI, and other agencies race to find out what happened, in the process elbowing one another in the sides a little too vigorously. Fed up, the president of the United States turns to an outside investigator to determine the truth.
-
-
Could have been better ...
- By Ragna on 02-08-11
By: W. E. B. Griffin
-
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan
- By: Drew Karpyshyn
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There’s something out there: A juggernaut of evil bearing down to crush the Republic - unless one lone Jedi, shunned and reviled, can stop it. Revan: Hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior. A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians - and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was high. His memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares - and deep, abiding fear.
-
-
Did you play Knights of the Old Republic?
- By Ryan on 11-18-11
By: Drew Karpyshyn
Related to this topic
-
The Last Good Man
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarred by war, in pursuit of truth. Army veteran True Brighton left the service when the development of robotic helicopters made her training as a pilot obsolete. Now she works at Requisite Operations, a private military company established by friend and former Special Ops soldier Lincoln Han. Robotics, big data, and artificial intelligence are all tools used to augment the skills of veteran warfighters-for-hire. But the tragedy of war is still measured in human casualties.
-
-
Leaves you with something to think about
- By AQC Kelly on 10-19-17
By: Linda Nagata
-
Shadow Catcher
- Nick Baron, Book 1
- By: James R. Hannibal
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over ten years ago, Air Force major Nick Baron was part of a failed special ops mission that left a B-2 stealth bomber at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Now, leading his men - the Triple Seven Chase team - Baron must find the bomber and dispose of it for good before any unfriendly nation can steal the onboard technology for its own purposes. But as the team embarks on its mission, there are greater dangers waiting.
-
-
Fun book
- By JL on 02-16-14
-
Dreamland
- Dale Brown's Dreamland, Book 1
- By: Dale Brown, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dreamland is the place where the nation's top minds come to develop artillery and aircraft that push beyond the cutting edge. And where the Air Force's top guns come to test them, on the frontlines of a new era in warfare. The fiasco of a spy's infiltration has the Pentagon looking for an excuse to close Dreamland down. To clean up the mess, and save Dreamland from the congressional chopping block, Lt. Colonel Tecumseh "Dog" Bastian is sent in.
-
-
Really boring!
- By Cheryl on 02-22-14
By: Dale Brown, and others
-
Plague Year
- By: Jeff Carlson
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The nanotechnology was designed to fight cancer. Instead, it evolved into the machine plague, killing nearly five billion people and changing life on Earth forever.
-
-
Poorly executed
- By KimQ on 09-05-19
By: Jeff Carlson
-
Patient Zero
- The Joe Ledger Novels, Book 1
- By: Jonathan Maberry
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there’s either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills - and there’s nothing wrong with Joe Ledger’s skills. And that’s both a good and a bad thing. It’s good because he’s a Baltimore detective who has just been secretly recruited by the government to lead a new task force created to deal with the problems that Homeland Security can’t handle....
-
-
Yes! It IS that good. Five stars and more.
- By Kim Venatries on 10-05-12
By: Jonathan Maberry
-
Dark Harvest
- By: Will Jordan
- Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russia, 1959. Nine members of a Soviet mountaineering team on an ambitious expedition into the Ural Mountains are found dead, victims of massive and bizarre injuries. The Dyatlov Pass incident, as this grisly event came to be known, remains unexplained to this day.
-
-
Disappointed
- By BMO on 08-22-22
By: Will Jordan
-
The Last Good Man
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarred by war, in pursuit of truth. Army veteran True Brighton left the service when the development of robotic helicopters made her training as a pilot obsolete. Now she works at Requisite Operations, a private military company established by friend and former Special Ops soldier Lincoln Han. Robotics, big data, and artificial intelligence are all tools used to augment the skills of veteran warfighters-for-hire. But the tragedy of war is still measured in human casualties.
-
-
Leaves you with something to think about
- By AQC Kelly on 10-19-17
By: Linda Nagata
-
Shadow Catcher
- Nick Baron, Book 1
- By: James R. Hannibal
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over ten years ago, Air Force major Nick Baron was part of a failed special ops mission that left a B-2 stealth bomber at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Now, leading his men - the Triple Seven Chase team - Baron must find the bomber and dispose of it for good before any unfriendly nation can steal the onboard technology for its own purposes. But as the team embarks on its mission, there are greater dangers waiting.
-
-
Fun book
- By JL on 02-16-14
-
Dreamland
- Dale Brown's Dreamland, Book 1
- By: Dale Brown, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dreamland is the place where the nation's top minds come to develop artillery and aircraft that push beyond the cutting edge. And where the Air Force's top guns come to test them, on the frontlines of a new era in warfare. The fiasco of a spy's infiltration has the Pentagon looking for an excuse to close Dreamland down. To clean up the mess, and save Dreamland from the congressional chopping block, Lt. Colonel Tecumseh "Dog" Bastian is sent in.
-
-
Really boring!
- By Cheryl on 02-22-14
By: Dale Brown, and others
-
Plague Year
- By: Jeff Carlson
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The nanotechnology was designed to fight cancer. Instead, it evolved into the machine plague, killing nearly five billion people and changing life on Earth forever.
-
-
Poorly executed
- By KimQ on 09-05-19
By: Jeff Carlson
-
Patient Zero
- The Joe Ledger Novels, Book 1
- By: Jonathan Maberry
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there’s either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills - and there’s nothing wrong with Joe Ledger’s skills. And that’s both a good and a bad thing. It’s good because he’s a Baltimore detective who has just been secretly recruited by the government to lead a new task force created to deal with the problems that Homeland Security can’t handle....
-
-
Yes! It IS that good. Five stars and more.
- By Kim Venatries on 10-05-12
By: Jonathan Maberry
-
Dark Harvest
- By: Will Jordan
- Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russia, 1959. Nine members of a Soviet mountaineering team on an ambitious expedition into the Ural Mountains are found dead, victims of massive and bizarre injuries. The Dyatlov Pass incident, as this grisly event came to be known, remains unexplained to this day.
-
-
Disappointed
- By BMO on 08-22-22
By: Will Jordan
-
Plague of the Dead
- The Morningstar Strain, Book 1
- By: Z. A. Recht
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The end begins with a viral outbreak unlike anything mankind has ever encountered before. The infected are subject to delirium, fever, a dramatic increase in violent behavior, and a one-hundred percent mortality rate. Death. But it doesn't end there. The victims return from death to walk the earth. When a massive military operation fails to contain the plague of the living dead it escalates into a global pandemic.
-
-
YOU MIGHT WANT TO PUT DOWN THAT CUP OF COFFEE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-08-16
By: Z. A. Recht
-
Earth Unknown
- Forgotten Earth, Book 1
- By: M.R. Forbes
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two hundred years ago, a fleet of colony ships left Earth and started a settlement on Proxima Centauri. Centurion Space Force pilot Nathan Stacker didn't expect to return home to find his wife dead. He didn't expect the murderer to look just like him, and he definitely didn't expect to be the one to take the blame. But his wife had control of a powerful secret. A secret that stretches across the light years between two worlds and could lead to the end of both. Now that secret is in Nathan's hands, and he's about to make the most desperate evasive maneuver of his life.
-
-
Half a story.
- By RBD 2 on 03-29-21
By: M.R. Forbes
-
Deep Black
- Deep Black, Book 1
- By: Stephen Coonts, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: J. Charles
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A spy plane gathering data on a new Russian weapon is blown out of the sky by a mysterious MiG. Is it an accident or the start of the next world war? One U.S. agency has what it takes to find out - the National Security Agency and its covert operations team: DEEP BLACK.
-
-
Find a plot and stick with it
- By C. Stephens on 08-07-13
By: Stephen Coonts, and others
-
Apocalypse Dawn
- Left Behind Military #1
- By: Mel Odom
- Narrated by: Steve Sever
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a single cataclysmic moment, First Sergeant Samuel Adams "Goose" Gander finds himself center stage in the opening act of the Apocalypse. Goose and the men of the 75th Army Rangers fight to survive a massive attack on the Turkish-Syrian border. Battling his own failing faith, Goose prays for the lives of his men and the innocents who are caught in the rain of bullets and missiles.
-
-
Adding Guts to the Glory
- By Jim on 08-22-03
By: Mel Odom
-
Marvel's Black Widow: Forever Red
- By: Margaret Stohl
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Natasha Romanoff is one of the world's most lethal assassins. Trained from a young age in the arts of death and deception, Natasha was given the title of Black Widow by Ivan Somodorov, her brutal teacher at the Red Room, Moscow's infamous academy for operatives.
-
-
Not a guilty pleasure - a waste of a credit
- By Floyd on 06-26-17
By: Margaret Stohl
-
Genesis: Arisen, Book 0.5
- By: Michael Stephen Fuchs
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tucked away in a high-tech Tactical Operations Center, inside an isolated safehouse in the Horn of Africa, sits Agency analyst Zack Altringham. He is Kenyan-born, Princeton-educated, badly burnt-out - and condemned by his language and cultural skills to a lifetime of fighting America's shadow counter-terror wars.
-
-
Maybe better to read this after books 1-3?
- By Tilo on 04-18-15
-
Crucible: A Max Ahlgren Story
- Crucible, Book 0
- By: Ryan W. Aslesen
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captain Max Ahlgren is proud to be one of the first team commanders in the Marine Corps’ nascent MARSOC detachment. Finally, the Corps’ elite warriors are working alongside those of other branches, battling insurgents, not on the front lines but behind them. After his first mission, however, Max learns he will be replaced as team commander.
-
-
Revenge is said best served cold It best high volt
- By Dennis on 03-25-21
By: Ryan W. Aslesen
-
SEAL Team 666
- A Novel
- By: Weston Ochse
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Halfway through SEAL training, Cadet Jack Walker, still green but showing incredible promise, is whisked away to join four SEALs and their dog for a special-ops mission. Walker soon finds himself in a whirlwind of otherworldly creatures and events as he discovers the true nature of SEAL Team 666. Battling demons, possessed humans, mass-murdering cults, and evil in its darkest and most and ancient form, the members of SEAL Team 666 have their work cut out for them. And it’s not long before they realize that the threat isn’t directed against the US alone....
-
-
Enjoyable way to spend some downtime.
- By Dan on 01-02-13
By: Weston Ochse
-
Extinction Red Line
- The Extinction Cycle
- By: Tom Abrahams, Nicholas Sansbury Smith
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a dozen years, villagers along the ancient Da River in Vietnam have feared a nightmarish creature who hunts and consumes human flesh. Only in whispers do they mention its name, The White Ghost. To the United States military, this creature has a different name - Marine Lieutenant Trevor Brett, the chemically engineered experiment gone wrong that they will do anything to hide. Sole survivor of his platoon, Brett has stalked the jungle for prey. But the men who made him into a monster are searching for him, and when they find him, the line between hunter and hunted will be blurred.
-
-
Perfect Beginning!
- By Natalie @ ABookLoversLife on 01-14-19
By: Tom Abrahams, and others
-
Event
- By: David L. Golemon
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1947, an unidentified object crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. There were no survivors. Now it's happened again. But this time, two creatures have emerged from the wreckage alive.
-
-
A Great Series.
- By Frank on 07-29-13
By: David L. Golemon
-
Starship Eternal
- War Eternal, Book 1
- By: M. R. Forbes
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captain Mitchell "Ares" Williams is a space marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty whose shot heard 'round the universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He's handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he's as efficient at charming the media and bedding beautiful celebrities as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters.
-
-
Amazing Start for a New Series. Great Sci-fi.
- By Striker on 04-27-15
By: M. R. Forbes
-
Larry Bond's Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War
- Red Dragon, Book 1
- By: Larry Bond, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the not-too-distant future, massive climate change has wracked the globe. China's rice-growing regions have been devastated by typhoons, while its western breadbasket is suffering from three years of drought. Riots threaten to tear the country apart. With the old-guard Chinese government paralyzed by the crisis, a young, charismatic party leader steps to the fore. His solution to the unrest is a time-tested one - conquest of China's neighbors and, after that, the world.
-
-
don't Buy it!
- By F. on 03-23-10
By: Larry Bond, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Edges
- Inverted Frontier Series, Book 1
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deception Well is a world on the edge, home to an isolated remnant surviving at the farthest reach of human expansion. All across the frontier, other worlds have succumbed to the relentless attacks of robotic alien warships, while hundreds of light years away, the core of human civilization - those star systems closest to Earth, known as the Hallowed Vasties - have all fallen to ruins. Powerful telescopes can see only dust and debris where once there were orbital mega-structures so huge they eclipsed the light of their parent stars
-
-
Cool book read by TTS
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-20
By: Linda Nagata
-
Sassinak
- The Planet Pirates Series, Book 1
- By: Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sassinak was 12 when the raiders came. That made her just the right age: old enough to be used, young enough to be broken. Or so the slavers thought. But Sassy turned out to be a little different from your typical slave girl. Maybe it was her unusual physical strength. Maybe it was her friendship with the captured Fleet crewman. Maybe it was her spirit. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t let her resign herself to the life of a slave. She bided her time, watched for her moment. Finally it came, and she escaped. But that was only the beginning for Sassinak.
-
-
Definitely dated, but very enjoyable sci-fi story
- By Melinda on 04-16-22
By: Anne McCaffrey, and others
-
Armor
- By: John Steakley
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The planet is called Banshee. The air is unbreathable, the water poisonous. It is the home of the most implacable enemies that humanity, in all its interstellar expansion, has ever encountered. Felix is a scout in A-team Two. Highly competent, he is the sole survivor of mission after mission. Yet he is a man consumed by fear and hatred.
-
-
An intense and unusual work, wonderfully performed
- By George Dean on 03-19-13
By: John Steakley
-
Renegade
- Spiral Wars, Book 1
- By: Joel Shepherd
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity’s new homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity’s most powerful industrial family, is framed for his murder.
-
-
Politics?
- By ochoavida102 on 06-18-17
By: Joel Shepherd
-
Terms of Enlistment
- Frontlines, Book 1
- By: Marko Kloos
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements: You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world...or you can join the service. With the colony lottery a pipe dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth.
-
-
TICKET PUNCHER
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-16-14
By: Marko Kloos
-
The Last Good Man
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarred by war, in pursuit of truth. Army veteran True Brighton left the service when the development of robotic helicopters made her training as a pilot obsolete. Now she works at Requisite Operations, a private military company established by friend and former Special Ops soldier Lincoln Han. Robotics, big data, and artificial intelligence are all tools used to augment the skills of veteran warfighters-for-hire. But the tragedy of war is still measured in human casualties.
-
-
Leaves you with something to think about
- By AQC Kelly on 10-19-17
By: Linda Nagata
-
Edges
- Inverted Frontier Series, Book 1
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deception Well is a world on the edge, home to an isolated remnant surviving at the farthest reach of human expansion. All across the frontier, other worlds have succumbed to the relentless attacks of robotic alien warships, while hundreds of light years away, the core of human civilization - those star systems closest to Earth, known as the Hallowed Vasties - have all fallen to ruins. Powerful telescopes can see only dust and debris where once there were orbital mega-structures so huge they eclipsed the light of their parent stars
-
-
Cool book read by TTS
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-20
By: Linda Nagata
-
Sassinak
- The Planet Pirates Series, Book 1
- By: Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sassinak was 12 when the raiders came. That made her just the right age: old enough to be used, young enough to be broken. Or so the slavers thought. But Sassy turned out to be a little different from your typical slave girl. Maybe it was her unusual physical strength. Maybe it was her friendship with the captured Fleet crewman. Maybe it was her spirit. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t let her resign herself to the life of a slave. She bided her time, watched for her moment. Finally it came, and she escaped. But that was only the beginning for Sassinak.
-
-
Definitely dated, but very enjoyable sci-fi story
- By Melinda on 04-16-22
By: Anne McCaffrey, and others
-
Armor
- By: John Steakley
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The planet is called Banshee. The air is unbreathable, the water poisonous. It is the home of the most implacable enemies that humanity, in all its interstellar expansion, has ever encountered. Felix is a scout in A-team Two. Highly competent, he is the sole survivor of mission after mission. Yet he is a man consumed by fear and hatred.
-
-
An intense and unusual work, wonderfully performed
- By George Dean on 03-19-13
By: John Steakley
-
Renegade
- Spiral Wars, Book 1
- By: Joel Shepherd
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity’s new homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity’s most powerful industrial family, is framed for his murder.
-
-
Politics?
- By ochoavida102 on 06-18-17
By: Joel Shepherd
-
Terms of Enlistment
- Frontlines, Book 1
- By: Marko Kloos
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements: You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world...or you can join the service. With the colony lottery a pipe dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth.
-
-
TICKET PUNCHER
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-16-14
By: Marko Kloos
-
The Last Good Man
- By: Linda Nagata
- Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarred by war, in pursuit of truth. Army veteran True Brighton left the service when the development of robotic helicopters made her training as a pilot obsolete. Now she works at Requisite Operations, a private military company established by friend and former Special Ops soldier Lincoln Han. Robotics, big data, and artificial intelligence are all tools used to augment the skills of veteran warfighters-for-hire. But the tragedy of war is still measured in human casualties.
-
-
Leaves you with something to think about
- By AQC Kelly on 10-19-17
By: Linda Nagata
-
Binti
- By: Nnedi Okorafor
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs. Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares.
-
-
Messages
- By khaalidah on 10-07-15
By: Nnedi Okorafor
-
The Salvage Crew
- By: Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
- Narrated by: Nathan Fillion
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An AI overseer and a human crew arrive on a distant planet to salvage an ancient UN starship. The overseer is unhappy. The crew, well, they're certainly no A-team. Not even a C-team on the best of days. And worse? Urmahon Beta, the planet, is at the ass-end of nowhere. Everybody expects this to be a long, ugly, and thankless job. Then it all goes disastrously wrong. What they thought was an uninhabited backwater turns out to be anything but empty.
-
-
Rats, I got sucked in and wasted a credit
- By unknown on 01-31-21
-
The Forever War
- By: Joe Haldeman
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?
-
-
A classic.
- By John on 09-24-08
By: Joe Haldeman
-
I Cheerfully Refuse
- By: Leif Enger
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in a not-too-distant America, I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician embarking under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. Rainy, an endearing bear of an Orphean narrator, seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs, and remote islands of the inland sea. Encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, Rainy finds on land an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, crumbled infrastructure, and a lawless society.
-
-
Just Ho-Hum for me
- By Bailey Rose on 08-13-24
By: Leif Enger
-
Service Model
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away. Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.
-
-
Another banger from Tchaikovsky
- By J. C. Amos on 06-09-24
-
The Mercy of Gods
- Captive's War, Book 1
- By: James S.A. Corey
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Carryx—part empire, part hive—has waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy in its conflict with an ancient and deathless enemy. When they descend on the isolated world of Anjiin, the human population is abased, slaughtered, and put in chains. The best and brightest are abducted, taken to the Carryx world-palace to join prisoners from a thousand other species. Dafyd Alkhor, assistant to a prestigious scientist, is captured along with his team.
-
-
Incredible
- By Davey Francis on 08-15-24
By: James S.A. Corey
What listeners say about The Red
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BQ37
- 08-01-15
Love this book
Really enjoyed then story of this book and Linda's critic on Scientific advancement and its place among religion,politics, and military tech. It's edgy romance and action also make it a well balanced book to enjoy for everyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Midwestbonsai
- 10-02-15
a seriously dark bit of work
Linda Nagata’s The Red: First Light is a superb military sci-fi thriller, and, for the most part, the narration from Kevin T. Collins does a darn fine job pulling the listener into the story and alongside Lieutenant James Shelley.
Right from the get-go, listeners are put into the elite armored squadron commanded by Shelley as they prepare to suit up in their mechanized uniforms, the squad connected via cerebral implants referred to as the overlay. Shelley and his team are in the African Sahel to maintain the peace as a secularist reformer rises to power. When their base comes under aerial assault, though, they realize — too late — that their peacekeeping efforts are for naught. Shelley, however, has a sort of sixth sense that has earned him the nickname King David from his comrades, who joke that he is able to receive the word of God. The truth, though, is a different story entirely and one that is both consistently captivating and increasingly frightening the more we learn about it.
Over the course of more than thirteen hours of audio, we join Shelley for a series of missions and a harrowing period of recovery after being severely injured early in the narrative. What follows, then, is a search for the truth behind his King David messages and his team’s efforts to halts homegrown terrorists working to incite revolution and tear Texas away from the Union.
The Red is a seriously dark bit of work, and more than a few scenes caught me off guard. Nagata’s first-person narrative manages to shock with sudden flashes of violence and terrific insights into the her characters. Shelley himself is a bit of conundrum – formerly an anti-war protester, he now serves the military to avoid jail time for past crimes, only to find himself increasingly loyal to the military and those who serve beneath him. The large question that looms is whether or not this is a natural growth for his character, or the result of whatever may be messing with his brain and repeatedly warning him of danger. How much of his decision and actions are truly his own? And how long can he rely on the King David insights to keep him and his soldiers safe?
I refuse to give away much more than this, but please be aware that we’re only scratching the surface of the book’s plotting. There’s a great sense of breadth to the events here, and plenty of fantastic military action sequences. The upgrades these soldiers sport is really fantastic, and the augmentations provided by the military make sense in a beautifully cynical and bureaucratic way. Operating at the behest of mega-rich defense contractors, and beneath their constant and subtle warnings of reprisal if ignored, Nagata’s story brings to the forefront Dwight Eisenhower’s warning against the military-industrial complex and their threat to democracy. This aspect makes her story feel all the more timely rather than a far-flung future scenario.
As narrator, Collins handles the material suitably well. Any criticisms I have toward his work here are very, very small, but I will say that it took me a little bit of time to adjust to his inflections and airy tones when narrating dialogue from the female characters. I also didn’t really care for his use of “spoken” shouts during some of the more-intense action scenes that requires characters to be yelling back and forth or attempting to command attention. I would have preferred to just have an actual shout with some pure energy and raw acting talent behind it. But again, these are rather mild complaints and did not take away from the overall listening experience. Throughout it all, the audio quality maintains a level consistency and solid production values, with the narration coming through crisp, clear, and well delivered.
Bottom line: Linda Nagata just earned herself a new fan with this book! I loved it and am now eagerly anticipating the chance to either read or listen to the next two books in this trilogy.
Audiobook purchased for review by ABR.
Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog
[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J
- 04-17-16
This performance...
Pass on this one. I quit after 12 minutes because the narrator was as bad as I have ever heard.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kevin Stokes
- 08-28-15
Attempted to be exciting without success
This is mostly a military sci-fi book, and the various combat descriptions are ok. The skullcaps, the overlay, and so on were pretty cool.
The reader was not the best choice for a military book, since his attempts at yelling are so pathetic that it jars you out of the story almost every time. But my main problem with the book is I didn't care at all what happened to any of the characters - a fatal flaw for any fiction.
In addition, the born-again woman who was supposedly the villainous witch running the defense contractor was silly and distracting. Any finally, two major facets of the book, the prosthetic limbs and the Red (a rogue AI) were undeveloped. For example, after countless descriptions of how awesome the legs are, he never really uses the unique features besides their ability to survive a bullet hit.
As the book continues on, it seems to get worse. The final mission is supposed to be planned by these elite, experienced officers, but it seemed like the worst plan ever.
Finally, I felt the political bias was unnecessary and out of place in a book like this. There was a bit of an elitist attitude, where Texas as a state should be laughed at, while NYC (where the main character was arrested for over-enthusiastic activist activities) is considered superior.
In conclusion, it was good enough to keep going to the end, but I don't recommend it for anybody.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Yates
- 10-26-17
Great action, forced plot
3.5 stars. This book plunges the reader straight into the action, with a first person narrator (a lieutenant with a small platoon of soldiers, on an assignment in Africa) that introduces the reader to a near future world where soldiers wear mechanized exoskeletons called dead sisters, drones give them an Angel view of the battlefield, organic implants in their brains allow for the ephemeral Guidance to feed them information and mind-altering/mind-stabilizing substances, and Defense Contractors have a hand in all the unrest in the world for profit. It is an exciting start and a fast-paced book, only slowing down here and there for medical procedures and the like. While insanely fun and entertaining, it also feels like Nagata had a few too many ideas she was trying to shoehorn in, and we go from play-by-play action to awkward plot developments. Clearly set up for a series, I hope she lets the plot do more of the talking rather than bang-bang action and forced story-lines that seem to materialize out of nowhere.
As to the narration, overall it was good. Though I grew tired of the paradoxical habit of the narrator yelling in sotto voce.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kent Valandra
- 03-05-19
Good story with interesting twists
Imagine the US Army in 25-50 years. The infantryman/woman idiots inside an exoskeleton that takes a lot of the workload. All troops access the next level internet at all times with feeds from drones and command staffers monitoring an array of info sources. That’s the back story of creative sci-fi adventure.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 05-16-22
likeable story, too few characters
nicely written book. a bit predictable. might make for a Netflix movie. time sequences a bit off.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-16-23
I couldn't get pass chapter 2
I was recommended this book by a YouTube video I thought the premise was an interesting read however the author's style doesn't vibe well with me. Maybe you might enjoy it more.
I personally did not care enough about the main character.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jcporter1
- 08-28-22
Great Ideas In an Exciting Format
This was interesting. Somewhat long-winded in the hospital settings, but the combat was great, and fortunately there was a lot of combat. I will be buying the following books.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gabriel
- 03-14-17
Excellent story
An amazing story that is not far from reality. expertly written and flawlessly performed. I'm glad I've purchased all three books so I don't have to wait.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!