Ardulum: First Don (Volume 1)

By: J. S. Fields

Narrated by: Lynn Norris

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Ardulum. The planet that vanishes. The planet that sleeps.

Neek makes a living piloting the dilapidated tramp transport Mercy’s Pledge and smuggling questionable goods across systems blessed with peace and prosperity. She gets by - but only just. In her dreams, she is still haunted by thoughts of Ardulum, the traveling planet that long ago visited her homeworld. The Ardulans brought with them agriculture, art, interstellar technology...and then disappeared without a trace, leaving Neek’s people to worship them as gods.

Neek does not believe - and has paid dearly for it with an exile from her home for her heretical views. Yet when the crew stumbles into an armed confrontation between the sheriffs of the Charted Systems and an unknown species, fate deals Neek an unexpected hand in the form of a slave girl - a child whose ability to telepathically manipulate cellulose is reminiscent of that of an Ardulan god. Forced to reconcile her beliefs, Neek chooses to protect her, but is the child the key to her salvation, or will she lead them all to their deaths?

©2017 J.S. Fields (P)2018 J.S. Fields

Great Scifi fantasy

While the story was a bit slow to unfold it was a goid story with interesting characters. I hoped to keep listening. Sequel?

A whole new sci-go experience!

I tend to stay firmly planted in the romance genres, but sci-fi was my first love, even as a child. Lots of novels in this genre have a tendency to stick to humans or humanoid aliens that really have no differences from us other than their homeworld, but Fields had no such notions here! Sure, Neek May have been humanoid herself, but the accompany stook (I’m sorry I don’t know the spelling of that) and telepathy set her and her people aside from normal. Every other alien species mentioned was unlike any I’d read of before too! Right away I knew I was in for a creative novel.

I was very impressed with the real science used in Ardulum. I was caught somewhere between “man where did they come up with this” and “I think I’m actually learning something”, but I say that in the best way. As another reviewer said, it was accessible science, which added that much more to the story. They even went so far as to describe the inner workings of certain injuries, which told me the research that went into making the book believable.

Details like those aside, I appreciated the clear plot. It never dragged or left me skipping sections, and any sudden twists were just unexpected enough to have me wanting to hear another chapter. I loved Neek’s come-at-me attitude, though I’ll admit I’m still a little lost about her past and what /exactly/ happened that led to her getting the boot from Neek.

Now, I’m trying not to give away any spoilers not in the “dust jacket” of the book, so I’ll move onto narration. Lynn Norris. That woman made my ears fall in love with her from the first word, and I’ll likely look into listening any book she narrates until there aren’t any more. She offers such a variety of tones, accents, inflections, emotions, and just pure talent when it comes to narrating, I’ve contemplated writing myself just to have her narrate.

I was given a copy of this book for review, but all views are my own!

Complex and thoughtful

If the story hadn't kept me listening the narration would have. It was a fun, suspenseful, and thought provoking journey wrapped up in a wildly creative package. I absolutely loved it.

Great Beginning To Epic Space Opera

This creative, unique and fun space opera is well worth your time. And if you love a series that goes on for a couple of books then this one is a great addition to your colleciton

Wow just Wow!

This book is awesome! I felt as if I was in the book living through the experiences of the characters. The author has a great imagination and a way of telling a story that I found wonderful.
The narrator does an excellent job of distinguishing between the characters.
I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out to find out what happens. I highly recommend this book!

Loved it!

I'm an odd scifi fan. There is some I can't get into at all. And some that just pulls me in. Ardulum is one that pulled me in. Adalant amuses me to no end. I truly adore her. The interactions between the crew are interesting. To imagine being with the same people on a single ship for so long, it feels pretty logical for them to love/hate each other.

A key to scifi is the science. Here it involves trees which I found utterly fascinating. JS Fields takes a deep knowledge of tree science on earth and sends it to the stars in such a unique way I found myself trying to figure out the science when I wasn't listening to the book.

I highly recommend the series for scifi fans, and for people curious about scifi. It will take you on an amazing journey.

Very different but in a good way

I love how imaginative J.S. is. Their brain made a story like I’ve never heard before. If you like space adventures give this one a chance. You won’t regret it and Lynn’s narration will keep you hooked.

Rogue Sci-Fi Adventure

The beginning few chapters I was very confused. I thought the young slave girl in the 1st chapter was the same woman in next chapter. But there was two different characters, Neek and Em.

Three rogue crew of Mercy’s Pledge is transport ship, smart ass captain, young newbie man, and Neek the pilot. They all work well together in a crisis. Interaction with other aliens sometimes gets them in trouble.

I really like how Neek was disillusion to believe her homeworld would treat her, and her crew well after bring god-child home. Neek never learned how corrupt politics works after been exiled. Her naiveté cost her greatly. Especial to her crew too. I like how writer showed Em, the slave child's thoughts and feelings by torment seeing her mother beatings.

The last few chapters felt a little bit rush with different actions happening at once. I was trying to keep up which characters was hurt or who who’s.

I was told lesbian love story is “very, very, very slow burn” played out in series. There’s no sex, or love story in this book. Just good Sci-Fi space opera!
Note: I received this book from author for my honest review.

now THIS is a tale well told

So OK, so I was drawn in to give this a listen, as I always am, by the always stellar work of narrator ☆LYNN NORRIS☆, who never fails to bring warmth, intelligence, flawless pacing, and characters delineated with the input of an excellent ear and a strong, thoughtful take on each personality and how they all factor into the action. That said, sometimes I've felt that the material she's had to work with in the past fell a bit short of her prodigious gifts to bring it to vivid life — a windfall for that author, but mildly disappointing to me when the story didn't give her the richest chance to show what she can clearly do.

And then: ARDULUM. At long last, a story giving Lynn Norris some real red meat, with deep, rich characters; spectacularly detailed (but fully accessible) and clearly knowledge-based science that challenges religious superstition but potentially enhances and informs spirituality (Dancing Wu-Li Masters, anyone?); a moral universe that provokes thought and aspiration but never proselytizes or gives easy answers; fully realized cultures to relish; gender fluidity (including coined pronouns for those who don't fit into the more rigidly conservative constructs of some Terran mentalities of our time, though here, new genders are unequivocal genotypes); no overt romance (so far), leaving one's imagination free to take telepathic connection into a still more intimate realm; and action and suspense aplenty, always in service of the excellently paced plot.

Ms. Norris does her magical thing in spades here, creating delicious accents and/or intonations for the various sentient species, within which framework individuals are still miraculously discrete; handling the scientific jargon like a pro; bringing just the right emotional tone and muscularity to each scene, encompassing everything from tender vulnerability to life experience-based indecision to occasional shameless relish in violence (particularly of the vendetta variety). I was in the hands of a master. And especially with material this good, that is a fine place to be.

This is the first of a series, apparently, and I am thrilled at the prospect of more, as the combo of J.S. Fields and Lynn Norris is a dynamic synergy that knocks my socks off. The story's breathless and contemplative by turns, and introduces us to a universe that is chock-full of mysteries great and small, some resolved here, but some of which I predict will be unraveled in the books to come.

I can't wait.

Awesome Adventure !

I really enjoyed listening to this story. I had a hard time keeping track of who was who because I didn't realize that there was a third gender and the pronouns confused me. Once I figured it out, the book held me captive from then to the end. I really liked how the narrators (Lynn Norris) put feeling into each character-she did a great job! I could totally see this book on the big screen. Lots of action and some suspense wrapped in Scifi makes for a great adventure. I fell in love with Neek and Em and am looking forward to seeing how this relationship develops over time. I just bought the next in the series. I'm excited to continue on this Journey.