The North Star

Galactic Sentinel, Book 1

By: Killian Carter

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

An ancient alien race, a sentient monkey, and epic battles.

Jason Grimshaw has one job.... Get the cadets to Colony 115.

Just another day. Just another milk run. Or so he thought.

When scanners pick up an unidentified alien vessel, it's already too late. With his ship blown out from under him, and his crew scattered across a war-torn planet, his day just keeps getting better.

The good news is, one of the pilots survived. The bad news is, it's the biggest pain in his ass, and she's stranded miles away.

When Clio Evans said she wanted to fly, crash-landing a starship wasn't what she had in mind. She may not be the most experienced Fleet pilot, but she sure as hell has a few tricks up her sleeve, and with an army standing between her and the rest of her crew, she'll have to pull out all the stops, even if it means exposing a secret that'll see her hanged for treason.

You'll love this military sci-fi adventure with a twist, because who doesn't love overbearing commanders, cocky redheads, and aliens with guns?

©2019 Killian Carter (P)2019 Podium Publishing

I did not like narrator

This was the first book I have read in this series. Overall this was a pretty good story, better than many in this genre. But there were several things that prevented it from being a great story for me: (1) Sean Runnette’s narration was so bad that I almost quit listening after the first chapter. Compared to most narrators of Audible books, he gave the characters no distinctive voices and I found the tone and emphasis of his narration to be amateurish. (2) This story seemed to be an amalgam of two novels that only came together near the end of the book. I often found myself asking where the plot was headed. Perhaps the author could not imagine sufficient material to make two separate books? (3) I have been reading science fiction for sixty years so I should not be surprised when younger novelists “borrow” ideas from earlier authors and pass them off as their own. Yet I still find it annoying. There were many examples in this novel. For example: (A) *Two* sects of “Jedi-like” super warriors. (B) The major female character acquires a lemur-like companion that is such a rip-off from the Honor Harrington novels that Killian Carter should be ashamed! Judas Priest, why can’t somebody have a dog for a change? (C) The Sentinal is very reminiscent of the Ring World Series.

Fantastic story

The worst part about Killian Carter novels is that there isn't more of them. The Galactic Sentinel series is an amazing tale and imo, Sean Runette is a top class narrator.

Enjoyable Space Opera

I'm reading the 3rd book in the series now. A fleshed out galaxy of many alien races, political intrigue, an ever developing evil plot against the sentient races, fast paced fighting on alien worlds and in space, good character development and main characters that I actually want to succeed. With some graphic scenes torture and violence and the occasional F bomb,I wouldn't give it to my 10 year old. But if you like a sweeping space opera for adults, then I highly recommend.

Zero Enthusiasm

Great story to be sure this guy though needs to work on bringing the characters to life better. Struggled to get through listening to this guys voice. He sounds like Emo Philips that annoying and unfunny comedian. I will burn this guys name in my memory and avoid anything he reads going forward. Just awful

Uneven

Parts of this story carried me along, while other sections were almost painful. World-building is also irregular: some things don't have enough background, but sometimes action is completely halted to give details on something not particularly relevant to the plot. Several plot points are never resolved, although to be fair some may carry over to next book. The scenes before the ending are obviously a set up to the next book, but the final dialog is something that would have been ok earlier for background but it makes for a poor and unemphatic ending.

I had a hard time with the narrator: he brings dialog to life but the rest of the time he makes even the action scenes sound boring, which contributed to the pain I experienced.

I listened to this for free and have no intention of purchasing the rest of the series.