Malfunction Junction

A Military Sci-Fi Series (Waymaker Wars, Book 3)

By: Rachel Aukes

Narrated by: Scott Aiello

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

A war is here, and it’s unlike any that came before…

Humanity has much to rebuild in the aftermath of the star snakes. But before they can even get started, the Waymakers return, bringing their interstellar war with them. With the Waymakers and Glimmers battling it out across the solar system, humanity is caught in the middle. Colonies are put under lockdown. Any ship caught flying is destroyed.

Millions starve. Even more die in the attacks. With humanity on the verge of annihilation, old enemies unite and prepare for war.

If humanity is to survive, we must beat not one but two technologically superior races. It'll take a crazy plan and someone even crazier to carry it out. And that makes it exactly the kind of job for Captain Jack Hale and his crew aboard the Cabrón.

It's Harlock: Space Pirate meets The Expanse in Book 3 of this pulse-pounding Military Sci-Fi series from Rachel Aukes, the bestselling author of Black Sheep, Rebel's Run, and 100 Days in Deadland.

©2022 Rachel Aukes (P)2022 Recorded Books

Epic Conclusion!!

Malfunction Junction picks up approx. 5yrs after the events of Freezer Burn, with the Cabron having become hunter more than salvager. At the start of the book, the crew are just finishing off the last of the Star Snakes, and making Sol a safe place to live again, after the reign of Glitch.
Things aboard the Cabron have become a set routine with their ‘5’ person crew, now with the addition of Heddi. Heddi has become part of the crew since her “upgrade” with Veda’s nanites, after she became terminally ill in Freezer Burn when they left the system to find a solution to stop Glitch.
However, even though the crew has found the end to one problem, and it looked like there might be some hope for humanity for a while, the Waymakers make a sudden reappearance into the Sol system, after having left, stating they would never return, and humanity was on its own. Worse still, they are setting up on each of the major stations, just camping out on top of bases, waiting. At the same time, the Glimmers return to the system as well. If the two meet, they immediately attack each other, and anyone caught in the path of the two entities is destroyed.
As both the Waymakers and the Glimmers settle into the system, all passenger traffic, and all transport traffic is stopped, meaning that there is no food or vital supplies moving between the stations.
As the situation becomes more dire due to some stunning events (I don’t want to give away spoilers, but the start of this book is just brutal!!), the crew of the Cabron is left with no alternative but to come to the aid of humanity once again, or leave them to die.
There are things that unfold in book 3 that have a profound impact on the crew, and leave them with a resolute determination to see the end of the Waymakers and the Glimmers. Even though the other books in the series have been pretty intense, graphic at times, book 3 steps it up to a whole new level, as full-on war comes to the Sol system between multiple combatants, and this time, Jack and his crew are in the thick of it. The death toll in this book (including major characters), is very high!
The galaxy building in this book continues to be beyond exceptional, Aukes has created this stunning universe to play in, with intricate detail of the Sol system that she has taken the time to research incredibly well. It really brings the story to life, adding so much additional depth to the story. The ships, the stations, the aliens (as in the Glimmer), are all just outstanding.
However, it is the characters that really bring this story to life, as they tell us their individual stories. The story Is told mainly for the point of view of the crew of the Cabron, but we also get to see several other major characters in this third evolution of the story, allowing us to get a full understanding of events as they unfold from one end of the Sol system to the other. It is fascinating watching the dynamic of the Cabron crew after over 200years they have been together, and how each of them have developed their own distinct very unique personality traits to be able to survive psychology with living that long. Veda has to have a physical release through violence, Burn through affection. Kana needs to remain confined and have her time alone, whilst Jack wears different personalities so that no one can see the true him. Jack is really intriguing though, in that he has aspects of all of the major characters, and this can be seen in his relationship with Heddi, in which he takes on an almost Fatherly role. Heddi meanwhile has become a capable young woman, and although she is physically frozen at around 22yrs of age due to the nanites, she is around 26-27yo. Heddi has some really great relationships in this book as well that expand on her character and it is great to see her grow.
Overall, this is a brilliant third book in the series, as we see not only the evolution of the characters to their next stage (which Aukes has done so well), but we also get to see what happens to the Sol System and humanity, which was left kind of up in the air at the end of book 2. This book is done really well, and without spoilers, provides a really satisfying ending. If you have read the first 2 books then you will love this one!
Scott Aiello is one of the True Masters of storytelling, and it is an absolute joy listening to him tell this story. He is a beautiful Narrator, with a voice that is able to deliver a clear and concise version of the story. He is also able to create a multitude of different voices, both male and female, for all the different characters, with different accents and different ages. These are done so well, and so easily, that you can tell the different characters by the tone of their voices, you don’t need to be told who is talking, you can just tell.
Even more importantly, The Narrator is able to convey the emotions of the characters, you know when they are happy, or sad, tired or grumpy, allowing you to understand the emotional state of the characters as the story is being told
This just adds so much extra realism to the Narration, and the storytelling, and the experience of the Audiobook,
This is one of those times in which listening to the Audiobook is a far better experience that reading the actual book, as the Narration is so good, you will get so much more out of it – Exceptional Job!!

Good listen to pass the time

I liked the Characters and story throughout the 3 books in the story. I like the Narrator which helped.

It's okay...

The voice of Hettie is grating - she speaks in a heavy New York/Jersey accent- and she doesn't sound female -- more like some old guy from an gangster movie. Other voices miss as well -- fake Japanese accents, fake Australian accents, fake German accents -- and nasal speak. And that's too bad, because these are cool characters. I don't know if there's training in voices for audio books through SAG-AFTRA, but Scott Aiello might want to consider this. I'm a fan of space opera audio books, and Ray Porter, Jefferson Mayes, William Dufris, Will Wheaton, and Rachel Dulude are some of the best imho. Scott has a great natural voice, and Jack is good, but those other characters were off-putting for me. I will listen to the next in the series - so the story is interesting and holds me - but maybe add another narrator?