Invasion: Alaska

Invasion America, Book 1

By: Vaughn Heppner

Narrated by: Mark Ashby

Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The invasion of Alaska has begun. And the Third World War may not be far behind.

In this controversial book, Vaughn Heppner explores the theme of a shattered America facing the onslaught of the new colossus in the East: Greater China.

The time is 2032, and the Chinese are crossing the polar ice and steaming through the Gulf of Alaska. They have conquered oil-rich Siberia and turned Japan into a satellite state. Now a new glacial period has begun, devastating the world’s food supply. China plans to corner the world’s oil market and buy the needed food for their hungry masses.

A weakened America uses old technology against the next generation of military hardware. The invasion unleashes the Hell of battle as two armies turn the snowfields of Alaska red with blood.

Invasion: Alaska is a thundering techno-thriller of vast scope from bestselling author Vaughn Heppner.

©2011 Vaughn Heppner (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Great story

Great story just realistic enough to happen.

My only issue is the headlines on the papers were poorly done. That is it. Only issue otherwise this is a great books and I highly recommend it.

OK But Not Outstanding

Since I lived in Alaska I find Heppner's description of the battle for the Kenai lacking. The places he decided we're choke points but not good ones. The retreat from Seward could have used the Alaska Railroad rail line and bypassed the Highway 1-9 junction.
His description of the Battle for Anchorage was spot on. The battles on the Ice and North Slope were OK.
The story as part of a series is a fair start.

Ashby has a clear and very understandable voice but his accents and distinction of character needs work.
The said he has a strong voice and easy to understand in areas that are difficult to listen in, public transportation and while riding a bicycle.

Terrible Reader!

Would you try another book from Vaughn Heppner and/or Mark Ashby?

Definitely not if Ashby is narrating.

What didn’t you like about Mark Ashby’s performance?

Just want to say that Mark Ashby's needs a voice coach. He consistently would drop pitch at the end of phrases and sentences (dropping ends), which made it really difficult to listen to for long. He needs to learn to t use pitch to add variety so the result doesn't sound like monotone

A good story

‘Invasion Alaska’ is a very good story but I had a hard time rating it. There is a lot of story development taking place so the author gives the listener a good look behind the scenes in China. The scenes are very descriptive which helps fill out the details to the listener. On the downside these take away from time that could be spent on the action and character development (the characters are a bit flat and static throughout). That being said it’s a pretty good mix as long as you’re not looking for mile a minute action. If I could give it 3.5 stars I would but since I can’t 4 stars it is.

Mr. Ashby does a good job with the narration but he’s a bit flat at time not really changing much from one character to the next.

Too much background for me, not enough action

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Time well spent as the story does have considerable political depth and makes you think about current geo-politics and the future.

Would you be willing to try another book from Vaughn Heppner? Why or why not?

Perhaps, I will have to let this one set in and see if I am still interested later

Did Mark Ashby do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Narration was pretty good but not the best of Audible performance. Sometimes I found myself confused as to which character was which. Most often this occurred with the Chinese characters as they had the most difficult names and very so plentiful.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Any additional comments?

A good but not great book. Seems plodding in some portions but perhaps some of that is building for rest of the series.

Scary in its potential accuracy

This book presents some potential scenarios that scare me greatly:

1. The US losing military superiority
2. The US losing space and technological superiority
3. China or other nations mass selling US treasuries
4. Continued economic stagnancy
5. Global cooling due to natural cycles resulting in famines

Any or all of these are real risks and decisions made today have real geopolitical ramifications in these spaces.
Mr. Heppner does a fantastic job with projecting these scenarios and the potential outcomes. I greatly enjoyed this book and am downloading Invasion California as I wrote this.

Non-Stop Action!

This book is has some Tom Clancy influences, but dare I say better. This book contains continuous action, drama, and suspense to keep you reading. The narration is great, storyline realistic and continuous emotional highs. I’m pre-ordering for book two now.

First of a great series

I stumbled upon this book by accident, and was unsure if I should spend a credit on it. I decided to take the plunge, and was glad that I did! Character development is good, and it has a good storyline. This is not the typical "Bad guy attacks America - America's Dominant Army Fights Back - America Wins" kind of book.

Terrible Narration

Interesting concept, although some of the characters were a bit of a cliche. Overall, it was a good story. But I am baffled by the listeners who rated the performance as 4 and 5 stars. The book had such glowing reviews I decided to give it a shot but as I began the book I had to stop and check to make sure I hadn't mistakenly downloaded some version that the author decided to try narrating himself. The accents are ridiculous, there is no flow to the narration, and the way the narrator reads really detracts from the story. I had to force myself through the book while wishing I had just read it myself.

Fun Speculative Fiction

Would you listen to Invasion: Alaska again? Why?

No as the story line isn't deep enough. Fun brain candy but lacking nourishment. While the story line lacked substance, the prominent reason I wouldn't listen to the Invasion: Alaska again was the narration. Large tracts of the production sounded as though the narrator was a monotone computer narrator running at 115%. My repeated thought listening to these sections was "Ugh, give me patience to get through this section."

What three words best describe Mark Ashby’s voice?

Computer monotone.

Any additional comments?

Apparently the first title in a series. Would listen to the other titles provided they were narrated by someone other than Mr. Ashby.