Invasion

Book One of the Secret World Chronicle

By: Mercedes Lackey, Steve Libbey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

The world had become used to the metahumans - people sometimes perfectly ordinary, but sometimes quite extraordinary in appearance - who mostly worked with their governments as high-powered peace officers, fighting crime, and sometimes fighting rogue metahumans who had become super-criminals. Then that comfortable world ended in just one terrifying day.

Suddenly, all world governments were simultaneously attacked by soldiers in giant mecha robotic suits with the swastika symbol of the Third Reich on their metal arms. If these were Nazis, where had they been hiding since the end of World War II? And where had they gotten armor and weapons far in advance of anything on the planet? Weapons against which even the metahuman heroes seemed to be helpless…

©2011 Mercedes Lackey, Steve Libbey, Cody Martin, and Dennis Lee (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

It's ...okay.

For the first FIVE hours, the book is a relentless wholesale blowout of 'FLASH' 'BANG' 'WHIZ' 'BOOM', with very little in plot progression. You merely get to meet the enemy, and watch them get relentlessly blown to smithereens. FOR. FIVE. HOURS. And you never get the enemy's POV, or any insidious dialogue. They really read as these flat lifeless targets, for the good guy mutants to squish in fancy ways.

It introduces all the characters in that first round like members in a game show. You get their introduction, you learn their plight, and then you get to know them. It felt like I was being encouraged to form an emotional response for these characters before understanding them. The deliberately sparse revelations of the plot-line paired with the free-flowing interruptions of the character's personal emotional responses to said revelations was nerve-wracking. And the characters in this book aren't subtle mutations, we're talking blue people who heal with their brain, and fly. Extremely unlikely mutants, like the x-men.

A lot of the cultural concerns addressed in this novel are outdated from the Cold War, and a lot of the national view points are portrayed terribly wrongly (the Germans ALL liking WWII? My gran said there were curfews, patrols, and then one of your neighbors would disappear. There wasn't a brochure for what was happening.) I honestly began the book thinking it was based in a 1930's alternate history, the level of information granted is so palsy, until a guy whipped out a cell phone. I had trouble identifying or liking any of the characters, except for the burn victim.

Surprise

It’s always nice to find a new series to get excited about. I started this one with low expectations and was very pleasantly impressed. I thought 'super hero crap! Naww not for me'. But having given it a go a found that the superhero crap was actually quite believably done, add in magic, Nazis, crime lords, religion, communism, and you have such a mess that it just has to be either a complete disaster or some of the best fun I have had in ages. Now I am short on sleep and annoyed that the next book is not out.

Pointless

What would have made Invasion better?

This book is a disjointed mess.

The book hints that the characters all have troubled pasts, but none are explained.

There is action, but it never feels exciting. The story never seems to go anywhere.

Would you ever listen to anything by the authors again?

No.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None that I can think of.

Too Corny for Me

What would have made Invasion better?

It needed to be geared more toward adults.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Back to fantasy!

Would you listen to another book narrated by Nick Sullivan?

Yes, he was alright.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Invasion?

All the ones which made this a throwback rather than forward-looking sic-fi. The nature of the enemy is way way overdone.

I did not warm to this book

Baddies vs goodies, black hats vs white hats. Definitely no shades of grey in this book.
Silly names Yankee Doodle, Red Saviour Belladonna Blue and an uninspiring story means I won't be buying the second book. Pity because I normally like Mercedes' books, maybe she just put her name to this one and the other authors did the writing? Too many cooks?

Couldn't get me to "suspend my disbelief"

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This is an alternate reality book, however, the authors presume that everything today would still be the same even though in WW2 era there was an emergence of super-powered meta-beings. That somehow there has been a secret struggle between good metas and evil metas, but it didn't really affect everyday normal people. Well, the whole time I kept thinking how 50 years of metas would have such a huge impact on the timeline and world scope ... how did the Vietnam War turn out? How come "normals" still run the country? What about Professional sports?

Long story short: I just couldn't buy into it at all, so even though the performance was well done, I can't take any more of these books.

Delighted to see this as an audiobook!

I've been following this project by these wonderful authors back when the first parts were originally online as a podcast. Hearing it again as an audiobook it's nice to be able to tell how where they have edited a bit, and the use of a singular narrator has streamlined and coalesced the multi-POV storyline (although I do have to admit I miss Veronica Giguere's voice, especially for certain characters).

If you are only just hearing about this series (and don't mind a main story made up of many interconnected tales) I highly recommend it, especially this first book.

I bought it on a whim for something different.

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

I wanted something a little different and WOW did I get what I asked for. In the begining I thought this is hookey, but then I got into it and couldn't wait to buy book number two. I am enjoying the stories, but the person reading the audiobook is the reason I keep coming back for more. Very fast paced.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Invasion?

When they brought the mountain out of seclusion.

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

He keeps you engaged, I love the accents and the personalities that he brings to each and every charater.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Vickie gets out of her apartment and is trapped in the store.

Read a little clunkily, but the story is great

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

In some ways, this is better because the narrator is excellent at the various accents necessary in order to tell this story well. In some ways not, because the narrator is so careful to read precisely and intelligibly that he sometimes sounds clunky--there isn't a good 'flow' to his reading. He's great with dialogue, but the rest of his style took some getting used to. I'm certainly enjoying the audiobook, though.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ohhh, tough. I think I have two favourites: Red Saviour and Red Djinni. Not because I like the colour red, but because they both make me laugh. A lot.

Which scene was your favorite?

I think my favourite has to be when Red Saviour, Belladonna Blue, and Victoria Victrix confronted the drug dealers. Red Saviour throws the guy into the street: "Medic, please to be fixing him." I was laughing so hard.

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

Yes, definitely.

Any additional comments?

The second book is great in print, too; I need to get that audiobook next!

Wonderful

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

Very enjoyable and exciting

What was one of the most memorable moments of Invasion?

The Angel

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

Wonderful character voices and emotions

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Scary and sad, but still great