Banish the Stars

The Formless, Book 1

By: Nathan Hystad

Narrated by: Bradford Hastings

We have arrived. Descent is in progress.

Ryan Pierce traded military life for a peaceful existence in Napa Valley. Everything was fine until the starships appeared.

As aliens overtake the land and obscure the sun, Ryan quickly grasps that no one's coming to rescue them. He can't save the world on his own. Ryan must build a team to confront humanity's greatest threat.

Who are the invaders, and what did they come for? As people are snatched from the Earth one space elevator at a time, those answers become apparent.

But is Ryan ready to hear them?

From the best-selling author of Ethos , The Event , Lost Contact , First Life , and many more, comes a brand-new epic series, The Formless.

©2026 Nathan Hystad (P)2026 Podium Audio

Great narration

Love the story. Original with a good dose of levity. Gotta love Otter, a gentle giant. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Bradford Hastings brings a creepy edge to Banish the Stars!

'Banish the Stars' is a very exciting and unusual adventure that sets the stage for many other encounters with some of the most unique extraterrestrial ever encountered. Another great book by writer Nathan Hystad. Be sure to check out the extremely talented audio performance by Bradford Hastings. All in all this a great option for a new series for Sci-Fi fans. -Mr.Bill

Very entertaining, looking forward to the sequels

I enjoyed this book but what keeps it from being fully five stars from me is that you don't really relate to the characters until about 3/4 of the way through the story. By this I mean that they are mostly having superficial experiences with each other, with the exception of Ryan, whenever he considers his brother, Felix. That said, once the characters feel more well-rounded, the story gets more interesting. Unfortunately this doesn't really happen until more than halfway through the book. But it does happen, and as they begin to feel their own personal stakes, we go along for the ride.

The premise is wild. With all the stuff going on in our own news about aliens I thought this would be very interesting, and it was. At first I started wondering why there wasn't much world-building happening, but then I realized that the whole thing is from Ryan's point of view. It occurred to me that it might actually feel like this if aliens were to invade and we weren't getting the full picture of what was going on. Given how things are right now with all the alien disclosure, and ufo sightings in the news, the point of view feels pretty realistic.

The narration is mostly good, but now and again the reader stops and takes odd delays in the middle of delivering dialogue. Nobody in real life speaks like that, and it's distracting. There's another reader, Roy Porter, who does this, and it makes me actively avoid his books even though a lot of other readers enjoy him. Anyway if you enjoy Roy Porter, this narrator has a similar style, but without the sarcasm.

Overall, it was a bit of a slow burn to get the plot going but once it got there and the action really kicked off, I was definitely engaged. My favorite characters were Otter and Solus-- fantastic character arcs from both of them. I definitely be checking out the rest of this series once it's released on audiobook.

Original first contact, fast moving.

Well written and narrated, fast-paced story with not an overwhelming number of characters and easy to follow. Keeps you wanting more and found out I can't buy the rest of the books until June and August but it'll be worth the wait.

Great Book, Great Listen

Been looking for a great book for a while. This has relatable characters, good dialogue, and great world building. Found myself wanting to keep going every time I would need to pause. Can’t wait for the next book.