Wayne

Yes! It's well written with deep characters, who develop over time. It's a great plot, with twists and turns. The pacing is just exactly right, not only in action but in exposing new concepts. In an entirely fantasy world it's easy to get lost, but this setting was exposed with foreshadowing, and every time a consequence was revealed I thought, "I should have know that was the logical conclusion!" It left me wanting to read it more and more, every time I stopped.

Thematically it's like Lord of the rings, but with a band of outlaws instead of a "a fellowship." They are outlaws, fighting to overthrow an evil, oppressive tyrant. Will they succeed, or will the numerous obstacles in their way stop them from achieving a full victory? The group becomes tight knit and their reliance on each other as well as acceptance of their new member(s) is touching.

All of the main characters were memorable, complex, deep, and felt real to me. The writing for them and the voice acting for each of them was great!

The Lord Ruler must be stopped, at any cost!

Be warned this is the first of three, and while a complete story in-and-of itself, it will leave you wanting to know more about this setting. The remaining two books are available and I recommend buying all three at once. You will devour all of them in record time, if you like epic fantasy with action, realistic characters and thrilling plot twists!

Humans care for and love (Platonicly!) another intelligent species of aliens, while the enemies are humans in this story. I liked the political situation, and how even the people who were supposed to be good guys, were put into situations where they had to make hard decisions! The quick exposition on the history of space flight was believable, and gave just enough details to set the perfect stage for this story.

Damon Konstantin, arguably the main character of the story, shows a deep compassion for humans, and alien life alike. His losses and triumphs made the story for me.

The part where Emilio on Down Below sends away the guards, due to mistreatment of the Q people, and suddenly realizes he has no security personal at his base. This realization that people from Q can be trusted seems a turning point in the story, and is a testament to man's ability to trust others, and form the bonds of society.

Several of the scenes with downers moved me, as they showed their reverence for certain humans, and their simple caring/loving attitudes. Also the flip side of humans showing compassion for the downers, seeing them as different but equals.

Many people complained about Brian Troxell's narration of female voice. I have to agree they were nasal and not particularly good, but I managed to look past that and enjoy the story. I had been looking for a story like this, and Down Below Station fit exactly what I was looking for.