Pawn

Chronicle of the Sibyl’s War, Book 1

By: Timothy Zahn

Narrated by: Joel Richards

Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Nicole Lee's life is going nowhere. No family, no money, and stuck in a relationship with a thug named Bungie. But, after one of Bungie's "deals" goes south, he and Nicole are whisked away by a mysterious moth-like humanoid to a strange ship called the Fyrantha.

Once aboard, life on the ship seems too good to be true. All she has to do is work on one of the ship's many maintenance crews. However, she learned long ago that nothing comes without a catch. When she's told to keep quiet and stop asking questions, she knows she is on to something.

Nicole soon discovers that many different factions are vying for control of the Fyrantha, and she and her friends are merely pawns in a game beyond their control. But, she is tired of being used, and now Nicole is going to fight.

©2017 Timothy Zahn (P)2017 Tantor

Things Are Not What They Seem

Nicole Lee does not have much of a life until she ends up on a alien star ship. Seems she is a Sibyl and can hear what repairs the ship needs. Then she becomes involved in a war between two other species and her life changes again. Nicole is a great character who changes as events come into her life. While she starts out as a street child she ends up with a job that can change the lives of all around her. This has interesting world building and character development. The backstory is woven into the book without changing the flow. This is book one in Sibyl's War and it sets the stage for the next two books. I could be a little slow at time and it kept me guessing on what was really happening and where the story was going. Joel Richards did a really ourstanding job on the various characters and keeping the pace of the story moving.

Great book after slow start

Tim Zahn has written a book with a very imaginative storyline. The concept of a huge spaceship that needs “sibyls” to communicate with it was very intriguing to me. My one complaint was that the book took a while before I really knew where it was going. At first I wasn’t bonding with the characters. But once the action started I got very interested in it. And the last quarter of the book had some great twists to it. I am now anxious to see what happens in Book 2 of the series.

Tim Zahn continues to show why he is my favorite sci-fi author.

I expected better from Zahn.

Zahn should stick to the Star Wars universe. This book is painfully slow, and uninteresting.

Don’t expect much from this book

I slogged through this book and only originally bought it because of the author. This is not his best work. It is average. The characters are underdeveloped and underwhelming. The story is not exciting or intriguing. The mystery is kept until the final pages and it’s not a great payoff in my own opinion. The narrator isn’t great either. He doesn’t do different voices and reads it monotonously.

Flighty science and crisp characters

Timothy Zahn has created a whole new world in a single ship. This is a good start. Looking forward to the next book.

Definitely worth listening to

The story kind of drags in certain places but it is a good story. If you are looking for a good story to kill some time and be entertained, this is worth purchasing.

Starts slow, but gets better

Really enjoyed it. Was different than anything by Zahn, looking forward to the next one!

classic scifi

this felt a lot like a throwback to some heinlein. i am very interested in the next stuff in this series.

Another woke feminist piece about entitlement

A lot of my favorite authors have been doing woke feminism pieces. This series is the worst so far. The enemies are embodiments of toxic masculinity. Every single one of them, all the same. The "friendlies" are all flat personalities who unrealistically bend over backwards for the main character, who doesn't deserve it.

This is all about entitlement. She didn't earn anything. She's rude, toxic, and in any real setting she's not someone anyone wants to be around.

Zahn's written about strong female characters before, so I don't understand where this series is coming from. Is this a book or an agenda?

The Greek saw it coming. I should have heeded his warning and left after the first book.

Everything I have come to expect from Timothy Zahn

Once again he shows why he is one of my favorite authors. A well crafted and interesting start to a series.

I was not familiar with the narrator, but he did a good job, so that's good.

Looking forward to starting the next book immediately.