Collapse

The Interplanetary Empire of Great Britain Series, Book 1

De: Richard Toulouse

Narrado por: Ashley English

The empire is gone. The silence is full of enemies.

Stranded on a dying prison world, freighter pilot Constance Edwards has only one goal: find her family. Defying the last hollow orders of a collapsed government, she and her AI partner, Nigel, plunge into a fractured galaxy.

Instead of sanctuary, they find a void swarming with threats. Warlords rule ruined stations, deluded nobles toast a dead queen, and the empire's own AI, AEON, is purging systems in the name of order.

But the true reason for the collapse is watching from the dark. An alien intelligence has arrived, and it is not here to talk. To save her daughter, Constance must fly through a three-way war where survival is sedition, and silence means death.

©2025 Richard Toulouse (P)2025 Richard Toulouse

Decent little story

Kind of gives a 1970's-1980's sci-fi vibe and I like it. Short, keeps your attention. Not a blockbuster by any standard, but definitely a fun little treat to listen to.

Things seemed shaky, but they've tumbled down hard

Times sure can be rough for an independent transport vessel post wartime, but Constance just wants to find her family. Weaving in and around the loyalist and the rebels, she navigates space with her android companion and a determination to discover the truths, whatever they might be. For a story on the shorter side, the plot, character definitions, dialogue, and action are front and center. This entry to a space opera focused on perseverence of the individual when civilization is at the collapsing point drives home a good dose of tension, confidence, and a strong female lead. I dinged one point on Performance not because of the narration, which Ashley English presents wonderfully, but because the audio file in its current state has noticeable compression artifacts throughout. [Disclosure: I received this title for free and listened at 1.5x.]