New Book Review - Exiles by Mason Coile

Name - Exiles

Written by - Mason Coile (Andrew Pyper)

Narrated by - Ashley Morton 

Published by - G.P. Putnam's Sons / Baskerville 

Audiobook by - Penguin Audio

'Exiles' is a conglomeration of genres mixing a backdrop of sci-fi with bleak and uncompromising horror with a sense of pervading mystery packed in a tight package of fast moving thriller. While this combination seems like a hard thing to do masterfully the audiobook version with its emotionally packed narration does quite a wonderful job of delivering a memorable performance.

The plot follows three humans (one female and two males) going on a mission to Mars where they would live out the rest of their lives and prepare the way for other explorers following their footsteps. Awaiting them are three robots who built and now maintain their habitat. 

The story from the beginning is quite unpredictable, never really informing the reader much about the direction or about the main characters, creating a sense of mystery. The thrill slowly builds and the focus shifts from an exploration story to turn into horror focusing on alien environment and personal struggles.

The thing I liked about the story is the slow reveal for the reader of the fact that despite otherworldly setting, robots and possible alien menace, the horror actually is much more personal relying on the history of personal trauma and psychological instability. 

None of the characters are lovable, but it is quite understandable why they are motivated in acting in specific ways. The cunning and manipulation by the apparent antagonist while his/her identity is revealed give the emotional impact yet another jolt.

Maybe this story was custom built in such ways but the performance by Ashley Morton was simply outstanding, delivering such emotional narration, especially in the final third of the book, is remarkably memorable. The ending hit like a gut punch, which is both an accomplishment by the author and the narrator.

Sometimes after starting the book I came to know that the author is with us no more, which is such a shame, as it seems he was currently at the pique of his craft. At least, he lives us with a backlog of past works to explore in the future.

This gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

New Book Review - The Hungry Gods by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Name - The Hungry Gods 

Written by - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by - Emma Newman

Series - Terrible Worlds: Innovations 

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

Audiobook by - Tantor Media 

Another Adrian Tchaikovsky novella, another innovative and interesting work involving a richly imagined world incorporating relatable and charismatically depicted characters. Nowadays, his work means contender for best of the year list.

This time the setting is a post-apocalyptic resource-depleted world, with animal-inspired factions embroiled in struggle for survival suddenly turned upside down by the arrival of four technologically advanced beings claiming to be gods.

The prose by Tchaikovsky is as enjoyable as ever, seeming to glide through the world building and introducing the main players. The obvious ecological rhetoric is done quite artfully making us ponder if this might occur in our future if we keep on polluting our surroundings. 

The characters are quite skillfully fleshed, having their own purposes and motivations to guide them through to the ending which is quite satisfying as is often the case with the author. I liked Beaker and Iffy the most and would have liked to read more about them.

Hoping to get more releases for this series in future as I will remain trying to finish reading all of available Tchaikovsky stuff (a daunting task indeed). This gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Book Review - Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray

Name - Master and Apprentice 

Written by - Claudia Gray 

Narrated by - Jonathan Davis

Published by - Del Rey 

Audiobook by - Random House Audio

The prequel trilogy era is definitely one of the richest periods in Star Wars timeline to explore in written fiction; it has quite a large time period, some very interesting characters, a chance to expand with newer planets or species, and also there is quite a lot of room to add intriguing conflicts and adventures.

Claudia Gray is certainly one of the well received names in canon fiction and when I picked this book I had high expectations. Thankfully she did not disappoint, examining an interesting time in the lives of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, establishing the changing dynamics of their relationship while hinting at the tragic future that awaits them.

The new characters introduced were very thoughtful additions; I especially liked Rael Averross, the unconventional Jedi who was once Dooku's Padawan (maybe we'll have more from him in future). The jewel thief duo was also a nice addition and added a very enjoyable subplot while introducing an interesting corner of the Star Wars galaxy.

The over arching plot elements featuring Qui-Gon Jinn's complicated fixation with prophecies and the multi-faceted aspect of various forms of slavery throughout the galaxy are also depicted quite intelligently. Without complicating things much, the author strengthened the backstory of Episode I with subtlety here.

My only complaint was the underwhelming ending and the overall lack of action sequences, as it seemed like a missed opportunity when we look at the characters on offer.

The narration by Jonathan Davis was simply brilliant; his rendition of Qui-Gon Jinn often gave me a satisfying chill, and all his other voice acting was also spot on.

Nevertheless, this gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Book Review - Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon

Name - Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void 

Written by - Tim Lebbon

Narrated by - January LaVoy

Series - Dawn of the Jedi 

Published by - Del Rey 

Audiobook by - Random House Audio

There are times when reading a book, you find that the actual setting is just being held back by the plot and characters on offer. 'Into the Void' has quite an interesting setting to work on and the author does quite a formidable job of world building to introduce us to it. But the plotline he uses to portray this setting and the characters he uses never do enough to engage me as a reader.

This story occurs during the time period of 'Dawn of the Jedi', which occurs more than 25,000 years before the movies. It is set on the Tython system and features the forebears of the Jedi order. The worlds described are quite detailed and certainly made me interested in further exploration.

But the story of Lanoree and his brother never really intrigued me much. The timeline kept jumping often without smooth transition, keeping me from being invested in the characters. The action bits were somewhat entertaining, but the protagonist kept getting knocked unconscious too often to seem formidable and unusually kept alive even being so vulnerable. Then when the ending came, it was just too underwhelming to register any meaningful response.

The narration by January LaVoy was quite palatable, and had no particular issues regarding accents or pacing. It is definitely not her fault; rather, the badly handled time-jumps by the author kept me losing attention at times.

This gets 3 out of 5 stars from me, mostly for the interesting setting and skillful world-building.

New Book Review - Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Name - Walking to Aldebaran

Written by - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by - Adrian Tchaikovsky 

Series - Terrible Worlds: Destinations

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

Audiobook by - Tantor Media

Adrian Tchaikovsky is an author who is a pure workforce with the versatility of a computer. And his unique prose style and ability to convey so much enjoyment in a wide range of lengths and his genre versatility make reading any of his fiction a wholesome and unpredictable experience. 

'Walking to Aldebaran' is a novella-length tale of science fiction told in the first person that can also be perceived as a metaphor for dealing with the trauma of isolation or torturous ordeals. The build up is a bit slow at first, but the slow reveal of the twist was quite intriguing. And the ending was very satisfying to say the least.

The prose uses quite a lot of humor and pop-culture references to make the shock have that much more impact and after the reveals towards the end the readers realize there were various hints dispersed throughout the story all along.

As I listened to this as an audiobook, I would also like to mention the brilliant narration by the author which added quite a lot to the experience (although as English is not my first language I had a few problems with some accents).

This gets a well deserved 4 out of 5 stars from me and I'll surely delve deeper into the works by Adrian Tchaikovsky soon.

Audiobook Review - The Interrogation of Salvor Lermentov

Name: The Interrogation of Salvor Lermentov

Series: Vaults of Terra

Published by: Black Library / Games Workshop

Writer: Chris Wraight

Performed by: John Banks & David Seddon

As an audio drama set in the 'Vaults of Terra' series, this is situated just after the first book. While this doesn't add much to the story, it does deal with the fate of one of the side characters. It also is a short statement regarding the current state of the Imperium of man, presented through a charged conversation between two men with very different opinions. 

Salvor Lermentov was one of the interesting side characters of ' The Carrion Throne' and Inquisitor Cowl was my favourite character in the book. So, despite the predictable direction of their meeting and the equalling predictable outcome, it was fun to hear them talk. Some more insights into the backstory of Lermentov were presented here, as well as the origins of his motivation. 

The performance by John Backs and David Seddon were great. I liked the emotionally charged arguments and the background music also added to the overall enjoyment. Their pronunciations were quite clear and understandable. 

This was a fun experience that should reinvigorate readers' interest in the future books of the series. Despite its short length and this not being essential for understanding the series it was a fun experience nonetheless. 

3.5 out of 5 stars from me.