The Fall of Rho-Torkis

Chimera Company, Book 1

By: Tim C. Taylor

Narrated by: Steve Campbell

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

When your worst enemy has your back...you know the mission is doomed from the start.

Sergeant Osu Sybutu of the Legion had a simple mission. Take five men and travel unobserved to a location in the capital where he would deliver a coded phrase to a contact. Simple, that is, except for the fact that there was a war going on, and all the different factions he had to pass by on the way would cheerfully shoot him on sight. And that was only if the planet didn’t kill him first.

Militia Sergeant Vetch Arunsen’s task, however, was far more complex. Shepherd a group of hated rivals across the frozen wastes, keeping them safe from everyone who wanted to kill them, which was pretty much everyone. Including the oddball troopers under Arunsen’s own command, who would happily shoot the Legion soldiers if given the slightest opportunity.

Legion versus Militia. Joint defenders of the Federation. In theory. Their mutual loathing, however, could burn the armor plate off a battleship. For rival sergeants Sybutu and Arunsen, there’s only one way their squads could survive trekking across the ice world of Rho-Torkis.

Legion and Militia.

©2021 Tim C. Taylor (P)2021 Tim C. Taylor

Exciting Series Starter

I truly enjoyed every minute of this book. I honestly didn't think I would. I kind of expected I'd end up lost and confused but that wasn't the case. This one's a very well-written, action-packed, and really exciting story. The action scenes were well described. Also, it was fascinating to see these different characters roped in together to make this new alliance work.

This book's a very good example of showing how talented Steve Campbell is. His narration was just simply outstanding and a major reason why I truly enjoyed listening to this book.

Hooks you from the start!

I've never really made any secret of my love for space opera and military sci-fi. I love a big sprawling story with alien worlds, galaxy wide conspiracies and an intrepid group of heroes/scoundrels/anti-heroes trying to save the galaxy from doom and destruction. That's where stories like Fall of Rho-Torkis come in. Set in the author's shared Human Legion universe, although three millennia past the events of the prior books, this first book in the Chimera Company series shows us an empire on the decline, having lost the secrets of quite a bit of it's technology. The government is fractured, and beset by external threats. It's military is also fractured, with the elite Legion rocked by the scandal of it's previous commander betraying the Federation to aliens, while the Militia, their rivals, looks to finally take them down. On the ice world of Rho-Torkis, these pressures finally boil over as external and internal threats collide to to start a chain reaction that might bring about the end of the Federation if not stopped.

The characters of this turbulent world are a perfect fit. Osu Sybutu is a Sergeant in the Legion, a true professional, as are his troops. He is as straightforward as you can get, and yet he and his men are tasked with a covert mission, something they are spectacularly unsuited for. Its during this mission they run across, if you can call being captured by, the Militia led by Sergeant Vetch Arenson, and the fun really begins. The Legion and the Militia hate each other, and we get to see some great examples of just how deep that hatred is. The tension between the two leaders is reflected in their troops, who are an interesting bunch. You have a professional soldier class versus a militia that gets a lot of its troops from prisons. This difference, and a long hatred and rivalry should have meant mission failure, but its amazing what natives and rebels trying to kill you can cause to happen. There is a nice amount of back story and character development for all main characters, and they come across as real people, with real strengths and weaknesses coming through. Their struggles are very realistically portrayed, and it really helps immerse you in the story. These characters are definitely a strength, and are as good as any in sci-fi today.

The narration is performed by the talented Steve Campbell, one of my favorite narrators. He has such a great narrative style, really bringing each of the characters to life, even the ones that aren't remotely human. Its a great collection of accents, cadences and tones that really differentiates each character, and you are never in doubt which character is speaking. His narrative pacing is also some of the best in the business, keeping a real flow going without any monotone. Just a fantastic performance.

This was such a great way to take an ongoing series in a shared universe and take some real chances. It introduces some excellent characters and really does something special with them. It is easily on par with series like The Four Horsemen and Galaxy's Edge series, two of the big mil sci-fi series going on right now, and I suspect this, as well as the rest of the universe it shares, would appeal to fans of both. I highly recommend this one, and can't wait to check out book two.

An Enjoyable Military/Space Opera

I’d heard about this book long before I picked it up. But I was surprised to see it didn’t have as many reviews as I expected for a book that jumped off of the page. This is my first book from author Tim C. Taylor but it will not be my last. He was able to hook me almost immediately and keep ahold of me throughout. It was a bit slow after the opening scenes but then picks right back up into the action and intrigue.

Chimera Company The Fall of Rho-Torkis was one of those books that both easy and hard to explain. Easy because when i describe it as a military sci-fi or a space opera – that covers most of it. Hard because it’s a hard book to pin down without spoiling it. I will say that even at 12+ hours – this one did leave me in a bit of a cliffhanger (at least not a “complete” story). But the arc inside of this one was good and interesting. Allowing me to get to know the characters and the world a little bit. Thankfully, I have the second book (also narrated by Campbell) queued up to listen, hopefully soon.

I think the thing that jumped out to me about this book was Taylor’s ability to write not just good characters, but good characters for this world. I think that’s under-represented in reviews. Sure, you can have an awesome character that really sticks out, but they might not fit the world they’re living in. Whereas the characters in The Fall of Rho-Torkis each character seemed to be placed perfectly and it really made me like each and every one of them for one reason or another.

Add in the great narration by Steve Campbell who allows Taylor’s words to come to life and you have a great book with great storytelling both inside the book and in the audiobook. I’m glad I took the dive into this one and I can’t wait to check out the second book of apparently at least five, Operation Redeal.

Great start leaving me wanting more

interesting characters that gets decent growth even in this book...
plenty of action that's well described...
the aliens is also well described and different enough to not feel like Star Trek original series alien of the week as some books do :)

it's a bit of a slow start, but when it keeps going it's full steam ahead!
I already want the next book to be done...
too bad Steve does such a great job he is probably busy with other projects already.
he gives the characters enough voice they are easy to tell apart without overdoing them. perfect for this sort of book

Too much to fast!🤷🏻‍♀️

Somewhere beneath all the aliens, war & politics is a story I can follow. Two enemy factions forced to work together for a mission but neither can trust the other. The thing is, there’s so many different characters, aliens and enemies it was very hard for me to follow. It felt like I got dropped into the middle of a continuing series without having read/listened to the prior books. After about 1/3 of the way through I was able to start following with a better understanding of the story. IMO, I believe this story would make a good movie, where I could visually see all the different characters.
The narration was fantastic. Steve Campbell is a wonderful voice actor and is well suited for this genre. It takes real talent to portray not only multiple main characters but also aliens. This is book 1 and continues on.

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