Ambassador 1: Seeing Red

By: Patty Jansen

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

24 October 2114: the day that shocked the world.

Young diplomat Cory Wilson narrowly escapes death in the assassination of President Sirkonen. No one claims responsibility but there is no doubt that the attack is extraterrestrial.

Cory was meant to start work as a representative to Gamra, the alien organization that governs the FTL transport network, but now his new job may well be scrapped in anger.

Worse, as Earth uses military force to stop any extraterrestrials coming or leaving, as 200,000 extraterrestrial humans are trapped on Earth, as the largest army in the galaxy prepares to free them by force, only Cory has the experience, language skills, and contacts to solve the crime.

But he's broke, out of a job, and a long way from Earth.

©2012 Patty Jansen (P)2016 Patty Jansen

Had a hard time getting into this one

this was an interesting story my but spent way too much time bouncing around in the protagonists brain. A bit more development of the various races and worlds would have been helpful also.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great beginning to political space opera series

For me, a good story has to be built on believable characters and character interactions. Seeing Red delivers on those counts, and adds to it with solid world-building and a plot that reads as much as a political thriller as a traditional space opera.

I've always been fascinated by fantasy and science fiction because I enjoy the way asking the question What If allows us to explore the possibility of societies different than our own. In Seeing Red, we get a closer look at the Coldi, an alien human race who have little understanding of the value of fantasies and fiction and who are gentically predisposed toward atheism. I enjoyed the way the author explored the difference between Coldi and Earth humans, while the main character, Cory's, status as a delegate put the focus more on the difficulties inherent in diplomatic relations than on space battles and alien technology.

That isn't to say there's not any action. For a diplomat, Cory has a knack for getting himself in the middle of things, and the book begins when he goes to a meeting with Earth's President, only to be caught in an explosion that leads to said President's demise.

What follows is an underinformed delegate's efforts to hunt down a killer and prevent an interplanetary diplomatic disaster, while questioning his own place in a society where he struggles to fit in, and where all the people he tries to get to cooperate seem determined to think the wors of each other. I could all but feel his frustration, and the way the plot of the novel integrated Cory's personal journey toward acknowledging who he was and what he wanted made for an extraordinarily satisfying listen.

The narrator did a good job, too, taking you into the story without being overly dramatic, and as happens with good audiobooks, I found myself forgetting I was listening to someone read to me and instead, just enjoyed the story.

After reading this book, I went out and bought the rest of the series on Kindle, and if they're ever available for Whispersync, I will be getting the rest of the series on audio as well.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

GOOD. WELL WRITTEN AND PERFORMED.

I am glad I gave this series a chance. I find the plot enjoyable and it well narrated/performed by Matthew Lloyd Davies. The voices were easy to differentiate and the female voices were alright. Cory Wilson, the protagonist proved a very intelligent and diligent diplomat who was assigned to Gamma,an alien worlld who at the moment were at odds with Earth. Lots of political intrigues when the president of Earth were assassinated. Cory faced obstructions from everybody even from his Earth who unjustly blamed Gamma for the assassination. Excellent book. I hope more of the series will be be published soon.

Diplomacy can be deadly...

Futuristic Diplomacy can be deadly... and engaging... but oh the twists and turns the heart can take...