Freefall

Rebel Stars, Book 4

By: Edward W. Robertson

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Thor Finn's attempt to conquer the solar system has been stopped cold, his plans shattered and his fleet broken. It should be a time to rejoice.

But in defeat, Finn has revealed a secret only he knew: An alien invasion fleet is on its way toward Earth. And it will arrive in a matter of months.

Led by billionaire-turned-strategist Toman Benez and the pirate warlord Kansas Carruth, the system's battered forces prepare their defenses and muster a fleet. Total war is coming for them. If they fail, it will mean the end of the human race.

©2017 Edward W. Robertson (P)2020 Podium Audio

Book should have been longer to avoid cliff hanger

Series is great and I would recommend anything Edward writes but this book ends abruptly. Felt similar to how TV shows will leave you hanging to make sure you watch the next season. Maybe would have been better off waiting for the completed series because now by the time the next book is released I will need a refresher on what's going on. Also struggling to visualize the lurkers as anything other than starfish that can pretend to be tables but that's on me i guess.

Falling Out Of Love With Kansas

Edward W. Robertson wrote another great book to the series along with Ray Chase's special talent for making the telling exciting and thrilling during battle encounters and humorous and snarky with the lead character encounters. Since none of the MCs can deliver sarcasm and snark like Webber, it was a bit of a disappointment when he was sidelined a little past midway. Then, when Rada and MacAdams were split up given separate assignments, I felt a tinge of sorrow knowing that the 3 ring circus had disbanded. And when Rada ended up being assigned under the psychotic Kansas it felt wrong when she had to take orders from Kansas. I understand Robertson's reasoning for this but it still seemed like Rada should have been given a spec ops mission rather than having to report to Kansas. Kansas without Ced's leveling influence became an unlikable character and less interesting because of it.

Okay, so much for my whining parts, as I mentioned in the beginning, the story on the whole was great and, don't worry, Webber returns in a twisty way and makes his contributions from the deferred visibility worth the wait. Speaking of which, it will be tough waiting for the next episode in the series, Stardust. Very much looking forward to it.

Still Good, But The Previous Books Were Better

Ray Chase does a great job narrating again, but this book feels more like a stop-gap than anything else for me. It started more promising, but suddenly there is a fair bit of quick buildup to a climax that seems underexplained, rushed, and unsatisfying. There also seems to be uncharacteristic decisions made in the interest of hastening and furthering the plot. I'm still planning to continue with the series and was entertained by the book, but for me it felt more like this is the 4th book in an ongoing series rather than a good book in its own right. Overall 4 stars because the performance was 5-star, story was 3-star. Maybe in the context of the next book some of it will make more sense.