Earth Strike

Star Carrier, Book One

By: Ian Douglas

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

The first book in the epic saga of humankind's war of transcendence.

There is a milestone in the evolution of every sentient race, a Tech Singularity Event, when the species achieves transcendence through its technological advances. Now the creatures known as humans are near this momentous turning point.

But an armed threat is approaching from deepest space, determined to prevent humankind from crossing over that boundary - by total annihilation if necessary.

To the Sh'daar, the driving technologies of transcendent change are anathema and must be obliterated from the universe - along with those who would employ them. As their great warships destroy everything in their path en route to the Sol system, the human Confederation government falls into dangerous disarray. There is but one hope, and it rests with a rogue Navy Admiral, commander of the kilometer-long star carrier America, as he leads his courageous fighters deep into enemy space towards humankind's greatest conflict - and quite possibly its last.

©2010 William H. Keith, Jr. (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Do not plan on putting it down

Excellent military science fiction, fast paced with just enough personal information about main character to enable emotional connection.

good for realistic sci-fi lovers

a touch wordy, but the narrator is clear enough to put at 1 1/2 speed

This is a Story that might be better to Read ...

... then in Audio. Initially I wasn't impressed until I realized that I had missed important details. Details that are sublime but make the story (and Author!) memorable. There are so many mediocre storylines where the an ancient alien race(s) fear the upstart humans and decide to destroy us to maintain status quo. if your willing to pay attention it us worth a credit for sure.

Surprisingly Outstanding

I almost didn't get past the first chapter of book one because at first it struck me as noting but space battle without enough story behind it - I was wrong. I like sci-fi that explores the possibilities of what might really exist in space and the near future. By the end of the first book, I realized that there is a very significant plot here and a great deal exploring what our galaxy might be like and what other civilizations may exist.

I like sci-fi with as little fiction as possible. I prefer that only the characters and events are fictional and that everything else, including the stars included in the story, and futuristic science be as real as possible and consistent with what we know today. This book delivers that better than any I've read.

After book two the story had me firmly entranced in a future that seems not only possible, but highly probable. I also appreciated that all the physics and astronomy used in the story was accurate, again I think more so than any other sci-fi author that I've read.

I just finished book three and I am stunned by the possible and probably future and state of the universe as described in this story. I really hope this become the next movie franchise. Works like this are how society as a whole can start to become more aware of what to realistically expect from the future.

Very good delivery of a fairly straight story

While the overall concept of galactic wars between humanity and aliens is not much different from the sci-fi novels out there... this one stands out for its heart-in-the-mouth narration of fighter combat.
It takes you literally into the viewpoint of a combat aviator twisting and turning through enemy combatants ... the exhilaration ... the excitement ... the destruction and the desperation
The misunderstood hero , the firm and stoic leader , the easy going mentor , the nasty rivals , the weird aliens and heartstrings action
This one has everything of a popcorn summer action movie
Keep it coming :D

Interesting Mil Sci-Fi

Story:
This is a good yarn, and I am currently listening to the sequel. So I like it enough to keep listening. However, I'm not sure I like the science in this book. In my opinion, the author goes into to much detail about the science behind the technology, when some of it doesn't make sense. The author does jump in between three or four characters though and none of them seem to really change or develop throughout the whole book.
Blood and Gore:
This is naval sci-fi so it's pretty hard to throw in blood and gore. I don't remember anything too bad.
Swearing:
This is military sci-fi so there is quite a bit of swearing, but the f-word was only used a couple of times that I can remember.
Sex:
None is described. However, the author does describe how the society in this book looks down on marriage as being old fashioned, and that everyone just hooks up whenever they want to with however they want to hook up with. Also he portrays a world in which officers can have relations with enlisted, and as someone how has studied the military as much as I have I cringe at that. I find it hard to believe that the military would ever do that.
Overall:
I find this a good yarn, but not very believable. Interesting, but not believable. Because of the interesting societal view points discussed I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under 16.

Enjoyable book, good narration

If you could sum up Earth Strike in three words, what would they be?

Fast, future, politics

Who was your favorite character and why?

Grey; He represents what so many of us in modern day America are. There are layers to his character, far beyond the demure savior, far beyond the minority that our modern day republicans are out to destroy, he's a man who would do anything for the person he loved, despite the personal sacrifice.

Which character – as performed by Nick Sullivan – was your favorite?

The Harrouk (sp?.) You just have to love that sound affect.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, and almost did. Didn't sleep enough for two nights to be able to read. Add a whole Saturday to that for book 2 ;)

Any additional comments?

I find it very interesting that Ian Douglas, intentionally or not, explored a lot of his own political leanings in this series. Almost as interesting, he is both left and right leaning, at the same time..

Interesting plot and idea, some scientific issues.

Would you consider the audio edition of Earth Strike to be better than the print version?

Overall, the book is good, I'll continue the series, and would suggest it to others.

The "announcements" and "Urgent voice" sections of the book are about twice as loud as they need to be. I found myself adjusting the volume a bit depending on what was happening in the book. It was distracting.

Equalization is a bit off, Narrator has a great baritone voice, but my player (phone app) had this sound odd compared to other books, most sounds above 1kHz-ish are about 5dB down, but then increases again for sibilants. Result is: the bass voice, and ssss's. You can EQ it out so it sounds decent, though.

I normally don't nit-pick the narrators, this one is MUCH better than some I've heard! The production company didn't normalize the volume or went too far with EQ the wrong way.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Earth Strike?

Continually Adjusting EQ and volume while listening (Only had to do that with about 5 other titles, out of over 200)

What does Nick Sullivan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Yes, soothing voice, clear, and the right amount of emotions make the book more enjoyable (Once you get the EQ fixed)

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did listen to this in one day, it's actually very good with only a few parts that cause one to drift off.

Any additional comments?

The only "glitches" are essentially incorrect math in some calculations. As well as using incorrect words for some concepts, though I guess words were chosen to appeal to a non-geek audience. :)

If you are into "Hard Sci-Fi", you may find issues here and there, nothing major that interferes with the plot and story, which is excellent.

The biggest "turn off" is the pro "Global Warming" themes throughout the book, but one can enjoy it and not let it interfere unless the reader is all the way against ideas or not. After all, it is Sci-Fi.

I'd sort of expected some humor in the book, usually humor fits in somewhere in a story, but none to be heard here.

A redundant book that tends to repeat itself...

Where does Earth Strike rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I enjoyed this, especially the space battles, but the author repeated items throughout the entire book. It was almost like each chapter was written independent of all others. You really could start listening anywhere in the book and not be lost or confused. I don't know if this is fully a good thing though. I actually did fall asleep while listening to it and don't feel like I even missed anything.

Too Much Chaff, Too Little Plot Arc

The first third of the story focused on astrological objects and speed of light distances. It seemed like every paragraph was stuffed with Angstrom units this and percent of C that. While these may have been scientifically correct, it was like spewing out distances and arrival times across several international metropolises before getting on with the actual story. Once the story arc began to emerge, even that became entangles with lots of acronyms and futuresque military jargon regarding command structures, ordinance, &c. So much so that one soon gave up even attempting to make sense of it all.

The story itself was somewhat pedestrian as space operas go, humankind being threatened by an galactic alien hegemony. This, in itself, would have been fine if the author had spent more time creating more of a backstory for the primary and secondary characters involved. Instead, except for Lt. Gray, the others were just introduced in the story as Admirals, Generals and CAGs, with barely any backstory associated with them.

I'll not continue this series.