No Planet for Good Men: A Sheriff Duke Story

Forgotten Fallout, Book 1

By: M.R. Forbes

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Earth. After the invasion.

The planet is in ruins. Humankind struggles to survive.

Hayden is a Sheriff in a world without law. A good man in a world gone bad. He knows the fallout of an alien attack when he sees it. He's never seen anything like this before.

Isaac is a Marine in a world without order. A good man with troubles of his own. His mission was to protect the innocent, including his son. Instead, he's the only survivor.

Two good men. Two frightening discoveries. Two paths to one inescapable truth:

The invasion may be over, but the real fight is just beginning.

©2019 M.R. Forbes (P)2019 Podium Publishing

Like a video game

This tale contains a mix of elements from games/stories like Fallout 4 (by Bethesda), Starcraft, Mad Max, and Aliens. In fact, the beginning borrowed so many elements of Fallout 4 that I almost thought it was a knockoff. Thankfully it takes on more originality as the story progresses. Since I like these genres, I did end up liking the book as a whole. A mix of SF, Apocalypse, and even a smidge of Western. The characters were believable most of the time and much of the dialogue felt realistic. There were moments I got confused with certain happenings or details, but that could be due to my mind drifting at parts. It was a little jarring how the person I thought was the protagonist took a backseat to another character introduced later in the tale. Overall though, it was an enjoyable read and I plan to get the next book in the series.

The narrator was good at expressing excitement during action scenes. But I swear he kept pronouncing Hayden as Ayden. That, and his voice for Isaac seemed to change as the story progressed.

another fantastic addition

Sherriff Hayden Duke out doing his sherriff thing. would read any book he's apart of.

Phenomenal

M.R. Forbes is absolutely talented in the way he is able to provide a new exciting universe with a foundation of familiar ideas that keep you grounded through righteous victories over wicked injustices.

A Sheriff in Battle Armor

The story takes place sometime after the ending of The Forgotten series with the inclusion of three new tier 2 protagonists and a new, unbeknownst tier 1 antagonist. Sheriff Hayden is the primary protagonist but, regrettably, very little backstory as to why or how he became a Sheriff in a future post-apocalyptic Earth. The same holds true to the world building, i.e., the book assumes the listener is aware of the previous series and abbreviates its creation in this book. For that, the listener would need to listen to The Forgotten series.

The author has given the three new protagonists and primary antagonist sufficient backstory and the clashes between the sides are thrilling but not unpredictable.

one of My Favorites

I started this series and the fallen world series because of the free first book and I have bought every single book in the series. I love the narrator that reads them and I have been riveted to every book. The world that all of these stories interweave themselves through is unique and awesome as well as the characters in them. This series is one of my all time Favorites for sure. Highly recommend

👍

These are all great books the entire series is wonderful and I would recommend you to check them out

Sci-fi Western

No Planet for Good Men: A Sheriff Duke Story
Forgotten Fallout, Book 1
By: M.R. Forbes
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
I love this author's books, especially the Ghost & Magic series! This had plenty of action, imagination, and great characters but at times I had a hard time trying to figure out if the Sheriff was talking or the Marine, Isaac. It got confusing in some areas. I still enjoyed the story and will certainly continue the series but the narrator was not the usual narrator and the other one has a voice that could perform a thousand voices and I could always keep track. Hope the next book is a bit better!

Shouty, dull and lacking backstory

Apparently this isn’t book 1. Instead, this is a spin-off for another series that I haven’t read. Unfortunately, there’s no setup or explanation of what came before. Also unfortunately, the plot unfolds at a snail’s pace amid long segments where little happens other than dull inner monologues of various characters trying to piece together current events. Then there’s the narrator, who adds excitement by raising the volume and urgency in his voice as characters often ask “what if xyz” in overacted James Kirk fashion. It was a frustrating mess that had me speeding up and eventually giving up.

As a lover of all manner of post-apocalypse stories (try Hell Divers 1-5 for straight up thrill or Dustwalker for that dystopian western vibe with a side of romance), I wanted to love this. Sadly, this book proved that none of the original or various spinoffs are for me (and it seems, now that I’m looking at the author, that he churns these out in cookie cutter fashion).

too much retcon

I like this series, it's fun and easy, but starting with this story arc Forbes has retconned some things and it bothers me. Has it been 400 years or 200 years since the war? Did Sheriff Duke's eye grow back? If so, what did he do with the replacement? Is it in cold storage? Do replacement eyes need cold storage?? You see? Unnecessary confusion. The worst part for me is I don't see why he did it. Is it more believable that someone was frozen for 200 years instead of 400? Both seem equally implausible and sci-fi-y. Was a robotic eye just a little too much cyborg for a character with two interchangable robotic arms? Was the ability to squint-zoom his vision the straw that broke the O.P. camel's back?

I demand answers....hopefully I'll get them with the next novel, but somehow I doubt it.