Ark Royal

By: Christopher G. Nuttall

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

"If you wish for peace, prepare for war." (Royal Navy Motto)

Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armour nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye. But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons. Ark Royal and her mismatched crew must go on the offensive, buying time with their lives And yet, with a drunkard for a Captain, an over-ambitious first officer and a crew composed of reservists and the dregs of the service, do they have even the faintest hope of surviving....

And returning to an Earth which may no longer be there?

©2014 Christopher G. Nuttall (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Good war story, little SciFi flavor.

Good overall, but doesn't fit in the hard science fiction category, due to a lack of imaginative, speculative technology and it's effects on society. Worth listening to for entertainment.

Essentially the British Halo Prologue

Pretty good book, but essentially Contact Harvest from a Brit's point of view. But I do recommend it.

Great book!

If you could sum up Ark Royal in three words, what would they be?

Very well written

Any additional comments?

I really like the narrator, it was a well written book and his voice brings it to life.

awesome story line, but repetitive to the extreme

Is there anything you would change about this book?

it's would be a better product if the author didnt repeat things so often...ei (wollowing pig),ect.
I'm not sure if Mr. Nuttall, thinks his readers have zero memory, or is just puffing up the pages by constant repetition.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

the Narrator was too loud often times followed by to soft spoken.

recommend

Pretty decent start to the series,if you enjoy the authors other works you will not be disappointed
the only part of the story I did not care for was the narrator,not so bad it takes away from the story though.

Great story

accent was a little harsh for my American ears but I got used to it. Overall it was a really good book.

great but a few points

its an all aorund great book with a great voice to read it

a couple of negatives for me

the cheating( is it realy nessesary)

and the repettitive nature of some of the points like "almoat old enough too be her father" i think it was said in the same manner like 7 times, and thats alot for a 13hour book
there are other same senteces but that one stood out alot

A solid sci fi book.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Ark Royal is a good listen, but I didn't feel hungry enough at the end to proceed with the rest of the series.

Great premiss but REALLY needs an editor.

Ok I'm half way through book 2. Please make it stop! At the risk of painting all British Sci-Fi with the same brush, I now remember why I stopped reading them. The sir names get a bit ridiculous. So cliché that I would roll my eyes every time a new character was introduced. That being said the Capts. last name is Smith......

I didn't care for the narration either. Mr Lister made every charater sound like a caricature.
Pip pip right you are Govna cheerio I'm off for a spot off tea..........

The endless repeating of the plot by the characters was almost intolerable then it became laughable. Trust me I hadn't forgot the plot from 3 minutes ago when the other character in the room restated the plot. Then off to another character in a different part of the ship agonized about some decision long ago then restates the plot. Then back to the previous characters who have now made a decision about something and have to point out how this decision fits into the plot all over again.

The space battles and the science of interplanetary travel, never mind interstellar because none of us have that figured out, the interplanetary science is lacking.

The only reason I'm finishing book two is a hate to quit a book. I keep hoping it will get better.

If epic space battles and a well though out sci-fi series is what your looking for this isn't it. Try The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell. It's light years better than this one.

OK novel, poor narration

Would you be willing to try another one of Ralph Lister’s performances?

No

Any additional comments?

At various times in this novel, I swore I would never buy another Ralph Lister narrated novel again. The narrator has a habit of occasionally dropping the volume on the last word of a sentence. Sometimes that's a critical word that you can't fill in by context. Enough to snap you out of the book.

As for the story, it was ok to good. I liked how the author spent some time on closure after the climax of the plot. To many authors resolve the main point, and then just wrap up the book in 5 minutes of narration. Nuttall takes the time to answer the questions of what happens to our characters now (at least as much as can be expected in the first novel of a series that's the start of a war). I could have done without all the gratuitous sex. I mean, I get it, two character's sleeping together is an important plot point. It's the mechanics of that that I didn't need (it doesn't add anything to the plot). At times, I wondered if I was listening to science fiction or soft-core porn. Thankfully, there were only a few short passages of that in the novel.

At this point, I'm not sure if I'll listen to any more in the series. Half-way through the novel, I swore I wouldn't because of the narration. But having finished the novel, I'd like to see where the plot goes.